Mike's Bloggity Blog

The Juno awards were a real blast this year and the red carpet were full of a ton of stars! The only problem was that it was freezing cold. Literally. I thought I was going to die. Okay, well not die but it was hard to stay warm for sure. My poor little bloggity fingers!

Here are some of the pics from the red carpet.  Please note:  I hate that I was all bundled up but I just wasn’t tough enough.  Those celebs got thick skin and more importantly people literally rubbing their arms and backs during interviews.

Edmonton’s Quanteisha won for Best R&B  recording!

Liam Cormier from Juno nominated Cancer Bats.

Frederictonians in the house!  Opera superstar Measha Brueggergosman was a Juno presenter.

Melanie Fiona has been nominated for Grammys and Junos!

Shad beat out Drake for Best Rap Recording.  He is also the winner of ‘Nicest Person of the Weekend!’

Superstar couple Royal Wood and Sarah Slean and me.  One of these things is not like the other.

Metric.  ‘Nuff said.

I could have talked to Marilyn Denis for hours.  Which is why she’s good at her job.

Justin Rutledge and I look so much alike…right?

Kellylee Evans won a Juno for best vocal jazz album and got to take a picture with me.

Juno Winners for Best New Group Said The Whale!  This is the only photo that I feel like I legitimately fit into!

Double Juno nominee Hannah Georges stuns the red carpet.

Welcome to the 2011 Juno awards live from Toronto! I just came off the freezing red carpet and it’s going to take me a while to feel like I have feeling in my fingers again! I’m going to be blogging away hoping that it warms me up faster!

6:01pm The Junos kicked off right on time with a very charming video intro with Drake, Justin Bieber and yes, Lloyd Robertson.

6:05pm Down with Webster opened the show.  They are good, too bad their lame name indicates otherwise!

6:10pm Drake is doing really good!  Quick suggestion:  When Charlie Sheen inevitably dies, Drake steps in and does a comedy tour instead!

6:12pm Drake does he make to make Shania feel like a women.   Women around the world swoon.

6:15pm: Arcade Fire win their second Juno of the weekend and the first of the night for Group of The Year.  I have a feeling that this will be big night for them.  I didn’t see them on the red carpet, but to be fair, this is Toronto, everyone looks the same.

Red Carpet Moment:  My outfit for the evening left me freezing but I gotta say, Bloggity cleans up nicely, no?

6:21pm Royal Wood and Keisha Chante welcome Sarah McLachlan to the stage and she sings her   On the red carpet, she didn’t do any press except the big guns like CTV.  Always disappointing that she couldn’t take a few minutes to at least chat with some of us.  It makes me wonder when artists make that switch.

6:24 Woohoo! Measha Brueggergosman and the guys from GBS present Juno Fan Choice Award.  They are both amazing, can we just give it to them? Then again, I could just be biased that Measha and I are both from Fredericton!

6:27 The award goes to Justin Bieber who is not here tonight.  Would have been great to give him last year.  Ahh retrospect.

6:28: Usher tells us why he loves Canada.  Great…wait…who asked him?

6:35: Arcade Fire picks up the second award of the night:  Songwriter of the Year.  Is this retribution for the all the american anti-Grammy hate?

6:36: DeadMau5 says he has already remixed Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday.’  I never want to hear it, but I think it would be too good to ignore.

6:45:  Shania Twain is about to get her big award.  I’m already crying. I can’t believe she is about to come back here. What do I say?

6:47: Who else is taking a shot every you hear the name Shania?

6:51: “I love our lakes, I love our bush, I love our people.” Best induction speech ever?

6:59: Robbie Robertson introduces The Love Letter to Toronto.  What’s a Robbie Roberston you ask?  Here you go!

7:04pm:  The Love Letter to Toronto!  I’m excited to see how this transfers across the country.  Jim Cuddy, Sarah Slean, Sarah Harmer, City and Colour.  Let’ be honest, the content might be a little pretentious but the voices, the voices!  So good!

Red Carpet Moment: I talked to Sarah Slean and her husband Royal Wood about being married and working together.  They both agreed that they don’t interfere in eachother’s music because it was too personal. They aren’t fans of mixing work and play.

7:17pm I just talked to Shania Twain.  I asked her if she felt like the icon everyone says that she says she is.  I don’t remember what she said, I was in awe.  I do remember that she made lots of funny faces. God I love her.

