Pop Divas

They're de-lightful, they're de-lovely, they're de-manding, they're de-cadent . . . Heck, they're divas, what did you expect? Now it's time to get up a little closer (slowly) and hear these resplendent song thrushes in their natural habitat. From stage to studio, divas show all their natural colors and beautiful plumage right here.

Look: a diva without attitude is as useless as a Hummer with a five-gallon tank. These women are stars, which means the rest of us circle around them, reflecting their light. And isn't it delicious when one of them goes supernova, as they're known to do from time to time?

Your cell phone cover is an airbrushed, faux-autographed Celine photo. Your alarm clock blurts "I Will Always Love You" at 6:45 a.m. daily. You're beginning to study Kabbalah. You've clearly rocketed to the rarefied atmosphere that proves your advanced diva-lution. Here are a few vocal masterpieces that might surprise even you.

It's not entirely about having the hair, the makeup, the nails, the 24/7/365 diet so you can wear those impossibly tight gowns at awards ceremonies, or the loser boyfriend who either slaps you around or gets caught womanizing while driving drunk. Sure, that's a big part of it, but it's really about wringing that last nibblet of sentiment out of a tearjerker ballad and holding the F above high-C for weeks at a time.