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FRAMINGHAM – Thursday night was the iHeartRadio’s annual Jingle Ball concert. The coronavirus pandemic meant that there was no venue packed with screaming fans to hear Billie Ellish, DojaCat, Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa or The Weeknd. Instead the 2-hour concert hosted by Ryan Seacrest appeared on the CW network.
During Lipa’s final song of her set, several of her fans joined her in a virtual sing-a-long to the John Lennon classic Happy Xmas. One of those fans during the CapitalOne Holiday Jam was UMass Amherst junior Chad Douty of Framingham.
Lipa is a 25-year-old British pop star. Her songs include New Rules, IDGAF, Don’t Start Now, and her latest hit Levitating.
“I saw on iHeartRadio’s website that they were running a contest where people could submit videos of them singing Happy Xmas (war is over) for a chance to be featured on screen on with Dua Lipa at the Jingle Ball and get to be a part of an exclusive zoom call with her! So I figured it was worth a shot and about a week later I got an email from iHeartRadio saying they loved my video and want to feature it a Jingle Ball,” said Douty to SOURCE.
“I figured it was worth a shot and about a week later I got an email from iHeartRadio saying they loved my video and want to feature it at Jingle Ball,” said Douty. “So I recorded the video prior and on my own and they would email me asking to make any tweaks they wanted.”
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The “Friday after Thanksgiving,” Douty was invited to be on a Zoom call with the English singer.
“It was Q&A style and we were all introduced individually to her,” said Douty. “She blew me a kiss.”
“Dua has been an idol of mine for quite some time so it was amazing to be on a Zoom call with her, and see myself on screen beside her,” said Douty Thursday night to the digital news outlet.
Douty, who interned with SOURCE in 2019, is majoring in communication and journalism at UMass Amherst. He is pictured in the photo above in the last column, 4th down from the top in a grey sweater.
“I love music because it is a great escape from everyday life,” said Douty. “Especially, nowadays, being locked up inside, music is one of the few ways I get to escape from the craziness of it all! It can boost my mood super quickly, especially music from artists such Dua and Lizzo.”
Other favorite musical performers for Douty are Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Ariana Grande.
This is not the first time winning a contest or meeting one of his favorite artists for Douty.
“I’ve also won front row tickets to Taylor Swift’s 1989 world tour, a meet and greet with Ariana Grande, Halsey tickets, Twenty One Pilots Tickets, and tickets to a few other music festivals,” said the Framingham resident.
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The A Cappella Singers 
MetroWest Medical Center