Free Republic

American country-pop sweetheart Taylor Swift rocked thousands of her fans at the Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS) in Ancol, North Jakarta, on Wednesday night, on her first visit to Indonesia. The concert also kicked off the Southeast Asia leg of a tour to promote her fourth album, Red. At 8:30 p.m., Swift’s giant shadow appeared behind a red curtain, immediately generating loud screams from the crowd, which consisted mainly of teenagers. The curtain then lifted, showing a black-and-white-attired Swift who proceeded to rock the arena with “State of Grace”, a song from her latest album. “Terima kasih [thank you],” Swift...

Like David versus Goliath, an upstart Christian film has shocked the world by winning an unlikely victory in the form of an Academy Award nomination. Only this time, the crowds aren't cheering for David. Instead, mainstream-media Oscar watchers across the nation have blasted the Academy for choosing the hymn-like testament to God’s presence over hits by pop artists like Jay-Z and Taylor Swift. "I can’t figure any of this s— out," an unnamed competitor told the Hollywood Reporter, or THR, after learning his or her song was beaten out by "Alone Yet Not Alone," the title song from the faith-themed...

Delaney "Laney" Ann Brown died on Christmas from complications from leukemia, five days after her 8th birthday. It was on her birthday, Dec. 20, that Brown made headlines when she received a phone call from Taylor Swift, who had heard about Brown's struggle with leukemia through Make- A-Wish America. Brown lived in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just down the road from Reading, where Swift was born. The pair had a conversation via Facetime, so they could see each other while they spoke; and judging from a post on Facebook, fulfilling the "bucket list" item put a smile on the young girl's...

Gawker obtained audiotape that sounds an awful lot like Mr. West and friends ranting after the awards show, searching for justification in West's infamous microphone-stealing act. "'Cause there ain't gonna be no more motherf---ing Elvises with no James Browns."

The Westboro Baptist Church has spread its special brand of hate so many places, Taylor Swift should genuinely be surprised that it's taken the group of protestors so long to get to her. So what have they found at fault with the 23-year-old singer? Her serial dating, of course. "@TaylorSwift13 works her 'girl next door' country-singer shtick, while hopping from one young man to the next and strutting across the world stage like a proud whore," the Westboro Baptist Church writes. "She is wildly popularly, especially among young ladies, with over 29M followers on Twitter, and thus a giant platform."The...

The influential female academic, writing for THR, calls out their "insipid, bleached-out personas." ... Snip ...

Summer lovin’ happened so — swiftly. In the span of just seven days, Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson Conor Kennedy went from near obscurity to dating the hottest country star in the nation. The couple were seen kissing, holding hands and getting extremely “touchy-feely” last weekend at the exclusive Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., according to a witness. Swift arrived at the compound last Friday around 5 p.m., the source said. She rented a small house on the property — a requirement for guests by the property’s managers at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. Soon, the singer and Conor, the...

Some of Hollywood's biggest young stars have been involved in sex scandals, racy photos and overall questionable behavior. From Miley Cyrus, to Vanessa Hudgens to Rihanna, it often seems as though role models for young people are sending out signals to grow up very fast. But all hope is not lost for parents and young people looking for more wholesome role models. Country singer Taylor Swift, who just finished a sold-out run in the New York area, followed by an astounding four-night sell-out at the Los Angeles Staples Center for her “Speak Now” tour, has had to add more concert...

The pint-sized Tom Brady was the biggest winner at the 2010 American Music Awards held Sunday night in the heart of Los Angeles’ Kingdom of Glam, the Nokia Center. Bieber Fever dominated the starry proceedings taking home the Favorite Artist of the Year, Favorite Breakthrough Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. The 2010 American Music Awards Red Carpet had some illustrious looks, understated elegance, a plethora of mini dresses, and Taylor Swift’s much discussed “do”, that seems to have been embraced by a multitude of music fans. To see how your favorite pop and celebrity divas attired...

Taylor Swift has reportedly criticised John Mayer in a song from her new album. Earlier this year, it was reported that Mayer had told a friend that he had "hooked up" with Swift in January

I can feel the blood pumping through my face a little harder and I know that if I were to look in the mirror there would probably be red, splotchy marks on my neck, because that’s typically my personal involuntary response when I get really irritated, frustrated and angry. It doesn’t happen as often these days, perhaps because with what I do now, I see the entire gamut almost on a daily basis. Sadly, not much manages to surprise me anymore. The world is wicked, we’ve lost common sense and stupid people are allowed the same freedom of speech as...

Kanye West has apologised to Taylor Swift for ruining her 2009 Video Music Awards (VMAs) acceptance speech. The rapper wrote on Twitter: 'I'm sorry, Taylor. We're both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. 'She deserves the apology more than anyone. She had no idea what hit her. She's just a lil girl with dreams like the rest of us. Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that.' West went on to discuss the backlash he had faced following his behaviour at the VMAs. 'There are people who don't dislike...

Vegas went Country or Country went Vegas as the 45th Annual ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards were held Sunday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Hosted by the affable Reba McEntire, our fave Taylor Swift, who performed an eye-catching performance of Change was surprisingly shut out of the awards with Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood dominating the proceedings. It was truly a Country night for the Ladies. We liked the 2010 ACM Awards Red Carpet as Country went glamorous, chic and stylish as well as Vegas. The stars of Country Music and the many-fold Celebs...

With over 24.3 million digital tracks sold to date, Taylor Swift is the top-selling digital artist in music history, according to sales figures released yesterday by Nielsen SoundScan. In addition, her FEARLESS album was 2009’s top-seller, with sales last year in excess of 3.2 million copies, and Taylor claimed both the #1 and #2 positions atop Nielsen’s BDS Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story,” respectively. She also topped the all format 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart with over 1.29 million song detections, and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams...

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

The biggest gift came from Swift herself. The singer has donated $250,000 to schools around the country that she's either attended or worked with. The money will pay teachers' salaries as well as buy books and fund various educational programs. "Something I wanted to do at the end of this amazing year and especially on my birthday was give back to something I really believe in, which is education," says Swift. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back."

Seems there's a little Bitter Betty in the air following Taylor Swift's CMA victory. Wynonna Judd is doing the slow clap to Swift's win. Judd was quoted saying "You want my honest comment? It's too much too soon." She goes on to berate the way success is a corporate decision now, instead of the result of hard work, putting in the time, and relentless energy. "There was a making of a star, there was a rising up and the fans went with us...now it's over coffee breaks."

Check out this parody of Maureen Dowd's Joe Wilson column. [NOTE: It is a copyright violation to copy and paste this post in its entirety, so please click on the link to read it.]

At Obama's main celebrity inaugural ball, Kanye West was interviewed by a CNN anchor during "Anderson Cooper 360" about his feelings about the election. Rather than solely focusing on Obama's victory though, Kanye West ended up using the air time to DEFEND PRESIDENT BUSH. He wasn't even being asked about him. "At the end of the day, Bush, he was a human being...a real person with feelings and hurts too... and a lot of things got overshadowed...it's a shame." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2bs22JsdA0 (Statement is made at the last 1 minute of the interview)

Now, you KNOW that had the roles been reversed the liberal media's race baiting journalists would be out there asking this very question. So, how about it? Was his motivation racial?