- 'We want more than this': Arteta urges Arsenal to respond after title pain
- Five reasons why Man City won the Premier League
- Biden says Gaza protester voices 'should be heard'
- Hyderabad finish second after last IPL league match washed out
- Winning feeling never gets old for Man City 'sniper' Foden
- Man City win historic fourth straight Premier League title
- Haaland wins second Premier League Golden Boot
- Arsenal's title dreams dashed despite last-day win over Everton
- Foden fires Man City to record fourth consecutive Premier League title
- Zverev beats Jarry to claim second Rome Open title
- Imola proves McLaren are back in business predicts Norris
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs apologizes after video shows him assaulting partner
- Blue Origin flies thrill seekers to space, including oldest astronaut
- S.Africa top court to rule on Zuma election ban Monday
- Horner hails 'great' Italian job by Verstappen to resist Norris
- Biden reaches out to Gaza protesters in speech at rights icon's college
- Deadly strikes hit Gaza as US envoy visits Israel
- Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge set to move Monday
- Pogacar soars to landmark Giro win on snow-capped peak
- Klopp receives emotional farewell tribute from Liverpool fans
- Slovak PM's life no longer in danger after shooting
- Scheffler well back at PGA as officials say no bodycam video of arrest
- Strikes kills 11 in Ukraine region under Russian offensive
- Argentina's Milei stars in global far-right rally in Spain
- Verstappen resists Norris attack to claim dramatic victory at Imola
- Raducanu pulls out of French Open qualifying to train on grass
- Verstappen holds off Norris to clinch Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore in Cannes comeback
- Iran presidential helicopter in 'accident', search underway: state media
- Breaking men-only musical lore, Jobarteh puts African kora on wider stage
- Usyk heavyweight glory hailed as 'Ukrainian victory'
- Cannes narco musical star says being trans should be 'unimportant'
- Shelling kills ten in Ukraine region under Russian offensive
- DR Congo thwarts Kinshasa 'coup attempt' : army
- Injured Sinner back on road to French Open
- Dominican Republic votes for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- France says will quell New Caledonia riots 'whatever the cost'
- 'Blood everywhere': Survivor recounts attack on tourists in Afghanistan
- Deadly bombs hit Gaza as US security envoy visits Israel
- World javelin champion Kitaguchi lays down marker in Tokyo
- Hundreds protest Taiwan's ruling party on eve of inauguration
- French forces smash roadblocks in bid to clear key New Caledonia road
- Russian exiles in Georgia inspired by protests but scared
- Taiwan's next president goes shrimp fishing with foreign guests
- Can Costner lead the revenge of France's much-mocked Kevins?
- Dramas elevate Iran cinema but it's comedy that sells
- Fury unsure on rematch after Usyk inflicts his first defeat
- Taiwan coast guard ramps up island patrols ahead of inauguration
- 'Maldives what?': Saudi fashionistas attempt beach rebrand
- Dallas rally to down Thunder, reach NBA Western Conference finals
Europe's 'Swifties' await icon with open arms
When a pair of "Swifties" in The Netherlands tried to get a local Taylor Swift fan night going two years ago, club owners turned up their noses -- doubting the US megastar would be a hit with the hip crowd.
"They were not on our side at all," Alexa Fischer, 25, told AFP.
"We couldn't even put their names on our socials because they were embarrassed to host the Swift party," recalled her friend, Femke van Splunter.
As it turned out, their first party was an instant success -- with all 200 tickets snapped up in a day.
Eighteen months later, once-reticent clubs now seek out the duo to organise Swiftie nights -- having taken the full measure of the phenomenon in Europe, where the singer-songwriter kicks off the latest leg of her record-smashing Eras tour in Paris on May 9.
- Devotion belittled -
The trigger for the first event was the 2022 release of Swift's hit album "Midnights", as well as the urge to come together with like-minded fans to celebrate.
"We were like: 'A lot of people are hyped about it but we don't know where they are and we don't know who to hype with'," said van Splunter, 30.
Like the Netherlands-based pair, Portugal's Joana Lopes said Swifties are used to having their devotion belittled: the icon herself has been dismissed for lyrics revolving heavily around her ex-lovers.
"A few years ago, we couldn't talk about Taylor without being judged or mocked," said Lopes.
But Swifties across Europe -- all of whom will flock to see her perform this year -- told AFP in a series of interviews that the sense of community is very real.
Take Fischer and van Splunter: the pair curate an eclectic mix of groups on WhatsApp, from one focused on videos of Swift's ongoing tour to another in which Swifties get together to talk politics.
That's just one example of the flourishing world of group chats bringing Swift fans together around much more than just music.
On the other side of Europe, in Lisbon, Lopes and her friend Ana Carmo, 29, are in a WhatsApp group with dozens of Swifties living in different cities -- and which helped Lopes get tickets to see her icon perform.
- Feeling 'seen' -
Beyond a sense of belonging, for many the singer has provided solace in tough times.
After Fischer -- who uses the non-binary pronouns they/them -- lost their father at the age of 16, they remember drawing help from a song "about Swift's own journey with cancer and her mum".
Her music similarly helped Lopes grieve the loss of her grandmother.
"It's on the same day that Taylor became part of my life," said the 33-year-old, who says Swift's lyrics are "the thing that I value most".
Swift makes her fans "feel seen", summed up Clara Garcia, a Brussels-based consultant. "It's like this entire community, the Easter eggs, the concerts, the friendship bracelets."
And there is little doubt this has been a key to her record-shattering success, experts say.
"Taylor has deliberately curated a community and positioned herself as someone who could be a friend to her fans," said Georgia Carroll, a fan culture expert who said Swift is "definitely the most popular she has ever been".
- Europe's love story -
Streams of her music were up 50 percent on the Deezer music platform in Europe in the year since April 2023 -- the month after she kicked off a tour that has already grossed more than any in history, $1 billion by the end of 2023.
Data from streaming giant Spotify, from just before her latest album's release in April, showed the most enthusiasm for Swift in The Netherlands and Portugal as well as Belgium and Slovenia.
Swift's appeal as a songwriter may not be obvious in a continent where few speak English as a first language -- but that's no obstacle to her fans.
"I started to listen to her songs, and I thought, 'OK what the hell is she saying'," recalled Lopes, from Portugal. "So I started reading her lyrics and translating to understand."
"I'm learning new words, I'm learning new meanings of things," echoed her friend Carmo, while Brussels-based Alessia Faranna, 25, said Swift helped "a lot" with her English.
Faranna put it quite simply: "I fell in love with the way she expresses her feelings."
B.Shevchenko--BTB