Taylor Swift coming to Columbia

Singer will perform in April

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR. - otaylor@thestate.com

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There's only one person who could possibly steal the thunder from Miley Cyrus this week - Taylor Swift.

Swift, who surprised few by winning the CMA Entertainer of the Year award, will bring her "Fearless" tour to the Colonial Life Arena on April 30.

Happy Birthday, Miley! (Yes, today is really Cyrus' birthday. She turns 17.)

Story: 'Mamma Mia!', 'Beauty and the Beast' coming to Columbia
If you go

WHAT: Taylor Swift in concert
WHEN: April 30
WHERE: Colonial Life Arena
TICKETS: $27 to $61.50
INFORMATION: TWCtix.com or (877) 489-2849
ARENA TICKETS
Today the Colonial Life Arena will launch a naming rights agreement for its box office, which will now be known as the Time Warner Cable Box Office at Colonial Life Arena. Along with the new name comes a new Web site and phone number for purchasing tickets.
The new Web site for arena events is TWCtix.com; the phone number is (877) 489-2849.
In August 2004, the arena dropped Ticketmaster to create what general manager Tom Paquette called "a more personalized ticket-buying experience."
A perk of the system: Tickets can be printed at home with bar codes that are scanned at the arena.
On Friday morning, as the Time Warner signs were being placed above the box office, Paquette said nothing about the system will change.
"It's just a re-branding," he said.

Tickets for Swift's concert, which will feature Kellie Pickler and Gloriana, go on sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 4.

How big has Swift gotten since she opened for Rascal Flatts at the arena in October 2008?

- Her second album, "Fearless," was released in November of that year, and it's still on the charts, selling more than 3 million copies. It will probably still be on the charts in April.

- Not only did she claim entertainer of the year at the CMAs, but she also took home awards for album of the year, music video of the year and female vocalist of the year.

- She performed remarkably well on the Nov. 7 episode of "Saturday Night Live" - as host and featured performer, a rare double duty. If you had seen her clowning in "Thug Story" with T-Pain (seriously, YouTube it!), you would've known she could, as they say, act a fool.

- She gets the hot boys. Her relationship with Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers is old news. Now the rumors are swirling about her and Taylor Lautner, a co-star of the "Twilight" series.

"She's just monstrous," said Tom Paquette, general manager of the arena. "She was huge before the CMA."

Swift became the youngest person ever and the first female in nearly a decade to win entertainer of the year, an award in recent years reserved for a guy in tight jeans and a big hat - Kenny Chesney, who had won four of the previous five years.

While the CMA is undoubtedly the industry's highest honor, Beville Darden, the editor of AOL's country music Web site, theboot.com, said Swift didn't need the entertainer of the year award to solidify her status among country music's elite.

"She is the biggest-selling solo artist of any genre in the world this year," she said. "This is just icing on the cake. Icing she didn't need."

Some country purists think Swift's ascension has come too soon. Others have questioned whether her music, which is popular with MTV's mainstream audience but not so much with Kanye West, is even country at all.

"It's a debate that will continue," Darden said, pointing out that Shania Twain, the last female solo performer to win entertainer of the year, in 1999, had to endure similar detractions.

But these days, country music isn't going to go countrywide if it doesn't have any pop.

"I think Rascal Flatts really paved the way for Taylor, which is ironic because she opened for them," the last time she was here, Darden said.

If Swift doesn't need the CMA icing, maybe she'll let Miley have some for her birthday cake.