The other Juno: A look into Canada’s largest
music awards ceremony

By Emma Ruthnum, The Carillon (University of Regina)

Basa (CUP)—Another year of Canadian music will be recognized in April
at the 2008 Juno Awards held in Calgary, Alberta. Feist, Avril Lavigne and Sarah
Brightman are a few of the big names to perform for the April 6 broadcast.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CTV are
responsible for the annual broadcast and celebration of Canadian talent. They hope

o “identify, reward and promote the achievements of Canadian artists,” notes the
CARAS webpage.

With every year, the Junos seem to be bringing in performers to satisfy a younger
demographic and reach a new, “hipper” audience. Last year, host-city Saskatoon was
graced with the likes of Alexisonfire and Nelly Furtado.

“The broadcast has a wide demo[graphic],” CARAS president Melanie Berry
explained. “It depends on the talent that is performing that year. I would like to think
that all ages are music fans. I mean, people like [last year’s] Patrick Watson or DJ
Champion probably [are] a much younger demographic. Nelly Furtado would be
young, Feist is a real cross-over demo... Somebody like Anne Murray probably has
a slightly older following.”

There is no question that the Junos represent a diverse number of genres and
artists. With 39 different categories and nominations being chosen on the basis
of sales, public votes or a jury vote, the Junos try to give a fair representation of
Canadian music. Taking Chances is Céline Dion’s latest English album, released in
November 2007. The album sold 2.7 million copies, making her a Juno favourite.

“Céline Dion has six nominations, Avril Lavigne has five nominations, Feist has
five nominations and Michael Bublé has five nominations,” Berry listed. “Those four

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artists definitely have a great opportunity because they have so many nominations,
but with 39 categories in total there certainly are lots of winners.”

Despite the fact that the Juno nominations are partially based on sales numbers,
there is still some hope that the awards have not completely lost their relevance.
Wintersleep, Holy Fuck and Dragonette all received nominations, proving that there
is still some room for the little guy underneath Céline Dion’s Vegas-sized Canadian
shadow.

 

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