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By Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service
March 24, 2009

The. Best. Junos. Ever? Maybe so, maybe not. Time, and Sunday's 2009 Juno Awards road show in Vancouver, will tell.

One thing is already certain, though. The Junos have always, will once again -- and possibly always will -- cast the film industry's Genie Awards and TV's Geminis in the shade when it comes to glamour, prestige and word of mouth. For sheer glitter, glitz, glam appeal and -- most importantly, for the TV viewer watching from home -- pump-up-the-volume entertainment value, no other homegrown entertainment industry awards show comes close.

Why? It's certainly not the awards themselves. The Junos are spread out over several evenings, and feature a head-scratching array of categories. The choices can be anticlimactic, arcane and downright eccentric, when they're not forgettable. Quick: Who won the 2008 Juno Award for CD/DVD Artwork Design of the Year? (Answer: Tracy Maurice and Francois Miron, for Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. Now you know.)

For the real answer, you need look no further than your TV set. It's all about the show.

Just as this year's Grammys buried 10 televised trophy presentations in between 22 live performances, the Junos will focus on the performance aspect of Canadian music, and the performers themselves. Bryan Adams is slated to perform, along with Sarah McLachlan, Divine Brown, Serena Ryder and Simple Plan, among others. In all, there will be 14 live performances, spread out over two hours. (The Grammys traditionally run for three hours.)

This year's presenters include Feist, k.d. lang, Elvis Costello and Nanaimo, B.C.'s native daughter, Diana Krall.

Viewers clearly approve. Ratings for last year's Junos in Calgary, hosted by returning emcee Russell Peters, show that 1.45 million music devotees stuck around for the entire show, a 56 per cent jump over the previous year when 925,000 viewers hung in for the long haul. More than four million Canadians tuned in to watch at least some of the broadcast.

Last year's ceremony was the most-watched Junos show since the 2003 ceremony in Ottawa, hosted by Shania Twain, when two million viewers stuck around to watch Blue Rodeo, Avril Lavigne and Our Lady Peace perform. Just as tellingly, that telecast eclipsed the audience for that year's Grammys for the first time. To put that in perspective, try to imagine a scenario in which more Canadians watch the Genies than the Oscars, or choose the Geminis over the Emmys.

The secret to the Junos' success isn't just a question of entertaining the viewer at home, of course. It helps that homegrown music artists like Feist, Twain, Adams, Nickelback, McLachlan, Krall, Alanis Morissette, Nelly Furtado, Michael Buble, Measha Brueggergosman and countless others are as familiar, recognizable -- and comfortable -- on the world stage as the Coldplays and Madonnas of the music world.

The producers of the Junos, like the producers of the Grammys before them, have been smart enough to realize that the show's the thing -- that nobody outside a handful of industry insiders cares who wins Recording Engineer of the Year. What matters is whether the sound will be bright and lively, rather than anemic and soulless; whether Nickelback will rock the house and tear the rafters down; and whether McLachlan will nail her ballad-of-the-moment with soul-stirring strength.

Chances are, they will. And chances are, anyone who sees them will be talking about the Junos Monday morning.


The 2009 Juno Awards airs Sunday, March 29 on CTV at 9ET/5PT and 9 PT.


JUNO AWARDS - Ratings through the years


* 2002 (St. John's) -- 1.36 million viewers; host Barenaked Ladies

* 2003 (Ottawa) -- 2.18 million viewers; host Shania Twain

* 2004 (Edmonton) -- 1.34 million viewers; host Alanis Morissette

* 2005 (Winnipeg) -- 1.22 million viewers; host Brent Butt

* 2006 (Halifax) -- 1.23 million viewers; host Pamela Anderson

* 2007 (Saskatoon) -- 925,000 viewers; host Nelly Furtado

* 2008 (Calgary) -- 1.45 million viewers; host Russell Peters