Aerosmith fan Giuliana Jarrin from Ecuador almost fainted when she found that she has earned a free trip to Singapore to attend the inaugural Social Star Awards at Marina Bay Sands on May 24.
The 22-year-old graphic designer beat other Aerosmith fans worldwide to be crowned a "superfan" - the term given to the most active fans on social media tracked by award organisers Starcount.
"When I saw the tweet letting me know I was the winner of this amazing prize, I was at work, and I almost passed out. I ran to the restroom and began to cry tears of joy. It's so surreal to me," she tells Life! in an e-mail interview.
The 24-hour Social Star Awards show, co-hosted by Hollywood actress Jessica Alba, will be streamed live on YouTube. During the event, the awards, called Social Stars, will be given out in 288 categories spanning different countries worldwide and to the most popular personalities and brands in fields such as music, movies, television, sports and games.
The top 12 categories, including grand award The Social Star Almighty, which will be given to the most popular celebrity or brand across all countries and categories, will be presented at a three-hour ceremony at Marina Bay Sands. The rest of the awards will be handed out online.
Awards will also be given out to a handful of superfans from around the world including Argentina and Indonesia.
Aerosmith, fronted by charismatic frontman Steven Tyler, are one of the music acts that will be performing at the awards show. They will be joined by other stars such as K-pop sensation Psy, soul-pop singer CeeLo Green and Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen. Star Trek icon George Takei will also attend the ceremony.
The quintet behind rock hits such as I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Walk This Way and Dream On will also stage a full concert on the second night of the Singapore Social concerts, the post-awards gigs happening at Gardens by the Bay on May 24 and 25.
Ms Jarrin is a hardcore Aerosmith fan who has an extensive collection of the band's albums and merchandise and is also active in communicating with other Aerosmith fans from around the world through online platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
She has watched the band in concert three times and has even met the members after their gig in Los Angeles last year.
"When you see those five guys on the stage, it's like you are witnessing something from another planet, from outer space and definitely not from this world. Their music is hot and sexy and they express that to you when they play," says Ms Jarrin, who reveals that she has three tattoos inspired by the band.
"In person, they were really humble, sweet and loving. What impressed me the most is that they all asked me questions about myself, they were interested in knowing me too. That was amazing, because not all the stars treat their fans the way Aerosmith treated me, and that's the number one thing that makes them the best band in this world."
Joining her at the Social Star Awards is Rihanna fan Rodrigo Alencar from Brazil.
The 22-year-old old law student co-runs Rihanna Daily, the pop singer's official fansite, together with Ms Natalie Lebik from Poland. Rihanna is in the running for Most Popular Music Solo Artist award.
The Barbados-born singer is one of a kind, Mr Alencar tells Life! in an e-mail interview.
"We feel like there's nobody like Rihanna in the music business right now. First of all, she makes great music which would already be enough. She also takes short breaks, so people just don't forget about her, which is a good thing in our opinion.
"We keep on getting new music, videos, performances, tours, movies, advertising campaigns, and fans love that."
Two other superfans are rapper/singer Sky Blu's fan Martina Pintener from Argentina and girl group Blush's fan Angellika from Indonesia. The remaining four will be named later.
The Straits Times, which is giving away tickets to the awards show and the concerts, is the official Singapore media partner of the Social Star Awards and Singapore Social Concerts, Hot FM91.3 is the official Singapore radio station and Kiss 92, the supporting Singapore radio station.
For a chance to win, tell us why you want tickets to the shows. You can also come up with creative ways to say why you deserve to win tickets. There are $100,000 worth of tickets and prizes to be given away.
To post submissions, readers should go to the Contribution Bar of The Straits Times Communities site (stcommunities.straitstimes.com/), as well as "Like" the ST Facebook page online (www.facebook.com/ thestraitstimes).
The contest ends on Saturday.
This story was first published in The Straits Times on May 16, 2013
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