There was a countdown waiting for former JC student Dylan Meyer to erupt this summer when he won the opportunity to dance onstage with Britney Spears.

This past July, the Baltimore radio station Z 104.3 had a contest called “I Wanna Go Onstage with Britney Spears.” Listeners could submit a video to the radio station over the internet of them jamming out to a Britney Spears song, and the contestant who received the most online votes would win the chance to dance onstage with the princess of pop herself during her Femme Fatale tour in Washington, D.C. on July 31.

For Dylan Meyer, class of ’11 at Fallston High School, this was the chance of a lifetime. “I’m a huge, huge fan of Britney. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since “Baby One More Time,” and I’ve stayed loyal since I was six,” Meyer said.

Meyer first heard about the contest on the radio, and he also had several people tell him to enter. “I decided to enter the contest because my friends knew how much I would love to win,” Meyer said.

Each contestant had to create a video of them dancing to a Britney song of their choice, but Meyer had a trick up his sleeve to beat out the competition. “I knew many people would just dance in front of a webcam, so I decided to make my video have a story line,” Meyer said.

In the video, Meyer used Spears’s song, “I Wanna Go,” which is about letting loose and not caring about what anyone thinks. In the beginning, Meyer is a stereotypical guy. As the video progresses, he lets out his “freak” side before returning to his normal self, ending the video with a wink that lets everybody know he secretly liked letting go of his inhibitions.

The video was a hit among friends and family, and the news of Meyer’s video spread. “They [friends and family] told everyone they knew to vote for me. I was really confident but I wasn’t sure it was gonna be enough,” he said.

The video was not only successful in helping Meyer achieve his dream, but it knocked the competition out flat. “When I met the people from the radio station, they told me I won by a landslide. It was just a really good feeling knowing people helped me make my dream come true,” Meyer said.

Meyer was still awestruck about winning the competition when he arrived at the concert with the friend he had chosen to take onstage with him. Surprisingly enough, it was not being in front of the crowd of 20,000 people that Meyer was most concerned about. “I was just nervous to be on the stage with her. When I got waved up by her dancers I was in shock,” he said.

While Meyer did not get to talk to Britney Spears, he still loved every moment of the experience. “During the briefing, we were told not to touch Britney, talk to her, give her a hug, ask for a high five, etc. [but] at the end of the song I reached out for a high five and she gave me one back and gave me a thumbs up, so that was pretty insane,” Meyer said.

“I know most people could care less about Britney, but I had so many people, a lot I didn’t even know, telling me they voted every day off numerous emails,” he said.

Stephanie Meadowcroft is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com