St. George's School of Montreal lone Quebec rep at national Glee competition

As the City of Toronto prepares for the battle of the Gleeks, one Montreal high school has gained the opportunity to represent this city and province in the second annual Show Choir Canada (SCC) Nationals at the Sony Centre for the Arts, April 13 and 14. 

G. Major of  St. George’s School of Montreal  is the only non-Ontario entry. They will demonstrate their best vocals, dance moves, and musicianship against defending champions Wexford Glee. Wexford School of the Arts (Scarborough);  CN Explosion, Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School (Stoney Creek);  SPCH, St. Peter Catholic High School (Orleans); Synergy, Unionville High School (Markham); Cheat Notes, York Mills Collegiate Institute (York Mills); Splash, Etobicoke School of the Arts; Adrenaline!, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute (Toronto); Vocal Fusion, Richmond Hill High School; GCVI Glee Club, Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute; Claude Watson Glee, Earl Haig Secondary School (North York); Storm Surge, South Carleton High School (Richmond); Coca Codas, Sinclair Secondary School (Whitby).

St. George’s won the 2010 Just for Kids Foundation Glee Showdown and came in second last November. “It is such an honour to be representing Montreal and Quebec as the only school in the competition from outside of Ontario,” says Candace Grynol, the head of the St. George’s Performing Arts Program and  of the Glee program. “ Our students are extremely excited and are working very hard, investing their time into many many hours of rehearsal. Our goal is to embrace the experience, learn a lot and have a ton of fun performing our set at the Sony Centre.”

Here they are in action at the last Glee Showdown:

Toronto native and Juno Award-winning performer Shawn Desman, who served as a judge last year at the inaugural competition, will step out from behind the judging table and take the reins as host. With an accomplished career including a platinum debut album, a sophomore Juno Award winning album for Best R&B/Soul Recording, chart-topping singles and videos, movie performances and numerous accolades under his belt,  the singer, dancer, actor, songwriter and producer’s most recent album is entitled "Fresh."

This year, Show Choir Canada will also showcase the talents of the top-rated, nationally ranked U.S. show choir, In Sync, from Burbank High School in California. Participating as part of a cultural exchange, In Sync will perform outside of the official competition, but will receive valuable feedback from the judging panel. The Burbank High School show choir program ranked number one in the U.S. in 2009 and 2010.

The 2012 judging panel will consist of five top industry experts who will assess the teams competing in the preliminaries and finals.  This includes Montreal  educator  and  vocalist Jeri Brown.

Jeri Brown

 “Not only does the event provide a healthy and educational outlet for emerging talent, it also provides a new and refreshing perspective on vocal performance in 2012,” Brown says.” I think of shows like Smash, Glee and   and others as indication that its time has come. At this year’s Nationals in Toronto I will be a judge and conduct workshops to over  300 participants. I am definitely excited and hope to get others involved in the Montreal community in the future.”

Choirs that place first to sixth in Toronto   will be awarded trophies and prizes totaling over $25,000. The competition will also award scholarships to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts for exceptional individual performers.

SCC was developed in collaboration with Peter da Costa, Owner/Agency Director, da Costa Talent Management and George Randolph, President/Founder, Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.  Peter da Costa, the CEO and executive producer of  Show Choir Canada, is excited to see a Montral entry this year. “Absolutely,” he told The Suburban. “Our goal is to make this event truly national. This year we have two schools from the Ottawa region  and we are thrilled to have with us our first out of province school, St. George’s of Montreal. Our invitation went out to as many schools across Canada as possible and we are constantly researching and growing our list of existing and newly forming Canadian show choirs. We have been in contact with several schools on the west coast who have expressed that they plan on attending next year’s event. 

Da Costa says that  Yamaha Music Canada has also increased its support and participation from last year’s prize of a digital grand piano that went to the winner, to this year offering $20,000 in prizing to be shared by all sixfinalists. “Our venue is also much larger at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts as well as a panel of five judges over last year’s three,” he said. “ All in all – great growth in a number of different areas.”  

Tickets can be purchased online at www.sonycentre.ca or by calling 1.855.872.SONY (6779).

