With a confluence of divas past and present - Katy Perry, Stevie Nicks, Adele, Wanda Jackson and Reba McEntire - coming to the Twin Cities this week, we posed that question to some experts.

THE LOOK

"We're divas because we love beautiful clothes and we love fun hair," said Stevie Nicks, who's playing Mystic Lake Casino's amphitheater Wednesday. "We love making some kind of fashion statement. It's all those things that are diva-esque that are the fun part of being a diva, not the snotty, bitchy diva thing."

THE ATTITUDE

"When that 'me' becomes more important than you," said country queen Reba McEntire, who plays the State Fair on Thursday.

Rising R&B star Keri Hilson put it more diplomatically: "Confidence and womanly poise."

THE HITS

This is the essential element, says McEntire: "It doesn't matter what your hair looks like or what your outfit looks like. You've got to have the right song that people connect to. If you don't have that, you might as well stay home." In that vein, radio personality Lori Barghini of MyTalk (107.1 FM) considers Perry and Lady Gaga "divas in training." They need more hits -- enough to fill a bona fide greatest-hits collection.

LONGEVITY

"You have to have a few years in the business on you to be a real diva," said Rock Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson, who has been singing for 56 years and will open for Adele on Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center. "There are certain things that stars do expect, and I think that's all right to be set apart a little bit -- someone who has paid their dues and now they're getting to enjoy the fruit of their labor."