Taylor Swift: She pranks, she struts, she's got it

If a boyfriend burns Taylor Swift, she writes a song about him. If an act tours with her, she pranks them on the final night of their trek.

"We welcome pranking," the country-pop megastar said early during the last night of her first headline engagement, the Fearless Tour, Sunday at sold-out Target Center. "We almost require it."

That meant that Swift's six hip-hop clad dancers invaded opening act Gloriana's stage with some exaggerated rapper-like posturing. During middle act Kellie Pickler's performance, the pranking was nearly nonstop. Swift's dancers burst into Pickler's space for paperball fights and later frolicked around dressed as butterflies and cats.

"This is war, wherever you are, Little Peanut," the former "American Idol" finalist, one of Swift's best friends, declared with her middle finger playfully thrust into the live video camera.

More punked than perturbed, Pickler, 23, seemed to relish the final prank during her closing hit "Red High Heels": 10 hairy men from Swift's stage crew bedecked in wigs, black skirts, falsies under Pickler T-shirts and, of course, red high heels.

So what did the fun-loving Swift -- who has sold more albums than any artist in any genre in the past three years -- have in store for her own set? How about a drummer dressed as Spider-Man, a bassist as Batman and a banjo man as Robin? Later, Gloriana ambushed her, as Woodstock-ian hippies surrounding her on a satellite stage. "Impressive," Swift announced as she pulled off their wigs at song's end.

Pickler struck back during Swift's sweepingly orchestral "You're Not Sorry," by popping out from under her grand piano in mid-song. "I love you," the star said as she hugged Pickler. Then Swift continued without missing a beat.

On her first headline tour, Swift, 19, seemed supremely confident -- she always has been, even in the fall of 2006 playing solo at the Myth nightclub before her first album was released. Between songs Sunday in front of 15,000 worshipful (mostly female) fans, she talked about her fears and dreams and sang mostly about boys who done her wrong.

She has lost that gleeful, giddy, OMG teenage innocence of her previous Minnesota performances and has eliminated the once-occasional shrillness in her clearly adolescent voice. Now she is a polished but warm pro, swinging her long blonde locks, shaking her hips and strutting with (chaste) sexy aplomb. Despite the excessive preening, she remains undeniably likable.

Swift dressed up in various outfits and dressed up her stage, with winding staircases and a closing rain shower. She even popped up in the middle of section 136 to sing one number, before hugging half the fans along the aisle.

Whether you view the twang-free Swift as a country princess or pop star (face it, her music owes more to Alanis and Avril than Loretta and LeAnn), she proved that she has a special and extraordinary connection with teens and 20-something women because she's real, her songs ring true and she delivers them with such a wide range of emotion -- from hurt to humor to revenge to self-empowerment. This girl has it.

For a set list, go to www.startribune.com/artcetera. Jon Bream • 612-673-1719