Facing the music

From left, Juno nominees Celine Dion, Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Leslie Feist. (Getty)

Unlike the Oscars, where competitors in any given category are at least kinda-sorta-vaguely doing the same job, music-award designations are notoriously scattered. Take the nominations for the 2008 Juno Awards (air date: April 6), announced during a bumbling news conference early this morning. How, for example, do you compare the artistic achievements of defiantly indie orchestral ensemble the Arcade Fire with the puerile punk-pop of Hedley or the roots balladry of Blue Rodeo — all of whom are up for Group of the Year? It’s a mystery. Similarly, how do you weigh Canadian snowbird Anne Murray (Duets: Friends and Legends) against reggae-rock jocks Bedouin Soundclash (Street Gospels) in Pop Album of the Year? Factor in fellow nominees Feist, Michael Bublé and Celine Dion, and the category becomes downright absurd.

La belle Celine, Quebec’s diva-to-end-all-divas, leads the pack for Juno nominations this year, with an impressive six. Who needs Vegas when you’re in the running for Artist of the Year and Fan’s Choice honours, and you’ve got two records up for Album of the Year? (Both Taking Chances and D’Elles, her French-language album, got props.) In the Juno press conference’s funniest moment, presenter Dallas Green of the band Alexisonfire wondered whether it was fair for one (admittedly larger-than-life) artist to earn two out of five spots in a single category.

Curiously, bratty Napanee, Ont., native Avril Lavigne got shunned for Pop Album honours, though she’s competing in five categories, including Single of the Year, Album of the Year and the Fan’s Choice award. Maybe voters felt the inane mean-girl act on The Best Damn Thing was too edgy to be included in the Pop category.

Squeaky-clean crooner Michael Bublé is also right behind Dion, with five nominations, including in the esteemed Artist of the Year category. In celebration of the Year of the Feist, the one-time Calgarian punk screamer added not 1, 2, 3, 4 but five Juno nominations to the universal love-in for her 2007 album The Reminder. Enough ink has been spilled on Leslie Feist at this point, but I will say that classifying The Reminder as a pop album rather than including it in the more challenging alternative album category was a smart move; it makes room for underexposed indie bands.

Sister act Tegan and Sara are nominated for Best Alternative Album of the Year. (Hermann J. Knippertz/Associated Press)

The Best Alternative Album category is typically one of the Junos’ most interesting groupings, and this year’s roster is particularly great. Besides obvious shout-outs to the Arcade Fire and 2007 Polaris Prize winner Patrick Watson, the category features three deserving (and underrated) indie acts: Calgary-bred twins Tegan & Sara, whose delightfully poppy album The Con is a career high; Halifax’s perpetually overlooked Wintersleep (also up for New Group gold, despite having three albums to their name); and offbeat electronic improv crew Holy F***. Although Arcade Fire have this category in the bag and The Con is my personal fave of the bunch, I’d love to see Holy F*** come out on top, if only to hear the F-bomb dropped repeatedly in a Canadian awards show. 

Another step in the right direction is the Rap Album of the Year category, which for once is actually relevant to what’s going on in Canadian urban music. While past Juno Awards have given the impression that there was a dearth of decent homegrown hip hop (uh, Swollen Members?), the 2008 rap nominees are uniformly good: East Coaster Classified, hot T.O upstart Marco Polo, grassroots vets Brassmunk, Ottawa’s Belly (also up for New Artist) and Shad, who’s been tapped as Canada’s best rapper. I would have liked to see a nom for Toronto MC Abdominal, but his oddball rhymes might be too regional.

Other signs that the Junos might finally be moving beyond the obvious: a Best Dance Recording nomination for blog-approved electro duo Chromeo; Quebecois singer/songwriter Pascale Picard’s Artist of the Year nom; and authentic Vancouver longhairs Pride Tiger showing up in the Rock Album of the Year category, alongside Sum 41 and Finger Eleven. Hell will likely freeze over before the Juno brass overlooks an album by veteran guitarist Harry Manx, but it’s nice to see Best Roots & Traditional Group nominations for the Sadies and Nathan, who appeal to a younger demographic.

Music aside, the best choice the Juno committee made this year is appointing popular comedian Russell Peters as master of ceremonies. (As he joked during the press conference, “This is the first time they’ve let a non-white host the Junos.”) Not only does Peters already have a huge following — the guy sold out the Air Canada Centre in Toronto — but he’s an actual performer. No offense to Nelly Furtado, who presided over last year’s fete, but it’ll be refreshing to watch a performer accustomed to entertaining a crowd with wit rather than his hips.

Sarah Liss writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.

CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window.