Young Russians Take Odysseys Across Europe to See Taylor Swift Perform 

A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
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Young Russians Take Odysseys Across Europe to See Taylor Swift Perform 

A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A fan shows a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert during a meeting with other Swifties in Lyubertsy outside Moscow, Russia September 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Artem, a 22-year-old IT student in Moscow, has no regrets about shelling out more than $3,000 to see his favorite singer perform.

Around the world, fans of Taylor Swift - "Swifties" - are used to paying eye-popping prices to attend her concerts. But in Russia, there are other challenges in the quest to catch the superstar on tour.

Many Western performers have shunned Russia since 2022, when Russia sent its army into Ukraine, and outward travel to the West is fraught with complications. But Russian Swifties, undeterred, embarked this summer on daunting odysseys - requiring visa appointments and clever flight combinations - to catch Swift on her sold-out Eras tour.

Elizaveta, a 20-year-old medical student, travelled with Artem to see Swift perform in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in July.

"When you realize your dream has come true, well of course, (you feel) happiness, joy, and great thankfulness that everything worked out," she said.

Elizaveta and Artem have become close to other Swifties in Moscow who set up a fan group three years ago on the Russian social platform VKontakte.

Members say dozens attend the events they organize, from singalongs to bracelet-weaving workshops.

"We try to create some kind of cozy community, a place for people to meet," said Diana, 20, studying international relations.

But for those with the time and money, nothing beats seeing Swift live.

Artem and Elizaveta were determined to do that this summer. Elizaveta flew via a third country to Greece, for which she had secured a visa, then to Germany. Artem applied - six months ahead - for an Italian visa through an agency.

"I combined it with a general European trip; if I was there just purely for the concert ... it would have been cheaper," he says. "It turned out to be about 300,000 roubles ($3,200)."

The students have learned to adapt to the shifts in geopolitics.

Elizaveta's Apple Music account is registered in Türkiye, while Artem and others use "workarounds" to listen to music on Spotify, which stopped streaming in Russia in 2022, after the full-scale war began. Apple paused product sales the same year.

And another fan, Dmitry, says Swifties around the world are just a click away.

"We are not really isolated from the rest of the world. (We) sit and watch TikTok, there are videos from foreigners and various discussions ... In principle, we have enough of everything. We have a very rich life."



‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Up in Smoke’ among Movies Entering the National Film Registry

 This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
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‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Up in Smoke’ among Movies Entering the National Film Registry

 This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)

Nobody puts baby in a corner, but they're putting her in the National Film Registry.

“Dirty Dancing,” along with another 1980s culture-changer, “Beverly Hills Cop,” are entering the Library of Congress' registry, part of an annual group of 25 announced Wednesday that spans 115 years of filmmaking.

“Dirty Dancing” from 1987 used the physicality and chemistry of Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman to charm generations of moviegoers, while also taking on issues like abortion, classism and antisemitism. In the climactic moment, Swayze defiantly declares, “Nobody puts baby in a corner” before taking Grey to dance to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

1984's “Beverly Hills Cop,” the first Eddie Murphy film in the registry, arguably made him the world's biggest movie star at the time and made action comedies a blockbuster staple for a decade.

Since 1988, the Librarian of Congress has annually selected movies for preservation that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The current picks bring the registry to 900 films. Turner Classic Movies will host a TV special on Wednesday, screening a selection of the class of 2024.

The oldest film is from 1895 and brought its own form of dirty dancing: “Annabelle Serpentine Dance” is a minute-long short of a shimmying Annabelle Moore that was decried by many as a public indecency for the suggestiveness of her moves. The newest is David Fincher's “The Social Network" from 2010.

A look at some of the films entering the registry “Pride of the Yankees” (1942): The film became the model for the modern sports tear-jerker, with Gary Cooper playing Lou Gehrig and delivering the classic real-life line: “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

“The Miracle Worker” (1962): Anne Bancroft won an Oscar for best actress for playing title character Anne Sullivan and 16-year-old Patty Duke won best supporting actress for playing her deaf and blind protege Helen Keller in director Arthur Penn's film.

“Up in Smoke” (1978): The first feature to star the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong established a template for the stoner genre and brought weed culture to the mainstream. Marin, who also appears in the inductee “Spy Kids” from 2001, is one of many Latinos with prominent roles in this year's crop of films.

“Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” (1982): The second movie in the “Star Trek” franchise featured one of filmdom's great villains in Ricardo Montalban's Khan, and showed that the world of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock could bring vital thrills to the cinema.

“Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989): The Oscar-winning documentary on the NAMES Project Aids Memorial Quilt was a landmark telling of the devastation wrought by the disease.

“My Own Private Idaho” (1991): Director Gus Van Sant's film featured perhaps the greatest performance of River Phoenix, a year before the actor's death at age 23.

“American Me” (1992): Edward James Olmos starred and made his film directorial debut in this tale of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles and the brutal prison experience of its main character.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007): Joel and Ethan Coen broke through at the Oscars with their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, winning best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay, while Javier Bardem won best supporting actor for playing a relentless killer with an unforgettable haircut.