Poet Maya Angelou's biography is called 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.' For the opening 30 seconds of the performance of her addictively catchy No. 1 hit 'We Found Love' on tonight's episode of 'X Factor,' the lovely and talented Rihanna was a similar caged bird! She was singing behind a fence, but she broke out on the quick to bounce around the stage with her crew of dancers. We hope the contestants were watching, since Rihanna gave a master class on how to perform flawlessly. She sang. She danced. She smiled. She owned the crowd.

RiRi channeled the '80s with her big, curly red hair, black hair bandana, destroyed acid wash jeans and bulky black bomber jacket, which was festooned with all sorts of patches. Her stage setup was quite urban, with neon lights flashing words and phrases like "Love," "Hopeless" and "I <3 beauty." She was clearly having a good time, spinning around while holding hands with one of her male dancers like a little girl on playground. She was in her element. The stage is her domain, and  sherules it.

RiRi flew in from her current world tour just to perform 'X Factor,' so she's nothing if not dedicated and hard working. She chatted breathlessly with host Steve Jones, who asked her to offer a piece of advice to the hopefuls. She said, "There is so much advice I can give but I would say most importantly, you have to love what you do. Because if you don't, it's a waste of your time. It's so hard. If you love it, it'll never be work."

Did you hear that, contestants? RiRi has spoken.

Watch Rihanna Perform 'We Found Love' on 'X Factor'

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