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

TELEVISION

Hoping for Wonder of Sight: Stevie Wonder tells ABC’s Barbara Walters on tonight’s “20/20” that he has hope that he might one day be able to see. Wonder and his eye surgeon appear on the program to talk about testing that Wonder, who has been blind since birth, will undergo to find out if an experimental microchip can give him sight. Wonder tells Walters, however, that his own individual eyesight is not as important as the possibility that the device, called an intra-ocular retinal prosthesis, could bring hope for others who are blind.

Olympic Plans: Summer Olympics coverage will be shown on basic cable for the first time when NBC runs a total of 170 hours from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney on CNBC and MSNBC. Jim Lampley will host MSNBC’s telecasts, while Pat O’Brien will host CNBC’s coverage. Sports whose finals will be shown on the cable networks include boxing, soccer, tennis, water polo, baseball, weightlifting and equestrian events. NBC, meanwhile, will carry the big-ticket events, including the opening ceremonies.

POP/ROCK

Headed for Retirement?: Garth Brooks, the biggest-selling country act ever and the No. 2 pop act behind the Beatles, says that he probably will retire next year to spend more time with his three young daughters. The surprise announcement came Wednesday during an interview on the Nashville Network’s “Crook & Chase” show. “I never, ever thought in my life I’d say this, but music is not the first thing in my life anymore,” Brooks said. “Those girls [his daughters are 3, 5 and 7] somehow come along and they just take your energy and all of a sudden all you want to do is things that make them smile.” Brooks, 37, said he expects to “lay low” for the next nine or 10 months, plan a big party and “probably announce our retirement at the end of next year.” Though not giving clear details, Brooks indicated that he would no longer tour but would continue to write songs and, perhaps, movie scripts. He said he might resume activities like touring, however, when his daughters are grown. A spokeswoman at Brooks’ record label, Capitol, declined comment. Brooks has hinted at retirement before; in 1995 he said he might curtail his career because of family obligations, but he soon was back on the road.

Extra Raps: Rapper Jay-Z plans to add two songs to his new album to undermine bootleggers who have flooded the black market with illegal copies of “Vol. 3 . . . Life and Times of S. Carter,” which hits stores Dec. 28 and is expected to debut in the national Top 10. The Jay-Z bootleg crisis may go beyond financial woes--industry sources and the New York press report that the situation was the apparent motive for Jay-Z’s alleged Dec. 1 attack on a record executive at a New York nightclub. The Brooklyn-born rapper faces assault and weapons charges from the incident. Meanwhile, Jay-Z, who has denied involvement in the attack, told The Times that violence remains a major problem in the rap world. “People grow up in urban areas, in the projects . . . and then they start selling albums and they come under everybody’s eyes,” Jay-Z said. “That doesn’t mean they escaped, that doesn’t mean now that they have nice cars and money, that everything is good. . . . It just doesn’t go away.” The album’s two added songs: “I Think There’s Been a Murder” and “Watch Me,” a duet with Dr. Dre.

QUICK TAKES

Merv Griffin’s Beverly Hilton Hotel has canceled its all-inclusive, $1,000-a-person “Merv’s Millennium EVErything” New Year’s Eve party, due to what a spokeswoman called “statistics [projecting] that 77% of people will be staying home” that night. The hotel’s restaurants will instead have a series of “small celebrations.” . . . CBS’ soap “The Young and the Restless” has notched a full 11 years--572 straight weeks--as daytime TV’s top-rated program.