Nelly Furtado leads big-name performers at Sunday's Juno Awards
Charlotte Cardin, The Beaches, Aysanabee and more will take the stage in Halifax
Nelly Furtado will get the party started this weekend as some of the biggest names in Canadian music gather in Halifax for the 53rd Juno Awards.
The 10-time Juno-winning pop singer, who has an album on the way this year, will open with a medley of her hits and host Sunday's main event at Scotiabank Centre, followed by performances by established and rising stars from across the country.
"It really is her party and her show," Lindsay Cox, the broadcast's creative producer and senior vice-president of Insight Productions, told CBC's Eli Glasner.
"But then throughout the broadcast, there's so many moments — really emotional moments, really important moments and really special moments, hearing these artists sing their songs to a television crowd."
Montreal folk singer Allison Russell, who is fresh off a Grammy win and is up for three Junos, will team up with triple-Juno-nominated Aysanabee for a tribute to folk singer Gordon Lightfoot and The Band guitarist Robbie Robertson, two Canadian icons who died last year.
Another Sunday pairing will see multitalented northern Quebec Inuk artist Elisapie team up with New Brunswick-born Juno- and Polaris Prize-winning Jeremy Dutcher, an Indigenous pianist and composer.
Charlotte Cardin, a Montreal pop singer who won four awards at the 2022 Junos, will also perform and is poised for another big year with six nominations — more than any other artist — including Album and Artist of the Year.
"We execute on behalf of the artists. It's very, very collaborative, but we really listen so that each performance is bespoke and really represents who they are," Cox said.
Toronto's The Beaches, whose song Blame Brett went viral last year, are the most high-profile rock band on the performers' list, and will look to pull off a first-time Group of the Year win as they go up against past winners Nickelback, Loud Luxury, Walk Off the Earth and Arkells.
Furtado previously hosted the 2007 Junos in Saskatoon, where she descended from the rafters dressed like a bird. Reviewing her past hosting experience with CBC Music, Furtado said she will cut out the comedy this time around.
The trick is to just "detach and try your best," she said.
"Don't troll me. Don't hate on me. Thank you."
Canadian rap legend Maestro Fresh Wes, a.k.a. Wesley Williams, will also make an appearance to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
His album Symphony in Effect made him the first Black Canadian artist to score a platinum album, and won the first-ever Juno for Rap Recording of the Year in 1991. Williams told CBC Music that the year he won that historic Juno, he was inspired seeing Leonard Cohen's hall induction.
"Who would have thought back then?" Williams said. "That's the memory that I had in my mind, you know. And now I'm here right now, doing something that he got [to do] years ago."
Toronto R&B sensation Daniel Caesar and Ottawa newcomer Talk are among the biggest acts to watch this year, with five nominations apiece, including both for Album of the Year.
Calgary pop singer Tate McRae could see her first win, with three nominations, adding to her nine previous Juno nods, while Amanda Marshall, who rose to stardom in the 1990s, might break her Juno curse with her 12th career nomination.
Veteran country star Shania Twain, meanwhile, will have a chance to add to her 13 Juno wins, with two nods this year.
Some fresh faces to watch include Markham, Ont., actor-turned-rapper Connor Price, who is up for three awards, as well as Toronto pop singer Lu Kala and Surrey, B.C.-based Punjabi pop singer Karan Aujla, with two nods each.
The Saturday night ceremony, where more than 40 Junos will be given out before Sunday's main event, will be co-hosted by Aba Amuquandoh, anchor on This Hour Has 22 Minutes and host of Best in Miniature, and CBC Music's Damhnait Doyle, and will be live-streamed at cbcmusic.ca/junos starting at 5 p.m. ET/6 p.m. AT.
The Sunday show will stream live across Canada from 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. AT on CBC-TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen and globally at cbcmusic.ca/junos and CBC Music's YouTube page.
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With files from Eli Glasner