In the weeks that followed, I received word that for Valentine’s Day that year, KIIS FM was putting on a special show of Grammy nominees. The awards were going to be held the following week at the Staples Center there in LA. I stared at the list of nominees that had been announced and was pleasantly surprised to see Krystal’s name in the "Best New Artist" category. It was nice that she was finally getting recognition. Everyone at KIIS wanted her to perform at the showcase, but no one could get a hold of Mook. So one afternoon, I called him up. He was shocked to hear from me and I told him what was going on. He was all for it and signed Krystal up without a second thought. My boss was happy with the fact that I had gotten the prime runner for "Best New Artist" to sing at our party. He wanted to give me a raise, but I turned him down telling him that it was only because I was friends with Mook that I was even able to get in touch with him. Then came the kicker.
Mary J. Blige had signed up to sing because she was nominated. Something Krys had told me ages ago stuck with me. She wanted to do a duet with Mary. So when Mary called my show two weeks before the party just to ask for a request I cornered her. I told her that Krystal sang an amazing version of "Real Love" which was Mary’s first big hit. So Mary asked to hear it and I immediately had Andy put in the system and load it to play in the next five minutes. Mary called me back after it played and asked what I wanted her to do. I told her and she agreed, making me promise to keep it a secret from Krystal so it would be a surprise. I assured her it would be the biggest surprise ever.
Just to keep the whole Mary J. Blige thing on the downlow, I talked to the promoters for the party. I asked them to keep Mary’s name off the list so that it would be a surprise for everyone, not just Krystal. They agreed and went to work adjusting things on the flyers and radio ads.
Valentine’s Day came before I was even ready. Our ratings week had just ended the day before and I was going to get my first ratings set for the Los Angeles area the day of the party. So with the ratings coming in and me actually introducing Krystal at the party, I was beyond nervous. I didn’t want to introduce Krystal, but the organizers really wanted me to, so I agreed. I was afraid she was going to recognize me or something.
The party started at four, but I had to be there at two, since I was supposed to be one of the host-types. I was going to be introducing a few other people besides Krystal, including Rick Dees. I had already worked it out with Andy and the show producers that we were going to play a clip of "Disco Duck" when Rick came out, just so I could tease him. Since I had the show right before him, he would constantly tease me when he showed up in the morning. I figured that this was a good way to get him back. That was Rick’s one hit back in the seventies and I teased him about it constantly, quacking like a duck, waddling like a duck, anything I could do to bug him and then I would always ask if I was "ruffling his feathers." I think though that he might expect something to happen, but it wasn’t like I was going to walk out in a giant duck costume, even though Andy and I had discussed it.
At two on the nose, I was there at the entrance with Andy in tow. The big security guard at the back door entrance was standing there with his arms crossed. Andy and I got past the gate security because the two people in blue shirts knew us; they worked at the station. But the guard at the door was hired and attempted to stop me as I walked past him. "I’m sorry miss. You can’t go back there," he told me.
I looked at Andy and then grabbed the KIIS pass strung around my neck. I wagged it in the security guard’s face and asked, though not angrily, "What is this?"
His face fell and he stumbled for words finally choking out "A KIIS pass."
"To be more specific, it’s a DJ KIIS pass. I’m presenting tonight."
"Oh," he replied. "I thought you were a fan. You kinda look like one."
I tilted my head to one side and replied, "Thanks," to the guy at the door and then grabbed Andy’s wrist. "Come on Andy," I said and tugged him inside. We got just inside the door and he stopped, staring at my back. I turned around quickly and asked in an exasperated voice, "What?"
"You do kinda look like a fan," he commented.
I glanced down at my Supergirl tee shirt and black jeans. I then huffed and headed off towards the dressing rooms for the DJs. I wasn’t upset with Andy, and he knew it. I was just stressing over this thing. I certainly didn’t want to run into Krystal before the show. She didn’t even know I was a DJ down here. I knew she listened because Andy had talked to her a couple of times on the phone when she’d call in to request something. She knew Andy had the job down here, but she thought I was someone else. Her and Mook had shown up at a Saturday remote that Andy and I were doing. The station wanted the public to meet us because we were on so late at night. Krystal and Mook had stopped by to say hi. Thankfully Krystal didn’t recognize me then.
I walked out the dressing room ready for my appearances on stage completely lost in thought. That had to be the reason why I walked straight into Mook.
"Hey DJ Dawn," he said, sticking with the act. "I ran into Andy back there and he said you were presenting Miss K tonight."
"Yeah," I replied, "Luck of the draw I guess. You do know it was a random drawing, right? We drew straws."
"Uh huh, sure," Mook said to me. He didn’t believe me, but that was okay. He knew that I hadn’t drawn the straw for Krystal; it had been given to me. I think he could also tell that I was nervous about being in the same space with her.
"Well, um, I’m gonna go talk to the techies about my special surprise I have going on for someone and no, it’s not K." I started to walk away from them, not wanting to talk anymore about me introducing Krystal, but that was not the case. Everyone I ran into who knew about Krys and I had to ask if I was nervous or scared or feeling anything about introducing her. It was like everyone was worrying about it. I was probably more nervous than our event organizers, my boss and everyone else there. I mean, if she recognized me right off, everything was over. But if I knew her, she was so far into her performance routine by now that she didn’t even notice the world around her.
I went over and stood in the wings, waiting. I was the one who got to introduce Rick Dees and I would be doing that soon. Perhaps a little too soon for my liking. Alicia Keys performed, Michelle Branch performed, Eminem performed, and finally it was my turn to introduce Rick. I heard the announcer say, "Host of the KIIS After Hours Party, DJ Dawn!" I walked out there in my flared sparkle black jeans and my red halter top that said KIIS ME in white lettering and stood at the microphone. Smiling at the crowd I glanced at the teleprompter preparing to read.
"So is this what daylight looks like?" I asked the crowd and got some laughs. "As you know, we are here tonight to showcase some of the talented artists you’ll be seeing on next weeks Grammy awards. But we’re also here to honor some of our own. Tonight, I’m here to present a special award to the DJ of the best syndicated, well the only syndicated show we have in our line up. He may claim he only has seven listeners, but we know it’s more like seven million. His show is heard on so many different stations across the country that we’ve lost count who all carries him any more. And the same goes for his top forty countdown. This guy has been in the business a long time, even long enough to record a hit song. Hey Rick do you remember ‘Disco Duck’?" A clip of the song played along with the video on the screen in the background and I caught Rick in the wings laughing. "Now keep in mind, most DJs don’t record songs. We know we can’t sing and that we really shouldn’t be on TV and that’s why we’re in radio. So I’d like to present the life-time achievement award for KIIS FM to Rick Dees." As he walked out, the sound guy again played "Disco Duck" and Rick laughed. Once he got out there, I slipped off stage but did manage to hear him ask where we found that song.