Follow me on Twitter @mikecohen.ca on April 13 for updates on the competition.

Pierre Gauthier = Stéphane Dion: Why Mulcair and the NDP owe the Liberal MP big

When Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson finally fired GM Pierre Gauthier last week and also bid adieu to special advisor Bob Gainey, there is no question that the horrible acquisition of overpaid forward Scott Gomez from the New York Rangers contributed to some long-term damage for the franchise.

Gainey claimed at the time that he signed Gomez – whose contract of $7.3 million a season still has two more years to go – in order to show other top-notch players that the Habs were serious about making the team better.  Gauthier was his assistant at the time. So they were both complicit.

Gainey was a star player for the Habs and overall not a horrible GM. But he will forever be remembered and embarrassed for the Gomez deal. So who is his equivalent in politics? Why Stéphane Dion, the federal Liberal MP for the riding of St. Laurent Cartierville. Dion too inflicted permanent damage to his party running for the leadership, mysteriously winning and then getting creamed by the Tories in the 2008 general election.

So who was Dion’s Scott Gomez? The name is Jocelyn Coulon and if it were not for Dion’s horrible lack of judgment, the New Democratic Party would not have swept Quebec in the last election a year ago nor would Thomas Mulcair be the leader or possibly even an NDP.

Come back five years with me to the by-election which  gave Mulcair his Outremont seat. Jean Lapierre had resigned as Member of Parliament for the riding. In one of the many questionable moves he made as  leader,  Dion ignored efforts by supporters of Justin Trudeau to get the Grit nomination. This should have been the logical thing to do. Trudeau lived in the riding, was the son of this country’s most distinguished prime ministers and a clear slam dunk to win.

I recall talking to Mulcair a few months before a by-election was called. He had just joined the NDP and I asked him whether he would consider running in Outremont. Mulcair seemed set on waiting for the next federal election and seeking a seat in one of the Laval districts, where he had represented the provincial Liberals. Now remember, at this time  only one Quebecer – Phil Edmunston – had ever been voted in to Parliament for the NDP in a by-election.

In his infinite wisdom Dion sidestepped the Trudeau option and chose journalist Coulon to carry the Liberal banner. Mulcair, probably thinking that a battle with  Trudeau would be fruitless, had stayed out of the by-election speculation. But once the politically inexperienced Coulon was thrown into the fray he declared his candidacy.

Coulon was a disaster from the get go. Outremont is home to a vocal Hassidic Jewish community of several thousand. When B’nai Brith came out with a demand to Dion to remove his so-called “star candidate” Coulon because of his past stance on Israel, Mulcair started to gain traction.

B’nai Brith stated that Coulon, a political scientist and former journalist, had a "well-documented anti-Israel bias," including sympathy for Hamas, that is "out of step with current Liberal policy."   While Coulon arguing that he was a proponent of healthy debate, not of anti-Israel sentiment, it really did not matter. B’nai Brith had the goods on him.  They cited one opinion piece, dated Feb. 22, 2006, in which he wrote that Hamas wasn’t  just a terrorist organization, but a social and political movement that won the Palestinian elections because of its commitment to fight corruption and help people — and the international community should not isolate it.

Muclair won the 2007  by-election handily and raced to victory again in general votes in 2008 and 2011. The Orange Wave which hit Quebec a year ago, with 58 seats going to the NDP, would never have happened if not for Mulcair’s presence. Party members did the sensible thing by choosing him as leader for the road to power in three and half years indeed starts in Quebec. It is also important to keep the Bloc Québecois on the sidelines. The NDP owes a debt of gratitude to Dion, Coulon and yes, B’nai Brith Canada. It would be most fitting  in the 2015 federal election if the NDP runs a strong candidate in the St. Laurent-Cartierville District and bid good-bye to Dion, the true architect of the NDP success story.

Here is a clip from Mulcair's 2007 by-election victory and his predecessor, Jack Layton:

Here is Dion's embarrassing interview with CTV:

Some behind the scenes stuff from Sugar Sammy

My column  on page four of  this week’s Suburban on standup comic SugarSammy was a long time in coming. Sure, I have mentioned him in the paper over the years, but this was my  first opportunity to devote the lead item of my article to him.

