Having watched the Juno awards last night I was disappointed with not only the awards given but also the host’s off-color jokes and awkward interactions with the guests. Russell Peters looked very much out of place when “working the crowd” during last night’s show and most of his digs were degrading, unfunny and downright racist. His jibe at Sarah McLachlan about her “being newly single” and “not letting one brown guy ruin it for us all” was unfunny and uncalled for. He also poked fun at two of Canada’s Olympic Athletes for “being too stoned to answer any of his questions.” (This is not me being too sensitive of course – you could hear a pin drop at GM Place after each of these jokes – in fact Brett Butt from Corner Gas was seated right behind Peters while he was cracking these jokes and looked thoroughly unimpressed himself.)
Aside from the host’s poor choice in humour, the awards given out were surprising as well. Nickelback won three awards including Album of the Year which to me was sickening given almost every song they have released since 2000 is the SAME SONG with different lyrics. Nickelback opened the show with their new single “Something in your Mouth” which could have been a carbon-copy of any stage performance they’ve ever had…Chad screaming, pyro popping, music the same shit they’ve been writing for years.
I would’ve liked to see Sam Roberts win more awards for his music because he’s a musician whose music brings a message. The song “Them Kids” echoes the message that kids today don’t have the same musical leaders that kids from my generation had like Bryan Adams, Loverboy and The Tragically Hip who played a big role in last night’s Juno show. Sam Robert’s song, “Them Kids” goes:
They’re always on the phone and they gotta have control, and now the kids don’t know how to dance and rock and roll. …Looking for an original voice but the beaten path leaves little choice, the melody that you thought you found, reveals that she’s been sleeping around.
A lot more profound than Nickelback singing about how his girlfriend would look better with “Something in her Mouth.”
Perhaps the most positive thing to come from the Junos last night was the ad for Musicounts:
Canada’s music education charity associated with CARAS [Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences], is helping to keep music alive in schools across Canada. MusiCounts’ mission is to ensure that children in Canada, regardless of socio-economic circumstances and cultural background, have access to a comprehensive music program through their school.
It is sad to think that a charity needs to be set up to keep music programs alive in schools and I would get into the importance of this in my idea of fundamental learning but I’ll save it for another post.
The last performance of the night was amazing with Hawksley Workman fronting Great Big Sea in a rendition of “The Gallows Pole.” I thought this and the duo of Dallas Green (City and Color) with Gord Downie (Tragically Hip) were by far the two best performances of the night.
Next year I don’t expect to see Russell Peters hosting and if he does I’ll have a difficult time not finding something else to watch. Oh, and Nickelback needs to hire Bob Rock to produce their next album so that they have a new song to sing…
