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

POP/ROCK

‘N Sync, Eminem Top MTV Noms: Videos by ‘N Sync and Eminem received six nominations each for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, which were announced Tuesday and will be presented Sept. 7 in New York. ‘N Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye,” an elaborate production that depicts the quintet as action figures on a toy store shelf, and Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady,” which places the clowning rapper among a sea of look-alikes and in some caustic mini-skits, were both nominated in the marquee category of best video. Other nominations in that top category: “All the Small Things” by Blink-182, “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” by D’Angelo and “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the viewers’ choice category (all other nominations are made by 500 music-industry insiders), the ‘N Sync and Eminem hit videos will compete with “The Thong Song” by Sisqo, “What a Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera and “Oops! . . . I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. “Scary Movie” stars Shawn and Marlon Wayans will host the event.

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Yes Star Accused of Assault: A keyboardist for the British group Yes was charged with sexual assault and battery, both misdemeanors, following a concert Sunday at Nissan Pavilion in Virginia, the Washington Post reported. Prince William County, Va., police say Igor Khoroshev, 35, sexually assaulted two female security guards working backstage at the concert. If convicted, he could face up to two years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

TELEVISION

Brockovich Fights Back: Erin Brockovich challenged “20/20” TV reporter John Stossel and his family to drink water with the carcinogen chromium 6 after Stossel questioned the research she used to gain a $333-million settlement. A legal investigator and the subject of the hit movie “Erin Brockovich,” Brockovich helped win the settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric for residents in Hinkley, Calif., in connection with alleged pollution of ground water. Stossel questioned the harmful effects of chromium 6 in the “Give Me a Break” segment of the ABC newsmagazine that aired last week. When told of Brockovich’s challenge, Stossel said: “I wouldn’t like my family to drink the water, but let’s not terrify people unless we know it’s true.” An ABC News statement said Stossel never claimed drinking chromium 6 was safe. Brockovich has asked Stossel and his producer to apologize for what she called a dangerous and misleading broadcast.

FILM

Cannes Winner Censored in China: Following his Grand Prix win at the Cannes festival in May, Chinese director Jiang Wen returned home to Beijing to find censors have refused to screen his movie about wartime China. They also want to confiscate the movie’s negatives, and Jiang fears that he’ll eventually be banned from directing and acting in China. “This is a little absurd and it’s a little terrifying,” Jiang said in an interview with the Associated Press. The main obstacle, he said, appears to be political. In an unpublished document circulating among Beijing’s film community, censors have branded Jiang’s film, “Devils on the Doorstep,” unpatriotic. The film portrays Chinese villagers who capture a wounded Japanese soldier near the end of World War II. They treat him well until deciding to trade him for food. One government censor acknowledged that “Devils” was being held up because Jiang violated regulations that require official approval before a movie can be shown at international film festivals. Zhou Jiandong, an official on the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television’s censorship committee for movies, said the panel would not rule out blocking Jiang from continuing to make movies in China. What happens to him partly depends on “his attitude” and whether he cooperates, Zhou said.

THE ARTS

Wagner Festival Unrest Continues: Veteran opera star Hans Sotin, scheduled to play Gurnemanz in Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal,” quit a day before the start of the renowned Wagner music festival in Bayreuth, Germany. Sotin, in a phone call Monday to the Nordbayerischer Kurier newspaper, cited “irreconcilable differences” with the director. There were no immediate specifics on the spat. Wolfgang Wagner, festival chief and the 81-year-old grandson of Richard Wagner, said he regretted Sotin’s decision but didn’t want to comment further. This year’s annual Richard Wagner Festival, the 89th, has been clouded by a feud among Wagner’s descendants over how the festival he founded should be run. The dispute has pitted Wolfgang Wagner, who has run the festival for nearly 50 years, against other descendants who say they want to breathe fresh air into the production.

QUICK TAKES

“The Sandy Bottom Orchestra,” based on the novel by Garrison Keillor and wife Jenny Lind Nilsson, will premiere Aug. 27 on Showtime. The film stars Glenne Headly, Tom Irwin, Madeline Zima and Jane Powell. . . . LAPD Chief Bernard Parks returns to KABC-AM’s (790) “Larry Elder Show” today for the monthly segment of “Talk With the Police Chief.” From 5 to 6 p.m., the chief will discuss security concerns surrounding the Democratic National Convention.