Taylor Swift live updates: ‘How does she smell?’: Project host’s weird question to TikTok star
TikTok star Oliver Mills shared a special moment with Taylor Swift at her concert. His appearance on The Project aftewards got weird.
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Swift-mania has officially engulfed Australia, with nearly 200,000 lucky fans witnessing the first two nights of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at Melbourne’s MCG.
Welcome to our rolling coverage of Taylor Swift’s Aussie performances.
‘Love of my life’: Swift blown away by Melbourne
Another 96,000 fans packed into the MCG on Sunday night for her third show during her time in Melbourne.
“Some stadium girl math for you,” Swift told the crowd.
“96,000 people the first night. 96,000 people the second night. 96,000 tonight. Those are all the biggest shows I've ever played on tour. And you did it three times.
“The math is that it’s 288,000 people in three nights. Melbourne, you’re the love of my life.”
How does she smell?’: Host’s weird question
Kiwi TikTok star Oliver Mills shared a rapturous moment with Taylor Swift during her Melbourne concert on Saturday night, hugging her and being gifted the hat off her head.
He appeared on Sunday night’s edition of The Project to talk about the moment only to be asked a bizarre question about the encounter with comedian Susie Youssef unable to resist asking how the pop star smelt.
But Mills took the question in his stride saying, without skipping a beat,Swift smelt of “Hope and dreams”.
Mills continued to gush about Swift even describing her as the “most powerful woman in the world”.
“To go on stage and be close to someone so lovely and kind and beautiful was absolutely incredible,” he said.
“I forget it was me. I watch videos now and I’m like, that dude is so lucky. Then I’m like, hang on, that was me, I have the memory in my eyes. I can’t fathom that, it’s insane.”
Mills, who is based in New Zealand says he wasn’t sure how he was going to get through New Zealand customs with the hat.
“I don’t know where it’s supposed to go, in a room somewhere a locked cell,” he joked.
“With five or six security, we’ll see.”
‘Waste of a ticket’: Swifties blast ‘black out drunk’ fans
A few Swifties have called out some “rude” and “inconsiderate” fans who attended Taylor Swift’s concert in Melbourne last night.
Meg Hargraves says there was a group of people standing next to them at the show who were being disruptive and “not respecting” others who were around them at the gig.
“I would like to say, as I coming home from the Eras Tour, a big old ‘karma is a b**ch’ for those four humans standing next to me tonight,” Meg said.
“They were very very highly intoxicated, waving a flag around in everyone’s faces and not respecting other people’s space and personal boundaries.”
Meg added that one of them got so drunk that they all ended up having to leave the concert due to intoxication, missing a huge chunk of the show.
This sparked a warning from Hargraves to “drink responsibly” at the Eras Tour so it can be enjoyable for everyone.
“They were being really loud and inconsiderate to those around them. They missed most of the show tonight because one of them got too intoxicated and had to leave,” Meg said.
“So, all the friends left after that and they missed the best part of the show.
“A good portion of the show actually, from 1989 onwards. So if you’re planning on drinking at the Eras Tour, do so responsibly please. Don’t ruin everyone’s night.”
Another Swift fan Katie Parrott shared that she had the same experience with people around her simply drinking too much to enjoy the show.
“Melbourne night two, Eras Tour, literally amazing,” she told her audience on TikTok.
“But a slight gripe of concert etiquette. If you have a ticket to the Eras Tour and your plan is to get black out drunk, not be able to stand up properly, spill your drink down the back of other people, hit other people in the hand.
“And just generally touch them and invade their personal space, maybe sell your ticket and just get drunk in your living room listening to Taylor Swift.
“Because there are a lot of people who wanted to go to this and didn’t get tickets. And to waste it on getting so drunk that you can’t stand properly just feels like an odd choice to me.”
Men blasted for booing Taylor Swift outside the concert
Swifties are up in arms after packs of men booed Taylor Swift in Melbourne.
Australian fan Jenna Barlosky filmed the shocking moment a group of alleged football fans started booing the superstar outside the MCG during her concert last night.
She uploaded the unbelievable act to TikTok, with Swifties around the world slamming their “embarrassing” behaviour.
Ms Barlosky even claimed that the police had to break up the commotion, however Victoria police told news.com.au they did not have a report relating to the incident.
This likely means it was police who were stationed at the concert already who moved things along.
“Football fans swarming Taylor’s concert to boo her,” she wrote on the video. “Even the police had to come get rid of them, as all the Swifties chanted Taylor’s name.”
