The Juno Awards, which annually reward artists in the Canadian music industry, announced their finalists on Tuesday. The Weeknd tops the list with six mentions, followed by Avril Lavigne and Tate McRae with five mentions each.
On the Quebec side, 37 French-speaking, Quebecois or Quebec-based artists are among the finalists. Arcade Fire garners a selection as group of the year, and we find among others Voivod for the metal album, Jean-Michel Blais for the instrumental album, Le Vent du Nord for the traditional roots album and the winner of the Polaris prize , Pierre Kwenders.
Montreal electro artists Rêve and Banx & Ranx have three nominations each, including Revelation of the Year. Dream is in the running for the award TikTok public choice. Kaytranada also features in two categories, including Director of the Year, where he competes against Banx & Ranx.
The five artists nominated for Francophone Album of the Year are Ariane Roy, Daniel Bélanger, Hubert Lenoir, Les Louanges and Lisa LeBlanc.
The Juno Awards Gala will be held March 13 in Edmonton. It will air on CBC and on the CBC Gem platform.