Jamaine Punzalan

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Agence France-Presse

<div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DPVTqeXDlzL/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=763&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A15638960.799999982%2C%22ls%22%3A152836.5%2C%22le%22%3A155778.29999998212%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="546" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>Taylor Swift is in a sparkling new era.</p><p>On Friday, she dropped her 12th studio album, &quot;The Life of a Showgirl,&quot; a collection of bouncy pop songs about love, marriage, success -- and score-settling.</p><p>For the hotly anticipated album, the 35-year-old artist reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback, and their influence is clear in the driving beats and catchy hooks.</p><p>&quot;Tonight all these lives converge here, the mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears... I can&#x27;t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right,&quot; Swift posted on Instagram after the album&#x27;s release, along with photos of her in showgirl outfits.</p><p>The megastar described the album as a &quot;self-portrait&quot; and thanked Martin and Shellback, adding: &quot;If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain.&quot;</p><p>The album&#x27;s release comes with a special release-party event in movie theaters all weekend -- including the premiere of the video for lead single &quot;The Fate of Ophelia&quot; -- sure to be attended by legions of fans in Swift&#x27;s signature color this time around: orange.</p><p>&quot;Showgirl&quot; is the most pre-saved album ever on the Spotify streaming platform, breaking the record set last year by none other than Swift&#x27;s last album, &quot;The Tortured Poets Department.&quot;</p><p>While &quot;Showgirl&quot; still features plenty of introspection, the 12 tracks reveal a lighter, happier Swift -- in love with her NFL Super Bowl champion fiance Travis Kelce, happy to have bought back her music catalog and proud of her record-shattering Eras Tour.</p><p>&quot;I just want you, have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you... Got me dreaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop,&quot; she sings on the dreamy &quot;Wish List.&quot;</p><p>In the title track featuring pop princess Sabrina Carpenter, who opened for Swift at some Eras Tour stops, Swift tells the story of a showgirl named Kitty, and how that life became her own.</p><p>&quot;And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / Wouldn&#x27;t have it any other way,&quot; she sings.</p><p>And on &quot;Ophelia,&quot; referring to the tragic character in Shakespeare&#x27;s &quot;Hamlet,&quot; she says: &quot;Late one night, you took me out of my grieving / Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ONLY AS HOT AS YOUR LAST HIT&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>&quot;Showgirl&quot; represents a departure from Swift&#x27;s recent work -- the folksy pandemic-era &quot;Folklore&quot; and &quot;Evermore&quot; in 2020, the pensive &quot;Midnights&quot; in 2022 and the introspective &quot;Tortured Poets&quot; last year.</p><p>Ahead of release, Swift said the new album &quot;comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life.&quot;</p><p>Some of that drama comes through on &quot;Elizabeth Taylor,&quot; on which she laments: &quot;Sometimes it doesn&#x27;t feel so glamorous to be me.&quot;</p><p>Another one-liner from that track: &quot;You&#x27;re only as hot as your last hit, baby.&quot;</p><p>Then she seems to go for the jugular on &quot;Father Figure,&quot; an interpolation of late pop crooner George Michael&#x27;s hit of the same name that his estate said it had &quot;no hesitation&quot; in greenlighting.</p><p>Whose head is on the chopping block? It could be Scooter Braun, the music industry heavyweight whose company bought her previous label, which gave him a majority stake in the master recordings of her first six albums.</p><p>&quot;My dear boy, they don&#x27;t make loyalty like they used to,&quot; she sings after describing how she initially trusted the person as a father figure -- but ultimately got her revenge.</p><p>&quot;You want a fight, you found it / I&#x27;ve got the place surrounded / You&#x27;ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you&#x27;re drowning.&quot;</p><p>And on &quot;CANCELLED!,&quot; she hints at the scandals battled by her friends -- Blake Lively, maybe? -- singing: &quot;Welcome to my underworld where it gets quite dark / At least you know exactly who your friends are / They&#x27;re the ones with matching scars.&quot;</p><p>Fans will be combing through the lyrics and liner notes for more &quot;Easter eggs&quot; -- coded words and phrases that could reveal things about Swift&#x27;s life or future projects.</p><p>&quot;Showgirl&quot; is available on streaming platforms. Special editions will be sold by retail giant Target, including the &quot;Portofino orange glitter vinyl&quot; or the &quot;summertime spritz pink shimmer vinyl.&quot;</p><p>Aside from the &quot;Ophelia&quot; video, the weekend screenings will also feature behind-the-scenes footage, and so-called &quot;lyric videos&quot; -- when a song&#x27;s lyrics are displayed onscreen.</p><p>The one-off cinematic event is estimated to gross between $30 million and $50 million, according to film industry website Deadline.</p><p>Swift then hits the talk show circuit next week to promote the album.</p>

<p>Taylor Swift dropped her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," a collection of bouncy pop songs about love, marriage, success -- and score-settling.</p>

Taylor Swift dropped her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," a collection of bouncy pop songs about love, marriage, success -- and score-settling.

Taylor Swift strides into 'Showgirl' era with sparkly new album

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Taylor Swift strides into 'Showgirl' era with sparkly new album

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 03, 2025 12:44 PM PHT

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Updated Oct 03, 2025 01:56 PM PHT

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Taylor Swift

The Life of a Showgirl

Taylor Swift new album

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