Eminem to Open the VMAs

For the last decade, Eminem has had a strong presence at MTV award shows, winning numerous awards and falling victim to pranks by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Sacha Baron Cohen's exposed butt, but this Sunday's VMAs will mark the first time the rapper will perform as the award ceremony's opening act. The show's opening slot is always reserved for pop music's most illustrious stars. Last year began with a tribute to Michael Jackson featuring Janet Jackson. 2003 was famously kicked-off by Britney Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera making out.

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Celebuzz

What Will Eminem, Lady Gaga And Diddy Talk About At The VMAs?

With only a few dozen hours to go until the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards get started in grand fashion, preparations at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles are coming together fast and furious. The stage — which is being whispered about in the sort of tones normally reserved for game-changing secrets — has been built, the white carpet construction continues, the performers are rehearsing and, best of all, the seat assignments have been doled out. As MTV News' Jim Cantiello explained earlier in the week, the seats inside the venue are arranged in a very specific pattern for maximum exposure and ease of access for the nominees, performers, presenters and their guests. MTV News' own Jonathan Goldner slipped inside the Nokia Theatre to sneak a peek at the seating arrangements, and he uncovered the coolest trifecta in the building.

You're seeing that correctly: That's Lady Gaga, Eminem and Diddy all sitting in the same row. Those placards combine the most-nominated star, the hottest performer and a former VMA host all in one package. What will their conversations during commercial breaks be like? Will Gaga try to recruit Slim Shady for a collaboration? Will Diddy offer Gaga fashion advice? Will Eminem look to add a late guest verse on Last Train to Paris? The possibilities are endless, and since the MTV Video Music Awards is a show where people can come together (you're welcome, Russell and Katy), time will tell what may come out of this particular row.

In any event, it will be thrilling to see these stars (plus the dozens of others who will be present) live when the show kicks off on Sunday, September 12!

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday. The party starts with MTV News' VMA Pre-Show at 8 p.m., followed by the main event at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Fans can go to VMA.MTV.com (or text VMA to 97979 if they are Verizon subscribers) to vote for Best New Artist from now through Sunday

Eminem Channels Marlon Brando For VMA Promo

Rapper remakes scene from 1954 movie 'On the Waterfront' for the shoot.

"I'm ready for my close-up," joked Eminem, who had two plugs rammed up his nose on the set of his MTV Video Music Awards appearance promo. Even though the superstar MC was covered in prosthetic bruises and hobbles away from an enflamed car in the commercial for the VMAs, Eminem kept things light behind the scenes at his shoot. In fact, theRecovery rapper said that he wasn't stressing the details, but was there get the job done and maybe horse around a little bit.

"They tell me that it's something for the VMAs, but I've been in my little rat hole. They just let me out to play," Eminem said. "So I'm kind of like that hamster in the ball, when they let him out and he runs around in the ball. I'm in my little ball right now, running around."

In between the running around, the hip-hop megastar, who is up for eight Moonmen, managed to turn in an intense performance in the clip. The commercial opens to the strains of "Not Afraid," with Em limping away from an overturned car right before it bursts into flames with a blast that sends the rapper toppling to the ground. After an onlooker helps him up, a slew of young men in '50s period clothing watch Em stagger along as he gains an upright, steely-eyed version of himself. Then, the confident, unharmed Eminem leads the crew of young men toward a city skyline in the distance. The rapper explained that the visual is based on a scene from a classic 1954 Marlon Brando flick. "It's kind of a take on 'On the Waterfront.' Like, loosely," Em explained. "The car is exploding and I'm hurt."

The promo is infused with the high drama of the chart-topping MC's return to the top of the music game after battling the lows of a debilitating drug addiction. If the power of the visual short is any indication, Em is going to run things as a performer at this year's VMAs.

Source:MTV

Eminem To Perform With Live Band For MLB Concerts

UPDATE: B.o.B. a/k/a Bobby Raywill open up for the "Renegades" this week in Detroit.

Eminem will be performing with a live band for his much-discussed, four-show tour with Jay-Z, reports the Detroit Free Press.

While Eminem is certainly no stranger to using live instrumentation in his performances (the rapper had The Roots back him for his live rendition of "Lose Yourself" at the GrammyAwards.

"The production is very, very complicated, a lot of moving parts, because it's only the four shows," explained production director Dan Parise.

"This is their vision," he said of the shows, two of which take place in Detroit's Comerica Park, and another two in New York's Yankee Stadium. "My job was to make it reality. But the concept, the idea, the messages they're trying to get across -- it's all theirs." (August 30)

UPDATE: B.o.B. has been added as an opening act for the Detroit show on September 2. B.o.B. and Eminem collaborated on "Airplanes Pt. 2" from the Georgia emcee's debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

Source:hiphopdx