Carly Rae Jepsen, who shot to fame with her infectious hit single "Call Me Maybe," leads this year's Juno Awards nominees. Her five nods were enough to edge out pop superstar Justin Bieber's four chances to take some hardware home from the ceremony taking place this year in Regina.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Melanie Berry boasted of a diverse, talented lineup of musical acts vying for the coveted awards this year.
Berry reminded music fans that 11-time Juno winner Michael Buble will host the gala event, as she announced for the first time that he will be performing that night too. Marianas Trench, Billy Talent and Carly Rae Jepsen were also announced as performers during the broadcast gala from Regina's Brandt Centre.
There are 178 nominees this year, Berry said, including more than 90 first-time contenders.
Jepsen, Bieber, Celine Dion, Hedley and Marianas Trench are all up for the coveted album of the year honours.
Hedley's "Kiss You Inside Out," and Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" are also vying for single of the year, alongside Billy Talent's "Viking Death March," Serena Ryder's "Stompa" and The Sheepdogs' "The Way It Is."
Jepsen will also square off against music industry heavyweights Bieber, Deadmau5, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Reid for the title of artist of the year.
While most of the winners are chosen by either the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences or a panel of experts, depending on the award, fans have a chance to crown their favourite from among a list of 10 big-name acts as well.
In addition to Jepsen, Hedley, Bieber and triple-nominee Leonard Cohen, other contenders for this year's Fan Choice Award include Celine Dion, Drake, Marianas Trench, Metric, Nickelback and Buble.
Jepsen's fifth nomination is in the category Pop Album of the Year, where she faces competition from quadruple-nominee Bieber, as well as Kristina Maria, Nelly Furtado and Victoria Duffield.
And this year's nominees for Breakthrough Group of the Year are Hey Ocean!, Monster Truck, The Pack a.d., Walk off the Earth, and Yukon Blonde.
Other highlights of this year's Junos include:
- the induction of eight-time Juno winner k.d. lang into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
- another edition of the Juno Songwriters’ Circle, in which an artist, to be announced in March, performs and discusses their songwriting methods
This year's 42nd annual Juno Awards will be broadcast on CTV on April 21.
Tickets to see the show in person go on sale this Friday, Feb 22 at 10 AM CT.
Ranging in price from $59 to $189 plus taxes and service fees, they can be purchased through the Ticketmaster website, by phone at 1-800-970-7328 or at the Evraz Place Box Office in Regina.
