It's been a busy day for Alicia Keys, who's in her hometown (that would be New York) to promote the 10th anniversary re-release of her debut album Songs In A Minor. First, the emerald-clad singer set up a piano in the middle of Times Square to perform "Empire State Of Mind" on Good Morning America while backed by a four-piece orchestra, much to the confusion of several cabbies. Keys Tweeted that the location was "possibly the craziest place I've EVER performed!!!," though her performance was markedly more subdued: more ›

The PS 22 kids on Staten Island have delivered once again. Their latest performance is of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind." There's singing, rapping (more age appropriate lyrics than the original) and even a happy dance at the end! more ›

Is that a pinstripe suit jacket hoodie? Genius. Moving along, last night Stephen Colbert welcomed Alicia Keys to his show, where the two performed a new rendition of Jay-Z's hit "Empire State of Mind" (the Upper Middle Class Remix). more ›

No arrests have been made, but a violent incident in Times Square originating at karaoke nightclub early Monday Spotlight LiveSpotlight Live resulted in the death of one man and the injury or hospitalization six others last night. A coat-check dispute, led to the ejection of a number of patrons and resulted in a deadly brawl. more ›

Al Gore is a VP again, of Live Earth - an organization/music event that he says "will help us reach a tipping point that's needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis." more ›

Baby, it's cold outside—go see a movie, why dontcha? Werewolves, comic books and hot girls who prowl the streets of Bucharest in high heel boots should be the stuff of great geek cinema. Unfortunately, strives to spoof every bloated popular movie that's come out lately. Of course punch line bombshell Carmen Electra is in it, but so is Kal Penn, Jennifer Coolidge and Crispin Glover of all people, so it could be fun for some chuckles. more ›

"Last year Elton John declared that Rufus Wainwright was the greatest songwriter on the planet. Quite a profound statement from the king of pop himself. This was presumably based on hearing 2004's Want One, followed earlier this year by the groundbreaking opus, Want Two." Elly Roberts goes on to say that Wainwright's recent show at The Lowry was "An epic night, and a high watermark of a musician on top of his game, who has single headedly changed the possibilities of popular music." Our hometown (via Rhinebeck, New York and Canada) hero headlines the Beacon Theater two nights in row this week. We're especially excited about Wednesday's show. Regina Spektor is opening. more ›

William B. Johnson, Percussionist more ›

Last week I didn't tell you about the show Beck played at Hiro Ballroom Friday night (one night before his appearance on Saturday Night Live). That's because the "secret" show wasn't even announced until Thursday. Beck is known for playing last-minute small-venue shows, and I was lucky enough to score a ticket to this one. Here are the pictures. more ›

Time releases its Time 100 list of influential people for 2005, and it's pretty much the snore it was last year. Much like other magazines whose "most influential list" reads more like a "Who's popular?" or "Who's pretty?" list from high school, Time focuses on names that people have heard of. Sure, some of the people truly make a difference, like Jeffrey Sachs or Javier Solana, but Jamie Foxx and Clint Eastwood? Boring. And the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, they're on the list this year, but aren't they influential for an era, not just a year? What also is hilariously lame is that Time insists on its subscriber-only policy to access this content. News flash: No one really wants to read it unless they're in the dentist's office. Which reminds Gothamist, it's time for a cleaning. more ›

Jon Setzen, Designer more ›

Tonight on the Tonight Show (Dave and Conan are in reruns): Alicia Keys with Andre 3000. more ›

Roger Friedman who writes a sort of gossip column at Fox News's website has always struck me as the music and entertainment industries' Dominick Dunne: incredibly well-connected, smart, hysterical, self-important, and above all, totally biased. He's great for the music industry's insider perspective - he was on the pulse of the Alicia Keys publicity machine, as well as was a willing messenger for it. But I can't take his tastes seriously - especially when he thinks that Chicago is the best movie of the year. He also thinks the About Schmidt screenplay was better than About a Boy, but maybe that's because he's old. (Yeah, I'm being ageist, but About Schmidt is a huge boring downer and Jack is basically doing his usual schtick. Who cares?) more ›