Locals Elbaz and Wilde in the MuchMusic VJ hunt

Chosen with the help of devoted fans across Canada, the FRUCTIS FRUIT SENSATION PRESENTS: MUCH VJ SEARCH has dwindled down its premium VJ candidates to the official Top 20!  Much fans can now watch the drama unfold as the Top 20 take part in fierce competitions and exhilarating challenges . The  MUCH VJ SEARCH, hosted by Lauren Toyota, takes over the 6 p.m. ET timeslot, followed by the MUCH VJ SEARCH POST SHOW at 6:30 p.m. ET. For the Top 20 profiles, updates, and exclusive on-line content including video road diaries, daily pit-stop photos, and more, visit muchmusic.com/vjsearch.

Brandon Elbaz

Côte Saint-Luc's Brandon Elbaz and Chloe Wilde from West Island Hudson are the locals in the hunt.

Each of the talented Top 20 contestants have earned a coveted spot aboard the first ever FRUCTIS FRUIT SENSATION PRESENTS: MUCH VJ SEARCH tour bus, where they’ll compete to prove they have what it takes to be the next Much VJ. Making their way through seven cities across Canada, the VJ hopefuls face a series of elimination challenges including

Chloe Wilde

MMVA party-planning, morning show hosting, and celebrity interviews.

Adding a fresh new twist to this wild competition, Much VJs Damian Abraham, Phoebe Dykstra, Tyrone “T-RexXx” Edwards, Liz Trinnear, and Scott Willats each become a mentor to the VJ hopefuls, when the Top 10 are revealed in a nail-biting episode, Thursday, April 11 at 6 p.m. ET. The VJs each pick two competitors on April 12, who they will mentor by offering support, imparting wisdom, and encouraging viewers to vote for their faves, and ultimately, the winner of the MUCH VJ SEARCH on April 26.

Viewers can catch encore viewings of the MUCH VJ SEARCH daily at noon, Monday-Thursday at 11:30 p.m. ET, and back-to-back episodes Saturdays and Sundays, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. The top 10 will be chosen on April 11.

The Top 20 were chosen based on application videos that really stood out and best showcased the competitor’s talents, charm, and passion for all things entertainment. Largely influencing this decision are fans who continue to support their favourite VJ contestants by commenting, rating, and sharing their favourite VJ Search submissions at muchmusic.com/vjsearch. 

Here is Chloe's audition tape.  

The FRUCTIS FRUIT SENSATION PRESENTS: MUCH VJ SEARCH gives outgoing, entertaining, and hilarious Canadians a once-in-a-lifetime shot at becoming a Much VJ. No experience is required, but every contestant must be a music-lover, a pop-culture whiz, and have a knack for conversation and entertainment. The winner gets the coolest job in Canada, which includes meeting die-hard fans, interviewing A-List bands and artists, travelling across Canada, and working out of the renowned Much HQ at 299 Queen St. West in Toronto.

The MUCH VJ SEARCH has cemented itself as an iconic part of the Canadian media landscape. Each time around, the MUCH VJ SEARCH grows and changes its tune slightly, making the VJ hopefuls compete in a series of challenges to earn their spot as Much’s newest face. Back in 2006, the VJ Search was broadcast as a 10-episode reality competition, where hopefuls were eliminated by a panel of celebrity judges based on how well they performed at various TV hosting challenges. In 2009, the VJ Search went digital with VJ SEARCH 2.0, incorporating fan voting online and a competition streamed across muchmusic.com. 

Thanks to the folks at Bell Media for their usual amazing press releases.

Yeh! yogurt chain to open at the Quartier Cavendish (Mall)

Who does not love the amazing Yeh! yogurt chain. Company owners Jon and Marvin Gurman have delivered a gift to their native Montreal. Yeh! will set up shop at the Quartier Cavendish (Mall) in June.

Here is the complete story.

Dic Ann’s to open its first ever downtown location

Dic Ann’s, the storied hamburger chain which was launched by the husband and wife team of Dick Potenza and Ann Collechia 59 years ago, will open its first ever downtown location in June on St. Catherine Street near Forte Avenue. Nino Zammit and Delbina Potenza, the grandchildren of the original owners and present day managers of the operation, are working with consultant Lloyd Brown on this project. It was Brown, a noted local businessman, who introduced the first Dic Ann’s West End franchise seven years ago on St. Jacques Street in NDG.

