Taylor Swift used various tactics to try to hype up her 2017 album Reputation. She wiped all of her social media, then posted a series of grainy snake images on Instagram. She used a $12 million bath of diamonds in her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. And for the album’s introductory track—called “…Ready for It?”—she and her team concocted a video with the confusing plot, robotic bodysuits, and the blue, orb-heavy set design of a Marvel movie. But Swift could have scrapped all these pricey, elaborate efforts and just hired University of Kansas IT systems analyst Louie Cortez instead.
Each year, Cortez puts on a spectacular Christmas light music show on his front lawn in Topeka, and this year, the show starts off with an interpretation of “…Ready for It?” that will give even Reputation skeptics shivers.
Cortez explained in an interview with the Wichita Eagle that “…Ready for It?” is just the opening number of his light show, introducing thirty minutes of Christmas songs. While this is the fourth year that the Cortez Holiday Light Show has officially existed, Cortez says he has been designing and programming shows like this one each holiday season since 2008. “I always had this itch for Christmas lights when I was little,” he said, “I would see videos of houses lit up and going to music, and I thought it would be cool to do it. This is what it became.”
Cortez, a “die hard” Swift fan, is hoping that the video will reach the pop star, adding that if she’s sees it, “I’ll probably cry.”
