NEWS LITE : RETIRED DIVA GETS THE MET ON ITS FEET.

The standing ovation at the Metropolitan Opera began 10 minutes before the show began.

When retired soprano Birgit Nilsson walked into her first-tier box seat before Saturday's performance of Wagner's ``Tristan und Isolde,'' the entire audience - including the orchestra - rose and gave her a 45-second standing ovation.

Saturday was the 40th anniversary of Miss Nilsson's Met debut, which was as Isolde, and the 81-year-old singer was in New York this week to give master classes for the Met's young artists development program.

During the first intermission of the performance, Miss Nilsson condemned the recent installation of microphones to enhance voices at some opera houses, including the New York City Opera on the other side of Lincoln Center Plaza.

``It is like doping with the sportsmen,'' she said.

Firefighters rescue Tomlin's TV awards

Her office suffered smoke and water damage, but firefighters saved Lily Tomlin's Emmys.

The fire that broke out in Tomlin's Hollywood office building Saturday gutted two recording studios down the hall from her suite and caused about $1.7 million in damage. There were no injuries.

Firefighters triumphantly waved two of Tomlin's Emmys out a window of the charred building after putting out the fire. Tomlin co-wrote and starred in her own self-named comedy specials in the 1970s, and she won three Emmy awards for the playlets.

Tomlin, who most recently appeared on the big screen in this year's ``Tea With Mussolini.''

``They actually tried to spare and save as much of the stuff as they could,'' she told KABC (Channel 7). ``I'm just sort of overcome with that kind of generosity, really, that kind of sensitivity.''

Elizabeth, Al Fayed at odds over Diana

Members of Britain's royal family have instructed solicitors that they are prepared to take legal action for defamation against Mohammed Al Fayed over his accusations against Prince Philip, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The weekly also said the family planned to strip Al Fayed's top store, Harrods, of three royal warrants - the royal mark of approval.

What's got the royals all in a snit? Seems Queen Elizabeth II has finally lost patience with Al Fayed because of his persistent attacks on the royal family in the wake of the death of Princess Diana and his son Dodi Fayed in a car crash in Paris two years ago.

Al Fayed claims that Prince Philip had masterminded the Paris car smash.

Ford honored with renaming of airport

If they can name a Florida turnpike after Ronald Reagan . . .

Former President Gerald R. Ford says he's flattered by a decision to rename Grand Rapids' Kent County International Airport in his honor.

``It's a very high honor to have my hometown airport so designated,'' he said.

Dedication ceremonies are expected to take place next spring in Michigan.

Auction features `Gilligan' souvenirs

More than 30 years after it aired, the TV program ``Gilligan's Island'' is not forgotten in Southern West Virginia.

A crowd of 200 packed the Bluefield Holiday Inn in Bluefield, W.Va., on Saturday for an auction that included donations by Bluefield resident Bob Denver, known for his title role in the 1960s TV series.

Denver's donations included a ``Gilligan's Island'' play-school set and autographed denim shorts worn by actress Dawn Wells, who portrayed Mary Ann.

The auctions, which also had a motorcycle and a Cadillac and autographed items from singer Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and other celebrities, netted $40,000.

The sale was organized by the Bluefield Union Mission Church, and the price of admission to the auction was a can of meat.

Denver said the auction brought back memories.

``I did get a little weepy, a little misty, but it's for a good cause and I hope it helps a lot,'' he said.

Dot-com pioneer lionized

Jeff Bezos, the Amazon.com founder whose company has lost millions of dollars while fostering the point-and-click revolution that is changing the way Americans shop, was named Time magazine's person of the year on Sunday.

``This year it was easier than most because there were two great themes of the year: online shopping and dot-com mania,'' said Time managing editor Walter Isaacson. ``The minute we thought of Bezos, it was obvious that he embodied both.''

Time called Bezos, 35, the king of cybercommerce and said his ambitious, ever-expanding online venture has ``helped build the foundation of our future.''

He is the fourth-youngest person to win the distinction. Charles Lindbergh was 25 when he won in 1927. Queen Elizabeth II was 26 when picked in 1952. Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he won in 1963. The magazine is due out today.

Bezos quit his job at a New York investment firm in 1994 to establish the Seattle-based Amazon.com, one of the first and biggest ventures in online retailing. The company quickly became the Goliath of Internet book sales. It soon branched out into music and video and is now becoming an online superstore.

But the company suffers a problem common to Internet ventures. With Bezos plowing money into expansion, Amazon expects to lose at least $350 million this year and has warned it will not be profitable until 2002.

``That's what Bezos represents: the attempt to build huge companies based on growth but not profit,'' Isaacson said. `` It may not make sense, but it sure changed the economy this year, for better or for worse.''

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

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) The cast of ``Gilligan's Island'' is shown in this 1978 file photo. Front row, from left: Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, Russell Johnson; back row, from left: Judith Baldwin, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer and Alan Hale Jr.

Associated Press

(2) NILSSON

(3) no caption (Time magazine cover of Jeff Bezos)