Top Ten 2011 Manitoba stories on SCENE

Well it's been a pretty crazy first year for us at Manitoba SCENE.

Our little office has taken on the big task of covering all that this fair province has to offer in the Arts world -- which is a lot.

On a daily basis we've been blown away by the music, film, theatre, literature and visual art that Manitobans produce -- and we've done our best to tell these cultural stories.

So without further ado, here are SCENE's most read articles for 2011.

1. Winnipeg Drummer Boy creates amazing Christmas video. Published Friday, December 2. Oak Park High School student Sean Quigley captured the most SCENE views with his new spin on a Christmas classic. To date his youtube video for "Little Drummer Boy" has received over 1.7 million views. It appears a star is born.

2. Which Manitoba singer should sing the anthems for Winnipeg's new NHL team? Published Monday, June 6. Jets fever was at an all time high when we came out with this poll to see who SCENE readers thought should be the official anthem singer.

3. Paris show of Winnipeg artists solidifies city's reputation as hot bed for art. Published Thursday, June 23. Art critic Robert Enright covered the opening of My Winnipeg in Paris, highlighting how art from the cold north had a hot reception in France.

4. Your vote counts in battle of the books: Manitoba Reads. Published Friday, July 8. SCENE readers were all ready to duke it out when it came to choosing their favourite Manitoba book this past summer.   

5. Love Shacks: Winnipeg Wins in the Third Annual Art and Architecture Competition On Ice. Published Friday, November 18. Alison Gillmor reviewed the new brilliant and functional designs that will be on display (and in use) all winter on the River Trail. 

6. Is the original Winnipeg airport terminal worth saving? Published Wednesday, October 12. The debate over what to do with the old terminal became heated indeed.

7. Winnipeg Pride parade shines brightly for thousands this weekend. Published Saturday, June 4. Definitely Not the Opera's Clare Lawlor brought us this review of Pride in the Peg.    

8. A Jew and a Muslim walk into a theatre...for a new take on Romeo and Juliet. Published Friday, November 25. SCENE contributor Nadia Kidwai offered this take (along with one of our favourite headlines) on the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's Romeo and Juliet.

9. Art installations in the new Winnipeg airport have just taken off. Published Thursday, October 6. Before the grand opening of the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, SCENE's Mike Green was offered a sneak peak of the art as it was being installed.

10. 10 reviewers plus 150 Winnipeg Fringe shows equals every show reviewed by Sunday. Published Wednesday, July 13. Joff Schmidt, our theatre reviewer extraordinaire, gives the low down on all the peeps who make our Fringe site so successful.