We’re working on playing catch-up with this site, so hang in with us!

January 25 – Entertainment Tonight
January 27 – Entertainment Tonight
January 28 – Entertainment Tonight
January 29 – Extra
January 31 – The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards
February 1 – Entertainment Tonight
February 1 – Extra

Don’t let Naomi Judd catch you saying anything bad about Taylor Swift. The veteran country singer has jumped to Swift’s defense after she was heavily criticized for her performance at the Grammy Awards last month.

In a letter to the editor of The Tennessean, Judd, calls Swift a “dazzling performer” and lauds her for single-handedly introducing “country music to a much-welcomed younger demographic.”

She attributes Swift’s less-than-perfect Grammy duet with Stevie Nicks to having an off night. “Having sung many times at the Grammys, I can tell you that the stress and anxiety of performing in front of the world’s top artists in every genre of music is tortuous for even the most seasoned singer,” Judd writes.

The backlash against Swift began immediately after her Grammy night performance, which the New York Times called “painfully out of tune.”

Swift’s label head, Scott Borchetta, rushed to her defense last week, calling her “the voice of a generation” and blaming a technical problem as the culprit behind the pitchy performance.

Judd also praises Swift’s “smarts, manners and class” as qualities young people should admire and emulate.

“If there’s an award for being the best role model for her generation,” she writes, “I’d like to be the one to give it to Taylor Swift.”

(Source)

Taylor Swift was more than a little pitchy at the Grammys on Sunday, but the onslaught of criticism from viewers, fans and the media has ticked off the head of her record label. Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, went on a media offensive this week to respond to all the backlash over Swift’s multi-song performance, which included a cringe-worthy duet with Stevie Nicks, the young singer’s idol. But in defending Swift, did the label boss exacerbate the situation?

“Maybe she’s not the best technical singer,” he began in comments to The Tennessean, “but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it.”
Borchetta slammed critics, which included the New York Times and the Washington Post among others, but also may have overreached in his description of the pop-country singer.

“I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them,” he told the paper.

Voice of a generation? Borchetta used the same phrase in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, and added that Swift “speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her.”

“This is not ‘American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Borchetta appears to be trying to lower expectations for Swift’s vocal abilities while at the same time raise her profile as the Bob Dylan or Kurt Cobain of Generation Y. (In a twisted way, it makes perfect sense: Dylan and Cobain are known more for their iconic songwriting than their actual vocals.)

Talk of Swift’s sub-par performance nearly overshadowed the fact that she beat album of the year favorites Beyonce and Lady Gaga. PopEater readers, who by and large are huge Swift-backers, agreed it wasn’t her best night. “Horrible … embarrassing” wrote one commenter about Swift’s live voice.

“It’s that classic thing that critics do of building something up and then wanting to tear it down,” Borchetta told the AP.

The label boss blamed a technical issue for throwing Swift off on Grammy night when singing ‘Rhiannon’ with Nicks, though The Recording Academy hasn’t revealed any such problem.

“We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn’t able to hear everything in the mix,” Borchetta said. “That’s just part of live TV. … So you’re going to have difficulties on occasion. Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn’t hear herself like she had in rehearsal.”

Swift’s ‘Fearless’ has sold over 5 million copies and was the top selling album of 2009. She is the youngest artist to ever win the Grammys’ top prize of album of the year. (Source)

We have added a ton of new photos from the Grammys events over the weekend. We also replaced a lot of MQ with HQ. Our thanks to Mary Jane for some of the HQs.

Winning four Grammy Awards in a single night would be memorable for any artist. For Taylor Swift, Sunday was all the more special as it was a historic night for Nashville music.

Told after the show that Music City artists had pulled off an unprecedented double – album of the year for Swift and record of the year for Kings of Leon – Swift, 20, replied, “That’s awesome, and I didn’t know that before right now.”

Keeping up the enthusiasm, Swift further declared, “Nashville is my favorite place in the world. To see it recognized in such a beautiful way tonight at the Grammys just makes me so, so happy.”

She added that winning album of the year for her blockbuster Fearless was nothing short of amazing and humbling. “I did not see it coming tonight,” she said. “This was a beautiful, beautiful surprise.”

Asked where she’ll keep her new trophies, she replied (without elucidating): “I imagine I’ll have four options.”

Swift also took a moment to reflect on her love for country music, and her dislike of labels across musical genres. “I grew up in Pennsylvania, and my friends didn’t listen to country music, but I did, because I could identify with these stories so well,” she said.

She added: “I think that when you’re making music, it’s the healthiest thing to do to remove titles or stereotypes from what you’re trying to do. It’s not boys versus girls. It’s not country versus rap. It’s not anything that you don’t make it.” (Source)

We have tons more photos coming but here’s a handful of photos of Taylor from tonight’s Grammy Awards. Congratualtions to Taylor on her four Grammy Awards!

Album of the Year (Fearless)
Best Country Female Vocal (White Horse)
Best Country Song (White Horse)
Best Country Album (Fearless)

2010: January 31 – The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards

Taylor’s big Grammy Night is off to a great start! In the Pre Grammy Telecast held ealier tonight Taylor took home two Grammy Awards. Female Country Vocal and Best Country Song (Songwriter Award) both for White Horse.

Welcome to I Heart Taylor Swift, your newest resource for all things Taylor! We’ve been working hard on the site for the past few weeks, so we hope you enjoy what you see! We’ve got detailed content throughout – which we’ll regularly be expanding and updating – and a large gallery holding over 20,000 images.

The gallery has been updated with HD screencaps of Taylor’s most recent tv appearance:

January 29 – The Early Show

As well as her two most recent appearances (both GRAMMY related):

Don’t forget Taylor will be attending and performing at the GRAMMYS airing tonight! Check back here as we’ll have coverage, including HD screencaps, asap.