Damhnait Doyle, Jian Ghomeshi to host East Coast Music Awards
Awards gala to air live on digital channel Bold, online
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | 4:18 PM ET
CBC News
Newfoundland singer Damhnait Doyle, backed by Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, performs at the East Coast Music Awards in February 2008. Doyle will co-host the music awards this year. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)The 2009 East Coast Music Awards will have a homegrown host at the helm, as Newfoundland pop singer Damhnait Doyle joins CBC Radio's Jian Ghomeshi to host the upcoming gala, which returns to a live telecast format this year.
Organizers unveiled on Tuesday the 2009 hosts, an initial lineup of performers as well as details of the multi-platform broadcast planned for the annual Atlantic Canadian musical showcase, taking place this year in Corner Brook.
Doyle, who originally hails from Labrador City, will take the stage with Ghomeshi, host of CBC Radio's cultural affairs show Q. She is also nominated in the best recording category this year for her album of covers, Lights Down Low.
Artists set to perform at the ceremony include indie act Hey Rosetta!, singer-songwriters Jill Barber and Christina Martin, pop group Mir and reunited Celtic rockers Rawlins Cross. The festivities will also include a star-studded tribute to singer-songwriter, guitarist and Newfoundland musical pioneer Dick Nolan.
On Tuesday, organizers also introduced a new publicly voted honour: the ECMA Fan's Choice Award. Members of the public have until midnight on Feb. 27 to vote. All artists who applied to and were eligible for any ECMA music award category or festival showcase are in the running.
Despite the addition of the fan-voted award, the traditional ECMA Entertainer of the Year prize remains (chosen through votes by members of the East Coast Music Association).
The 2009 East Coast Music Association's annual festival and conference begins Feb. 26, culminating in the ECMA Awards gala on March 1.
Heading into the awards, Cape Breton singer-songwriter and producer Gordie Sampson and Halifax rockers Matt Mays and El Torpedo top the list of ECMA contenders.
Live broadcasts online, on digital network
This year's ECMA awards show will return to the airwaves, with CBC to broadcast the evening gala live (at 8:30 p.m. NT, 8 p.m. AT and 7 p.m. ET) on its digital channel Bold as well as online.
The main CBC-TV network will carry the awards at 11 p.m. (in all time zones) on March 1.
"The East Coast Music Association heard loud and clear from artists, members and fans that a broadcast of the 21st annual awards show from Corner Brook was important to promote our artists and East Coast Music," said Steve Horne, ECMA executive director.
CBC Radio will also broadcast a host of musical performances and other special events around Corner Brook on the Friday and Saturday prior to the Sunday night awards show.
