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

POP/ROCK Bluegrass Honors for ‘O Brother’

Dan Tyminski, the singing voice of George Clooney in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” picked up four awards, including best male vocalist, at the International Bluegrass Music Assn. Awards at the Kentucky Center for the Arts Thursday night.

The Coen brothers’ movie soundtrack, which sold more than 3 million copies, was named best album while two of its cuts--”I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” and “I’ll Fly Away”--were named best song and best gospel recording, respectively.

The success of the $10-million movie has shaken up bluegrass, in which sales of 20,000 are considered good for an album. An “O Brother” show at Carnegie Hall sold out in less than three days at $115 a ticket. A follow-up album, “Down From the Mountain,” sold 300,000 copies.

“Expect your music to be selling beer and everything else,” John Grady, who championed the album at Mercury Nashville Records, predicted this week.

Though “O Brother” dominated the evening, Rhonda Vincent walked off with three honors, including entertainer of the year. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver were named best vocal group and Nickel Creek won for best instrumental group.

The King of Pop--or a Reasonable Facsimile

A man claiming to be Michael Jackson showed up at Yankee Stadium Wednesday, saying he was slated to throw out the game’s first pitch. He and four colleagues told authorities they were filming a segment for the VH1 show “Sledgehammer,” a police spokeswoman said.

The man, identified by police as Frederick Oliverier, 28, of Queens, N.Y., managed to fool Yankee personnel, who escorted him into the venue. But the police weren’t quite so gullible. Warned that a Jackson impersonator and his entourage had been seen at the Bronx Zoo earlier in the day, they spotted him in the home dugout and arrested him shortly before the Yankees took the field against the Chicago White Sox. All five face charges of criminal trespass and Oliverier an additional one of false impersonation.

Lennon Honoredon His Birthday

In commemoration of what would have been John Lennon’s 61st birthday on Tuesday, several local events are planned.

The Imagine Center, a metaphysical bookstore in Tarzana, will celebrate from 7 to 11 tonight, with music by the Pegasus Project, dancing and world peace meditation at Tarzana’s St. Paul’s Church. “Breakfast With the Beatles” will devote itself to Lennon from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday on KLSX-FM (97.1).

And the annual John Lennon Birthday Celebration, featuring live and taped Beatles songs, tributes and a candle-lighting ceremony in remembrance of the World Trade Center victims, will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the singer’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star in front of the Capitol Records Tower building, 1750 N. Vine St., Hollywood.

Everly Brothers Among Country Inductees

The Everly Brothers, a 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll act firmly rooted in country, were part of the largest class ever inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Thursday night.

Many of their hits, including “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie,” made the country charts. But their success in other genres slowed down their journey to the Nashville shrine, Phil Everly maintained.

“It feels like the prodigal son being brought back home,” Everly said. “I would love to see the Buddy Hollys, Eddie Cochrans [get chosen]. They were really country acts, they just got labeled differently.”

Also inducted were Sam Phillips, Waylon Jennings, “Whisperin” Bill Anderson, the Delmore Brothers, Don Gibson, Homer & Jethro, the Jordanaires, Don Law, The Louvin Brothers, Ken Nelson and Webb Pierce.

THE ARTS

Cambodians Leave Dance Company

At least six members of a troupe of Cambodian dancers and musicians abandoned the company after a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington and appeared to be planning to seek residency in the United States, the Washington Post reported.

Four of the performers left after last Saturday’s performance--the last on its American tour. And two more were seen departing Monday before the group left for the airport.

“People were joking, saying, ‘OK, if anybody wants to leave, leave now, because once we get on the bus, it’s too late,”’ said Vuthy Huot, a senior editor at Radio Free Asia who was on the scene.

The development was hard for artistic director Proeung Chhieng, a dancer who survived Pol Pot’s holocaust in the 1970s by concealing his identity. “He said he hopes they use their talent to preserve Khmer culture in the U.S.,” Huot said.

TELEVISION

Patriotic Flavor for History Channel

Riding the country’s patriotic fervor in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the History Channel is making changes to its programming lineup.

Beginning Monday, it will air “The American Spirit,” a series focusing on quintessential moments in American history (weekdays at 7 p.m.). Another addition: “All American Marvels,” showcasing the nation’s most celebrated monuments (Fridays at 8 p.m.).

QUICK TAKES

Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues,” the 1985 Tony Award winner for best play, will replace the previously announced “Now You See It” in the Pasadena Playhouse lineup this season, opening on Jan. 20 .... CNN will re-broadcast Saira Shah’s “Under the Veil,” a look at life under Afghanistan’s repressive Taliban regime, at 8 tonight .... “Dracula, the Musical,” which begins performances at the La Jolla Playhouse next week, has been booked for the Broadway Theatre in New York in spring.