There goes our Alicia Keys crush:

… KEYS has bizarrely claimed the US government invented ‘gangsta rap’ to convince black people to kill each other.

CONTINUED »

KEY TO THE CONTINENT A portion of a new Alicia Keys documentary, the not-very-creatively named Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland, will air on tonight's seriously hyped American Idol: Idol Gives Back show. The documentary follows Keys' one-month trip to the continent, where she visited communities deeply affected by HIV and AIDS (that's quite a few communities!). "Everyone who visits Africa is changed by the experience, but not everyone can afford to go to Africa," says Keys. "Come with me on my journey and learn as I learn. Let's start a virus to stop a virus- send the film to everyone you know. Let's change this nightmare into our generation's greatest success story." The documentary can be viewed in full at AliciainAfrica.com.

Who says black celebs never go to Africa? And most of the time, cameras are not following them when they do.

• Oprah Winfrey's being sued by a woman who claims she came up with the idea for the Oprah's Big Give and a woman who claims she sustained serious injuries while attending a taping of Oprah. These are just two of the many, many lawsuits that get filed against this woman a month. [EUR]

• Speaking of lawsuits, the victim in Remy Ma's shooting case has decided not to sue the rapper for $80 million she doesn't have. I guess she figured jail was enough. [AHN]

• Alicia Keys will star in three-minute, Dove-sponsored soap operas that will air during commercial breaks of The Hills. Interesting career move. [HR]

• Condi Rice to Barry Obama: Sorry about that security breach. [MSNBC]

• Meet the Browns might get overshadowed by Horton Hears A Hoo this weekend. [EW]

Janet Jackson answers to her large gay fan base in a new interview by Clay Clane in HX. She touches on Jermaine Dupri's great relationships with her gay friends, how if she were a man for a day she would be curious about the peeing standing up thing (you and me both sister), and her thoughts on the war between her fans and Madonna's.

Who would be your celebrity girl-crush?
You know who I think is flawless? Alicia Keys. I think she's absolutely beautiful, such a sweetheart, down to earth. So maybe Alicia Keys.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there's an Internet war between Janet and Madonna fans. I know you and Madonna had some beef in the '90s, but do you think the heat between Madonna and Janet fans has any validity?
No—I didn't know this was going on. [Laughs]…

If a "Janet" drag queen had to battle a "Madonna" drag queen, what advice would you give the "Janet" queen?
Kick the bitch's ass!

Prior to "kick the bitch's ass," Janet explained that she had the utmost respect and admiration for her once-rival, of course. [HX]

Blame it on a lack of any viable new competition or the fact that she's pretty great (or both), but Alicia Key's As I Am is back to number one on the Billboard 200 in her 12th week on the charts. She sold 61,000 albums this week. Also gracing the top 10 are Mary J. Blige at No. 5 and Keyshia Cole at No. 10. Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana is on it twice. Can I be this kid's agent?

The list after the jump.

CONTINUED »

Christmas is over, which means everyone's back at work, depressed about their holiday weight gain, and broke from presents and travel. It also means that Oprah-endorsed Josh Groban and his Noel album no longer have a place at the tippy top of the Billboard 200.

In her second week on the charts, Mary J. Blige takes her rightful spot at No. 1, and Alicia Keys holds strong at No. 2. Chris Brown also crept up the charts from 10th to 5th place. It's nice to see that this isn't negatively affecting his sales. [BB]

Whether she's being asked about her relationship with her longtime producer/mentor or about her possible penchant for the fairer sex, Alicia Keys reveals very little about her personal life. This is just as well, because whoever she's dating, her music is far more interesting than what's going on behind the scenes. In my opinion.

Asked by Giant magazine about a rumored romance with her producer, the singer replies, "That's what they've been saying for a while now, but I don't usually address that question. Oprah told me never to tell – and I can't disobey Oprah…"

She will admit this much about her love life: "I definitely found my partner. I know he is somebody who will always be special to me and that we're always going to be in each other's lives."

She can't disobey Oprah? I think we all know which candidate is getting Alicia Keys' vote.

Alicia Keys performed in Olso, Norway, last night at a concert honoring Nobel Laureate Al Gore. The purpose of the concert was to raise global warming awareness among young people.

Keys said the Nobel Peace Prize underscores how the efforts of one person, such as civil-rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., can make a difference.

"For me, the Nobel Peace Prize is an extremely distinguished award for people who truly do serious work to make major change in the world," the 26-year-old singer said, according to the Associated Press.

Once on top of the world, Celine Dion now has to deal with the heavy weight of Alicia Keys' unstoppable awesomeness on her shoulders. The two singers went head to head with their album debuts last week, and Alicia crushed all competition by selling 742,000 albums, the second highest album debut for a female artist since Norah Jones sold a million in 2004. Jay-Z slid from #1 to a less-than-impressive #8. Nothing lasts forever. [BB]

Rihanna, who won the big prize — Favorite Female Artist — at the American Music Awards yesterday, doesn't win the prize for favorite outfit. I actually think she might win the opposite prize.

The big winner in the male category was T.I., and although he obviously couldn't make it, check out pics of some of the other attendees after the jump.

CONTINUED »

Slow gossip day in NYC? Both the New York Post and the New York Daily News are reporting that Alicia Keys stayed in the car outside of her planned album release party instead of going in because:

A. The Crowd Was Too Rough

Keys skipped the bash for her new CD, "As I Am," Tuesday at Pacha because the place was "a mess," said her manager, Jeanine McLean. "She was going to go through, have a drink and celebrate as a favor to the club. But when she got there, there was no security and the crowd was rough. She sat there waiting for them to get it together for an hour."

or

B. The Club Didn't Pay Her

Club promoters had rented out the nightclub Pacha in midtown to fete the beauty's new album, "As I Am," and had allegedly negotiated her appearance to the tune of $15,000. But missing money kept the singer circling the block for nearly an hour while the promoters hustled to find $4,000 to get Keys out of her car and into the club, says our source.

Take your pick. No wonder she told Entertainment Weekly she had trust issues.

Alicia Keys and Common are playing a game of trade-the-cameo. She appeared as his love girlfriend/wife in the video for "I Want You," and now Common is playing Alicia's ill-fated man in her "Like You'll Never See" video. Not bad at video-acting, these two, but their videos are kind of depressing me.

Yay, Alicia! She got it right at last night's annual "Black Ball," a benefit for the Keep A Child Alive charity! Finally. And even if you don't like the dress, you have to admit that at least she didn't get it wrong. Her stylist did it for the children. More pics from the ball after the jump.

CONTINUED »

Finally, a new video I can stand behind! Not T-Pain in whiteface. Or Nelly being annoying. Or Ja Rule being trite.

We have Common, both handsome and hatless, which I didn't know was possible, Kanye, Derek Luke, Alicia Keys, Serena Williams, and of course, Kerry Washington, who starred as the slightly stalkerish ex-girlfriend and directed the video for "I Want You," which may or may not have inspired her and Common to get together in real life. How could the video not work?

• Oh, if only having your bodyguards smack the papers you just got served to the ground would make the lawsuit actually go away… [TMZ]

• Forbes' list of the top 10 highest earning comedians does not include one single black performer. Dave Chappelle goes all "conscious" on us, and now we've got no one making the big bucks. Seriously, Larry the Cable Guy made more than Chris Rock last year. [Forbes]

• Alicia Keys claims she can "understand" the lesbian rumors. If that's true, then why did she say this? [SP]

• Is James Watson working for the New Jersey Department of Education? [NJ]

• For all of you critics who think black people always want to blame white people and never work to solve problems in the community. [MSNBC]