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

POP/ROCK

Jamiroquai Tops MTV Nominees: Jamiroquai, the British group whose sound has been compared to that of Stevie Wonder, topped the list of 1997 MTV Video Music Award nominees Tuesday, picking up 10 nods for “Virtual Insanity,” including video of the year, breakthrough video, best new artist, best direction and best choreography. Grammy winner Beck was the runner-up with seven nominations, including video of the year (“The New Pollution”) and best male video (“Devil’s Haircut”), and Nine Inch Nails was third in the count with five nominations. Other video of the year nominees were Jewel (“You Were Meant for Me”), No Doubt (“Don’t Speak”) and Nine Inch Nails (“The Perfect Drug”); remaining best new artist nominees were Fiona Apple (“Sleep to Dream”), Meredith Brooks (“Bitch”), Hanson (“MMMBop”) and the Wallflowers (“One Headlight”). In addition, the slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. picked up a posthumous best rap video nomination for “Hypnotize,” while producer Sean “Puffy” Combs’ Puff Daddy and the Family picked up two nods (best R&B; video and the viewers’ choice award) for “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to B.I.G. featuring Faith Evans and 112. The awards air Sept. 4.

TV & MOVIES

No Versace Movies: Despite the intense attention surrounding the murder of Gianni Versace and the manhunt for his suspected killer Andrew Cunanan, there are no plans to date for a TV movie about the slain fashion designer. NBC, Fox, CBS and HBO said they are not pursuing or planning movies about Versace. ABC and Showtime executives said they had been pitched by a few unnamed producers about a possible movie, but declined the projects.

*

‘Nothing’ Controversial: The producers of the new ABC series “Nothing Sacred”--which has already prompted boycott threats by a Catholic group--said Tuesday they are “trying to be very respectful” toward the church and that the program is not trying to create controversy. The drama, which stars Kevin Anderson as a Catholic priest, has drawn fire from the Catholic League, but producer David Manson also quoted a positive review in a Catholic magazine. “There’s a wide range of opinion within the Catholic world,” he said. Producer Richard Kramer added that the show is “about a guy and his job as much as it is about a priest.”

*

How to Be a Protester: Citing what they called an “offensive image of black men,” six members of the community group Project Islamic H.O.P.E. held a news conference in front of the Magic Johnson Theatres at the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Mall Tuesday to decry the ad campaign for the upcoming Gramercy Pictures movie “How to Be a Player.” Stopping short of calling for a boycott of the film, however, the group implored Magic Johnson and his wife, Cookie, to remove the movie’s promotional posters from inside the theater. The posters depict a man surrounded by eight scantily clad women, one of them holding a whip. Theater manager Lorena Ruiz’s response to the protest was, “We’re a movie theater, that’s what we do, promote movies.” Meanwhile, the film’s director, Lionel Martin, said: “It’s quite apparent that they haven’t seen the movie. They were saying there are drug dealers, crack addicts, pimps [in the film], but the film has none of this. I don’t think the poster misrepresents the movie. I think the poster is very tasteful.”

ART

Getty’s Poussin Roadblock: In a move that seems likely to prevent the J. Paul Getty Museum from receiving a Nicolas Poussin landscape purchased in March in time to display it at the December opening of the Getty Center--and possibly from adding the painting to the Getty’s collection in the future--the British government has delayed issuing an export license to the museum. The Getty purchased the 17th century French painting, “Landscape With Calm,” for about $26 million from trustees of Sudeley Castle, a 15th century estate in Gloucestershire, and applied for an export license on April 1. A Getty spokesman said the museum was dismayed that it had taken 15 weeks to be informed of the deferral, which will be in effect for at least three months and possibly up to a year. The action is intended to give British institutions a chance to match the Getty’s price; the National Galleries of Scotland are said to have an interest in buying the painting.

OPERA

‘It’s All Rubbish’: Luciano Pavarotti on Tuesday denied media reports that he cannot read music. “It’s all rubbish; inventions to get a scoop,” Pavarotti said, referring to an Italian newspaper report ostensibly quoting Pavarotti and others who have worked with him. “In good faith to those who said I was a musical illiterate, after a career of 36 years, it’s a bit laughable,” the 61-year-old tenor told reporters Tuesday. Pavarotti admitted he preferred using his own notes instead of a traditional score but said newspapers had taken this out of context.

QUICK TAKES

Actor Andre Braugher, who received an Emmy nomination last year for his role on “Homicide: Life on the Street,” has told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he will leave the NBC series after the coming season to pursue comedic roles. . . . Italian police said they are investigating the cause of an injury Monday that left singer-actress Whitney Houston with a two-inch wound on her face. Houston, who had been on a yacht in the Mediterranean with husband Bobby Brown and another couple, told doctors that she hurt herself by hitting a rock while swimming, but a member of the yacht’s crew said she sustained the injury while on board. Houston is starring in ABC’s upcoming movie, “Cinderella.” . . . Dudley Moore has reconciled with his fourth wife, Nicole Rothschild Moore, but, in an indication that the reunion might be only temporary, Rothschild Moore said Monday that she has no plans to drop a lawsuit in which she claims the actor abused and defamed her. . . . ABC is acquiring the NBC sitcom “Something So Right,” starring Mel Harris and Jere Burns, to air on the network next season. NBC chose not to renew the comedy despite reasonably good ratings last season.