Page 12 February 16, 2009 EN'TERTAINMENT

Vancouver, Canada’s golden city, needs to give itself a shine

The city set to host winter games, as well as Juno awards. But with home-grown artists like Nickelback, maybe the viewer should wait another year

By Whitney Bysterveldt

Panther Post

It seems as though Vancouver is Canada’s golden city lately, playing host not only to the winter games but also the upcoming Juno awards.

Of course the former is a much more es- teemed event, and with the announcement of the nominees on Feb. 3 that statement couldn’t be any more true.

Leading the pack with five nominations is the marketable yet insipid Nickelback, followed by Canada’s most congenial rock star Sam Roberts with four noms.

Rounding out the multiple nominations are veteran Celine Dion and the inane en- semble known as Hedley, both tied with three nominations.

It seems as though the selection in Can- ada’s awards for outstanding achievement in the record industry is as diverse and in- spiring as an Abercrombie and Fitch cata- logue.

The lacklustre array of artists doesn’t end with the front runners as those up for inter- national album of the year include AC/DC, Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, Jack Johnson and Metallica.

It’s strange how a country with such a vast range of musical talent is continuously pay- ing homage to those artists who produce the most pallid work.

Granted, the nominations for general cat- egories such as album of the year are de- termined by sales but genre-specific cat- egories are chosen by a panel. For this we should be grateful as it is in the panel cho- sen categories that the nominations look a little more promising.

Take the alternative album of the year, for example, as artists such as Chad Van- Gaalen, Plants and Animals, The Stills, Black Mountain and Fucked Up are in con- tention. Even a few East Coast bands snuck

in as The Trews, Sloan and Matt Mays and El Torpedo are all up for Rock Album of the Year and Gordie Sampson is once again up for Songwriter of the Year.

It’s strange that the majority of categories are congested with male artists when it is the females that appeared to be in strong standing this year. Artists such as Ala- nis Morisette, Sarah Slean, Serena Ryder, Feist, Lights, Tara Oram, Molly Johnson and Ariane Moffatt.

Mundane nominations aside, the airing of the awards should prove to be no more rousing as performances include the likes of Nickelback and Simple Plan. Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the awards show will be the return of comedic host Russell Peters. So unless you’re interested in watching a nationally televised Nickel- back gala you may be better off waiting for next year’s awards.

PANTHER POST

Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, whose musical interests includes making music that is not interesting, will be with his band as they are set to play at the Junos in Vancouver. Photo: Google Images