SURREY — Rhys Gutierrez doesn’t remember much about being on stage with Justin Bieber last Friday night in Vancouver.
“When I was up there, everything kind of blanked out and it all felt so surreal,” the Surrey teen told the Now on Monday.
“It was just so amazing.”
(SCROLL DOWN TO SEE RHYS’ ‘VLOG’ ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE)
As part of a contest, Rhys, 13, was one of four local kids chosen to dance on stage with the Canadian pop star during his performance of a song called “Children.”
The previous weekend, Rhys (pictured) learned all the dance moves from Bieber’s video of the song and performed them as fellow Surrey dancer Louis Luzuka filmed her moves. The video was then submitted to contest judges.
On Friday (March 11) at Rogers Arena, she was front-and-centre with the Biebs, who introduced all four of the contest-winning dancers as the crowd cheered.
Before the concert, Rhys got to meet the singer — someone she’s adored for several years.
“I met him backstage at the meet-and-greet,” Rhys said. “When we came into the room, Justin was there and said, ‘Oh, hi guys, are you ready to perform?’ So we said yeah, we are, and then he said, ‘Ok, guys, come here, I’m a hugger,’ and gave hugs. We all got so excited.”
It was all an incredibly memorable experience for Rhys, a Grade 7 student at Goldstone Park Elementary in Surrey.
“But it’s kind of back to reality now,” she said with a laugh.
“You know, I’m already back in the studio training and working hard with Apprentice, my dance group (at Studio 604 in Burnaby).
“It’s been really inspiring that way, for sure.”
