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The 2004 MTV Video Music Awards

Catching up with stars like Hilary Duff, the band Hoobastank and even Alicia Keys, at the MTV Video Music Awards

Sultry. Sexy. Bare-skinned. Bling a-plenty.

Not surprising you’d associate these words with the MTV Video Music Awards, especially this year being held at the American Airlines Arena in lush and tropical Miami, Florida. (They apply, of course, only to the STARS–not the hordes of press trying to grab a quote here and there.)

Trying to squeeze in on the limited red carpet or sitting in a press room backstage, as I was, made the VMAs a different experience altogether. Not entirely a bad one, just not nearly as glamorous as I had envisioned.

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Sure, lots of musicians and celebs came in high style, pulling up on sleek yachts, speed boats and even a thundering airboat, tanned and gorgeous, diamonds dripping and glittering (even in their teeth!). But getting much more than a glimpse of it was tough, sandwiched as I was between two camera crews and screaming my lungs out for the likes of J. Lo, Usher, P. Diddy, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson to stop for a quick Q&A–to no avail.

Oh well. At least the press tent was air-conditioned.

As these glittering superstars rushed by, I did manage to snag a few peeps for some chitchat, including Carmen Electra and R&B singer Trina, both of whom said they were most looking forward to seeing Usher perform, in some kind of bare-chested, dripping wet fashion. (Who wouldn’t?)

Some had other favorites. Singer Syleena Johnson was most excited about seeing Alicia Keys perform. I asked her if she were to perform with Alicia, would she dare follow Madonna and Britney’s lip-locked lead at last year’s VMAs? To which she flatly replied, “No, I’m not going to kiss Alicia. And I don’t want to see any more girls kissing on national television, I tell ya that,” she added.

Brooke Hogan, who is releasing a solo album and came with her dad, WWF star Hulk Hogan, chirped, “I’m excited about seeing Jessica Simpson. That girl is very, very talented.” Added Dad, “I’m excited about getting Jessica and Ashlee Simpson’s father in the corner and stealing some pointers.”

California rock band Hoobastank, nominee for Best Rock Video, was taking the whole glitterati scene in stride but did admit they were looking forward to seeing comedian Dave Chappelle. Asked what they would do if they didn’t win, the band replied, “I think we’re just gonna go beat somebody else up and take their award.” (They didn’t win, by the way. Wonder if a fight broke out?)

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Jackass and Viva La Bam star Bam Margera was also hoping to meet Chappelle. “He’s one funny character. He’s like, one of the only ones I look up to, besides Iggy Pop.”

Meanwhile, backstage…

As the last of the arrivals were ushered (get it? “Usher”ed? sigh It’s been a looong day) into the building, us press folk had to make our back to the backstage holding pen to wait for the winners to come on back and give us a few juicy bites. One would hope, anyway.

One would be disappointed.

The show was on, of course, which turned out to be a pretty rockin’, if not a bit more conventional and safe than past efforts, i.e., no girl-on-girl kissing or raucous behavior.

But we waited, and waited, for the winners to filter back. Where was Jay-Z? Beyonce? No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani??

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The first to make an appearance in the pressroom was Hilary Duff, just as cute as she could be. OK, so, she was just a presenter, but certainly worthy of a few fun tidbits, as she gushed about her tour and her new album and her outfit and not having a boyfriend and–you get the picture.

When asked how she stays so slim, she giggled, “Um, I don’t know. I eat really bad, junk food all the time. I’m young, I guess.” They all say that. I thought it was especially touching when Mary-Kate Olsen came on stage and thanked everyone for supporting her. She looked better, didn’t she?”

Without a Paddle‘s Matthew Lillard, who presented with Duff, made his entrance on an inflatable raft across the ocean of people in the audience. Bounding backstage, he quipped, “I kinda felt like Moses. I was also this close to Jay-Z and I just wanted to kiss him. He’s just so damn handsome!”

(We wouldn’t know–he never showed up.)

Finally, some of the winners made it to the press room. The band Yellowcard, winner of the MTV2 Award, offered some advice to up and comers, “Just keep playing. Play every show you’re offered. And get on the Internet. The Internet is what broke our band. All we had was an indie record and a message board of the Web.” Aussie band Jet, winner of Best Rock Video, made me positively blush when I asked who the “girl” is in their winning video, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” “It’s about you, darlin’,” they crooned. “It’s about any girl you can’t have–so, that would be you.”

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It’s all about the bling!

Then there was Terror Squad–a gaggle of rappers decked out in diamonds and gold from head to toe. They certainly spiced things up, but didn’t necessarily want to talk about how they got their jewels.

Rapper Petey Pablo, who literally has a mouth full of diamonds, or “grill” as its known, told us his bling cost “A whole lot, that I don’t want to talk about,” while Lil’ Jon, who carries around a bejeweled goblet, said it cost “A coupla dollars. Next question!”

The YingYang Twins, one of whom had a lovely habit of making an annoying honking noise every third word, had lots of gold in their grills. “Having a whole lotta (HONK) money can make you make some real weird decisions. (HONK) If we gonna make a whole lotta money, (HONK) we’re goin’ shoppin’.” (I suggest maybe he should shop for a doctor to fix that nasal prob.)

Rock the vote!

MTV also wanted to bring home the point to young audiences to get out and vote this election year–and they had a lot of help from Mr. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, whose “Vote or Die!” campaign was splashed all over the arena, on T-shirts and what not.

The biggest surprise of the night, however, came when both presidential candidates’ daughters came on to urge us to vote. Former MTV TRL host Carson Daly told us, “I know [the Kerry/Bush daughters] moment was supposed to be a bit of a surprise tonight. Obviously because of the [Republican National] Convention in New York, the Bush daughters couldn’t come here tonight. It is extraordinary that it actually happened because I know some of the drama in the effort to make it happen.” He added, “I’m proud to be part of the moment on a show like tonight, which is really like our prom.”

LL Cool J, who came to the VMAs in part to promote his new album DEFinition, coming out Tuesday, also voiced his opinion. “Your vote definitely counts. That’s the buzzword right now–vote, vote, vote! Why should you vote? Because if you call yourself an American, a citizen of society, part of that responsibility, part of that contribution is voting for our government. And making sure you’re a part of whose going to run it.”

In fact, LL Cool J–who had a group of girls surrounding him wearing T-shirts that through some miracle of technology actually played his new video “Headsprung”–was just bustin’ at the seams to talk to us. “I tell you one thing, from my mouth to God’s ear, I’m gonna be back here next year winning one of these things.”

Are we done yet?

With the evening nearing its end, there was still not a Jay-Z, J. Lo, Usher or No Doubt in sight backstage. I was still enjoying the show, especially the trio performance of Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder, when we were told the lovely Ms. Keys, who won the Best R&B Video, would be joining us. Hallelujah! Finally got a big one.

On performing with Kravitz and Wonder, Keys beamed. “It was incredible, a dream come true for me. I was really looking forward to it all night ’cause I knew it would be something I would never, ever forget, through my entire career. Tonight was unreal to me. It just shows we can all come together and jam.”

“MTV Awards are driven by the youth. Driven by the heartbeat of America,” she summed it up. “What’s special about it is it allows an eclectic group of people to come together in one room. And its exciting because awards show tend to be set up where people are sitting down, watching and chillin’, which is OK. But it’s much better when people are interacting, being part of the fun.”

That is, if you weren’t sitting in a room backstage.

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