One new message: come meet Derülo

It’s not every day a college student gets to meet a bonafide celebrity.

At last Friday’s fall concert, a handful of Rider students got to meet up with headliner Jason Derülo.

The concert was sponsored in part by MetroPCS, which had a table in the back of the Student Recreation Center giving away free items. Seniors Joanna Grillo and Lauren Gregorio were some of the 20 or so students who won a photo-op with Derülo, thanks to MetroPCS.

“We walked in and saw free stuff, and to enter the contest you had to text your phone from theirs and winners would get a text message sometime during the concert to let them know,” Gregorio said.

Grillo was one of the lucky winners.

“I got a text message saying I won and could bring a friend to meet Jason, so I grabbed Lauren’s arm from the middle of the crowd and headed to the MetroPCS table,” she said.

Winners were given a wristband and told they could have either a picture with Jason or an autographed item. The organizers were very strict about the meet and greet, making sure everyone understood the parameters and had their cameras ready. Once the winners were lined up on the running track, Derülo came up to take pictures.

“The woman running the meet and greet had us all cheer as he came up the stairs; there wasn’t much time to say anything to [him], but he seemed nice and happy to take a picture with everyone,” Grillo said.

Gregorio was surprised by his after-show appearance.

“One thing everyone was commenting on was how cute he was and how good he smelled for someone who had just been dancing for an hour or so,” she said.