I am not the only one of course. Since the launch of his  You’re Gonna Rire series at The Olympia Theatre on February 29, his exposure has been above the charts. He’d already been winning many new friends before this because of (A) his raw talent and (B) his perfect bilingualism. The son of immigrant parents, he is a Bill 101 kid : forced to go to French school. In his case, the experience no doubt helped make him into what he is today.

Sammy is a proud resident of the Town of Hampstead. Yes, at the age of 36 he still lives at home with his parents and makes no apologies for that. “Honestly, I know it is out of fashion, but I love spending time with my parents,” he told me. “No one I tell this to understands.”

Sammy notes that neither of his parents drive a car, so he takes them where they need to go. “You should see the look on their faces when I operate a GPS,” he laughs

Will he move out? “It sure would give me a whole lot of new material,” he agreed.

Where did he get the nickname “Sugar?” He says it goes back to his McGill days. “I promoted events on campus and people started calling me that,” he says. “It stuck.”

I just love the video of his appearance in 2010 on Le Gala des Oliviers, (the French comedy awards). Check out the video yourself and see the warmth the francophone community feels for him.

His bestselling DVD "Sugar Sammy Live in Concert: Direct from Montreal" was the Number One selling comedy DVD on Amazon.ca for five straight weeks and continues to post impressive sales. The concert featured in the DVD, currently part of Air Canada's on-air entertainment program, was the first special starring a Canadian stand-up on HBO Canada.

As we learn from his website, the Canadian airwaves are not the only home for his smooth and always charismatic style of comedy, with TV specials already on his résumé from Showtime Arabia, The Comedy Channel, The Comedy Network, CTV and Dutch TV network NTR. Meanwhile on the Web, his stand-up videos have had over three  million views. Part of a new breed of young, global, accessible performers, Askmen.com recently dubbed him "Comedy's New Rock Star."

Sugar Sammy performs in four languages (English, French, Punjabi and Hindi), and travels the world, performing to fans in cities and countries as varied as London, the U.S., Dubai, South Africa, Singapore, Holland, Australia and of course, Canada.  

I can't wait to see how high this man's star rises!

Goon gets excellent review from Roger Ebert

Syndicated film critic Roger Ebert is not always an easy man to please. But he gave a real thumbs up to the motion picture Goon, which was written by Montrealer Jay Baruchel. Here is his take on the movie, which as of this writing has recorded $4 million in gate receipts in Canada and just started on US screens.

My return to the press box: Our Habs remain a classy outfit

Last week I watched a Montreal Canadiens game from the press box for the first time in more than a decade. It was an exciting game, with the Habs defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout.

I grew up in a household where my dad, known as Larry Fredericks (his real name is Lawrence Frederick Cohen), covered all of the professional sports teams in Montreal for the United Press International wire service. He’d always get tickets for my brother Chuck and I and we’d attend as many Habs, Expos and Alouettes games as possible. In the case of the Habs, the late Claude Mouton served as media relations director and each season he’d let dad bring us in the press box and get us in the dressing room. It surely influenced my wish to watch games there on a more regular basis when I got a little older.

When I did turn 18 my dad started bringing me along as one of his assistants. It was a dream come true. Then dad made a connection for me with the now defunct Sunday Express Newspaper. They hired me to cover the now former Montreal Manic soccer team, who were playing in an indoor league and at the Forum. That led to a full-time job as assistant sports editor while I continued my studies the next several years at Dawson and Concordia. During this time I covered every professional sport, including special events like boxing and the Grand Prix. I also got the much coveted season press pass to the Habs games. Thus began almost two decades of watching the games from there on a regular basis.  After my Express days I did it for UPI and Sports Ticker.

I got married, had a child. Besides my commitments to The Suburban,  I am employed full-time at the  English Montreal School Board, write for a number of other publications and serve  as a city councillor in Côte Saint-Luc. Yes, a lot on my plate and not much time to go watch a game from the box – even though I find myself frequently writing about the Habs.