The clip shows a huge group of people enjoying the concert from outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground and chanting Taylor’s name.
The camera then pans to groups of men donning football scarfs and beanies who begin to loudly boo and jeer.
“What the f**k? You guys are such losers,” she says, as they walk past her. “Why are you here? This is embarrassing. What the hell.”
Gross reason Taylor Seats were abandoned for two hours
Disgusting photos have emerged after a “drunk man” vomited on and around the seats of people waiting for Taylor Swift to come on stage.
News.com.au understands people seated in the area were waiting up to two hours for the mess to be cleaned up.
The incident reportedly happened at 7pm after opener Sabrina Carpenter finished her set, and was not cleaned until after 9pm.
“We had to stand in areas near the stairs for the majority of Taylor because they took two hours to find someone to clean it up,” said one Taylor Swift fan. “It stunk,” she added.
‘Gonna cop so much hate’
One Melbourne resident has put forth a bold pitch following the Taylor Swift ticket madness – which began with first release sales last year and continued right up until a final drop just days ago – claiming there should be a fairer system in place.
Earlier this year, Swift added two more shows to the Aussie leg of her popular tour following overwhelming demand for tickets during pre-sales in June.
“Probably gonna cop so much hate for this. But my opinion is that I think, you should be only able too (sic) see Taylor Swift once in Australia. I’ve seen like 10 people going again tonight after attending last night. Would give the other people that missed out a better opportunity,” wrote X user Mitch, sparking a furious debate in the comments section.
More than a million fans had flooded the Ticketek website in the hopes of securing one of just 450,000 tickets to the initial three Sydney and two Melbourne stadium shows.
Needless to say, many missed out – and they’re not thrilled to see people now boasting about their multiple tickets.
“I agree.. cause I tried everything in my power to get tickets and was unsuccessful and I know some people going to all Melbourne and Sydney shows I’m actually devastated I couldn’t go,” one person responded.
Another added: “I totally agree with you. Having tried everything I could to get tickets for my daughter, hearing stories of how people are going to every single show is disappointing and not the flex they think it is. How you police it, I don’t know.”
“I’m shattered that I couldn’t get tickets. I’ve been to all but one of her tours,” said someone else, while another fan wrote simply: “You’re pretty much spot on with this. You’d think with such demand they put something in place.”
Others shot the idea down completely.
“No. I went last night and going to Sydney, you snooze you lose,” one said bluntly.
“I understand what you’re saying and in an ideal world that would happen,” another weighed in. “But it should be up to the organisers of the shows to artificially limit tickets sold to one person. That way everyone gets a chance to buy tickets only once.”
“There’s no way to police it. Don’t direct your frustration to other fans, blame the fact they only put on 7 shows in Australia. Nowhere near enough to meet demand,” wrote a different fan.
It is estimated the Eras Tour will rake in an eye-watering $1.5 billion globally, making it the highest grossing tour of all time.
‘WTF is this?’: Swift fans erupt over Aussie show
It’s part of the highest-grossing tour of all time and a cultural phenomenon – but some Swift fans watching the Aussie leg of her tour unfold from elsewhere around the globe appear increasingly irritated by what they’re seeing.
Namely, the bonus extras that the megastar has been doling out across the first two nights of her sold-out run of shows – including previously-skipped tracks and the first reveal of a bonus version of her upcoming album.
Swift adds “surprise songs” at every stop on her tour – but her decision to gift Melbourne with a mashup of Getaway Car, The Other Side Of The Door and August into one song seemingly sent those who weren’t there spiralling.
does taylor owe australia money or something wtf is this https://t.co/73yBkp1I8b
— Taylor Swift Wallpapers (@kubaswift) February 17, 2024
the rest of the world watching melbourne getting getaway car x august x the other side of the door mashup pic.twitter.com/i1LzFeTjYx
— ivy (@ohhhhherewego) February 17, 2024
Clearly Australia is her favourite!
â Taylor Swift Wallpapers (@kubaswift) February 17, 2024
WHAT WAS THISSS WHAT POSESSED HER TO DO THISðððððð????????? GETAWAY CAR X AUGUST X OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR????? SHE KILLED MILLIONS TONIGHT pic.twitter.com/ZuYMsAOnMR
— YJð(TTPDð) (@miapudding) February 17, 2024
MASHUP DI GETAWAY CAR/ AUGUST & THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR + THIS IS ME TRYING?!?!?!?!?!! IâM DONE WITH TAYLOR SWIFT!pic.twitter.com/hmFvpKsSOJ
— ð³ð®ð·ð·ðâ¸â¸ poeti torturati erað¤ðï¸ (@controsensooo) February 17, 2024
"taylor swift performs getaway car from reputation as the first surprise song"
— sude â± (@maggiecult) February 17, 2024
pic.twitter.com/cXN9ko9Eqr
It came after fans on the first night of Swift’s Melbourne show went wild as she announced that the special edition of The Tortured Poets Department would feature a new song called The Bolter.
