STOP GLOBAL WARMING

In the past year and a half, the pop superstar has put out the multiplatinum
album "B’Day," starred in the Oscar-nominated musical
"Dreamgirls," launched her Dereon clothing line, put out an expanded edition
of "B’Day" featuring the hit "Beautiful Liar" with Shakira,
released a DVD featuring a video for each song off her album, and now she’s in
the middle of a worldwide tour.Just before one of her concert stops, Beyonce
took time out to talk to The Associated Press about her jam-packed year,
working with an all-female musical troupe, dealing with haters and why you
won’t find her reading any Internet gossip sites.

Q: Does it ever get easy to dance on stage in high heels?

BEYONCE: The easiest part is dancing in the heels. I don’t even think
about it anymore; it’s just second nature. But it is difficult to dance, to
sing at the same time. I have to make sure I’m in shape and I’m hydrated … I
don’t want to wear myself out and get exhausted.

Q: You’ve had quite a hectic year — what has been the hardest part
of it?

BEYONCE: The most difficult thing was probably filming the movie,
even though I had the time of my life. Usually anything worth anything is going
to take sacrifice and it took a lot of sacrifice but it was probably the
highlight of my year … That was just an amazing experience and I feel like it
was one of those iconic films that years from now I’m going to be so proud to
say I was a part of (it) … I’m very comfortable with performing and singing.
I know how to do that. … But acting is something that I’m still learning and
it still makes me nervous.

Q: When you released "B’Day," although it got critical
acclaim, there was also a lot of criticism. How did you handle that?

BEYONCE: Since Destiny’s Child first came out, we’ve always had
criticism … ("B’Day") is nothing compared to some of the criticism
that we’ve gotten. I’m pretty strong and I’m very confident in what I do. … I
had had a lot of people love the record, it was very successful. I had a lot of
fans and a lot of people loved everything, the videos and the songs, and then
of course, everyone’s different, there were people who didn’t like it. There
were people who didn’t like my first album, there will be people who won’t like
my next album. And that’s just human nature, I can’t expect everyone to love
everything that I do. Some of the criticisms was constructive and I listened to
that and grew from it.

Q: Were you surprised by the success of "Irreplaceable?"

BEYONCE: I always knew it was more of a commercial crossover pop
record, and it’s always someone … who needs to hear those lyrics to have that
anthem so they can be strong and get out of bad situations, get out of negative
relationships. It doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a man. The song is so
powerful, every night, I don’t even have to sing it, I can put the mic out and
they know every single word.

Q: You auditioned and hired an all-female band for the tour. What has
it been like?

BEYONCE: I’m used to all females. I grew up in a house with so many
women. I love being around women, I love being around talented women and
supportive women. Everyone is so supportive of each other. We do things
together, like yesterday we went skating; I rented out a roller skating rink
for all of us and everybody’s families to come. Also, I have eight female
dancers and four males … they are the only men on the tour, I feel bad for
them being around all us women!

Q: So it’s not true that women can’t get along?

BEYONCE: I was afraid of that in the beginning when I had the idea. I
was like, this will never work … (but) I found focused and incredible
musicians that are just as good or better than any guy. And then I was like,
well, even if I do find it, after a while, there will be some problems.
(Laughs.) But it hasn’t been any problems, and everyone is just talented and
secure and excited.

Q: I’ve been reading you’re going to do another musical — Elton
John’s "Aida."

BEYONCE: Oh yeah, I read that too. The "Aida" thing? I
mean, I would love that, it sounds like a good idea. But I haven’t had any
meetings about it.

Q: The gossip sites are always running something about you. Do you
troll them? Do you ever feel like posting an anonymous comment?

BEYONCE: Sometimes I’ll run across certain things, usually in the
paper, because I read the paper more so than the Web. There’s one or two sites
that I can go to. But if I go on the Internet and try to see what people are
saying, I’ll probably want to crawl under a rock. (Laughs.) Because I’m still
human and certain things, it just hurts, so I try not to read the Internet too
much.