EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Swift to headline Trinity May Ball

The Tab can exclusively reveal that Taylor Swift will be the headline act at Trinity May Ball 2016, to be held on 13th June.

John Harris, co-President of Trinity May Ball, told The Tab that the committee is “delighted” to have secured the Shake It Off singer to perform at the ball, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

Details of Swift’s set are still being finalised, although it is expected the singer will take to Trinity’s stage for around an hour, performing hits from her catalogue including Blank Space, 22, and Bad Blood. The two presidents of this year’s committee liaised with their entertainment officers to win over the singer, who contacted the singer’s management team,  who then discussed details of the performance with Swift.

Today’s announcement of the high-profile singer follows the ill-fated attempts of the previous committee to secure the global star, which launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #TaylorAtTrinity to entice her to perform. The 2015 committee produced a video featuring Trinity undergrads Shaking it Off which failed to elicit a public response from the singer.

However, the Tab can exclusively reveal Taylor Swift didn’t reject the committee outright, as previously thought. Her team wrote to the committee, and thanked them for their interest, explaining that the star was preparing for the European leg of her 1989 World Tour, and therefore any performance would have been unfeasible with her schedule.

The co-president explained, “Taylor loved our video. She has a very close personal connection with her fans, going as far as inviting them to private album previews. Many people don’t realise that she sees everything [the fans] do for her.”

“We reached out to [Taylor’s team] again this year, who told us she was planning to record new material in London in early Summer, and the dates fitted perfectly. She has never performed in Cambridge before, so we’re ecstatic that she will be joining us to celebrate this special night in our College’s history”.

The Tab can reveal rumours have spread through the committee that the College has agreed to subsidise Swift’s performance fee, which remains undisclosed, which would have stretched Trinity’s already astronomic budget for its sesquicentennial ball.

An internal source told us: “Swift’s decision to play this year seems rather cynical. We’ve been told the tour dates simply didn’t work for her last year, but you don’t have to be a Trinity scholar to wonder whether a heftier sum may have freed up her schedule”. Either way, The Tab understands senior fellows of the College are sparing no expense for a memorable evening.

‘Cause when you’re 15-0 and somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them

Furthermore, committee members have allegedly expressed concerns to the College over security at the Ball to prevent break-ins, and to minimise the logistical problems with counterfeit ticket trading. There are fears crazed fans will go to “extreme lengths” to see the singer perform, the kind not seen with any previous performers they have hosted, who in recent years have included Pixie Lott and Fuse ODG.

Unsurprisingly, tickets for Trinity May Ball are sold out, but we’re hoping the Committee will have a blank space just for the Tab, and, you know, will write our name on the guest list. 

Trinity College declined to comment.