Taylor Swift is back from a whirlwind tour of Australia and Japan.  Looks like she had a swell time, and that the girls in Japan are just as crazy for her as the girls are here.  This is a video of them screaming her arrival at the airport in Tokyo.  And here’s one of the pictures she uploaded of her trip:

All the rest of the pictures are here.

Backlash?  What backlash?  Taylor Swift is down in Australia, doing concerts, feeding wild possums, frolicking in the ocean, totally missing out on all the criticism of her Grammy performance and feeling nothing but love from everyone Down Under….Wait a minute, what?  She’s been called out by WHO?  The Australian Department of Sustainability and Environment has scolded Taylor after she tweeted about feeding those wild possums in a park at midnight.  Apparently you are not supposed to do that or they will get all screwed up and tame and some other animal will come along and kill them.  You hear that Taylor!!!!!  You’re a possum killer!!!!  I say we boycott her records!!! (I’m kidding, Im kidding!)

By the way, look how cute Australian wild possums are! 

The dust-up over Taylor Swift’s Grammy performance just will NOT die down! I can’t believe some of the snarky, evil comments people are still making about Taylor, all because of one performance that was sub-par. I know, I know, it’s a free country and Taylor makes millions and we shouldn’t feel sorry for her, but it just seems a little extreme. Well now Naomi Judd has stepped up for Taylor with an open letter to the Nashville newspaper, where she says Taylor has “smarts, manners and class. Why can’t fault-finders see that she is a sorely needed role model? We’re aware of how lyrics and musicians can influence our society. If America ever needed positive role models, it’s now.”  She goes on to say that Taylor’s not the first person to let her nerves get the better of her during a performance at the Grammys “in front of the world’s top artists in every genre of music.” If you’re interested in reading more, including tons of reader comments on both sides of this EXTREMELY important issue, click here.

The countdown continues:  When will the tide turn against Taylor Swift because she’s soooooo famous that everyone will want to bring her down a peg?  The reaction to her performance Sunday at the Grammys may be the beginning of the Taylor Backlash.  Here are some clips from newspapers, which are more polite than some of the stuff that random people have been writing online about her:

“Swift gave a strikingly bad vocal performance at Staples Center on Sunday,” the LA Times wrote, “sounding tinny and rhythmically flat-footed as she shared the microphone with the distinctive Stevie Nicks.”

The Washington Post agreed: “A night in the charmed life of Taylor Swift: Give an incredibly wretched vocal performance, go on to win the biggest Grammy of 2010 anyway.”

Nashville’s Tennessean, her hometown paper, said, “Maybe a smidge of Jamie Foxx’s autotune wouldn’t be such a bad idea for this duet.”

Scott Borchetta, the president and CEO of her label, Big Machine, got into the mix to defend his girl.  “The facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we’ve got,” he says. “So when she says something or feels something it affects more people than anybody else. Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she is the best emotional singer.” 

MTV has also chimed in to point out that the backlash against her seems like an over-reaction.  To read that whole article, which is pretty good, click here.

All the way to Australia, apparently!  Rumor on the web yesterday was that a star-studded remake of the 80s anthem “We Are the World” would end up being the first reunion between Taylor Swift and Kanye West since he famously interrupted her VMA speech.  Well it turns out that while Kanye will participate in the song on Sunday after the Grammys, Taylor won’t.  She’s scheduled to head down to Australia for some tour dates down there, and has to leave LA right after the Grammys.  The proceeds from this new “We Are the World” song will go to Haiti, by the way.

Thanks in part to performances by Keith Urban and Taylor Swift, the star-studded “Hope For Haiti Now” benefit on Friday night raised over $57 million for the earthquake-ravaged country.  Taylor sang a cover of a song by a band called Better Than Ezra called Breathless. 

But my fave was Keith harmonizing with Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock.  It’s not easy to harmonize with Kid, who is not exactly a singer, but the three of them sounded fantastic together.

Taylor Swift has released a single today that will be on the soundtrack for that movie called “Valentine’s Day.” Taylor and her ex, Taylor Lautner, have small roles in this movie, so it makes sense that she’d write a song for the flick. It’s called “Today Was a Fairytale,” and guess what? It’s about a girl who likes a boy. We played it this morning, but in case you missed it you can hear a sample and/or buy it here.

Well it’s American Idol. But now with real Canadians! Tonight’s the night that Shania Twain is a guest judge on Idol, which should be fun to watch. Word is she had a blast on the show, and I’m sure she’ll give some useful advice. That is tonight, on Fox, at 8. American Idol. A singing contest. You’ve heard of it, right?

There’s a new compilation CD out there called “Now That’s What I Call LOVE”!  It’s mostly pop artists singing songs of love, but they’ve thrown in a few country stars as well, namely Keith Urban (Kiss a Girl) and Taylor Swift (Love Story).  The CD arrives in stores on the 26th,  just in time for V-day.

Before heading to the People’s Choice Awards on Monday night, Taylor Swift dropped by the consumer electronics trade show in Vegas to sing a few songs and make a few announcements.  One is that she’s the new “global ambassador” for Sony (whatever that means?) and another is that she’ll do a 3D video as soon as her tour starts back up again in a few weeks.  Here’s the surprise visit: