Taylor Swift to Deliver Opening Performance at 2018 American Music Awards

The 2018 American Music Awards is going down with Taylor Swift as the opening act. Swift is set to deliver a performance of her song “I Did Something Bad”, a song off of her album “Reputation”. Swift has been away from the awards show scene for a while, so her appearance is definitely a big deal to fans.

And, in addition to her performing tonight, Swift is also a nominee. The categories in which Swift is nominated include Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year, Favorite Female Artist for Pop/Rock, and Favorite Album for Pop/Rock.

Recently, Swift made headlines over her political views. According to Us Weekly, Swift encouraged her followers online to exercise their rights to vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. Swift wrote, “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.” Vox reported that Swift said she is going to be voting for Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and US House of Representatives candidate Jim Cooper, in her home state of Tennessee.

Kamari Guthrie, director of communications for Vote.org, told Buzzfeed that voter registration has spiked since Swift’s post.

Vox reported that President Donald Trump had a few things to say about Swift’s decision to speak out about politics on social media. Trump reportedly told the media at the White House, this past week, that, “I’m sure Taylor Swift has nothing — or doesn’t know anything about [Blackburn]. Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, okay?”

Buzzfeed has reported that some of Taylor Swift’s followers have speculated that she has chosen to speak out politically just in time for her AMAs performance, as a publicity move.

Some of the other performers set to take the stage at the 2018 AMAs include Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Cardi B, Ciara, Missy Elliott, Camila Cabello, and Carrie Underwood. And, actress Tracee Ellis Ross returns to the show for the second year in a row, as the host.

Swift first announced that she would be performing at the AMAs by showing a video of herself, alongside her cat, Meredith. The video was first shared on a live episode of Good Morning America, as reported by People. In the video, Swift said, “Good morning, America. It’s Taylor. I just wanted to say I’m going to be opening up the American Music Awards with a performance.”

The 2018 American Music Awards airs tonight, on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT, on the ABC network.