POPSCREEN: Beyoncé and Shakira

Why settle for just one superstar when you can have two? That’s the philosophy behind Beyoncé’s latest video, “Beautiful Liar,” a collaboration with Columbian pop queen Shakira. Beyoncé is turning out hits like a well-oiled machine these days—just look at the recent ubiquity of “Irreplaceable” and “Upgrade U.” But her partnership with Shakira is double the pleasure and double the fun.

Although the video starts out slow, the later shots with the two divas together more than make up for it. As the screen flashes back and forth between the artists, who sport identical leather hot pants and wild curly locks, it’s hard to tell who’s who.

The director takes great pains to achieve this effect; Beyoncé stands several inches taller than Shakira’s tiny five-foot frame, but the camera circles around the pair, always catching one at a slight diagonal to the other, such that they appear to be the same height.

Add the grayish lighting to confuse their skin coloration, and the result is an aesthetic illusion as clever as it is sexy.

And then there’s the dancing—the gyrating and the hip thrusting that make Beyoncé’s videos so hot. This go-around is no exception; how could the meeting between bootylicious and belly dancer be boring? The pair is steamy writhing on the floor, grinding up against a wall, and shaking in the rain. And the song itself isn’t half bad—“Beautiful Liar” is sure to make the dance floor snap, crackle, and pop.

As Beyoncé and Shakira prove, the best way to improve a winning formula is to team up with another winner. From the slinky attire to the sultry looks, the video is right-on. “Beautiful Liar” is everything one would hope for from these two.