On May 8^th the Canadian Radio Music Awards were being held at the Sheraton Centre and I was able to get media accreditation to review the show (shouts out to my homie Marc-Adam and Kendra from Audio Blood you are both the best!). I didn’t know what to expect, once I got to the concourse level I was surrounded by tons of industry people all waiting to get in. Once inside the convention hall I finally found my way back stage and to the media lounge. They pushed back the curtains to let me in and my eyes lit up seeing all the artists, media and food that filled the room. There was a huge table filled with sandwiches and desserts. And across the room there were boxes and boxes of pizza! It’s like all my dreams came true! With a full stomach I make my way into the convention room and stand to the side waiting for the show to begin.  The hosts take the stage as they warm up the crowd letting us know what we will see go down this afternoon. They make a few jokes about Justin Bieber and comment on how Francesco Yates cannot be there. Now it was time to present the Factor Break Through Artist award for 2015. The well-deserved winner was Virginia To Vegas who had the catchiest song of all time with Alyssa Reid “We Are Stars”.

He delivers a very tear jerking speech thanking every fan, radio station and friend who helped him get to where he is. I SWEAR IT’S MY ALLERGIES I’M NOT CRYING! Once Virginia To Vegas went back to his seat the hosts introduce Kiesza who took the stage to perform her massive hit “Hideaway”. Honestly I was never a huge fan of the song but after I saw her perform everything has changed. She rocked the stage with a few back up dancers showing off her crazy moves without missing a note. I was very blown away by how they fit such an insane stage in this convention room. It looked like it was out of a movie! There were coloured lights everywhere with screens showing the performance around the room. Kiesza didn’t just put on an incredible performance she also took home the award for Best New Solo Artist. It was a great afternoon filled with laughter, tears and smiles. One of the funniest moments of the day was when one of the winners didn’t show up for their award. So the hosts said something along the lines like “does anyone want to come up and take the award?” So that’s exactly what one of the members from the band Wildlife did. It was pretty rock and roll. Dear Rouge tore down the house with their performance. I had never seen them live before and I was so blown away I even texted my friend “Dear Rouge is killin it right now!”  But it was Magic! Who ruled the show as they won not just one but three awards for Best New AC Group, Fan’s Choice Award and SOCAN Song Of The Year. And don’t get me started on their performance of “Rude”. I was in the media pit singing my heart out and of course breaking out some silly dance moves. Musicians were not the only ones honoured at the CRMA’s radio legend Don Shafer was awarded the Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award.  I have heard his name before but didn’t know his whole story. After watching a montage (which almost made me cry again) about his career it was easy to see why he was awarded the Allan Waters Award. After 10 awards, 6 performances, a few Justin Bieber Jokes, some tears and lots of laughs it was easy to say this was one of the best events I have ever been too. The true winners that day were everyone who helped to put the Canadian Radio Music Awards together. So I want to say thank you to Kendra for inviting us and to every single person who made that day great.