Last year’s virtual ceremony garnered over 1.1 million total viewers.
By: Kayla Higgins
(Uwe Conrad/Unsplash)
Nominations for the 51st annual Juno Awards were announced on March 1, with the show set to be the first in-person ceremony since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlotte Cardin topped the list of nominees that saw Canadian trailblazers Justin Bieber and The Weeknd tied for second place with five nods each.
Since placing in the Top 4 of La Voix, the Québécois version of the singing competition The Voice, the singer has been on a steady rise to the top, solidifying herself as a Canadian pop sensation quickly on the rise.
Her April 2021 album, Phoenix, helped her become the first female artist to spend numerous weeks at number one on the Billboard charts since Céline Dion in 2016.
The Montreal singer saw big-name nominations, such as Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for her track “Meaningless”), just four years after her 2018 nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.
Joining Cardin on the list of Album of the Year nominees are JP Saxe’s Dangerous Levels of Introspection, Justin Bieber’s Justice, Shawn Mendes’ Wonder and Tate McRae’s Too Young to be Sad.
Cardin is also slated to perform at the show, alongside Canadian pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne, singer-songwriter and poet Mustafa and seven-time Juno award winners, Arkells.
The event will be broadcasted live on CBC with Shang-Chi and Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu hosting.
Superstars Justin Bieber and The Weeknd follow close behind Cardin, with Bieber’s five nominations including Single of the Year (“Peaches”), Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year (both for Justice), Artist of the Year and the TikTok Fan Choice award.
Despite the fact that he didn’t release an album in 2021, Toronto singer and artistic powerhouse The Weeknd is up for the same number of nominations. The singer scored big when he took home five trophies at last year’s Juno’s — just months after he infamously boycotted the Grammys for his baffling exclusion from its 2021 nominations.
This year’s awards will see 105 new nominees over 36 genres and five technical categories, a surprising variation from the ceremony’s familiar faces.
That includes Pressa, a first-time nominee and rising icon within the Toronto rap scene. Known for his close relationship with artists such as Drake and Migos, he’s nominated for the Fan Choice award, Breakthrough Artist, Rap Album of the Year (Gardner Express) and Rap Single of the Year (“Attachments.”)
In an effort to recognize a wider array of artists, Juno organizers announced the introduction of new categories, as well as the separation and distinctions between some existing categories, including rap recording.
Ucluelet, B.C.-born singer-songwriter Jessia is also a first-time nominee, and one of many artists that can attribute their growing success to TikTok. She’s in the running for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Fan Choice, Single of the Year (“I’m Not Pretty”) and Pop Album of the Year (How Are You?).
The only fan-voted award at the ceremony, the TikTok JUNO Fan Choice Award, serves as a launchpad for Canadian artists to grow their careers and build a global fanbase. As a lead sponsor, the developers are working in partnership with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to support new and established artists and music creators.
13-year-old Kairo McLean is among the youngest nominees for his reggae track, “Easy Now,” while 4-year-old Romeo Aniello is now the youngest nominee ever.
Aniello, the son of Walk Off The Earth members Gianni Luminati and Sarah Blackwood, was credited on the band’s children’s album, which features the two discovering new food alongside a musical accompaniment.
The 51st annual Juno Awards will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music and CBC Listen, and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.
The show is scheduled to take place in Toronto on May 15 at Ontario Place’s Budweiser Stage.
Visit their website for the full list of nominees.
