Finally, a trial

The trial begins at 9 a.m. Central time today with news accounts swirling in the media that an aide to R. Kelly allegedly paid off an Atlanta woman to get her to return a potentially incriminating sex videotape featuring Kelly. The woman is scheduled to be a witness against Kelly in the trial.

But get this. there may be another delay in the trial if Kelly has his way. His defense team has asked Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan to postpone the trial because of recent publicity surrounding the case.

Robert Sylvester Kelly, 41, was indicted on multiple counts of child pornography in June 2002, three years after police began investigating the case against him. But through a series of delays, the trial has been put off for  years.

Kelly's alleged involvement with young girls reportedly dates back to the 1990s, and the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the current investigation in a December 2000 story. But the public interest in the case reached a peak after a videotape was sent anonymously to the newspaper in February 2002. The tape showed a man alleged to be Kelly engaging in various sex acts -- including urinating on the underage girl.

Prosecutors are expected to introduce a key witness in the trial who will testify that she, Kelly and the girl engaged in a threesome on at least one occasion, and that the girl was under the age of consent. The girl was as young as 13 sometime between Jan. 1, 1998, and Nov. 1, 2000, when the tape was made, according to prosecutors.

But the girl herself has denied her involvement in the affair, according to the Chicago Tribune. That means prosecutors will have the challenge of portraying the alleged victim as a liar, which some observers have called a "heavy burden."

The trial is expected to generate considerable media attention, and Kelly has his own special entrance into the courtroom, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The singer, who has created hits like "Bump n' Grind," "Your Body's Callin'," "Step in the Name of Love," "Fiesta," "Half on a Baby," and the recent hit, "Same Girl," has shown many different sides to his music.

Kelly's music could be inspirational, as it was in the 1996 hit, "I Believe I Can Fly," or it could be crass and direct, as it was in songs like  "Feelin' On Yo Booty," and "Trapped in the Closet."

He has a strong fan base in Chicago, but he's been publicly criticized in his hometown as well. His notoriety may be an issue as the court begins the process of jury selection.