7:18pm: Meaghan Smith wins Best New Artist. Completely deserved as you can tell from her standing ovation.  Go Halifax! In case you were wondering, this Meaghan Smith

7:32: Single of the year goes to Wavin’ Flag Young Artists for Haiti.  They are going to need to make a whole lot of extra Junos.

7:39:  I’m trying to watch the Junos but Buffy Sainte Marie is in the room.  Her personality is so attention-grabbing, you can’t help but stop what you are doing.

7:41: Meaghan Smith just told me that living in Halifax allowed her to play  music without inhibitions. The city was very welcoming to her, especially considering she has no training in music at all.  She also said that she got her dress at a vintage shop.  What’s not to love?

7:53: Justin Bieber wins for Pop Album of the Year.  Seems like a weird juxtaposition of talent after just having Broken Social Scene play such a rocking number!

8:03 This special montage about Neil Young has taught me that I need to more about the man, especially musically.

8:10 It’s amazing that after so many years in the industry, Neil Young can say it better than anyone else: “But most of all… you need to look inside yourself,” “Music is the language of love,” and “Make music first.”

8:17:  Leslie Feist, possibly encouraged by Shania’s return, comes to the stage to introduce Arcade Fire‘s performance.  I’ve never seen her with so much energy!

8:19: Artist of the Year goes to Neil Young.  Wow.  He really came raging back didn’t he!  Amazing.  So what does he have to say?  “What is this?”

8:20: Quick someone buy whothefuckisneilyoung.com before the Bieber fans do!

8:21: Arcade Fire, Neil Young and Justin Bieber all walk away with numerous Junos.  What a variety of awards winners, which is why I love the Junos.  Always lots of surprises and deserving winners!

8:27 “It’s very unusual for me for me to be this exposed.” Neil Young backstage after winning numerous Junos.

8:34 Arcade Fire wins Album of The Year!

8:35 In case you were trying to figure out the math:  Drake was nominated for the most awards and is walking away with zero.  That is what you call awkward planning.

8:55: Arcade Fire is down the hall.  You know how I know you can tell?  They celebrating, very loudly.

9:45: I asked Arcade Fire if they still considered themselves “alternative”.  They quickly responded, “I think Bush and Nirvana are alternative.”

Well that’s the Junos for another year!  It’s been a blast and I’m so happily exhausted.   Thanks for all falling along and asking a ton of questions!  It’s always a blast to be a part of Canada’s best music party!

Well tonight’s the night!  The 40th Annual Junos are finally here!  This year’s Junos certainly brought out the star power. Neil Young won an award last night and is rumored to be performing tonight.  Shania Twain will be returning to Canadian TV for the first time in who knows how long and not to mention the host, who is easily the hottest export not named Justin Bieber in the world right now: Drake.

(Rumour: The Biebs will be making a video appearance tonight.)

I’m going to be honest, I’ve found it a little strange that Drake hasn’t been around this weekend as much as I would have expected him to be.  Maybe he’s visiting his old Degrassi friends?  Even though he lost out to Shad for Rap Album of the Year, I have faith that is going to do a really great job. Anytime I’ve seen him interviews, he always seems really professional and given the fact that we are on his home territory, his comfort level has to be pretty high!

While he’s been hard to track down, RapCity’s Tyrone “T-RexXx” Edward got the chance to chat with him and while he’s a little subdued, he does sound ready:

Now on to the awkward part:
While I think Drake is going do an awesome job on the show, there is one part of the two and a half hour long show that I have to warn you about. The name sorta speaks for itself, during the awards there will be a special musical montage entitled: “Love Letter to Toronto.” Right. Cause this city has self-esteem issues? I don’t think so. It’s not that the roster of talent involved won’t be great: City and Colour, Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder, Justin Rutledge, Sarah Slean and Jim Cuddy, I’m just not sure how much the rest of Canadian is going to care about Toronto musically masturbating for ten minutes during the broadcast. Especially since the last three cities haven’t done anything like that, I get that it is the 40th anniversary, but I guarentee you, Twitterers across the country are going to destroy it.

I’ll be live-blogging from the red carpet and backstage.  Check back often!

Canada has lost a comedy legend today.

Roger Abbott, famous for his countless characters on Royal Canadian Air Farce, has passed away at the age of only 64 years old. He had been battling leukemia for more than fourteen years!

Roger Abbott had been a founding member of the extremely popular comedy troupe and eventual CBC television series, when they formed in 1973. He stayed with the series until it ended in 2010.

