Taylor hits the Target

Taylor Swift is standing tall. Not just because she's 5 feet 11.

No one has sold more albums in the past three years. No one in recent years has had as big a crossover from country to pop as she has with "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me." And no country artist had won an MTV Video Music Award until she did last month.

Of course, that was the award heard 'round the world because hip-hop superstar Kanye West barged onstage and sabotaged Swift's moment in the spotlight. Still, she stood tall, taking the sucker punch without losing her composure.

A month later, Swift was about as anxious to revisit that nightmare as a pitcher is to face Joe Mauer.

"I don't really feel like I should prolong it," she said from Nashville recently. "It's obvious what happened and everyone saw it happen."

A charming mix of thoughtful, even-keel businesswoman and giggly, OMG teenager, Swift -- who turns 20 in December -- talked about a wide range of subjects: tonight's concert at Target Center in Minneapolis, the final stop on her first U.S. headline tour; her new condo; her parody video with T-Pain, and, well, OK, Kanye West.

Q How has the tour compared with your expectations?

A What I never expected was going out on my first headlining tour and never having to worry about ticket sales. I look at things from a practical place and a very realistic place. I've always had crazy dreams, but I've never expected them to come true. That's why success has been really exciting for me, because I never expect it. In terms of performance, I think I expected that I would get bored playing the same show every night. But with the way we've paced this tour, we'll do a couple weekends where we do four shows and then we'll have five days off. It makes us really miss that tour.

Q What kind of special plans do you have for the closing night in Minneapolis?

A On the last night of the tour, everyone usually pranks people. I'm not sure if it's going to go down because my opening acts know that if we ever do shows together again, I will strike back. But pranking is something we definitely take pride in on the road. You never know what could happen during the opening act's set, or if they decide to do something creative during my set.

Q You pranked Keith Urban in Kansas City this year when you walked onstage dressed as Kiss' Ace Frehley when he was playing "Kiss a Girl." Maybe you could do an entire show in Kiss makeup.

A I would love to play the whole night as Ace.

Q Speaking of Keith, he's up for CMA entertainer of the year Nov. 11 and so are you -- in fact, you're the first woman nominated for it since 2000.

A Getting nominated for anything at the CMAs is exciting to me. But the one that really blew my mind -- and the reason I have been walking on a cloud for weeks -- was getting nominated for the entertainer of the year award. That was the most exciting morning I can remember. I just couldn't believe that after hearing those names in that category [Urban, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley] they'd announced for years and years, and never, ever, ever imagining that it would take only one year of headlining to get me on that list.

Q Why are you so popular?

A I still don't really expect it. Like winning a VMA or having my song go No. 1 on pop radio, I get so excited about that stuff -- you have no idea. I think dwelling too much on what has worked for me might limit where I want to go next. So I try not to sit there and think why it's working, I'm just so thankful that it's working.

Q One of the reasons you're popular, I think, is that you capture what it's like to be a teenage girl more effectively than any songwriter has for years.

A Thank you. I just write what I'm going through. I don't try to write for older than I am and I don't try and write for younger than I am. I write in real time. I write songs about real people. I write details and personal things into the songs. Hopefully, when people are looking back on my music, they'll feel they were able to read my diary.

Q You're famous for when a guy burns you, you write a song about him. What song have you written about Kanye West?

A Ho, ho, ho. I have not written anything about that. Heh, heh, heh. It's just wonderful to have gotten a lot of love and support from other artists who I didn't even know knew who I was. And that's kind of what I take away from that whole thing -- other than a VMA award. I'm stoked to be able to bring a Moon Man back to Nashville. It's crazy to think that no country artist has ever won a VMA before. I'm so excited that happened.

Q Is there a teaching moment from this as part of a national conversation on rudeness?

A Well, I think the lesson that I've learned is to expect the unexpected. I didn't expect anything like that could ever happen, and I also didn't expect the support and the love that came afterward.

Q You and a rapper did have a great moment on a different awards show. You showed a lot of humor at the CMT Awards this summer with your hip-hop video with T-Pain.

A Doing the video with T-Pain was one of the funniest experiences of my life, because CMT let me write that rap. So my mind-set was "What do rappers rap about? They rap about being hard-core. I've got the most boring personal life of anyone out there, so why don't I just rap about that. Let's just take it to the opposite end of the spectrum. I was stoked about calling it "Thug Story" instead of "Love Story." So I write this whole thing and I've got it on a piece of paper, and T-Pain rolls into the studio. He flew into Nashville. They started the track, and I just started rapping in front of him. And he absolutely lost it. He could not stop laughing for a good 15 minutes.

Q I hear you are moving out of your parents' house. Tell us about your new Nashville condo.

A I'm doing a lot of construction on it. I feel really lucky to turn my first place of living [on her own] into an art project. I have dreamed about making my first place since I was a little girl. When I was younger, I'd think I was going to be an interior designer if music didn't work out. I looked at this place and said: "The view is amazing. Let's change everything else." Heh, heh, heh. When it's done in several months, it will be whimsical and enchanted and some place I really, really want to come back to.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719