Junos 2023: Avril gets a surprise guest onstage, The Weeknd gets boo'd, and other can't-miss moments

16:05Juno Awards 2023: all the wins, losses, and surprise moments from the biggest night in Canadian Music

Commotion’s resident music experts Lisa Christiansen and Rollie Pemberton (a.k.a. rapper Cadence Weapon) weigh in on the highlights and lowlights of the 2023 Juno Awards, from the topless protestor that stole the spotlight to The Weeknd's noticeable absence.

As the dust settles on Canadian music's biggest night, Commotion's resident music experts Lisa Christiansen and Rollie Pemberton (a.k.a. rapper Cadence Weapon) weigh in on the highlights and lowlights of the 2023 Juno Awards.

From a topless protestor's surprise onstage appearance, to the audience's vocal response at The Weeknd's absence, to host Simu Liu's medley of Avril Lavigne's greatest hits, there were plenty of standout moments from last night's award ceremony.

We've included an excerpt below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Even though the Junos were held on a Monday, it was still all about The Weeknd. Yeah, I don't like myself after making that joke either, okay? But it's fine. The Toronto R&B star took home five awards, including album of the year and artist of the year. He basically was the Everything Everywhere All At Once, but of the Junos, and I think it's important to talk about The Weeknd because there's something about the fact that he wasn't there that is interesting to me.

The Weeknd is a kind of artist who you would think would show up to this kind of thing, because he is getting the recognition that he rightfully deserves from the Junos. He has protested institutions like the Grammys before, for not giving him enough recognition, and he hasn't shown up to that. The Junos are literally making the whole thing about him. Lisa, what do you make of that decision of him not showing up?

Lisa: Yeah, that's a little bit poor sportsmanship in a weird way, because sometimes I think people don't show up in case they think they're going to lose. I don't think that was going to happen, I think he pretty much knew he had this in the bag. I mean, he's Super Bowl-The Weeknd; once you've become Super Bowl-The Weeknd, everything changes. So I think he could have shown up. I think it would have been really nice to have seen him there.

Elamin: It is important to note that with his victory for album of the year last night, The Weeknd has now surpassed Bryan Adams to become the second-most decorated artist in Junos history. But the moment that he actually received that award didn't exactly feel triumphant — the crowd immediately descended into boos because The Weeknd was not there. Rollie, this is your hometown, man. Does that surprise you, that the crowd reacted in that way for The Weeknd?  

Rollie: No, that's standard. That's an Edmonton crowd. They'll let you know how they feel. I was not surprised to hear that. I mean, these awards are really supposed to be about what's the best music, and in this case, that The Weeknd record, that was definitely the best record. The award is not "who is most likely to show up." That's not the point of what we're doing here. And, he has shown up before…. But I think the thing is, from the artist's perspective, if you're at the level of The Weeknd where you're playing the Super Bowl, it becomes a thing where you're like, "okay, my fan base individually is larger than this entity that wants me to come — so why would I bring my audience over to this institution for free when they're going to profit potentially off of me being there?"

Elamin: Rollie, I get that argument but he didn't even provide an explanation for why he wasn't there…. There was no acknowledgement that this was happening, and I feel like at least the question becomes, does he owe that acknowledgement to the Junos audience? Fine. He can't make it there, schedules are tough to coordinate. But does he owe some kind of customary, "Sorry I couldn't be there with you?"

Rollie: I was at the opening night awards, and I think they did mention maybe he was filming a movie or something. But I guess I didn't show that on the main broadcast.

Elamin: No, no, this didn't come up at all, and so as a result you just kind of get the impression that that crowd was left with, which is "Well, the only option I have in front of me is to boo the second-most decorated Juno Award winner of all time."

Rollie: Well, you know what will really make him want to come back is lustily booing him for not being there.

Lisa: But ironically, we do understand him a bit better if we had just waited a little bit more on the broadcast to hear Nickelback sing Rockstar. I mean, when you become a rock star, the rules are all different.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.