Delbina Potenza and Nino Zammit

 

Zammit told me he believes the time is perfect to debut franchise number 13 downtown, emphasizing that the area is on the verge of a boom with a new condo/apartment project going up on the site of the old Seville Theatre, a planned reboot of the Pepsi Forum entertainment complex and Lasalle and Dawson College’s to draw from.  Dic Ann’s has sold more than 50 million of its trademark slim hamburgers since its inception, complete with their secret recipe hot sauce.  Dic Ann’s established a world record in 1998, when their St. Jerome location served 1,452 hamburgers in one hour, each with custom condiments. 

    

Like the Dic Ann’s on St. Jacques Street, the downtown location will be twinned with a Bonatarte dessert emporium.   

 

Mouthwatering Dic Ann's hamburger and fries.

As Dom Potenza, Delbina’s dad and son of the original owners says, “My dad would have loved the idea of moving into downtown close to the old Montreal Forum, where the hockey team he so worshipped provided all of us with so many great memories. We look forward to welcoming, and for those who don’t know us, creating, a new legion of fans.”

How newest Jewish Hab Halpern would respond to Passover`s four questions

Montreal's Jewish community is no doubt rejoicing over the Passover Seder table that one of their  own, forward Jeff Halpern, is back in Montreal. For how long we do not know, but during his last stint with the club in 2010-2011 there were indeed hopes expressed that he  would make some appearances within the Jewish community.

At the time there were in fact two Jewish players on the Habs: Halpern and  Mike Cammalleri. Halperin did in fact agree to make one high profile appearance at a Jewish community event, but then head coach Jacques Martin called a special practice at that time.

Halpern is the  longest-tenured Jewish player in the NHL.  During his  13-year pro  career he has played for  his hometown Washington Capitals, as well as the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Montreal.  He is  member of the Greater Washington Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and gained a lot of new fans when he sat out a game on Yom Kippur in 2005. His wife Kelly, a former Washington Redskins cheerleader,    converted to Judaism. The couple have two children.

Is Halpern had the opportunity to attend  a Passover Seder this year, this is how I would expected him to have answered the four questions from a hockey perspective. 

Jeff Halpern

Question 1: Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?

Halpern: I am told that hot dog sales at the Bell Centre and other NHL rinks are so high that there are some times a shortage in buns.

Question 2: Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?

 

Halpern: Passover comes around the time of the NHL trading deadline. It is not easy being traded. Naturally, for some of us, this is  a very "bitter" experience.

Question 3; Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?

 Halpern: It is like my coaches have always told me. 'When you go in the corner to pick up the puck give it that all important second effort.' And if you are ever benched,  do not be 'bitter.' Show you are a team player and again give that second effort,

Question 4: Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?"

Halpern: When in a reclining position you are better positioned to pick up a loose puck and score.

Let us all raise a glass for Jeff Halpern. L'Chaim!  May he re-sign with the Canadiens for next season and purchase a condo in Côte Saint-Luc.

Local boy Elbaz in the MuchMusicVJ hunt

Côte Saint-Luc's Brandon Elbaz, an 18 year old graduate of Bialik High School and present-day Media Art Studies (Communications) student at John Abbott College in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, has cracked the coveted top 40 in the  MuchMusic Canada-wide VJ Search.

Brandon Elbaz

"My passion is being in front of the camera and producing music in my home studio," he shared with me. " I knew that this is what I wanted to do following my first class at The Montreal School of Performing Arts, which sparked passion and love for the creative arts. With thousands of submissions Canada wide, to be named within the top 40 contenders has been a dream come true."

Elbaz says he wants to thank everyone who has showered him with support and kindness by voting for him to  get  into the top 20. That is being done via now by going to this link and under Top 40 type in Brandon Elbaz. You can vote daily via Facebook. Let's help this charismatic son of Herzliah High School teacher Patrick Elbaz and dynamic businesswoman Brenda Laredo reach his dream. The top 20 will travel to seven major Canadian cities in a reality show format, interviewing and  reporting, as well as showing creativity and passion for music.  

