By Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Covering an album-release party isn't as glamorous as it may sound. Sure, there's a red carpet, screaming fans and flashing photographers, but there's also the inevitably long wait time for the guest of honor.
In last night's case, there were five guests of honor, and the boys of Day26 made sure to turn up fashionably late — it was their party, after all.
The celebration shindig for the quintet's sophomore album, Forever in a Day, was held at the Ed Hardy store in New York. The small venue forced fans to wait outside in the rain, pleading and bargaining with bouncers to let them into the party. While fans were trying to talk their way inside, I found my place on the press line alongside photographers from various outlets. I even got to fool some of the professional photogs into thinking I was a real MTV News writer (and not just a lowly intern).
The party was supposed to start at 9 p.m., and that's when the random splattering of reality-show celebs and football players I'd never heard of started to hit the red carpet — I'll admit I was a little more excited to see Jasleen from "America's Next Top Model" strutting her stuff.
At around 10 there was still no sign of P. Diddy's star protégés, but another "Making the Band" alum, Dawn Richard from crumbling girl group Danity Kane, showed up to support her castmates. Richard kept it casual in a black leather jacket and form-fitting green skirt and was all smiles on the carpet. While Dawn wouldn't dish on the state of DK, she did tell me she wrote a song called "Perfectly Blind" for the Day26 album. And she even hinted at an upcoming solo effort.
"I've been talking to Keri [Hilson], that's my homie. We've been planning on doing something," she said. "Her and Chrisette [Michele]. That's my friend."
Richard went on to say that she's really proud of Day26 and that she was like an "oracle" of advice for the boys during this tumultuous "Making the Band" season.
We all saw the fights and screaming matches between the guys on the small screen, but when the five-man group finally showed up to celebrate the release of their combined efforts, they were all smiles.
The scrum of photographers and reporters got crazy chaotic when the group posed on the red carpet. I was all geared up to ask some brilliant questions about the album and, of course, who would win in a battle of the boy bands, the "MTB" quintet or the Jonas Brothers — but all I got was a smile and a wave from the group's resident troublemaker, Que.