Odds Favor Sabrina Carpenter As The Most Likely Artist To Be Featured In Taylor Swift's 12th Album
Revealing the title during an unforgettable crossover with NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce, Swift kept key details under wraps.
However, fresh odds suggest some high-profile names, notably Sabrina Carpenter, could be sharing the spotlight.
Taylor Swift Could Team Up With Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran, Or Selena Gomez
While Swift remained tight-lipped on her new album's tracklist, betting experts at VegasInsider.com were quick to offer odds on who might feature on "The Life of a Showgirl."
At the top of the list is Sabrina Carpenter, with a hefty 60% implied probability (2/3 fractional odds).
VegasInsider's spokesperson pointed to a recent Taylor Nation Instagram carousel teasing the album, where the final photo showed Swift and Carpenter performing together on The Eras Tour, making Carpenter the only guest in the series.
Given the album's rumored pop-heavy direction, Carpenter would be a natural fit.
Ed Sheeran follows at 15% probability (283/5 fractional odds). Sheeran is Swift's most frequent collaborator, appearing on 'Everything Has Changed' and 'Run' from "Red," 'End Game' from "Reputation," and teaming up again for the remix of his own 'The Joker and the Queen.'
The fact that 'End Game' is the only Swift collab included in a recent Spotify playlist she shared has fueled speculation this could be a subtle hint.
Selena Gomez sits in third at 10% probability (9/1 fractional odds). Though the two have been friends for over a decade, they've never officially collaborated on a track.
Swift recently praised Gomez's project "I Said I Love You First" with Benny Blanco, which VegasInsider interprets as either a kind gesture or a sly signal.
Pop Royalty, Legends, And Past Collaborators In The Mix
VegasInsider's odds also spotlight some jaw-dropping possibilities.
Beyoncé and Lady Gaga are tied at 5% probability (19/1 odds). Swift has publicly praised both artists in the past, and a duet with either would send the pop culture universe into overdrive.
Other names in the mix include SZA and Stevie Nicks, both at 2.5% odds. SZA has recently spoken highly of Swift, while Stevie Nicks, who once penned a heartfelt letter praising Swift's songwriting, would bring rock royalty gravitas.
Past collaborators Gracie Abrams, Kendrick Lamar, and Ice Spice are all given 1% odds.
Swift's history of working with the same artists across multiple projects keeps these possibilities alive, even if the numbers are slim.
A Surprise Taylor Swift Reveal on the Kelce Brothers' Turf
Swift's 12th era exploded onto the scene via the "New Heights" podcast, hosted by NFL brothers Travis and Jason Kelce.
On August 11, speculation was already swirling about Swift's first-ever appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's show and fans weren't disappointed.
The pop megastar entered with a touch of theater, greeting the brothers and teasing, 'Can I show you something?' Jason immediately noticed the mint-green briefcase emblazoned with 'T.S.' and asked, 'Okay. What do we got? We got a briefcase? Mint green, with T.S. on it.'
When pressed on its contents, Swift dropped the bombshell, saying, 'This is my brand new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl.''
The reveal drew a joyful outburst from Travis, who shouted, 'TS 12!.'
Fans' Observations After Swift's Announcement
While the podcast set offered no direct glimpse of the album cover, Taylor Swift's website lit up with clues.
The homepage transformed into a blurred palette of orange and green, instantly triggering speculation from her famously investigative fanbase.
The site also rolled out pre-order options for vinyl, cassette, and CD editions, with the CD promising a special poster.
Keen-eyed viewers dissecting the "New Heights" backdrop spotted even more potential clues including a row of orange-covered books featuring works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall, and Ruth Asawa.
Other notable items included a silver microphone, a football, and a book on Mark Rothko, known for his abstract, often orange-toned art.
Another volume centered on Charles and Ray Eames, design icons of the 20th century.
What This Means For Taylor Swift's 12th Era
If there's one thing the "The Life of a Showgirl" announcement has proven, it's that Swift knows how to control a narrative while keeping her fans guessing.
From the unexpected Kelce podcast appearance to the cryptic visual hints and now the betting odds fueling speculation, Swift has orchestrated yet another media moment that blends music, sport, and pop culture.
Whether the final tracklist delivers Carpenter's youthful pop sparkle, Sheeran's melodic hooks, Gomez's sultry tone, or an A-list curveball like Beyoncé or Gaga, one certainty is that Swift's 12th album is shaping up to be a blockbuster and the world will be watching for every clue along the way.
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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
It's easy to be a Katy Perry fan. It's harder to be Katy Perry.
