Arcade Fire, Serena Ryder nab Juno nominations

Arcade Fire, Tegan and Sara, Michael Bubl and Serena Ryder are among the top acts in the running for the 2014 Juno Awards, Canada's annual celebration of popular music.

Montreal rock troupe Arcade Fire is the front-runner with six nominations, including group of the year, songwriter and both best single and alternative album for Reflektor.

Toronto singer-songwriter Serena Ryder's latest album Harmony boosted her to five nods, including for artist of the year, songwriter, album and best single for What I Wouldn't Do.

Calgary-born siblings Tegan and Sara Quin are also in the running for a host of honours, including group of the year, best pop album for Heartthrob and best single for Closer.

Perennial audience favourites Drake, Hedley, Michael Bubl and Cline Dion also earned a raft of nominations each for their latest albums, Nothing Was the Same, Wild Life, To Be Loved and Loved Me Back to Life, respectively.

Nominees in selected categories include:

• Artist of the year: Cline Dion, Drake, Michael Bubl, Robin Thicke, Serena Ryder.
• Group: Arcade Fire, Blue Rodeo, Hedley, Tegan and Sara, Walk Off the Earth.
• Single: Reflektor, Arcade Fire; Inner Ninja, Classified ft. David Myles; It's a Beautiful Day, Michael Bubl; What I Wouldn't Do, Serena Ryder; Closer, Tegan and Sara.
• Album: Reflektor, Arcade Fire; Loved Me Back to Life, Cline Dion; Nothing Was The Same, Drake; To Be Loved, Michael Bubl; Harmony, Serena Ryder.
• Songwriter: Arcade Fire, Henry (Cirkut) Walter, Ron Sexsmith, Serena Ryder, Tegan and Sara Quin.
• Breakthrough group: A Tribe Called Red, Autumn Hill, Born Ruffians, Courage My Love, July Talk.
• Breakthrough artist: Brett Kissel, Florence K, Tim Hicks, Tyler Shaw, Wake Owl.
• International album: Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars; The Marshall Mathers LP II, Eminem; Night Visions, Imagine Dragons; Take Me Home, One Direction; Truth About Love, Pink.
• Fan's Choice: Arcade Fire, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Drake, Hedley, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Robin Thicke, Serena Ryder, Walk Off The Earth.

Winnipeg preps for musical celebrations

The 43th annual Juno Awards, which will be held at Winnipeg's MTS Centre on March 30 after a week of musical celebrations across the city. Artists who released albums between Sept. 1, 2012, and Nov. 13, 2013, are eligible.

The Junos are "gearing up for musical magic in Manitoba," Melanie Berry, president of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), declared at today's announcement.

She and other organizers also unveiled a list of some of the performers who are bound for the Juno stage, including top nominees Serena Ryder, viral sensations Walk Off The Earth and Tegan and Sara, as well as chart-toppers Robin Thicke and City and Colour.

Dual American-Canadian crooner Thicke, best known for his controversial chart-topping hit Blurred Lines, is up for a trio of trophies: artist of the year, pop album of the year and the fan choice honour.

Spearheaded by CARAS, the festivities will also include tributes to this year's special honourees, including:

• Bachman-Turner Overdrive's induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
• Celebrating this year's Allan Waters Humanitarian Award winners: married singer-songwriter duo Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.
• Recognition of music industry insider, producer and consultant Frank Davies as the 2014 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award winner.

