Junos set to surprise with a 'barn burner' of a show Sunday
The 48th annual Juno Awards are in London, Ont. but the executive producer says his dream city is Montreal
When the lights come up for the Juno awards in London, Ont on Sunday, executive producer John Brunton will be finished what he calls the most brutal part of the entire week.
"From dress rehearsal to the show, all you think about is what can go wrong," said Brunton.
That gut-check feeling still sits in his stomach, even though this will be his 25th year working on the Junos.
This year's 48th annual Juno Award Show will take place at the sold-out Budweiser Gardens on Sunday with host Sarah McLachlan moving things along onstage.
Click to watch Bahamas perform a sound check ahead of Sunday night's show
But somewhere in the 10,000 seat arena, Brunton will be sitting with his recognizable mustache, reminiscing on the early Juno award shows.
"When I started it was in a soft seat theatre and you'd hear a couple of screaming fans up in the balcony and now the whole show is about taking our show on the road to the fans," said Brunton.
Junos a constant change
He calls the decision to move industry insiders away from the stage to open up room for thousands of screaming fans a "huge evolution" that connects artists to their fans.
Brunton watched on Friday morning as people installed lights and cables while recalling the days when carpenters would be hammering away at sets with nails.
"Technology changes constantly, so we try to keep up with all of that," said Brunton, promising a completely different design for this year's Junos broadcast.
'Barn burner of an opening'
He also promised a big show opening for Sunday.
"I won't tell you what the opening of the show is but we've got a barn burner of an opening that's going to blow the roof off this place," he said.
Wonder what it’s going to be like on Sunday at the <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJUNOAwards?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJUNOAwards</a>?<br><br>This is what it would be like to have your name called, walk the carpet and have <a href="https://twitter.com/BahamasMusic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BahamasMusic</a> play your way to the award. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Junos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Junos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Junoweek?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Junoweek</a> <a href="https://t.co/Kfd9Ut2c5d">pic.twitter.com/Kfd9Ut2c5d</a>
—@ChrisEnsingCBCBrunton works alongside executive producers Allan Reid and Mark Cohon for the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and executive producer Lindsay Cox, also with Insight Productions.
Making its way to Montreal?
What does the man who has worked on 25 Juno award list has his dream host city?
"There's one city that we have to go to, I think that's Montreal," said Brunton.
"To have the challenge of mixing a show in a combination of both English and French, with those two communities and turning it into a successful enterprise in Montreal, is one dream that I still would love to accomplish."
How to watch the awards ceremony
Before the awards get going, there's a lot of coverage on CBC television and radio.
The ceremony kicks off at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Watch it on television, hear it on CBC Radio One (93.5 FM here in London) or CBC Music (100.5 FM) or stream it on CBCMusic.ca/Junos.