Category: CBC

Vote Now!
“Sticks To The Ice” by Robert Fraser Burke and “Canadian Gold” by Colin Oberst are the two finalists from over 14,000 entries in the search for a new Hockey Night in Canada anthem.
Voting for the winner has already begun.
Burke is a 13-year-old composer from Toronto who jumped for joy when he was announced as one of the semi-finalists. He participates in the school band and has been playing piano for as long as he can remember.
“Sticks To The Ice” was initially intended only for his friends’ enjoyment until his uncle heard it and encouraged him to enter the Anthem Challenge.
Oberst, composer of “Canadian Gold,” is an elementary school teacher from Beaumont, Alta., and has been teaching music for the last decade.
Oberst, an avid music writer and member of an Edmonton-based band, submitted five entries to the challenge.
The Anthem Challenge winner is to be announced Saturday during the traditional Saturday night NHL double header (Montreal at Toronto or Detroit at Ottawa/Vancouver at Calgary) on CBC-TV.
People can vote online, by phone or by text messaging.
Before Thursday night’s announcement, some major Canadian entertainment figures had weighed in on the Anthem Challenge.
Rock icon Burton Cummings listened to the five tunes in the running and said the high-energy, funky “Ice Warriors” by Gerry Mosby of Toronto “kills the rest of them.”
Apparently, it didn’t.
“Sticks to the Ice,” caught the attention of Chris Patterson of the Toronto-based group the Arrogant Worms and David Hamelin of the Stills in Montreal.
Canadian country music star George Canyon said he was drawn to the Oberst composition.

Musicians weigh in on ‘HNIC’ anthem
TORONTO – Rock icon Burton Cummings would like to see a hockey anthem that suits the toughness of the game. Members of the Stills and the Arrogant Worms prefer a puck theme with charm. And country star George Canyon wants something with a Celtic flair.
Canadian musicians are weighing in on CBC-TV’s “Hockey Night in Canada” anthem challenge as the field of five finalists is set to be whittled down to two on Thursday. The winner, as chosen by the voting public, will be unveiled Saturday.
Cummings, an avid hockey fan, listened to the five tunes during an interview this week and said the high-energy, funky “Ice Warriors” by Gerry Mosby of Toronto “kills the rest of them.”
“From what I heard there, I would go hands down with (‘Ice Warriors’), I wouldn’t even think twice,” Cummings – who was in the city promoting his new album, “Above the Ground,” set for release Nov. 4 – said after sampling all the tracks on a laptop in his hotel room.
“(‘Ice Warriors’) is miles above the rest as far as being suited for ‘Hockey Night in Canada,”‘ said Cummings, who was playing air guitar and bopping his head while sitting in a chair listening to the song.
“The visual will change from year to year – what shots they use of what players and whatever – but I think that one suits the mood of what’s to come: a tough Canadian game. To me, I’d go with (‘Ice Warriors’).”
“Sticks to the Ice,” a brassy tune by 13-year-old Toronto native Robert Fraser Burke, meanwhile, has caught the attention of a few other artists.
Chris Patterson of the Toronto-based farcical musical trio the Arrogant Worms says the song “set itself apart from the other ones.”
“I don’t think it made much difference that it came from a 13-year-old, to be honest, but it was just different enough from the other ones that it sounded the best,” said Patterson, who sings and plays bass in the band which released the album “Torpid” last month.
“It worked with the visuals that they’ve now provided for it and it just kind of got me excited way more than the other ones did.”
David Hamelin of the Stills is also rooting for the teen’s track.
“I think it’s got the most melody. I think it’s the most memorable. I think the other ones just sound like they rely on production tricks too much and they don’t really have the essence of that one that the 13-year-old kid made,” the singer-guitarist said over the line from Montreal, where the rock outfit is based.
“I really absolutely do not care that he’s young. He could be nine years old or he could be 100 years old or he could be a fetus or he could be a corpse or anything – like, it doesn’t matter. It’s a good song and … I think that should be the one.”
To country star George Canyon, the old “Hockey Night in Canada” theme – which CBC lost the rights to earlier this year – is one of the most recognizable melodies in the world.
“Replacing this is a really big deal. It’s a serious venture,” he said from his ranch outside Calgary, adding that his future grandchildren might one day be sitting down to watch hockey and listen to the new theme.
He was impressed by Burke’s entry, calling the youngster an “incredibly talented young man,” but said his favourite was the Celtic-tinged submission from Beaumont, Alta.-based elementary school teacher Colin Oberst.
“Being born and raised in Nova Scotia, all I knew growing up was hockey … hockey was life,” he said.
“And, of course, being of Scottish descent, whenever I hear the bagpipes, or anything that sounds like the bagpipes, I go into what I like to call battle mode. It just makes me stand up and feel alive, and it always has.”
Canyon, whose new record, “What I Do,” drops Nov. 11, says he thinks producer Bob Rock did a great job finessing the entries, adding that he never could have written anything close to what the five finalists have done.
The other two contenders in the Top 5 are “Let the Game Begin” by Christian St-Roch & Jimmy Tanaka of Chateauguay and Verdun, Que., and “Eleventh Hour” by Graham McRae of Burnaby B.C.
CBC received 14,685 entries for the contest to replace the old theme, which is now the property of TSN and was recently given a new arrangement by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The Top 2 finalists in the CBC contest, as chosen by the voting public, will be unveiled Thursday evening during a double-header NHL broadcast (the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Detroit Red Wings and the Calgary Flames at the Vancouver Canucks).
Viewers can start voting for the final winner – via online, text message or phone – during Thursday night’s twin bill until Oct. 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The winning anthem will be unveiled on Saturday during “Hockey Night in Canada.”

