EMINEM

Among those lined up as musical guests ranging from Kanye West, Drake, Justin Bieber, B.o.B, Usher to Paramore, MTV chose Eminem to kick off its upcoming Video Music Awards. "We thought that there's no better way to kick off the show than a performance from Eminem," general manager Stephen Friedman said.

This year, the Slim Shady scores eight nods and another bid he shares with Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye for "Forever". Although details of his opening performance are still scarce, the rapper might bring another memorable act at the September 12 live ceremony like he usually did in the past years.

In 2000, Eminem led a number of Slim Shady look-alike to Radio City Music Hall while he was spitting verses from his celebrity-skewering chart-topper "The Real Slim Shady" which later won Video of the Year. The next year, he surprised audience with an unexpected duet with Elton John which was voted the most surprising duets in musical history in a new poll earlier this year.

Fresh from taking over Detroit with Jay-Z for two-day hometown gig, Eminem himself is not afraid to make a scene for the prize-giving event which will be held at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater. "Apparently, MTV doesn't care that I have two massive stadium shows on the other side of the country the day after the VMAs," he said back then when the awards nominations were announced. "F me, right? I mean, I'll be there, but don't expect me to be nice about it".