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Marc Malkin

EXCLUSIVE: Read it here first...

Live from the VMA Red Carpet

Sun., Sep. 7, 2008 3:54 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Courtesy MTV

MTV's Video Music Awards are going to be hot. Literally. It feels like 100 degrees on the red carpet here on the Paramount lot in Hollywood.

But the hot topic for the day: Britney Spears! Will she walk the carpet? Is she going to perform? Or, perhaps, is she going to open the show atop an elephant?

Yes, there is an elephant being hosed down outside the awards. And remember, there was an elephant in Spears and host Russell Brand's promo spots for the show, as in "the elephant in the room."

The red carpet is about to start. Read on for all the highlights....

It's 3:10 p.m. and the first "celebrities" just walked onto the carpet. But who are they? Um, cast members from Real World Hollywood: Britney, Joey, Will and NIck.

I wouldn't usually wanna talk to them, but it's getting a bit boring on the carpet, so why not? Maybe they've seen the real Britney...

Well, they haven't. Britney (the Real World one) wants Spears to perform. "I love Britney," Britney says. "I love her music. I love everything about her."

Nick, on the otherhand, thinks Kanye West will be quite upset if Spears performs because she'll definitely take the focus away from his closing show number. "Kanye will cry like a girl," Nick said.

The carpet is hardly rockin' but there's Mel B. She's in a short little sparkly dress and matching killer heels. Looks like she 's still got her Dancing with the Stars body. Her husband must be melting. He's in a full suit and tie.

Stephaie Pratt is here. She looks way Amanda Bynes. Unbelievably, Pratt is NOT doing any press. Excuse me? Stephanie, friggin, Pratt ain't talkin'! What in the world is going on.