Has there ever been so much suspense over a televised award that didn’t even involve an “envelope, please” moment? Taylor Swift’s appearance at Sunday’s American Music Awards, where she was being honored as artist of the decade, was easily the most anticipated awards show appearance of the year, both for whether she’d be able to perform disputed material (resolved in advance) and whether they’d use her speech to offer her adversaries at Big Machine a sick burn (anyone’s guess, up to the last moment).
As it turned out, she kept the digs subtle and far between. She was introduced by legendary songwriter Carole King (who’s written dozens of hits ranging from Aretha Frankin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman” to her own hit “It’s Too Late”), who said she’s seen many great songwriters, singers and performers, and, “It’s rare to see all those talents in one person, but that defines Taylor Swift. She is one of the only modern pop artists whose name appears as the sole songwriter in her song credits. The past decade has been incredible for this artist, and the best is yet to come.”
A career-retrospective video then played, which spoke of Swift’s significant efforts in artists’ rights, noting that as part of her 2018 deal with Universal Music, the company agreed to share profits from its expected sale of Spotify equity with its artists. Significantly, while video footage from across her career played, only songs from “Lover,” her new, first non-Big Machine album were heard during the segment.
She then took the stage and pointedly opened with a brief portion of her new song “The Man” — the lyrics of which wonder how much more successful she might be if she were a man, and could be seen as referencing her frequent references to Big Machine’s Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta as “these men” — wearing a white jacket with her album titles written on it in black stenciled letters.
Then a group of child dancers who accompanied her tore off the jacket to reveal a more characteristic sparkly gold one-piece outfit, as Swift dropped into her 2008 hit “Love Story” and then 2012’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,” accompanied first by a group of shirtless male dancers, then a different group of male dancers in bowler hats and suits for 2014’s “Blank Space.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety