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Louise Thomas
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Fans have been quick to pour scorn on a new figure of Taylor Swift at the Panoptikum Wax Museum in Germany.
In a joint Instagram video shared by Radio Hamburg and the museum, the newest wax figure of Swift was officially displayed. The statue includes Swift’s signature blonde hair and bangs, as she holds her hands up in a heart gesture. However, the figure makes the shape with its index fingers and thumbs, rather than with both of its entire hands as Swift often does.
The wax figure wears pink lipstick, silver dangling earrings, a shiny, blue v-neck romper – which is pink on the inside – and silver, sequined knee-high boots. The outfit mimics the look that the “All Too Well” singer initially wore to the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2019.
In the comments of the Instagram Reel, multiple people have taken the opportunity to criticize the wax figure, mostly on the basis that it doesn’t look like Swift.
“Completely unrealistic, someone did a terrible job,” read one comment, which was translated from German to English.
“Oh no. It can’t get any worse,” another wrote, while a third person commented: “There are very few similarities, I hardly recognize them, I would vote for a revision…”
Others questioned why some of the figure’s physical characteristics, from the lipstick to the hand gesture, weren’t similar to Swift.
“Why pink lipstick? Taylor almost always wears red!” one wrote, as another commented: “Wow. Never recognized it, and Taylor always makes the heart with her whole hand. We would have noticed it straight away if we had done some research. Really embarrassing.”
“Well, it’s definitely not easy to recreate someone out of wax and it definitely takes a lot of work, so respect to her for doing it,” a more sympathetic commenter wrote. “However, it doesn’t really look like Taylor.”
On August 13, the museum first issued a press release about the launch of the statue, with the Managing Director of the Panoptikum, Dr Susanne Faerber, celebrating Swift’s impact on the pop culture world. She also referred to the “Shake it Off” singer’s lucky number, 13.
“With the wax figure of Taylor Swift, we are welcoming an absolute superstar to the Panoptikum: The fan base of the award-winning pop icon is unparalleled and with over 300 million records sold, she is considered to be the most successful singer of our time,” Faerber said in the press release, which was translated from German to English. “August 13 is therefore a truly lucky day for our wax museum – although the number 13 is also of great importance to Taylor Swift herself and to her countless Swifties.”
The new wax figure is one of the many statues of A-listers in the Panoptikum, the oldest wax museum in Germany. Some of the other wax figures include Ed Sheeran, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In July, Swift also did two back-to-back shows at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.
“Hamburg!! I loved those crowds so so so much,” she wrote in her Instagram post, which included 10 photos from her concerts that week. “AND we got a rain show night one, unlocking Fuzzy Hair Me for the evening. Been having a blast watching these new Eras crowd traditions unfold all throughout Europe… You guys are seriously so creative.”
Swift is set to complete her final shows in Europe this week, with five concerts at Wembley Stadium in London. She will have a two-month break from performing, before continuing her 2024 tour in Miami in October. Her final show of this tour will then be in Vancouver in December.
