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Post by Admin on Jun 17, 2014 1:16:57 GMT
A huge crowd of mostly teenaged girls had lined up, reportedly as early as 4 p.m. I saw how excited they were. Taylor Swift fan club members wore made-to-order shirts that bragged about their affiliation. Many others sported “Red” Tour merchandise or customized attire that were designed to mimic possibly every single outfit the star has worn in a music video, live performance or ad campaign. Assisted by MCA Music execs, we were ushered into the MOA Arena. Security was strict on the way to the backstage area. Moments later we were in the Vibe Room, a tent decorated with red drapes and couches that served as a receiving room for the meet-and-greet. Wearing a black number that hugged her svelte figure, Taylor entered the room. I was star-struck. I should have worn black, I thought, knowing that my 5’6” chunky self would still look like a hobbit next to her. She said hello and approached each one of us. I couldn’t pay too much attention to what the others were saying because I was at a loss for words. And then it was my turn. She was much taller than I; she had porcelain skin and doll-like features. She looked into my eyes, shook my hand and said, “Hi, I’m Taylor,” just like a normal person. I thanked her for coming back to Manila. She was really nice, complimenting my eyeliner which took ages to perfect. I couldn’t help telling her how my two daughters, aged 7 and 5, were just absolutely crazy about her! After talking with other guests, she thanked everyone again and told us that her mother would be taking us on a special backstage tour. Her mom, Andrea, fondly called Momma Swift by the crew, led us out of the room and gave us more reasons to admire her daughter. Momma Swift said she initially wanted Taylor to pursue horseback riding long-term, and how this was deemed impossible when her daughter fell in love with music and theater at an early age. Taylor was given her first guitar when she was 12 and that she wrote her first song at that age. According to Momma Swift, much effort goes into every tour. Aside from the 75 people that comprise Taylor’s band, backup singers and dancers, about 200 crew members are needed to put on the show. To make sure that the entire audience, from those in the VIP section to the rest at the bleachers, get to see the action onstage, two LED screens suspended on the right and left corners, and one at the center, project at least a dozen video camera angles. For the “Red” Tour, Taylor plays a six- and 12-string guitar, a piano, a few electric guitars, and a banjo. The multi-instrumentalist writes her own songs to this day, never lip-synchs, and is hands-on with other aspects of her craft. She conceptualizes her music videos and zeroes in on the production aspect of her shows. Taylor’s love for theater is evident in her concerts, as she utilizes theatrical approaches when it comes to her performances.
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Post by Admin on Jun 18, 2014 0:49:42 GMT
Cast your mind back to August 2013 - Taylor Swift's Red tour's in full swing, she's bringing out a different popstar-type to duet with pretty much every night and the lucky lads and lasses at LA's Staples Center are treated to a bloody fantastic little Want U Back collaboration with our very own Cher Lloyd. Ah - it all went without a hitch, didn't it? Or *did* it? Cher's admitted that she was actually 'crapping her pants' over the big performance with her pal TayTay, and she reckons that ruddy gigantic staircase is to blame for the whole palaver. Having a chinwag with us about teaming up with Tay other day, Cher spilled: "I was so nervous because she had this amazing stage, all these different staircases and all that sort of stuff. I had flat shoes on, but I was still crapping my pants. I was worried [about slipping]. I had to sing at the same time as coming down the stairs and my brain just couldn’t compute it. “When we were rehearsing it I forgot my lines. To the one song that I’ve sung the most throughout my whole career. It’s because of the stairs. I blame the stairs.”
