Beyoncé Was Almost Upstaged on Her April Cover Shoot

Welcome to the Vogue shoot!

(funky music)

This is my first time doing a cover shoot for Vogue,

and, of course, I m very thrilled to be a part

of this great magazine

and I m working with the best photographer,

Mario Testino.

I met him when I was about 19 years old

and every time I see him,

he s just so full of life and full of love.

Simplicity is my word for 2009

and that s what this shoot is.

It s a very, very chic thing and simple.

(funky dance music)

I didn t know that the kids didn t know

they were coming to do this shoot.

So I think I walked in

and I saw them.

They were in the middle of choreography

so they didn t want to be rude to the teacher

and stop but they were kinda like,

oh God,

what is goin on? Is that? What is goin on?

(teacher yelling instructions)

So I was really anxious to tell them

what they were shooting.

I mean, imagine, they re shooting Vogue!

I mean there s nothing bigger than Vogue

and they had no idea.

But there was this one little boy

who was such a star.

It was hilarious because Mario had to tell him

can you stop covering up Beyoncé?

(laughs)

This is what I m telling you

that you have to stay in.

He was just so full of energy.

He s going to be this choreographer,

I can already see it

and he s actually a Virgo.

Oh, your birthday s two days after my birthday.

Yeah, you re a Virgo.

Yes, I am a Virgo.

How does it feel then?

Xyz.

(Mario laughs)

This one is like going to be a star.

And your birthday is when?

It s great to see that hunger,

so I felt like I was in 8th grade all over again.

(chuckles)

I m very happy to be one

of the people young girls look up to,

young women look up to

and I always write my songs about female empowerment

and us knowing what we re worth

and what we deserve

and learning to embrace our flaws

and I m very proud of that.

I think the best quality a woman

can possess is confidence.

I mean it just draws you in

when a woman walks in the room

and she likes herself

and she loves herself

and it s really a very simple secret.

Whatever you re thinking,

even when you try on certain clothes

or whenever you have to make a speech

or whatever,

even in a picture or in a movie,

people can see what you feel about yourself.

I was there when Obama was sworn in

and I knew I was asked to perform at last

and, of course, I was looking forward to that moment.

I knew it would be one of the best moments in my life.

And right before I sang,

of course, I was so nervous I had a big frog in my throat

and I m like, do I have to do this?

Is this really happening to me?

And I was listening to Barack speak,

and I was in awe and I forgot I had to get

on the stage and perform in about one minute.

So they had to kinda push me and say, C mon!

Your song is starting, hurry up!

I just want to relive the moment over and over again

and I m so honored that I m a part of it!

2009, I ve actually made a commitment to myself

to do something charitable every month.

I want to make a commitment every single month.

I dedicate some of my time to someone else.

Ten years from now,

hopefully I ll have a couple of children.

I hopefully will,

wow,

maybe be doing Broadway,

more movies,

maybe closer to that Oscar.

(laughs)

I m 27 so I ll still be young in 10 years

and hopefully, I ll do it

as long as my fans want me to perform.

(rock music)