Donald Beauchamp

I go back about 25 years with Donald Beauchamp, the Habs senior director of communications and community relations. He was the information officer for the University of Ottawa Varsity Sports Program when I held the same post at  Concordia. Donald has done very well for himself with the Habs and runs a well oiled machine, dealing with a huge media following.  I saw Donald during a visit to the Evenko offices a few months ago and he facilitated my pass for last week’s game. It was a nostalgic experience to say the least. Watching a game from so high up, you get a magnificent view of the entire ice surface. There are television monitors near every seat and internet access.

Red Fisher

Press box row has many of the same journalists who I worked with more than a decade ago. It was nice catching up with them. At the age of 85 Red Fisher is still going strong, pounding out game analysis columns on his laptop. Pat Hickey covers the team for The Gazette on a daily basis while columnists Dave Stubbs and Mike Boone always come up with interesting features. Of course these are the guys from Habs Inside Out, the type of website that did not exist a decade ago.

TSN Radio 990 has the broadcast rights and they are well represented .Besides play by play man John Bartlett and rotating colour commentators Bobby Dollas and Sergio Momesso, seasoned veteran Mitch Melnick’s show leads into the pre-game coverage. The likes of  Tony Marinaro, Conor McKenna, Sean Campbell, Mitch Gallo,  Jessica Rusnak, Simon Tsalikis and Eric Thomas cover each game inside out.  Remember the Rusnak name. She knows her hockey, asks good questions. These skills, matched with her natural beauty, could see her follow in the footsteps of Andie Bennett--- a TSN Radio 990 grad now doing outstanding work for CBC Radio and TV  sports. Andie and her colleague Douglas Gelevan, by the way,  are regulars in the box as well.

CJAD may have lost the broadcast rights, but former play by play guy Rick Moffat covers every home game.  In fact, with news that Canada’s largest telecommunications company BCE Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Astral Media Inc. for $3.38 billion in cash and stock, Moffat could be back in booth sooner than he ever dreamed. BCE owns Bell Media, the parent owners of  CTV Montreal, CJAD, Virgin Radio and CHOM FM to name a few. Astral stations are getting set to move into a new state of the art building on Papineau, right across the street from CTV. What if TSN Radio 990 (soon to be TSN Radio 690) gets some space there as well. Would the two stations be able to share resources?

Busy with the Alouettes and Impact, Rick  still loves his Habs fix. He  was busy tweeting and blogging at the game.  By the time he finishes his interviews and gets home it is about midnight – not easy when your wakeup call for work the next day is 4 a.m. “I take naps during the day,” he said.

Brian Wilde is on the Habs beat for CTV Sports. We can always look forward to his excellent live reports from the Bell Centre at 11:45 p.m. after a game.

Ron Reusch

Bill Beacon may not be a household name, but he has been covering the Habs for Canadian Press for decades. Arpon Basu of NHL.com is a man in the know, with a strong Twitter following. I caught up with two broadcast legends  - Ron Reusch and Jim Bay. Via his Reusch Blog,  Ron attends every home game.  Jim still serves as a correspondent for some networks and has not lost his touch for a good interview.

On the French side, seasoned pros like Marc Defoy of Le Journal de Montreal and Pierre Ladouceur of La Presse are classy gentlemen who gave me a warm greeting.

Douglas Gelevan, the rookie CBC Radio and Sports reporter, was in the box. He and on air partner Bennett rotate shifts.

Randy Cunneyworth at post game press conference.

I met former Hab Mario Tremblay and one-time referee and current broadcaster Ron Fournier on the press elevator. After the game the press head to the Habs dressing room where very few players seem available for interviews. I noticed owner Geoff Molson discreetly peek inside, with his kids by his size. Everyone heads to a classroom like setting for the post-game press conference with interim coach Randy Cunneyworth, who handles the questions thrown at him very nicely. He ends off with a “merci beaucoup.” I noticed him stopping to talk to former Hab Yvon Lambert, who congratulated him for giving defenceman Andre Markov a chance to take part in the shootout.

