| Unofficial Celebrity Report: MTV VMA's, Part One | | Date Created: Apr 27, 2005, 03:28 PM |
 Welcome to our newest feature, the Unofficial Celebrity Report is born. Consider it a sneak preview of the follow-up (should there be one) to "Driver #8." ("Driver #6.7" perhaps? "Driver #8 2.0?")
The first UCR is SO big, we'll present it in a series of entries. Enjoy.
Date: September 6, 2001
Event: MTV Video Music Awards, New York, New York
Celebrities: Too numerous to mention
The Background: During the 2000 season, a video crew from MTV followed Dale Jr. for several weeks to produce a one-hour episode for the "True Life" series. When it aired in early 2001, the "True Life: I'm a Racecar Driver" episode was a hit, which led to an episode of "MTV's Cribs." Of any single show or story about Dale Jr., Cribs still stands out as the one most mentioned by fans new and old. The fact it has aired 9 million times (give or take a few) hasn't hurt either. (The faux nightclub in his basement even led to the Sheryl Crow relationship. She was booking a tour of small clubs and venues to record a live album - and her management contacted Dale Jr. about doing a concert there. Seems they thought it was an actual nightclub. Within weeks, Dale Jr. was in Los Angeles, appearing in her "Steve McQueen" music video.)
The buzz generated by the dual Dale Jr. shows led to an invitation to appear at the 2001 Video Music Awards in New York. MTV's most popular single telecast each year, the VMA's seemed like a natural fit for young Junior. Except our hero was hesitant at first. "I don't know if I could really do that...," he squirmed. Despite his fame and public image, he's not big on 'celebrity' events. Luckily, reasoning and a heavy dose of begging and pleading won out, and he agreed to appear.
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 The first issue of concern: wardrobe. Not wanting to wear what he called "a damn Mooresville suit" (this was in the pre-Drakkar Noir high-fashion days), Junior worried about what he would wear. The solution: contact Sarah Parlow, a cute-as-hell New York stylist we had met (and flirted with) at a People Magzine shoot the year before. She was game, and the deal was made. Junior would fly to New York the morning of the show, meet with Sarah and her long racks of promo fashions, and then get outfitted in cool-ass New York style.
Second concern: what would his on-stage role be, and where's the script?! The day before the show, word came from MTV: Dale Jr. would introduce the band Linkin Park. The script was being finalized and would be faxed the morning of the show. When we got it, our stomachs sank. It was cheesy. It was awful. "I'm not sayin' that shit..." was the reply. So, while the fitting and styling was being done, the publicist struggled with edits and changes. "It's a live show," the publicist explained. "What are they gonna do? Stop the show if you say something different?"
The red carpet plans are very complex it seems, so we had a very distinct time for the limo to arrive and whisk us off to the site. Once in the car, we finalized the rewrite of the band intro. As we approached the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, still more than a city block away, crazed fans lining the street behind temporary fencing were struggling, squinting and staring at each of the approaching limos. The tinted windows made it impossible to see in, but most still squealed or shot pictures on the off-chance P. Diddy or Duran Duran were in the long black ride. We toyed with the idea of popping out of the moon roof on the car, inciting a temporary frenzy until they wondered "who the hell is that?!"
As we pulled into line behind seven or eight identical cars, a young MTV staffer approached the car to double-check exactly who was in each vehicle so the cameras would be ready.
"Dale Earnhardt Jr? (then deliberately checking some sort of lengthy checklist while Junior wonders if it's all been a big misunderstanding and they'll say 'sorry, not on the list, you have to leave.') OK, Mr. Earnhardt, thanks for coming, but the cameras will be focusing on the car behind you with Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson..." Everyone is yelling into a headset or radio or running madly about. Live TV is not pretty. |
 As the car approached the red carpet (it's really a red carpet, even for MTV. Hell, I thought they'd go purple or something wild), a loudspeaker announced to the crowd of fans across the street and in a makeshift grandstand: "ladies and gentlemen, Dale Earnhardt Jr!" Junior exited sheepishly to loud squeals and made his way toward the swarm of paparazzi. I'm not sure if many knew who he was (again, this was 2001 - prior to the endless commercials and 60 Minutes and People's 50 Most Beautiful and so on), but luckily one of the photogs recognized him and yelled his name. Then, like a starter's pistol going off to begin the 100-meter dash, the rest of the pack began yelling "Dale! This way!", "look to the right please...", "Dale! Dale! Up here!..."
After the pic frenzy, there was a seemingly endless line of video cameras and media from around the world clamoring to speak with... Pink... Christina Aguilera...Fatboy Slim... hell, anyone except a racecar driver. Now Dale Jr. knew what it was like to be the 43rd guy on the grid at a Nextel Cup race. You're in the show, but nobody really knows (nor cares) too much about your presence. They want the BIG names! Outkast! Jay-Z! Shakira! |
 Once we made our way to the main doors, we were introduced to our very own personal assistant. A dentist by trade, he was one of the many volunteers for the show. His only job was to make sure Junior made it to makeup, to his seat, and then backstage when he was supposed to be. He was also there to take care of any diva/superstar needs of the celebrity. But, first, another photo locale right inside the lobby - where we watched the band Mudvayne pose and mug while dressed in tuxedos covered in fake blood from pseudo bullet holes in their foreheads.
"I think you guys are really going to like these seats," our man said as he escorted us into the main arena.
Go to UCR, PART TWO.
And then UCR, PART THREE.
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