sarah mclachlan to receive humanitarian award at 2009 junos

Alanis, Feist and Serena Ryder up for two awards each

Sarah McLachlan may not be giving us much in the way of new music these days but her giving in other quarters has not gone unnoticed. The singer, who releases her delayed greatest hits album Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan in the UK on March 2nd, has been chosen to receive  the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at this year’s Junos ceremony in St John’s, Newfoundland, on April 18th. The award, only in its second year, was created to honour “an outstanding Canadian artist who has positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada.” Sarah has been very active in animal, women’s and children’s charities, setting up an outreach program in Vancouver to improve access to music education for inner city children, donating money to shelters for women, lending high profile support to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and playing big events like Live 8. Sarah will also be performing at the ceremony.

In other Junos news, Céline Dion gets the most nods for the women in the other awards categories (Fan Choice Award, Best Single, Best Music DVD), but Alanis Morissette, Feist and Serena Ryder are close behind with two nominations each. The world’s seemingly indefatigable love for Feist could see her pick up the Fan Choice Award for the first time, despite The Reminder being nearly 2 years old now. She can add it to her 7 other Junos, and she’s surely got a good chance of winning another with Best Video for Anthony Seck’s lovely, if tragic, puppet short for ‘Honey Honey’. Alanis has the chance to make her Juno Awards count up to 13 with nominations for Best Songwriter and for Best Pop Album for last year’s Flavors Of Entanglement, while Serena Ryder could take 2008’s Best New Artist win on to claim this year’s Best Artist and Best Adult Alternative Album for her fourth release, Is It OK. 

This year’s Best New Artist category is an all-female affair, with pop newcomers Lights and Kreesha Turner vying with 14-year old jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky and country singers Crystal Shawanda and Jessie Farrell. Kreesha also has a nomination for Best Pop Album for her debut Passion. Other nominees include kd lang (Best Artist), Sarah Slean (Best Adult Alternative Album for The Baroness), Kathleen Edwards (Best Adult Alternative Album for Asking For Flowers), Crystal Castles (Best New Group), Black Mountain (Best Alternative Album for In The Future) and The Duhks (Best Roots & Traditional Album for Fast Paced World). The full list is available here.

Alan Pedder

Feist, ‘Honey Honey’