Pierre Gauthier

Prior to the game and in between periods the media gather in the Salle Jacques Beauchamp. This is named after the late sports columnist for Le Journal de Montreal. When I was starting out with The Sunday Express one of my first jobs was to edit Jacques’ column. He was a wonderful man who gave me great guidance early in my career

The pressroom has full course meals for $12 each. After the first period hot dogs and drinks are served at no cost. Media tend to gather in small groups. I was surprised to see general manager Pierre Gauthier in the room after the second period. He is not known to have a warm and fuzzy relationship with the media, but he could not have been more polite and animated when I started up a conversation.

It was indeed a nostalgic evening. Despite the fact the Habs will not make the playoffs, you can see the class in which this organization still operates.  Will they have a new GM and coach next season? Which players will stay and go? This team is much better than their record reflects and I believe we see them very much in contention for a post-season slot next year.

Sports Celebrity Breakfast a smashing affair

I was pleased and honoured to be one of the organizers and emcees for the eighth  annual Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors Foundation Sports Celebrity Breakfast on Sunday, March 18. The $160,000 in proceeds from the event went to support Seniors in Crisis, a program that delivers much needed assistance to seniors who are unable to financially look after their needs. The event attracted more than 600 people and was sold out months in advance.

You can see the excellent CTV report  below:

Indeed I like to tell the story about how this event all began. Nine years ago I decided that I wanted to start preparing a run to become a Côte Saint-Luc city councillor.   The demerger referendums had confirmed that Côte Saint-Luc, along with a number of other municipalities, would regain their independence in 2006. It was at the time I was soul searching that Harold Greenspon called. For more than two decades Harold was the de facto minister of finance for Côte Saint-Luc council and it was the district he represented that I had my eyes on. I told Harold of my ambitions and that I did not want to run against him. He indicated that it was unlikely he would return to politics and if I helped him start a Sports Celebrity Breakfast for the Cummings Centre he would in fact back me.

Well, we started from scratch, built a small committee and pulled off an event which attracted a few hundred people and raised some $10,000. That is pretty good considering the fact it was intended as a break even affair.

After a few years at the helm, Harold handed the chairmanship over to mega-sports fan and successful businessman Michael Wagen. Since then the event has been integrated into  a successful Cummings Centre Foundation, which Wagen also serves as president. There is really nothing else quite like this in the city. I also must make mention of Susan Rozansky, our event coordinator. Without her, there would be no Breakfast.

The  guest of honour for this year’s Sports Breakfast was Alan Maislin, who has been involved in sports all of his life at the amateur and professional levels. In recent years he served as the president of the  Israeli Ice Hockey Federation.  Alan was in fact the first honourary chair of this event.

Israel’s Consul General for Quebec  and the Maritimes, Joel Lion, assisted in the presentation of a Leadership Award to Maislin. Mr. Lion is a gem of an individual. He has only been here since late August and I already consider him to be a good friend.

Wagen was presented with an award fittingly named after  Greenspon Award in recognition for the critical role he has played in making this one of the most anticipated events on the Jewish sports calendar.  

You can watch the exciting introductions of the celebrities below:

The big surprise was the presence of three players from the Montreal Canadiens – forwards Max Pacioretty and Louis Leblanc and  defenceman PK Subban. Because their appearances could really  not be confirmed until the morning of the event, we decided to keep it quiet. The audience broke out in thunderous ovations when these stars were introduced.

Wagen, Pacioretty, Lion, Cromartie, Leblanc, Carbonneau, Lazarus

Former Montreal Expos player Warren Cromartie was on hand to take part in a special tribute to legendary catcher Gary Carter, who recently lost his battle with cancer. Johnny Elias, a longtime friend of Carter and a veteran coach at the Maccabiah Games level, was part of the ceremony as well. Rapper Annakin Slayd introduced his fitting video tribute to Carter and there was not a dry eye in the house. Even Cromartie had trouble getting his words out. Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather announced that we will name our main baseball field in Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park after Carter. 


Here is the Slayd video:

Other guests  included former Canadiens  captain and head coach Guy Carbonneau, recently arrived Chief Operating Officer Kevin Gilmore, former head coach Jean Perron (the coach of the Israeli National Team), former NHL defencemen Igor Kravchuk and Bobby Dollas and Shea Emry, Ray Lalonde and Eric Lapointe of the Montreal Alouettes.

