FOG BLOG JUNO AWARDS LOG: THE WEEKEND TOPS JUNOS ON SUNDAY:

Juno Awards 2021: The Weeknd tops winners list, Justin Bieber, The Hip perform.....Even without a red carpet, the Juno Awards found ways to march generations of Canadian stars through their 50th anniversary celebration on Sunday night.

From Shania Twain and Celine Dion to Kaytranada and Justin Bieber, many of the country’s most successful acts paid tribute to Canada’s biggest night in music by sharing music and memories from a distance.

One of the glaring absences also happened to be this year’s biggest winner.

The Weeknd picked up artist of the year while his After Hours was named and album of the year. But the Blinding Lights superstar didn’t turn up to accept his awards.

The Toronto singer had already won three Junos at a pre-broadcast ceremony on Friday, bringing his 2021 tally to five.

A few other big winners were also absent from the Junos golden anniversary.

Shawn Mendes was selected by viewers as the fan choice winner, though he did not log in for the honour....And even though Justin Bieber performed Somebody from Los Angeles in a kaleidoscopic presentation, he didn’t show to accept his pop album win for Changes.

Others did, however, including pop balladeer JP Saxe who was named breakthrough artist.

“I’ve never given a speech like this before,” said the stunned newcomer as he bumbled through a couple of sentences before getting his bearings and thanking his father, and his girlfriend and co-writer Julia Michaels.