TOKYO — Will she make it in time?
Taylor Swift’s final track was nonetheless ringing within the ears of hundreds of followers on the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night time when the singer rushed to a personal jet at Haneda airport, presumably embarking on an intensely scrutinized journey to see her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, play within the Tremendous Bowl in Las Vegas.
“We’re all gonna go on an important journey,” Swift earlier instructed the gang. She was talking of the music, however it may additionally describe her potential race towards time, which was to cross 9 time zones and the worldwide date line.
With a remaining bow on the finish of her sold-out present, clad in a blue sequined outfit, the gang screaming, strobe lights pulsing, confetti falling, Swift disappeared beneath the stage — and her journey to the opposite facet of the world started.
Her anticipated journey to see Kelce’s Kansas Metropolis Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas on Sunday, U.S. time, has fired imaginations, and hypothesis, for weeks.
“I hope she will return in time. It’s so romantic,” mentioned workplace employee Hitomi Takahashi, 29, who purchased matching Taylor Swift sweatshirts together with her pal and was taking images simply outdoors of the Tokyo Dome.
It wasn’t instantly clear late Saturday if Swift’s aircraft had left. About an hour after the tip of the live performance, Related Press journalists have been close to Haneda’s non-public jet space when minivans drove up and somebody went contained in the gate space as 4 to 5 folks carrying giant black umbrellas obstructed the view of the individual.
At Saturday night time’s live performance, there was loads of proof of the distinctive cultural phenomenon that’s the Swift-Kelce relationship, a nexus {of professional} and the large star energy of Swift. Along with folks carrying sequined clothes celebrating Swift within the packed Tokyo Dome, there have been Travis Kelce jerseys and hats and different gear celebrating the Chiefs. Some in Tokyo spent hundreds of {dollars} to attend the pop celebrity’s concert events this week.
“Romeo, take me someplace we could be alone,” Swift sang Saturday.
She will not discover that Sunday in Las Vegas when a sold-out crowd, to not point out hundreds of thousands around the globe, shall be watching her.
If she makes it, that’s.
To name the worldwide scrutiny of Swift’s travels intense is an understatement.
Followers have tracked her jet. The planet-warming carbon emissions of her globe-trotting travels have been criticized. Officers have weighed in on her means to park her jet in Las Vegas airports.
Even Japanese diplomats have gotten into the act. The Japanese Embassy in Washington posted on social media that she might make the Tremendous Bowl in time, together with of their assertion three Swift track titles – “Converse Now”, “Fearless” and “Pink.”
“If she departs Tokyo within the night after her live performance, she ought to comfortably arrive in Las Vegas earlier than the Tremendous Bowl begins,” it mentioned.
Takahashi, the fan on the Tokyo Dome, was conscious of the criticism Swift has confronted about her non-public jets, however mentioned the singer was being singled out unfairly.
“Many different persons are flying on enterprise, and she or he is right here for her work. She faces a bashing as a result of she is legendary and stands out,” Takahashi mentioned.
Swift has been crisscrossing the globe this week already.
Earlier than coming to Asia, she attended the Grammys in Los Angeles, profitable her 14th Grammy and a record-breaking fourth Album of the Yr award for “Midnights.” The present was watched by almost 17 million folks. She additionally made a shock announcement that her subsequent album is able to drop in April.
Then the 4 concert events in Tokyo, and now apparently a rushed journey to attempt to make it to Las Vegas to observe Kelce, the tight finish for the Chiefs, play within the Tremendous Bowl. She has adopted Kelce for a lot of the Chiefs’ season.
If all of it goes as deliberate, she’s then anticipated to fly to Australia later this week to proceed her tour.
“This week is really the most effective sort of chaos,” Swift posted Wednesday on Instagram.
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Related Press author Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.