NEWS LITE : DION'S JITTERS PAID OFF ON `TITANIC'.

Celine Dion wasn't her usual calm self when she recorded the love theme for ``Titanic.''

Director James Cameron didn't want a pop song in his movie, but composer James Horner went behind his back, sure the filmmaker would like the result and change his mind.

That added to a case of nerves Dion developed when it came time to record the song, in semisecret-secret - after a long studio layoff for the Canadian singing star.

``I couldn't control my voice,'' Dion says in the March 13 Entertainment Weekly. ``I was shaking and sweating; I could hear my knees.''

But rather than hurt her, the emotion carried over into her performance of ``My Heart Will Go On.''

Carey, Jeter item in spring training

Mariah Carey is a free woman enjoying her new man.

Fresh from her Dominican Republic divorce, the singer is spending time in Florida with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who bristled when pumped for information on his love life.

``Baseball is baseball, man, and I'm here to answer baseball questions,'' Jeter told the New York Daily News. ``Nobody asks Tim Raines (another Yankees player) where he ate with his wife last night.''

Carey, 28, flew to the Dominican Republic recently to get the divorce from Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola, 46. They separated in May.

Oasis feels heat in land down under

The morning after brought clarity to Oasis.

``Last night's concert was appalling and I apologize,'' Noel Gallagher said Saturday in Brisbane, Australia. ``I can't offer any excuses.''

The British pop group reportedly sounded horrible, bickered onstage and refused to perform an encore at the 14,000-seat Brisbane Entertainment Center, where only 8,000 fans bought tickets to Friday night's show - and many left unhappy.

The night before, lead singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and released on bail after allegedly breaking a fan's nose with a head butt because the fan took a snapshot of him.

The band's first Australian tour was marred from the start by allegedly rowdy, offensive behavior on their Feb. 25 flight into the country.

Musicians to join benefit for ill star

A French Quarter benefit show for cancer-stricken R&B star Johnny Adams will bring together stylish jazz musicians and saucy Cajun zydeco players.

Adams topped R&B charts with hits like ``Release Me'' in 1968 and ``Reconsider Me'' in 1969. Fans dubbed him ``the tan canary'' for his smooth voice.

``It will be special,'' guitarist Walter ``Wolfman'' Washington said of the Monday benefit's lineup. ``We all admire and appreciate Johnny.''

Others slated for the Palm Court Jazz Cafe show include zydeco singer Rockin' Doopsie, jazz pianists David Torkanowsky and Eddie Bo, Cajun accordionist Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, Neville Brothers drummer Mean Willie Green and Fats' Domino's bass player, Irving Charles.

Cameron, unsinkable ship win Director's Guild award

James Cameron won the Directors Guild of America award Saturday night for making ``Titanic,'' turning the ocean liner blockbuster into a heavy favorite for the Oscars.

Cameron, in voting by the union of Hollywood filmmakers, defeated the makers of ``L.A. Confidential,'' ``Amistad,'' ``Good Will Hunting,'' and ``As Good As It Gets.''

``Wow,'' Cameron said in accepting the award. ``This is one of the proudest moments of my life. It's tremendous.''

``Titanic'' was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, tying the record for the most nominations ever. Cameron is nominated for best director, and the film - poised to become the all-time top-grossing movie ever - is nominated for best picture.

Only four times has the DGA winner not repeated at the Academy Awards. The winner of the directing Oscar also usually sees his film win as best picture. Cameron described his $200 million movie, the most expensive ever, as either ``a labor of love or a crime of passion.

``Its scale was overwhelming. It quite frankly scared the crap out of us every single day.''

In voting for television shows, the award for dramatic specials went to John Herzseld for ``Don King: Only in America.'' The dramatic series award was presented to Barbara Kopple for an episode of ``Homicide: Life on the Street.''

Andy Ackerman won the DGA prize for TV series for directing an episode of ``Seinfeld.''

The DGA winners who have not repeated at the Oscars are: Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola and Anthony Harvey.

The Oscars will be presented March 23.

Cameron's artistic and commercial breakthrough came in 1984 when he wrote and directed ``The Terminator,'' a futuristic action-thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also directed ``Aliens'' in 1986 and ``Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' in 1991.

Al Pacino presented Coppola with the D.W. Griffith Award. It is the guild's highest honor and recognizes distinguished career achievement in motion picture directing.

Coppola has directed more than 20 feature films in his three-decade career, including ``The Godfather'' trilogy, ``The Conversation,'' ``Rumble Fish,'' ``The Outsiders,'' ``The Cotton Club,'' ``Peggy Sue Got Married'' and most recently, ``John Grisham's The Rainmaker.''

Past recipients include: Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, John Ford and Cecil B. De Mille.

The Directors Guild of America represents more than 10,000 members working in U.S. cities and abroad.

Queen mulls campaign to cut royal rolls

LONDON - No more free plane trips and limousine rides for minor royals. No need - phew - to bow or curtsy every time a prince or princess appears. And fewer royal highnesses all around.

Queen Elizabeth II is reportedly considering these and other changes as the royal family tries to become a modern monarchy - one that will survive far into the future.

The Sun newspaper, trumpeting the dawn of ``the people's monarchy,'' reported Saturday that the queen was considering reducing the number of royal highnesses to the monarch's immediate family.

She also is reportedly thinking about barring minor royals from using royal planes and cars and of phasing out cheap ``grace and favor'' housing for relatives. The Sun also said the queen had decreed an end to curtsying and bowing, although this has been royal policy for some time.

``These reforms are very much a further indication that the queen is taking seriously what she said just before Diana's funeral . . . being in touch, moving with the times,'' said Ben Pimlott, author of a biography of the queen and a professor of politics and contemporary history at the University of London.

According to The Sun, the title HRH - His or Her Royal Highness - would be limited to the monarch's immediate family and children of the heir. That means Prince Charles' two sons would keep the title, but the two daughters of Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson would not.

Princess Diana and Sarah, the Duchess of York, both were stripped of the royal highness honor when they were divorced.

Minor royals who could lose car and plane privileges include Andrew's daughters and the queen's first cousins, such as Prince Michael of Kent.

The Sun said the proposals were outlined in a palace document seen and approved by Prime Minister Tony Blair's office.

--- News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) DION

(2) ``Titanic,'' starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, won director James Cameron his peers' praise.