Charlotte Cardin, Allison Russell, eight others compete for Polaris Music Prize

TORONTO – Albums from 10 acclaimed Canadian acts — including Charlotte Cardin, the Beaches and Allison Russell — will compete for the Polaris Music Prize tonight.
The prestigious $50,000 award, presented at Toronto’s Massey Hall, anoints the best Canadian album of the year as decided by a jury of music critics based on its artistic merit.
Other contenders include rapper Tobi, Inuk musician Elisapie and previous Polaris winner Jeremy Dutcher.
The Polaris short list spotlights rising Canadian acts to a wider national audience, but in a rare instance, seven of this year’s contenders have already won Junos, the country’s top music award.
Among them is DJ and producer Bambii, who picked up her first Juno in Halifax earlier this year, while Toronto rapper DijahSB, Calgary drag queen rock project Cindy Lee and Montreal punk band Nobro round out the list.
The Polaris, hosted by last year’s winner Debby Friday, will feature performances by most of this year’s nominees although Charlotte Cardin has announced she won’t be able to perform due to a recent COVID diagnosis.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.