New York City Attractions

Venue: Apollo Theater    When: Daily; Wed only

Steeped in history, Amateur Night at the Apollo is raucous and great fun. Past winners of the contest who launched their careers here include Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and James Brown.

Nowadays, you'll hear less jazz and more R&B, rap and hip-hop from a selection of unknown locals, sprinkled with a few overseas visitors from countries as far flung as Germany or Japan. The audience is boisterous and mostly teenage. Booing and cheering as loudly as possible is the name of the game and performers are ranked accordingly.

Many acts are booed off stage even before they have begun, but that doesn't seem to deter these budding stars. After all, Luther Vandross was forced off this very stage four or five times at the start of his career and, apparently, Ella Fitzgerald had originally planned to perform a dance but she was so intimidated that she decided to sing instead.

There's no telling what you will see when you visit the Apollo, but regardless of the talent on stage, the venue and the neighbourhood are interesting.