A Christchurch man says he was made to feel special when he met the Pet Shop Boys last week. Matt Fleet emerged victorious from a flurry of last-minute online bidding, paying $900 for a prize package including a double pass to the Pet Shop Boys only New Zealand concert and an opportunity to meet with the British electropop duo backstage after the show. “I didn't know what to expect,” Fleet says. “I found them thoroughly professional. Neil Tennant made me feel special - he and Chris Lowe both signed my CD collection, gave us plenty of time, nothing was a problem!” Fleet says he has been a big fan of the Pet Shop Boys since their first hit in 1985. “Being a favourite group of mine and knowing my bid was going to such a worthy cause made it well worth it,” he says. He adds that he's grateful to the NZ AIDS Foundation for making his special night possible. Money raised in the auction will go towards the Foundation's non-government funded work towards preventing the transmission of HIV, particularly among gay and bisexual men, and supporting all those living with or affected by HIV in New Zealand. “We'd like to extend our congratulations to Matt for winning the Pet Shop Boys charity auction, and a sincere thank you for supporting NZAF - our work wouldn't be possible without the ongoing generosity of the public,” says NZAF Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier. "Big thanks also to Dorrell Management, de Launay Enterprises, Trade Me, and of course the Pet Shop Boys themselves, for making this event happen.” PET SHOP BOY FACTS: Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe narrowly escaped death on their way to New Zealand – meteor fragments came close to the plane during their flight over. The Boys slept through the incident and didn't find out about it until the next moring when the waitress at breakfast said, “Are you glad to be alive?” The Boys' career together started in 1981, after they met in a hi-fi shop on London's King's Road. Tennant came out as gay in a 1993 issue of the UK's gay lifestyle magazine ‘Attitude'. The Boys are often wrongly assumed to be a couple, but Lowe has never spoken directly about his sexuality. The Pet Shop Boys have performed and worked with Elton John, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Dusty Springfield and Liza Minnelli. The Boys' latest album ‘Fundamental' is dedicated to two executed Iranian teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, who were hanged on July 19th 2005 for engaging in homosexual behaviour. After their Auckland concert, the Boys flew to Sydney, where their computers crashed during their concert and the power for the lighting and video went down twice. “That kept us on our toes,” laughs Tennant. GayNZ.com - 3rd April 2007