On March 27, 2011, The Juno Awards had their 40th Anniversary in Toronto, the original home of the event that has since taken place across the country. With the return home after 10 years, no expense was spared for this lavish affair at the Air Canada Centre, but what I can safely say is that this time around, it was all Canadian and done quite well. The night paid tribute to Canadian legends, but also managed to appeal quite well to a more youthful audience. I had the privilege of attending and I must say I was impressed.
With Toronto native, Drake, as the host, I’ll be honest and say I was skeptical. The opening skit featuring a bromance between Drake and Justin Beiber was, of course, for the youth. Following the skit was a medley of “Time to Win/Your Man/Whoa is Me” by Down With Webster, booming horn section included, that proved to be a great kick off to the show. But here’s where indie music critics and pop-focused youth made friends for the night: Drake singing along with Chilly Gonzales. And it was perfect.
The award presentation kicked off with Deadmau5 and Buck 65 presenting the award for Group of the Year. The award went to Arcade Fire and immediately the scent of sweep was in the air.
Keshia Chanté and Royal Wood introduced Sarah McLachlan, who performed “Loving You is Easy” and sounded as lovely as ever.
The next award to be presented was the Juno Fan Choice Award. Measha Brueggergosman and Great Big Sea announced the winner, Justin Bieber, who, much to the dismay of all the 16-year-olds in the audience, was not present. He did say his thank yous via video, though.
After making reference to a notable songwriter, Drake jokingly said Shawn Desmond declined to present the next award. It was K’Naan presented Songwriter of the Year to Arcade Fire and, again, the thought of a sweep was looming. And hitting home, Arcade Fire thanked the city and gave a shoutout to Sneaky Dee’s, their first venue here.
Wes Williams (a.k.a. Maestro Fresh Wes) and Classified introduced Hedley, who performed “Perfect.”
At this point in time, the media room paid close attention to Deadmau5, shiny mouse head and all, who mentioned his remix of Rebecca Black’s “Friday.”
Bryan Adams came on stage to pay tribute to Shania Twain, newest inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Twain gave all of Canada a chuckle when she said, “I love our lakes, I love our bush and I love our people.” By the way, she was embarrassed to bits when this was brought up in the media room. But Twain charmed everyone and that is undeniable.
Robbie Robertson introduced the vignette aptly titled “Love Letter to Toronto,” which was followed by a beautiful medley. Sarah Harmer sang Joni Mitchell’s “Carey,” while Jim Cuddy and Sarah Slean sang Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind.” City & Colour sang “Old Man” by Neil Young, a fitting tribute for the man of the night. A tribute to The Band started with Kevin Hearn performing “The Genetic Method,” followed by a whole slew of artists (The Sadies, Greg Keelor, Serena Ryder, Derek Miller, Justin Rutledge, City & Colour, Sarah Slean, Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn) performing “The Shape I’m In.” Though the Junos had all of my attention up to this point, this is when the Junos won me over.
Shad, winner of Rap Recording of the Year and overall good guy, presented New Artist of the Year with Buffy Ste. Marie. The award went to Meaghan Smith, who is likely most known for her cover of The Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man” on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack.
The next performance was Tokyo Police Club with “Bambi” a great tune that was maybe a little lost on the big stage. However, the guys still seemed to shine, making Newmarket proud.
Barenaked Ladies presented Single of the Year to Wavin’ Flag by Young Artists for Haiti, with K’Naan being the man behind it all.
In a non-Canadian move, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum introduced Johnny Reid, a Scotland native-turned Canadian country singer, who performed “Today I’m Gonna Try and Change the World.”
Billy Talent shouted Parkdale and plugged MusiCounts, a music education charity dedicated to keeping music alive in Canadian schools.
Emily Haines & Jimmy Shaw of Metric announced Broken Social Scene, a band they too are affiliated with, who performed “World Sick.” And in true BSS style, Andrew Whiteman (Apostle of Hustle) had a political message on his guitar: Vote Harper Out Now.
Dan Hill and Melanie Fiona were next to present an award. They handed announced Pop Album of Year, but Justin Bieber, again, was not present to accept.
The next presentation was for the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. Daniel Lanois handed the award to Neil Young, who seemed to pass on all the credit and thanked everyone else, furthering everyone’s awe of his presence.
Feist introduced Arcade Fire, who performed “Rococo” a fitting song for the event that speaks to popular culture, substance, youth, etc. And this performance gave me chills.