I was among the nearly 20,000 fans who showed up to see Katy Perry play her hits at Madison Square Garden. MANHATTAN — The little girls twirling in glittery skirts outside of Katy Perry's Madison Square Garden concert don't know her latest album flopped. They don't know how poorly her spaceflight stunt was received, how her quirky persona has been panned as dated or how her split from fiancé Orlando Bloom is being dissected online. 'I like 'Firework,'' says Ivy, an 8-year-old who's in attendance with her mom and little sister. She's shy talking with a stranger, but bursting with energy after I walk away. She tells me she loves listening to 'California Gurls' and 'Teenage Dream' in the car, though she wasn't born when those songs came out. 2025 has been, statistically and anecdotally, a tough year for Perry. Once a main pop girl who was the first female artist to land five No. 1 hits from a single album, her 2024 release 143 was gleefully panned as dull and uninspired, peaking at a career-low No. 6. Still, on Aug. 11, she's in the middle of her 'Lifetimes Tour,' performing in front of a sold-out crowd. There are a lot of children here, flanked by nostalgic millennials and Gen Z-ers donning alien costumes and colorful bob wigs to pay tribute to her famous looks. Surrounded by the futuristic, metallic visuals of her latest, least popular era, Perry takes the stage. 'Turn your notifications off,' she instructs the audience after performing high-energy choreography in futuristic robot garb, surrounded by several male backup dancers. She opens her set with three songs from later albums — not her most beloved work, but she puts on an entertaining show. When the crowd hears the opening notes of 'Dark Horse,' the energy shifts. Everyone comes back to life, singing instead of just swaying. This wasn't some concert; it was the Katy Perry, queen of late 2000s pop music. She has already cemented her legacy with 14 songs that hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — from 'I Kissed a Girl' in 2008 to 'Chained to the Rhythm' in 2017. Her music is woven into the cultural tapestry of the aughts, and her playful imagery is unmistakable. We're lucky we get to behold her at all. Hot N Cold 'I'm 40 years old,' Perry says to the crowd, taking it slow after running around the infinity symbol-shaped stage. She then pauses, smiling and flipping her hair from side to side. '40 and f***ing fabulous.' Over and over, Perry demonstrates incredible feats of athleticism and cardio, impressive for a human being of any age. She sprints, slides and aces TikTok-friendly moves with her backup dancers. But every time she breaks character by grabbing the mic to ad lib or punctuating choreography with a silly face or a robotic dance break, I cringe. Now, Perry has always been quirky. It worked in the late 2000s, when reaction GIFs ran the internet and millennial-coded outbursts were king. It feels unkind to demand that the person who gave us 'Hot N Cold' and 'Last Friday Night' update her personality for the 2020s. At some points, she seemed aware of her perception to a fault, like she didn't want to be onstage. She repeatedly referenced that it was past her bedtime, and when fans voted for her to play 'Not Like the Movies' and 'The One That Got Away' during an interactive part of the nearly two-hour set, she announced that she would simply 'dissociate' to be her 'hot mess self and play a song from my very first marriage.' Regardless of what mood Perry was in, her fans were thrilled to see her. I talked to several of them standing outside the venue before the show started about what brought them out on a Monday night. Restaurant owner Krista was there with her 20-something bartenders, Howie and Zee, who were dressed in bright blue costumes to channel Perry's song 'E.T.' The duo couldn't even pinpoint when their fandom began — it's been part of their lives since childhood. As their 'momager,' Krista said she bought them all tickets as a birthday present, fulfilling a longtime dream to see Perry. All three refused to critique the pop star, focusing instead on how happy they were to be there. 'We're rooting for her. I just can't wait to see all the theatrics because I know it's going to be hot,' Krista said. I thought that Maria, a 28-year-old wearing an astronaut jumpsuit as a tribute to Perry's Blue Origin trip to space, might have been playfully making fun of the singer, but she didn't have any hot takes to share. She came all the way from Ecuador to see Perry, who's she's loved for more than half of her life. 