Margaritas With Mario

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:37:42 +0000

Now I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve always considered R&B rookie, Mario, a young buck — but despite his PG-rating, Mouseketeer potential, and cornball tendencies, I still think he’s a little cutey. This picture floating around the blogosphere didn't hurt, either. So when VIBE and Vixen staffers were invited to join him for happy hour last week, I rallied up the troops and headed to the W Hotel in Union Square but couldn’t help thinking that Dave-And-Busters might be a more appropriate venue for our underage host. The swanky, dimly lit lounge felt more like a date spot than a place for an artist meet-and-greet but we ordered our first round of cocktails and chilled, half-expecting Mario to pop lock his way over to us any second. We were one drink into the night when he finally sauntered over – sans choreographed routine — to our couch to join us. He looked relaxed in his crisp denim and kicks, chewing on some gum as he chatted with his publicist. What impressed me the most? The fact that the thick rope around his neck was tucked discreetly into his hoodie. No need to floss for us. He slipped into the booth looking like he couldn’t be more comfortable enveloped by a flock of hot chicks — the dudes in our crew held down the perimeter so as not to appear too eager to meet the young heartthrob. We chatted casually with him for a while asking him about his day – he spent it promoting his upcoming third album, Go, which drops July 31st. Then somehow the conversation shifted and it seemed he was suddenly turned the tables on us. He turned to my pretty, 22-year-old intern and asked,” So what kind of guys do you like?” as if they were the only two in the room. I snickered to myself and waited for her response. She was taken a little off guard and gave him some bullshit answer, cheeks flushed. He chatted her up for a few more minutes and then turned his attention to the cutey on his left — our EIC’s 20-year-old assistant. Never breaking her gaze he worked his magic, a hand on the shoulder here, a subtle smile there. He even attempted to feed her one of the meatballs he was munching on…with his hands. Hilarious! Then he reaches across the table to grab our beauty editor’s hand. “I love your ring,” he gushes. She innocently takes the bait and shoots the breeze for a minute or two, until his attention averts to his next conquest. I’m absolutely loving this! To see our composed and always-professional vixens (who interact with celebs and artists on the daily) blushing and giggling with the 20-year-old singer. I’ve got to give it to him — he knows how to work a room full of woman. He’s a natural flirt...and we can't help but love it. I won't even attempt to blame it on the alcohol because he certainly wasn’t tipsy from the H2O he sipped all night. The plain and simple truth: he’s his own best publicist. After a few more rounds, he asked who would be accompanying him for the rest of the evening and simply got a chorus of laughter in return. All’s fair in innocent cocktail coquette but at the end of the day, I guess Mario is still “Just A Friend”…

Byte Marks

Margaritas With Mario