For the first time in close to 5 years, country princess, Taylor Swift, finally made a stop in Singapore and sang her heart out to more than 8, 000 diehard fans where she finally kicked off the first show of her Speak Now world tour on Feb 9.

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Thumbnails + Photo credit: Singapore Maven/David Ash

The four-time Grammy award winner delivered past hits and songs from latest album, Speak Now, and dazzled the audience with mash-ups as well as acoustic performances on the guitar, piano and a ukelele, no less.

Swift definitely wasted no time getting the concert started and launched straight into a succession of songs including “Sparks Fly”, “Mine” and “Story of Us”.

Fans screamed and sang along to every song for the whole night.

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Photo credit: Singapore Maven/David Ash

Quite possibly the only singer in the world who can pull off synchronized dancing without looking cheesy, Swift waved her dainty white gloves at the audience while performing catchy number, “Speak Now”.

The fans were positively howling when she stepped right off the stage towards the end of the song, asking if she could “hang out with you guys at the back for awhile?”

They surged forward as one to get upclose with Swift, who subsequently performed songs from her previous album, Fearless, on a mini-stage in the centre of the arena.

Said Kon Xin Hua, 19, “My favourite included the ‘Fearless’ mash-up [with “Hey, Soul Sister” (Train) and “I’m Yours” (Jason Mraz)] because it was done on the ukelele. It’s different from what you hear on the CD so it really was a brand-new experience.”

In a giddy moment of bliss when the singer/songwriter went back to the main stage with “You Belong With Me”, this writer managedto touch her arm along with several other delirious fans.

The legendary moment where we touched Taylor Swift (00:37):

Fan video: Kon Xin Hua

“I touched her shoulder, it was so smooth, soft and golden, and her hair was curly and shiny. It was like touching an angel”, gushed student, Lauren Gui, 16.

The singer definitely didn’t scrimp on the glamour and appeared with a total of 4 outfits on stage – alternating between a demure blue dress and dishing out the glitter whether in slinky gold dresses or silvery white numbers.

She danced and pranced around a two-tiered stage against a backdrop of hanging stars, golden and purple curtains – all of which were conceptualized by the singer herself.

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Photo credit: Singapore Maven/David Ash

Swift was definitely aware of her magnetic stage presence though we wished that she had bantered a little more with the audience as the singer chose to hit the fans with song after song.

The golden-haired starlet brought back her “Back to December / Apologize” mash-up from the American Music Awards; this time even managing to fit in a few lines from “You’re Not Sorry” at the end.

Several times during the concert, the singer who is known for penning down her personal stories into song, looked almost in tears.

Her voice finally showed signs of giving way at “Enchanted” in her high-octane set – proof of Swift’s vast improvement as she managed to stay consistent throughout most of the concert.

Setlist

1.   Sparks Fly
2.   Mine
3.   Story of Us
4.   Back to December (Mash up: Apologize, You’re Not Sorry)
5.   Better Than Revenge
6.   Speak Now
7.   Fearless (Mash up: Hey, Soul Sister, I’m Yours)
8.   Fifteen
9.   You Belong With Me
10. Dear John
11. Enchanted
12. Long Live
13. Love Story (Encore)

“Long Live” was a surprising pick and Swift chose to dedicate it to her fans as video montages of them played on the screen.

Before we knew it, Swift was wrapping up the 90 minute show with encore song, “Love Story” before making a dramatic exit by leaping backwards from stage to disappear into the darkness.

After the show, the singer tweeted one last time before her night flight to South Korea, “THAT SHOW RULED!! Thank you Singapore. My band and I love you. And your dancing and jumping and singing and screaming! Good times.”