Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame are also inducted as part of the awards ceremonies.

Winners are currently chosen by either members of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences or a panel of experts depending on the award. 9 out of 42 categories are based solely on sales figures, such as Album of the Year or Artist of the Year. Nominees are determined by CARAS members for Single of the Year, Artist and Group of the Year. Nominees are determined by a judge vote for the remaining categories who are experts in the relevant genre. The list of confidential judges are composed of experts in each specific genre of music. These judges represent all facets of the Canadian music industry, are spread across the country, and a mixture of males and females in both official languages. No person can judge the same category two years in a row.

Russell Peters

Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian comedian and actor. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008.

Early life

Peters was born in Toronto, Ontario to Eric and Maureen Peters. When he was four, the family moved to nearby Brampton. His older brother Clayton now serves as Peters' manager. Peters is Catholic and of Anglo-Indian descent. His late father was born in Bombay, India and worked as a federal meat inspector; Peters regularly features stories about him in his comedy work.

Peters attended Chinguacousy Secondary School for grades 9–10, and North Peel Secondary School in Bramalea for grades 11–12. In school, he was regularly bullied because of his ethnicity. He eventually learned boxing, which helped him resist the bullying.

Peters also became a hip hop "junkie" in his youth. By the 1990s, he was a well-connected DJ in the Toronto scene.

Career

Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989. He has since gone on to perform in several countries worldwide.

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber (/ˈbiːbər/; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bieber released his debut EP, My World, in late 2009. It was certified platinum in the U.S. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, in 2010. It debuted at or near number one in several countries and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. It was preceded by his most successful single to date, "Baby".

Following his debut album, he had his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, released the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes -- and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. He released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, when it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber released his third studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015. His U.S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million.

The Weeknd

Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye (born 16 February 1990), known professionally by his stage name The Weeknd (pronounced "the weekend"), is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer. In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd". He released three nine-track mixtapes throughout 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were critically acclaimed. The following year, he released a compilation album Trilogy, thirty tracks consisting of remastered versions of the mixtape material and three additional songs. It was released under Republic Records and his own label XO.

In 2013, he released his debut studio album Kiss Land, which was supported by the singles "Kiss Land" and "Live For". His second album, Beauty Behind the Madness, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200, included the top-five single "Earned It" and produced the number-one singles "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face". The songs have simultaneously held the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, making him the first artist in history to achieve this.