News of the day

Erin Mackey as Glinda the Good Witch in Chicago's resident production of "Wicked." (File)

"Wicked" has been a fixture in Chicago theater for three years. Residents and tourists alike have flocked to the theater — often repeatedly — to see this show, telling the backstory of the witches of Oz. When it closes here in January, it'll truly be a bubble bursting.

How many times did you go? What did the show mean to you? Comment below ...

And, what do you think should replace it for a long run? "Dirty Dancing"? "Mary Poppins"?

The G4 network on Monday was the first to preview the gameplay in the new "Grand Theft Auto IV," out Tuesday. Here' a look at their live, cable-network demo of the game:

Chicago dance-music duo Pretty Good Dance Moves just won a fan-voted contest at FameCast.com. Watch the video to their winning, self-titled song here in all its groovy, motorcycle-helmeted glory...

If we were making a playlist of our favorite environmentally conscious pop songs, these would definitely be included. Tell us yours!

"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
"This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie
"My Dirty Stream" by Pete Seeger
"Pollution" by Tom Lehrer
"Hungry Planet" by The Byrds
"Don't Go Near the Water" by The Beach Boys
‘‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’’ by Marvin Gaye
‘‘Big Yellow Taxi’’ by Joni Mitchell
"Before the Deluge" by Jackson Browne
'‘After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young
"Mama Nature Said" by Thin Lizzy
"A Hard Day on the Planet" by Loudon Wainwright III
"Paradise" by John Prine
"If a Tree Falls" Bruce Cockburn
"Roads Girdle the Globe" by XTC
"Fall on Me" by R.E.M.
"Poison in the Well" by 10,000 Maniacs
"Nothing but Flowers" by Talking Heads
"The Landscape Is Changing" by Depeche Mode
"Autogeddon Blues" by Julian Cope
"I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge
"No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire

If the presidential race were won by the number of voters who step up to a microphone to sing about their candidate, Obama would have it in a landslide. And as the Democratic primaries drone on, more and more celebrities and nobodies are singing, playing and rapping in support of his campaign.

Here's a look at some of the most popular (Obama Girl) and preposterous (Hillary boy?!) videos currently making the rounds online:

He doesn’t sing or play an instrument. Instead, the gangly, 55-year-old overgrown adolescent known as Beatle Bob just may be the world’s only full-time concertgoer. The nickname is a nod to the bowl haircut he’s worn since the Fab Four first rocked his world during junior high four decades ago.

You've probably seen him at a show somewhere in Chicago, or one of the big festivals — dancing at the lip of the stage, like a man possessed.

And while the full-time fan has his admirers, plenty of other music lovers are fed up with what they consider churlish behavior.

Have you seen him? Where? Was he a funny oddity that lifted your spirits, or did he drive you crazy and you shouted him down?

Our very own music critic Jim DeRogatis made an appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" Monday.