Taylor Swift Is Named New York City's Welcome Ambassador for Tourism, Reveals New Year's Eve Plans

Singer plus 1989 on ABC's Good Morning America

By Zach Johnson Oct 27, 2014 3:05 PMTags
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A little cross promotion never hurt anyone—just ask Taylor Swift!

The "Welcome to New York" singer was named New York City's welcome ambassador Monday. The announcement was made on ABC's Good Morning America. "I'm still learning, but I'm so enthusiastic about this city that when I love something, I'm very vocal about it," Swift said of the title. "New York was a huge landscape for what became this album. It's affected my life in ways I'm not even aware of fully."

Since last spring, Swift has lived in an apartment in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood.

In a promotional video for NYC & Company, the "Out of the Woods" singer explains, "What makes New York City New York City is that it is unlike any city in the whole world. It's almost like it has its own heartbeat. You can find fashion that inspires you, art that inspires you, humanity that inspires you. Everywhere you look, it's impossible not to fall in love or be affected by something in New York City."

"I think what brought me to New York is still a little bit of a mystery to me. Every day I would wake up with this feeling like, 'I need to be in New York.' New York kind of pulled me here like a magnet. I was intimidated by the fact that I was bright and bold and loud. Now I know that I should run towards things like that. I should run towards things that are absolutely, overwhelmingly electric," the 24-year-old pop star continues. "There's so much happening right in front of you, so many stories playing out, that for my writing it definitely helped inspire an album that is by far the one I am most proud of in my career."

Swift also announced on Good Morning America that she will headline Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest, which will also air on ABC. "I'm so excited," Swift said of performing in Times Square just before the ball drops at midnight. "It's going to be so great to be back here for New Year's."

"Each year New Year's Rockin' Eve continues its iconic legacy by delivering incredible performances from the year's hottest artists, and this year is no exception," host and executive producer Ryan Seacrest, 39, said in a statement after the news broke. "We already have secured an unprecedented number of music acts, culminating with a Times Square performance by Taylor, the biggest superstar in music today."

Swift is promoting 1989, her first pop album.

"I think you have to stay true to who you are [and], at the same, time challenge who you are to explore all the different aspects of what you can create," she said of deciding to abandon country music. "I could have made Red twice. I could have done the same thing over again but, instead, I decided to go in a completely different direction, and I'm so happy that I did because the fans are truly going to get a new album This felt like the most authentic thing for me to follow because I've been playing around with pop sensibilities with my writing for the past couple of years and I just really wanted to go for it this time."

The reviews for 1989 have been stellar, much to the singer's delight. "I feel so without a doubt [that] this is the best thing I've done, so to have people able to finally have it now and to have the fans understand what I've been working on for two years, it's just the most amazing feeling," Swift told Robin Roberts.

Prior to 1989's release Monday, Swift invited fans inside her homes across the country to attend secret listening sessions. "It was such a bonding experience," the "Shake It Off" singer recalled. "The coolest thing is these fans heard the album a month ahead of time and they didn't leak anything. They didn't tell any secrets. It was so amazing." Swift will hold another secret listening session for fans tonight, courtesy of iHeartRadio. It will feature what she described as a "very special different twist." The listening session will air on iHeartMedia CHR stations throughout the U.S., as well via iHeartRadio.com and Yahoo! Live.