The Juno's from the 'peg

The Juno Awards are tonight. The nominations this year that I really give a crap about are below; my picks are the ones that I've included hyperlinks for. Can't wait for Feist's live performance!

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Keshia Chanté

Fefe Dobson

Matt Dusk

Feist

Matt Mays

NEW GROUP OF THE YEAR

Alexisonfire

Death From Above 1979

The Marble Index

Thornley

The Waking Eyes

ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR

All Of Our Names Sarah Harmer

Matt Mays Matt Mays

Retriever Ron Sexsmith

Day One Sarah Slean

Want Two Rufus Wainwright

ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Funeral The Arcade Fire

Let It Die Feist

Now, More Than Ever Jim Guthrie

The Slow Wonder A.C. Newman

Set Yourself on Fire Stars

CD/DVD ARTWORK DESIGN OF THE YEAR

Bryan Adams (Director/Photographer); Dirk Rudolf (Designer) Room Service - Bryan Adams

Tracy Maurice (Director/Designer/Illustrator); Hilary Treadwell (Photographer) Funeral - The Arcade Fire

Jesse F. Keeler (Director/Designer/Illustrator); Eva Michon (Photographer) You're a Woman, I'm a Machine - Death From Above 1979

Vincent Marcone (Director/Designer/Illustrator) It Dreams - Jakalope

John Rummen & Kim Kinakin (Director/Designer/Illustrator); James Michin III (Photographer) Under My Skin - Avril Lavigne

Update: Just found out that 31 Juno Awards were handed out last night. Check out those winners at CTV.ca. Yay, Feist for winning Alternative Album of The Year! If Arcade Fire had to lose it to anyone, it was her.

Update[8:51pm EST]: Feist performs "Mushaboom" solo! Really terrific, just Feist singing and playing guitar. She stopped midway through the song for some reason to speak to some sound guy at which point I thought the performance was over, but then she continued with the song, at the satisfaction of the audience. The only thing that could have made the performance better than it already was was if the arena full of spectactors broke out in a spontaneous clap-a-long. Otherwise it was a really sublime performance.

Update[9:04pm EST]: My oversight, I didn't mean to ignore k-os in my awards picks above. I really like his music. He just performed "B-boy Stance" with a live band and some break dancers and he also performed a great version of "Crucial". I hope he wins in his respective categories.

Update[9:32pm EST]: Congrats to Ron Sexsmith for winning Songwriter of the Year. Yay, for Feist winning New Artist of the Year and for having the best speech ever, especially for thanking Broken Social Scene, Apostle of Hustle and Arts & Crafts.

Update[9:50pm EST]: The talented and lovely Sarah Harmer introduces The Tragically Hip as the newest inductees into the Music Hall of Fame. Good for 'em. They're that rare breed who've managed to attain a level of mainstream success(at least in Canada) while maintaining a level of artistic quality that I continue to admire. I'm not the biggest Hip fan, but some of their plaintive, quieter moments like "End of The Century", or their dramatic "Nautical Disaster" are downright sublime.

Update[10:02pm EST]: Yo, k-os wins Best Rap Recording for "Joyful Rebellion". And he keeps his thank-you's short... as in "thanks" and then walks off the stage.

Update[10:35pm EST]: The winner of the new category, Alternative Album of The Year is Sarah Harmer for "All of Our Names".

Update[10:41pm EST]: In that grand tradition of rock bands performing with a symphony, Sum 41 took their turn tonight, adding a string section to their live performance of "Pieces".

Update[10:47pm EST]: k-os wins Single of the Year for "Crabbuckit".