Pop superstar Beyonce is hoping fans will enjoy seeing not just her real self, but also her fabulous alter-ego Sasha Fierce, when she hits the stage for two concerts in Seoul this week.
“This tour will be really special for both me and for my fans. This is the concert that I show my two real sides of my personality. I really hope you enjoy and meet the ‘real’ me, myself, Beyonce, and Sasha Fierce at the show,” she said, in an email interview.
Beyonce, who arrives Monday, will be performing Oct. 20 and 21 at the Gymnastics Stadium of Olympic Park, as part of the “Beyonce I AM …” tour. The pop diva performed here in 2007, and the experience proved to be as memorable for her as it was for fans.
“Seoul was the only place that I had two night shows. I still remember that people got so excited and so passionate during the show, and I could feel that they were enjoying the music itself. I even got so excited even after the show was finished. Seoul was a beautiful city by itself, but the people were so good, too. I will always remember them forever,” she said.
The multiple Grammy Award-winning artist introduced Sasha Fierce as her sexy alter-ego when she released the two-disc CD “I AM… Sasha Fierce.” Stepping into Sasha’s glamorous heels on stage has gotten easier through the years, but it does not involve the high-maintenance rituals that everyone might assume a diva would demand.
“I can make the transition from Beyonce to Sasha Fierce really fast. I don’t have any crazy rituals beforehand. I get in maybe two-and-a-half to three hours before each show. I do my makeup on tour myself and get my hair done. Then we all come together, say a prayer and do a little stretch,” she said.
But preparations for the concert tour sound grueling, as Beyonce talked about 12-hour-long rehearsals and practicing choreography in heels. “I have a rule that when I have my heels on, everyone has to have their heels on too. Sometimes the dancers are like, ‘Oh, God, we hope Beyonce comes in late,’ because I’ll go all day. And in the end, I’ll have blisters and my toes will have bruises,” she said.
The demanding workouts do help the pop star maintain a sexy figure, which she shows off in concerts and music videos like “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
Standing out for its simplicity and choreography, “Single Ladies” nabbed the Video of the Year award at the recent MTV Music Video Awards. Out of all her videos, it was the least expensive and took the least amount of time. “And it ended up being the most iconic. I absolutely did not expect that,” she admitted.
On days off from the tour, the Texas-born beauty enjoys sightseeing, visiting churches and museums and even riding a bike around the city. “It’s great to do something normal every day. It keeps me grounded,” she said.
Beyonce, who is married to hip-hop superstar Jay-Z, is in no hurry to start a family (“In five years, yes probably,” she says). She has a lot going on right now, with a world tour and a “sexy and seductive” fragrance to be launched next year. And she’s already thinking of new projects, like developing a videogame-incorporating dance choreography, and producing films, perhaps a documentary about her life or a film loosely based on her father’s childhood.
Despite her busy schedule, Beyonce clearly loves what she’s doing.
“The truth is I really love what I do. I live for it. I’ve invested so much of myself in my career that I cherish it. I’ve worked too hard to do something to damage what I’ve basically dedicated my life to. I still definitely get a high every time I get onstage. But it’s not just the performing. It’s also coming up with creative marketing ideas and doing cool collaborations, like my fragrance,” she said.
“I love everything about this.”
Even after working her exhausting concert tour ends, Beyonce is not the type to go on extended vacations. “I think after maybe a month or two months, I’d be really bored. But I don’t see myself working this hard for the rest of my life. It’s just too much to do forever. I thank God I started touring and building a fan base when I was really young. So now if I took off a couple of years, I think I’d still be able to come back, go on tour and do records. I’m still a young woman,” said the 28-year-old.
She also describes herself as an “all or nothing” type of woman. “Either I’m doing absolutely nothing and relaxing ― reading a book, sitting by the ocean and not answering any questions ― or else I’m hands-on and giving 100%, working really hard,” she said.
