Sideshow: A photo of a battered Rihanna

The Los Angeles Police Department is beside itself over a photo purportedly of Barbadian singer

Rihanna

apparently taken the night a complaint of domestic violence was lodged against rapper

Chris Brown

. The heartrending photo surfaced Thursday on TMZ.com. It shows a woman who appears to be Rihanna, her badly swollen face covered with welts and cuts. The picture appears to have been taken during an official investigation. If so, and if it was leaked by an LAPD member, consequences could be dire, including, the department says, "termination." At

least

, we say.

As the world knows, R&B singer Brown was arrested Feb. 8, the night of the Grammy Awards, which he and Rihanna were to have attended. He was booked on suspicion of felonious criminal threats. Rihanna, who turned 21 yesterday, has never been identified offically as either victim or complainant.

The LAPD has begun an internal investigation and asked for public tips or leads.

Yo, dog! Slumdog, that is. Slumdog Millionaire, the smash-hit flick about quiz shows, money, and the lives of the poor of Mumbai, has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture and best director, at tomorrow's Academy Awards bash. So all the stars will be there, right?

Yes, but just barely. Fox Pictures announced yesterday that all the child actors in Slumdog will be there. If it wins best pic, the whole cast will join producer Christian Colson onstage at the Kodak Theatre in LaLaTownVilleLand.

James Finn of Fox Searchlight Pictures said they'd be flown to L.A. and put up in a five-star hotel for two days.

It was complicated. Some stars had no visas; others had parents reluctant, fearful, or unable to travel. But how unfair would it have been to bring only the richer, middle-class stars? Exactly. "We decided it was better to include everybody," said Michelle Hooper, Fox Searchlight's publicity chief. Y'think? Where there's a will, and money, and power, and potentially bad PR, there's a way. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rustled up the Annie Oakleys. ("Free tickets," for those of you under age 97.)

The three main figures in the film are portrayed at three different times of their lives. That makes nine actors. They'll all be there! They include Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, whom director Danny Boyle and team hired out of the poorest regions of Mumbai. Freida Pinto, who has skyrocketed to world glamour fame, will be there, too. Others flying to L.A. are Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Tanay Chheda, and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar. Safe trip!

Canadian songwriter, poet, and fictionista

Leonard Cohen

has been musicking for more years than all three

Jonas Brothers

have been alive added together. (Cohen is 74, and all the Jonases added up are only 57.)

What do you do if you're Cohen's age? Take it on the road, that's what! He's been on a much-praised world rampage, which stormed New York's Beacon Theatre Thursday - his first U.S. gig in 15 years. "I was a young man of 60 then with a dream," he jested to the adoring throng. Standing O's galore! His band, including collaborator Sharon Robinson and vocalists Hattie and Charley Webb, is reportedly smokin'.

He's announced a North American tour that roams all over, including Philly, where he's scheduled to appear at the Academy of Music May 12. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. on March 2 at Kimmelcenter.org or by calling 215-893-1999. For information, go to www.leonardcohen.com.