Beyoncé Responds to Billboard Performance Controversy

Beyoncé stole the show at the Billboard Awards this past weekend with her striking performance of "Run the World (Girls)." Now the 29 year-old star is being accused of literally stealing her show with many claiming she lifted her number from well-known Italian entertainer Lorella Cuccarini. 

The likeness to Cuccarini's 2010 performance is uncanny, however, Bey says she's not a copycat. On the contrary the pop star acknowledges that Cuccarini was one of her inspirations.

"My makeup artists showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much," she told AOL Music. "I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius." 

This isn't the first time Bey has been accused of borrowing an element from another artist for her live shows. She was accused of copying Kylie Minogue's style when she transformed out of a robot suit at a 2007 BET Awards performance of "Get Me Bodied." Minogue had done this on her 2002 "Come Into Forever World Fever" tour. 

However, Kenzo Digital, one of the media artists behind the show-stopping performance, corroborates Bey's argument, maintaining that Cuccarini was just one of many influences. "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from," he told Yahoo! Amplifier.

"If anything, it's a great example of how great of a performer Beyoncé is. It's just a bare white screen. It's a technique in video art since the '80s in terms of frontal projection and interactive things. That's really nothing new. It's not even a new technology. It's just an incredibly simple, awesome storytelling device, and with a performer like Beyoncé it becomes incredibly powerful." 

There's no word yet on whether Bey will continue to use the projection screen in any upcoming tours or appearances but Kenzo sure hopes so. "It would be awesome," he said, "but I don't know what's in store exactly." 

Beyoncé's upcoming album, 4, is set for release June 28. 

(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)