Taylor Swift has wrapped up the first part of her Fearless tour 2010. She last performed at Zepp Arena in Tokyo, Japan to a sold out crowd. She, her band (ahem, they’re called The Agency, thank you very much) and her fearless dance crew have been having a lot of fun. Now she’s back home, where a storm has been awaiting her.
Let me sum it up for you. Taylor had a less than perfect Grammy performance, which was widely criticized by some members of the media. In some cases not only proclaiming Taylor could not sing at all, but also flat out saying she should not. This so-called media backlash was fueled by comments from a lot of insiders to the music industry that either put her down or stood up for her. Taylor’s live performances are now under the microscopic lens.
She’s also now receiving reviews for her cameo role in Valentine’s Day. She’s not doing any serious acting here, just light comedy. Her appearance on the screen is actually pretty hilarious. Movie critics are as divided as music critics on her acting performance as well. She is considered to have potential by some, not to have done a good job by others and finally a few are just insulting.
I also have a problem with people that make arguments based solely on age group. No, I’m not going to cite the authors, I may not be a big site but they’re not getting any traffic from here. Several critics use the fact that Taylor’s music appeals to the tween crowd as a negative argument (and really, that’s the whole argument). It’s been a long time since I was that young but it’s still not very nice to hear critics bashing Taylor’s audience. Young people have ears too, they buy records, they go to movies, and most important than that they are not stupid nor deaf and they deserve your respect. Stop bashing young music listeners.
If you haven’t figured it by now, Taylor’s connection to her fanbase became something akin to friendship a long time ago. That bond is not getting severed anytime soon. The Fearless video illustrated that better than anything else, presenting concert footage from her sold out Fearless tour. What, you haven’t seen it yet? Thanks to born2dance1994 via YouTube for posting!
Despite the critics, Tay keeps breaking records. The Fearless one shared honors with George Strait and Shania Twain as they all earned top certifications from the RIAA for music released between 2000 and 2009 according to CMT News. 29 gold and platinum certifications rank George Strait first. With a total of 25 digital song certifications, Taylor was also at the top of the list for digital. Taylor Swift’s Love Story and Lady Gaga’s Just Dance were tied for highest-certified digital song by a female artist, reaching quadruple platinum for 4 million paid downloads. T he highest-certified album by a female artist at 11-times platinum goes to Shania Twain’s 2002 album, Up!.
During her stay in Sydney, T-Swizzle got the chance to perform on So You Think You Can Dance. That performance finally aired in Australian TV this week. Thanks to ragemvs via YouTube for posting!
Taylor and the Agency are back home in the US. The next stage of the Fearless Tour starts March4, in Tampa, Florida.
(Sources: CMT News, ragemvs via YouTube, born2dance1994 via YouTube, Big Machine Records, WENN)
The Swift Agency 