CMA Awards 2012: Taylor Swift's 'Begin Again' wins romance cliche bingo

We can't decide if Taylor Swift's obsession with the most traditional (read: boring) markers of romance is charming or tired. At Thursday night's Country Music Association Awards, she debuted her new single, "Begin Again," with a performance that seemed torn from a twelve-year-old's diary dreams of what real love is like.

"Begin Again" is basically a song about going on a rebound date while still pretty obsessed with your ex-boyfriend -- though, by the end of the song (and the end of the date) Taylor is totally over the jerk and believes in true love again. Obviously. 

PICS: CMA Awards 2012 Arrivals

The performance was staged in a French street cafe, where Taylor sat alone, surrounded by people in love. Naturally, she wore a red dress and delicate kitten heels that her Kennedy pals (or former pals?) would absolutely approve of. We're pretty sure she had a romance cliché bingo board that she was trying to win, because she hit on so many tired tropes we nearly fell asleep.

Red lipstick? Check.
A quaint cafe? Check.
The Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance? Check.
Softly falling snow? Check.

She got a standing ovation from the audience, and, never one to stray from the norm, she responded with an "Oh-I'm-so-shocked-they-like-me-they-really-like-me" face.

We would have expected nothing less.