FOR one night only Glasgow will take centre stage when the MTV Europe Music Awards are beamed live around the world to a global television audience of at least 500million viewers.

The SSE Hydro extravaganza will last less than three hours on Sunday November 9 but boost the city's economy by £10m - the equivalent of £66,666 for every minute top artists strut their stuff in front of an audience of thousands at the city's newest entertainment venue.

It is such a high profile event that rival cities across Europe all wanted to up their global profile and host a show which will feature US rapper Nicki Minaj and singer-songwriter Ariana Grande, Suffolk singer Ed Sheeran and Scotland's own multi-talented DJ Calvin Harris.

The awards ceremony is better known as the MTV EMAs.

Organisers will be celebrating their 20th anniversary when the curtain rises in Glasgow where British rock legend Ozzy Osbourne will appear on stage to collect the Global Icon award.

But behind the glamour and the glitz and well away from the public spotlight, Glasgow's marketing officials had been working hard for years to bring the MTV roadshow to Scotland's ­biggest city.

Council leader Gordon Matheson chairs the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, which played a pivotal role in bringing to the city a ceremony which will last two and a half hours and for every passing second will generate £1111 for the ­hotels, pubs, clubs, shops and restaurants.

And today he revealed: "We first started talking to MTV in 2007 about hosting the EMA and we identified 2014 as the preferred year.

"We had just won the bid for the Commonwealth Games and we wanted to add the EMA to make it a bumper year of celebration.

"We knew that the SSE Hydro would be ready, providing a world-class arena in the city capable of hosting an event on the size and scale of the EMA.

"Ongoing discussions continued with MTV at their offices in London, then we delivered MTV Crashes at the Old Fruitmarket in 2010 where a fantastic local crowd showed MTV that Glasgow is a city that knows how to throw a party.

"In May last year we brought some of the top MTV executives from London, Los Angeles and New York to Glasgow for a ­bespoke site visit which ­included the president of MTV's parent company, ­Viacom International ­Media Networks.

"We took them around our hotels and restaurants and gave them a tour of the Hydro - we wanted to demonstrate that there's a strong partnership ­approach to delivering ­major events successfully in Glasgow.

"This is a city with a 'can-do' attitude and when it comes to the global events market, when you're up against worldwide competition, you have to go the ­extra mile."

The success of the MTV Crashes event at the Old Fruitmarket four years ago, which had been headlined by US rapper P-Diddy and Diddy Dirty Money, helped hit all the right notes.

And EventScotland also helped the city's marketing officials bring the iconic MTV EMA to Glasgow.

When the curtain rises in nine days time, more than 500million households around the world will be able to watch the ceremony on MTV'S global network of television channels.

Councillor Matheson added: "Hosting the MTV EMA will have a substantial, direct and positive impact on Glasgow. In addition to delivering a significant boost to our economy - which we believe will be in the region of £10m - it will provide a base on which local businesses, creative industries and the wider tourism ­sector can capitalise.

"It will also position Glasgow alongside its key competitors, and previous EMA host cities, including Paris, London, Milan, Barcelona, Rome, Berlin and Madrid."

gordon.thomson@eveningtimes.co.uk