Charlotte Cardin Beats The Weeknd & Biebs With 6 Juno Noms

By Karen Bliss

Montreal’s Charlotte Cardin leads the 51st Juno Awards with six nominations, while global superstars Justin Bieber and The Weeknd have each earned five. Jessia, Pressa, and Shawn Mendes are all up for four. The announcement was made today (March 1) online by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (CARAS).

Now that covid looks to be under control, the Juno Awards — produced by Insight — will be back in person after two years, held for the first time at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, on May 15, and televised on CBC and streamed online. Tickets go on sale on March 4.  Previously announced, actor Simu Liu (Shang-Chi, The Legend of The Ten Rings) will host. Performing on the show will be Avril Lavigne, Arkells, Mustafa, and Cardin, with many more to come.

The majority of the 46 awards will be handed out May 14 at a gala dinner attended mainly by industry, but also webcast on CBC’s platforms: CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, and globally on CBCMusic.ca/junos.  “It goes without saying that the CBC is committed to recognizing the accomplishments of all of our nominees,” said CARAS president and CEO Allan Reid.

Cardin is up for TikTok Juno fan choice, single of the year, album, artist, pop album and music video; Bieber is also vying for fan choice, single, album, artist and pop album, while The Weeknd is also in the fan choice, single, artist, songwriter and contemporary R&B recording categories.

Mendes is going head to head with Cardin and Bieber in four categories: fan choice, album, artist and pop album. Also with four are first-time nominees Jessia, with fan choice, single, breakthrough artist and pop album, and Pressa for fan choice, breakthrough artist, rap album/EP, and rap single.

Almost half of the 235 nominations are first-time contenders, which might have something to do with a new outreach program.

“Despite the challenges, our music community continues to face, we saw an extraordinary amount of submissions for this year's Junos,” said Reid.

“One reason for that is the support from TD, the powering sponsor of the inaugural Junos submissions access program, which was created by CARAS to support independent Canadian artists from underrepresented communities to help cover the cost of their submissions. We saw an overwhelming response to the program this year, and we can't thank TD enough for their ongoing support.”

In keeping with the recording academy’s commitment to diversity and representation, five new categories have also been added: contemporary Indigenous artist or group, traditional Indigenous artist or group, underground dance single, rap album/EP, and rap single.

Of the three big awards, the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award was announced last week, to be given posthumously to Black music trailblazer Denise Jones. The hall of fame and humanitarian award recipients will be revealed soon.

“I'd also like to recognize the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters,” said Reid. “Thanks to our funding partners, the Province of Ontario, especially Minister Lisa MacLeod. You have welcomed us back to the province again this year, and we couldn't be more grateful.

“The City of Toronto and Mayor John Tory, thank you so much for hosting us once again, in this great city and the Radio Starmaker Fund. Also, to our premier sponsor, TD, your support of the Junos for over a decade proves just how much TD believes in the power of music. And finally, a huge thank you to our lead sponsors, Sirius XM Canada, TikTok, and Sonos.”

For the full list of nominees, go here.