[There was a video here]

Beyoncé's been making Kelly Rowland cry a lot lately. More than usual, probably.

While discussing her once strained (or something) relationship with Beyoncé with OMG! Insider, the second-most-popular (and second-least-popular) member of Destiny's Child Kelly Rowland broke down in tears. Well actually, her voice broke and it seemed like she might be faking it and then, about a minute later, actual human tears squeaked out of her ducts. Was that a smile of relief that accompanied them?

This is but one tide in an ocean of tears. Last month, Rowland released "Dirty Laundry," a song written with The-Dream about an abusive relationship she had. It wasn't with Beyoncé (surprise), but it did drive a stake between the two old friends and occasional co-workers. Rowland famously cut herself off while performing the song in Washington D.C., last week to cry or take an extended round of deep breaths. Jezebel called the performance "gut-churning." Rowland took a similar breather/cry break at the exact same moment during the next three shows on her mini-tour with The-Dream (I couldn't find YouTube footage of their final show together, which took place Sunday in Mashantucket, CT ). I cut together the four I did find in the video up top.

This is not unlike when Janet Jackson performed "Again" on her janet. Tour and wept before and during the "'Cause I'm fallin' in love with you...again" line every damn night. The part in which Rowland breaks down or whatever she's doing comes right after the lines:

I was battered
He hittin the window like it was me, until it shattered
He pulled me out, he said, “Don’t nobody love you but me
Not your mama, not your daddy and especially not Bey.”
He turned me against my sister
I missed you

Rowland is entitled to cry whenever she damn well wants to. It's her party — we just drop by and wish it were Beyoncé's. She can break down even if it's the same time in the same way every night. Maybe that part is particularly hard to relive, maybe she feels nothing and is just acting, maybe she feels something and is playing it up. Too hard to call. The song, after all, exists to turn pain into a performance.

But it is particularly suspect that the point in which Rowland does cry is the juiciest/bloggiest point in the song — the one that deals with her long-rumored estrangement from Beyoncé. Let's all bow our heads in communal catharsis. Those who care about the Beyoncé-Rowland dynamic at last have their answer (or an answer — the song is, of course, vague about what being turned against one's sister entails); Rowland at last can impart it.

Beyoncé's widely quoted response to the song is, "I never left," which seems kind of superior and thus perfectly Beyoncé. I'm so sure that she's been waiting in the recording studio since 2004, puzzled as to why they yet haven't cut the fifth Destiny's Child album (sixth if you count the Christmas one), sighing and figuring she might as well make some solo records with all those songs she has lying around.