The Magic Carpet Ride

When we arrived at the Emmys, we had to go through a security check before heading onto the red carpet. Another thing I had done before the event was to purchase some Spanx, which served two functions. One was the intended purpose of smoothing out my various bumps and bulges.

The second was even more important—providing a (hopefully) indetectable means for smuggling in a second camera, in case they confiscated the digital one in my purse, as the rules we received said they would. (The Spanx-cam was disposable and plastic, so wouldn't set off the detectors.) Fortunately, the extra precaution proved unnecessary. The guard was asking everyone to open their purses before going through, and I had the camera pushed into a corner, with a large pile of Kleenex on top of it, and a bag of makeup on top of that. I also had my cellphone in there (those weren't prohibited for some reason), so I could show them that if the purse did set off the detectors. But when the guard looked at it, I just pulled out the makeup bag and said, "this is my patch kit," and she laughed and said she knew all about that! And then I was in!

Once we got through the detectors, there were two possible routes along the red carpet. The one to the left was for us nobodies, and the one to the right was for the celebrities and nominees. That's the one you see on TV with all the interview booths from Entertainment Tonight, Extra, etc. Of course, that's the one we all wanted to go down.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the right moves to get past the security guards (a few of our group did manage to slip through). I might have been able to do it except I made the (now) obvious mistake of holding the entrance ticket in my hand—a dead giveaway that I was not one of the invited ranks. We waited a bit longer in the area to see if we could make another attempt and, while there, I saw Rebecca Romjin and Jerry O'Connell come through (talk about your gorgeous couple!). Tony Bennett also walked right by us. But after a few minutes, I didn't want to risk missing the walk altogether so I accepted my lowly status and headed to the left.

We were then walking beside the main route, separated by ropes (but still technically on a red carpet). Before we got there, Christine had advised us to walk as slowly as possible, since once we got inside the auditorium, we wouldn't be able to come back out. That was easier said than done, since there was a huge contingent of security personnel whose entire purpose was to keep us moving in a forward direction. However, I did manage to learn the trick of moving a few steps forward, then to the side, then backwards a bit, to extend the experience as long as possible.

It was hard at first to see many of the celebs on the carpet, because of the throngs of people bustling around. I did manage to catch glimpses of Vanessa Williams, Katherine Heigl, Edie Falco, T.R. Knight, and Mary-Louise Parker. And once I got further down the carpet, I was able to see more stars, as they paused before entering the building. I had been told not to try to take any pictures until later, so I didn't take out my camera at first. But later I realized that plenty of other people were taking pics, so I decided to take my chances as well. (This was the plus side of taking the alternate route—I never would have been able to do this if I'd made it in through the celebrity entrance.)

The first one I captured was (of all people!) one of the Baldwin brothers. I'm not sure which one, except I know it wasn't Alec. :)

Next installment: Even more glamour!