Eminem MTV Video Music Awards 2010 Opening Performance

Motor City rap aficionado Eminem — who has an astounding eight 2010 Video Music Award nominations to his credit — will now kick off the big show on MTV this Sunday.

Em will pen Sunday’s ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, MTV General Manager Stephen Friedman said Thursday.

“We thought that there’s no better way to kick off the show than a performance from Eminem.”

No word on what track from his platinum-selling disc Recovery will be performed live at this year’s VMAs.

Friedman notes, however, that the “Love the Way You Lie” star will be taking a slightly different looking stage than VMA fans have seen in the past. The set has been transformed into a sprawling, rretro-1950s malt shop-esque paradise. The stage design — created by German designer Florian Wieder — includes a giant rotating billboard, curvy catwalk, circular performance space, and two massive video screens that will serve as curtains. It also required about 2,000 orchestra seats to be removed from the theater.

“Every year, we try to have a theme and purpose beyond just giving awards away,” VMA Executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic explains. “This year, being back in Los Angeles, we really gravitated toward mid-century modern architecture and the pop culture of the 50s, like the youth-oriented rebellion films Rebel Without A Cause and Wild Ones. It’s a very LA kind of a set.”