Edmonton Music Awards 2017
The red carpet was laid out, the gowns were on, the ties were tied and the gala was marvelously set up and ready to take in what was one of Edmontons' finest events. It was a proud moment; proud to be an Edmontonian, proud to be in the scene and proud to be involved in an event that truly highlights a portion of talent that is here in our city.
Prior to the show, the lobby was packed with laughter, wishes of good luck to the nominees and excitement for what was about to come. After being seated, the fantastic Bridget Ryan greeted the crowds as the emcee of the evening. Now, if you do not know who Bridget Ryan is, you are missing out because this woman is a metal music loving, artist supporting, funny woman of wit. You might also recognize her as a host on City TV. Anyways, she was a perfect fit for the evening. And boy, can this woman stall!
The whole set up was perfect. The announcers were great, the performances were amazing and the nominees were a plenty. The entire show was well organized and planned, it wasn't too short or too long, there were no boring parts and the variety was excellent. It was a thoroughly pleasant evening.
What I think is most important to point out however is what this event does for the Edmonton music scene as a whole. This entire event brought so many different genres of music into one room, breaking the barriers of genre based cliques and creating a room full of communication, networking and camaraderie. All egos were left at the door and a room full of people were there to offer support to each other and their favorite artists.
We asked around to see what everyone thought of the event:
" Catching up with everybody that I haven't seen in a while, I think, for me and dressing up. It's a nice thing." -Nikki Pearson
"I'd say seeing all the people you haven't seen in a while, meeting new people, and yet just hanging out." -Rebecca Lappa
" I love the Edmonton music, the whole scene because I just love the diversity in it and I love how Edmonton music accepts all genres and all the different personalities and I love all the individualities." -Krissy Feniak
" Being with so many musicians and artists and being nominated was so many talented people and it's really inspiring." -Hailey Benedict
"I just feel honored to be in the room, I just love this award show and I just feel honored just to be up there on that list." -Andrea Nixon (Nominated 2nd year in a row)
" Well I feel really honored and excited, proud and mostly just in awe with this community and this scene so full of talent and there's a real celebration tonight of so much that's good about Edmonton. So it was nice to be part of it." -Martin Kerr
"It was great, it's amazing, and see more than myself, to see all my friends up there and like, to see everyone up there was really inspiring. It's so cool that Edmonton does this." -Mohsin Zaman
Overall, what an amazing event and with incredible success. We can not wait for next years gala! Thank you Edmonton Music Awards, for letting us be a part of this!
We can not forget the AMAZING directors that put this event together: Steve Derpack, Mikki Dublanko and Miles Konrad! The one director that couldn't make it but is Brian Campbell. You guys are awesome and thank you for all of your hard work!