Performs With Taylor Swift

Former Abby Lee Dance Company Student Performs With Taylor Swift

If you watched Taylor Swift perform her hit single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to close out the MTV Video Music Awards last week, one of the dancers may have looked awfully familiar.

"It was a dream come true," Ackerman said.

Ackerman went to Upper St. Clair High School through her junior year and finished her senior year online so she could move and chase that dream in Hollywood.

Ackerman said she was one of six girls and six guys selected from a pool of 500 to dance with Swift.

"In my eyes I think it's the biggest job I've gotten so far," she said.

For eight hours a day for a week, Ackerman rehearsed with Swift.

"She's super nice," Ackerman said. "When you're around people like that it's so amazing to see how creative they are.

"We had to keep telling her to stop singing," Ackerman said with a laugh.

Swift even went to her VMA dancers' dressing room to say hello and give them gifts before the performance.

To add to the excitement, Ackerman also got to meet Rihanna in a hallway.

"She's my favorite; She's amazing," Ackerman said. "She (Rihanna) said good luck and congratulations."

Ackerman will appear on TV again in the movie "Lovestruck" on ABC Family in the spring and Abby Lee Miller's, of "Dance Moms," new show "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition" on Lifetime in October. Ackerman danced at the now-famous Penn Hills studio from age 12 to 18—many students from the Plum-Oakmont area also have trained at the studio, which is near the Plum Borough border.

"It's crazy to see my studio in the national spotlight," Ackerman said. "It's cool to watch them."

Ackerman's younger sister, Payton, still dances with the Abby Lee Dance Company and often appears on the "Dance Moms" reality TV show with their mother, Leslie.

"The drama is real," Ackerman said. "My mom is definitely a mama bear and always defends me, my brother and my sister."

However, she thinks the show makes everything seem "crazier" than it really is.

Ackerman tries to visit Pittsburgh during the holidays.

"I miss my family and I really appreciate Pittsburgh now that I'm gone," Ackerman said. "But I'm right where I need to be to do what I want to do.

"I remember telling my dad last Christmas that my next goal was to perform with an artist."

And she reached it—performing with one of the biggest names in music.

Taylor Swift, Conor Kennedy, and the etiquette of RSVPs

There has been much talk about Taylor Swift’s controversial appearance at the Boston wedding of Kyle Kennedy last weekend. Mother-of-the-bride Victoria Gifford Kennedy has claimed that Swift and her boyfriend, Conor Kennedy (Kyle’s cousin), showed up without RSVPing to the event and were asked to leave twice before they disappeared. Meanwhile, Victoria’s stepmom, “Today” cohost Kathie Lee Gifford, who was also at the wedding, criticized Swift on national television for showing up without permission.
The incident got us wondering about wedding etiquette and who was in the wrong — Taylor and Conor for crashing the party without a proper RSVP, or Victoria Gifford Kennedy, who asked a relative to leave the wedding and then whined about the family drama to the Boston Herald?
According to Massachusetts manners expert Jodi R. R. Smith , author of “The Etiquette Book: A Complete Guide to Modern Manners,” Swift is the biggest offender in this mess. Smith says that under normal circumstances, when an unexpected guest shows up to a wedding, the host should simply alert the caterer and pull up an extra chair. That rule goes out the window, however, if the unexpected guest is an international pop superstar. Smith says that even if Conor Kennedy and Swift had RSVP’d for the event on time, it was on Swift, as a celebrity, to ask the bride and groom if she should provide extra security for herself that night. Even though Swift is only 22, she should know that her presence greatly affects all events, Smith said. “She can’t go to the bathroom without someone reporting that she flushed,” Smith quipped.
Smith believes that Swift can make amends by buying the newlyweds a big gift from the registry (“She should not be sending her latest CD,” Smith said), and that “in a month, she should send the mother of the bride a giant Winston floral arrangement.”
Of course, not all etiquette experts side with the mother of the bride. Robin Abrahams — also known as Miss Conduct from the Boston Globe Magazine — believes Swift is the innocent bystander in this debacle. Abrahams says Swift was just the date, and that it was on Conor Kennedy to make sure the singer would be welcome. Abrahams also maintains that Victoria Gifford Kennedy should not have aired her gripes about the superstar to the media, no matter what. “That’s the worst — going public about it.”

