Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

Hot ‘Diggety’!: U.S. pop fans began dancing to the beat of a different tune last week when Blackstreet’s lively “No Diggety” ended the 13-week run of Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” as the nation’s best-selling single. The Interscope Records release sold an estimated 125,000 copies, edging Los Del Rio by approximately 19,000 copies, according to SoundScan. Meanwhile, Van Halen’s “Best of Vol. 1” entered the nation’s album charts at No. 1. The collection, featuring two new vocals from original lead singer David Lee Roth, sold an estimated 233,000 units last week. Two other debuts--Westside Connection’s “Bow Down” (with rappers Ice Cube, Mack 10 and W.C.) and Journey’s “Trial by Fire”--finished second and third, respectively, in the week’s sales.

MOVIES

Stumping for Hemp: Actor Woody Harrelson, testifying in a Kentucky misdemeanor marijuana possession case that could land him a three-month jail term, said Wednesday that he planted four marijuana seeds in a stunt to promote industrial hemp as a viable crop and would go to jail if necessary to protest laws barring the plant. “I came to this initially as an environmentalist, now I see it as an important crop issue for farmers,” testified Harrelson, who owns a California company, Hempstead Co., which sells hemp-based products including clothing. In June, Harrelson planted four French hemp seeds--one less than the five seeds that constitute a felony--expressly to challenge the Kentucky law, which bans all forms of marijuana. Lee County Judge Ralph McClahan said he would take 90 days to decide whether to grant Harrelson’s motion to dismiss the charges.

Dietrich Still Fuels Debate: A Berlin district that wants to name a street after Marlene Dietrich faces years of delay because some Germans still consider the late Hollywood film star a traitor. The legendary actress and singer was born in Berlin’s Schoeneberg district in 1901, and it wants to rename Tempelhofer Weg, half a mile long, Marlene-Dietrich-Strasse. But Dietrich, who left Germany in 1930 and later supported the Allied war effort against the Nazis, got a hostile reception during her last visit home in 1960 and her wartime conduct still provokes resentment. Schoeneberg Councillor Otto Edel said the government hoped nonetheless to name the street after her “by the year 2002.”

TELEVISION

Networks Focus on Attorneys: Attorney and law professor Barry Scheck, who gained national fame as a member of O.J. Simpson’s criminal defense team, has joined NBC News as a legal analyst, where he will provide exclusive commentary and coverage of Simpson’s civil trial for several NBC News broadcasts. In addition Scheck will contribute to a series of “Dateline NBC” reports about possible miscarriages of justice that will become part of a series of “Falsely Accused/Wrongly Convicted” specials on the network’s cable news outlet, MSNBC. . . . Meanwhile, a CBS News source confirmed that another O.J. Simpson defense attorney, Robert Shapiro, is in discussions to join that network on an exclusive basis, as analyst for various broadcasts.

AUCTIONS

Ode to the Bard: A first-edition volume of William Shakespeare’s plays with gilt edges and marbled leaves sold for $250,000 at Sotheby’s on Tuesday, more than doubling the New York auction house’s high pre-sale estimate of $120,000. The 1623 Shakespeare folio, presenting the first editions of 18 of Shakespeare’s plays and rare authoritative texts of several others, was described by Sotheby’s as “incomparably the most important work in the English language.”

Elvis Memorabilia: An auction of 317 stage costumes, jewelry, furniture and other items from the Elvis Presley Museum collection is scheduled for Sunday, at 1 p.m., at Butterfield & Butterfield in Los Angeles. Highlights include the singer’s “Starburst Planet” jumpsuit and matching cape (valued at $60,000 to $75,000), his gold “Tree of Life” pendant ($40,000 to $50,000) and a mahogany acoustic guitar with mother of pearl design inlay ($25,000 to $30,000). A preview of objects in the sale opens Friday at the auction house’s Sunset Boulevard showroom.

QUICK TAKES

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Philharmonic will be heard throughout Europe and Asia as part of a six-part transatlantic broadcast by major American orchestras. The Philharmonic’s Jean Sibelius concerts tonight, Friday and Sunday will be broadcast overseas on Nov. 17. Other featured orchestras are the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony. . . . Talk-show host Jenny Jones is expected to testify in a Michigan murder trial today after a judge ruled Wednesday that she is a relevant witness to the defense of Jonathan Schmitz, 26, who is accused of fatally shooting Scott Amedure, 32. Amedure was killed three days after revealing his affection for Schmitz during a “Jenny Jones” show taping. . . . A photographer who claimed he was injured while trying to videotape rocker Tommy Lee and his wife, Pamela Anderson Lee, outside of Hollywood’s Viper Room nightclub sued the Motley Crue drummer Tuesday for assault and negligence. Lee already faces a misdemeanor battery charge in connection with the Sept. 29 incident, in which he allegedly pushed photographer Henry Trappler to the ground, breaking his pelvis and a rib. Lee is set to be arraigned on the battery charge Nov. 12.