It was not a stellar year for gay artists at the Junos. While a handful were nominated this year, none emerged triumphant.
Austra (fronted by lesbian vocalist Katie Stelmanis), whose debut effort was nominated for Electronic Album of the Year, lost to Tim Hecker for his album Ravedeath, 1972. The ever-charming one-gay-band Diamond Rings was nominated in the category of New Artist of the Year but lost out to Dan Mangan.
Lesbian artist Dinah Thorpe lost in the Recording Package of the Year category, and lesbian legend kd lang was up for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award but lost out to Brian Howes for his recent work with Hedley (Storms) and Nickelback (Here and Now).
Meanwhile, Feist – who is much loved by the Canadian queer community – picked up Artist of the Year, Adult Alternative Album of the Year (for her fourth album, Metals) and Music DVD of the Year, for Look at What the Light Did Now (produced by Anthony Seck, Jannie McInnes and Chip Sutherland). For the latter, Feist beat out queer identical twins Tegan and Sara, who were nominated for their music DVD Get Along, which is a collection of three films – States, India and For the Most Part – that were included in their recent CD release.
Despite the lack of queer Juno wins this year, Saturday and Sunday’s awards ceremonies were full of charming moments, with a record number of first-time nominations and newbie wins, prompting funny and humble acceptance speeches.
For the full list of Juno winners, click here.
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