 

Taylor Swift Has 'Cool News' For Fans On Monday

The singer announced on Tuesday (August 7) that she will be doing a live webcast on Monday (August 13) at 7 p.m. ET. The event will go down on her official YouTube channel. The date of the livestream is hardly a coincidence as 13 just so happens to be Swift's lucky number.
"Hey, it's Taylor. So I really want to talk to you about something. I would love it if you would join me August 13 for a live webchat," she said in a video tease posted online. "You can ask questions. I want to share some news with you, some really cool news. Not gonna go into it too much, but it's cool. I'll see you there."
Fans who want to get in on the action can ask Swift questions through a live social chat that will take place during the stream. Additionally, there will be a Google+ Hangout created around the event.
Given that Swift has been hard at work on her follow-up to 2010's chart-topping Speak Now, it seems likely that Swift's "really cool news" has something to do with some new music.
She has worked with folks like British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran on the release, and when MTV News last caught up with the singer at the top of 2012, she explained that this album will show her growth as an artist.
"I made my last album, Speak Now, with this idea I really wanted to make an album without writing with anyone else just because I always wanted to do that. And now I have a different approach to this record. I'm getting to work with people that I've always wanted to work with." That means that she's seeking out some assistance "from all different places in music."
"I'm trying to be as much of a sponge as possible," she explained. "You have to evolve and try new things and change and that's what I've loved to do with this album."
While some of what she's putting out may sound different, there will remain one central Swift-ism that remains. She will be writing about the ups and downs of love.
"I think that love is always going to be a huge theme in what I write about just because there are no two similar relationships, there are no two times that you feel love the same way or hurt the same way or [feel] rejection [in] the same way. It's all different and I'm fascinated by that," she said. "I really love to go back to human interaction and the way we make each other feel. But that at 22 is different than it was at 18 or 19 when I made my last album and 16 and 17 when I made Fearless. As you grow, you change in the way you process emotion."

 

Taylor Swift Shows Off

Taylor Swift Shows Off Four Different Looks for CoverGirl

 








 Taylor Swift isn't only topping the charts with her hit songs, she has also just been named the wealthiest start under 30 by Forbes magazine. Not bad for a 22-year-old who famously pens songs inspired by her own personal relationships and not-so-lucky-in-love moments. But the pretty pop and country music darling is also stunning her fans with her sheer beauty, from the concert stage to the red carpet. Now, she's striking a pose for CoverGirl as their beauty ambassador. Swift is starring in a new campaign for the fashion-forward yet accessible cosmetics label. And it definitely embodies all facets of that "easy, breezy, beautiful" tag line with four different style stories played out gorgeously on its main starlet.
For the campaign, Taylor Swift debuts slightly darker, more brunette locks than her standard blonde, while pulling off a quartet of makeup looks that include Clean, Rocker, Glam, and Country, as Just Jared confirms. Sounds like the perfect options for Swift, who has successfully balanced elegant red carpet entrances with more edgy pop songstress moments, along with the occasional country cutie vibe.
Beginning with a barely-there makeup look, Swift was fresh and fabulous with her fair skin shining through in the Clean character, which showed off her natural beauty. The look was achieved with a hint of eye makeup and paired with a glossy peach lip. Next up was a bit of Country, complete with a light bronze eye shadow, mascara, and a flirty pink pout.
But the singer's inner quick-change artist really came out to play for the Rocker, featuring a fierce, smoky cat eye with charcoal shadow and black liner. Metallic white shadow at the inner corners of Swift's baby blues added more impact and really opened up her eyes. Her lip color was smartly kept more in the nude and natural range to complete this edgy look.
Swift transformed once again to go Glam, with a slightly retro look that was also sophisticated and modern. The vintage vibe was achieved by liquid black eyeliner drawn heavily into a wing shape on each eye, as well as a ruby-red lip.
"I think in life we have a bunch of different versions of ourselves. . . . The cool thing about makeup is that it can be so different on any given day," Swift said in reference to her CoverGirl characters.
And she's absolutely right. Swift obviously knows the chameleon-like power of a good eyeshadow, liner, and lipstick--and the power of a good makeup artist, too.

