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Talking with the biggest stars from our Mercedes-Benz interview lounge.

Backstage at Z-100's Jingle Ball.

This is Elvis Duran in the morning show's Jingle Ball Diaries.

Hey, what up?

We are live from the Mercedes-Benz Interview Lounge.

My name is Josh Martinez with Conan Gray.

Hi. What's going on, man? You know, just living, smiling. How are you? Chilling. Listen, I, so you don't know this, but for like the last two months, I've been talking about a personal story. So a couple years ago, I was next to you when you were Barracade, watching Olivia Rodrigo. Yeah, absolutely. At Jingle Ball. And now, fast forward a couple years, now you get to go on that stage. What's that feeling like for you, dog? Oh, it's exciting. I mean, I feel like this whole event is just very, like, everyone's very happy, and Jingle Ball has had so many special performers over the year, so I feel very lucky. So when you do the tour, is there anybody that you're like, you know what? I saw their name on the line. I'm going to go peek out during their performance.

Well, I love Audrey Hobert. Yes. And so that's been very fun to have her here. I mean, LeVay's here. I love her very much. So it's been a bit of like a nice little friend group affair.

It's a nice excuse to see each other. I love that. Now, I'm always fascinated by songwriters, like, writers' block, because we all have it, right? But like when you have writers' block, you got to push through that. So what do you do from like a writer's block standpoint? what? Sometimes you just

gotta pee out the kidney stone.

You just gotta keep going.

It's painful.

You just got to keep going.

It's painful. You just like, even if you're making crap, just keep trying, because you never know.

Something beautiful. A kidney stone might come out. You released Wishbone over the summer.

What song, you mentioned that that's the most U album. Oh, yeah. Why, exactly? Oh, God. I mean, I think if you listen to it, it's just like every guard that I've ever had is down. There was no expectation for it. I wrote it at a time where no one was thinking that I was going to make an album. So I made it with no expectations, and it ended up just being this, like, passion for me. And I'm so proud of it. I feel like it's really just unbelievably me. Yeah. So we're backstage right now at Madison Square Garden. You have performed here before. This ain't your first rodeo. No, uh. What's that feeling like stepping into Madison Square Garden? No disrespect to other arenas around the world. But there's just something special about MSG. There is something special. I definitely was holding back tears the first time. I walked out and I was like, supposed to sing my first sound. I was like,

there's just something about it. It's just so special. I mean, I think when you're a kid, you like here in New York City, you think, okay, Madison Square Garden.

Like, that's all your only concept of what the city even is. So, really special. So it is the holiday season. That is why we are here at Jingle Ball. If you needed to pick, like, that quintessential song for you to get you in that holiday spirit, you got one? I think, oh, God. It was so hard. There's so many really good ones.

I think it's, God, it was so hard. There's so many really good ones.

I think it's going to be probably Wham, right?

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