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

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Crystal Nixes Next Oscars: Billy Crystal, who’s received some mahvelous reviews for his past Oscar-hosting stints, says he won’t return for the next Academy Awards show because he’s too busy. “I can’t do it, you have to understand,” he told Fox News this week. “If everything goes according to plan, I’ll just be finishing a new movie [“America’s Sweethearts” with Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones] on March 22.” That’s just three days before the March 25 ceremony. An Oscar spokesman said Wednesday that “it wasn’t a surprise” that Crystal, a seven-time host, was unavailable, noting that he’d told the academy no “many months ago.” The next host has not yet been selected, the spokesman said. But Crystal had a suggestion: “It should be Jim Carrey.” Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg, another past Oscar host, hasn’t been contacted about the job, her spokesman said Wednesday.

Symphony Windfall: The founders of Enterprise Rent-a-Car have offered a challenge grant of $40 million to the St. Louis Symphony in what is believed to be the biggest personal gift to an American orchestra. The Jack Taylor family--whose St. Louis roots date to the 1800s--said it will match contributions the orchestra raises from other donors up to the $40-million cap. The potential gift is the largest in the 120-year history of the nation’s second-oldest symphony, which has undergone two decades of financial hardship.

U2 Goes Clubbing: U2 gave its only full-length U.S. concert of the year Tuesday, but instead of filling a stadium, the superstar group performed at New York’s 1,000-seat Irving Plaza. The set included four songs from the new album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” a few old U2 favorites (“11 O’Clock Tick Tock,” “I Will Follow”) and songs by the Who (“Won’t Get Fooled Again”) and the Ramones (“I Remember You”). Singer Bono, noting that Billy Corgan and Zack de la Rocha were in the audience, bemoaned those musicians’ recent breakups, respectively, with Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine. “People think it’s like being in a street gang,” Bono said of being in a band. “It’s more like the priesthood or the mob: You don’t get out while you’re alive.” U2, meanwhile, performs on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live.”

Quick Takes: NBC is pulling the plug on its Aaron Spelling prime-time soap, “Titans.” The drama, starring Yasmine Bleeth, has struggled since its October premiere, and its ratings dropped further this week when it moved to Mondays. An NBC spokeswoman said “Titans,” with four remaining new episodes, will stay on the schedule for now; a replacement show has not been named. . . . The Producers Guild of America will honor producer Brian Grazer (“The Grinch,” “Apollo 13”) with its lifetime achievement award for movies on March 3, while giving writer-producer David E. Kelley (“The Practice,” “Ally McBeal”) its corresponding honor for television. . . . “Erin Brockovich” took home the feature film honor at Wednesday’s Environmental Media Awards, while CBS’ “Family Law” and Fox’s “Futurama” won the episodic TV honors. . . . Singer Sisqo topped Tuesday’s Billboard Music Awards with six trophies, including for male artist of the year. Destiny’s Child, named artist of the year, won four awards, as did ‘N Sync, the Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill. . . . Showtime’s new series “Queer as Folk” gave the pay cable network its best rating for a season premiere in three years. The much-hyped series exploring gay single life made its debut Sunday night, drawing about 1.6 million viewers. . . . Talk show host Ricki Lake announced on ABC’s “The View” Wednesday that she is three months pregnant with her second child.