Queen B is back. As the last beat of ‘Halo’ faded away and she stood there exhausted, humbled and grinning after a two-hour show of spectacular visuals and superlative vocals, it was clear to everyone in the crowd that Beyoncé is a natural diva.
Mrs Flawless
Beyoncé Carter-Knowles seems to have done everything right. At the age of 34, the singer has made it from being a member of a female band to being a superstar on her own. She presently stands at the peak of her powers.
Not only is she a singer and actress, but she has also released her own fashion line (some advertising was sneaked in before the show) and is blessed with a loving husband and daughter, Jay-Z and Ivy Blue. Hers is a life story, from being a 16-year old girl at an audition to becoming the queen of pop, worth telling. And this concert did not disappoint.
“If you are born a woman, you are born strong”
Engaged in various charities, the underlying themes of feminism and racism set the stage for Beyoncé’s show. Her band was all female, and so were her dancers. On the big screen she showed videos of Afro-American and Latin women while performing songs such as ‘Run the World (Girls)’.
Despite all the female empowerment, Beyoncé plays on her looks, showing off her body and legs in most of her colourful outfits, though she knows how to present her body artfully in her video clips and doesn’t come across as cheap.
Crazy in love
Beyoncé played a combination of previous hits such as ‘Irreplaceable’, ‘Me, myself and I’ and ‘Crazy in love’ as well as songs from her most recent release ‘Lemonade’.
Most of her older songs were pop ballads or R&B-orientated dance songs, whereas her new songs seem to adapt to the more dance and electronic-orientated recent trends on the music scene.
Beyoncé performs and presents all the various styles well, though admittedly the lyrics and meaning of her older songs seem a bit deeper.
Reminiscence
Most of the show was high-beat and dance and show-orientated, but the really beautiful moments were the slow songs that allowed the audience to dwell on her vocals and light up their smartphones and hold them up to the sky. While most of the time she might appear very professional and a bit distant behind her diva dance moves, at these moments, Beyoncé appears humble and human.
When she recalls at times like these that our world really needs a lot of love, she comes across as deep and sincere. She also paid homage to Prince. The big screen turned purple, she left the stage and his original version of ‘Purple rain’ was played.
Queen of hearts
Beyoncé’s show was entertaining and impressive and brought her messages across of female empowerment and her success. But somehow she did that in a human and convincing way.
Ultimately, though, you needed to be a fan to enjoy a whole evening that only centred around one woman and her success: Queen B.
It could have been a bit less Beyoncé and a little bit more about her music.
But, I guess, this is what it’s like to be a diva.
