Excitement builds as Calgary prepares to host gala event
Biggest night in Canadian music set to transform Saddledome
It was a moment of staged, showbiz levity in an otherwise all-business tour of Calgary’s Saddledome.
It was during a behind-thescenes look at the early stages of preparing the Dome for Sunday’s broadcast of the Juno Awards. As the dozen or so members of the media approached what will eventually be the dressing room of co-host Jann Arden, out popped some masked “dressingroom fairies” who were apparently busy adding some surreal decorating touches — rubber chickens, giant lollipops — to Arden’s room.
“You might have to do that again, ladies,” said one of the tour guides, upon noticing that not all the cameras caught the gag.
Besides those exuberant fairies, the Dome did not have a lot of glamour on display yet as of Tuesday morning. It was still in the early stages of transforming into a venue for the biggest night in Canadian music.
Granted, the tour included a look at the dressing rooms — well, mostly the doors of dressing rooms with paper signs indicating what celebrity would be assigned where — and placards that will apparently be placed in the seats where the hosts and performers will eventually sit.
If nothing else, it was a nice reminder of some of the star power that will be on hand for the festivities: Bryan Adams, the Weeknd, Alessia Cara, Arden, co-host Jon Montgomery and others.
But for the most part the tour offered an early glimpse of the massive undertaking that is underway. Riggings, massive lights and audio equipment was being loaded into the Dome. Dozens of workers were hard at work with the preparations.
“Right now, this week is a bit of a marathon,” says Allan Reid, president and CEO of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Juno Awards as he watched the work being done.
And when the stars arrive Sunday to walk the red carpet, the Dome will likely be transformed for an appropriate air of glamour.
Still, in typical Canadian fashion, supervising producer Lindsay Cox said none of them had any outrageous demands.
“Not this year,” she says with a laugh. “We have actually gotten a few in the past. I can’t name names. But they were hilarious. We love them. It’s the show lore we all talk about and tell the next generation of people coming. But this year? No. I think we have so many artists who know how the show happens, they stop asking for things. They know they are going to be well taken care of.”