Final Production Details and Presenters Announced for The 2008 JUNO Awards, Sunday, April 6 on CTV
Submitted By Renée Dupuis
Mar 27, 2008

Toronto, ON (March 26, 2008) – Get ready to rock! With the biggest night in Canadian music approaching, CTV revealed today the final elements of its broadcast plan for The 2008 JUNO Awards. Airing live on Sunday, April 6 at 8 p.m. ET from Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome, the two-hour broadcast will see seven JUNO Awards handed out by 17 presenters from atop an imaginative and original set designed to echo Calgary’s rich past and booming present. The awards broadcast will be preceded by the official JUNOS red carpet special, eTalk at the JUNOS, at 7 p.m. ET on CTV (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times).

The Presenters
Seventeen presenters will hand out eight awards during the CTV broadcast, which includes the induction of legendary rock band Triumph to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Confirmed presenters include nominees AlexCuba, Belly, Corb Lund, Deborah Cox, Tom Cochrane, illScarlett, Jesse Cook, James Ehnes, Pascale Picard, Serena Ryder, Sophie Milman, Suzie McNeil, and Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor from Blue Rodeo. Also handing out awards are legendary folk singer Ian Tyson and The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages. As well, the winner of the Doritos Ultimate Fan contest will bestow the JUNO Fan Choice Award presented by Doritos.

The Categories
CTV and CARAS confirmed today that seven award categories will be presented throughout the duration of the show. The categories are JUNO Fan Choice Award (presented by Doritos); Single of the Year; Album of the Year (Sponsored by CRIA); Group of the Year; New Group of the Year (Sponsored by FACTOR and Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters); Pop Album of the Year; and Country Recording of the Year.

Additionally, Rock group Triumph will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the broadcast. Visit www.junoawards.ca or Junos.CTV.ca or for a complete list of nominees in each category.

The Performers
As previously announced, The 2008 JUNO Awards features 15 dynamic Canadian artists performing throughout the star-studded, two-hour show. Featuring a wide variety of musical genres, this year’s stellar performance lineup includes JUNO nominees Avril Lavigne, Feist, Finger Eleven, Hedley, Jully Black, Measha Brueggergosman and Michael Bublé. Fellow nominee Anne Murray will appear in special duet performances with Jann Arden and Sarah Brightman. Aaron Lines, Gord Bamford, Johnny Reid, Paul Brandt and Shane Yellowbird are all nominees performing in a special all-country musical tribute to host city Calgary and the province of Alberta.

The Host
International stand-up superstar Russell Peters is known around the world for his brand of sidesplitting observational humour. The Canadian boasts sold-out comedy shows from the Sydney Opera House to Madison Square Garden to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. While we’re not sure exactly what he’ll say on JUNO night, we do know it will be hilarious.

The Set
“The set for this year’s live concert is really mind-blowing,” said Executive Producer John Brunton. “The stage truly pays homage to Calgary, while providing a platform for viewers and spectators alike to enjoy their favourite performers and presenters.”

Production designer Pete Faragher has created his most inventive and imaginative set yet, an amalgam of Calgary’s natural history, contemporary economic icons and forward-looking architecture. “We have created an environment that takes viewers into the city’s diverse landscape,” said Faragher.

Fossil meets fossil fuel with a prehistoric sauropod bracing the main stage. A special performance area has been created for the adventurous musicians who will navigate the partially excavated stainless steel and Plexiglas ribs lining the stage. The sauropod’s skull, adorned with a crown of oil barrels, serves as the dias for the actual awards presentations.

By The Numbers
By the time the broadcast is over on Sunday night, over 10,000 hours of labour will have been used to produce the biggest traveling TV broadcast in Canada. Producing The 2008 JUNO Awards involves:

- 150 technical working staff (approximately half are from Calgary with the other half representing the rest of Canada)
- 70 production staff (30 of them from Calgary)
- Ten tractor-trailers will roll into Calgary carrying lighting, rigging, audio, video, staging and band gear
- One HD television mobile with 12 cameras
- Over 5,000 feet of camera cable and two audio mobiles, with over 120 microphone inputs each
- 300 lighting fixtures, including 200 remote controlled moving lights
- Over 2,000 feet of truss and over 140 rigging points are required to hang the lights
- Approximately 400 miles of lighting, audio, and video cabling
- Over 300,000 watts of audio power through more than 200 speakers
- 100 channels of RF frequencies

About The 2008 JUNO Awards:
Hosted by Russell Peters, The 2008 JUNO Awards, Canada’s Music Awards, will air on CTV and CHUM Radio on Sunday, April 6 from the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. It is the seventh year in a row that The JUNO Awards will air on CTV, the official broadcast partner of the JUNO Awards. Since going live from St. John’s in 2002, CTV has broadcast The JUNO Awards from Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004), Winnipeg (2005), Halifax (2006) and Saskatoon (2007). Previous hosts of The JUNO Awards on CTV include Nelly Furtado (2007), Pamela Anderson (2006), Brent Butt (2005), Alanis Morissette (2004), Shania Twain (2003) and Barenaked Ladies (2002).

The 2008 JUNO Awards is produced by Insight Productions in association with CTV and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). Executive producers are John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby for Insight Productions and Melanie Berry and Stephen Stohn for CARAS. Louise Wood is Producer and Donna Luke is Line Producer. Rob Farina is Vice-President of Programming for CHUM Radio. Ed Robinson is Executive Vice-President, Programming, CTV. Susanne Boyce is President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc.

Sponsors of the 2008 JUNO Awards include FACTOR, Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s “Canada Music Fund”, The Government of Alberta, The City of Calgary, Tourism Calgary, Calgary Arts Development and Radio Starmaker Fund.

Broadcast sponsors for The 2008 JUNO Awards are Pontiac, Doritos, TD Canada Trust and Rogers.

About CARAS:
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences/L’academie canadienne des arts et des sciences de l’enregistrement (CARAS) is a not-for-profit organization created to preserve and enhance the Canadian music and recording industries and to contribute toward higher artistic and industry standards. The main focus of CARAS is the exploration and development of opportunities to showcase and promote Canadian artists and music through television vehicles such as The JUNO Awards. For more information on the 37th Annual JUNO Awards, visit the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ (CARAS) website at www.junoawards.ca.

About CTV:
CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multi-media company which owns CTV Inc. and The Globe and Mail. CTV Inc. also owns radio stations across the country, and leading national specialty channels. Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and in Dome Productions, a North American leader in the provision of mobile high definition production facilities. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca.

Web Links:
CTV’s JUNO Awards website: www.junos.ctv.ca 
Official JUNO Awards website: www.junoawards.ca  
CARAS website: www.carasonline.ca

© Copyright 1999 - 2008 by Thats Country  [ disclaimer ]