Ok, technically I'm not a 'Die Hard' Autograzzi. From my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, an 'autograzzi' is the sharpie-in-hand version of a paparazzi. That's to say they're where the celebrities are... all the time. At the hotel. At a premiere. At a restaurant. At a club. They're always there and waiting being tipped off who's inside, who's coming or who's about to check-in. I don't get all that information. But I've stepped up my game in recent months. Namely because come May, I won't be in London any longer and I won't be doing this (silly and questionable) hobby. I do a bit of research, read the papers, talk to the paps and the pure, true 'autograzzi' to get some information. But if they've done me a favour, I don't get in their way. I want an autograph, maybe two. They want 6, 7 or 10. I let them get a couple, then I step in, see what I can get, then step out of the stampede.
Recently, I've had THE busiest week. I think I finally sympathise will my paparazzi friend Hughie. He's been doing the whole paparazzi thing for years. If you've read my blog you'll know who Hughie is. I've mentioned him before and just a few weeks ago I dedicated a post just to him. Hughie doesn't get autographs, he gets photographs. I try and do both. I like to get an autograph and then try and get a photo of them signing or looking up and then I'll put that in a nice frame with the auotograph and list when and where it was taken. It's a hobby. A very tiring one if this week is anything to go by.
I think the week I crossed the boundary. I've gone from 'hobby collector' to 'Autograzzi' (a term Hughie uses and one that's rubbed off on me). I got to work early on Monday morning (too early) so I could leave for 90 minutes for an 'appointment'. This is something I've NEVER done before. But I came in early to work the time that I knew I'd be out of the office for. I went to wait for Kevin Spacey. He's one on my top 10 to get an autograph from. For those of you that know, I live in London. Kevin's currently doing theatre just down the road from my work office. You'd think he'd be easy enough to get on the 2 photos I want signed - one he's holding an Oscar the other is a movie still from 'The Negotiator' (a film I've watched too many times to remember). But no. Mr Spacey refuses to sign non-theatre merchandise at stage door. All fair and good, but I've seen him turn people away with photos and DVD covers and they've come from the States or Europe to watch and meet him. A few broken hearts no doubt.
Monday (31st March, 2008) - I was waiting for Kevin in the morning (or so I thought) when I'd been there about 20 minutes and was told he had 'pre-recorded' his interview. I was in a little bit of shock. The man lives a 10 minute walk from the studio. He lives in London. He pre-recorded?! There were a few annoyed collectors to say the least. Me especially because trying to get this man to sign my two photos in the past 4 months has been the bane of my existence! Plus, I'd gotten up early to go to work so I could leave. Alas, no luck.
But all was not lost. The bonus came (and for me, this was even more exciting than a 2 time Oscar winner I've been running around London for) was that a Bee Gee... an original Bee Gee... was due to turn up. About 30 minutes after the 'bad news' Robin Gibb pulled up. He was running a little late so he didn't sign but said he'd do it on the way out. True to his word, he did. What a lovely and approachable man. Plus, he grew up in my home town in Australia, so he and I were 'chatting' about Brisbane. He asked where I was from and it turns out he grew up only 2 suburbs away. I managed to get my photo with him and I scored two autographs (one is for my younger cousin who's also a fan), so all was not lost.Tuesday (April 1st)- I took in the play Kevin's starring in with Jeff Goldblum. It's called 'Speed-The-Plow' and if you're in London... Go and see this play! It was just phenomanal. Well worth the money for a ticket. Thought in process... actually, I believe it's sold out but standing tickets are still available and it's only 90 minutes long, so that's a decent amount of time to not sit. After the play I went to stage door where I managed to get Jeff and Kevin to sign my programme. When Kevin signed I said something like 'You look more alive and at ease on that stage than any film I've seen you in' to which he looked up at me and said 'Oh, well thank you'. The look he gave me was one that he seemed he appreciated the comment. I didn't want to ask Mr Spacey to sign my photos, though in hindsight, it was a quiet night for stage door, so I wonder if he would've done it, especially after the reaction he gave me. I guess I'll never know.
Wednesday (April 2nd)- This was the night of the premiere for the new Martin Scorsese rockumentary 'Shine A Light' about the Rolling Stones' last tour. I heard Scorsese had cancelled, so it was just the four boys from the band turning up. When I say 'just' that's because I was a little disappointed one of the world's greatest directors wasn't making an appearance. I managed to see the band - Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie - and pulled off a quick few photos. I would've had a great shot of the four of them, but as usual, a PA was in the way. Ah, this is why I need a press pass!
Mick came over and signed and he would've signed for me but an 'autograzzi' went over me and that was the last signature he did in my area (he only did about five). Keith walked directly over to me, made eye contact and then at the last minute, took a detour and started 5 people to my left. Why? Why, Keith.... WHY?!? Granted, he looked a little off his rocker. Ronnie, who's usually very good with signing didn't do anything but Charlie, bless his soul came over and had a little chat and posed and signed my two photos and the movie poster I'd hung up on the barrier.
(Damn P.A! This would've made for a nice photo otherwise!)
After the premiere was over, I had just over an hour to kill before one of country music's biggest name's was due to appear. Kris Kristofferson was in town and I just HAD to meet him! I jumped on a bus and took the 20 minute journey to the concert venue where I waited for him to come out. And waited. And waited some more. After the concert, there were about 40 fans waiting at his tour bus and about 60 over by stage door. Unfotunately, they weren't close enough to stand between the two. You could walk between them, but you had to choose... one or the other. The bus or the door.
