And the winner is… Beyoncé!

Yes, Rimmel London Presents The Worlds Greatest Popstars can proudly announce that Beyoncé has been crowned the new all-time queen of pop as voted by a massive 100,000 of you in the UK.  T4 and 4Music have showcased 10 of the planet’s greatest stars in a series of exclusive shows fronted by celebrity superfans, who have given a unique insight into their idols and told everyone why they think they deserve the title of The World’s Greatest.

To announce the result, 4Music’s Edith Bowman was joined by a carefully selected super-panel of industry experts who all had their opinions on the ten featured popstars and put forward the cases for their favourite contenders for the title. Then, in front of the T4 Stars Of 2009 live audience at London’s Earls Court, Beyoncé was revealed as the winner with a very special tribute organised in her honour.

Beyoncé’s triumphant win was followed by strong votes for Britney, Eminem and Pink, but the bootylicious diva’s style, grace and reputation for delivering a constant string of hit pop tracks meant she was able to kick the other pop acts to the proverbial curb.

It was 10 years ago that Beyoncé Knowles announced herself to the world, with the Destiny’s Child hit Independent Women. Since then the 28-year-old singerhas made the decade’s best single, delivered the greatest live show on earth, sung for President Obama and emerged as our last true star.

Why Beyoncé? Why this stunning 28-year-old singer/performer/actress/businesswoman from Texas now married to one of the decade’s other biggest stars, and worth something like $87m a year to boot, and not, well, take your pick…? Because she made not one but two of the decade’s greatest singles, with Crazy in Love and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), not to mention her hits with Destiny’s Child; and this was the decade when singles – particularly R&B singles – regained their status as pop’s favourite medium. (But her three solo albums? Pretty fabulous, too.)

Because at a time when the ubiquity of TV talent shows put the onus on those who could cut it live more than ever, she and not any superannuated rock star was arguably the greatest live performer of the past 10 years. Because her achievements chime with bigger narratives. Who was it got to sing for President Obama and Michelle at their first dance after his inauguration, after all? Because she is a brand, but says she isn’t, and because in this age of Twitter and the paparazzi, she might be a global phenomenon but in the course of 10 full years Mrs Jay-Z, as she might also be known, has kept her mystery. And because – just possibly – she helped introduce a new word into the Oxford English Dictionary: bootylicious.

More after the cut…

The American pop star Beyoncé Knowles arrived unannounced at a London Topshop yesterday to buy leggings from the Icelandic E-Label brand.  E-Label has only been available at Topshop for a few weeks, so the Icelandic designers and Topshop workers were equally surprised to see the Destiny’s Child star. Shop workers offered to close the store for Beyoncé and her bodyguards, but she declined the offer.  Former band mate Michelle Williams has also been a high profile E-Label customer, with at least six items purchased from the brand. Michelle Williams has often been in the spotlight for her taste in clothes and was voted the best dressed woman of 2009 by the readers of People Magazine.

E-Label designers Asta Kristjansdottir, Heba Hallgrimsdottir and Asgrimur Mar Fridriksson modified Williams’s clothes personally so that she can wear them in concert.

That a small Icelandic fashion label had been picked up by Topshop in London had already made Kristjansdottir and colleagues extremely proud. But for Beyoncé to personally come and purchase their leggings within just a few weeks: “We were of course very pleased; but also extremely honoured on behalf of the label,” Kristjansdottir told Frettabladid.

Beyoncé is said to be worth over $300 million but when she went shopping in Dublin this week she was intent on bargain hunting.  The superstar was seen on Grafton Street, the main shopping street in Dublin and bought a $100 black and silver sequined skirt along with a $100 black and white jumpsuit.  Sources said there was no diva-like behavior, no demand the store be closed while she was shopping, she was said to be friendly and nice to everyone she met.

