Taylor Swift Named Time Person of the Year

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Taylor Swift Named Time Person of the Year

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)

Time magazine named US pop superstar Taylor Swift as its person of the year on Wednesday, calling the musical force of nature the "hero of her own story."

Swift has smashed industry records this year with both her tour and the film of the globetrotting musical cavalcade that is estimated to bring in almost $2 billion of revenue as her adoring fans flock to see her in the flesh.

"Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light... Swift is the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story," Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a statement.

"Much of what Swift accomplished in 2023 exists beyond measurement. She mapped her journey and shared the results with the world: She committed to validating the dreams, feelings, and experiences of people, especially women, who felt overlooked and regularly underestimated."

The huge $92.8 million opening earlier this year of Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" film set the tone for the 33-year-old "Cruel Summer" singer's 2023.

Advance ticket sales for the movie topped $100 million worldwide, theater operator AMC said, making it the best-selling feature-length concert film in history.

"(Fans) had to work really hard to get the tickets... I wanted to play a show that was longer than they ever thought it would be, because that makes me feel good leaving the stadium," Swift told Time.

This year, Swift's blossoming romance with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce has also brought the NFL a whole new wave of fans as her hundreds of millions of social media followers checked out her new squeeze.

"For building a world of her own that made a place for so many, for spinning her story into a global legend, for bringing joy to a society desperately in need of it, Taylor Swift is TIME's 2023 Person of the Year," Jacobs said.

Mainstream sensation

The "Eras" tour currently has more than 145 dates.

According to Pollstar, the industry magazine covering the performing arts, each concert generates $13 million in revenue, which would bring the tour total to around $1.9 billion.

No artist or group has previously crossed the symbolic billion-dollar threshold.

Swift's defining tool has proved to be social media, through which she regularly interacts with fans.

Born in Pennsylvania, Swift started writing country songs on guitar in her early teens.

Her father shifted his job in financial services to the country music capital of Nashville to allow her a chance in the industry.

After winning a growing mainstream audience for her introspective country songs, Swift switched to a thoroughly pop direction for her fifth studio album -- "1989," named after her year of birth.

"What makes Swift a cultural phenomenon is not only her musical prowess and versatility but the trademark authenticity she puts on each note and verse," Forbes magazine said in an article published in October.

Time first presented its Person of the Year award in 1927.

Last year's honoree was Volodymyr Zelensky as well as "the spirit of Ukraine" for the resistance the country has shown in the face of Russia's invasion.

Previous selections have included US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Martin Luther King Jr., former German chancellor Angela Merkel, Pope Francis, and climate activist Greta Thunberg.



About 18 Million People Watched Oscars Honor ‘Anora’ 

Host Conan O'Brien holds an Oscar statue during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Host Conan O'Brien holds an Oscar statue during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. (Reuters)
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About 18 Million People Watched Oscars Honor ‘Anora’ 

Host Conan O'Brien holds an Oscar statue during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Host Conan O'Brien holds an Oscar statue during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. (Reuters)

This year's Oscars telecast that honored independent film "Anora" brought in an estimated 18.1 million US viewers on television and streaming, according to data released by broadcaster ABC on Monday.

The audience for the highest honors in Hollywood fell 7% from the 2024 ceremony, when 19.5 million people tuned in to see blockbuster biopic "Oppenheimer" take best picture.

Among adults under 50, viewership rose 3% from last year, ABC said.

"Anora," an unconventional fairy tale about an exotic dancer and the son of a Russian oligarch, won this year's best picture prize and four other honors at the ceremony. The movie has brought in $40 million at global box offices, compared with nearly $976 million for "Oppenheimer."

Comedian Conan O'Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time and was generally applauded by TV critics. The show ran nearly four hours and mostly avoided politics.

O'Brien "absolutely rocked his debut as a host, walking the perfect line between acid and affection," wrote Owen Gleiberman of Variety. "This was Conan at his acerbic best, giving Jimmy Kimmel a run for his money."

The Academy Awards aired live on Walt Disney's ABC and streamed on Hulu. Some viewers reported glitches on Hulu and said the stream ended just before best actress and best picture were announced.

Viewership of Hollywood awards ceremonies has dropped in recent years as audiences ditched traditional television for streaming and social media.

Sunday's awards generated 104.2 million social interactions, more than music's Grammy Awards and the National Football League's Super Bowl, ABC said. The highest-rated Academy Awards telecast aired in 1998, when megahit "Titanic" swept the honors. More than 57 million people tuned in that year. In 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oscar ratings hit their low point with 10.5 million viewers.