My Night at MTV VMAs and the So-Called Afterparty - Wall Street Journal (blog)

By Alexandra Cheney

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Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas (L) and singer Alicia Keys onstage during the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

Traffic. It’s a reality in Los Angeles. Thursday night there were two accidents on the freeway and two more on major surface streets that led to just the right amount of Southern California panic, this reporter included. We knew it was going to be a hustle to get to the MTV VMAs on time.

We opted out of the red carpet this year, seeing as our experience last time around left much to be desired. Instead we headed straight to the show.

Once in the Staples Center, wristband on and ticket in hand, we discovered that our phone only worked near the concession stand, which proved a little tricky considering we were contributing to the live blog. But the show, and the blog, must go on.

Dialed in with a drink, kettle corn and phone at the ready, we were seated directly across from the stars and presenters, without a doubt ensuring we would not overhear a thing. But with the long rows of the Staples Center, it felt like a church service at times, with plenty of standing up and sitting down.

The event started on time and ended barely five minutes late, with Taylor Swift offering up red lips and attitude during her performance of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

The official MTV afterparty was held at the Hollywood Palladium, a 20-minute jaunt from the Staples Center. We tuned into President Obama’s DNC speech en route and quickly came to find Pauly D from “Jersey Shore” and Olympic-gold medalist Gabby Douglas were the only stars attending said afterparty.

After his DJ’ed set, our attempts to chat with Pauly D were skirted by security who told us to “just go have a good time and I’ll work on getting him” and then by his flack, (three bodyguards and a publicist) who told us he had to go perform at Chateau Marmont and then board a plane first thing in the morning to Canada.

Gold-medal winning Olympian Gabby Douglas was happy to pose for photos but less excited to chat. We don’t blame her for finding the venue a bit loud for conversation.

We retrieved our one free non-alcoholic beverage from the cash bar and wondered if we should have hopped a ride to the Chateau with Pauly D.