At the writing of this article, Beyoncé Knowles will be in direct competition with Maria Carey and Alicia Keys—for Beyoncé Knowles, 24-year-old songstress, is nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Female R & B Vocal Performance, for “Wishing on a Star.”

And Beyoncé is also nominated in another category as well—Best R & B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, for “So Amazing.”  

Those of us who first encountered her found Beyoncé singing with Destiny’s Child, the Star Search-discovered singing group Beyoncé co-formed, produced, and was the chief songwriter and lead singer for. 

Others will recall first hearing Beyoncé at the 46th Grammy Awards, where she performed (with Prince, a surprise show) a medley of pieces including her “Crazy in Love” and three of Prince’s Purple Rain hits; or Beyoncé performing “Believe,” “Look To Your Path [Vois sur ton Chemin],” and “Learn to be Lonely” at the 77th Annual Academy Awards; or Beyoncé singing at any number of the awards shows…where she was often a winner.

Her talent and consistent performance record, that is, is known and greeted with as much gushing, gratitude and applause as is her winning record: in five short years she has rocketed to stardom with such awards and accolades as those from ASCAP Awards; BET Awards; Billboard Music Awards; Black Reel Awards; Brit Awards; Capital FM Awards; Grammy Awards; MTV Awards; People’s Choice Awards; Radio Music Awards; Soul Train Music Awards; Vibe Awards; and World Music Awards. 

In addition, Beyoncé Knowles the actress, the celebrity, and the humanitarian has won image awards, NAACP awards, Teen Choice awards; and Kids’ Choice awards.

However we each first “met” Beyoncé Knowles, her fans will tell you what’s more important is her skill and appeal as a stylized performer, her grace as a high-profile celebrity, and her beneficent contributions to charities and non-profit causes. And her R & B singing, her range, her versatility, and her beautiful and graceful stage presence all contribute to the star’s gifts and, subsequently, to her popularity. 

Will Beyoncé Knowles win her 49th (and 50th) awards this year?  Her competition, of course, is stunning in their own right.  But if you listen to her fans, you might likely champion Beyoncé as the winner…for according to one statistic, a Universal Music poll conducted in early 2005, Beyoncé was granted—over Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera—the moniker “Princess of Pop.”  And the fans know best.
 

Ashanti is an American R&B singer and actress who came into the spotlight during the early 2000s.  She has released four char topping albums, has appeared on several television shows, and more recently has begun appearing in movies, such as ‘Bride and Prejudice’ (2004), and ‘Coach Carter’ (2005).

Ashanti was born on October 13th, 1980, in Glen Cove, in the Long Island area of New York.  Her full name is Ashanti Shequoyia Douglas, though she uses her first name only professionally.  Her father is a mix of Chinese and African American, while her mother is a Dominican African American blend. 

The results have worked out very well for Ashanti, she has a kind of exotic and rare beauty that is unique to her.  Her mother was a dance instructor and her father a skilled singer; her stunning good looks and family background for performance made Ashanti an almost certain success in the entertainment industry.

Ashanti’s sang in gospel choirs from the age of six, and honed her vocals throughout her childhood.  Before she was even in high school she had danced at Carnegie Hall, and a played a role in the Disney TV movie ‘Polly’. 

In 2001, Ashanti caught more attention when she appeared as background vocalist in Vita’s remake of the Madonna song ‘Justify My Love’, and in Big Pun’s single ‘How We Roll’.  Then in 2002 she was featured in Ja Rule’s ‘Always On Time’ and Fat Joe’s ‘What’s Luv?’, which were both enormous hits and brought Ashanti a lot of recognition.  At one time during the year, these two songs were at the number one and number two slots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. 

Ashanti’s new found fame landed her a deal with the label Murder Inc. and she released her first album, self titled ‘Ashanti’ in 2002.  The album went gold in a week, and platinum many times over in the months to come.  She won numerous awards for her work on the album, including a Grammy, and was without a doubt the hottest new female artist for the year.

Ashanti has released three albums since then, ‘Chapter II’ in 2003, ‘Concrete Rose’ in 2004, and ‘Can’t Stop’ in 2005, though ‘Can’t Stop’ was actually recorded in 1997.  All of these follow ups have been very successful, but none have matched the sales she gathered on her debut album.

Ashanti made several television appearances starting in 2003 with a cameo on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, and on ‘First Date’.  Her first film role came with the ‘Bollywood’ movie ‘Bride and Prejudice’.  The movie role she is best known for came in 2005 with ‘Coach Carter’ where she acted along with Samuel L. Jackson.  She is scheduled to star in a 2006 movie, ‘John Tucker Must Die’. 

With many talents, a beautiful voice and amazing good looks, hopefully we’ll all be seeing plenty more of Ashanti in the years to come.