For those of you not familiar with Canada's tendency to have a counterpart to most American entertainment franchises, the equivalency chart for music award shows goes something like this:
- Grammys = Juno Awards
- MTV Music Video Awards = MuchMusic Video Awards
It just so happens that the MuchMusic Video Awards were held last night in Toronto. You may have heard about it via the stories in American media of Katy Perry having to cover her butt with her award due a nude bodysuit that was part of a larger butterfly costume.
The winners and nominees are here. It might be weird to see DANIELS video for Foster the People's "Houdini" in the International Video category, but it's an interesting lesson in the shifting properties of the music border between the US and Canada. A video like Drake's "The Motto" can win Hip Hop Video of the Year while the rest of the field is artists that many Americans won't recognize.
My favorite category though? International Video of the Year by a Canadian. This category isn't explicitly defined but seems to populated by Canadian-born artists who record and release on American record labels and are generally seen as Americanized. Past winners include Justin Bieber, Drake, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, and Neil Young. It's a clever way to get in some big name Canadian-born artists without it seeming like the MTV Music Video Awards with all the Candian artists.
No surprise the Carly Rae Jespen took away the award for video of the year - "Call Me Maybe" is the defacto North American hit of the summer and just happens to be a previous Canadian Idol winner, so maybe we should add this to the chart:
- Carrie Underwood = Carly Rae Jepsen
- American Idol = Canadian Idol
