The Energizer Bunny has nothing on Beyoncé.
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, Beyoncé 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.
AP: Does it ever get easy to dance on stage in high heels?
Beyoncé: 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.
AP: You’ve had quite a hectic year — what has been the hardest part of it?
Beyoncé: 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.
AP: When you released “B’Day,” although it got critical acclaim, there was also a lot of criticism. How did you handle that?
Beyoncé: 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.
AP: Were you surprised by the success of ‘Irreplaceable?’
Beyoncé: 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.
AP: You auditioned and hired an all-female band for the tour. What has it been like?
Beyoncé: 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!
AP: So it’s not true that women can’t get along?
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}AP: I’ve been reading you’re going to do another musical — Elton John’s ‘Aida.’
Beyoncé: 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.
AP: The gossip sites are always running something about you. Do you troll them? Do you ever feel like posting an anonymous comment?
Beyoncé: 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.