With Britney Spears taking her sweet time getting back up to the top and Rihanna's unfortunate assault case with boyfriend Chris Brown bringing her down, there's only one female pop star we can rely on these days: Beyonce Knowles.
And let's face it, BritBrit and RiRi aren't really within reach of the pedestal we're about to place R&B powerhouse Queen B on. Even Barack Obama's daughters look up to she of the bootylicious curves and Fierce 'tude -- which will be out in full force when her I Am ... Tour hits MTS Centre on Saturday night. Here are 10 reasons why we love her:
1. Her alter-ego makes sense.
When countryman Garth Brooks told everyone he would like to be referred to as a rock musician called Chris Gaines in 1999, the world chuckled. But when Beyonce explained her that her alter-ego Sasha Fierce -- who she introduced us to in her two-disc third release I Am ... Sasha Fierce last November -- helps her separate her tamer self from the wild persona she takes on when she hits the stage, it sounded like a logical, harmless idea. Well, until she brought out that roboglove (see No. 9).
2. She doesn't engage in diva feuds.
Part of being a queen is knowing when to keep your mouth shut - and Beyonce has done just that on two notable occasions. First case in point: Aretha Franklin. At last year's Grammy Awards, Beyonce referred to her all-time idol Tina Turner as "the queen" while Queen of Soul Franklin was sitting in the audience. Franklin later issued a statement that implied Beyonce was being dis-R-E-S-P-E-C-T-ful: "I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy." Instead of piping up, Beyonce let her dad respond ("I consider my wife a queen and sometimes call her that. Does Aretha have a problem with that?" Matthew Knowles said). As for this year's dis from Etta James -- who said "the great Beyonce" was "gonna get her ass whupped" for singing her song At Last at U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration? Beyonce also let that one slide. Though if she had unleashed Sasha Fierce, it might have been another story.
3. She keeps her private life (relatively) private.
The paps might have caught her on vacation without mascara a few times, but Beyonce otherwise keeps her personal life under wraps. To think, the public wasn't even sure if she and Jay-Z had really tied the knot last spring until five months after the fact, when she wore her wedding ring to the Fashion Rocks concert in September. Heck, Beyon-Z could have a Brangelina-sized brood by now and we wouldn't even know it.
4. She keeps her privates (relatively) private.
There's a fine line between sexy and skanky that Beyonce has yet to cross. Though Sasha Fierce is no stranger to hot pants, Beyonce keeps her offstage attire classy, favouring floor-length gowns and pants -- which you'll rarely seen on some of the other songstresses topping the charts these days (right, Lady Gaga?). And while Britney can't get out of a limo without the paparazzi congregating at her crotch, Miss B has avoided any pantyless embarrassment so far.
5. Those moves!
When the average person squats so low that their 'cheeks touch the floor, chances are they're not going to get up gracefully. That's not the case for Beyonce, whose superhumanly strong legs allow her to bend and rise so smoothly, it looks like she's riding an escalator. She can also shake it like nobody's business, and while some of those karate-meets-chicken dance moves from her infamous Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) video were bizarre enough to be mocked by Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg on SNL, we couldn't take our eyes off them.
6. That bod!
Beyonce's pinup curves can be seen everywhere from the latest edition of Vogue to 2007's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, meaning both women and men agree: She's hot stuff. We ARE talking about the woman who coined the term "bootylicious."
7. She's not afraid to take acting risks.
For every Dreamgirls, there's a Pink Panther for our beloved Beyonce. Fortunately, she's had more hits (The Fighting Temptations, Cadillac Records) than misses (Austin Powers in Goldmember) throughout her film career. Who knows what will come of her upcoming thriller Obsessed, in which she plays a woman whose husband is being stalked by Ali Larter. But at least she's willing to find out.
8. She'll be the first to admit she can be annoying.
While still dangerously in love with hubby Jay-Z, Knowles says she has a tendency to annoy him. "I'm a little messy," she told the April issue of Ebony magazine. "When I get home, I don't want to take care of anything ... I don't have any shoes on. No makeup. My purse is in the kitchen." Apparently, this irks Jay-Z -- who she says is "very, very organized." It never hurts for a celeb to admit their imperfections -- if you can call being "a little messy" a flaw.
9. She rocks a roboglove.
Fashion can be cruel - and if you got stuck in the clutches of Beyonce's metal handpiece, you'd learn that the hard way. Dubbed "the roboglove," this dagger-like titanium creation is usually only worn by Sasha Fierce, not Beyonce. But the fact that either of them could pull it off is impressive.
10. Barack Obama's kids dig her.
After Beyonce called Michelle Obama to thank her for letting her sing at the Presidential Inauguration, the first lady told her she's happy her daughters Malia and Sasha have someone like her to look up to. "And I'm like, 'Oh, my God,' " Beyonce said in April's Vogue magazine. Yep, we'd say that's a pretty good compliment.
