Queen B's Epic Week: Beyonce' Kicks Off Promo for '4' With: Idol (2x); Oprah, Killer Video & Epic BBMA Perfromance; Releases 'Best Thing I Never Had'

Queen B is back and in full force after releasing her afro-beat track, Run The World (Girls), Beyonce' continued to remain in the promo shadows, as she completed the finishing touches on her fourth studio album titled, 4.

She took over France with her hubby Jay-Z, shoot her album cover atop a rooftop and announced three arena shows In The City of Lights:  June 20 (Nice, France); June 22 (Lille, France) and June 23 (Amneville, France), all while fans and critcs went KRAZY over the track. And all of this without us so much as hearing a, BOO!!!!, from her.

Some immediately fell passionately in love with the track! Others hated it!  Some it grew on and others just couldn't wrap their hands or hearts around the severity-of-the- difference, of the track, it was just too much for them to handle!

However last week changed many a critic, who found themselves falling in love with the track and Queen B all over again! 

5/19:

B's big week started off with the release of her epic video for, Run The World, Girls which previewed on, American Idol.  Prior to the video's release B mentored the final three and then the video premiered  in full on VEVO at 10pm.  She kinda hinted that Scotty might have been her favorite during the show, calling him Scotty Boy and saying that was her boy.  

After Idol, B also released her album cover, stating that her fans helped her name the album, 4, because, of its special significance to her.  Everywhere she turned fans were calling the album 4 and asking her to name it 4.  She's born on September 4th, Jay's born on December 4th, she married on 04/04/08 and her mother was born on January 4, 1954.

5/20:

By Friday, Run The World, had broken, VEVO's record for most views by a female artist in its first 24hrs. The video received over 4 million views in its first 24hrs. 


5/22:

Then it was the big night, Sunday, the night of the BBMAs, where the Queen would make her first televised performance of, Run The World, Girls.  It sent fans, the industry and critics into a frenzy! One word: Epic!  

But, most importantly she made history by receiving the Billboard Millennium Award, each decade an artist is rewarded for having the biggest impact.  B took it for the 00s!

"My makeup artist showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much. I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius. Thank god for YouTube or I would have never been exposed to something so inspiring. I never worked so hard on anything in my life as that performance for the Billboard Awards." 

5/23:

As if Sunday weren't enough, Monday saw B serenading Oprah and a capacity packed arena of men, women, children and ESPECIALLY Girls!  B gave yet another show stopping performance complete with an inspiring message about "Girl Power" and a diploma ceremony!  Perfect time, as graduation season is upon us.

In addition the video for the single was released on iTunes, where it quickly went to #1 on the Top 100 Video Chart.

5/24:

Tuesday saw the return of, Run The World's return back into iTunes Top 20.  It also became the day that many people began to fall in love with the song again.  After spending most of last week in the top 20 it now sits at #27 on iTunes Top 100.

B on RTW,G:
It's definitely riskier than something a bit more...simple. I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic. It reminded me of what I love, which is mixing different cultures and eras -- things that typically don't go together -- to create a new sound. I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am.


5/25:

Wednesday was another big day for the BNation.   It started off with B releasing the track listing for, 4, hour-by-hour on her Facebook page and also to her Street Team, who had Twitter going crazy with their hourly updates.

1. 1 + 1
2. I Care
3. I Miss You
4. Best Thing I Never Had
5. Party (Feat. Andre 3000)
6. Rather Die Young
7. Start Over
8. Love On Top
9. Countdown
10. End Of Time
11. I Was Here
12. Run The World (Girls)

Then when the clock struck 8:00 o'clock, came one of  the sweetest surprises of the night. The release of soul ballad, 1 + 1, which showcases Queen B's soulful range at its best!  The ballad is a love song, that talks about life being perfect as long as you have that special someone.  The track was a special offering as part of B's album pre-order with iTunes.

While fans were still in a frenzy over the the new track and the iTunes, pre-order, Columbia tweeted to be sure to tune into Idol for more surprises.  The first came by way of the girls (minus Lauren) perfroming a B medley with The Queen herself ending the medley with Crazy in Love.

