Levi Johnston, the Playgirl coverboy, and Brittani Senser sure don't appear nervous in the steamy bedroom scene they did for the Minnesota singer-songwriter's video "After Love."

On Tuesday I drove to the Maple Grove offices of Senser's managers to get a sneak peek at the visually beautiful video shot in August at a Los Angeles mansion. E! News has bought the rights to debut the video worldwide in the next couple of weeks.

"We were looking at them and kind of talking about that bedroom scene," said Thurl Belfrey, who with his brother Roy Belfrey runs MN Finest, the company producing and managing Senser. "They were a little nervous. We kept 'Entertainment Tonight' there and said 'Everybody else, out.' We said, 'Levi, you've got to take your shirt off.'"

A concerned look came to the eyes of the famous unwed dad, who buffed up for Playgirl magazine but didn't show off any naughty bits.

Nevertheless, "He took it off," said Belfrey, "and Brittani straddled him. He [Levi] said, This video just got a lot hotter."

The video heat is somewhat diffused because the bedroom scene is shown in brief flashbacks during which you see more of Senser's sculpted derriere than Johnston's shirtless chest.

"It got pretty hot in that room when we shot that," said Belfrey.

Way I hear it, a couple of days before the shoot there was an innocent warmup session during which the attractive video co-stars spent time together in a Jacuzzi. This was the night before they excited the paparazzi by showing up together at the Teen Choice Awards. Johnston had just gotten ungaged to Alaska's most famous unwed teenage mother, Bristol Palin, who is raising their child when she's not shakin' it for ABC's "Dancing With The Stars."

Most of the steam from the video couple's Jacuzzi time came from the hot tub, despite the best efforts of gossips like Perez Hilton, who've speculated about a romance. Senser has not been to Alaska, so that "romantic getaway to Levi's home" about which Perez blogged never happened, Belfrey told me.

Senser and Johnston probably got much closer to each other in that bed than they did in the hot tub.

After seeing the video, I thought Johnston probably should have paid Senser's label, L.A.-based Bungalo Records, for the privilege of being included. All Johnston is required to do is wrap his arms around Senser, caress her (and Senser does a fair amount of that to herself), and gently touch, kiss and snuggle her in scenes set inside and outside a bedroom.

"Nice work if you can get it," George Gershwin might say.

Belfrey said Johnston was thoroughly professional: "This guy just went to work. That police scene was shot at 4 in the morning. Levi never complained."

When I asked Belfrey what Senser said about Johnston's kissing skills, Thurl said: "Gentle, great, kind."

Not just any kiss Brittani Senser's going to have to come up with some better descriptors for Levi Johnston's osculating abilities.

With E! News reportedly planning a rollout for "After Love" as lavish as its worldwide release of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video with Beyonce, Senser is probably going to be all over the cable channel.

Off the top of my head, I imagine Senser getting face time with at least three of E!'s big stars: Chelsea Handler, Ryan Seacrest and one or more Kardashian.

In an interview on "Chelsea Lately," Senser will be pressed for bedroom scene details and probably asked if they've had sex. The very direct Handler will also find unique ways to discuss the similarities between Johnston's personal life and the video's plot about a young woman with a manipulative, well-connected mother (who didn't appear to be a governor) trying to thwart her daughter's romance. Senser reportedly wrote the song before baby Tripp was conceived.

No-show Jordan A last-minute emergency prevented Michael Jordan's presence at the 2010 Trent Tucker Non-Profit fund-raiser for youth programs.

Estee Portnoy, Jordan's manager calling from Charlotte where Jordan is majority owner of the Bobcats, said, "He planned on being there, loves the event, but unfortunately had a last-minute cancellation. We had told Trent he would be there and then unfortunately on Thursday we had to cancel."

Jordan is always the featured friend at the event, and as usual his face was prominent on Tucker's website.

Portnoy said she didn't think Tucker had the event in 2009, when Jordan had to beg off "because he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame." There are no photos on Tucker's website from 2009, so she may be right about the event not taking place last year.

Supporters who bought $150 VIP tickets for a Friday event at West End's Crave were promised "heavy appetizers, open bar and exclusive access to mingle with HUGE celebs."

Former Viking Chris Doleman was there, as was Bernard Berrian's eye-popping $150,000 rocketship of a two-seater, which pulled away before I could see if the Vikings wide receiver was the driver.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.