Juno Awards: National Embarassment?

Another year has come and gone and it's Juno time once again. It's time for a new round of ridicule.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday a) complaining about the nominees this year via facebook status and b) researching the history of the Junos.

First off, did you know the Junos were started by RMP Magazine? RMP was a magazine that featured Canadian song and album charts. So off to a good start.. already judging music by it's commercial value rather than artistic merit. Granted, they had readers send in ballots as well. After a few years the magazine, rather than merely publish the results decided to start an awards show, dubbed the Gold Leaf Awards, the first official ceremony being held in 1970. There was no ceremony in 1988. If you're quick with your math, you'll realize that next year (2011) will be the 40th Juno (aka Gold Leaf) Awards. This year the awards are being held in St. John's, Newfoundland.

I've resigned myself to the fact that the Junos are.. what they are. It's just hard to get my hopes each year thinking "maybe the Junos will be good this year." This year was especially hard with all the amazing Canadian albums released this year. I don't mind Michael Buble, infact I've found myself humming along to the occasional Buble tune... but he doesn't exactly make me feel proud to be Canadian. A few acts close to my heart managed to snag a couple nominations including Bahamas, Cuff the Duke, Amy Millan, Joel Plaskett, Julie Doiron, Great Lake Swimmers, Howie Beck and Patrick Watson among others (uh.. a very FEW others).

On a selfish note, I'd be pretty stoked if Bahamas won in the "Traditional and Roots" catgegory (what?) because at least then I could say a Juno winner remembers my name. I might add, Bahamas opened for Olenka and the Autumn Lovers in Toronto back in Winter '09.

The most distressing part of the awards is that the album/artist of the year is ACTUALLY determined by sales. I guess this will all change as they realize we're living in a world of variables and not one of universal likes and dislikes.

Check out all the nominees after the jump.

Let me know what YOU think of the awards and this year's nominees in the comments section.


Juno Fan Choice Award:

Ginette Reno
Johnny Reid
Maxime Landry
Michael Buble
Nickelback


Single Of The Year:

Billy Talent — "Rusted From The Rain"
Classified — "Anybody Listening"
Drake — "Best I Ever Had"
Michael Buble — "Haven't Met You Yet"
The Tragically Hip — "Love Is A First"


International Album Of The Year:

Black Eyed Peas — The E.N.D.
Britney Spears — Circus
Kings Of Leon — Only By The Night
Susan Boyle — I Dreamed A Dream
Taylor Swift — Fearless


Group Of The Year:

Billy Talent
Blue Rodeo
Hedley
Metric
The Tragically Hip


New Artist Of The Year:

Carly Rae Jepsen
Danny Fernandes
Drake
Justin Bieber
Shiloh


New Group Of The Year:

Arkells
Down With Webster
Stereos
Ten Second Epic
The New Cities


Songwriter Of The Year:
Carly Rae Jepsen and Ryan Stewart — "Tug Of War"/"Bucket"/"Money And The Ego" (Carly Rae Jepsen — Tug Of War)
Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw — "Gimme Sympathy"/"Sick Muse"/"Help I'm Alive" (Metric — Fantasies)
Joel Plaskett — "Through & Through & Through" (Joel Plaskett — Three)
K'Naan — "Wavin' Flag" (co-songwriters B. Mars, P. Lawrence and J. Duval)/"Take A Minute"/"If Rap Gets Jealous" (K'Naan — Troubadour)
Michael Buble — "Haven't Met You Yet"/"Hold On" (co-songwriters Alan Chang and Amy S. Foster) (Michael Buble — Crazy Love)


Album Of The Year:

Billy Talent — Billy Talent III
Diana Krall — Quiet Nights
Johnny Reid — Dance With Me
Justin Bieber — My World
Michael Buble — Crazy Love


Artist Of The Year:

Diana Krall
Jann Arden
Johnny Reid
K'Naan
Michael Buble


Adult Alternative Album Of The Year:

Nineteen Seventy-Seven — 1977
Amy Millan — Masters Of The Burial
Cuff The Duke — Way Down Here
Howie Beck — How To Fall Down In Public
Joel Plaskett — Three


Alternative Album Of The Year:

Handsome Furs — Face Control
Japandroids — Post-Nothing
Julie Doiron — I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Metric — Fantasies
Tegan And Sara — Sainthood


Pop Album Of The Year:

Hedley — The Show Must Go
Justin Bieber — My World
LIGHTS — The Listening
Michael Buble — Crazy Love
Stereos — Stereos


Rock Album Of The Year:

