Friday, November 12
Unleash your inner T-Pain at AutoTune Karaoke this weekend. Just as its name suggests, the event combines karaoke with what has now become mainstream artists’ most popular “singing” style. DJ Pickel will be spinning tunes after the main event. (2424 North Lincoln Avenue, 10:30 p.m., free)
Saturday, November 13
Even though Robyn is one of Sweden’s largest pop stars, she still does her own laundry. The down-to-earth musician will be performing at Metro to promote her latest album, Body Talk, which will be released on the 22nd. Maluca and Natalia Kills are the opening acts. (3730 North Clark Street, 6:30 p.m., $20)
In the 2009 German film Soul Kitchen, Greek-German entrepreneur Zinos converts an abandoned warehouse into a comfort food diner. Before embarking for China to woo back his ex-girlfriend, he decides to leave the diner in the hands of a chef planning to transform it into a haute-cuisine establishment. Things then take a turn for the worse when Zinos’ gangster brother decides to turn the place into a funk-music party space. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 9 p.m., $5)
Sunday, November 14
Che “Rhymefest” Smith kicks off his campaign for alderman of the 20th ward with a performance featuring special guests Lupe Fiasco and DJ Tony Sculfield. The co-writer of Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks,” Smith once asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to go clubbing with him. He is running on a platform of building a safer and more prosperous community by engaging youth in hip-hop and other arts. (2109 South Wabash Avenue, 9 p.m., $35)
Monday, November 15
Political scientist Gilbert Achcar will be presenting a lecture entitled “The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives” as part of the World Beyond the Headlines lecture series. Achcar will be using Arab responses to Nazism and the creation of Israel, among other events, to create a historical context for modern-day Arab-Israeli relations. (International House, 6 p.m., free)
Tuesday, November 16
Sadiqa Saleem will be discussing her efforts to improve women’s access to education, healthcare, and civic participation in Afghanistan in her talk “Rights of Afghan Women.” Saleem is also the co-founder of the Oruj Learning Center in Afghanistan, which provides primary-school education for children in the country’s remote provinces. (Social Science Tea Room, 12 p.m., free)
Join the masses at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Mash Flob. Mash Flob is a monthly event where artists organize flash mobs and have visitors act as both participants and viewers. This week’s flash mob is BYOR (bring your own radio) with Jon Brumit. (220 East Chicago Avenue, 6 p.m., free)
Wednesday, November 17
Zoe and Elmo take a dive into Oscar the Grouch’s garbage in search of Elmo’s blue security blanket in the 1999 feature film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center. With the help of all the residents of Sesame Street, along with the Queen of Trash (played by Vanessa Williams) and a sock chorus, Elmo and Zoe successfully return to Sesame Street and teach viewers an important lesson about friendship. (164 North State Street, 6:15 p.m., $7)
Thursday, November 18
Catch a free preview of UT’s performance of The Rose Tattoo, written by Tennessee Williams. The drama is about a Louisianan widow who completely withdraws from the world after the death of her husband and expects the same of her precocious teenage daughter. (Reynolds Club First Floor Theater, 8 p.m., free)