As the time drifted away and a lot of the fans gave up and security advised us that 'Mr Kristofferson had left', I didn't like my chances. The only good thing was that the tour bus was there... and I figure he had to get on it. Yeah, I had to go to work in the morning but come on... Kris Kristofferson! I had gotten the autograph from his support act at stage door so I was (stupidly) standing there. The next thing I know, about 7 people high tailed it to the bus, so I went with them. I rounded the corner to see this silver haired man being flocked by a see of colours. Autograph collectors, most of them fans, were getting Kris' autograph. I ran up behind them (there was only about 15 people by this time) and Kris was still signing. Phew! And he signed and signed.
His security was trying to rush him on the bus, but he just kept signing. It was apparently the first and only time he'd signed after a concert because normally he got straight on the tour bus. It looked like I was about to miss him and I asked my friend to get my autograph because he'd gotten his stuff done and I hadn't gotten Kris yet, so he reached over and got one of my photos. As I was talking to my friend his security overhead me say 'No, I haven't gotten him yet' to my friend and said 'Kris, sign for this lady and that lady and then we'll get on the bus'. So Kris signed my two other photos - slowly, full signature - and then he signed about 3 more for others before boarding the bus. By the time I got home, it was 1:30am.
Thurdsay (April 3rd) - After finishing work I took in another show on the West End. I went to see the new musical (by new, I mean it just opened in London recently) 'Hairspray'. Wow! What a show! It'll have to you clapping your hands and tapping your feet and if you don't leave here with that 'feel good' feeling, then clearly, you're just not human! I would've liked to have done stage door, but Mariah was in town and she was finishing a TV taping, so I didn't know what time she was due back. It was anyone's guess. I figure I'd do stage door another time (which I've since done) and go and check out her hotel (wonderfully published in the paper, thus making my research easy).
I arrived to find about 10 other autograph collectors and about 3 paparazzi. I thought 'Hmm... that's kinda quiet', but stuck around none-the-less.
Now remember, 6 months ago, I never did hotels and restaurants, so this is all still very new to me. After waiting here for about an hour or more we found out she was at a restaurant around the corner. So I walked up there (only a 2 minute hike) and found about 10 paparazzi and about 15 fans waiting and was told she'd gone into the restaurant 30 mintues earlier and signed and posed. Bummer!
So, I decided to play the waiting game for the second night in a row. I mean, she's a small woman, how long can it take to eat a meal? Well, you'd be surprised! At about 2:10am she emerged and posed infront of a collaboration of '18' balloons (signifying her 18th Number 1 hit) for the waiting paparazzi. I was standing right by the door so she had to pass me to get in the car. I thought my chances of an autograph there were good. Unfortunately I had to get past her burly bodyguard. My God, did he do his job good! As I hadn't planned to go anywhere after the theatre, I didn't have my good camera on me. I always carry a disposable and the result isn't too bad...
No luck at the restaurant, though she did do a couple of autographs. I then high-tailed it back to the hotel and as I was running there, her car sped past me and I thought 'I'm not gonna make it!'. I rounded the corner and figured she'd already be getting papped... but she hadn't even gotten out of the car. She must've sat it in a few minutes before she got out.And then it hit.
Mass hysteria. Pandamoneium. Pure, absolute madness. Out of nowhere the crowd expanded 10 fold. This woman literally stopped traffic.
I have never in my life, seen anything like it... and I've seen some things! Her bodyguard was blocking her good as she got out of the car, but Mariah was nice enough to reach over and sign some autographs. At this point I was standing right by the hotel door entance and thought 'Ok, I'll let the paps go first', but I saw her signing and realised it was being done in reverse. Sign now. Pap later. So... I got in there. I had to fight with her bodyguard to get in there, but she signed my photo. There's even a photo of me on WENN getting my autograph. Ok, let's be honest... the photo's of Mariah, but that's my silver sharpie she's holding as she's signing my photo with the yellow sticky note attached!
Ah... 4 hours waiting and finally... success! Worth it? It's not the greatest autograph and it was rushed but yeah, it's Mariah Carey. When will I see her again?
The funniest part of the night (and this would've made it worthwhile had I not gotten an autograph) is when a crazy fan wanted to give her a letter because she was a 'songwriter' who Mariah owed money to. This lady was booed and yelled and sworn at by both Mariah's staff and her fans. 'Mariah writes all her own songs. She don't owe you shit!'. She was persisent. 'Give her this letter. It's got my number. She owes me money. I'm a songwriter. We're gonna settle this in court!' to which the crowd burst out laughing... and she proceeded to stomp off down the street. I tell ya, you just can't script that stuff! Free entertainment at it's best!
So all-in-all it had been a busy. I've dipped my feet into the 'autograzzi' water and it's been a success. Though, I doubt I could do this all the time. Chasing and yelling and staying out until God knows when. It's all a little bit uncertain and you don't always get what you want. I'm now feeling the after affects though. I'm tired and worn out. I'm trying to concetrate at my job (I actually work during the day. Remember... this is just a hobby!) and I'm thinking about the next few days. I wonder if they'll slow down for me. I doubt it. George Clooney has a premiere next week and his good buddy Matt Damon's filming about town.
And to think, this was just 'a week in the life'....
Hughie, how do you do it?!?
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