“Beyoncé came in for about a half an hour and was accompanied by two bodyguards,” one onlooker told the Evening Herald.  “She wasn’t in the least bit precious and didn’t look for any extra attention from the staff because of who she was.  She was very nice and courteous to the other shoppers who were there at the time and seemed very impressed by the clothes they had.  Beyonce was saying to her minders that the outfits would be perfect on stage or when she has to make any public appearances and told the staff ‘the more glitter and sparkles the better’,” they added.

The star returned to Ireland for two sell-out appearances at the O2 arena in Dublin last Sunday and Monday night, and went to Belfast on Tuesday.

Two of today’s biggest divas, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, got sexy in the latter’s “Video Phone” clip, with Gaga even embracing her inner B for the shoot. But the duo conquer a slightly more serious theme — Lady Gaga’s fear of suffocation — on her song “Telephone,” off her new LP, The Fame Monster. Gaga, despite her penchant for making dance-floor-friendly pop, said she actually has a hard time just letting loose and having fun. Why? “Fear of suffocation — something that I have or fear is never being able to enjoy myself,” she told MTV News. ” ‘Cause I love my work so much, I find it really hard to go out and have a good time.”

Although it may be hard to believe because of her glitzy persona, the singer insists her life does not consist of jumping from nightclub to nightclub. “I don’t go to nightclubs,” she said. “You don’t see pictures of me falling out of a club drunk. I don’t go — and that’s because I usually go and then, you know, a whiskey and a half into it, I got to get back to work.” And she told us the phone on the song isn’t just a physical phone, but also that person in her head telling her to keep working harder and harder. “That’s my fear — that the phone’s ringing and my head’s ringing,” she explained. “Whether it’s a telephone or it’s just the thoughts in your head, that’s another fear.”

Sasha Fierce may be a figment of Beyonce’s imagination but she’s proven to be a winning alterego for the former Destiny’s Child starlet. Answering a self imposed question, Beyonce redefined the word diva in 2009 with the words “a diva is a female version of hustler”. While critics and opposing forces have criticized her choices, wardrobe and marriage this year alone, Beyonce continues to work hard for the title of being the hardest working female in show business. Not only dominating music but film, television, apparel, and retail, Beyonce has made 2009 a banner year.

While her third studio album “I Am… Sasha Fierce” was released in November of 2008, the album and its astounding number of successful singles peaked in 2009. To date, “I Am… Sasha Fierce” has spawned eight singles, including the aforementioned “Diva” and its follow up “Ego” as well as the chart-topping hits “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” and “Halo”. Labeled with multi-platinum certification (RIAA), “I Am Sasha Fierce” has become much more than an album but has perhaps served as a launch pad for Beyonce. In less than ten months the album has spawned three successful packages including the celebrated “Above and Beyonce DVD/CD” featuring remixes including “Ego” with Kanye West; a concert DVD and behind the scenes package titled “I Am… Yours” and a revamped deluxe edition of “I Am… Sasha Fierce” featuring a remix with fellow 2009 starlet and Billboard Women in Music honoree Lady Gaga.

- Singersroom

More after the cut…

Pop culture sensation Beyoncé Knowles gets up close and personal in an ABC special airing Thanksgiving night, sharing what she’s thankful for this season. ‘I’m thankful for my life, I’m thankful for my health and my family and for music and for having the best job in the world,’ she said.

In a performance made during her I Am… Tour, this summer at the Encore Theater at Wynn, Las Vegas, Knowles shares the inspiration behind many of her hits. ‘People don’t know that these songs meant more than just the songs that are catchy,’ she said. ‘It’s my life.’

Beyoncé said the hit ‘Dangerously in Love,’ off her debut solo album, was when she fell for her husband, hip hop mogul Jay-Z. ‘A lot of the people in the audience would know ‘Crazy in Love,’ but would not particularly know this is when I met my first love … my husband,’ Beyoncé said. ‘There’s an actual story behind all of my songs and why I wrote the songs and I wanted to show that.’