View from the VMAs: A Miley Cyrus bottleneck

updated 10:15 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Getting inside this year’s MTV Video Music Awards might be more difficult than getting discovered in Hollywood. First, audience members actually have to score a ticket to the show. Then, they have to wade through security and be escorted through Paramount Studios — past the sound stage where “Dr. Phil” is filmed and down a faux New York City street — to Stage 16.

Here’s an up-to-the-minute account of what’s going down inside the VMAs:

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4:08 p.m.: The doors to Paramount Studios have opened. At first, audience members with cameras are turned away, but there are so many people with cameras that security relents and lets them through anyway. Folks are separated into two lines. One is headed to Stage 16, where the awards will be handed out and performers including Paramore and Rihanna will entertain. The other line goes to Paramount’s outdoor water tank sound stage where the Jonas Brothers and Pink will perform.

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4:10 p.m.: Wearing a red velvet blazer, T.I. zooms past audience members waiting to be ushered to Stage 16. He’s being chauffeured in the back of a golf cart. It’s the first and last celebrity sighting before a production assistant begins to lead the long trek to Stage 16. Unlike T.I., they will all be walking to the show.

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4:16 p.m.: Signs pointing to Stage 16 are posted along the journey. Just past the “Dr. Phil” sound stage is a restroom labeled “last chance.” Nobody goes for it. Past the outdoor set that doubles for New York City, another restroom is labeled “very last chance.” Several folks ditch the horde of audience members for a bathroom break.

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4:18 p.m.: Inside, Stage 16 has been transformed with a shiny T-shaped stage and several reflective panels. On one side of the makeshift auditorium is a large screen projecting footage from the red carpet outside. On the other is mirror-covered spiral staircase. Will host Russell Brand descend from it? Large glowing old-school MTV logos hang behind the risers. The whole setting feels intimate.

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Slide show   MTV Video Music Awards Britney shines in silver, Rihanna rocks, Russell Brand mocks. more photos

4:20 p.m.: Servers pass out — and several drop — glasses of champagne. Audrina Patridge from “The Hills” is one of the first celebrities to arrive inside the sound stage. She downs a glass. The audience quickly beings to fill up with celebrities and non-celebrities alike. Chris Brown tries to take a seat, but he’s surrounded by people.

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5:48 p.m.: “Hey everybody, please take your seats!” stage manager Debbie Williams yells on the microphone. “Thanks.”

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6:02 p.m.: The crowd gives a standing ovation to Britney Spears. After she delivers her introduction, she’s ushered down off the stage. Seconds later, a group of dancers followed by Rihanna — who appears to be popping out of some sort of cake — emerges from the center aisle. During the high-energy number, several dancers break away to slip under the stage off camera.

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6:10 p.m.: Bottleneck! While Russell Brand is delivering his monologue, Miley Cyrus and Russell Simmons (and their respective entourages) are waiting in the aisle to take their seats. Cyrus doesn’t crack a smile at Brand’s very anti-Bush opening. Cyrus and Simmons are not alone. Several swarms of other people are standing in the aisles trying to get to their seats.

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6:16 p.m.: Jamie Foxx drops an expletive! The crowd giggles.

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6:30 p.m.: While the Jonas Brothers croon outside, some folks watch them on the jumbo screen inside Stage 16. Others mingle. Meanwhile, Lil Wayne’s DJ equipment is being set up and Katy Perry joins DJ AM and Travis Barker on a small stage next to one of the risers. Immediately after the Jonases finish, Perry begins belting out “Like a Virgin.” No one is mingling. Everyone is watching.

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6:40 p.m.: Michael Phelps receives a standing ovation, but he speaks so low, hardly anyone can hear him.

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6:45 p.m.: Nobody has a problem hearing Leona Lewis, T-Pain and Lil Wayne during their three-ring performance. Several people stand and rock out throughout the performance. However, the audience does have an issue with the fractured award show’s many moving parts. Nobody is exactly sure where to look because so much of the show isn’t actually happening on the stage.

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6:48 p.m.: Time for some more Hollywood magic! While Lindsay Lohan and Ciara hand out more Moon Men, a set is being erected on stage that resembles the Sunset Strip rock enclave the Whisky a Go Go. Paramore slip into the enclosure during a commercial break and test out their instruments. Young fans gather in front of lead singer Hayley Williams.

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