AMSTERDAM -- Eminem will receive the Global Icon award at Sunday night's 20th MTV Europe Music Awards in the Dutch capital.
MTV executives announced the news Saturday during a press conference ahead of the big annual event organized by the Viacom network.
On Friday, the rapper had announced that he was joining the lineup of performers via a YouTube promo set to new track 'Berzerk,' off the recent release The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
'He is on his way to this fine city right now as we speak,' said Bruce Gillmer, co-executive producer of the EMAs and executive vp, talent and music programming/events at Viacom International Media Networks. 'Eminem is absolutely one of the most creative and unique artists of our time.'
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Previous recipients include Bon Jovi in 2010, Queen in 2011 and the late Whitney Houston in 2012.
MTV also said Saturday that the 20th anniversary show has an 'out of this world' theme, which it described as a 'Fun.Party.Alien.'
The 'intergalactic MC' of the show will be LMFAO star Redfoo. '[It] means that I will be giving a galactic energy, so everything I do is going to be out of this world,' he told press Saturday when asked what his title about his role at the show. 'Hopefully I'm funny.'
He quipped that he would in a rehearsal later in the day focus on changing his outfits quickly enough during performances.
'I want to be just as shocked, because I am a fan,' Redfoo said in sharing with reporters that he didn't watch Miley Cyrus' Friday rehearsal and that 'I just want to see what she is going to do.'
Redfoo also got a question about the future of LMFAO.
'We are both doing solo stuff, so I got a Redfoo album coming soon,' he said about collaborator and cousin SkyBlu. But LMFAO will live 'forever,' because of their past work and all the YouTube videos, he said. 'We are just doing our dreams.' He didn't go into whether there could be potential future LMFAO projects.
'I don't eat meat and I don't eat gluten,' Redfoo also said about his Amsterdam experience, quipping: 'They gave me a space cake, and I couldn't eat it. I could just taste it, so I chewed it and I spit it out.'
'Dutch DJ Afrojack was asked at Saturday's press conference what the fact that he gets to perform at the EMAs means for the EDM industry and its role in the music space. 'It's a big step ahead,' he suggested.
Redfoo jumped onto the press conference stage after Afrojack said he was glad to be nominated alongside such electronic music stars as Avicii, Daft Punk and others. 'I just wanted to say I voted for Afrojack,' Redfoo said to laughs.
Afrojack mentioned that seeing Will Ferrell -- who will perform backstage hosting duties as Ron Burgundy at the EMAs -- in the hotel gym, and having all the big music stars in his home country, the Netherlands, was particularly exciting for him. 'I get to hang and party with all these stars, which is really cool,' he said, also citing Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke and other performers at Sunday night's show.
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Viacom International Media Networks CEO Bob Bakish told the press conference that 'we are thrilled to be in Amsterdam this year.' And he announced Glasgow, Scotland as the host city of next year's EMAs.
'It This year's set was designed by German stage and set designer Florian Wieder, who previously worked on the MTV EMAs in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and Liverpool.
While details of the set design are being kept under wraps, MTV said it will feature more lights and lasers than ever before, 'giving this year's EMA a truly intergalactic look and feel.'
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com Twitter: @georgszalai
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