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Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2014 4:40:36 GMT
Taylor Swift has listed her friends and recent Red Tour as her two biggest achievements. The American songstress counts the likes of Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding as close pals, and says it's the knowledge that she has such a tight circle that gets her through tough times. "I've met and gotten to know some of the greatest girls and guys recently and I've made my friendships a big priority. Knowing that I've found this group of awesome people who would be there for me through good times and bad; that's a big accomplishment in my eyes," Taylor gushed to the British edition of Glamour magazine. Taylor had been on the road with The Red Tour since March 2013, and it finally wrapped in Singapore earlier this week. "This has been a year of stadium touring and I'd have to say that is one of the biggest thrills for me. It's been the most incredible thing, seeing the crowds we play to get bigger and bigger every year. The success of The Red Tour was on one my favourite accomplishments," she confessed. She bagged Glamour's International Solo Artist award at the publication's recent awards show, and couldn't stop smiling about the achievement. "I've fallen in love with the UK more and more each time I've travelled back. To be given an award like this is such a wonderful feeling," she said.
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Post by Admin on Jul 2, 2014 5:53:18 GMT
The two pop princesses have become good friends, with Brit star Ellie turning to country songstress Taylor whenever she needs support. While the 27-year-old concedes she hasn't quite reached the same heights of fame as pal Taylor, she does often find it hard to deal with the glare of the media's spotlight. "We're friends because they understand predicaments," Ellie told the UK's edition of Glamour magazine of her close friendship with Taylor, 24, and 29-year-old Katy Perry. "They see what is and isn't real. I'm not anywhere near their level of fame but if I say, 'Oh God, Taylor, this happened,' she'll be like, 'Girl, that's nothing.' Suck it up, kind of thing." Ellie burst onto the UK music scene in 2010 with her debut album Lights, which soared straight to the top of the charts. The star likes to surround herself with strong women, and favours an all-female entourage. "I have strong female characters all around me, really cool women. My tour manager is a woman, my manager is a woman. I want to be surrounded by powerful women not men," she enthused. Although Ellie was recently linked to Rita Ora's ex Calvin Harris, it's thought she's happily dating British rocker Dougie Poynter. While fame has brought her famous friends and boyfriends, it's also caused her problems at times with anxiety. "There's still psychological chaos," she admitted. "But everything you do is about how you respond. And I wasn't aware of that before. When you grasp how you can control things, and accept things, you can cope."
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Post by Admin on Jul 4, 2014 4:41:29 GMT
Taylor Swift has smashed the all-time revenue record for a single tour by a country artist with the final stats reported from her Red tour that played arenas and stadiums in four continents during a 15-month span. According to Billboard’s Boxscore archives, the tour’s overall gross of $150 million surpasses the prior country artist record held by double-billed Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Soul2Soul tour that brought in $141 million during 2006 and 2007. The Red tour, which tops the weekly Hot Tours ranking, began last year on March 13 in Omaha, Neb. and ran for six months in North America before closing with a three-show stand in Nashville in September. In November and December, Swift traveled Down Under for a five-city jaunt through Australia and New Zealand to close out the year. She performed in London and Berlin in February to kick off the tour’s 2014 schedule, and the final trek covered six cities in Asia, beginning with a May 30 performance in Shanghai and ending on June 12 with a final concert in Singapore. The Red tour’s final box office counts total $150,184,971 in revenue from 1,702,933 sold tickets at 86 performances in 12 countries. Swift’s tour itinerary included 15 stadiums worldwide during its run. Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. topped the list with the best box office results during the tour. The home stadium of the NFL’s New England Patriots produced the highest gross and attendance counts with $9.4 million in sales from 110,712 fans at two shows last summer (July 26-27). This is the third time the stadium has featured the country superstar in a headlining tour performance. She also played Gillette in 2010 on her Fearless tour as well as the Speak Now outing the following year. Among stadiums that hosted the tour for a single performance, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field claims the top gross and attendance counts with $4.7 million from a sellout crowd of 56,047 on July 6, 2013. Box office results from arena performances on the Red tour place London’s O2 Arena ahead of the pack with the highest gross and attendance numbers. The London venue recorded $5.8 million in sales from 74,740 tickets sold during its five-show run (Feb. 1-2, 4, 10-11). Among the arenas that brought in the tour for just one performance, the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai tops the list based on sales of $1.8 million. The best attendance for a single performance was recorded in Fargo, North Dakota. Swift played the Fargodome on Sept. 6, 2013 with a capacity crowd of 21,073.
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