MUSIC

10-Year Dry Spell: For the second consecutive time in its 68-year history, the jury in Poland’s Frederic Chopin piano competition has declined to award a first prize. The contest, held every five years, ended Friday with an announcement by the international jury that none of the 140 young contestants had reached the top standard. The verdict was greeted with disappointment by the audience at the Warsaw Philharmonia Concert Hall, because the favorite, Aleksey Sultanov, 26, of Russia was awarded only joint second prize with Philippe Giusiano, 22, from France. Gabriela Montero, 25, an American living in Britain, placed third. Past winners include Martha Argerich of Argentina (1965), Garrick Ohlsson of the United States (1970) and Soviet virtuoso Stanislav Bunin (1985).

PEOPLE WATCH

Hollywood’s Powerbrokers: Tom Hanks is, for the second straight year, the highest-rated actor in Entertainment Weekly’s annual list of Hollywood’s most powerful people. The back-to-back Oscar winner rose to 12th place this year, up from 16th in 1994. Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, last year’s top-ranked woman at No. 8, drops to 21st this year, falling behind Paramount Chairwoman Sherry Lansing (No. 16). While the list is dominated by executives, including Walt Disney chairman Michael Eisner (No. 1), Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin (2) and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch (3), several other actors made the Top 50: Jim Carrey (29), Tom Cruise (31), Mel Gibson (35), Clint Eastwood (36), Michael Douglas (41), Harrison Ford (44), Tim Allen (45), Arnold Schwarzenegger (46) and Demi Moore (48). Talk-show host David Letterman ranked 50th.

TELEVISION

‘Comic Relief’ Lineup: “Comic Relief VII,” the annual event hosted by Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams to raise funds for America’s homeless, will air on cable’s HBO Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. Additional performers scheduled for the show, to be taped earlier that evening at the Universal Amphitheatre, include Dennis Miller, Paula Poundstone, Richard Lewis, Drew Carey, Andrew Clay, Anthony Edwards, Heather Locklear, Bob Saget, Paul Rodriguez, Alicia Silverstone and Chris Rock. As in previous years, HBO will make the show available to all cable systems that wish to carry the program on an open-signal for non-HBO subscribers.

Endangered Series?: Fox is showing wavering confidence in two of its low-rated freshman comedies, “Partners” and “Ned and Stacey.” The network said it will preempt the Monday night shows on Nov. 6, the first week of the important fall ratings sweeps, with an extra episode of its veteran Wednesday night serial drama “Beverly Hills, 90210,” at 9 p.m. “Ned and Stacey,” starring Debra Messing and “Wings” alum Thomas Hayden Church, currently ranks 94th out of 114 prime-time network series, while “Partners,” with Jon Cryer and Tate Donovan, is 95th.

ART

And Then There Were Eight: Seven additional artists included in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Conceptual art survey, “1965-1975: Reconsidering the Object of Art,” have joined a protest by internationally known artist Hans Haacke over the exhibition’s sponsorship by Philip Morris Companies Inc. Last week, Haacke sent a letter to MOCA director Richard Koshalek decrying the sponsorship, saying he was unaware of the tobacco company’s involvement when he agreed to participate in the exhibition, which reopened MOCA’s Temporary Contemporary facility last weekend. Haacke’s letter was posted at the exhibition’s opening; on Wednesday, six artists--Michael Asher, David Buren, John Knight, Douglas Huebler, Robert Barry and Sol Lewitt--posted a notice under Haacke’s letter saying they also protested the sponsorship. On Thursday, exhibiting artist Dan Graham added his signature. Philip Morris, which has been involved in public health controversies related to smoking, also has supported reelection campaigns by North Carolina Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, a vocal opponent of the embattled National Endowment for the Arts.

QUICK TAKES

The National Italian American Foundation will honor actor John Travolta and singer Tony Bennett in Washington tonight at a gala scheduled to be attended by President Clinton. . . . Universal Pictures said Friday it will restore Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1958 movie “Vertigo,” starring James Stewart and Kim Novak, in a yearlong project aiming to “re-create the film with a sound and image quality that was not achievable when Hitchcock made it.” . . . The Kirov Ballet, with the participation of Washington’s Kirov Academy of Ballet, will present its “Nutcracker” at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre Dec. 12-17. Tickets go on sale Sunday. . . . Lorena M. Parlee’s “Mexico: A Journey Through Time,” a 40-minute survey of the Mexican people and their culture narrated by actor Martin Sheen, will have an Oscar-qualifying run Sunday through Oct. 28 at the IMAX Theater in Exposition Park. The film was written by Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, Carlos Blanco and Parlee, and photographed by David Douglas, Alex Phillips and Haskell Wexler. . . . A Los Angeles federal jury on Thursday ordered the National Enquirer to pay Clint Eastwood $150,000 for publishing a December, 1993, “interview” with the actor that he said never occurred. Eastwood said he will give the money to charity.