ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

ENTERTAINMENT

GNR Headed to Woodstock?: Guns N’ Roses--with singer Axl Rose and a new lineup--is close to signing on as one of the headliners at Woodstock ‘99, the 30th anniversary celebration of the landmark 1969 rock festival, sources close to the event say. GNR would join a lineup that’s expected to include Aerosmith, Metallica, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Korn, Limp Bizkit and Sugar Ray at the decommissioned Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., July 23-25. Promoter John Scher, one of the principals of the venture, would not confirm the roster, which will be officially announced next week, but said that, like the 1994 25th anniversary Woodstock concert, there will be a strong presence of young, rising acts, including several hip-hop performers. “This is a rite of passage for a core audience of 17- to 24-year-olds,” he said. “We’re not trying to relive memories of ’69 or even ’94.”

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Spears Back on Top: Teen pop star Britney Spears’ debut album, “ . . . Baby One More Time,” recaptured the No. 1 spot on the national pop chart with sales last week of approximately 168,000, according to SoundScan. The week’s tally pushes total sales to 1.8 million for Spears’ album, which has spent four weeks at No. 1 since its release in January. In returning to the top, “Baby” ends a four-week run at No. 1 by TLC’s “Fanmail,” which drops to No. 3 behind rapper Eminem’s “Slim Shady LP.” The week’s highest-charting debut was Blackstreet’s “Finally,” which finished in 10th place with sales of about 80,000. TLC’s “No Scrubs” is the nation’s best-selling single.

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Imagen Nominees: Sony Pictures’ “Mask of Zorro” and “Dance With Me” will vie with the independent movies “Melting Pot” and “True Friends” as best feature film at the 14th annual Imagen Awards, which honors positive portrayals of Latinos in film and television. Among the TV series categories, NBC’s “Jesse” and UPN’s “Malcolm & Eddie” are the only comedy nominees, while CBS’ “Touched by an Angel,” Showtime’s “Outer Limits” and CBS’ canceled series “The Magnificent Seven” are nominated for drama. In addition, DreamWorks SKG will receive a special animation award for the creative contributions of Latino animation artists in the studio’s films “Antz” and “The Prince of Egypt.” Awards will be presented Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

QUICK TAKES

NBC’s Saturday night series “Profiler” and “The Pretender” will converge on May 8 with a two-hour episode in which the two series’ lead characters work together to find a serial kidnapper. . . . Several country and R&B; singers--including Smokey Robinson, MC Hammer, Chaka Khan, Charlie Daniels and Naomi Judd--will be featured in a $7-million TV ad campaign promoting Bible reading in America.