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LAS VEGAS, NV - Right before the end of the final musical act of last night's MTV Video Awards, Puff Daddy got on the mic, looked into the camera, and invited everyone to a party at the 32nd floor of the Palms hotel here in Las Vegas.
Well, I just happened to be in the Palms hotel, and I had a pair of pretty nice laminates, so I was able to make it to the 32nd floor of the Palms shortly after the awards ended, I even had a gorgeous blonde date with a tiny dress, but when we arrived at the 32nd floor, the guy on the chair in the hall said to the elevator full of party people "artists only. This ain't that kind of party." And then repeated again, "artists only."
I said, "perfect, my name is Vincent, and this is Michaelangelo."
Oddly, the gentleman was not aware of our work, or Diddy's invitation, and sent us, and everyone else who weren't artists, back on the elevator and back down to... Las Vegas.
Poor us.
Truth of the matter is, despite that rejection, and the freaky clusterfuck that we experienced inside the Palms as MTV took on the ambitious task of trying to produce a live musical television broadcast, set in over a dozen locations within a hotel casino - as the gambling continued - the VMAs were a thrill to attend.
After the jump, who looked hot, who did not, and who got the biggest cheers from the fans who filled the casino...
After LAist covered the MTV Movie Awards in June, and our Film Editor bashed the music video network for inviting us and a few other bloggers to the awards and then being stingy about our access to the celebs, I was shocked when we got an email last month asking us if we would be interested in covering the VMAs.
Not only did MTV invite us to the red carpet to photograph and interview the celebs as they arrived, but we were also given a choice of fantasy suites where attendees would experience a live mini-concert by either The Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy, Kanye West, or Justin Timberlake during the show, plus we were given a pass into the post-award press room filled with free food and booze where the talent could be photographed and interviewed, if they felt like it.
We accepted the invite to the VMAs and said that we would like to be in Justin Timberlake's fantasy suite.
Little did we know that the red carpet would allow us to meet a plethora of celebs, but the JT fantasy suite hosted numbers by not just the former boybander, but by Timbaland, TI, and an extended set by 50 Cent who was later joined on stage by Timba and Justin.
MTV had come through in a huge way, so f Puffy.
Later this week we will bring you a report from the JT fantasy suite (which boasted a half-court basketball court) but until then here are some quick bits from the red carpet, all surfacy and image-based, but whatevs:
- Miss Teen South Carolina is smoking hot and smart to avoid talking to the press
- Tila Tequila is way shorter than you'd expect and much nicer than you'd think
- Perez Hilton is a freaking clown, but not a funny one, a sad one
- Kat of LA Ink is thicker, and hotter (in a tough way) in person
- Scary Spice should change her name to Curvy Spice - which is a good thing
- Steve-O can be funny without injuring himself
- Everyone from young to old know who Ron Jeremy is
- If you're a movie star, you walk the MTV red carpet but you don't talk to 99% of the reporters
- The tall dude from Gym Class Heroes is pretty damn tall
- Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns isn't all that tall for a basketball player
- Pauley Shore is creepier in real life
- Wearing sneakers on the red carpet is not only allowed, but it wasn't a rarity in the slightest
- Carson Daly still looks really emaciated
- Love him or hate him, when 50 Cent walks down the carpet, everyone screams his name number
- Fall Out Boy are really short, hobbit short, but nice
- John Norris looked like a gay guy trying to be glam - with all of the VJs that have come and gone, how is he still on MTV?
- Ce-Lo has a woman who fans him when he talks to the press
- Rihanna is a knockout
- The Hills girls may only be famous because of MTV, but dolled up, and in front of the cameras, they're just as gorgeous as anyone that you'll see on Top Model - and the press adore them
- Common is more handsome in real life, if that's possible, and super intelligent and gracious
- Peter Bjorn and John were the smartest band on the red carpet because the most-asked question among the press to each other was "hey who is that?" and the Scandinavian trio had a bag that had their names on it so people could be all, "hey thats those guys."
- Chris Daughtry's 15 minutes aren't up, he got a huge cheer from the crowd as he ran down the carpet
- Paris Hilton's fake wave like she cares about you is sorta funny in real life, and is somewhat of a cool little trademark move
- Chris Brown got love from the ladies in the audience
- But Mary J. Blige got love from almost everyone and one of the biggest cheers of the night
- Megan Fox was probably the hottest babe in the whole damn place
- Rappers have amazing sneakers, they should join forces and start a chain of shoe stores
Top photo of Britney Spears by Mark J. Terrill/AP, middle photo of Rihanna by Isaac Brekken/AP, bottom photo of Megan Fox by Kevork Djansezian/AP
