BEYONCE KNOWLES - BEYONCE BATTLES BAD COLD

DESTINY'S CHILD star BEYONCE KNOWLES battled a secret flu virus last week (ends25FEB05) in a desperate bid to make sure she was in top shape at the OSCARS last night (27FEB05).

The singer, who performed three of the Best Song nominees at the ACADEMY AWARDS, arrived for rehearsals feeling terrible and then locked herself away in Los Angeles' Capitol Records building to perfect her voice and fight her cold.

An OSCARS insider says, "She was really professional but pretty sick. I think she passed on her ailments to a lot of staff. There were producers and the like with bad colds."