Taylor Swift Selected as ‘Person of the Year’

Artist Taylor Swift, 33, was chosen by Time as Time’s “Person of the Year” for her huge success in music, as America’s “soft power” symbol.

Taylor Swift became the first artist to be awarded the title, Dec. 5. In previous years, the honored characters were mainly men, active in the political and social fields.

According to Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs, 2023 is the time when Swift achieves success by harmonizing both artistic and commercial elements. The journalist likened her to a source of positive light in a year when the world was darkened by war and division.

In 2023, she has three Billboard number-one albums. The Eras Tour “sweeping” all cities in the United States, promising to cause storms in Asia and Europe. The singer was also confirmed by Forbes to be a billionaire, with a fortune of $ 1.1 billion. Her music is taught and studied in many universities.

“For building a world of her own into a place for so many people, for turning her own story into a fairytale, for bringing joy to a society that desperately needs it, Taylor Swift has become the 2023 Person of the Year,” Time concluded.

This year’s list of nominees includes familiar names: President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Charles III of Britain, Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, prosecutors who have charged former US President Trump.

Earlier in the day, Taylor Swift was also selected for People’s list of the 25 Most Attractive People of the Year.

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter who made her 2006 debut. From “country music princess”, she gradually changed her image, becoming a global phenomenon with pop albums such as 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017).

After 17 years of activity, the singer now has 10 albums, 12 Grammy Awards. She is loved by a combination of many factors: Good voice, ability to write lyrics, compose music, perform on stage well, good appearance. Chris Leyden, growth marketing manager for ticketing platform SeatGeek, said Taylor Swift is an “economic phenomenon.”

Her The Eras Tour contributed $4.3 billion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 53 days. The average ticket price for concerts is $25, but they often sell several times higher on the black market. Bloomberg commented : “Swift has grown from a teenage pop country phenomenon to a world celebrity, while maintaining a serious girl image with the guitar, despite the industry behind her.” In an interview with Time, Swift said: “I’ve been lifted and drowned out many times over the last 20 years. It felt like the breakthrough moment in my career came at the age of 33. And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to deal with what happened.”

Last year, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the “spirit of Ukraine” were Person of the Year. In 2021, the title belongs to billionaire Elon Musk with a plan to take humanity off Earth. In 2020, US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris were awarded the title for “changing America’s story”. Former US president Donald Trump was chosen as Person of the Year in 2016 with the comment “The president of America divided”.

Time magazine began voting for “Man of the Year” in 1927. This tradition then changes, not only to vote individually but also to take into account the influence of the groups, movements or ideas that have had the greatest impact on the world in each year. The title has been changed to “Person of the Year” since 1999.

Historically, some women have been honored as Queen Elizabeth II (1952), Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino (1986), Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2015), environmental activist Greta Thunberg (2019).