 

Taylor Swift and B.o.B. Brave Bugs

Taylor Swift & B.o.B. Brave Bugs, Spiders & Dogs On Video Set

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Taylor Swift and rapper B.o.B. had a rough day at the office when it came to shooting the music video for their new song, “Both of Us.”

The Nashville countryside, where the two chart-topping artists filmed the new video, was filled with quite a few creatures to contend with.

“There’s bugs on people, there are bugs crawling on people, there are bugs trying to bite people,” Taylor said in behind the scenes footage.

The set nearly became deadly at one point.

“At one point I looked over on B.o.B.‘s shoulder and there is this giant spider!” Taylor explained. “It looked like a bird! It was that big.

“It was just hanging out there ready to kill him and I saved his life pointing it out, I’ll point that out!” she continued.

In addition to a few of nature’s beasts, the B.o.B. said being out in rural Tennessee helped show off his song partner’s beauty.

“It brings out the most enchanting side of Taylor Swift,” the hip-hop star said of the video.

Adding, “The song is more like a project, this is bigger than just B.o.B. and Taylor Swift. This is about all walks of life, all classes of society. It’s about everybody really.”

B.o.B And Taylor Swift

B.o.B and Taylor Swift are an unlikely musical duo, but that doesn't mean they don't have anything in common. On Thursday (June 14), Bobby Ray and Swift paid tribute to their country roots on the Nashville video set for their summery sweet duet, "Both of Us."
The Jake Nava-directed clip (Beyoncé's "Single Ladies," Kanye West's "Monster") will feature scenes of the duo together and apart. While one photo shows the chart-toppers lounging in wooden chairs on the lawn, other shots depict their solo scenes, with Swift comfortable in a field of flowers and B.o.B sitting tight in a red-lit bar. Good chemistry was all over the video set, as the T.I. protégé and video director shook hands in an old house in another candid shot.
B.o.B tweeted about the video, sharing a photo and release-date time frame. "On the set of the ‪#BothOfUs music video in Nashville with @taylorswift13. Video premieres end of June!"
"Both of Us," the latest single from B.o.B's sophomore LP, Strange Clouds, is the result of Swift reaching out to the rapper. According to B.o.B, the country/pop songstress "came to Atlanta and she hit up Grand Hustle. I wasn't there. Tip was there, and I eventually linked with her in Dallas, and the rest is history."
In addition to his visual with T-Swizzle, B.o.B has another upcoming collaborative project in the works: an album with Grand Hustle CEO T.I. During a recent visit to "RapFix Live," the MC explained, "We got my album out, Strange Clouds, and he's about to drop Trouble Man very soon, so once we get that out the way, then we'll have time to really focus even more attentively to the Man and the Martian project."

taylor swift

Malibu was the place to be on Memorial Day this year -- as some of the biggest stars out there all hit up the same beach house bash!

Mega movie producer Joel Silver held his annual party yesterday in Malibu and it seems like every celeb in the area showed.

Gwen Stefani showed off her tight tummy in a white tank top at the fiesta, which she attended with husband Gavin Rossdale and their two boys Kingston and Zuma.

Another hot mom in attendance: Kate Beckinsale, who showed up with hubby Len Wiseman and daughter Lily.

Selena Gomez showed up without boyfriend Justin Bieber, wearing a t-shirt with a smile on it just one day after Justin's confrontation with a paparazzo.

Also there: Courteney Cox, David Arquette and their daughter Coco, who was sporting some crazy pink eyelashes ... plus Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Ashley Greene, Dianna Agron, Josh Hartnett and Barbra Streisand.

Across the country in Miami, Gabrielle Union hit the beach as well -- showing off her bikini killer body.