Here's what runner up Lauren Alaina had to say about Queen B:

“She’s probably the most uplifting person I’ve ever met,” Alaina told American Idol host Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show. “She’s so sweet. I was going to sing with her but didn’t have time to learn the dance, so I wasn’t in the number, but she said I was amazing and I’d have a great career and she was proud of me. It’s really cool.”

After that surprise came the tweet from Columbia saying that B would debut 1 + 1 as a special treat for the fans.  Then came the performance that slayed 'um all and all she needed was A Mic and a Light!

5/26:

Thursday saw 1 + 1 hit iTunes Top 10 at #10 where it stayed briefly.  It spent Thursday and most of the weekend in the Top 20.  Pre-ordered copies of, 4, also led to the album reaching 10 on the iTunes top 100 Album's list.

Thursday,  also was the day that, DAMN BEYONCE', took over Twitter's trending topics list for over 24hrs.  The TT appeared (Wednesday night) after B took over the stage during the girls' performance and then it just kept going as people were taken away by her performance of 1 + 1 .

5/27:

On Friday, came Andy WarHOV's directoral debut titled,  Pregame.  Jay recorded Bs AI dressing room rehearsal on his iPhone and then posted it on his sight, Life + Times, with the following quote:

Sometimes you need perspective. You’ve been right in front of greatness so often that you need to step back and see it again for the first time. This is the dressing room rehearsal for American Idol. NO MICROPHONE. No effects. – Andy WarHOV.

Also on Friday 96.1 KISS FM, let the cat out of the bag via tweeter, that B's official second single would be, Best Thing I Never Had, it's the 4th track on the album (wink).  

Here's what KISS said:  The record label just sent us over a email about her second single. Its a song called “Best Thing I Never Had” and will be sent out to us next Wednesday, June 1 I am sure we will play it for you guys when we get it here at the station.

So it looks like next week will shape up to be another big week for B, with the release of, Best thing I Never Had, on June 1st, this Wednesday, what other surprises does Queen B have for her BNation?

Here's a few reviews of, Best Thing I Never Had:


Via Just Jared:
This mid-tempo song has lots of drums much like “Run The World.” “Babyface wrote the song,” Beyonce told JustJared.com. The track is about karma and revenge and kicks off with, “What goes around comes back around.” Some key phrases from the song include, “Best thing I’ve ever had” and “Best thing you’ve never had.” The best line in the song goes, “You showed your ass, baby I saw the real you.” The song closes with, “Sucks to be you right now.”


Jason of Beyonce' World says the track is:
A Mid-Tempo/Ballad that's like Irreplaceable meets Smash Into You.  He also says it's a great track!  And that we should be patient and wait until Wednesday to hear it!


Smash Into You was one of the jewels from B's last album.  I guess that means the track is Soulful, Roc, Pop and has a groove to it!  I am super stocked about the drum comment, as the drums are the highlights of, Run The World, Girls.

Beyonce' on the New Album:

I recorded more than 60 songs: everything I ever wanted to try, I just did it. I started off being inspired by [Afrobeat music pioneer] Fela Kuti. I actually worked with the band from "Fela!" [the hit Broadway musical based on his life] for a couple of days, just to get the feel for the soul and heart of his music; it's so sexy, and has a great groove you get lost in. I loved his drums, all the horns, how everything was on the one. What I learned most from Fela was artistic freedom: he just felt the spirit. I also found a lot of inspiration in '90s R&B, Earth, Wind & Fire, DeBarge, Lionel Richie, Teena Marie... I listened to a lot of Jackson 5 and New Edition, but also Adele, Florence + the Machine, and Prince. Add in my hip-hop influences, and you can hear how broad it is. I also gave myself more freedom to really belt out some songs, and bring soul singing back: I used a lot of the brassiness and grittiness in my voice that people hear in my live performances, but not necessarily on my records.

--Princess Carter
Sources: BillBoard.com; iTunes, Beyonce.com, American Idol, Beyonce' Street Team, Twitter, VEVO, YouTube, JustJared.com & BeyonceWorld