Alicia Keys records inspired unplugged session

If anyone could get MTV to bring "Unplugged" out of retirement, it would be Alicia Keys, who just taped her installment of the series last week in New York. She says it was a dream come true, and she can't believe she's about to be in the same company as Eric Clapton, Nirvana and Mariah Carey.

"As a child, in my wildest dreams â€" and I dreamed so big â€" but you never think it's going to happen," Keys said. "So to be here, on the set that we're going to record 'Unplugged' on, it's amazing and beautiful and everything I've ever dreamed of.

"'Unplugged' is my thing, it's really my style, it's what I'm all about," she added. "When I first started playing anywhere, it was on a little cheesy keyboard in a small, nasty hotel dive, and even though I didn't have a beautiful 9-foot Yamaha piano, there was a certain energy that comes with an intimate space. I really loved it."

Keys says she also loved dreaming up brand-new arrangements for well-loved â€" but well-worn â€" tunes such as "A Woman's Worth" and "Heartburn," as well as a few choice covers (see "Alicia Keys Talks About New LP, But Won't Blow Her 'Cover' "). "To have strings, to have percussion, to have all these elements to put in the piano base that I have, this is so much fun, man," she enthused. "When my drums do come in â€" a lot of times they don't, it's just about the percussion â€" but when they do, it's about using the brushes and keeping it calm and cool for a minute."

Creating a feeling as if everyone was gathered around the piano in her living room, "just chilling," was important, she said, so that the audience could feel like her extended family. "It's about the personal feel, as opposed to a big huge rocking-out crazy three-hour show," she said. "It's about speaking to the audience."

"Once people see this 'Unplugged,' I just want them to feel the spontaneity, to feel passionate," she said. "I want you to see another side of me, that's free, and feel where my head is, where whatever happens, happens. I want you to feel inspired."document.write(unescape("