Backside of the Weekend

Canada’s Juno Awards took place last night, and while several Canadian artists were handed awards, Shania Twain received an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The Ontario native accepted her honor from Bryan Adams. Adams called Shania, “a Canadian treasure.” Shania has several projects in the works including an autobiography to be released May 3rd and a reality series,Why Not? on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network.

Meanwhile, on television last night, John Rich continued to represent for country music, albeit rather quietly this week. On Celebrity Apprentice, Teams Backbone and A.S.A.P. were tasked with producing a TV commercial for a video phone. Rapper Lil Jon lead the men’s team on an out-of-the-box concept that some, including John Rich, thought would be too risqué. Their commercial featured grandparents who call their son in Argentina and are introduced via the video phone to their grandson’s fiancé, another man, played by José Canseco. The women’s spot had a young girl studying abroad, calling home to her parents in the U.S. and introducing her deaf mother to her “host mother” played by Dionne Warwick. After the commercials were presented to over 400 company representatives, the audience picked the men’s commercial as their favorite in a 47 – 53% vote. In the board room, when Donald Trump asked Dionne Warwick who should be fired, she said, “fire me.” Trump obliged. With the men winning a third week in a row, Lil Jon picked up 40-thousand dollars for his charity, the United Methodist Children’s Home. Next week, John Rich plays project manager. He says that he’s been holding out for the big money, “I didn’t go on there ‘cause I’m sellin’ a book or anything else. I’m on there to wait for my chance to raise a ton of money for St. Jude. Matter of fact my goal is to raise a million dollars for St. Jude. When my time comes, I’m gonna call everybody I know and try to hit that mark.” Next week’s promos teased that more money will be raised in one episode than in an entire season of Apprentice.

And finally, artists from several genres have united to raise money for disaster relief efforts in Japan. Some of the biggest names in music have made their songs available on Songs for Japan, a 38-track download available on iTunes for $9.99. Proceeds go to the Japanese Red Cross. The track-listing includes Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum alongside other superstars such as John Lennon, Justin Timberlake, Elton John, and Cee Lo Green.