Alexisonfire — Old Crows/Young Cardinals
Billy Talent — Billy Talent III
Nickelback — Dark Horse
The Tragically Hip — We Are The Same
Three Days Grace — Life Starts Now


Instrumental Album Of The Year:

Beats On Canvas — Beats On Canvas
Bell Orchestre — As Seen Through Windows
Pavlo, Rik Emmet, Oscar Lopez — Trifecta
Sultans Of Swing — Yalla Yalla!
The Hylozoists — L'Ile De Sept Villes


Rap Recording Of The Year:

Big Page, Drake & U.G.O. Crew — Still Fly
Classified — Self Explanatory
Drake — So Far Gone
K-OS — Yes!
K'Naan — Troubadour


Dance Recording Of The Year:

Carmen And Camille — Shine 4U
Deadmau5 — For Lack Of A Better Name
Doman And Gooding featuring Dru & Lincoln — Runnin
Misstress Barbara — I'm No Human
Thunderheist — Thunderheist


R&B/Soul Recording Of The Year:

Danny Fernandes — INTRO
Jacksoul — Lonesome Highway
Jarvis Church — The Long Way Home
Jully Black — The Black Book
Melanie Fiona — The Bridge


Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year: Solo:

Amelia Curran Six — Hunter, Hunter
Bahamas — Pink Strat
Corb Lund — Losin' Lately Gambler
John Wort Hannam — Queen's Hotel
Romi Mayes — Achin In Yer Bones


Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year: Group:

Annie Lou — Annie Lou
Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle — Let's Just Stay Here
Good Lovelies — Good Lovelies
Great Lake Swimmers — Lost Channels
Madison Violet — No Fool For Trying


Jack Richardson Producer Of The Year:

Rob Rock — "Haven't Met You Yet"/"Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (Michael Buble — Crazy Love)
David Foster — "Cry Me A River"/"All Of Me" (Michael Buble — Crazy Love)
Fred St-Gelais — "Plaisirs Amers"/"C'est Mois" (Marie-Mai — Version 3.0)
Kevin Churko — "Look Where You're Walking" (co-producer Kane Churko) (Modern Science — Modern Science) and "The Dream" (In This Moment — The Dream)
Michael Phillip Wojewoda (co-producer Jennifer Foster) — "Palm Trees"/"The Key (Different Than I Used To Be)" (Jennifer LFO — Songs From The Alien Beacon)


Recording Engineer Of The Year:

Dan Brodbeck — "Apple Of My Eye"/"Be Careful" (Dolores O'Riordan — No Baggage)
Darryl Neudorf — "And When You Wake Up" (Blue Rodeo — The Things We Left Behind) and "Fever" (Neko Case — Middle Cyclone)
Denis Tougas — "Save Your Love"/"The Mad Mile" (Kristen Jones — The Mad Mile)
John "Beetle" Bailey — "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Sophie Milman — Take Love Easy) and "Havana City" (Hilario Duran — Motion)
John Drew — "Oh! The Boss Is Coming!"/"Pullin' Punches" (Arkells — Jackson Square)


Recording Package Of The Year:

Alex Durlak — Canaille's Potential Things
Justin Ellsworth, Vanessa Heins, Daniel Romano and Ken Reaume — City And Colour's Bring Me Your Love (Special Edition)
Martin Bernard, Stephane Cocke and Thomas Csano — Beats On Canvas' Beats On Canvas
Rachelle Dupere, Derek Henderson and Evan Kaminsky — Amy Millan's Masters Of The Burial
Thomas Csano and Alex McLean — Patrick Watson's Wooden Arms


Video Of The Year:

Beast — "Mr. Hurricane" (Director: Ben Steiger-Levine)
The Most Serene Republic — "Heavens To Purgatory" (Director: Ben Steiger-Levine)
Classified — "Anybody Listening" (Director: Harv)
Serena Ryder — "Little Bit Of Red" (Director: Marc Ricciardelli)
Land Of Talk — "It's Okay" (Director: WeWereMonkeys)


Music DVD Of The Year:

Arcade Fire — Miroir Noir (Vincent Morisset and Arcade Fire)
Rush — Snakes & Arrows Live (Pierre and Francois Lamoureaux, Allan Weinrib, Pegi Cecconi and Ray Daniels)
Iron Maiden — Iron Maiden Flight 666 (Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen, Ron Smalwood, Stefan Demetriou and Andy Taylor)
The Trews — The Trews Acoustic: Friends & Total Strangers (Tim Martin, John-Angus McDonald, Larry Wanagas)
DRUM! — DRUM! Live (Aaron Young, Doris Mason, Colin Smeltzer, Daniel Brooker, Brookes Diamond)