PUBLISHED ONMarch 02, 2024 4:00 AMByBhavya RawatReady for it? Taylor Swift's in town with her highly coveted Eras Tour, and Singapore's her only stop in Southeast Asia.
Ahead of the six sold-out concerts that kicks off today (March 2), Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong shared with AsiaOne how Singapore sealed the deal.
Speaking to AsiaOne at the National Stadium, he said: "We wanted to bring the Taylor Swift concert to Singapore for the Swifties here to enjoy the experience."
Seeing the significant benefits that it'd bring to Singapore, the minister and his team were swift to propose that the American popstar perform here, even before she announced international tour dates.
In February 2023, he met with her promoters and agents in Los Angeles, accompanied by a team comprising representatives from MCCY, Sport Singapore and Kallang Alive.
"We also asked if she could make Singapore the last stop of a particular leg of her concert tour so that we could extend the dates," Minister Tong shared.
"As it turned out, the concert was very popular. After three nights, we doubled it up to six nights."
His team's efforts paid off — over 300,000 tickets were snapped up, with a significant number of Swifties travelling to Singapore to attend the shows.
The six shows in Singapore is also one the highest number of performances the singer has held in any city around the world.
Bringing Taylor Swift's concert here shows the ability of Kallang Alive and SportSG to attract top-tier events, Minister Tong said.
"It burnishes Singapore's credentials in terms of being able to host a concert like this," he added.
"I think it adds to our cultural diversity and makes Singapore an exciting place to be."
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com