'People who think there's something about her that's wrong … they're wrong,' Maria told me. Matt, a 21-year-old who immediately declared himself to be more of a Taylor Swift fan, couldn't deny how excited he was to see Perry. 'I've been a Katy Cat since birth … it's like healing my inner child and whatnot,' he told me of identifying with the star's fandom. He's aware Perry is past her peak, but that's not going to stop him from having fun. 'Katy Perry is a flop. She's a flop! Let's be real,' he said. 'But I'm very excited for [the concert.] Like, Katy Perry herself. Not a new album.' Not like the movies So what if the music flopped? Perry sold out Madison Square Garden. She has a legion of young fans screaming the lyrics of her child-friendly empowerment songs, who are then surrounded by dressed-up Gen Z-ers who got to know her music when they were young, too. For every moment Perry made me cringe, there were others that made me laugh. She took a selfie on someone's phone, then instructed them on her favorite filters they could use to post it. She snatched a sign that said 'Lesbians for Katy' and stuffed it in her bodysuit, dedicating 'I Kissed a Girl' to 'the community.' She refused to play the sexually suggestive song 'Peacock' in the presence of her 5-year-old daughter, condemning whoever wrote it (it was her), then sang a few bars anyway. She battled a giant worm with a lightsaber. At her best, she is silly and self-aware. So what happened next, during the climax of Perry's performance, was perhaps the most perplexing moment of the show. It was when she started bringing fans from the audience onstage. It began on a sweet note. There were two children and two older Gen Z-ers she handpicked to stand beside her, all dressed in costumes. She indulged the little kids, asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up (a singer and a lawyer, respectively) and praising the one who refused to tell her where she lives. I recognized one of the older people Perry welcomed to join her — 19-year-old Aidan, whom I spoke to earlier with his 21-year-old friend Kira. They told me they'd been Perry fans since childhood, just like the kids that Aidan was towering above. There was a fourth person. His name was Jason, and because of the way he quickly asked for a selfie and then requested Perry perform a different song than planned, I knew something was up. Then he called his boyfriend to join him. Ah, a proposal was unfolding. Perry made a lot of jokes — some landing better than others — and the whole thing seemed to go on forever. I'm happy for them, but please, the people want to hear 'Part of Me.' 'Maybe one day this will happen for us,' Perry said of the proposal to one of the children onstage. Then she just moved on with the show. Wide awake I was struck by how Perry continued performing love and breakup songs through her very public split from Bloom, whom she'd been with on and off for nearly a decade. As rumors about a budding romance with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made headlines, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind the scenes and brewing in her heart as she poured her emotions and energy out for screaming strangers. 'I know you wish you were in bed, just like me,' Perry said to the moms in the audience, cementing my guilt about expecting nostalgic perfection from a woman who's been through so much since 2010's Teenage Dream. Maybe it's fun living out her peak years in front of thousands of adoring fans. Maybe it's a constant reminder of how she's failed to achieve on the same level she once could. As Perry sang 'Roar' and flew around the venue on a giant butterfly, which fortunately didn't fall apart on her like it had in the past, I thought about the contrast between her gloomy quips and her sunny visuals. For a pop star, the dichotomy of who she wants to project and who she is right now doesn't make sense — but she's not just a famous singer, she's a person. Though she was flying in circles above the crowd, she felt grounded and relatable to me for the first time. Perry might not have really wanted to be there, but she was, and that meant so much to the sold-out crowd, even if she resented them a little bit for it. Her life might not be relatable, but ambition and disappointment are. She's both a plastic bag and a firework. I know how that feels. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
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Furry Travis Kelce and the great men's grooming debate: To wax, shave or leave body hair be?
