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DJ MAG Canada at the Juno Awards

April 5, 2012

DJ MAG Canada @ the Juno Awards

The Juno Awards recognize the artistic and technical achievements of Canadian music’s most talented artists. The numerous different awards handed out every year range greatly in distinction, highlighting all aspects of the music industry.

The entire city was bustling with anticipation leading up to Sunday night’s show which happened at the well appointed ScotiaBank Place, home of the Ottawa Senators. This event creates tons of buzz every year and always brings with it a star line up. Fans in Ottawa were treated to yet another true red carpet affair.

Clearly the premier event within the music industry here in Canada, the Juno Awards consistently attracts thousands of fans and feature live performances by some of our country’s most popular musical artists. The popularity of dance music in Canada has risen significantly throughout recent years and this has created an opportunity for more EDM artists to make their way into the spotlight. Deadmau5, Canada’s most prolific electronic music producer, has been nominated countless times and won “Dance Recording of the Year” for three consecutive years from 2008-2010. He has also been voted in the top 10 of DJ Mag’s very own Top 100 DJs Poll for 4 consecutive years which is impressive to say the least. As Deadmau5 would be performing at the Juno’s again this year, here at DJ Mag Canada, we saw it as a great opportunity to witness what is now a much more prominent presence of our beloved EDM at the Juno’s.

Martin Solveig ft Dragonette (middle) – ‘Hello” won Dance Recording of the Year (image Chris Wattie/Reuters)

William Shatner hosted the affair and the performances started up quickly with a mix of this year’s top recordings. It was nice to see this mix kick off with Martin Solveig’s “Hello”. Martin himself is not Canadian but this chart topping single features the vocals of the Toronto based electropop act, Dragonette. Luckily the fans were treated to a live performance of this popular song which, later in the evening, was awarded “Dance Recording of the Year“. The other nominees in that category were Deadmau5, Duck Sauce, Anjulie and Mia Martina. Deadmau5 was once again nominated for the “Artist of the Year“ award. Up against some steep competition, Drake, Michael Buble, Feist and City and Colour were also nominated in this category. Feist ended up walking away with the crystal statuette, making that a collection of 11 for her. The “Electroninc Album of the Year “ award was given to Tim Hecker from Montreal, other nominations in this category were Junior Boyz, Azari & III, Austra and Arthur Askan. Nearing the end of the night, it was clear Joel would be taking the stage soon as the crowd down on the floor was filling up with little neon Deadmau5 ears that were being given away. His highly anticipated performance started off with a live rendition of “Raise Your Weapon“, sang by Toronto based singer Lights. A Juno Award winner herself back in 2009 for “Best New Artist“, Lights sounded great replacing the vocals of Greta Svabo Bech on this melodic song. He played a couple more songs as the arena slowly began to empty out, although all the fans wearing their Deadmau5 ears down on the floor were still dancing away.

Montreal’s A-Trak (left) is one half of Duck Sauce with coproducer Armand van Helden (right) at Ultra Music Festvial – the duo were nominated for their global hit “Barbara Streisand”

Clearly a force to be reckoned with, EDM is here to stay and is quickly becoming more prevalent throughout not only Canada but the world. It was great to experience the finely produced show and presentation of the awards first hand. We would not be surprised to see an even stronger presence of dance music artists at the Juno Awards next year.

Keep an eye on the website for all the latest news and updates about electronic dance music in Canada.

 

Stef Abrek