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Singapore Says Taylor Swift Gig Grant Not as High as Speculated 

Filipino fan of US singer Taylor Swift, Aliza Ponciano, wears friendship bracelets as she queues to enter the National Stadium on the first day of her concert in Singapore, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
Filipino fan of US singer Taylor Swift, Aliza Ponciano, wears friendship bracelets as she queues to enter the National Stadium on the first day of her concert in Singapore, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
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Singapore Says Taylor Swift Gig Grant Not as High as Speculated 

Filipino fan of US singer Taylor Swift, Aliza Ponciano, wears friendship bracelets as she queues to enter the National Stadium on the first day of her concert in Singapore, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
Filipino fan of US singer Taylor Swift, Aliza Ponciano, wears friendship bracelets as she queues to enter the National Stadium on the first day of her concert in Singapore, 02 March 2024. (EPA)

Singapore said Monday its grant to Taylor Swift for her concerts in the city was nowhere near as high as speculated, following media reports that the superstar was offered millions of dollars per gig.

Around 300,000 people from Singapore and around the region are expected to attend the six sold-out shows that began March 2 -- but some neighbors were not happy about being left off The Eras Tour.

Some, including reportedly the Thai prime minister, have said that Swift was paid millions to keep her from performing anywhere else in the region.

"There has been some online speculation as to the size of the grant. I can say that it is not accurate and not anywhere as high as speculated," Singapore's culture minister Edwin Tong told parliament.

"Due to business confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal the specific size of the grant or the conditions of the grant."

Tong added that the "economic benefits to Singapore are assessed to be significant and outweigh the size of the grant".

Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had reportedly said, citing a concert promoter, that Singapore offered Swift up to US$3 million per concert if she did not play anywhere else in Southeast Asia.

A lawmaker in the Philippines also criticized Singapore, reportedly saying this was not "what good neighbors do".

Tong played down the role the grant may have played in convincing Swift to perform only in Singapore.

"Promoters of top artists will do their own calculation and assess where they want to perform and for how long," he said, citing Singapore's location and infrastructure as key factors.

Since the end of pandemic curbs, a number of top artists have performed in Singapore, including Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Blackpink and Harry Styles.

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Entertainment

Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
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Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File

But "Shogun", based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke the mould when the period drama series -- mostly in Japanese and hailed for its authenticity -- won 18 Emmy awards in September.
Other recent Japanese works have also become worldwide hits.
Franco-US-Japanese show "Drops of God", based on a manga of the same name, won best drama series at the International Emmy Awards in November.
Netflix's 2023 adaptation of the manga superhit "One Piece" -- starring Mexican actor Inaki Godoy as the lead -- was hailed by viewers and critics alike and will return for a second season.
More adaptations of major manga and anime hits are in the works, including the superhero adventures of "My Hero Academia" and the ninja escapades of "Naruto".
"Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing," said Kaori Ikeda, managing director at TIFFCOM, the content trade fair affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival.
But Japanese companies lack "know-how" when it comes to things like negotiating rights, she told AFP.
So TIFFCOM has organized Tokyo Story Market, a space to facilitate networking and meetings between international producers and Japanese publishers.
'Whitewashing'
Foreign studios are also getting better at avoiding some of the pitfalls of the past, such as the 2017 film version of the manga "Ghost in the Shell" starring Scarlett Johansson.
Critics accused the movie, whose main actors except Takeshi Kitano were all non-Japanese, of "whitewashing".
Similarly, the 2017 supernatural thriller "Death Note" was panned for veering too far from the original manga.
"Manga authors are highly respected and fan communities are very vigilant," said Klaus Zimmermann, producer of "Drops of God".
His adaptation takes some liberties, such as starring a French actor as one of the main characters, but Zimmermann insists it was developed in collaboration with the authors of the original manga.
"It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it," he told AFP.
Yuki Takamatsu, a rights negotiator at the manga's publishing house Kodansha, said the process of adapting "Drops of God" was "amazing".
"Everyone was open to tackling those challenges together... At every step, everyone was understanding about how we should do it," he said.
Past failures were in part down to publishers struggling to communicate their wishes to foreign producers, who in turn lacked a proper understanding of manga and anime, Takamatsu said.
"Back just 15, 20 years ago, most of the enquiries we received from those big studios were like, hey, I know 'Dragon Ball', do you have 'Dragon Ball' IP?" Takamatsu told AFP.
"But nowadays, especially since Covid, the producers in their 30s, 40s, they watch anime together with their kids on Netflix or Amazon" and then reach out, he said.
Japanese TV goes global
Japanese broadcasters have also become "better and better (at) presenting and marketing their content" abroad, said Makito Sugiyama, executive director at the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ).
This includes their participation at global events such as MIPCOM in Cannes, an annual trade show for the television industry, Sugiyama said.
Japanese broadcasters have long had success selling show concepts abroad, like the one for "America's Funniest Home Videos", known in Britain as "You've Been Framed".
Now, some Japanese dramas are also finding a wider echo abroad.
Nippon TV's original drama "Mother" became a hit thanks in part to its Turkish remake, and has been broadcast in around 50 countries.
Western viewers have overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors, believes Masaru Akiyama, chief executive of the BEAJ.
"They have got used to it, they don't care anymore. They want to see, they want to feel the stories."
"Shogun" was "a game changer for Japan," he added, and Ikeda agrees.
"That a samurai story with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential" of Japanese content, she said.