Despite the chilly winter outside, Alicia Keys heated up the Apollo Theater last night in New York City. She kicked off the show with her rendition of her mega hit "Empire State of Mind" -- and the audience stood and cheered as she thanked her hometown for their support.

Next up, Alicia introduced several acts to the stage, including R&B award-winning artist Raheem DeVaughn and Melanie Fiona, who currently has the #1 R&B/hip-hop song on Billboard, "It Kills Me".

One of the highlights of the night was definitely Alicia's duet with Marsha Ambrosius, the songwriter for Michael Jackson's "Butterflies". They took the stage to sing "Butterflies" together. But there was a tad of an embarrassing moment when the crowd noticed Alicia was holding a lyrics cheatsheet in her hand! "How could she not know the lyrics to Butterflies?!", the woman next to me exclaimed. Oops!

Needless to say, it was still a special night -- thanks to all who joined us and watched the Billboard Live concert live with us on j14.com! Stay tuned for more live webcasts!

- Jen
J-14 Guest Blogger

Photo: Courtesy of Billboard Live