After nearly having a nervous breakdown during my first red carpet experience last year, I vowed it would never happen again.  So when I got another shot at interviewing celebs at the GLAAD Media Awards (alongside the fine folks at MoxieQ.com), I did my homework so I wouldn’t be so manic.  And took a couple of horse tranquilizers to take the edge off.

This year’s event in NYC seemed to go remarkably smooth.  I didn’t swear, fart or black out.  And, more importantly, I didn’t get in to verbal fisticuffs with any of the red carpet stars.  (Screw you, Mike O’Malley AND your stupid hat.  He was the BANE of my existence last year.)

The weird thing about being an interviewer on the red carpet for MoxieQ.com is that you’re crushed right up next to 64 other interviewers and photographers and other media peeps … all jockeying for position.  One false step and you might potentially miss an important celebrity, or worse, lose them to another media outlet.   And you’ve never really lived until you’ve tried to carry on a conversation with a mundane writer from The Seattle Lesbian News.

Last night I duked it out with … a giant support beam.  I was literally standing next to an enormous cement pole for the duration of the arrivals.  It was dumb blind luck … because the stars would walk around the corner and I would literally pounce on them with microphone in hand before their publicists could shoo me away.

Screaming, chaos and flashbulbs rule the red carpet.  The bigger the star, the more mayhem there is.  When Vinnie from Jersey Shore arrived, the place went berserk.  Seems reality TV propelled this kid in to another universe.  When the kids from Glee poked their heads out for a photo op, you would have thought Ricky Martin had arrived.

Some stars traipse down the red carpet without talking to anyone.  Padma Lakshmi from Top Chef … I’m talking to you.  I had some particularly riveting questions since I’ve never missed an episode of your stupid show.  Talk show host Wendy Williams was another who was shuttled down the red carpet before most of us got to talk to her.  Bummer.

The best interviews are the ones that happen organically, where the star is as cool and engaging as you thought they’d be.  The worst interviews are the ones where the sniveling publicists attack you with their nails to try to get you to cut the interview short.

Who were my fave interviews from this weekend?  Want the real dirt?  It’s all coming up in Part II!  And there’s plenty more ahead on MoxieQ!  Stay tuned!