Heavy-hitters vie for Juno hardware

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"And the winner is"

This familiar phrase will ring out once again as the 1996 Juno Awards take place for the 25th time.

Scheduled for Sunday, March 10 in Hamilton, a Juno is set to go to one of five talented artists in the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording category.

Without a doubt, one of the strongest candidates for the award is nominee Susan Aglukark, an Inuit who hails from the tiny community of Arviat, N.W.T.

She is presently on tour, and just recently hit the stages in Calgary and Edmonton. Her latest album, This Child, is her second release.

Her first was the much-applauded Arctic Rose. Due to her touring and media exposure, Aglukark will likely prove one tough customer and is a good bet to take home the Juno hardware.

However, a strong contender may well be newcomer Jess Lee, with his new release, Sacred Ground.

Lee has some powerful material on songs like Walking The White Line, Red River Cart, Sacred Ground and Red, White and Blue.

Also in the Juno pack is "Wapistan" Lawrence Martin's album, Message. The album by Ontario's Martin features fine cuts with songs like Mushkeego and Anishinabe.

Additional contenders in the Aboriginal Canada category are Jerry Alfred and Medicine Beat with ETSI Shon 'Grandfathers Song, and drum group Red Bull Singers with Dancing Around the World.