Although they didn’t collect the awards that were gathered by rock musician Carlos Santana, two ISU students were winners because of the 2000 Grammy Awards.

Terri Naber, senior in consumer and food science, and Elizabeth Wood, senior in construction engineering, experienced a stroll down the famous red carpet into the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

They attended one of the music industry’s biggest nights, thanks to winning a local contest.

The women won an expense-paid flight to Los Angeles, two nights at the Hilton Universal City and Towers, a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and two tickets to the Grammy Awards, through a contest sponsored by STAR 102.5 FM radio.

“We were qualifying people for four weeks prior to the Grammys. We picked six or seven a day, which added up to about 50 people each week,” said Jen Myers, music director for 102.5 FM. “Around 200 people qualified for the Grammy trip.”

In order to qualify, the pair had to be the 10th caller on the hour, Naber said.

“Overall, we qualified for a chance at a Backstreet Boys’ concert in Minneapolis and the Grammys,” Naber said.

Naber and Wood qualified for tickets, but both lost the drawing for tickets to the Backstreet Boys concert, Naber said. However, a few minutes before 7 a.m. on Valentine’s Day, Wood returned to her room from the shower to hear a click on her answering machine.

“I called the station right away and said, ‘I qualified for the trip, and I was wondering if you called me by any chance,'” Wood said.

Wood was immediately put on the air and informed that she was the winner of the two tickets to the Grammy Awards, which were held Feb. 23.

“I started freaking out. I was completely surprised,” Wood said.

The students were flown from Chicago to Los Angeles on the afternoon of Feb. 22, Naber said.

“When we got off of the plane and went to the baggage claim, the promotional camera crew swarmed us,” Wood said. “They were filming a show about the Grammy ticket winners.”

The women were transported to the Staples Center Grammy afternoon in a limousine, Naber said.

“I was nervous because I was the first one out of the door and onto the red carpet,” she said.

Wood said they opted to wear black dresses “because we thought that would be the most appropriate.”

Attendants’ attire ranged from jeans and leather pants to formal dresses, she said.

The two said they came within “arm’s length” of celebrities such as Sting, the Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Everlast, Gary Coleman and Smash Mouth, Naber said.

“Willie Nelson walked in right after us … and we got Limp Bizkit’s autograph,” she said.

Both Wood and Naber agreed their favorite part of the trip was witnessing 10 live performances in one night.

“Although we were pretty high up, we had a nice view of the stage,” Naber said.

Wood said Sting’s burning piano performance was impressive, but Naber favored another artist.

“The best performance was Kid Rock, by far,” she said.

Following the awards, the two attended a private party held in honor of the tickets winners at a club called The Garden of Eden.