B'Day

So my extensive Saturday plans were drastically reduced by the sudden onset of girl flu (symptoms of which included needing desserts, shopping and attention, all at once). I had to abandon Way In To The Way Out, fireworks at Kami's and a Housewarming at Celia's. All I managed to garner the energy for was the Beyonce I Am... Yours show at the O2, and OMG am I glad I did. It was quite possibly the best concert I have ever been to.

She opened with Crazy in Love, which has one of my favourite hot moves in a video of all time (that would be the finger lick). That set the bar pretty high, but Blanka Vlašić has nothing on Beyonce/Sasha. It's hard for me to define what I liked best about the show, since there were so many elements that were faultless, so instead, I'm going to list all the things that stuck out...

- her voice. By a long way the best voice I've heard live, by which I mean in a performance. Absolutely stunning. Forget the singing while making high impact, high energy, lights flashing, camera in face, legs bare, heels four inches off the ground, fans screaming performance. That was a voice that would have been incredible in a shower and all those other things just made it exceptional. It was the first time ever I realised just why people talk about Divas

- the Suga Mamas were brilliant. Each one of them were exceptionally skilled and awe inspiring. The Mamas absolutely fit my image of sassy southern women who I can imagine would open a huge can of whoop ass on anyone who hacked them off

- her choice of live samples/covers, which included Jagged Little Pill, Angel, Ave Maria, At Last, Forever Young (as part of a tribute to Michael Jackson). Most amusing was how about 40% of the crowd, being semi-dressed 14 year olds, had no idea what those songs were

- massive approachability. Now maybe it was because I'd seen The Bodyguard the night before, but I was amazed at how much audience interaction there was. Not just the usual "Lon-dehn!!!!" stuff, but also genuine up close and personal touching. She thanked the audience beyond the usual "hi there, thank you for buying my records, buy more" stuff. She sang Happy Birthday to the audience. She came across as the best friend I always wanted to have

- hotness. Smokin' hotness

- Incredible professionalism. In. Cred. I. Able. She knew where every camera was, every second.

I think I am 17 Again.