Taylor Swift Disappoints By Cancelling ARIA Appearance, Makes Up For It With Smashing Performance Two Days Later

Taylor Swift has kicked off the Australian leg of her “1989” tour on Saturday in Sydney. The 25-year-old singer was cheered by 76,000 people at ANZ Stadium, according to the Daily Mail.

Even though Taylor Swift cancelled her appearance at the ARIA awards ceremony on Thursday, the “Shake It Off” singer did not left her fans disappointed with the fantastic performance at the ANZ Stadium.

According to the Daily Mail, not only teenage fans were present, but also reality stars such as The Bachelorette’s Sam Frost and Sasha Mielczarek, as well as some Australian politicians, including New South Wales premier Mike Baird and Liberal party member Scott Morrison, who brought their kids to enjoy the performance of Taylor Swift.

The show included lots of outfit changes, tons of drama, as well as Taylor Swift’s most popular hits, but there was a noticeable lack of special guests.

The media earlier speculated as to who might join Taylor Swift during her performance, but the “Bad Blood” singer performed solo.

On Thursday, Taylor Swift failed to attend the ARIA awards ceremony, which was apparently surprising for both her fans and organizers of the event. The singer was even scheduled to give an interview on the red carpet of the event, but suddenly cancelled the interview, as reported by Woman’s Day.

What made Taylor Swift shake off her ARIA awards appearance in the 11th hour? Find out here https://t.co/yxMY4K6obS pic.twitter.com/bkHbzfcHoh

— Woman’s Day magazine (@WomansDayAus) November 27, 2015

And while the exact details of Taylor Swift’s sudden cancellation are still unclear, the singer cancelled her appearance at the very last minute, according to the Daily Mail, citing an insider.

According to the source, Gigi Hadid, Taylor Swift’s BFF, was under impression that the pop singer would be present at the ARIAs.

“Even Gigi was under the impression Taylor would be there but it seems she changed her mind at the last minute.”

But it must be noted that Taylor Swift’s appearance at the event was never confirmed: neither by her record label – Universal Music – nor by ARIA representatives.

Taylor Swift fans even speculated that the “Shake It Off” signer might be performing with Ed Sheeran, who’s the pop diva’s close friend. But with the singer cancelling her attendance at the event and with so much mystery around the whole situation, fans are wondering whether Taylor Swift’s attendance was all a rumor from the very beginning.

In other Taylor Swift news, the singer is apparently endangering a rare bird species by filming a music video near Auckland, according to conservationists, as reported by News Australia.

Taylor Swift went to New Zealand this week to shoot the music video at a popular seaside town called Bethells Beach.

A most interesting set of sights where @taylorswift13 filmed a music video today at Bethells Beach in Auckland! pic.twitter.com/yIAsbL8ugs

— Roger Sampson (@TheWondersNatur) November 24, 2015

Taylor Swift’s production company is accused by the chairwoman of the Waitakere Ranges Local Board Sandra Coney of shooting on the beach, where endangered New Zealand dotterel live, according to the news source.

Even though the permission to film in the area is official and legitimate, Taylor Swift’s crew violated a limitation of having only two vehicles on the sand, according to Coney. Instead, the film crew uses up to a dozen vans.

In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Coney expressed her outrage around the situation.

“It’s really disappointing that such a large number of vehicles would park all over the beach and drive all over the beach.”

However, Taylor Swift’s representatives in Europe shared Cherokee Films’ statement, in which it said it accepts responsibility and apologizes for the situation. The local production company added that Taylor Swift isn’t at fault for this.

“Taylor Swift and her management team were in no way at fault and did not do anything that violated permits or ordinances.”

The statement also claimed that no dotterels were at harm when shooting the music video, while guidelines on nesting sites were followed and “at no time were the film crew close to that habitat.”

[Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images]