It wasn't all fun and games for everyone by the beach though, as Taylor Swift was seen in Santa Monica heading into a recording studio. Looks like some people had to work!

Check out all the sightings above!

Taylor Swift Donates $4 Million For Music Education

• • 
    Taylor Swift has a reputation for being a good girl with a big heart, and when you pair that with her sizable bank account, you get one very large charitable donation that will benefit music education for both children and senior citizens.

The six-time Grammy winner has donated $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville to fund what will now be known as the Taylor Swift Education Center, an exhibit and classroom space scheduled to open in 2014.
"In terms of what it will allow us to do, we do education very well now," museum director Kyle Young told the Associated Press (via Billboard). "It will allow us to do what we do better, serve more people, develop new programs, and I'm happy to say that as we talked through this opportunity with Taylor, she very much wants to be involved in an advisory capacity in what we do. Is there a better person out there who's in touch with a young audience? I think not. I was joking we should be paying her to do that. I was only joking."
Swift's donation is the second largest ever gifted to the museum and is the largest given by a musician. The country-pop megastar has a long history with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. She signed her record contract there and gave one of her first public performances on the building's plaza.
In the past, she has also volunteered her time to the museum's "All for the Hall" fundraisers.
The Taylor Swift Education Center is part of a larger $75 million expansion of the Hall of Fame that will more than double the size of the museum and include a new concert theater and more space for exhibits and archives.
The planned education center will be more than 7,500 square feet spread over two stories. It will have its own exterior entrance that will lead to three classrooms and exhibit space. The expansion will allow the museum to dramatically increase its youth education programs, with plans for it to house a "musical petting zoo" and an art classroom where children can make concert posters and other art projects.
The center will also give the museum the opportunity to add new programs and workshops for teens and senior citizens.
"For Taylor to want to engage herself in the life of this place in such an appropriate way," Young continued, "every way you slice it and dice it, it's great."

Taylor Swift Exhibit Planned for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Taylor Swift's Speak Now tour will be the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. Taylor Swift: Speak Now -- Treasures From the World Tour will open June 6 and run through Nov. 4.

Dozens of costumes, instruments, set pieces and props from Swift's 2011-12 tour will be displayed. The exhibition will recreate 10 vignettes from the tour, including the following:

The Roberto Cavalli ombre gold bugle-beaded dress and red Gibson Les Paul model electric guitar featured during her performance of "The Story of Us."

Swift's vintage ecru lace dress and Deering-brand six-string banjo, along with other costumes used by band members and dancers.

The pale blue silk Marchesa gown with rhinestone bodice, in addition to a white piano bench with tufted leather upholstery, featured in "Back to December."

Swift's red, sequined Jenny Packham slip dress and knee-high leather boots, worn during "Better Than Revenge."

Her vintage purple silk halter dress, dancers' costumes and props used during "Speak Now."

A Taylor-brand koa wood ukulele with mother-of-pearl inlay she played during her acoustic performance of "Fearless."

Swift's sleeveless, flesh-colored Reem Acra gown with sequin overlay, dancers' costumes and prop trees featured in "Enchanted."

Her reworked vintage dress, featuring leather corsetry, and the mallet she used to ring the bells during her performance of "Haunted."

Swift's black Jenny Packham flapper-style slip dress with rhinestone embellishments, black knee-high leather boots and a Taylor-brand guitar encrusted with Swarovski crystals featured during "Long Live."

Her golden Valentino ball gown featuring layers of tulle and a sequin overlay, dancers and aerialists' costumes and the "Juliet balcony" in which Swift soared above the crowd during each performance of "Love Story."

Earlier this month, Swift pledged $4 million to fund a new education center at the museum. Her gift, the largest capital contribution by an individual artist in the museum's 45-year history, prompted the museum to name the new space the Taylor Swift Education Center. The center will open in early 2014. The gift was made in conjunction with the museum's expansion capital campaign, Working on a Building: Country Music Lives Here.

A free-standing multimedia exhibit featuring Swift has been one of the museum's most popular attractions since its debut in May 2010.