MTV Video Music Awards (Part 2)

Thank you for all your emails about my report from the VMAs in Miami. So cool! I want to give a special shout out to the folks at Gawker who featured the story on Monday and called it "one of the few genuine run-downs."

There are few more noteworthy leftovers to report from the show:

Alicia Keys will be publishing a book of poetry in November.

Rapper Lil' Jon will work on songs with Korn and Good Charlotte. "Rock and rap have the same level of energy. It makes sense for us to collaborate," he told me.

Teenstar Jojo is amazingly confident for the of age 13. She admitted that Britney Spears has been a major inspiration and that she wanted to make it in music business since she was 8. When she was asked what the hardest thing is about being young and popular she told reporters that it is really difficult finding the right guys to date. "Everybody wants to date a number one singer," she said.

Kanye West worked with Mariah Carey on her forthcoming new album. He wrote the song "Stay The Night." He was surprised she didn't pick the song as her first single. He added that his taste is often very different from other artists. "It was hard for me to find somebody that liked rapping on 'Jesus Walks.' Come on ! Can you believe that?," he said. West also announced his own clothing line called "Pastel."

The Granddaddy of rap LL Cool J made the most political statement of the night by advocating international involvement in Iraq. "We don't want people to hate America," he said.

Latina actress Eva Mendez is a self-admitted, obsessive Strokes fan. She makes a cameo in the group's upcoming video "The End Has No End" from their last CD.

Singer Ben Jelen told me on the Red Carpet how happy he is to be part of the "Wake Up" project that encourages young people to vote. "It is an extremely important issue and you can't stress it enough," he said. Jelen contributed the song "Talkin’ Bout A Revolution" to the forthcoming "Wake Up" album.

There were a few of you curious about the MTV hottie I was referring to in Part 1 of this story. I still have been unable to confirm his identity. All I got was a grainy snap of him.

(Photos: Naomi Campbell, Jet's Chris Cester, Michelle Branch, Marilyn Manson, Lil' Kim)