(Toronto) Albums from 10 acclaimed Canadian artists, including Charlotte Cardin, The Beaches and Allison Russell, will compete Tuesday night for the Polaris Music Prize.
The prestigious $50,000 prize, presented at Massey Hall in Toronto, recognizes the best Canadian album of the year, as judged by a jury of music critics based on artistic merit.
Other contenders include rapper Tobi, Inuk singer Elisapie and former Polaris winner Jeremy Dutcher.
The Polaris shortlist shines a spotlight on rising Canadian artists to a broader national audience, but in a rare move, seven of this year’s contenders have previously won Junos, the country’s most prestigious music award.
Among them is DJ and producer Bambii, who won her first Juno in Halifax earlier this year, while Toronto artist DijahSB, Calgary drag queen rock project Cindy Lee and Montreal punk band Nobro round out the list.
The Polaris will feature performances by most of this year’s nominated artists and will be hosted by last year’s winner, Debby Friday. Singer Charlotte Cardin, who was scheduled to perform, is withdrawing after contracting COVID-19.