Presented by Randy Bachman, Artist of the Year was presented by Randy Bachman. Neil Young took home the prize and joked, “What year is this?” after beating out the likes of Drake and Justin Bieber. Later asked about his, he commented, “Of course I’m in the same category as Justin Bieber. We’re in the same time zone.” He also admitted to liking “his moves.”
Chromeo’s “Hot Kiss” was the final performance, a curious choice up against Arcade Fire, but still an enjoyable one.
And finally, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush presented Album of the Year to Grammy Award winners Arcade Fire. And there you have it – a sweep, a well-earned broadcast sweep. Arcade Fire earned themselves 4 Junos, including one that didn’t make the broadcast.
Interestingly enough, and quite obvious, Drake, the host of the night, was shut out. On the bright side, Drake did an excellent job and perhaps won over some non-believers with his personality.
On the downside, 32 awards were given out at the Gala the night before. While this generally doesn’t irk me, some important categories were left out. It baffles me how New Artist of the Year made the cut for the broadcast, but New Group of the Year (Said the Whale) did not. Should they not be paired? Or what about categories with some big names, such as Alternative Album of the Year (Arcade Fire), Rock Album of the Year (Matthew Good). How about presenters who won awards? Both Shad and Deadmau5 presented and their awards were not televised. And then there’s the issue of Canada being a bilingual nation, but Francophone Album of the Year (Karkwa) didn’t make the cut. It’s perplexing, no?
The broadcast was great and I have no complaints about what I saw, but think of how much better it could’ve been.
Below is a complete list of winners, including the non-broadcast winners.
Broadcast Winners
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Neil Young
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Meaghan Smith
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – “Ready to Start” | “We Used to Wait” | “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber – My World 2.0
JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD
Justin Bieber
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Young Artists for Haiti – “Wavin’ Flag”
Non Broadcast Winners
ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream
NEW GROUP OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY FACTOR AND RADIO STARMAKER FUND)
Said The Whale
COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY COUNTRY STYLE)
Johnny Reid – A Place Called Love
ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY GALAXIE, YOUR MUSICAL UNIVERSE)
Neil Young – Le Noise
ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY RECORDING ARTISTS’ COLLECTING SOCIETY – A DIVISION OFACTRA)
Matthew Good – Vancouver
VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY CRYSTAL SENSATIONS)
Kellylee Evans – Nina
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY WORLD VISION ARTIST ASSOCIATES)
Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra – Treelines
TRADITIONAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR
John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra – Our First Set
INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Fond of Tigers – Continent & Western
FRANCOPHONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Karkwa – Les chemins de verre
CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Peter Lenton – Proud Like a Mountain
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO OR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
Gryphon Trio – Beethoven : Piano Trios Op. 70 No. 1, Ghost & No. 2: Op 11
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LARGE ENSEMBLE OR SOLOIST(S) WITH LARGE ENSEMBLE ACCOMPANIMENT
Lara St. John – Mozart: Scott and Lara St. John/The Knights
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL PERFORMANCE
Gerald Finley – Great Operatic Arias
CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
R. Murray Schafer – Duo For Violin And Piano – WILD BIRD
RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Shad – TSOL
DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Deadmau5 – Sofi Needs a Ladder
R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Quanteisha – Stars
REGGAE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Elaine Lil’Bit Shepherd – Likkle But Mi Tallawah
ABORIGINAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY ABORIGINAL PEOPLES TELEVISION NETWORK)
CerAmony – CerAmony
ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO
Old Man Luedecke – My Hands Are On Fire and Other Love Songs
ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
Le Vent du Nord – La part du feu
BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Jim Byrnes – Everywhere West
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Greg Sczebel – Love & the Lack Thereof
WORLD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS)
Élage Diouf – Aksil
JACK RICHARDSON PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY SLAIGHT MUSIC)
Daniel Lanois “Hitchhiker” LE NOISE – Neil Young | “I Believe in You” BLACK DUB – Black Dub
RECORDING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Churko “Let It Die” | “Life Won’t Wait” SCREAM – Ozzy Osbourne
RECORDING PACKAGE OF THE YEAR
Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Robyn Kotyk & Joe McKay (Art Directors/Designers); Jimmy Collins & Elisabeth Chicoine (Photographers)
Forgiveness Rock Record Vinyl Box Set BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
VIDEO OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY VEVO)
Kyle Davison – HEDLEY’s Perfect
MUSIC DVD OF THE YEAR
Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage – Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn, Pegi Cecconi, Noah Segal, Shelley Nott, John Virant RUSH
ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Caribou – Swim
buying shots for bands 
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