2014 Juno Award nominees (continued):

• Country album: Started With a Song, Brett Kissel; Crop Circles, Dean Brody; Country Junkie, Gord Bamford; Small Town Pistols, Small Town Pistols; Throw Down, Tim Hicks.
• Adult alternative album: Shut Down the Streets, A.C. Newman; Tall Tall Shadow, Basia Bulat; Us Alone, Hayden; Forever Endeavour, Ron Sexsmith; Internal Sounds, The Sadies.
• Alternative album: Reflektor, Arcade Fire; The Poets Dead, Rah Rah; Today Were Believers, Royal Canoe; Warring, The Darcys; Uzu, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan.
• Pop album: Wild Life, Hedley; To Be Loved, Michael Bubl; Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke; Heartthrob, Tegan and Sara; R.E.V.O., Walk Off the Earth.
• Rock album: Love + Fury, Headstones; Coyote, Matt Mays; Arrows of Desire, Matthew Good; Furiosity, Monster Truck; Transit of Venus, Three Days Grace.
• Vocal jazz album: Stealing Genius, Amy McConnell & William Sperandei; Courage, My Love, Erin Propp with Larry Roy; My Funny Valentine The Chet Baker Songbook, Matt Dusk; Notes On Montral ft. Sienna Dahlen, Mike Rud; Triades, Sonia Johnson, Charles Biddle Jr. & Annie Poulain.
• Contemporary jazz album: Gratitude, Brandi Disterheft; Habitat, Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra; Brooklyn Babylon, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society; Mirror of the Mind, Earl MacDonald; Le refuge, Trifolia.
• Traditional jazz album: Nine, Carn Davidson 9; The Ian McDougall 12tet LIVE, Ian McDougall 12-tet; Our Second Set, John MacLeod & His Rex Hotel Orchestra; Ripple Effect, Mike Downes; Look for the Silver Lining, Phil Dwyer and Don Thompson.
• Instrumental album: New History Warfare Vol.3: To See More Light, Colin Stetson; Dalmak, Esmerine; Senna, Mahogany Frog; Down Home, Petr Cancura; Invitation, The Peggy Lee Band.
• Francophone album: Himalaya mon amour, Alex Nevsky; Omniprsent, Damien Robitaille; Chic de ville, Daniel Blanger; Fox, Karim Ouellet; Punkt, Pierre Lapointe.
• Childrens album: Sing As We Go!, Charlie Hope; What's the Big Idea?!?, Gary Rasberry; Colour It,Helen Austin; Mon coffret surprises, Marie-Claude; Coconuts Don't Fall Far From the Tree, Splash'N Boots.
• Classical album, solo or chamber ensemble: Prokofiev Complete Works for Violin, James Ehnes; Chopin: tudes Op. 10 & 25, Jan Lisiecki; Mozart: Concertos Nos. 13 & 14, Janina Fialkowska / The Chamber Players of Canada; Liszt at The Opera, Louis Lortie; Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Stewart Goodyear
• Classical album, large ensemble or soloist with large ensemble: Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 27, Angela Hewitt; Britten & Shostakovich: Violin Concerti, James Ehnes; Canadian Concerto Project, Volume One,Nadina Mackie Jackson and Guy Few with Group of 27; House of Dreams, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
• Classical album, vocal or choral: Berlioz: Les nuits d't Palej : The Poet & the War Rorate Coeli, Group of 27, Eric Paetkau - Conductor, Shannon Mercer Soprano; Ravel, Sayat-Nova & Kradjian: Troubadour & the Nightingale, Isabel Bayrakdarian; Lettres de Madame Roy sa fille Gabrielle, Marie-Nicole Lemieux & Andr Gagnon; Handel: Orlando, HWV 31, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Alexander Weimann, Owen Willets, Karina Gauvin, Allyson McHardy, Amanda Forsythe, Nathan Berg; A Quiet Place: Music for Healing III, Vancouver Chamber Choir.
• Classical composition: Field Notes, Allan Gordon Bell (GRAVITY AND GRACE); Isomorphia for Orchestra and Electronics, James OCallaghan (MAHLER SYMPHONY 9); Quatuors cordes No. 12, R. Murray Schafer (QUATUOR MOLINARI); Magnificat, Stephen Chatman (MAGNIFICAT: SONGS OF REFLECTION); Atacama: Symphonie No. 3, Tim Brady (ATACAMA: Symphonie No. 3).
• Rap recording: Classified, Classified; Nothing Was the Same, Drake; In My Opinion, Rich Kidd; Flying Colours,Shad; Everywhere We Go, SonReal.
• Dance recording: This is What it Feels Like, Armin van Buuren & Trevor Guthrie; >album title goes here, deadmau5; Tsunami, DVBBS & Borgeous; Locked Down, Jacynthe; Heartbreaker, Mia Martina.
• R&B/soul recording: Kaleidoscope, Joanna Borromeo; Cant Choose, JRDN ft. Kardinal Offishall; Theres Only One, Kim Davis; Gone, Melanie Durrant; Kiss Land, The Weeknd.
• Reggae recording: Mandela, Akustix; Baby Its You, Ammoye; Love Collision, Dru; Rebel Massive, Dubmatix; Strive, Exco Levi & Kabaka Pyramid.
• Aboriginal album: Keep a Fire, Amanda Rheaume; Small Town Stories, Desiree Dorion; Surrender, George Leach; Burn Me Down, Inez Jasper; Road Renditions, Nathan Cunningham.
• Roots & traditional album, solo: Come Cry With Me, Daniel Romano; So Say We All, David Francey; Dont Get Too Grand, Donovan Woods; Valleyheart, Justin Rutledge; Tin Star, Lindi Ortega.
• Roots & traditional album, group: The Folk Sinner, Lee Harvey Osmond; Bison Ranch Recording Sessions, Little Miss Higgins & The Winnipeg Five; Volume One, The Devin Cuddy Band; We Still Move On Dance Floors,The Strumbellas; Island of Echoes, The Wilderness of Manitoba.
• Blues album: Come on Down, David Gogo; Can You Hear the Music, Downchild; Soulscape, Harrison Kennedy; My Guitars My Only Friend, James Buddy Rogers; All Frequencies, MonkeyJunk.
• Contemporary Christian/gospel album: Search the Heavens, Fraser Campbell; Jordan Raycroft, Jordan Raycroft; Heart, The City Harmonic; Lost & Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion, The High Bar Gang; Trees, Tim Neufeld.
• World music album: Sabor A Caf, Adonis Puentes; Lamentation of Swans A Journey Towards Silence,Azam Ali and Loga R.Torkian; Walk to the Sea, David Buchbinder & Odessa/Havana; Jumbie in the Jukebox, Kobo Town; Lume, Lume, Lemon Bucket Orkestra.
• Producer of the year: Brian Howes and Jacob Hoggard; Eric Ratz; Henry (Cirkut) Walter (co-producer Luke Gottwald); Ryan Guldemond and Ben Kaplan; Thomas (Tawgs) Salter.
• Recording engineer: David Travers-Smith; Eric Ratz; Howie Beck; Kevin Churko (co-engineer Kane Churko); Randy Staub.
• Recording package: Bodhi Jones, Dinah Thorpe, Hollerado, Arts and Crafts Various Artists, We Are Wolves.
• Video of the year: Je taime comme tu es (Daniel Blanger), Friend of Mine (D-Sisive), Anything (Hedley), King and Lionheart (Of Monsters and Men), Feeling Good (The Sheepdogs).
• Electronic album: Nation II Nation, A Tribe Called Red; Untogether, Blue Hawaii; Graze, Graze; Third Culture, Noah Pred; Guilt Trips, Ryan Hemsworth.
• Metal/Hard music album: Heart of Oak, Anciients; Colored Sands, Gorguts; Entrench, KEN Mode; Volition, Protest the Hero; Dead Language, The Flatliners.
• Adult contemporary album: In My Head, Alysha Brilla; Loved Me Back To Life, Cline Dion; Dream Catcher, Chloe Albert; The Year He Drove Me Crazy, Coral Egan; A Christmas Gift To You, Johnny Reid.