Folk-rock hero Bitch is back in town and playing Joe’s Pub this weekend. You can read our interview with her and fellow out musician Ferron here, and check out “Kitchen,” an exclusive track from Bitch’s new album, Blasted, below.

A dispatch from TONY intern Erica Sheftman:

The New York International Ballet Competition is a different beast: For three weeks, 48 hopefuls get an all-expense paid trip to New York where they have the opportunity to appear at the Rose Theater. They perform for a prestigious panel of judges—both dance luminaries and normally elusive artistic directors—including Nanette Glushak, Stanton Welch, Ashley Wheater and Mikko Nissinen (Julio Bocca, director of Ballet Argentino and ex-ABT superstar, was to participate in the jury, but has been mysteriously detained in Moscow.)
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This just in from TONY Dance editor Gia Kourlas:

As the dance season winds down, Veronika Part, the recently appointed principal at American Ballet Theatre, is scheduled to make television history on The Late Show with David Letterman—and she won’t be wearing a tutu. The Russian beauty will appear on the program, as a proper guest and not as a dancing prop, on July 9. For Part, who dances Swan Lake tonight opposite Roberto Bolle, the appearance will mark the first time a ballerina has been given the opportunity to sit, opposite Letterman, on the couch and actually talk. This, obviously, has a little something to do with Tony Mendez, the show’s resident “Cue Card Boy” and unofficial leader of the Veronika Part fan club. It won’t be the only noteworthy event on July 9: That night, Cory Stearns and Hee Seo, another luminous ballerina who will be featured in an upcoming TONY interview, make their New York debut in Romeo and Juliet at the Metropolitan Opera House.

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It’s Urban Bear Weekend in NYC, and the burly, furry gay creatures will be out at bear hangouts like Ty’s, the Eagle and the Park. In honor of this weekend’s festivities, we’ve got a slide show of local bear candy for your browsing pleasure. Want your own cuddly guy to keep you warm(er) this summer? Voltaire, Philipp, Robert and Joey (pictured, from left) are all single and on the prowl! E-mail them today.

So it seems CNN sound biter Dr. Sanjay Gupta may be the next guy to write those warnings on the sides of cigarette packs. Will Americans enjoy taking scary medical advice when it comes with a side of handsome? Perhaps we’ll see! In the meantime, check out our Hot Seat with the then-33-year-old doc from back when he was just a lowly neurosurgeon and a correspondent on Paula Zahn’s show. Seems this won’t be his first Washington gig: He told us he once worked on Mrs. Clinton’s staff. But he also told us that ethnic food in New York is “more authentic than in the original country,” so, you know, grain of salt.

It might be a nasty hike from the subway, but our office does have its charms. Here’s a lovely sunset from my window as captured by resident photo genius Cinzia Reale-Castello.

Nothing tells your one-night stand that you’re a class act quite like serving him or her morning-after coffee in a WNYC mug. It shows you’re smart and informed, but also that you’re generous, since one of the few ways to get one is to send the station some cash. And it looks like there will be a lot more of those cups in the city’s collective dish drainer in the coming weeks: Today WNYC announced that 20,480 listeners helped raise more than $2.2 million during its fall pledge drive. If you’d like to get your own mug (and support one of the few local stations worth listening to), you can do it here. And if $60 seems like a lot to pay for a coffee cup, keep in mind you’re also paying for the privilege of hearing things like Tony Bennett talking with Leonard Lopate about “making love” without commercial interruptions.