Elbaz in action

"Growing up I was that kid who would engolf himself in the crazy world that is pop culture," he said. "While all my friends where playing video games 24/7,  I was downloading album after album, and spending endless hours on the internet and watching MuchMusic  discovering new artists and bands. Music and pop culture is my life and it will be in my life till the day I die. I was born to be on MuchMusic."  

You can vote once daily to support Brandon by going to this site, www.muchmusic.com/vjsearch which is linked to one's  Facebook account.

Palace of the End: a standout Montreal play on Iraq

After writing some preview articles for The Suburban about  the Waterworks Company’s  production of Palace of the End, award-winning Canadian playwright Judith Thompson’s triptych ( a work of art broken into three parts) exploring the tragedy of the Iraq War, I was anxious to see a performance. I headed out to  Espace 4001, a cozy little theatre I have never experienced before, and left feeling quite affected by the stories.

The three actors do not interact at all on stage. Yet they enter the scene together, following a recorded announcement of former US President  George W. Bush declaring the coalition’s attack of Iraq.

Valassis, Findlay and Marchand.

In Palace of the End, Thompson   imagines the lost words and thoughts of three participants in the agony of modern Iraq.  Alexandra Valassis, as Nehrjas Al-Saffarh,  Sarah Marchand (prison guard Pvt. Lynndie England)  and Michael Findlay (Dr. David Kelly )  perform 30 minutes each of powerful monologues.        

The triptych opens with  My Pyramids,  \inspired by the freakish rise to fame of Abu Ghraib prison guard   England, who shot to fame when she took part in detainee abuse at  the Iraqi prison. She was sentenced to three years behind bars, chiefly for  taking  photos of naked detainees in degrading poses which went public. Marchand’s  presentation  is  hard hitting, pulls no punches and uses some of the foul language you would expect to come  out of the mouth of England. Why did England walk a prisoner around like a dog?  Because he called her a dog!

Harrowdown Hill featured the last testament of weapons inspector   Kelly   as he lies dying, after throwing away his career and reputation to warn the world that the case for war was a lie.  In 2003,   Kelly was   identified in newspapers as the man the government believed was the source for a controversial BBC report on Iraq which cast doubt on the government's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capable of being deployed within 45 minutes.After he was named in newspapers,   Kelly gave evidence to MPs' committees in which he said he did not believe he was the main source of the story. Two days after his testimony, he was found dead  near his home of an apparent suicide.  Findlay not only gives a remarkable performance, but after his character’s death he managed to lay still on the floor for a half hour.

Instruments of Yearning   sees the very talented Valassis really get deep into her role as  an Iraqi dissident and a survivor of Saddam’s prisons. As she loses her family one by one to the regime’s torturers and murderers, she hopes against hope that somewhere, sometime, some change will bring a better life to her country.   Valassis gets very very close to the seats in the audience and seems to be talking directly to each of them. Her accent is dead on and you really feel the pain for the character she plays, a woman who suffered unspeakable tragedy at the hands of Iraqi monsters before she herself dies – the victim of an American bomb.  I was exhausted watching her and when I met her after the show she looked pretty tired as well.

 Valassis confessed that this role has been a true challenge. “It was  a little intimidating,” she said. “I have been acting for 18 years and I never had to do a 30 minute monologue  before. I have really enjoyed working with the team though. I think audiences will find the play enjoyable to watch and very educational.”

The fact that this play comes on the 10^th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by US and  British forces gives it even more punch. “It’s a good time to repeat the message, 10 years on,” Director  Rob Langford maintains. " Over the past two months, Sarah, Michael, and Alexandra have worked like crazy, and they have created (or re-created) three fully-fleshed characters, all beautiful in their way, who display the best and worst in humanity. To me, this is acting for the theatre at its classic best, and I’m proud and humbled to have been able to work with them."

  

Palace of the End plays at  Espace 4001 ( 4001 Berri) for eight performances only until March 24:  Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Advance tickets are available online at www.waterworksmontreal.wordpress.com and at the door (cash only). The Sunday matinee is a two for one  special  to encourage word-of-mouth. If you want to see some living history, then check this show out. Head there early like I did. There are several excellent restaurants just around the corner on Duluth.