After making the announcement, The Royal Canadian Air Farce posted a tribute video highlighting Abbott’s many hilarious skits, it’s really wonderful to look back and see just how funny the man was. As Rick Mercer commented, “Canada is less funny now.”

Update: CBC Television will air Royal Canadian Air Farce Special: A Tribute To Roger Abbott. The broadcast will air on Tuesday, March 29th at 9:00 P.M. (9:30 NT).

Is it really Juno time again already?

So what are the Junos exactly?  Let’s get you caught up.  The awards celebrate the best in Canadian music.  Simply put they are the Canadian Grammys. The Juno Awards are actually spread out over two nights.  Tonight will see the majority of the awards given out, thirty three in fact.  Tomorrow’s actual broadcast on CTV will feature only eight awards and whole lot of performances.

As a lover of all things Canadian music and entertainment, this my friends is my bread and butter.

So where am I?  Toronto.  More specifically, The Allstream Centre for the Juno Gala.  I’ll be chilling out backstage all night, chatting with all the winners (and some losers,) so if at any point you have any questions, just let me know.  This night is always a blast.

I’m going to be live-blogging all night, so stay tuned!

6:15pm Tonight’s Gala kicks off with a super buzz-worthy Shad, he’s nominated for Rap Recording of the Year.  He also write a really interesting blog post this week in the National Post.  Could big changes be ahead for the Junos? Click here to read it.

6:19pm:  Jian Ghomeshi and Seamus O’Regan are tonight’s co-hosts.  I remember from last year that Shamus stole the show with his very surprising potty mouth.

6:40pm: Breaking news.  Welcome speeches are always boring.  No matter where you sit or how much free wine you’ve had.

6:41pm The minister of travel and tourism just said Justin Beaver.  A.m.a.z.i.n.g.

6:47pm Adult Alternative Album of The Year goes to Neil Young...who is looking anything but.  It’s been 29 years since he was last at the Juno Awards!

6:56pm: I asked Neil Young, if he followed the Top 40 genre that he will be winning awards with this weekend.  He said, “Music is music. I don’t follow handles. That’s someone else’s job.”

6:59pm: “How do we win an Instrumental Juno?  Add vocals.”  -Fond of Tigers after winning Instrumental Album of the Year.

7:02pm: Polaris Prize winners Karkwa win Francophone Album of The Year.  “It means a lot that we can make an impact on the Canadian music industry.”

7:09pm Edmonton’s Quanteisha wins R&B Soul Recording of The Year! Who knew Edmonton was so urban?  Turns out she doesn’t even have an album out yet, seven singles and she’s still independent.  Amazing example of how cool the Canadian music industry can be.

7:12pm Jim Byrnes wins Blues Album of The Year.  He’s a successful actor (Hellcats, Sanctuary), lost both of his legs in a car accident and is the nicest person we’ve had back here all night.  I’m amazed by his perseverance.

7:23pm: Elain Lil’Bit Shepherd wins Reggae Recording of The Year. I’m always surprised by how little attention this genre gets. “The reggae genre is actually lot stronger than we give it credit for.”

7:30pm Gryphon Trio, Lara St. John, Gerald Finley and R. Murray Schafer all win Junos for their classical albums, which has never come across my radar.  Tell me, am I missing out?

7:34pm:  Matt Good wins Rock Album of The Year. He’s not here because he’s previously called the Junos pointless. He should have at least come for the free food.

7:53pm: Deane Cameron wins the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award in the same building that his father enlisted in for the Canadian military when Deane was 17 years old.

8:10pm Cameron has been talking for quite a while now and I kinda thinking how great it would for everyone to get the chance to summarize their life and thank all those that have meant something to them.  That alone is an honour.

8:14pm “If I didn’t tell anyone that I won, I doubt anyone would know about this award.  I hope that more people would pay attention to Jazz music.” -Traditional Jazz Album of The Year winner John Macleod.

8:16pm Johnny Reid wins Country Album of The Year.  The media room is already swooning.

8:19pm: Show opener Shad shocks the crowd and wins Rap Recording of The Year.  Then why wasn’t he nominated for artist of the year!

8:32pm:  Hedley wins Best Video for “Perfect.”  I still can’t help that this video looks familiar.

8:36pm: Shad is backstage now and the media room is so happy that he got Best Rap Album  over Drake.  No offense to Drake, just refreshing I guess.  “Yeah absolutely”, when asked about hosting next year’s Junos.

