I looked for Gibsongirl (Stephanie?) on U2.com to vote for her

[dougal55]

I only heard about the great online competition at U2.com yesterday where U2 fans get to vote for those U2 fans who appeared on stage from Vancouver to London on this tour to appear again in Paris this weekend. I thought that was cool so went to check out all the videos as I wanted to vote for Stephanie (aka Gibsongirl) along with others as I had already seen the great video of her playing guitar for not one but two songs (AOH and AIWIY).

Only one problem and I'm scratching my head here to find an explanation for it. You see when I clicked on the link from U2.com just to confirm that it is her I'm voting for. It's on the same date for gods sake! When the video played, it showed a gal was onstage for EBW wearing a white top and denim shorts. To me that was quite odd as I saw Gibsongirl/Stephanie wearing a red top and blue jeans on the video at YouTube back in July. Have a look at Gibsongirl performing below

http://youtu.be/1OpyZJ8pqp0

And here's the mysterious woman with apparently (according to U2.com) the same name!

http://youtu.be/VjWvNcAF8iU

Hm am I the only one who see the difference between the two? So question is where is the real Stephanie/Gibsongirl who played guitar and not the one who did the duty of working the meerkat cam? I really wanted to vote for Gibsongirl as she's a real pro while on stage with her heroes but can't simply find it on U2 website. Has she not entered or what?

If she didn't enter then I'd feel sorry for her as she would really deserve the trip to Paris imo. But there you go I guess


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[GibsonGirl]

Aw, thanks for thinking about me! There were actually two Stephanies on stage that night -- the second Stephanie (who is in the running) got pulled up after me. It was kind of hilarious when Bono asked her what her name was... After staring at her for a moment, he said "someone must have put something in my drink."

I decided, alas, not to put my name in the hat. It was a really hard decision, but I'm a nursing student and we're smack-dab in the middle of midterms/health fairs at the moment. As exciting and amazing as it would have been to potentially end up in Paris with the lads this weekend, I could have also ended up failing the two evaluations I have early next week (one of which is at 8:30am on Monday), and screwing over my group mates who are relying on me to help them with our health fair project. Failing either evaluation would have likely meant repeating a year of university, and that's not something I could have afforded. I don't think I would have had much of a shot at winning anyway, mind, but I didn't want to risk putting my name in regardless when I knew it would be potentially disastrous for me to go even if I *did* win.

Something that has made my decision sit a little better with me is seeing all the disgruntled Twitter updates about this contest. As we all know, U2 Fan Drama™ is the WORST, and I'm kind of glad I'm not on the receiving end of any of that. Plus, I do feel a bit bad for the local fans in attendance that night who won't have a shot at getting up there at all, as it's all predetermined this time around. Part of what made that night in Toronto so magical is that it was completely spontaneous, and completely unexpected. I completely understand why U2 might want a known commodity up there when they're filming a live TV performance, but I almost wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just forego the fan stage interaction (assuming there is indeed some fear in the camp that an unknown fan might screw things up). That way, there's no added competition in an already competitive fan base, no jealousy, no accusations of "special treatment," no insistences of "so-and-so doesn't deserve to win, because he/she has been up there three times already," and so on.

And now, back into Interference hibernation I go...

 

[dougal55]

Aha. So There WERE 2 Stephanies on the same night so that fully explains what happened that night. How much chance was there to have two fangirls with the same name on U2 stage? Very small I guess!

Oh that can't be an easy decision to make not to enter but in your circumstances very understandable. Just that the timing of this competition sucks big time for you I guess. But of course you have the lifetime experience of playing for 2 songs (oh man, how many of us fans so wanted to do that and be calm too! Amazing!) with the guys so I guess that's something to treasure for the rest of your days.

As for the competition itself, wouldn't it be nice and brilliant if all of them entrants get a nice surprise and get to be flown to Paris after all? That would be a generous thank you from U2 and in the shoot for HBO a golden chance to capture their comments etc etc. 5 mins max. They are all fantastic in their own way so who knows?

Alas i guess there will be only one winner so whoever wins fully deserve it imo. Let's hope it's a worthy winner!

As for the U2 Fan Drama you mentioned, I'm happy to say that I'm totally oblivious to it all as I don't use
Twitter at all. Can't say I'm surprised tho as that goes with the music scene I guess. For every 1000 fans who love U2 there is always a small number who just get jealous, lash out or just hate the band's actions. Whatever, I don't care and I'd ignore it.

Anyway glad to have tried to help you but maybe just maybe you deserve a second chance next year who knows? Keep on rocking gibsongirl!


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[Daddysgonnapay]

Wow! Now I wish I could vote for YOU even more! Your humbleness is quite refreshing compared to others that will remain un-named! but even more refreshing is you actually are being realistic and sensible about your real life responsibilities. Good luck with your studies Stephanie!! and congrats again on getting on stage

 

[GibsonGirl]

Thanks, guys. It was a tremendous honour to share the stage with my favourite band and finally fulfill a dream I'd been having ever since I first started learning how to play U2 songs on guitar way back in 2000. Being able to potentially do it again (with a free trip to Paris to boot!) would have been lovely, but absolutely not necessary -- especially not if being there would mean that I'd be placing my grades in jeopardy, or that I'd be taking away an opportunity from a hopeful first-timer who has never been up there before.

