MTV VMAs :)

Caryn Clark · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 13:33 (GMT) Post subject:

YAY!! You're back. Hope you had a good time in FL. Sorry we didn't get together though!

Ok, I'll play!!!

I think the promos/outros for the Awards that were linked with Pepsi and Taco Bell ("who's gonna get lucky???") were pre-recorded (you had mentioned that you did some pre-recorded stuff for Pepsi). Lemme think... what else was pre-recorded... ?? Definitely the intros of the nominations, but I don't think that was you anyway, was it?

I think the intros (like for Pam Anderson and other guests who were introing the next thing coming up on the show) were live, as well as the intros for the bands (like when they would show a band for a minute or two, and cut back to the main room).

I didn't watch the whole show unfortunately (hubby made me shut if off)... so I'm not sure what else.

Can't wait to hear your recap!

September Day Leach · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 16:12 (GMT) Post subject:

Morning!

Okay, here's the as-close-as-I-can-remember-it rundown:

I got to Vegas on Thursday at 2PM. People with "MTV Production Staff" signs were waiting to haul our bags to limo buses waiting outside to take us to our hotels. Most of the staff stayed at Planet Hollywood. They gave up the top 9 floors for us! My room was on the 33rd floor and was the biggest hotel room I'd ever seen. The beds were purple and the headboards were brown suede. I had a cool red table that lit from the inside and gave off a very cool glow at night. I had a huge flat screen plasma TV and a jacuzzi tub. Every room at PH has a movie theme which means you get 3 or so pictures taken on the set of a movie. that was the only uncool thing about my room. My movie was "Flipper" so I had a huge picture of Elijah Wood and Paul Hogan over my bathtub. Thursday was mine and I just explored the Casino. There was a mall inside it as well and I shopped and got a massage. The restaurant I ate at was called Planet Dailies and I had the best crispy beef of my life and a premium chocolate martini. I couldn't stay in the gaming area long because of all the smoke, but I did play a slot machine called Lucky Larry Lobster (in honor of Larry who hung with me in getting this gig!) and won $70. I hooked up with some of the crew and we talked shop for awhile and then I went back to my room.

Friday I was kinda nervous. My recording session started at 11AM, so I was up at 8 worrying about what to wear. Most of what I brought was black, but I didn't want to look too casual or too dressy. Anyway, I caught a cab over to Media Underground to meet my engineer and producer. I got there a little early and chatted with the engineer for awhile and then got a call from the producer that she was bringing some more people to sit in on my session. At 11:15, they arrived with cell phones and blackberrys buzzing. I got my copy of the script and was shown to the iso booth. It was tiny and hot. Very hot. My mic was an AKG 414. Checked the levels and away we went. They wanted cool, youthful attitude. Yay! I can do that! We had a blast, joking through the script. They encouraged my ideas on things to change and different tones to try. I knew a few winners from that session which was very cool. It all took about 3 hours. When I was done, the producer asked me to do some joke recordings for her to give to one of the women whom she had introduced as "Christina". I said of course and we laid them down. While the engineer was burning them to a disc for her, she told me that I had done a great job and that Christina loved me. I then asked what she was doing on the show. The producer floored me when she said "Oh! Christina is the president of MTV." HOLY COW!! I had just spent 3 hours hanging out, recording, and joking with the president of MTV! The producer told me later that Christina loved the joke recordings and had been playing them for everyone. I love that! She also told me a little more about the selection process. There were about 150 finalists and I was #42. They weren't allowed to know our names until they made a choice (standard practice), so for a month or so, she only knew me as "42". It was cool to hear about that! So with recording done, I went back to the hotel to play.

My mom and dad happened to be in Vegas the week before I came and my mom stayed to hang out with me some and also to tell everyone we happened to meet that I was out there for the VMA's. Wink

We found an empty blackjack table and once the dealer found out I was live announcing, made the table non-smoking and the pit boss closed the table beside us for good measure. I can't say enough good things about the staff at PH. They were phenomenal! On the way back to the room, my mom tried the Deal or No Deal slot machine....and hit the jackpot! It was sooo exciting! They took pictures of the machine and of her getting the money so she got a little fame too! Smile

I would have liked to have gone on the strip that night, but I was waiting to hear from the producer if I would need to record again that evening. Basically, people were dropping out and confirming and it was a production madhouse. I needed to be ready to record anything whenever they might need it.

