Philippine Swifties flock to Taylor Sheesh show

MANILA – Thousands of die-hard Taylor Swift fans erupted in screams on Friday as a Philippine drag queen impersonating the American music megastar strutted on stage in a Manila shopping centre.

For many Filipino Swifties, as Swift’s fans are called, this is the closest they will get to the 33-year-old singer’s The Eras Tour after the Philippines was left out of the Asian leg in 2024.

As fans across the region scrambled on Friday to get their hands on tickets for her six shows in Singapore – one of only two stops in Asia – Filipino Swifties flocked to a mall to see the next best thing: Taylor Sheesh.

Wearing a long blonde wig and a gold sequinned and tasselled dress, Sheesh shimmered across the floor while imitating Swift’s dance moves and lip-synced songs from her 2010 album Speak Now.

Mostly young fans sang along to the lyrics they first heard as children, bouncing up and down while filming with their smartphones.

“I love her writing and songs,” gushed Ms Daphne Ayuste, 21, after posing with her boyfriend in front of a cardboard cut-out of Swift.

Fans began lining up in the tropical heat more than four hours before Friday’s concert celebrating the release of Swift’s re-recorded Speak Now album.

Many wore cat-ear headbands featuring Swift’s face and the colour purple to match her dress on the album cover.

Sheesh, a call-centre worker whose real name is Mac Coronel, began impersonating Swift in 2017.

The 28-year-old became very popular after footage of a performance of Coronel’s own version of The Eras Tour in May went viral.

“She’s so very popular here,” Coronel told AFP backstage, describing the Philippines as “Taylor nation”.

“We all know that (for) every situation... there’s always a Taylor Swift song.”

‘Always a Swiftie’

In Singapore on Friday,

hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up at post offices across the city-state

hours before tickets went on sale to the public.

Many of the fans, most of them young people, had queued overnight for prime spots, taking along food, mats and foldable chairs.

With 338,000 seats up for grabs in Singapore, many Swifties across the region have been left disappointed and pleading on social media for more Asian countries to be included in the tour.

Thailand’s Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat – who is seeking endorsement from the Thai parliament this week to become the next prime minister – took to social media to proclaim he was a Swiftie and urged the singer to stage a Bangkok concert.

“Hey Taylor. Big fan of yours. By the way, Thailand is back on track to be fully democratic after you had to cancel last time due to the coup. The Thai people have spoken via the election and we all look forward to welcoming you to this beautiful nation of ours. Do come and I’ll be singing Lavender Haze with you,” he tweeted on Thursday in a message that went viral.

Filipino Swifties have flooded Facebook with crying emojis and requests for the pop star to perform in the Philippines.

“There’s no way that this tour is happening without Filo Swifties! #wewanterastourinthephilippines,” Mond Santiago wrote.

Some fans are already planning to fly to one of her concerts overseas, including Coronel, who secured a ticket to one of the Singapore shows with the help of a relative.

Coronel hopes to take the drag queen show to more malls across the country, but has no illusions of being more popular than Swift. “I don’t want to be compared with Taylor Swift,” said Coronel. “Forever and always, I’ll be a Swiftie.” AFP