Belfast fans simmer as stars arrive for awards

WILL Gaga turn in up her birthday suit or a dress made of meat? Will Bieber answer those claims about an illegitimate love child? Will Coldplay’s Chris Martin manage not to bore the socks off everyone?

Those are just some of the questions that spring to mind ahead of one of Europe’s biggest show business events of the year — the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), taking place at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena tomorrow.

The city is set to go wild this weekend as crowds gather ahead of the pop-fest.

The stellar-line up includes the aforementioned artists, and the likes of Jessie J and Bruno Mars, as well as veteran rockers Queen.

Belfast is expecting an influx of some 20,000 music fans for the prestigious awards, while an audience of 500 million people worldwide will watch the show as its beamed around the globe.

Think Eurovision meets Top of the Pops, with a sprinkle of bling and a dash of cheese.

Given that MTV considers bids from a number of cities before settling on a venue for its annual awards show, another pertinent question is: Why Belfast?

Richard Godfrey, executive producer at MTV, said it had been an “easy decision” to choose Belfast as host city for the musical extravaganza because, simply, the city’s pitch was the best the music channel’s hierarchy had ever seen.

“We had a few candidate cities but there has been huge investment that has gone on here for the last few years,” he said.

“Obviously, the focus is on next year’s Titanic anniversary so Belfast was really keen to get an event like the EMAs here to help put the eyes of the world on the city and put the city in a different light.

“Once we came here and looked at it properly with our logistical hats on, we had a tick on every column.

“When you add in the great local people and the enthusiasm you get from crowds — the artists like playing here — so it was an easy decision to make,” Mr Godfrey said.