MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Taylor Swift stole the show at an Asian summit on Tuesday when Singapore’s leader defended his tiny country’s lucrative concert deal that could spark bad blood with neighboring nations.
Singapore is a key member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a bloc of 10 countries known as ASEAN. His three-day summit was is expected to focus on the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and conflicts in the South China Sea.
Instead, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was criticized on the sidelines of the meeting for an exclusive deal his city-state struck with Swift that prevents the singer from taking her Eras tour to any other stops in Southeast Asia.
Swift is performing six concerts from March 2 to 9 in Singapore, and some Southeast Asian neighbors have complained that the Singapore deal deprives them of the tourism boom her concerts bring to the hosts. Her Eras tour broke records when she did reportedly topped $1 billion last yearand she film adaptation of the tour quickly took number 1 at the box office and became the highest-grossing concert film to date.
The Singaporean leader confirmed on Tuesday that Swift had been given “certain incentives” in exchange for making Singapore her only Southeast Asian destination on her Eras tour. Lee defended the deal at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a self-proclaimed Swiftie whose Spotify Wrapped list shows Taylor Swift as his second most streamed artist for 2023. Albanese is hosting the meeting in Melbourne, which coincides with Australia’s 50th anniversary becomes ASEAN’s first external partner.
Lee did not disclose the price of the exclusive deal, which was paid for by a government fund set up to restore tourism after the disruptions caused by COVID-19. He also did not directly answer a question about whether he faced bad blood among other leaders over the deal, instead hinting that if Singapore had not entered into an exclusive deal, a neighboring country might have.
“It turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as unfriendly,” Lee said.
Thai Prime Minister Sreeta Thawisin drew attention to the deal in February when he publicly claimed that a promoter had told him that the Singapore government subsidized the concerts with about $2 million to $3 million per show on the condition that the artist not perform anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
Sreeta said that if he had known about the deal before, he was confident that he would have been able to do something similar.
But Thailand is not holding it against Singapore, said Promin Lertsuriday, secretary-general to the prime minister. He told reporters in a group interview on Monday that Thailand has taken what Singapore has done as an example, and while Thailand already has some laws that allow for similar stimulus packages, the government is working to cut red tape and make Thailand a more -attractive venue for international events.
“We learn from each other,” Promin said, adding that he admired Singapore for being able to come up with and achieve this “good business idea”.
In February, Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno took to Instagram to apologize to Swift’s fans, saying, “International music events like Taylor Swift’s concerts really have a big impact on a country’s economy. But sorry Swifties, Taylor Swift hasn’t stopped by Indonesia yet. Purchased from Singapore. However, this is a lesson for us.”
Raisa Christy, a 37-year-old fan living in Jakarta, Indonesia, said she regrets Swift’s closest stop being in Singapore. However, she believes it is the only place in the region that has the capabilities and infrastructure to meet Swift’s standards.
Lee said that while he did not know what Australia’s arrangements were, he expected she had reached similar “mutually acceptable, reasonable arrangements” with Swift when she performed concerts in Melbourne and Sydney – one of which was attended by Australia’s prime minister – before flying to Singapore.
A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other issues were covered at the press conference rising tensions in the South China Seathe humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the likelihood of China joining a regional free trade pact.
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Associated Press writers Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia contributed.
