Love her or hate her, Beyonce is a worldwide force to be reckoned with:

Some 5,000 adoring fans in Ethiopia — a country normally unimpressed by Western music — turned out to see Beyonce. In this country, even teens tend to be loyal to music in the national language, Amharic. But Beyonce got a hysterical welcome when she came onstage.

“I want to thank you,” the R&B star told the screaming crowd Saturday evening in return. “You have been one of the best audiences of my lifetime.”

In September, at the start of the year 2000, Addis Ababa hosted Los Angeles-based hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in a new, multimillion-dollar but temporary concert hall. But the reception for the internationally popular group was tepid, if respectful.

Beyonce’s opening act, rapper Ludacris, also got a lukewarm reception Saturday.

But the crowd appeared to genuinely enjoy the 26-year-old Beyonce, who sang many of the ballads on her latest album, “B’Day.”

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