Harry Potter Premiere: You are There!

What if you won a Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban contest by catching a gold ping pong ball labeled the Golden Snitch or maybe you successfully answered a Potter trivia quiz? Then you got to pick three friends to go to New York with you to attend the World Premiere of the new "Harry" film? Who would you choose? Who would you have to leave out? That was the dilemma for several young Potter fans and TeenHollywood was there with them and their chosen pals as they boarded a bus to take them from a posh hotel opposite Central Park to famous Radio City Music Hall for the opening of the long-awaited film. Come along.....

It's a muggy afternoon for Muggles as the bus pulls up at Radio City and the noise is deafening! There are several thousand screaming Potter fans lining the sidewalks around the theater waiting for the arrivals of the cast and filmmakers. Decorating the marquee and inside lobbies of the famed showplace are huge blow up "balloons" of Aunt Marge, whom Harry magically bloats to several times her size in the film. Inside, we are impressed by the large, refurbished theater. The place seats about 7,000 and there were at least 6,000 attending the premiere.

After getting bumped and pushed outside, your reporter decides to go inside to our seat and watch the stars arrive in a live telecast projected onto the huge theater screen. The Music Hall, where the famous Rockettes perform, has three tiered balconies which are filling up fast as we grab our free popcorn and drink and take our seat down in the orchestra section. Bags of Potter gift goodies are on our seats.. a "Muggle" t-shirt, lots of Potter candies and a Lego kit for the Knight Bus Harry takes to escape the Dursleys in the film. 15-year-old Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) arrives outside wearing white tee and jeans. His ginger-colored hair is a lot longer than in the films and he's mobbed by the crowd but doesn't seem to mind as he poses for pictures, signs homemade Gryffindor posters and films a greeting to the fans inside the theater. We see him shaking the hand of a New York City policeman. He's overheard saying that he's usually only recognized sometimes in England but the American fans prove him wrong as they scream and try to pounce!

Harry himself, 14-year-old Daniel Radcliffe arrives and says he just can't get used to all the fan frenzy but it's really gratifying. Dan is several inches taller than we last saw him and is headed for mega-major hunkdom! He looks gorgeous in dark pin-stripe suit and dark blue shirt. Emma Watson, 14, can't believe the turn out in the streets, especially in the muggy 80-plus weather and was grateful to fans who had camped out or stood on the streets all day. She looks very "teen queen" in a beautiful light-brownish summer dress by Lanvin that shows off her new more grown up figure. She joins Dan and Rupert for a group photo.

Evil Malfoy, Tom Felton, is almost unrecognizable without his shock of white hair. The young actor looks very modern in a short, spikey do and is very friendly, unlike his character. Other cast members, Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Alan Rickman (Snape), Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney), actors who play the Weasley family etc. all arrive to more screams.

We also spot Leelee Sobieski, Eva Amurri with her mom Susan Sarandon and step-dad Tim Robbins, rapper/actor L.L. Cool J and his family, Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas and tons of other celebs along with Director Alfonso Cuaron, who admits he had to take a crash course in all things "Potter" before directing "Azkaban", and now he's totally hooked! The director gives Daniel a big hug and joins his young cast members for pics. Finally, hugging and waving, Emma, Dan, Rupert and other cast and filmmakers enter the theater.

Inside, fans totally ignore the "no pictures" warning and snap away, scrambling desperately to get a pic of their heroes. The soundtrack from the film plays in the background while we wait for the movie to start. No one seems to want to sit down as necks are craned to see where the stars will sit. Fans are made happy by the CEO of Warner Brothers films who introduces the entire cast (at least those who made it to the premiere) on stage one by one. Again, cameras flash as the gang stands in front of us, wishing us a very happy movie experience. The stage is cleared, the lights dim and we get ready to watch Harry, Hermione and Ron confront Sirius Black and the Dementors!

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.