abcnewsKaty Perry rang in her 29th birthday on Friday, Oct. 25, by channeling the kind of teen spirit her songs so often evoke.
The hitmaker gave a mini-concert for more than 2,000 students and staff at Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Colo., a performance which aired live on Good Morning America as part of its "Roar" With Katy Perry Contest.
Talk about a pep rally!
Dressed in a cheerleading outfit, Perry took the stage to sing her mega-hit "Roar," her new single "Walking on Air," and her classic "Firework" amidst a throng of excited students, all of whom wore orange and black, the school's official colors.
Katy selected Lakewood from a slew of entries sent in from around the country after the singer put out the call for high schools to submit videos showing off their school spirit by lip-syncing to "Roar."
"It was thousands of kids coming together to 'Roar' and that's what this competition means to me," Perry told GMA.
Considering the school's mascot is a tiger, it was a good choice.
Lakewood's clip, which went viral, was filmed in a single take and was an elaborately choreographed affair involving the entire student body. Their rendition beat out four other high schools from Ohio, Texas, Nevada and Arizona for the honor of hosting this special birthday gig.
And Perry—whose new album Prism hit stores on Tuesday—delivered and then some as she turned up at the school's gymnasium, bringing a whole cheerleading squad of backup dancers who joined her in a fantastic jump rope routine.
"I'm 29 and I feel great!" the Grammy winner told GMA's Sam Champion. "I still feel like I'm 13 sometimes. Obviously, you can tell by my music and my spirit!"
"I just loved all the participation and the unification…of all of you guys coming together and roaring in one shot! That was so cool!" she said.
And she got a nice b-day present out of it too. The school presented Perry with a varsity letter jacket and a birthday cake, a pic of which GMA posted to Twitter.
"So many different high schools came together and I was truly touched. Emotionally, I laughed, I cried. I was blown away by some of the creativity. There were so many different variations and I appreciated all of them," Perry said.
She added, "We live in a time where I think where we are really distracted…We can be someone else, on our phones…Everyone came together and just made fantastic videos. School spirit still lives."
She couldn't have said it any better. Happy birthday, Katy!