I think those of us who aren’t working on Kenny Chesney’s and Taylor Swift’s tours are clearly in the wrong line of work. Taylor plans to take her entire tour staff on a big exotic vacation when her tour ends, and Kenny has been doing this for his crew since 2002! Kenny says he brings along every single person on the tour and their boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, whatever, and they head to the Virgin Islands. He also does something from time to time that he calls the “merch lottery.” the whole tour staff puts their names into a hat, and at the end of the night Kenny pulls a name. That person gets ALL the merchandise sales for the night. Sounds pretty cool. Especially when you hear that the biggest check he’s written out for that is $300,000!!!!

I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of music videos that have nothing but concert footage, but Taylor’s new video awesome! It makes me even more excited to see her live at the Rose Garden next month!

Taylor with her Teen Choice Award.

That’s my new favorite way to tease my tidbits…ask a ridiculous, random question that gets your attention and then say, “nope!”  (Example:  did Keith Urban kill a guy in Reno?  Answer:  Nope.)  But the reason I asked about Taylor and the pole dancing is this:  You might remember that a few years back, Miley Cyrus celebrated her Teen Choice Awards victory with a pole dance.  On a Teen award show!  Ewww!  So did our Taylor cut loose and prove how “wild” she is when she won 5 awards last night?  Of course not!  She looked lovely, spoke well, and took home the “Ultimate Choice” award, too, which is the big one of the night.

So you’re a guy who goes through your whole life with the name Taylor Swift, and it’s no big deal, until about 2007 when a young teenage country singer starts to become a big star.   Then you start getting emails, because your email account is “TSwift”-something.  Well this guy decided to have a little fun with an annoying situation, and he’s started posting some of the letters he gets (with personal info scratched out) at a website called “OMG IS THIS TAYLOR SWIFT?”  Most of them are pretty much what you would expect, but there are some creepy marriage proposals thrown in, and a few laughs as well.  check it out here.

Taylor Swift talks with Mike And Amy at 8:20 am every day this week, Tuesday – Friday, 6/21-24. 

She answers YOUR questions.  Questions YOU post on Facebook.

Did you miss a day?  Hear what she said Tuesday.

And her call from Wednesday.

Every year, Forbes magazine does a rundown of the most powerful and influential people in show biz.  No surprise that Oprah is usually #1 on the list, since it’s based on earnings and media exposure.  This year, Lady Gaga displaced Queen Oprah, putting her at #2, but what about country stars?  Taylor Swift is by far the highest ranked at #7.  Forbes claims her earnings in the last year have been around $45 million, but every time we talk to celebs about these estimates they always say they’re way high (or do they just not want to admit how filthy rich they are?)  Anyway, following Taylor is Brad Paisley at #48, Toby Keith at #51 and Tim McGraw at #61.

Taylor Swift visited her fellow Cover Girl Ellen DeGeneres yesterday, and Ellen brought her out during her monologue to give her a few extra tips about how to do her duties properly.  Very funny!  Check it out:

Taylor Swift has been a busy house buyer. I showed you the lovely place she bought for her folks in Nashville. So here’s the $3.5 million crash pad she bought for herself in Beverly Hills…3 bedrooms. I guess the going rate in 90210 is one million per bedroom? It sure is lovely, though:

Click on this link to read the full “realestalker” description of the property and see the pictures all nice and big.

The latest dude to be linked with Taylor Swift is Garrett Hedlund. If you saw “Country Strong” (which is out on dvd now, by the way), he’s the hunky young singer having the fling with Gwyneth in the beginning, and with the younger girl toward the end.  He also starred in the movie “Tron.”  He’s actually kind of a good singer, and may be trying to start a country career.  No one has really confirmed anything about the two of them, except that they have been seen around Nashville together at various times and places.  Here’s a blurry picture of them together this week, and he looks a little more amused by the intrusion than Taylor does.  It kind of looks like those mysterious bigfoot shots from the 70s, doesn’t it?

Part of the reason I like Taylor Swift is that she really does set a great example for the young girls that are her fans.  And apparently she doesn’t have any plans to change anytime soon.  Unlike some of those Disney stars who feel like they have to get all sexy and stripped down to prove they’re not little girls anymore, Taylor’s not going that route.  She says she has no interest in posing nude or in a really skimpy outfit.  “I wouldn’t wear tiny amounts of clothing in my real life, so I don’t think it’s necessary to wear that stuff in photo shoots,” she says.  She also has no interest in drinking, since she says she doesn’t want to lose control and do something dumb.   Pretty refreshing coming from a young superstar!