popularity and awards is one thing but as an artist, Beyonce doesn't generate any where close to the excitement/event that MJ had whenever he was on tv or any award show...and that was pre Thriller. And Beyonce has yet to make a timeless defining classic as OTW or Thriller...all her records sales notwithstanding.

Beyonce has the most over saturated brand of any artist currently which, to me, forces her on the public. MJ, on the other hand, you couldn't get enough of seeing him.

If Beyonce is viewed as the heir apparent to Michael Jackson, then that speaks more to the sad state of affairs that has become pop music/culture...and R&B music as well than it does about her as an artist.

Beyonce has gotten to the point now where she has allowed her talent to become subordinate to her sex appeal. That was another(underrated) quality about MJ as an artist is the fact that although many chicks swooned over MJ as a kid and during his musical height, MJ never really exuded, or had to had exude any type of sexual energy that has always been commonplace for most male pop/r&b artist.