Singer The Weeknd was once again the big winner at the Juno Awards ceremony, adding the Album of the Year award to his collection on Monday night, having already won four statuettes on Saturday.
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The Toronto artist received the honor for his fifth album, Dawn FM, which was released just over a year ago.
The Weeknd is now the second-highest Juno honoree of all time, having won artist of the year, pop album of the year and song of the year at Saturday’s inaugural gala.
Once again, however, the artist chose to ignore the Canadian Music Gala, where he was conspicuous by his absence.
Nickelback honored
Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and Edmonton Oilers prodigy Connor McDavid joined forces Monday night to pay tribute to Nickelback, who was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the ceremony in the Alberta capital.
The popular actor, who is primarily behind the character of Deadpool, narrated Nickelback’s career with humor for the first time in a taped segment.
Then the top player in the National Hockey League took the stage to praise the group to the enthusiastic shouts of “MVPs” that erupted from the crowd. “The Hall of Fame, all institutions have one. And everyone dreams of being accepted there one day,” he said.
The band members seemed really happy with their inauguration. “We had no idea what we were doing, and often still have. But everything we’ve done has led us to this moment, here,” joked Chad Kroeger onstage.
Otherwise, the Junos left little room for artists from the La Belle province on Monday because no awards were being presented to Quebecers at the time of publication. French was virtually non-existent during the ceremony, save for a quick “hello” or two from a few speakers, including Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, before English resumed.
The ceremony was also slightly disrupted by the presence of a protester who went topless on stage during a presentation by Avril Lavigne. The singer, who also won the audience award, launched a “Fous le camp! Get the hell out, bitch (Get the fuck away bitch)” before security forces intervene.
The ceremony was hosted by Canadian actor Simu Liu, best known for his roles as Shaun in the Marvel Universe and Jung in the CBC series Kim’s Convenience.