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

ART

Miniatures Museum Closing: Wilshire Boulevard’s Carole and Barry Kaye Museum of Miniatures--which has displayed tiny re-creations of everything from Hampton Court Palace to Van Gogh paintings and vintage cars--will close its doors at the end of the year, when the Kayes plan to move to Florida. Barry Kaye, an insurance underwriter, and his wife, Carole, whose interest in miniatures began with building a dollhouse for her grandson, founded the museum in 1992 and moved it to its present location, near the L.A. County Museum of Art, in 1994.

TELEVISION

Will She or Won’t She?: Rosie O’Donnell, who last week announced her new editorial association with McCall’s magazine, told “Today” host Katie Couric on Monday that she would quit her daytime talk show when her contract expires in the spring. O’Donnell began the conversation by saying she was merely “leaning towards” talk show retirement. But when Couric prompted her with: “Why don’t you just say, ‘I’m not going to do it’? Then you’d really make news this morning,” O’Donnell replied: “All right, I’m not going to do it.” Couric then gave O’Donnell a chance to back down, but O’Donnell didn’t, and said that an announcement is expected in January. Following the broadcast, however, a show spokeswoman said: “Our stance is that nothing’s been decided.”

POP/ROCK

MusiCares Honoree: The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences will honor Paul Simon, a 33-time Grammy nominee and 16-time winner, as the 2001 MusiCares Person of the Year. A tribute dinner and concert honoring Simon--described by NARAS President Michael Greene as “a man who brings people and cultures together by promoting unity through music”--will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 19 as part of a week of events leading to the Grammy Awards, airing Feb. 21 on CBS. Previous winners of the humanitarian MusiCares honor include Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan.

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Fender Needs Liver Transplant: Grammy-winning country music singer Freddy Fender has the viral disease Hepatitis C and is being evaluated by a Texas hospital for a liver transplant. His spokesman said that the singer, 63, is also experiencing related kidney problems and is undergoing a series of dialysis treatments. However, “Freddy will continue to perform on weekends and select bookings,” the spokesman said, adding, “Freddy has overcome many hurdles in his career, and we are hopeful that a donor organ will be located.” Fender is best known for his crossover hit, “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.”

QUICK TAKES

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday that it has received entries from a record 46 countries for this year’s Oscar for best foreign language film. Only one country--Ecuador--is entering a film for the first time. . . . In a bid to boost the film’s Oscar chances, DreamWorks is re-releasing its summer Russell Crowe hit, “Gladiator,” on giant Imax screens in several cities including Los Angeles on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the film comes out on video and DVD today. . . . Award-winning music producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton) will oversee the formation of a female pop group in the WB’s midseason reality series “Popstars,” which premieres Jan. 12 in the Friday 8:30 p.m. time slot. . . . Despite a reconciliation earlier this year, Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette are ending their five-year marriage. Citing “irreconcilable differences,” Arquette filed for divorce Friday; Cage had filed similar papers in February but withdrew the petition six weeks later. This time, the couple has already dissolved their assets and debts by written agreements, court documents said. . . . An estimated 8.7 million people watched ABC’s “The Beatles Revolution” special on Friday, with the program trailing both NBC and CBS in its time slot. . . . Oasis singer Liam Gallagher confirmed that he is expecting a baby with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton, who is about two months pregnant. Gallagher separated from his wife, actress Patsy Kensit, in July after a stormy three-year marriage; Appleton was previously engaged to British pop star Robbie Williams. . . . Laura Schlessinger made an on-air pitch for companies to advertise on her TV and radio programs last week, another sign that the pressure campaign against sponsors by gay activists is taking a toll. Schlessinger did warn those choosing to advertise on her shows: “The bad guys are going to beat on you, [so] you have to have a spine to stand with me.”

Web Notes: Kelsey Grammer voices the title character in “Gary the Rat,” a new Web animated series about a high-powered Manhattan attorney who awakes one day to find he’s been transformed into a 6-foot-tall rat. The first installment of the 13-episode series, which is also produced by Grammer, went up on the Web Monday at https://www.mediatrip.com. . . . Actress Bai Ling (“Anna and the King”) voices the title heroine in “Chi-Chian,” a futuristic, 14-episode, stop-motion animated series premiering today on https://www.sci-fi.com. . . . Nine Inch Nails’ front man Trent Reznor will chat live on the Web today at 6 p.m. at https://www.spin.com. NIN’s new album, “Things Falling Apart,” hits stores today.