FILE PHOTO - Charlotte Cardin performing a medley of her songs during the final of La Voix Junior in Quebec in 2016.

Image Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Sebastiidr

Charlotte Cardin says she'll be popping champagne in France to celebrate her surprise leading six nominations at this year's Juno Awards.

The Montreal pop singer raced ahead of some of Canada's biggest superstars, including five-time nominees Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, to become the breakout contender at this year's upcoming celebration of homegrown music set for May.

Cardin is up for several key categories including artist of the year and album of the year for her full-length debut "Phoenix." Her track "Meaningless" is nominated for single of the year.

"I'm getting messages from my whole family — everyone is freaking out," the 27-year-old said Tuesday over a video call from Paris where she lives part-time.

"I waited all day to hear what the nominations were. I bought champagne. And I will drink it after this."

Rounding out Cardin's other nominations are ones for pop album of year, music video of the year and TikTok Juno Fan Choice, an award voted on by viewers through the social media platform.

The singer has been on a steady rise since landing in the Top 4 of "La Voix," the Québécois version of singing competition "The Voice" in 2013.

"It's like extra, extra gravy and happiness on top of us releasing an album we were very proud of in the first place," she added.

Nominees for single of the year also include Brett Kissel for "Make a Life, Not a Living," JESSIA for "I'm Not Pretty," Bieber and Daniel Caesar for "Peaches" (feat. Giveon), and the Weeknd for "Take My Breath."

Joining Cardin in the album of the year category are JP Saxe's "Dangerous Levels of Introspection," Bieber's "Justice," Shawn Mendes' "Wonder" and Tate McRae's "Too Young to Be Sad."

Other big contenders this year include Mendes with four nominations. He's in line with the total held by Pressa, one of the rising stars of the Toronto rap scene, and Vancouver pop newcomer JESSIA, known for her body-positive hit "I'm Not Pretty."

"I'm so unbelievably proud that I'm able to be an advocate for loving yourself, loving your body and just like being the real human being and talking about the weird stuff," she explained of the TikTok hit, which also scored a fan choice nomination.

"I am so thankful to everyone and all of the fans, and I'm so excited that the world's opening so I'm able to give them all big hugs."

The Juno bash is set to be held in person for the first time in three years at Toronto's open-air Budweiser Stage on May 15. The outdoor event will be hosted by "Shang-Chi" and "Kim's Convenience" star Simu Liu and broadcast on CBC.

Performers will include Cardin, Arkells, Avril Lavigne and Mustafa, organizers said Tuesday.

Several other changes are being introduced this year in an effort to recognize a wider array of musicians. The rap category has been split into two new categories — rap album/EP of the year and rap single of the year — while Indigenous artist or group of the year is now two awards, with one honouring contemporary Indigenous artists and another for traditional artists.

A new award for underground dance single celebrates less mainstream sounds often heard on club dance floors.

Among the other highlights, veteran Vancouver rock band Mother Mother scored their fifth career Juno nomination helped by their surprising explosion of popularity on TikTok. This year they picked up a group of the year nomination.

"In light of this new wave of energy born from TikTok, it's that reaction times 1,000," said guitarist and vocalist Ryan Guldemond of the latest recognition.

"We can't believe we're here still and it going as well as it is. So the nomination is just unbelievable icing on the cake."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2022.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2022