Around 11PM, the producer called and told me everything had been approved, no re-recording was needed (yay!) but that they had two new lines that needed to be done. So the next day, I went to Media Underground again and spent exactly 4 minutes recording and then hung out with the producer for a little bit, just chatting. When I got back to PH, I got dressed and went out on the town. Vegas was incredible! It's so hot, it takes your breath away. They have these cooling fans all over the place that blow cold water mist over you and a lot of the stores have them as you walk in or out. Everything is big and bright. People line the street handing out escort service cards (which is pretty damn funny when your Southern-raised mom takes them to be nice without realizing what they are and then starts to rifle through them once you stop to take a picture Laughing

). There are celebs everywhere you look. I met Chris Daughtry (who is very short), a few guys from Foo Fighters, Pam Anderson, Seth Rogen and Bill Hader, Maroon 5....a ton of people. Getting late, feet hurt from walking everywhere, need sleep.

Sunday morning! I am all a-twitter as I scarf down the best Belgian waffle covered in strawberries. I get dressed and head down to catch the crew shuttle. We all chat on the way to the Palms and I notice that, once again, there are NO females in sight. Why are all crew boys?? Anyway, we pull up and all of them already have their credentials because they've been setting up the stage for 2 weeks. I, on the other hand, must get mine. So, I walk up to the main entrance and am acosted fairly quickly by security demanding to see my pass. Of course I don't have one and apparently I have the face of the poster child for harming celebrities. As I try to explain the situation, a crew member I had met earlier sees my predicament and comes to my rescue. Security then agrees to walk me to the credential table. So I stand in line...forever. Then it's my turn! But they dont have me down on their list and suggest that perhaps I'm listed as talent instead of crew and I should go stand in that line. It's about 1PM now and the producer I'm working with sends down her page, Chris, to fetch me for levels. I tell him what's going on and he hustles me to the front of the line. They don't have my name either and so we ditch the whole credential thing and he escorts me through security (who pat me down and scan every inch of me) and we get a "soft pass" inside. The soft pass is bascially a vinyl sticker. I'm told that it expires in an hour and I'll need to come back up for a hard pass before then. We walk through a maze of stairwells and corridors in the back of the hotel and into...the parking lot. In the back parking lot of the Palms are trailers. Dozens of them. And cables EVERYWHERE. Chris has a lot to do, so he drops me at my trailer and I walk in. It is small and pretty bare. I've got pictures of it in my Fotki and I'm putting a link to all my pics at the bottom of this post. I put in my headphones and start listening to all the background chit-chat. Finally someone calls for VO levels and I get to talk! I do about 15 seconds of patter and it's over. So I start to look over everything and also make small talk with the AV guys who come in and out, looking for this or that person. As 2PM rolls closer I begin to worry about my soft pass. I call Chris on his cell and remind him that in about 10 minutes someone might release the hounds on me. He swings by and we go through the maze again. The girls manning the credential areas are less than helpful but Chris is so sweet and really tries his hardest to not have to call in the big guns. After trying to reason with them about my pass (and I STILL have no idea why they refused me one after seeing my ID and telling Chris they were out of passes when they had an entire box of them) Chris calls the producer who tells them in no uncertain terms that she can have them shipped to Siberia if they don't give me a pass. I got my pass. There were 3 levels of security at the VMAs. Red, yellow, and green. Red was the golden ticket. Mine was red! I could walk anywhere I wanted. I had some time before the dress rehearsal, so I hung out near the red carpet, watching the beautiful people enter. At 3, I was back in my trailer watching the Britney act. During the dress, all of the musicians did their routines, but the awards bits were done by crew and they announced the winners with staff names. Like "Best Male Video" winner was "Hammish", who was the director. It was very cute. All of the tables at the Pearl (the main stage area) had names and pictures of the celebs where they would be sitting so that the camera crew could plan shots. Seth Rogen and Bill Hader also did their spots for staging and changed the script on the fly...which changed even further during the live show. When the dress was done, the crew worked on splicing together some of the party footage which was filmed the night before. I had more visitors to my trailer who wanted to meet "The Voice" (as I was being called). Mostly producers and simply the nicest ,most down-to-earth people. I went outside to watch the casted audience file in. Man, MTV sure hired a pretty audience!

The pre-show started at 5 and I got used to listening to the broadcast in one ear and the director and crew talking to one another in my other ear. And at 6 we began to roll. Things went fairly smooth until Alicia Keys tried to check in with Pete Wentz. Pete's mic was kaput and after his toss back to Alicia, her next few lines were supposed to be about his commentary and the Foo Fighters. She totally held it together though and ad libbed her way through it. I gained a lot of respect for her watching that. At the next commercial break, everyone was freaking out because the Foos hadn't been shown. Sample of the exchanges I was hearing:
"We'll just skip it." "We CAN'T skip it, it's in their CONTRACT!". In the end, they were shown later out of order. I'm pretty sure it's what messed up some of the Rhapsody spots. Seth, Bill and Kid Rock changed the script when there was 20 seconds left in the commercial break and I seriously thought the original joke was much funnier. They were going to ask Kid how life had been since he lost "Best New Artist" and, with girls on either side of him, he was to reply "Sucks.". Those of you who watched, heard what really went down. After Kid hit Tommy, the night went on without any bumps. In the end, everyone who was supposed to be there, showed (although there was a cancellation by a member of the Entourage on Saturday who cited an "emergency bar mitzvah") and all of the audio (except for Pam's intro) was played on time. I never had to do anything live. Everything you heard was pre-recorded Shocked