8:42pm:  Daniel Lanois wins Producer of The Year and then apologizes for beating Arcade Fire.  I’m sure they’ll be fine. He then invites Neil Young up again, “just to say something.”  Why not?

8:49pm “The Hedley curse is definitely broken.” -Kyle Davidson, director of Hedley’s Juno winning music video.  Surprising that the band has never won before.

8:55pm “We try not to put in a bunch heyaheys, to make sure we didn’t do the overkill.” -Aboriginal album of the year award winner, CerAmony.

9:01pm I asked Johnny Reid if he felt that his positive attitude was exceptional in the music industry, “I learned a long time ago that life is too short. It’s as simple as that.”

9:09pm: Ladies and Gentlemen, the least likely winner of Best Children Album ever:
Peter Lenton.

9:19pm: Rush wins for Music DVD of The Year.  I was super excited until I realized that none of the people who won who are actually in Rush.  I’m glad that I asked my neighbour before asking a question.

8:26pm: Huzzah! Said the Whale wins New Group of The Year!  J’aime them beaucoups!  Plus their energy is infectious!  They actually had their stuff stolen a few days ago and hilariously re-enacted their mishap. Click here to watch.

Wow a great night!  Thanks for following along!  The big show is tomorrow night!  See you then!

While I”m in Toronto right now covering all things Junos, doesn’t mean all the cool things in Calgary should go unntoiced.

Here’s Mark Hopkins‘ Top Picks for a Fun Weekend Out in Calgary!

Market Collective
March 26, 10:00 am-6:00 pm
March 27, 11:00 am-5:00 pm
148 10th St NW (old Ant Hill building in Kensington)
www.marketcollective.ca

If you’ve never been to Market Collective, imagine a giant warehouse packed to the brim with pure joy. This independent artist market is one of Calgary’s most shining examples of culture, community and creativity, where you’ll find beautiful work by local artists, get your picture taken at a tricked-out photo booth, listen to extraordinary musicians and be proud to live in a city where an event like this can thrive.

TransCanada Alberta Music Series
March 25 & 26, 7:30 pm
Engineered Air Theatre, EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts
205 8th Ave SE
www.epcorcentre.org

We can’t all spend a glorious weekend at the Junos in Toronto, but to soften the blow, we’ve got our very own celebration of Alberta’s best music! Each night features a different line-up of amazing musicians, and both Friday (Omarandthebear / Kat Danser / Mark Davis / Ramblin’ Ambassadors) and Saturday (Axis of Conversation / Lyra Brown & Daniel Moir / Rae Spoon / Christian Hansen & The Autistics) promise to be stunning showcases of Alberta talent.

Artist Home & Studio Tour
March 26, 11:00 am-5:00 pm
www.trianglegallery.com

Y’know those Hollywood celebrity home tours? This is kind of the same idea, except instead of peering through Madonna’s fence, you’ll be invited behind-the-scenes into the world of Calgary’s artists. This unique tour includes a visit to the Old Trout Puppet Workshop, a ceramics studio in a 100-year-old brick house, a tour of the Water Centre Building by architect Jeremy Sturgess and more!

For the next few days, Bloggity will be coming to you live from Toronto! It’s been way too long since I’ve been to the entertainment capital of Canada and I couldn’t be more excited. So what brings me to the city you ask? The Junos, of course.

This is actually my fourth Junos in a row. The annual awards show and I first met in Calgary back in 2008. It was love at first sight. The celebration of Canadian music, celebrities and free shows overwhelmed my small, little heart . The next year, I went to Vancouver and was equally impressed. Last year’s Junos in St. John’s were probably the most dramatic, between the heavy fog that caused three days of flight delays, bone chilling gold and yes, ash clouds, it was enough to make me (almost) not want to go back. While I jokingly blamed Justin Bieber, the dreary weather didn’t stop the spirit of Newfies, which is why the Junos are always a must visit for me, no matter where I go.

So why do I love the Junos so much?

Live blogging: As always, I will be living both nights of the awards show. It’s a massive project but it really is the highlight for me. As with year’s past, I’ll be on the Juno Red Carpet and then move backstage and get to talk to all the nominees, winners and performers. Do I know everyone I’m interviewing? No. But that’s why Wikipedia exist, right?

