Vietnamese fans Uyen To Phuong Nguyen (left) and Minh Anh Le proposed to each other at Taylor Swift's concert at the National Stadium, on March 4. - PHOTO: SCREEBGRAB FROM ALOYA.HAMID/TIKTOK, ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): In the past week, videos of men popping the question to their girlfriends during the 2008 song Love Story at the Taylor Swift concerts in Singapore from March 2 to 9 made the rounds on social media.
One in particular stood out: Vietnamese Swifties Minh Anh Le and Uyen To Phuong Nguyen, who proposed to each other during the March 4 gig, the third of the American pop star’s six Eras Tour shows at the National Stadium.
In a video that went viral on TikTok, he was seen kneeling and holding up a ring in front of her during a different Swift track, Champagne Problems (2020). She got down on her knees too and whipped out a ring for him. He then slipped his ring onto her finger.
While the scene appeared spontaneous, the tourists told The Straits Times they had been planning the proposal ever since they found out in June 2023 that Swift would be performing in Singapore, her only stop in South-East Asia.
When Mr Le asked Ms Nguyen if she was fine with him proposing to her at the concert, the latter decided to do a counter-proposal for the sake of “equality”.
The pair, both 26, have been together for eight years. They declined to reveal their occupations.
Many couples who get engaged at Swift’s concerts do so when she sings Love Story, specifically during these lyrics: “He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring/And said “Marry me, Juliet.”
But Mr Le and Ms Nguyen decided to get engaged during Champagne Problems, ironically a song about a woman who turns down her boyfriend’s proposal because she is not ready to get married.
He said: “Champagne Problems is about a failed proposal. Knowing that, we wanted to do the unexpected and decided to propose during the song. We will be together for the rest of our days.”
He admitted to having butterflies in his stomach when it was time to pop the question.
“When the song started, I was mumbling the words I prepared. I was very anxious and a bit overwhelmed. Then I whispered, ‘It’s time, baby’, and the next thing I knew, I was on my knee and she was mine. After the double proposal, I felt like I was the luckiest man on Earth. I felt like I could conquer the world.”
The couple, who live in Hanoi, arrived in Singapore the day before the concert and flew home the day after the show.
Mr Le said the fact that many other couples also got engaged at Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Singapore did not make the occasion any less special.
“I believe that just like every other couple who got engaged (during those nights), we fulfilled our fantasy, our goal of having the best proposal. I’d be happy to know there was more than just one proposal at the concert. Who doesn’t want to get proposed to at the most awesome night of their life?”
But not all the proposals that popped up on social media were real.
In a video posted by TikTok user akifkeith, a couple were seen dancing excitedly after the man dropped on one knee and held the woman’s hands. The words, “The most chaotic ‘proposal’ during the Eras Tour”, appeared on the clip.
The video was reposted on the Instagram page of alternative news source Wake Up Singapore on March 3. Instagram user akifkeith, believed to be the same Swift fan behind the TikTok video, posted a comment stating that it was not “an actual proposal”.
The user wrote: “I decided to do a fake proposal because it is known for one to get on their knees during this song segment. All in the name of harmless fun.” - The Straits Times/ANN
