Taylor Swift has released her highly anticipated 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl – and she’s in the UK to mark the occasion.

The 12-track record, which is expected to top charts around the world, was unveiled at 5am.

US pop star Sabrina Carpenter joins Swift on the title song as the only collaboration on the album, which was written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour.

The album was produced by Swift’s long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who have worked with her on some of her biggest hits.

Friday will also see the debut of The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl in cinemas, which features the world premiere of the music video for the single The Fate Of Ophelia, as well as behind-the-scenes footage and lyric videos from the album.

The 89-minute film will be shown in cinemas around the country, though many screenings have already sold out.

To mark the release of the album, Swift will be interviewed on the Capital Breakfast show at 8am.

Swift discusses ‘fun’ task of planning wedding

The 35-year-old will appear on The Graham Norton Show on Friday evening, where she will say she wants to finish promoting her album before the “fun” task of planning her wedding.

In the segment, filmed on Thursday, the 14-time Grammy winner spoke about her engagement with NFL star Travis Kelce.

She told Norton: “He really crushed it in surprising me. While we were talking on his podcast, he had a complete garden built out the back of his house to propose in. He went all out – 10 out of 10.”

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Asked when the wedding will take place, she said: “You’ll know.”

She added: “I want to do the album stuff first, and the wedding is what happens after in terms of planning. I think it will be fun to plan.”

The Life Of A Showgirl is Swift’s first album since she announced her engagement to 35-year-old Kelce in an Instagram post in August, which was captioned: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

A lawsuit against Nirvana – filed by a man who claimed his depiction as a naked four-month-old baby on their album cover was child pornography – has been dismissed for the second time.

A photo of Spencer Elden swimming towards a dollar bill on a fishhook had appeared on the cover of the rock band’s iconic album Nevermind in 1991.

But Judge Fernando Olguin threw out the case after ruling that no reasonable jury would consider the image pornographic, likening it instead to a “family photo of a nude child bathing”.

“Other than the fact that plaintiff was nude on the album cover, nothing comes close to bringing the image within the ambit of the child pornography statute,” he said.

Elden’s legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nirvana’s lawyer Bert Deixler said they were “delighted that the court has ended this meritless case and freed our creative clients of the stigma of false allegations”.

The defendants included surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, late lead singer Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, and photographer Kirk Weddle.

The photo was taken at the Pasadena Aquatic Centre in California.

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Mr Elden first sued the band and its label Universal Music Group in 2021, accusing them of sexually exploiting him through the image and causing ongoing personal harm.

Judge Olguin initially dismissed the case in 2022 on the grounds that Elden’s claims were time barred, without addressing the substance of the allegations. However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision in 2023.

In a 2003 Rolling Stone interview when he was 12, Elden acknowledged the photo and said he was “probably gonna get some money from it”.

However, in his August 2021 lawsuit, Elden argued that his injuries – including emotional distress, lost earning potential, and diminished enjoyment of life – extended into adulthood, allowing him to meet the statute of limitations.

The judge dismissed this claim, stating it would effectively allow Elden to sue Nirvana indefinitely.

Nevermind, which features the hit song Smells Like Teen Spirit, has sold over 30 million copies.

Eurovision is supposed to be a celebration of the unifying power of music. But for the past two years, it has attracted protests and fan boycotts over its inclusion of Israel amid the country’s continued military action in Gaza.

Ahead of 2026’s contest, while nobody has even sung a note yet, a number of countries have been getting vocal.

“If Israel is there, we won’t be there,” says Natalija Gorscak, the president of broadcaster RTV Slovenia.

As the world waits to see what happens with the negotiations over Donald Trump‘s Gaza peace plan, within the cultural world, there’s no let up in the increasing isolation of Israel.

Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland have all issued statements saying if Israel’s allowed to enter, they’ll consider boycotting the contest next year.

Jolted into action by the controversy, officials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – which runs the contest – have announced plans for an emergency vote.

In a letter to members, EBU president Delphine Ernotte-Cunci said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before”, the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.

Described by the EBU as “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online”, early next month member countries will be asked to vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t participate.

Eurovision expert Dr Paul Jordan said: “Ultimately this has been a really challenging issue for the EBU. This is a really complex picture that is building up… and they’ve not been consistent.

“The situation is made even more complicated by the fact the organisers themselves haven’t sometimes followed their own rules about political entries and about political messaging, and they’ve allowed certain countries to, in a sense, get away with breaking the rules or deeming them to have not broken the rules sufficiently to allow participation.

“As far as I’m aware, the Israeli broadcaster has not broken any rules. However, you could argue their inclusion could indeed bring the contest into disrepute, which would be against the organisers’ rules.”

‘We should focus on music’

In 2023, Israel was represented by Noa Kirel, her country’s equivalent to Britney Spears. She came third with her song Unicorn.

“It was one of the highlights in my career, it was an incredible experience for me,” she said.

While she acknowledges “it’s very different from two years ago when I represented Israel”, she hopes her country won’t be excluded next month.

“It’s not about politics, it’s never been like that, and we should keep it that way, to focus on music.”

She believes it would be unfair to punish the Israeli people for the actions of their government: “Voters understand that politics has no connection to this competition.

“Hopefully people will understand and respect that, see the good side… and not the bad side.”

‘European policy needs more balls’

Regardless of the outcome of next month’s vote, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia have all confirmed to Sky News that their plans to boycott will stand as long as Israel’s still at war.

Ms Gorscak said: “We can lie to ourselves and say ‘no, it’s not political’ but, you know, you can’t avoid politics.”

She believes it’s fundamentally wrong for bigger countries to be sitting on the fence.

“We are all somehow prisoner of German guilt towards Israel,” she claimed. “European policy, it needs more balls. In certain moments somebody needs to decide, somebody needs to say ‘this is enough’.”

A spokesperson for German broadcaster SWR has said it “supports the consultation process that has been initiated” and that the goal is “to reach a well-founded and sustainable agreement that aligns with the values of the EBU”.

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Whether Spain abides by the outcome of next month’s vote might have the biggest impact.

If it makes good on its threat to boycott – as one of the big five backers of Eurovision – financially it’ll hurt.

Ms Gorscak explained: “Slovenia is a small country, and while our participation fee is peanuts, if there are more countries who are not participating it is seen in the budget.”

Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, has said its “potential disqualification… could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands”.

Dr Jordan said up until now we’ve mostly seen “virtue signalling” when it comes to Eurovision artists speaking out who’ve ultimately opted to perform regardless of their objections to Israel’s inclusion on the night.

However, should entire nations boycott in 2026, he said the impact will be felt way beyond the contest’s final.

“There are two semi-finals, because of the number of participating countries, and if there isn’t a need for two semi-finals that will impact upon the logistics of the event and even the funding,” he explained.

Pop bangers and power ballads aside, the criticism of the EBU has become deafeningly loud. The world waiting and watching for political decisions – and cultural ones too.