As her 1989 World Tour gathers steam Down Under seemingly every media outlet and radio station is in a frenzy about the Shake It Off singer.
Why all the fuss? Here is a quick refresher to bring you up to speed.
The Good
Along with her many charity crusades, the 25-year-old superstar is always finding ways to give back to her fans with random acts of kindness. Just minutes before her tour kicked off at the ANZ Stadium, Taylor took time out to meet 12-year-old Maitland, NSW, girl Jorja Hope (below). Jorja has a rare inner-ear condition that will one day cause her to go deaf. All she wanted was to go to a Taylor concert before then, so her twin sister Chloe started an online campaign to get her there. Before long, radio station Nova 96.9 stepped in and Taylor was only too pleased to make her dream come true. Taylor spread the love again the next day when she stopped on the side of the road to have her photo taken with a fan who was wearing her t-shirt.
The Bad
Before arriving in Australian, Taylor ruffled more than a few feathers during the New Zealand leg of her 1989 tour. During an excursion to film a music video at Bethells Beach near Auckland, Taylor and her crew reputedly contravened regulations about the number of vehicles they were allowed in the area. Officials say the breach put the endangered dotterel birds in the area under threat. Taylor also got off-side with some of her 76,000 fans at her opening concert in Sydney when she failed to invite a VIP onto the stage, despite there being a number in town at the time. Taylor is famed for surprising fans at her concerts, including duets with Mick Jagger, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin and Pitbull.
The Ugly
Taylor supposedly ignited a bitter Twitter tirade with singer Nicki Minaj in July, 2015, after the MTV Video Music Awards were announced. Nicki lambasted officials for snubbing her song Anaconda for a Video Of The Year nom with what appeared to be a swipe at Taylor: “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year”. Taylor took this to be a dig at her Bad Blood video and fired back. Ironically, Bad Blood is reputedly motivated by another Taylor fallout – this time with former bestie Katie Perry. Taylor told Rolling Stone last year, the song was about a pop star that stabbed her in the back and was now a “straight up enemy”.”She did something so horrible,” Swift said. “I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.’ And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business.” “She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me.” The day after the interview was released, Katie retaliated by tweeting: “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing”. Regina George is the meanest girl in the movie Mean Girls.
