- Taylor Swift began a sold-out six-night stopover of her Elas tour in Singapore on Saturday.
- Due to an exclusive contract, this is the only venue in Southeast Asia where she will perform.
- A Philippine lawmaker criticized the move, saying, “This is not the behavior of a good neighbor.”
There’s a feud between Singapore and neighboring government officials, and it’s all about Taylor Swift.
Ahead of her six sold-out shows in the city-state, which open on Saturday, a Philippine lawmaker has revealed the exclusive deal that Singaporean authorities allegedly brokered with her to keep her from participating in The Eras tour. criticized. To other parts of the region.
On Wednesday, Philippine representative Joey Salceda filed a complaint with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over a subsidy granted by the Singaporean government in exchange for agreeing not to perform in other parts of Southeast Asia during his sold-out world tour. local media reported. report.
According to The Straits Times, Mr. Salceda said, “AEG was allegedly given a subsidy of about $3 million by the Singapore government to hold a concert in Singapore. It wasn’t sponsored,” he said.
He said this was “not something a good neighbor would do,” adding: “Our two countries are good friends, which is why acts like this hurt.”
According to GMA Network, Mr. Salceda said that while the subsidy had significantly boosted Singapore’s economy, it was “at the expense of neighboring countries, failing to attract foreign concert-goers to their country, and their fans returning to Singapore.” I had to go,” he said.
He added that the Philippines should not “just let things like this go by.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist, who recently announced that he will release a new studio album in April, will perform six performances at Singapore’s 55,000-seat National Stadium from March 2 to 9.
Salceda’s criticism comes after the Thai prime minister said Singapore brokered the deal, which will see Swift join nine other regions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar. This was in response to the fact that it was made clear that this was not possible. , and Vietnam.
Speaking at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok in February, Sureta Tabisin said she was informed of the deal by promoter AEG after asking why the world tour was not canceled in her home country, according to Sky News. . Swift had never performed in Thailand before, but was scheduled to perform there in 2014, but it was eventually canceled due to political turmoil.
He claimed to have been told that the Singapore government would offer between $2 million and $3 million per performance in exchange for exclusivity.
However, according to BBC News, Singapore’s CNA suggested the six-night stay could cost as little as S$2 million.
Swift’s stay in Singapore is expected to bring economic benefits to the city-state. Angel Zhong, associate professor of finance at RMIT University, estimates that the recent tour of Australia has boosted the economy by $558 million (via Forbes).