Juno Fest: Wherever the Junos land, the city lights up around and no where is that more evident than at Junofest. On Friday and Saturday more than 100 artists and bands will high light Canadian music at multiple venues around the city. This year’s Juno-festers include The Red Mass, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Ghettosocks, Dead and Divine, Bradley Boy, Rattlesnake Choir. I’m guessing you haven’t heard a lot of about these bands, which is what makes The Juno Fest so awesome. Besides Canadian Music Week, I can’t imagine a better place to discover new music.

Juno Fan Fare: I’ve mentioned this before but Juno Fan Fare is something that anyone that works in the media should witness at least once in their life. To see true music fans, get so excited about getting to get up close and personal with their biggest idols is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The screams, the photos and yes, the tears, remind you why we are writing about what we are doing. Fan Fare always reminds me how lucky I am to write about Canadian music.

Not in a cast!  For the first time in three years, I’m not in a cast. Nuff said.

I’m not sure about where you live, but here in Calgary there is still snow on the ground.  Lots of snow.  But that doesn’t mean that I can’t already be dreaming about Summer music festivals, right?

Two very different music festivals made big announcements in the last few days and they already have me dreaming of sitting in the sun and tapping my toes in the green grass (Calgary Folk Music Festival) and hopping around in my skinny jeans listening to some “sick” tunes (Sled Island.)

Sled Island will be taking over all the coolest pubs and bars in Calgary from June 22nd to June 25th of this year.  In its few years of existence, the festival has already garnered international attention for its rapid growth thanks to it’s risky musical choices.  So far the festival has only “leaked” seven of acts but they are impressive enough to get Calgary talking.  Already signed up to play at this year’s festival include: Of Montreal, Chad VanGaalen, The Dandy Warhols and Blonde Redhead.  (Hipster Lesson #141: If the band’s name doesn’t make sense, that’s cool…rather, hip.)

Ever since the Calgary Folk Music Festival knocked my socks off last year, I’ve been waiting patiently for news of this year’s festival line-up.  Getting any information out of them seems harder than….well…it’s hard.  Can we just leave it at that?  But today, the festival was scooped by The Calgary Herald who ended up announcing one of the festival’s headliners and it’s a doozy.  (I’m trying to bring that word back.  Please help where you can.)

After the leak, the festival quickly confirmed that the one and only K.D Lang will be singing live at Prince’s Island Park on July 23rd!!!  Oh I really couldn’t be more excited.  K.D. Lang!  The festival is also touting some pretty cool indie bands too including: C.R. Avery, Catherine MacLellan, Lighting Dush (see hipster rule #141) and Caravan Palace.

The festival will feature over 68 artists from 14 countries on 7 stages on July 21-24 2011 at Prince’s Island Park.  And yes, The Tarp Nazis are already lining up!

Huzzah!  Eric McCormack is finally making his way back to TV.  (No, sadly, it isn’t a Will and Grace reunion.)

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival vetran has just signed a deal with TNT that will see him star in “Perception.”  But we will have to wait, the show will not debut until 2012. McCormack will star as Dr. Geoffrey Pierce, an eccentric neuroscientist who uses his unique outlook and expertise to help the federal government crack difficult cases.

Hmm….doesn’t seem too original, but that’s not too surprising when it comes to crime shows.  I’m honestly just so happy that he is coming to the “boob tube”, as it were. She’s All That fans (fan?) will be happy knowing that Perception also co-stars Rachael Leigh Cook!

No word on where the show will make its appearance on Canadian networks, but it seems tailor made for Showcase.  Fingers crossed!

The most acclaimed Canadian movie of the year, Incendies,  finally finds its way to DVD today.  That should be enough for you to want to see it, but I know you and I know Canadian audiences  and unless the movie features curlers or a trailer park, you probably aren’t going to feel the urgency to see this movie.   That’s why I thought I’d do a little compiling of my own, so you can have a ton of evidence to justify your decision to see Incendies, should you need one.

• 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.  (Higher than any of the ten Best Picture nominees.)
• Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture.
• Winner of 8 Genie awards including Best Picture.
• Best Canadian Film at TIFF 2010.
• Named Top Film of 2010 by The Toronto Star.

It’s hard to argue with that much acclaim.

I get that sometimes it’s hard to support Canadian film productions.  They don’t usually have the huge budgets that American movies do.  But I think that works to our advantage.  That means there aren’t hundreds of people needlessly involved, diluting the story.  If you going to start dipping your toes into Canadian films, I can’t imagine a better place to start than Incendies. You can thank me later.