Kelly: Quebec's music and language were MIA at the Junos |
The Juno Awards ceremony on Sunday completely ignored Quebec, with the francophone album trophy handed out at an earlier gala, almost no Quebec artists performing (the only one was former Montrealer Allison Russell during the Joni Mitchell tribute), and the only person to utter a word in French was our prime minister.
The Junos are billed as “Canada’s Music Awards.” But based on Sunday night’s gala, that’s false advertising. These Junos apparently don’t include Quebec.
So, I have a helpful suggestion for the folks at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (CARAS): Why don’t you just call it “English-Canada’s Music Awards”? Because the show seems about as allergic to speaking French as Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau, who announced his retirement Monday after backlash over giving an English-only speech in response to a fatal plane crash.
The only French heard at the Junos gala came, briefly, from Mark Carney, who introduced the tribute to Canadian icon Joni Mitchell in both official languages.
Quebec music was missing in action, and that includes popular anglophone acts like Patrick Watson or viral darlings like Angine de Poitrine. And to add insult to injury, the resulting gala was super dull. Sure, it was to fun see Rush open the awards show with their new drummer, Anika Nilles, and the Joni Mitchell........