I really hope that they'll still pull up a random fan from the crowd, even with the repeat performers on the stage (from what I understand, there'll be a grand total of five winners). It would be a nice gesture to the local fans, and it might appease the social media grumblers. A few of the comments over in the @U2 and official Zootopia forums are actually quite vicious and unkind...

I've never entirely understood the whole jealousy thing, but I can sort of see where some of the frustration over this particular contest is coming from. There are friends and family members of various contestants who are insisting that certain people in the running are more/less deserving of the opportunity than others on the list. I can't stand that. As you say, Dougal, everyone who has been up there is fantastic in their own right. No one is more or less deserving than anyone else -- we're all U2 fans here. Being divisive isn't what this tour is supposed to be about. Also, I've always been of the opinion that the focus should never entirely be on the individual who manages to get up on stage. It's a shared, intimate moment between the band and the audience -- not a popularity contest. Part of the thrill of seeing someone up on stage with U2 is knowing that it could be any of us.

Anyway, let's hope it doesn't get too out of hand, haha. Good luck to all.

 

[zuma]

Well said, Gibsongirl. I'd vote for you too if you were up. Good luck with your exams.

I'm kind of the same, I don't really get this whole jealousy thing. Having said that I think the charm of the fan on stage is that that person doesn't expect it. The people who are visibly overjoyed/overwhelmed to fulfill a lifelong dream are the ones that are memorable. I get why they don't want to take a chance for filming, but I think taking away the spontaneity kinda defeats the purpose. They're filming three concerts, I think chances would've been good to film whatever they want. For what it's worth the girl on stage for Paris 1 would've been perfect for broadcast in my opinion.


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[gvox]

Nicely said Stephanie, you rock! :Rock: ....literally!

Good luck with midterms and the group project, knock em dead!


Sent from __________

 

[senrab]

Aw, thanks for thinking about me! There were actually two Stephanies on stage that night -- the second Stephanie (who is in the running) got pulled up after me. It was kind of hilarious when Bono asked her what her name was... After staring at her for a moment, he said "someone must have put something in my drink."

I decided, alas, not to put my name in the hat. It was a really hard decision, but I'm a nursing student and we're smack-dab in the middle of midterms/health fairs at the moment. As exciting and amazing as it would have been to potentially end up in Paris with the lads this weekend, I could have also ended up failing the two evaluations I have early next week (one of which is at 8:30am on Monday), and screwing over my group mates who are relying on me to help them with our health fair project. Failing either evaluation would have likely meant repeating a year of university, and that's not something I could have afforded. I don't think I would have had much of a shot at winning anyway, mind, but I didn't want to risk putting my name in regardless when I knew it would be potentially disastrous for me to go even if I *did* win.

Something that has made my decision sit a little better with me is seeing all the disgruntled Twitter updates about this contest. As we all know, U2 Fan Drama™ is the WORST, and I'm kind of glad I'm not on the receiving end of any of that. Plus, I do feel a bit bad for the local fans in attendance that night who won't have a shot at getting up there at all, as it's all predetermined this time around. Part of what made that night in Toronto so magical is that it was completely spontaneous, and completely unexpected. I completely understand why U2 might want a known commodity up there when they're filming a live TV performance, but I almost wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just forego the fan stage interaction (assuming there is indeed some fear in the camp that an unknown fan might screw things up). That way, there's no added competition in an already competitive fan base, no jealousy, no accusations of "special treatment," no insistences of "so-and-so doesn't deserve to win, because he/she has been up there three times already," and so on.

And now, back into Interference hibernation I go...

Damn, well I voted for "Stephanie" thinking it was you....


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[senrab]

Well said, Gibsongirl. I'd vote for you too if you were up. Good luck with your exams.

I'm kind of the same, I don't really get this whole jealousy thing. Having said that I think the charm of the fan on stage is that that person doesn't expect it. The people who are visibly overjoyed/overwhelmed to fulfill a lifelong dream are the ones that are memorable. I get why they don't want to take a chance for filming, but I think taking away the spontaneity kinda defeats the purpose. They're filming three concerts, I think chances would've been good to film whatever they want. For what it's worth the girl on stage for Paris 1 would've been perfect for broadcast in my opinion.


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Apparently she's been to around 45 shows this year, from what I've heard. She was great.


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[GibsonGirl]

Nicely said Stephanie, you rock! :Rock: ....literally!

Good luck with midterms and the group project, knock em dead!


Sent from __________

Thanks, Gabe. Good luck to you! Hopefully you won't have much longer to wait for the results -- I expect it's nerve-wracking.

Damn, well I voted for "Stephanie" thinking it was you....


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

Well, thanks. I've heard from a few people today who voted for her, thinking it was me. Other Stephanie and I exchanged a few messages after the show, and she seems like a really nice person. Maybe she'll give me a shout-out for the extra votes if she makes it into the top five.

 

[domo-kun]

Good luck with the midterms. I'm not lying when I say that you actually where the first person I'd thought of voting for. Since you pretty much embody on stage what you post here. You seemed very cool in the video, and that performance of AIWIY with the band was amazing!
There was a click between you and the guys.

It would have been awesome to see you again. But I'm glad we've already had the pleasure of seeing you perform 2 songs.
Rock on and good luck with the exams/midterms.