CONNICK AMAZED TO BE IN SUCH DISTINGUISHED COMPANY.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Harry Connick Jr. is blunt about his nomination as Favorite Actor - Drama/Romance in the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. His competition happens to be Robert Redford (for ``The Horse Whisperer'') and Nicolas Cage (``City of Angels''), and Harry says, ``To be honest with you, anybody who would nominate me along with the likes of those guys is absolutely insane.''

Nevertheless, we'll be seeing the ``Hope Floats'' star as a presenter at the awards - which tape next week for airing on the Fox network June 16. ``I'm totally honored and flattered to have come up in that group of people, though I can't imagine why,'' adds Harry humbly.

The occasional actor is focused on the musical part of his career at present. He has his first big-band jazz album in years, ``Come by Me,'' due out next month. He makes his video directing debut with the splashy ``Come by Me'' video. And he's finalizing plans for a tour that he'll begin next month. Connick tells us his schedule is being worked out to allow him weeklong breaks at home. He and his wife, Jill Goodacre, are parents of daughters ages 3 and 1-1/2 years old, and he notes that ``when you have little ones, it's hard to take 'em on the road.''

On the movie front, he has the drama ``Wayward Son'' due out in the fall, and also has in the can ``The Simian Line'' - a Linda Yellen improvisational film for which ``there was a story line, but no script.'' The tale has to do with three couples who are told by a psychic (Tyne Daly) at a Halloween party that one pair of the three is headed for a split. Connick was coupled with Lynn Redgrave, ``which was very interesting just by virtue of our cultural differences. She's a proper and elegant British woman, and I'm about as white trash as you get,'' Harry laughs.

Exciting indeed

Curious about those billboards, seen nationally, that feature Michelle Pfeiffer or Bruce Willis (the cutest we've ever seen him) interacting with little tykes next to the lines ``What excites Michelle?'' or ``What excites Bruce Willis?''? The two actors agreed to lend their star power to a campaign giving parents important information about child development via the Excite Internet portal. Rob Reiner, who directed Michelle and Bruce in the forthcoming ``The Story of Us,'' asked them to front the project, which has proceeds going to his I Am Your Child initiative and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Inside looking out

The episode of UPN's ``The Sentinel'' that will likely serve as Leigh Taylor-Young's swan song from the show airs Monday - with her character trying to sell a book about Richard Burgi's paranormally gifted fighter of evil. Leigh, who has a recurring part on the show, says she's thrilled to promote it. ``I love it. But I am a little confused about why they (the network) wanted me to. It makes me wonder if there is still some slight window for it to come back.'' ``Sentinel'' has been written off as a sure cancellation. However, fans managed to do enough writing and calling to rescue the series from oblivion last year. We'll know today - when UPN announces its schedule.

Radio faves

Shania Twain took two of the top awards at BMI's 47th annual Pop Awards last night at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Twain won the BMI Pop Song of the Year award for ``You're Still the One'' - and shared the BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year title with Mariah Carey, Sarah McLachlan and Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, who each had three songs on the most-performed list. Tonight, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire, BMI is honoring its composers at the BMI Film & Television Awards Dinner. Expected to be on hand are Lalo Schifrin, Trevor Rabin and John Williams, the music man behind ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.''

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

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4 Photos

Photo: (1) CONNICK

(2) TWAIN

(3) PFEIFFER

(4) WILLIS