Taylor Swift in Bad Blood music video
Pop demigod Taylor Swift has been teasing her star-studded ‘Bad Blood’ video for weeks now by posting individual movie-style posters of the huge cast in costume via social media.
After a whole lot of hype, the video finally premiered last night as part of the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, and it certainly delivered on the celebrities front, with the likes of Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, Lena Dunham, Hailee Steinfeld, Ellie Goulding, Paramore singer Hayley Williams, Ellen Pompeo and Cindy Crawford, among many others, all turning out for the four-minute cinematic epic.
Despite the star power, Bad Blood has no real storyline to speak of, but does see Swift’s character ‘Catastrophe’ indulging in various forms of bad-assery, from unleashing high-level kung-fu on a number of suited goons, to casually walking away from an explosions with her squad.
A real surprise, however, was Kendrick Lamar’s contribution. Though he didn’t feature on the originalBad Blood – which first dropped on Swift’s 1989 album last year – the Compton rapper provided not just one, but two verses to this new version.
Click below to watch the video, which is helmed by veteran music video director Joseph Kahn, the man behind Britney Spears’ Toxic and Brandy and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine, among loads and loads of others.
The piece received thumbs up from most Swifties and, curiously, Faith Hill, who called it the best video she’d seen in years.
Absolute best video I’ve seen in years! Taylor is off.the.chart!!!!!! #BadBloodMusicVideo @taylorswift13
— Faith Hill (@FaithHill) May 18, 2015
SWIFTIES! How many times can we watch the #BadBloodMusicVideo in the next 24 hours?! @taylornation13@taylorswift13pic.twitter.com/RnU19yofPb — Taylor Swift AUS (@TaySwiftAus) May 18, 2015
The majority of reaction posted to the social network seemed kinda lukewarm about the whole thing though, with the lack of plot, preposterous number of cameos and, y’know, the fact that it wasn’t Shake It Off among the weaknesses viewers pointed towards the video.
The new Taylor Swift video is literally just HOW MANY LONG-LEGGED CELEBRITIES CAN WE BRING IN FOR A FOUR-SECOND CAMEO?
— Matilda Edwards (@matildaledwards) May 18, 2015
The Bad Blood video isn’t that good, is it?
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) May 18, 2015
I would even watch an Artpop-era video over Bad Blood. That’s how weak it is.
— A* (@husseybyname) May 18, 2015
I wanted ‘bad blood’ to be like ‘shake it off’
— Harrison Webb (@HarrisonWebb97) May 18, 2015
Bad Blood was good but honestly should’ve gone for longer. I was expecting a scripted story line of some sort, or an opening scene.
— skye (@Skye5SOS) May 18, 2015
bad blood is rlly catchy but the music video wasn’t as qood as it was hyped to be
— ️ (@problemdeluxe) May 18, 2015
It was a happy night for Swift regardless of what you might think of her new video. She swept the board at the awards, triumphing in eight of the 14 categories in which she was nominated, including Artist of the Year, Best Female Artist and Best Streaming Song for Shake It Off.
