R&B songstress Alicia Keys talked to Entertainment Weekly about her new album As I Am, and a few personal struggles she’s had as of late.

A. Keys on her 2006 emotional breaking point as a close family member fell ill with cancer: “It made me finally stop. Nothing else was more important – no work, no costumes, no anything. I was forced to slow down, look at my life, and decide who I wanted to be. It all got very low at first because I was very depressed and I didn’t understand why.”

A. Keys on her month-long solo trip to Egypt: “It gave me a new sense of power, freedom, creativity, and limitlessness. When I came back [to New York], I was so much more clear. I didn’t want to feel so closed and internal. I wanted to enjoy life and explore the possibilities of life. And that’s when I started doing music for this album.”

I’m so excited to illegally download buy her new album!

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I’m absolutely in love with this song. It’s a hell of a lot better than No One, and her vocals are a lot less annoying.

Hope it does well on radio!

I’m looking forward to her new album. I don’t think she’ll ever make anything as good as Songs In A Minor, but it should be a nice Fall treat.

This is Alicia Keys‘ new single off her upcoming album As I Am which drops in November–apparently the same week as Britney’s album. I like the hook, but I can’t stand the way she sings in this song. It sounds like she’s got a pen lodged in her nose or something.

It may seem really soon, but if you think about it, it’s been almost two years since Carrie Underwood released her debut album Some Hearts, and apparently she’s been in the studio for a while now working on a follow up to her six times platinum effort. According to reports, Carrie’s second album is slated to come out on October 23, and some are hoping it’ll be more Shania and less Leann.

The album does not currently have a title, but Underwood will be working with Mark Knight who penned most of the tracks on Some Hearts. Knight says she’ll be staying with the country genre with this second CD, but something tells me the songs will be more in the vein of Before He Cheats to try to replicate the success of her top 10 hit, which was her first crossover pop radio hit ever.

I enjoyed some of the tracks on Some Hearts–specifically the aforementioned Before He Cheats, Jesus Take The Wheel, Wasted, and even We’re Young And Beautiful. But to be honest, I found the CD to be quite bland, especially for someone with such a great voice, an I’m hoping they spice up her songs a bit on this next album. I have no problem with her staying country, but I just want the songs to be a little less boring. It was a solid album for a debut, but she’s gonna have to up her game on this next record–especially if she wants to finally become a success somewhere else besides the U.S.

Everyone, clear your Sunday night plans. Now. I know watching trash TV makes you feel guilty. It burns away at your soul ever so slightly every time you turn on the new episode of The Surreal Life or Fresh Meat. But this show is one guilty pleasure my life cannot do without.

Sunday night at 10 PM the second season of VH1 reality hit Flava of Love premieres, and I for one will be glued to my television set.

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This week’s Video Clip of the Week is Katharine McPhee’s inspired performance of the Barbra Streisand classic Since I Fell For You. This has to be one of Katharine’s top 3 performances on Idol, and probably one of the top 10 of the season. Incidentally, this was also the week that I really started to like Taylor Hicks. Oh how things change.

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For those of you that didn’t know, Alicia Keys was in an assasin action flick called Smokin’ Aces with Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Ray Liotta, Chris Pine, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven.

You can watch the trailer here.

Looks okay, I guess. The sight of Ben Affleck makes me wanna puke, but the sight of Jeremy Piven makes me wanna orgasm.

In other Alicia Keys-ness…watch this and cry like a baby:

Alicia Keys is adding another note to her acting resume. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has been cast in the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling book, “The Nanny Diaries,” Keys’ spokeswoman, Kelly Bush, said Thursday.

The film features Scarlett Johansson as a nanny for a wealthy Manhattan family. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney and Chris Evans also star. Keys will play the nanny’s best friend, Bush said.

The character is a far cry from the assassin she plays in the upcoming action flick “Smokin’ Aces,” which features Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven and Ray Liotta.

Keys, 24, and longtime manager Jeff Robinson formed a production company, Big Pita, Lil’ Pita, in January that will create original television and movie projects and even more acting opportunities for Keys.