A Taylor Swift fan most of her life, it’s by no means lengthy after assembly somebody for the primary time that 21-year-old Los Angeles native Shaadi Ahmadzadeh launches into the query all the time on her thoughts: what’s your favourite Swift track?
Now the UC Berkeley information science main is popping the eagerness she will be able to’t cease gushing about right into a automobile for bridging political variations, and even saving lives.
On the opening night time of the Eras Tour’s six-show cease at SoFi Stadium, Ahmadzadeh celebrated her twenty first birthday with buddy Marianna Pecora — their first Swift live performance.
Wearing a “It’s been fun turning 21” shirt — a play on “All Too Well” lyrics — the pair belted out ballads subsequent to strangers, sobbed out their personal heartaches together with tens of hundreds, danced to exhaustion.
“It was just pure artistry and a magical atmosphere,” Ahmadzadeh stated. “It was a life-changing, spiritual moment — I literally died and went to heaven and I’m still there.”
Swift’s pure, emotionally highly effective songwriting and the particular connection it offers her huge fanbase to the singer, and one another, is what first drew Ahmadzadeh to her music, and satisfied her it had the potential to convey individuals collectively.
“She takes you through the five stages of grief in one song and could still leave you smiling at the end,” she stated. “There’s something so comforting about singing the songs you’ve cried to when you’re alone in a stadium with over 20,000 people in the room.”
For the previous two years, Ahmadzadeh has been compiling politicians’ favourite Taylor Swift songs and albums within the hopes of utilizing that info to higher have interaction with and persuade Congress members who could seemingly don’t have anything in widespread — besides the close to common love of Taylor Swift.
And she’s already seen some main successes.
The challenge started throughout the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, when she discovered an acquaintance residing there had been unable to go away the nation, misplaced among the many throngs of others fleeing the eventual Taliban takeover.
With so many individuals making an attempt to flee, there was little organizational assist accessible, so Ahmadzadeh went to the supply, reaching out to Congress members chilly, determined for some direct solutions.
“I just thought, why don’t we just call up Congress and ask them for help?” she stated. “It’s kind of their job.”
However, she shortly felt misplaced within the shuffle of different necessary points and constituent issues, by no means gaining any traction for her trigger. That’s when she turned to the connecting energy of Taylor Swift.
“I just started asking about the Congressmembers’ favorite Taylor Swift song as a way to do something a little different, to stand out and get a foot in the door to maybe build a relationship,” Ahmadzadeh stated. “It was really fun. Usually the people who are answering calls are expecting someone angry — yelling about their taxes, potholes, where’s my passport. I think I’m the only one who’s asked that question.”
Slowly, she began to obtain responses, and would use that dialog opener to transition to advocating for bringing her buddy to the States. Eventually she recruited Capitol Hill staffers and interns who added their very own intel to the rising Swiftie spreadsheet.
Her staff referred to as Congressional places of work, campaigned on Twitter, and even inquired in particular person on the White House, soccer video games, and Christmas events. And final 12 months, her buddy made it to America after some Congressional assist.
To date, she’s collected virtually 50 favourite songs and plans to proceed cataloging politicians’ preferences whereas advocating for different points necessary to her, just like the youth psychological well being disaster.
She additionally hopes to get sufficient information to extract some type of helpful evaluation from the responses, like if there are any discernible patterns primarily based on age, location, voting sample, and the way they align with the American public at giant — and create a senior capstone challenge.
So far, she’s discovered that “1989” and “Shake it Off” to be the most well-liked album and track respectively, which for the skilled Swiftie might sign that Congress is a bit fundamental.
David Valadao, a Central Valley Republican consultant, is a fan of the Swift track “You Belong With Me TV,” which was additionally a favourite of fellow GOPer Rep. Laura M. Lee, of Florida.
More domestically, Adam Schiff made “Cardigan” his go-to Swift monitor, whereas Nancy Pelosi selected “Shake It Off.” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, went with “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” as his favourite. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles? “I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor’s Version).”
Some outliers embody House member Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from North Carolina, who indicated he isn’t a Taylor Swift fan; Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, who stated he prefers rapper Travis Scott; California Democrat Ro Khanna, who selected “Only the Young,” which isn’t from an album; and Vermont impartial Bernie Sanders went with “Fernando” by Abba.
Democratic California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, in addition to House member Grace Napolitano, didn’t have any responses listed but.
However, Ahmadzadeh stated she’ll want to gather at the least just a few extra responses earlier than drawing conclusions with any confidence.
So far, the staff hasn’t tried to get on Taylor Swift’s radar — who is thought to dive into political causes — or ask what her favourite track is, reasoning that that may be more durable than simply contacting a Congress member.
“It would be really funny if she sees it or acknowledges it, and productive because she does have a large platform and cares about civic engagement,” Ahmadzadeh stated. “But I couldn’t ask Taylor Swift what’s her favorite Taylor Swift song — she’s Taylor Swift.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”