Emmys increase field of nominees to 6

Los Angeles — The Emmy Awards stopped well short of an Oscar-sized doubling of its nominations, but an extra slot in top categories could freshen — or popularize — the contest.

With six possible nominees for each of the acting and series awards, “Battlestar Galactica” might break the TV academy bias against sci-fi when the nominees are announced today — or vampire saga “True Blood” could shatter the resistance to fantasy.

Younger, edgier stars who tend to fight for recognition might finally get it. Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” and Anna Paquin, already a Golden Globe winner this year for “True Blood,” are among the worthy.

Whether the outcome will approach last year’s Emmy victory by “Mad Men” — the first basic cable show to be honored as best drama series — is unlikely.

“Last year was a very major breakthrough year,” John Leverence, the academy’s senior vice president of awards, said.

A return to routine would be just fine with the major broadcast networks. They’ve seen their offerings increasingly eclipsed in the awards by cable series, particularly dramas, that claim smaller audiences but louder critical buzz.

Sotomayor, Franken both ‘Perry Mason’ fans

Washington — Turns out that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and Sen. Al Franken were Perry Mason fans as kids.

The two reminisced at her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday after the Minnesota Democrat noted that he and his family and Sotomayor and her family tuned in to the weekly television drama starring Raymond Burr as a defense lawyer.

The series originally ran on CBS from 1957 to 1966 and lived on in reruns for decades. Burr reappeared as Mason in TV movies in the 1980s and ’90s.

Franken noted that Perry Mason won all his cases except one. He asked Sotomayor to name it, and she couldn’t.

“Didn’t the White House prepare you for that?” asked the comedian-turned-politician, prompting laughter in the hearing room.

Robert Redford marries German girlfriend

Hamburg — Robert Redford married his partner, a 51-year-old German artist, over the weekend, a German church said Wednesday.

Renate Massfeller of the St. Catherine Church in Hamburg said that Pastor Frank Engelbrecht presided over the wedding of the 72-year-old U.S. actor and artist Sibylle Szaggars at the luxury Louis C. Jacob Hotel.

The Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper said 30 friends and family members attended the service.

Szaggars, born in Hamburg, is an abstract artist whose work has been exhibited in Britain, Germany, the United States and elsewhere. She moved to Sundance, Utah — where Redford’s Sundance Institute is based — in the 1990s, according to her Web site.

Paisley, Krauss to play White House

Nashville, Tenn. — Country musicians Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss will play a high-profile gig next week at the White House.

A spokeswoman for Paisley said Wednesday that he and Krauss, who had a hit duet a few years ago with “Whiskey Lullaby,” will participate in the White House Music Series hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.

On Tuesday afternoon, they’ll help with an educational workshop for 120 middle and high school students from across the country.

That night, they’ll play in the historic East Room for President Obama and his wife, White House staff and members of Congress.

Michelle Obama launched the series to encourage arts and arts education. It featured jazz last month and will continue in the fall with classical music.

Kristen Bell appearance just ‘Gossip’ for now

Los Angeles — The disembodied voice of “Gossip Girl” may already ring a bell, but don’t count out the possibility of seeing her face.

Kristen Bell, who voices the anonymous blogger narrating the CW teen drama, says she hopes to make an appearance someday. The 29-year-old “Veronica Mars” and “Heroes” actress said she has asked executive producer Josh Schwartz to work her into an upcoming episode.

“I want to make a cameo and shoot it right down the middle,” she said slyly with a wink and a smile Tuesday night as she was leaving Cosmopolitan magazine’s annual Fun Fearless Female dinner at the W Hotel in Los Angeles. Bell did not elaborate.

Britney’s Warsaw stop on tour canceled

Warsaw, Poland — Britney Spears’ “Circus” won’t be coming to Warsaw following a dispute between her international and Polish organizers.

The singer, whose hits include “…Baby One More Time” and “I’m a Slave 4 U,” has been playing a series of shows this summer in Europe, including in Britain, France and Sweden.

The July 24 show in Warsaw was canceled because of a contractual dispute that could not be resolved, a statement released by her publicist said Wednesday.

Kinga Bocianowicz, the manager of the Polish company that has been selling tickets, Agencja Akwarium, said the show had to be canceled because AEG Live, the chief organizer of the international tour, presented the Poles with a contract that was “unacceptable under Polish law and hence by us.”

She refused to elaborate.

David Froffman, PR manager for AEG Live in the UK, declined to comment.