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MTV Review: BST Hyde Park Proves Why Taylor Swift Is Just The Best Pop Star

Is that an over-exaggeration? We don’t even care.

On Saturday (June 27), Barclaycard’s British Summer Time at Hyde Park held yet another day of incredible music.

Having already had the likes of The Strokes, Blur and Kylie Minogue lead other nights of the event, the excitement surrounding Taylor Swift’s headlining day was off the charts.

Billed as Taylor’s only London date as part of her 1989 World Tour, fans were expecting big things from their favourite star, and naturally she didn’t disappoint – but first came her friends, who also happened to be her support on the day.

Kicking off the hottest show in town, on one of the hottest days of the year, Rae Morris brought a much-appreciated calm before the Swift storm. With her impressively strong vocals filling Hyde Park before many had made it past the entrance, the Blackpool native gave as warm a welcome as the one she received from the audience, making her way through tracks from her debut album Unguarded. Recent single 'Love Again' proved a major crowd pleaser, Rae visibly humbled by the response, before she headed straight off to Glastonbury.

Fun fact: while Rae was on stage, her dad was helping an over excited Swifty fan who fainted in the crowd! What a family.
Next up on the main stage, Vance Joy and John Newman did it for the boys, with Mr Newman finding a winning combination in Calvin Harris produced track 'Blame', funky dance moves and some snug white trousers. All good reasons why he was our Snapchat Crush Of The Day on Saturday.

After all of that, it was finally Taylor’s turn to hit the stage, and as soon as the first note rang out on opener 'Welcome To New York', the crowd sang along with every. Single. Word. For the entire two hour set.

Doubling as both a ridiculously good concert and an intense therapy session, Tay dished out love and friendship advice for her fans in between mega hits such as 'Love Story', 'Blank Space', 'I Knew You Were Trouble' and 'Shake It Off'.

Amongst her pearls of wisdom was this message she had for her Swifties, who she also refers to as her friends: “I wish no one ever waited four hours to text you back when you know they're holding their phone. That’s rude.”

As she played track after track from her latest album, 1989, it’s clear to see why it became the biggest record release since 2002.

It’s also clear that Taylor’s musical style has evolved dramatically since the days of Fearless, with 'Love Story' getting a 2015 update, along with 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'.

To the excitement of the crowd, Taylor brought the VTs from her 1989 tour along to Hyde Park, with clips showing the likes of Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham and Haim all declaring their love for Tay.

But the highlight has to be the moment Taylor brought Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Serena Williams and Martha Hunt onto the stage during 'Style'. Can you say #SquadGoals?

Sadly, the end of the show had to roll around eventually, but not before Taylor took to the sky with her dancers to perform 'Shake It Off' in the sparkliest outfit we’ve ever seen.

Judging by the screams echoing long after she left the stage, it’s safe to say that Taylor knows exactly how to entertain a 65,000 strong crowd and keep them dancing for days afterwards. Seriously though, we’re still dancing.

By Charlotte Warwick

Set list:

Welcome To New York
New Romantics
Blank Space
I Knew You Were Trouble
I Wish You Would
How You Get The Girl
I Know Places
All You Had To Do Was Stay
You Are In Love
Clean
Love Story
Style
This Love
Bad Blood
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Wildest Dreams
Out of the Woods
Shake It Off

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