Item World

"The Voice" or speechless?Is Tim Mahoney about to dazzle Christina Aguilera? The website NBCtheVoiceFan.com reported that the Minneapolis rocker was the first person it could confirm as a contestant on NBC's upcoming singing show "The Voice," featuring Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 as judges. It went on to reveal a handful of other names, all with regional success akin to Mahoney's. All I.W. could confirm was that Mahoney did audition for the show. Whether he made the cut or not depends on how much you want to trust Internet postings. We reached out to Mahoney, but didn't hear back from him. Maybe he's resting his pipes. The series debuts April 26.

NEAL JUSTIN

Tweeter formerly known as PrinceIn an interview in Billboard, social network-loving Roots drummer ?uestlove of "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" fame wholeheartedly endorses Twitter: "I think all artists should be on it. Like Prince, he's on Twitter, but he lurks. He's under an alias and will never officially use his Twitter account to benefit him. Which is really strange." Any stranger than ?uestlove's own face-to-face encounters with the Purple One?

JON BREAM

On the LammysMinneapolis fell a notch this year as the most literate city in the United States, but was named the nation's gayest city. Maybe the Lambda Literary Awards can help boost both rankings. This year's 114 Lammy finalists include Carleton College teacher Greg Hewett's poetry collection "darkacre"; St. Paul's Amie Klempnauer Miller's memoir "She Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood," and Minneapolis mystery writer Ellen Hart's "The Cruel Ever After." The 23rd annual Lammy awards are May 26 in New York .

LAURIE HERTZEL

Big enough to shareRachelle Ferrell, the jazz/soul/gospel vocalist extraordinaire, has a habit of turning over part of her shows

to singers in the crowd. During Sunday's second set at the Dakota, eight singers participated in the spontaneous "Twin Cities Got Talent" with Ferrell's quartet. We won't dwell on the singer who had beat cancer twice but was having digestive issues. Instead, let's rave about KMOJ's Q-Bear, who hummed, crooned and created vocal effects that Ferrell harmonized with, and Ginger Commodore, whose scat-singing drew a glowing review from Ferrell, who'd remembered Commodore from last year's show. "You sound better this year," Ferrell declared. "Your tones are big and beautiful, nice and round. I love what you're doing." Amen.

JON BREAM

Helping Kool HercApparently, rapping and drumming weren't enough for these guys. Toki Wright and Sean McPherson have become true hip-hop ambassadors. As teachers at McNally Smith College of Music, the two took their program to China in January. Now they're having a fundraiser for hip-hop pioneer, DJ Kool Herc. It's been widely published that the hip-hop legend is under financial duress after surgery for kidney stones. The man who created the hip-hop breakbeat doesn't have medical insurance. Wright and McPherson have planned a benefit performance at Cause Spirits and Soundbar featuring their McNally Smith students. All proceeds from the $3 cover will be split between Herc and another music hero facing large medical bills, Clyde Stubblefield (the James Brown drummer behind the famous "Funky Drummer" loop). The all-ages show is 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

TOM HORGEN

Prize-winning replacementLiterature lovers mourned when writer Joan Didion was forced to cancel her spring Twin Cities appearance after breaking her collarbone. But rejoice now because poet Natasha Trethewey will be here in her stead. Trethewey won the Pulitzer for "Native Guard," which examined her parents' mixed-race marriage and her mother's murder. Her latest, "Beyond Katrina," is a combination of memoir, poetry, letters and photographs. She has won fellowships from the Guggenheim and the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book by an African-American poet. She will be at Coffman Union Theater at 7:30 p.m. April 27. It's free.

LAURIE HERTZEL

Beyond the puppets It wasn't just a change in title when Susan Haas picked up the label of co-artistic director at Open Eye Figure Theatre. Haas is expanding the programming at this lovely little space in south Minneapolis. The difference is evident this weekend as Open Eye opens a five-week series. "It's Women's Work" features more than 25 artists in dance, music, visual arts and performance. Spoken word artist Nor Hall, photographer Laura Crosby, installation artist Harriet Bart and cellist Jacqueline Ultan collaborate this weekend on "Traces," which follows a woman and children caught in warfare. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 506 E. 24th St., Mpls., $16-$18, 612-874-6338 or openeyetheatre.org)GRAYDON ROYCE

Preps music starsWith the state basketball and hockey tourneys over, how about a state tournament for high-school musicians? Classical MPR comes close with its Minnesota Varsity, now in the midst of online voting to determine which student will perform at the Fitzgerald Theater in a concert showcasing some of our best young musicians. From dozens of submissions, MPR staff chose 15 finalists who then were professionally recorded. Those recordings are available for listening and voting, with the top vote-getter advancing to the Fitz concert on April 17. To vote, visit bit.ly/i3MUWb. Voting ends at midnight Sunday.

KIM ODE