Taylor Swift kickstarted the 2014 American Music Awards Sunday night with a dazzling live debut performance of 1989‘s “Blank Space.”
Swift gave a live recreation of the video, opening the track seated at an elegant dinner table before poisoning her significant other. The scene shifted to Swift burning a rose while a series of background dancers displayed their faces with art frames before the singer vanquished multiple beaus. At the end of the video, a door opens to reveal Swift’s mystery date.
The singer is also set to receive the inaugural “Dick Clark Award for Excellence” at the award show. The award recognizes the country-pop singer for being the first artist to have three albums debut with more than 1 million sold in their first week.
Swift released an interactive app to accompany her “Blank Space” video. Joseph Kahn, the director who helmed the video, spoke to Rolling Stone about the app that allowed fans to unlock secrets in the video’s mansion, follow minor characters and hunt for 41 collectibles that shows never-before-seen photos from Swift’s life. “It’s non-linear in that you can be in any of the rooms whenever, but it’s done in linear time,” explained Kahn. “It’s like a stage play.”
Added Kahn of Swift: “She’s the smartest artist I’ve worked with in 20 years of making music videos.”
Swift is no stranger to the AMAs. The singer performed “Back to December” at the 2010 awards and returned two years later to sing “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
