Taylor Swiftsent the Dolby Theater into an uproar during the iHeartRadio Awards.
"'The Life of a Showgirl' was really inspired by the energy I felt looking into crowds and seeing you guys and connecting with you every single night," theshowgirlherself said after winning pop album of the year. "The energy came out was feeling really happy and strong and confident."
The singer-songwriter wore a pale corset ensemble with sequin embellishments.
Swift was nominated for nine awards, more than any artist, including:
Artist of the year
Pop artist of the year
Song of the year: "The Fate of Ophelia"
Pop song of the year: "The Fate of Ophelia"
Best lyrics (fan-voted): "The Fate of Ophelia"
Best music video (fan-voted): "The Fate of Ophelia"
Favorite TikTok dance (fan-voted): "The Fate of Ophelia"
Favorite tour style (fan-voted): The Eras Tour
Favorite on screen (fan-voted): "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The End of an Era"
Before this year, the 36-year-old musician has attended four of theiHeartRadio music awards. This is the first year that her fiancé, Travis Kelce, was in attendance at an awards show to support the billionaire pop star. They walked into the arena one minute before showtime, hand-in-hand. A ripple of applause shot through the Dolby Theatre.The night's host, the rapper Ludacris, gave the couple a shout out as he opened the show. He said he wanted to be invited back for a third year, so he'd appreciate it if Swift could put in a good word for him. She waved and nodded, smiling along with the joke.
The star couple were the first two to jump out of their chairs following Alex Warren's performance. They left to go backstage following Lainey Wilson's performance, holding hands, but stopped to shake Warren's hand.
During the commercial break, before winning, Swift hugged Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson and posed for photos.
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Stepping back, Swift memorably stepped onstage with Madonna during her first show in 2015, playing guitar during a performance of "Ghosttown."
In 2023, she returned to accept the Innovator Award.
"You have to give yourself permission to fail," Swift said in her acceptance speech. "I try as hard as I can not to fail because it's embarrassing, but I give myself permission to."
Swift has routinely delivered pre-recorded acceptance speeches when she wasn't in the building, including for female artist of the year in 2018, pop album of the year in 2020 and 2021, artist of the year in 2024, andTour of the Centuryin 2025. Last year, she also shared an exclusive "Mirrorball" performance from opening night of the Eras Tour.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean:Taylor Swift wins iHeartRadio award for "happy" showgirl tunes