FURTADO MAKES HER MARK; BRUCE COCKBURN HONOURED
Another year of Canadian music excellence has come and gone, forcing both passive and dedicated music lovers to take notice of the best acts, artists and ensembles nation-wide.
Hosted by This Hour Has 22 Minute's Rick Mercer and opened by boy-band-turned-rock-guru's The Moffatts, the show captured the best, and most entertaining of Canada's
diverse spectrum of talent.
Despite the Canuck overtones of the broadcast, it was an American act that first rouse the crowd. Two members of the massively popular 'N Synce briefly came onstage (to many
teenage shrieks) to help introduce Nelly Furtado's live montage of her hit "I'm Like A Bird" and "Turn Off The Lights". Whoa Nelly! would prove to be the theme of the night
as Canada chose to honour the Victoria, British Columbia native with multiple awards.
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The appearance of 'N Sync was reflective of an overall shift of young music fans to boy-bands and bubbly pop.
The American band, along with appearances by collegues soulDecision, B4-4 and the Moffatts all drew wild screams from
the balcony and managed to drown much of what Mercer, and the various presenters, had to say.
One of the most significant performances of the night came through a tribute to urban music in Canada.
Featuring Snow, the Dream Warriors, Maestro Fresh Wes, Jacksoul, Deborah Cox, Choclair and others, the high-energy
spotlight offered up the best urban hits past and present, and drew strong support from the Hamilton crowd.
The Juno Awards then looked back to it's rock roots with a stirring performance by The Guess Who, which inspired a standing ovation
and a "wow!" from front-man Burton Cummings. The retrospect lead into one of the more touching moments of the night, when Bruce Cockburn
was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
The honour was presented by Canadian legend's Gordon Lightfoot and
The Nature of Things David Suzuki and included musical tributes from Sarah Harmer, Jann Arden and
Terri Clark, along with words of praise from such prolific international acts as the Barenaked Ladies, Midnight Oil and
U2's Bono. The Barenaked Ladies even joined in via live sattelite from a concert stop in Prince George, British
Columbia to offer up their rendition of Cockburn's "Lovers In A Dangerous Time". A shaken Cockburn accepted the award in
a reflective, humble manner: full of political passion that has fueled much of his musical career, which earned him a second standing ovation.
The show closed with a performance from punk-influenced frenzy of Treblecharger (who played their hit
single "American Psycho") and the awarding of the final honour: Best Album. For this, Juno turned to one of
it's favourites and gave the statue to the Barenaked Ladies, eclipsing other Canadian heavyweights Our Lady Peace,
the Matthew Good Band and the Tragically Hip. Overall, the night belonged to Cockburn and Furtado: the latter perhaps
the most heralded of the evening and noticably running out of acceptance speeches by the end.
By Dave Brosha, CanEHdian.com 2001
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