Kelly Clarkson & Canadian Idol Competitors Earn Canadian Music Award Nominations  2/18/06

Kelly Clarkson and Canadian Idol Competitors Earn Nine Nominations for Canada's Music Awards -- 2004 Canadian Idol winner ties with Arcade Fire and Neil Young for Three Nominations --

TORONTO, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ - Fresh from her two wins at The 48th Annual Grammy Awards, Kelly Clarkson has received an International Album of the Year nomination for Canada's Music Awards, it was announced yesterday in Toronto. The Idol brand's penetration into the mainstream music scene was further reinforced yesterday when four Canadian Idol finalists received eight nominations in addition to Clarkson's for The JUNO Awards, Canada's Music Awards. Clarkson will compete with Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent for the International Album of the Year award, which was presented last year to Green Day for American Idiot. The 2006 JUNO Awards, Canada's most-watched Canadian awards telecast, will be broadcast on CTV on Sunday, April 2, 2006 from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The 2004 Canadian Idol winner, Kalan Porter, has tied The Arcade Fire, Neil Young and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with three JUNO Award nominations for his double platinum CD 219 Days. Fellow Sony BMG recording artist and 2005 Canadian Idol runner-up Rex Goudie received two nominations for his Certified Platinum CD Under The Lights. Rock quartet Hedley, fronted by 2004 Top Three finalist Jacob Hoggard, received two nominations, including Rock Album of the Year, for their platinum-selling self-titled CD (Universal). Finally, 2004 Canadian Idol runner-up Theresa Sokyrka has been nominated for Pop Album of the Year for her Certified Gold Record These Old Charms (TEP(x)MapleNationwide/Universal).

"These are much-deserved honours," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's President of Programming and Chair of the Media Group. "These four singers, brimming with potential, received an opportunity they might not have otherwise with Canadian Idol. Now, after selling hundreds of thousands of CDs and touring back and forth across the country, they stand beside some of Canada's most acclaimed artists as JUNO Award nominees."

To note:

- Porter will go head-to-head against Goudie in both the Album of the Year and Artist of the Year categories. Joining Porter and Goudie in the Album of the Year category are Diana Krall, Michael Buble and Nickelback. Porter and Goudie are joined with Boom Desjardins, Krall and Buble in the Artist of the Year Category.

- Porter is reunited with his 2004 Canadian Idol runner-up Theresa Sokyrka in the Pop Album of the Year category. The duo joins Boom Desjardins, Jann Arden and Buble in the category.

- Hedley go head-to-head with Nickelback, Our Lady Peace, Theory of a Deadman and Jonas in the Rock Album of the Year category. Hedley was also nominated for New Group of the Year along with Bedouin Soundclash, Boys Night Out, Pocket Dwellers and Silverstein.

Canadian Idol is Canada's most-watched English-language homegrown series ever (since the advent of electronic measurement). Based on FremantleMedia and 19TV's smash-hit international format Idols, production begins this weekend on the series' fourth season for broadcaster CTV. CTV has taken the Canadian Idol program to the No. 1 spot on Canada's Top 20 most-watched shows for three consecutive years. Season Three recently generated 38 million votes, more than the country's population, while averaging more than two million viewers per episode. Canadian Idol was created by Simon Fuller and is produced in association with CTV by Insight Productions.

The 2006 JUNO Awards, Canada's Music Awards, will be broadcast for the fifth year in a row on CTV on Sunday, April 2 from the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, NS. Broadcast in High-Definition and 5.1 Surround Sound, the telecast will feature performances by Bedouin Soundclash, Broken Social Scene, 2006 Canadian Music Hall of Fame recipient Bryan Adams, Coldplay, Michael Buble, Nickelback and additional artists to be announced soon. Since 2002, CTV has broadcast The JUNO Awards from cities across Canada, including St. John's (2002), Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004) and last year in Winnipeg, when more than 5.7 million viewers tuned in to watch some part of the broadcast. Some of Canada's biggest musical exports have hosted the awards telecast, including Barenaked Ladies (2002), Shania Twain (2003) and Alanis Morissette (2004).

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number- one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television stations across Canada and has interests in 14 specialty channels, including the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company. More information about CTV may be found on the company Web site at www.ctv.ca. 

SOURCE CTV Inc.

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