Contest winner Carole meets the band

7/30/2009 3:42:52 PM | DEFLEPPARD.com

Out of the 10 contest winners of our DefLeppard/YouTube contest (see this post), Carole Boyle from Selden, NY was the second one to collect her prize (two tickets, a backstage tour and meeting with the band) when she went to the band's show in Wantagh, NY on July 8. Here's her report.

"Never in a million years of wild dreams would I have thought that my son and I would get to experience a concert like this! It was an absolutely beautiful evening and we were going to kick off the summer by going to see 'my boys' ay Jones Beach. This would have been awesome enough, but to have the opportunity to go back stage and meet them.....Pinch me because this has to be a dream!"

"This dream started shortly after the Fan Club concert presales and I was poking around the Def Leppard chat room. This was all new to me and I didn't know anyone there.....but before long I started talking to Kathy and we hit it off right from the start. Besides our love for Def Leppard, we found out that we had so much in common. Anyway, long story short, in four months we became the best of friends. There was only one glitch, she lives 800 miles away."

"Fast forward about three months and I read about the Def Leppard/YouTube lip sync contest. At first I really didn't think about entering, however it did sound like fun and the prize was pretty. It was also something that we could do as a family. I mentioned it to my husband and before long, the camera was rolling. For the next week, this contest consumed us. We made three videos. It was a lot of work and we had a blast doing it. During all of this I continued to chat with Kathy and jokingly told her that if we win, yeah right, she could have one of our extra tickets because we purchased four tickets at the February Fan Club presale."

"Well we submitted our videos, the deadline arrived and now we had to wait. I can honestly say that I have never checked my email as much as I did this past Father's Day weekend! Finally, on Monday at 12:11PM, the wait was over. The coveted email had arrived!! I don't have the words to describe what this moment felt like, although I do recall there being some yelling, screaming and hyperventilating. The first thing I did was tell my husband and kids and then I called Kathy. I told her our extra ticket was hers. Before long she was on a plane to New York. How great is this? Not only did we win, but I was going to get to meet my new friend that I essentially met through Def Leppard in person!"

"Soon it was July 8th and the moment of truth had arrived. I picked up my tickets at the box office and discovered that the seats we won were right across the aisle from the seats we purchased. No way, this is amazing! We couldn't have asked for anything better. Next we met Def Leppard crew member Matt at the sound board. I had spoken to him several times during the day and just want to say that he is a great guy. He gave my son and me our passes and we anxiously started off for backstage!"

"Our first meeting was with Phil. He was so friendly. My son is in a band called SchoolBoy and he wanted to give Phil some of his guitar picks. He also gave Phil a SchoolBoy t shirt for the band. Phil gladly accepted this and gave Sean a handful of his guitar picks! We took some pictures and got his autograph."

"Now we were hanging out back stage observing all the activity of everyone running around. Matt brought us some sodas and we saw Sav, Viv and Joe walking by in the distance. And then we were introduced to Sav and Rick! We said hi and shook their hands. I asked Sav to sign my Def Leppard EP and he said "this was 30 years ago and I probably stuck this together!", referring to the album's sleeve. This was absolutely amazing because I have ALWAYS wanted to meet Sav."

"Next we went backstage to watch Cheap Trick perform. How cool was this?!! We got to see all band equipment and activity that you don't get to see from the audience. Talk about a different perspective! Rick came over to join us and he commented on our video. We got his autograph and took some more pictures. Rick even asked Matt to take a picture of my son with him!! Matt then brought us on stage and introduced us as the YouTube lipsync contest winners. My son got to throw some t shirts into the crowd. I'm sure that this is a moment we will never forget!"

"Matt then thanked us and asked us if the evening was all we had hoped it would be. We told him it was so much more than we could have hoped for. He then escorted us back to our seats to enjoy the rest of an unforgettable evening!!"

"I have a basic belief that certain things in life are just 'meant to be'. I feel that this was one of my 'meant to be's'. This contest gave me the opportunity to meet a band that I have loved since high school and the chance to meet in person, Kathy, who will be a lifelong friend. For this I am ever grateful. I want to thank Def Leppard for holding this contest and choosing our video. I want to thank my husband and son for making our video. Sean, you ROCK!! I want to thank Matt for an unforgettable evening and for taking all the pictures. We will treasure this always."