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

PEOPLE WATCH

Liza Recovering: Oscar- and Tony Award-winning actress Liza Minnelli was recovering at a Florida hospital after falling seriously ill with viral encephalitis, a potentially deadly inflammation of the brain, her doctor said Monday. Minnelli, 54, was treated for the disease two weeks ago and had been released from the Cleveland Clinic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but was readmitted a few days ago after becoming dehydrated, Dr. Maurice Hanson said. “She was quite sick and was in very serious condition but is now recovering well, and we expect to release her in a few days.” Minnelli’s publicist said Monday: “Encephalitis is a serious condition, but she is by no means on her deathbed. She is in great spirits.” A Fort Lauderdale fire chief, meanwhile, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that she was admitted to the hospital Oct. 8 after paramedics summoned to an area home found Minnelli in a “semiconscious” state suffering from stroke-like symptoms including partial paralysis and slurred speech.

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Edward G. Robinson Stamp: The U.S. Postal Service will dedicate and unveil a new postage stamp honoring late actor Edward G. Robinson during 10 a.m. ceremonies today at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre. The stamp--the sixth in the Legends of Hollywood series--is being issued in conjunction with the American Film Institute’s AFI Fest 2000. A screening of Robinson’s 1965 film “The Cincinnati Kid” will follow the dedication ceremony.

POP/ROCK

But He Still Has His Day Job: Thanks to an offhanded remark, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has unwittingly become one of his country’s top pop singers, according to the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “Go get me a bottle of beer before I go on strike here,” Schroeder said at the end of a long, hot day touring eastern Germany last summer. The remark, recorded by journalists, was turned into the refrain for a country-western style ballad, “Hol mir mal ‘ne Flasche Bier,” by leading German comedian Stefan Raab. More than 360,000 copies of the song have been sold, putting Schroeder at No. 2 in the German pop music charts, ahead of acts including Madonna and Britney Spears. Music industry executives said that Schroeder may earn about 1.5 million marks ($700,000) in royalties, but the chancellor has already said he would donate any proceeds he receives to charity.

TELEVISION

Election Bites: Kids nationwide picked George W. Bush over Al Gore, 55% to 45%, in Nickelodeon’s “Kids Vote” presidential poll. More than 330,000 kids voted via an 800 number. Nickelodeon’s “Kids Vote” polls have correctly predicted the winner in the last three presidential elections. . . . PBS is giving Bush and Gore four 2 1/2-minute blocks of air time each to address American voters on topics of their choosing. The messages will air weekdays on “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” Wednesday through Nov. 3, alternating nightly between the candidates. . . . Cable’s C-SPAN and the state government-operated California Channel will both televise a live hourlong debate from Santa Monica at 11 a.m. today between incumbent U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her challenger, Republican Congressman Tom Campbell.

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Tube Notes: Cable’s Showtime is filming “In the Time of the Butterflies,” a TV movie about the four Mirabal sisters who were instrumental in bringing down Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Padilla’s regime. Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos and singer Marc Anthony are among those starring in the movie, which will air in 2001. . . . Sidney Poitier will star in a new CBS TV movie, “The Last Brickmaker in America,” expected to air later this season. . . . CBS will air an hourlong Tina Turner concert special, “Target Presents: Tina Turner One Last Time Live!,” on Dec. 4 at 10 p.m. It was taped at London’s Wembley Stadium. . . . UPN’s new sitcom “Girlfriends” and Fox’s second-year comedy “Titus” have both been picked up for the full season.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

SummerFest Appointment: Cho-Liang Lin, 40, has been named the artistic director of the three-week La Jolla SummerFest, effective immediately. He replaces Wu Han and David Finckel, festival co-directors for the last three summers, who resigned in August. Lin, a violinist who studied with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York, is now on the faculty of that institution.

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Iberoamerican Honor: Peruvian composer Celso Garrido-Lecca has won the third Tomas Luis de Victoria Classical Music Award, a $100,000 prize considered the most important classical music award for those from Iberoamerican countries (including Mexico, Spain, Portugal and South American nations). Previous winners of the biennial composers award are Cuban Harold Gramatges and Spaniard Xavier Montsalvatge.

QUICK TAKES

Former 20th Century Fox chairman Bill Mechanic has been named president of the international jury for the Berlin International Film Festival’s Berlinale 2001, set for Feb. 7-18. . . . The crown prince of Spain, Felipe de Borbon, was among those attending the gala opening Saturday of the $55-million National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, N.M. . . . Garth Brooks became the latest celebrity hero Friday when he beat on the door of a home just north of Tulsa, Okla., to alert two young boys that a fast-moving grass fire was headed toward the house. Brooks and another man then drove the boys--Ryan Cooper, 14, and Randall Cooper, 10--through dense smoke to safety; the boys reportedly did not recognize their rescuer. . . . Merv Griffin has donated a $10-million Arizona inn and dude ranch to the charity group Childhelp USA for use as a home for about 300 severely abused children.