IT will take 500 wigs, 1000 hand-sewn rhinestones and 10,000km of electric cables to dress and beam out stars including Ariana Grande, Alicia Keys and Ed Sheeran to a global television audience of 500 million.
They will share the spotlight with Glasgow as the MTV European Music Awards (EMAs) mark their 20th year in Scotland's biggest city.
The high-profile extravaganza in the SSE Hydro will last less than three hours but boost the city's economy by an estimated £10 million.
Technical teams will use 600 pyrotechnics during the show, hosted by US rapper Nicki Minaj, including spitfire flames, air flame explosions and smoke storm machines.
Strutting up the red carpet will be Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, who will be honoured with a Global Icon Award.
Among those to take to the stage is Canada's rising star, Kiesza, who said: "I have a lot of Scottish ancestry, so I would love to try and chase down some distant relatives while I'm in the country. I wouldn't turn down a hot date with a kilted man either."
For the second year running, 21-year-old Grande will perform at the EMAs after spending 26 consecutive weeks in the US Billboard top 10 with hits Break Free, Problem and Bang Bang.
British singer Charli XCX will also be returning to Scotland - the land where her dad was born. The rising star is responsible for writing Icona Pop's No1 hit I Love It.
Royal Blood are no strangers to Scotland, having played T in the Park and Radio 1's Big Weekend, but the rock duo will play possibly their biggest gigs to date at the Hydro.
MTV chiefs announced yesterday that heavily pregnant US soul singer Alicia Keys was part of the line-up. She flew into Glasgow yesterday ahead of her EMA performance.
The star-studded show tops off MTV Music Week, which took place in venues across Glasgow, with Scots rockers Biffy Clyro, Chvrches and guitarist Slash.
Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: "The MTV awards are estimated to create an immediate £10m during the event. I know anecdotally there are 1700 bedrooms that have been bought up for the event, for instance. It's a big short-term earner in an industry that's growing. Beyond that, if you take the people who are watching around the world, they see Scotland and they want to visit."
The man behind the MTV EMAs, executive producer Richard Godfrey, says the only spectacle he does not expect to see at the Hydro is twerking.
Godfrey has been at the helm of the EMAs for 19 years, and has seen everything from dance crazes to weird rider requests come and go like X Factor Christmas singles.
Miley Cyrus stole the show in Amsterdam last year when she twerked with a latex-clad dwarf on stage and lit up a cigarette that looked suspiciously like a joint.
Godfrey, however, said: "Twerking is so last year."
He explained that the show is the culmination of a year's work, and involves "an army of people": a mammoth workforce at the Hydro will use more technology than venue bosses have ever seen before.
"We have five minutes to turn things around between each act," Godfrey said.
Godfrey added that it is inevitable a few unexpected moments will arise, such as Kanye West crashing the stage in Copenhagen in 2006. "We keep our fingers crossed that nothing fails," he said, "but it is live and things can go wrong. It is very exciting."
However, he is not giving much away when it comes to life backstage: "Everyone has their riders and we do our best to provide. These days it's not as ridiculous as it used to be. Previously, we had to provide baths of asses' milk for one host."
He's not saying if Nicki Minaj has ordered just pink M&Ms.
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