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PEOPLE WATCH

Kudos for Springsteen: The Boss met the King Monday and came away $133,000 richer. Rocker Bruce Springsteen was one of two recipients of the Polar Music Prize, presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm. Springsteen’s citation praised him for being an “uncompromising steward of the essential qualities of rock: its heavy beat and ‘groovy’ sound--a harsh, sometimes crude, but at the same time spiritual sound ideal rooted in black rhythm and blues.” The prize fund was established at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music by Stig Anderson, whose Polar Record Co. released the worldwide hits of ABBA in the 1970s and ‘80s. Each year, the prize goes to one pop or jazz musician and one classical musician. Swedish choral director Eric Ericson is this year’s other recipient.

O’Connor Suit Dismissed: A Los Angeles judge on Monday dismissed Carroll O’Connor’s wrongful-death lawsuit against a drug dealer he blamed for his son’s suicide, saying it was filed too late. O’Connor’s claim that drugs supplied by Harry Perzigian led to son Hugh’s death was filed after expiration of the one-year statute of limitations, Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey said. Hugh O’Connor, 32, shot himself in the head on March 28, 1995, and his father filed the wrongful-death lawsuit in October 1996. A call to Carroll O’Connor’s publicist wasn’t immediately returned Monday. Perzigian was convicted of possessing cocaine for sale and furnishing cocaine to Hugh O’Connor and was sentenced to a year in jail. He is suing Carroll O’Connor, claiming the actor libeled him by calling him “a partner in murder.” That trial is scheduled for July 7.

Remembering Kent State: Crosby, Stills & Nash marked the 27th anniversary of the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University with a campus performance that included “Ohio,” a song that memorialized the deaths. About 7,000 people sat at the site of the deaths Sunday for the group’s first performance at Kent State. Nine students also were wounded May 4, 1970, by Ohio National Guardsmen sent to quell a protest against the Vietnam War. The shootings “really hit us hard,” said David Crosby, who persuaded Stephen Stills and Graham Nash to take part in the vigil. “That’s why Neil [Young] wrote ‘Ohio’ and that’s why we put it out,” Crosby said. “As a result, we’ve always been strongly identified with the event.”

TV & RADIO

More Local Emmys: Nominees in two final categories of the 1997 Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards have been released, and KCAL-TV Channel 9 has picked up four additional citations to bring its total to 16. Voting for the best local color and best news feature reporting had not been completed when the rest of the nominations were unveiled April 24. KCBS-TV Channel 2 still wound up with the most, 19, but now KCAL is second and KTTV-TV Channel 11 is third, with 15. The winners will be announced May 31.

Around the Dial: Stephanie Miller, the irreverent comic radio host who had a short-lived late-night TV series, will return to radio later this month on KTZN-AM (790 AM). “The Stephanie Miller Show” will combine news and lifestyle issues in an afternoon slot to be announced. Miller left KFI-AM in June 1995 to work on a syndicated series, which was canceled after 13 weeks. . . . KKGO-FM (105.1) will air Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “L.A. Variations,” as performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic this past weekend in New York. Salonen’s original composition can be heard on the classical station Sunday at 5 p.m. . . . Radio personality Tracey Miller accepted an on-the-air marriage proposal from her boyfriend Bill Edelstein Friday morning on KTZN-AM (710). Co-host Robin Abcarian pitched in by presenting a diamond engagement ring on behalf of Edelstein.

Happy Anniversary: “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” will mark its first anniversary May 16 by welcoming back George Clooney, Susan Lucci and singer Toni Braxton, who appeared as guests on the 1996 premiere. In addition to catching up with this trio, the Daytime Emmy-nominated O’Donnell will review memorable moments from the past year.

McCartney Goes Online: Paul McCartney is taking to the Internet for a live chat and 1 million fans have signed up to ask him questions. “It’s an awful lot to ask of anyone,” he said Monday. “I don’t think we’ll get through all the questions but we will give it a go.” The former Beatle agreed to his first live online chat, which will be televised live in Great Britain, Germany and the United States, in conjunction with “Flaming Pie,” his first album in four years, which is being released May 27. A spokesman for cable’s VH1, which will screen McCartney’s Web site debut on May 17, said: “We have had questions sent through every medium. In the first few days after the announcement, we received 7,000 phone calls alone. People are trying every way to put a question to Paul although we have not had any by carrier pigeon yet.”

A&E; Plans: Encouraged by its improved ratings this season, cable’s A&E; will offer a 20% increase in its original prime-time programming come fall. The slate will include new adaptations of works by Charlotte Bronte, Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry Fielding, as well as stories on Hollywood, Havana, magic and martial arts.

QUICK TAKES

Fountains of Wayne, whose concert last Friday night at the Roxy was postponed because singer Chris Collingwood was suffering from laryngitis, will play tonight at the West Hollywood club. Tickets from Friday’s show will be honored. . . . Henry Thomas, who played the alien’s best friend in “E.T.--The Extraterrestrial,” will portray Ishmael in an upcoming USA Network remake of “Moby-Dick.”