The singer then shared the heartbreaking reason the album was so special to her, confessing it was a “lifeline” during a particularly difficult period.
“I’m very excited for April 19th. I can’t wait for you to hear all the songs. Tortured Poets is an album I think, more than any album I’ve made, is one I needed,” Swift told the crowd.
“It was a lifeline for me. It reminded me why songwriting is something that gets me through life.”
Americans shocked at surprise Aussie detail
As Swifties share their best footage from Swift’s epic Melbourne concerts, some Americans have been surprised by one interesting detail.
One fan from Las Vegas commented on a clip from TikTok user @swiftiealyce who posted some of Taylor’s performance and wanted to know “what phones Aussies are using” to capture the magic.
“What phones are Aussies using? All the videos I’ve seen are so crisp and clear,” she wrote.
Her comment attracted dozens of likes and replies, with others from overseas seemingly wanting to know as well.
One theory is that the air quality in Australia is simply better than in other parts of the world.
“I feel like the air quality makes a huge difference,” one said. “When I was in the USA my videos looked grainy, while in Aus it’s perfectly clear even in zoom.
“I have an iPhone and there was a huge difference in quality of videos I took in the USA vs elsewhere.”
Others stated that perhaps having the show in an open-air stadium helps, while others say that it could possibly be that some are using Samsung phones instead of iPhones, some with a better zoom.
Swiftie’s haunting final moments before crash
The final moments of a teenage girl who was killed on the way to see Swift has been revealed.
The last thing Mieka Pokarier looked at on her iPad before the fatal car crash was a Spotify playlist she had created, which was full of all her favourite Swift songs.
The teenager had taken hours to create it and had filled it with all her favourite Swift songs to keep the trio entertained on the 17-hour journey to see the pop superstar.
The 16-year-old was on the “trip of a lifetime” with her mum Kim Litchfield and her little sister Freya, 10, when their car collided with a semi-trailer near Dubbo just before 6pm on Thursday.
Mieka died at the scene while Freya was flown to Westmead Hospital and is fighting for life in a medically included coma, with the girl suffering from brain injuries, a damaged pelvis and broken leg, according to the family’s GoFundMe page.
Their mother Kim, who was driving, was taken to Dubbo with minor injuries and has since been reunited with her youngest daughter.
Fans scream over pitch-perfect Aussie gag
Following the well-established trend of global artists throwing in a local reference during their shows – Harry Styles’ shoey, anyone? – Swift offered up her own little Aussie offering on Saturday night.
The crowd was left screaming with delight during her mega-hit song, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, when she personalised the track with the help of one of her back-up dancers.
“This is exhausting, you know? Like, we are never getting back together,” Swift said into the microphone, before handing it to the dancer, who immediately dropped a very Kath and Kim-esque “nauuuuuur”:
ð¨| Taylor Swift's dancer, Kam, during "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" at Night 2 of 'The Eras Tour' in Melbourne, Australia! #MelbourneTSTheErasTour
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) February 17, 2024
"Like NAUR!"
pic.twitter.com/AAkhEEaLo3
‘Trying to wrap my mind around’
Earlier, a clearly jubilant Swift had opened the second night of her Eras Tour in Melbourne to a 96,000-strong crowd – matching the numbers seen the night before, which marked her biggest audience to date.
“What a joy and what an honour to say this words to you tonight, Melbourne, welcome to the Eras Tour,” she gushed.
“I am standing here on the stage, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that there are 96,000 people that wanted to hang out with us on a Saturday night.”
Swift added: “I feel like a contest winner, like I won a contest to get to have this memory of looking at you an singing with you … I’m having a very strange experience in my head.
“I don’t know if you know how many 96,000 is – like, if we were to start counting, we’d never get there.
“I am so grateful to you for wanting to spend this time with us, and just the passion I’m feeling from you already, I promise you – we are going to give you absolutely everything we have tonight.”
Originally published as Taylor Swift live updates: ‘How does she smell?’: Project host’s weird question to TikTok star