As the first wave of celebs washes ashore, one starlet of a sort decides to make good use of the unclaimed spotlight.

"Access Hollywood" correspondent Shaun Robinson takes to the carpet and poses in an animal print dress for the still unoccupied dozens of photographers in the camera pen, pirouetting and glowering suggestively until suddenly, the show's host, Craig Ferguson appears, cracking wise to the crowd.

On cue, photographers whip their cameras to the right for Ferguson, leaving nary a lens pointing at Shaun. Not taking the hint, she continues to pose and pout until, unable to lure back a single camera, she stalks off.



I decide to follow one celeb in her journey down the carpet.

Cobie Smulders, star of TV's "How I Met Your Mother" starts her march looking radiant in a long floor length aqua gown.

A publicist guides her to the first TV camera crew, who ask her about her dress. She explains that she injured her ankle in a "laser tag scene" on the show and needed a full-length dress to hide the repairs to the injury. She found this one and thought, "This feels great."

At the next stop, a TV reporter asks about her dress and how she picked it out. Cobie answers, "The most important thing is how it looks and feels on you. I like curvy." She is then asked about her hair. She gamely fields the question, still smiling enchantingly, while managing to sound natural and unaffected.

CNN congratulates Cobie and asks her how she put together her outfit. She tells about her injury and good fortune in finding the gown. The TV Guide Channel asks her what it's like to be here, nominated for a People's Choice Award. "Crazy. Very surreal, but its been a blast." she says. "Inside Edition" and AP TV ask about her dress.

Behind her, a line of celebrities has formed waiting their turn to be interviewed. Across the carpet, Donald Sutherland waves and shakes hands with the crowd on the bleachers. VH1 asks Cobie what this is like. I see her energy, her smile ebbing just a tiny bit at the edges, and think about her wounded ankle. The crowd shrieks as Dominic Monaghan from "Lost" arrives.

Cobie tells another reporter that sushi is her favorite food. "ET Canada" and a "Mad TV" team all take their shots at her before she poses for the still photographers. It's hard to describe how unnerving it is hearing a hundred photographers yelling at one young woman, "Cobie, Up Here! TO THE RIGHT!! THE RIGHT!!!" as a lightning storm of flashes explodes.

By the end, Cobie seems to have had enough. Smile almost entirely extinguished, she skips the print press pen and goes inside.