64% of Americans find back hair on men unattractive. Travis Kelce is a lot of things. He's a three-time Super Bowl champion, a family man, a successful podcaster and a famous boyfriend to superstar Taylor Swift. He's also hairy and not shy about it. Photos from the football player's latest GQ profile featured his bearlike appearance. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was photographed in a Florida swamp driving an ATV, riding in an airboat and cuddling reptiles while wearing couture jackets without shirts, putting his full hairy chest, shoulders and stomach on display. Kelce's back, which did not get captured by the magazine, is also covered in fur, which was revealed when paparazzi pics in May of the 35-year-old sparked headlines, memes and a fresh conversation about male body hair. 'I looked at this [photo] and I'm like, get your back waxed, dude,' comedian Jared Freid shared on an episode of The JTrain Podcast while commenting on trending pop culture conversations. He's one to talk. 'I've been getting waxed once a month for the last 15 years of my life,' Freid tells Yahoo. 'When it comes to grooming, it's a very normal thing.' He's not an anomaly. While not every man talks about it, many trim, shave or wax parts of their body beyond the face. Smooth-chested actors, glossy Calvin Klein models and increasingly groomed beachgoers all hint at the trend. But the grooming conversation still carries stigma, especially when it moves beyond beards and mustaches. The quiet business of men's grooming Whether hair removal is a rare task or a routine, most men are doing it to some capacity. In fact, shaving trends and products are a part of the current boom in the market of men's grooming. The conversation around it, though, can still be touchy. While Gillette ads showing men shaving facial hair have been normalized over the years, examples of hair removal on other parts of the body are seen less often, and mostly as a joke. 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TV personality Derek Zagami says classmates teased his early hair growth in middle school, even stuffing razors in his mailbox. His mom would use Nair on his upper lip and brows, but it wasn't until he was swimming competitively that he started removing hair from other parts of his body. 'Obviously, that makes you faster,' the 31-year-old recalls thinking. Now, he enjoys the look of keeping his chest and leg hair trimmed — and he's noticed that other men feel the same, given the appearance of bare arms, legs and backs at the gym. How are they doing it? Zagami has never been a fan of using shaving cream with a razor, but he's graduated from the hair removal cream to an electric shaver. He usually grooms when he has a specific occasion and focuses on keeping hair short, rather than removing it completely. 'I don't like leg hair as much, so I trim it and clean it up a little bit. Chest hair, I hate because you look like you have more weight on you when you're not trimmed,' he says. On a regular basis, he can get away with grooming just the top part of his chest and even focusing on his arms rather than his underarms. But if he's going topless, it's all got to be taken care of. 'I have to call my boyfriend in to do the back.' Zagami has started considering other alternatives like waxing or even lasering certain parts of his body for more permanent hair removal. Freid is ritualistic when it comes to his full back wax. 'I like doing it and I can't see why any man wouldn't,' he says. Back hair remains the most controversial While methods of hair removal are varied, there's one thing that the men I spoke with agreed on: Back hair is a no-go. Hence, the response to Kelce's patchy back. He's far from the only man to be seen with a hairy back, but he stands out in having it on display when people have made their preferences against it known, especially as somebody in the public eye. While a 2021 YouGov poll found that 64% of Americans find back hair on men unattractive, hairless backs shown across popular media had already confirmed how most feel. So much so that Seth Rogen's furry back became a notable part of a sex scene in the movie Neighbors. Aramouni doesn't see that stigma changing. He shows off his well-maintained chest, arm and leg hair on social media, while a shot of his back will reveal that it's bare. 'Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to justify having hair on my back,' he says. Freid says back hair makes him feel dirty, and having it waxed off ultimately helps him to feel more confident. 'I know that it's a better day when I get that done,' he says. The bottom line For as many negative reactions to Kelce's back, there were also positive ones normalizing body hair. Even among subreddits dedicated to male grooming, there remains a balance between men who are unbothered by it and those who feel uncomfortable with it. 'In a public setting, it is still more widely acceptable to not have hair in areas like your back as a man,' Andrew Glass, the cofounder of wax brand Wakse, tells Yahoo. 'But I think now with the rise of the dad bod and the Travis Kelces of the world, it's becoming more of an accepted thing.' Still, cultural pressure isn't disappearing. Just as women have long faced beauty standards tied to hair removal, men now navigate their own version — whether they embrace it, quietly maintain it or go fully smooth. For Kelce, the buzz will fade. But for plenty of men, the conversation his back hair sparked is just beginning. Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
6 minutes ago
- USA Today
Jason Kelce earned well-deserved love for Taylor Swift interview
The podcast of the year took place on Wednesday night as Taylor Swift appeared on New Heights for the most in-depth interview the singer has conducted in years. It was clear that the 14-time Grammy winner chose this outlet for this particular interview because she felt comfortable with the hosts and the format. Swift has been dating Travis Kelce for two years, and it was Kelce's podcast with his brother, Jason, that jumpstarted their relationship. The two hour episode amassed over 8.6 million views in just 12 hours of it being live, and the interview covers everything from Travis and Taylor's relationship, her new love for football, her obsession with baking bread, her family's health and -- of course -- Swift's new album. While the announcement of Swift's 12th studio album, The Life Of A Showgirl, was the driving topic for the interview, it wasn't the lone discussion item. Throughout the entire flow of the episode, Jason Kelce served as an incredible host. The former Philadelphia Eagle asked thoughtful questions, seamlessly flowing between topics and hitting on questions that Swifties have been dying to ask for years. Jason and Taylor have an obvious camaraderie, and the friendship between the two made it all more relaxed. It felt more like viewers were grabbing a beer with their pals than watching an interview. Viewers online were appreciative of Jason's hosting skills, sending lots of compliments his way. Do you think the Super Bowl winning center ever would have assumed he would be compared to Barbara Walters? Add it to the resume.