John Bartlett and Dick Irvin.

On hand from the media were Hockey Night in Canada legend Dick Irvin  Dave Stubbs and Herb Zurkowsky of The MontrealGazette, Brian Wilde of CTV and Tony Marinaro, Conor McKenna, John Bartlett,  Matthew Ross  and Dave Kaufman from TSN Radio 990.  

Kravchuk, Wilde and Subban.

Prominent attorney Morden “Cookie” Lazarus served as honourary chair.  A live auction for a variety of sports memorabilia was moderated by standup comic Joey Elias, a co-host of Montreal HockeyTalk.com which broadcast live from the event. Give this show a listen. Noted radio personality Ted Bird is one of the colourful co-hosts. My good friend and colleague Kosta Papoulias, who made a wonderful video for the Breakfast which played on the big screens, is a producer.

Wagen, Maislin, Lazarus and Lion.

The Cummings Centre is a 6,500 participant, non-profit, community organization. It offers a full continuum of programs and services to the 50 plus community, from those who function autonomously to those who have become frail.  Seniors can take advantage of programs both on-campus at the Snowdon Facility or off-campus at three suburban locations.  The educational, social, recreational, and cultural programs include classes such as bridge, computers, film and book reviews, Jewish culture, global affairs, languages, literature, performing arts, recreation and leisure.  The  Centre also houses a fine arts department, craft and wellness centres and adapted exercise programs.  Their cafeteria offers dine-in or take-out kosher meals.

Pacioretty and wife Katia chat with Marinaro.

Wagen, Senior Vice-President of the Delmar Group, notes how only 39 percent the Centre’s funding comes from Federation CJA.   “It's hard to believe,” he explains “but one in five  Montreal Jewish seniors live  below the poverty line. Our presence in their lives is crucial to their well-being”

The Foundation, Wagen explains provides crucial support to the agency. "This is done through charitable bequests, endowment funds, donations of marketable securities, corporate sponsorship. Our annual initiatives include tribute cards, mitzvah meals, the sports celebrity breakfast and the governors program."

In addition to Susan Rozansky, hats off to Cummings Centre executive director Herb Finkelberg, Cathy Simons and Melissa Margles of the Foundation and communications chief Michael Beigleman.

Will Bell's Astral purchase make CJAD and TSN Radio a "team?"

There was a great deal of buzz in local television and radio newsrooms with news that Canada’s largest telecommunications company BCE Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Astral Media Inc. for $3.38 billion in cash and stock.

BCE owns Bell Media, which in turn controls local properties TSNRadio 990 and CTV Montreal. Astral, of course, owns CJAD, Virgin Radio and CHOMFM. Provided this deal gains approval from the Canadian Radio-televisionTelecommunications Commission (CRTC), what kind of convergence can we expect to see?

Folks I spoke with are not exactly sure.  There are some at Astral who believe they can make beautiful music with TSN Radio 990 (soon to be TSN Radio 690). The three English Astral stations are slated to move into a state of the art studio this summer on Papineau, across the street from CTV.   “I think we can make room for TSN  Radio,” said one person.

Rick Moffat

If CJAD, Virgin Radio and CHOM can share announcers, sales reps and office space then it only seems logical that CKGM (that remains the call letters for  TSN Radio) could be part of the mix as well.  TSN Radio, of course, has a seven year contract to broadcast the Canadiens – one they wrested from CJAD. They should now be able to retain these rights for life. Rick Moffat did a superb job with the Habs play by play on CJAD. He continues to excel as the voice of the Alouettes and Impact. Wouldn’t it be nice to see him worked back into the Habs broadcasts? By the same token, TSN Radio’s Mitch Melnick and Elliott Price spent many years on CJAD.

Randy Tieman

Television might be a bit of a different story due to union agreements.  Randy Tieman, for instance, works separately for TSN Radio and CTV Montreal. It would be great to see a sharing of resources like we saw in the olden days between CFCF Radio and TV.

In any case, this will be an interesting scenario to follow.