The after party rocked and I saw everyone. I only took a few pics beause I didn't want to seem geeky and it was much more fun chatting with the musicians than just snapping pictures. When it was over, I walked down the red carpet with Sarah Silverman and over to where some crew had gathered to wait for our shuttle back to the hotel. I got back around midnight and partied with crew until 3 and then left for the airport to catch my flight. I still can't believe it happened. It was hands-down the best time I've ever had and I pray they might use me again next year. Thank you to my Savvy Family for all of your thoughts, prayers and kindness. I can't wait to keep celebrating your successes!!!! Very Happy

Pictures are here: www.public.fotki.com/septemberday

P.S. The line from hell for this gig? "Herbal Essences luscious shampoos, conditioners and styling products" OY!

Connie Terwilliger · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 16:25 (GMT) Post subject:

How utterly excitingly fabulous! Thanks so much for the recap. See, didn't I tell you it would be fun!

Kathleen Keesling · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 17:01 (GMT) Post subject:

I took a look at your pics, September and I realized...YOU WENT TO AN AFTER-PARTY!

How cool!

Cool

Well done! Very Happy

Kara Edwards · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 17:27 (GMT) Post subject:

Great recap September! Thanks for taking the time to write it all out! Congrats again on such a cool gig Smile

Dina Monaco-Boland · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007, 19:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Oh September..... I can't thank you enough for sharing all that excitement with us! That was just thrilling! We all are basking in your joy right now-- just the coolest thing ever!

Thanks for including the pics!

I'll bet on the inside you were all like "oh, my God, oh my God, ohmyGod!" but on the outside you were like, "yeah, I'm cool... I do this all the time"

Loved your recap! Certainly a page turner! I could feel your excitement.

Thanks again... hey, I'm smiling just thinking about it!

Robert Jadah · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 01:18 (GMT) Post subject:

What a sweet treat for us to read that, September.
Thanks for taking the time for your panting co-Savvyers.
Missed most of the forum day, and never had a chance to make my guess, but I thought everything may have been pre-recorded, except for maybe the commercial intros.

That's how I did a comparatively humble awards show two years ago, and then I was on hand as standby for last-minute changes and cancellations.

You were great.
Wait, you still are.

Vaunt On!

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 01:45 (GMT) Post subject:

Gonna go look at the pics in just a moment, but you know what makes me happiest about this whole gig? The fact that one of the nicest people on this forum hit the big time. I met September when she came down to see "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and she was bearing flowers for me. I also had the pleasure of meeting her fiance who must be ENORMOUSLY proud of her, and you couldn't ask for a nicer couple.

'Ember, you KNOW we're all happy for, and proud of, you. But again, what a blessing to know one of the 'good gals' scored!

Caryn Clark · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 02:29 (GMT) Post subject:

Very very cool, September!!!!

Deby Cedars · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 02:48 (GMT) Post subject:

You should post it! I missed watching that although I did see clips of Britney on the news.

Larry Maizlish · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 19:04 (GMT) Post subject:

For those of you who requested the link to the video, this is a repost from a few days ago....

Hi voice talents! Video with VO for you.

Straight from Vegas, here are some rough cuts of the some of the video with September's vo. In no particular order, just some rough video pieces of the show with her vo.

http://www.VoicesOnCall.com/projects/

I can tell you that she did a great job both in what you heard and in her professionalism. Walking into a large production like this, with people running all over the place and things going on left and right can be overwhelming. Just the way she handled herself amongst all the frenzy leading up to the airing of the show was great.

Larry Maizlish

Debbie Deutsch · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007, 21:27 (GMT) Post subject:

Love, love the story! I really enjoy reading about adventures, and experiences....yours was terrific....Thanks for taking the time to share it with us, September Very Happy

Allison Scussel · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007, 02:17 (GMT) Post subject:

Great recap Ember!! Thanks for sharing your experience and being so descriptive. I'm ready to pack my bags & head to Vegas. Luv that city!!

~Ally~

Azd Mamuad · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007, 12:21 (GMT) Post subject: WOW

Great Story!
I left Vegas that Morning.... bummer..
Great Job!
~AZD

Colin Campbell · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007, 13:56 (GMT) Post subject:

Ember... that has to be the one single best post I've ever read on this forum. Talk about inspiration!