THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE: Can MTV possibly top...

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE: Can MTV possibly top its recent Video Music Awards shows with this year’s event? Some highlights from last year: Neil Young’s rousing appearance with Pearl Jam, sexy stagings by Madonna and Janet Jackson, Eddie Vedder’s mumbling questioning of the value of the awards and (offstage) L.A. police unsuccessfully trying to arrest Snoop Doggy Dogg on a murder charge.

What about this year? Will top performers the Rolling Stones go head to head with Aerosmith in a battle of the archetypal rock ‘n’ roll bands of their generations? “We’ve got a couple of surprises up our sleeve,” MTV senior vice president of programming Doug Herzog says of the Sept. 8 telecast from New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

The tone, he says, will be set by host Roseanne, who promises to be a lot more on the edge than last year’s genial but wooden Christian Slater. Other musical guests include veteran Tom Petty and youngsters Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

One rumor is that Courtney Love will provide some never-before-aired home videos of her late husband Kurt Cobain with their daughter Frances Bean. Love herself brought up the possibility in a recent note she posted on the America Online computer service.

“I could not confirm anything like that,” Herzog says. “Nirvana’s been nominated for several awards . . . and hopefully Nirvana will have a presence at the show.”