Bachman inspires hockey anthem semifinalist
Toronto composer Gerry Mosby was inspired by Randy Bachman to compete in Canada’s Hockey Anthem Challenge.
The contest to find new theme music for Hockey Night in Canada was launched June 19 by CBC Sports after it didn’t renew the rights to The Hockey Theme, which were subsequently purchased by CTV Inc.
Mosby, a professional writer and musician, heard that Bachman, one of his favourite Canadian artists, planned to submit several entries in the contest, so he followed suit with Ice Warriors.
Mosby’s composition was featured Wednesday on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, who is offering sneak peeks of the five semifinalists each night.
Edmonton’s Colin Oberst, with Canadian Gold, and Toronto’s Robert Fraser Burke, with Sticks to the Ice, were profiled Monday and Tuesday night, respectively.
Television viewers can enjoy all five semifinalist submissions in their entirety on the Hockey Night In Canada Anthem Challenge, a one-hour special hosted by Ron MacLean and Stroumboulopoulos on Oct. 4 (CBC, 9 p.m. ET local time).
Each of the five semifinalists will be introduced with a recording of their respective entry ó produced by Bob Rock, a multiple Juno Award winner, and a full orchestra ó played on the show.
The opening round of voting begins immediately following the program, and closes Oct. 7.
Canadians can cast their votes at CBCSports.ca/anthemchallenge, by phone and via SMS on their mobile phones.
The two finalists will be announced during a special Thursday edition of Hockey Night in Canada on Oct. 9, when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to Detroit and the Calgary Flames visit the Vancouver Canucks.
That is when the second round of voting opens, closing on Oct. 10.
The winning submission will be revealed Oct. 11 on Hockey Night In Canada’s traditional Saturday night doubleheader (Montreal Canadiens at Toronto, Vancouver at Calgary).
The winner of Canada’s Hockey Anthem Challenge will receive $100,000 in cash and half of the ongoing royalties, with the other half invested in minor hockey.

CBC gets approval for new sports channel
Approval has been granted for a new digital sports channel, tentatively known as CBC Sports Plus, CBC Sports announced Wednesday.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved CBC’s application for an all-sports licence for the channel, which will focus in large part on Canadian sporting events, stories and accomplishments.
“We feel this is great news for both CBC and the Canadian sports system,” said Scott Moore, executive director for CBC Sports.
“For over 50 years, CBC has been Canada’s pre-eminent broadcaster of Canadian sport. We feel with the addition of another platform, we will continue to be a great contributor to Canada’s success in sports at all levels.
“Following on the success of our Beijing Olympic coverage, we feel CBC will now be able to make an even more significant contribution to the success of our Canadian athletes.”
CBC Sports Plus, a Category 2 digital specialty channel, is expected to feature a mix of professional and amateur sports.
The CBC received the approval of its board of governors in January to submit an application for a proposed all-sports channel.
CBC Sports coverage for the remainder of 2008 includes:
The Beijing Olympics.
Paralympic Summer Games.
CBCís Hockey Night in Canada.
BMO Toronto FC.
Presidentís Choice Raptors Basketball.
Rogers Blue Jays Baseball.
Comprehensive FIFA coverage.
Pontiac Alpine Ski Series.
Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.
Canadian and International Championship Figure Skating.
Golden League Track and Field.

CBC Radio Two scales back on classical music
CBC Radio Two is scaling down its classical music programming and serving up more contemporary artists in a bid to reach a wider audience, a move that critics say is shutting out many listeners.
The public broadcaster unveiled plans Tuesday for its Radio Two fall relaunch, which includes four new programs, new hosts and a heavier emphasis on non-classical music genres such as pop, roots, urban and jazz.
The changes, beginning Sept. 2, will see the amount of classical music played every weekday shaved to five hours from the present average of 12 hours. Julie Nesrallah, a mezzo-soprano from Ottawa, will host a classical music show, called “Tempo,” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Programming director Chris Boyce said the move follows a CBC survey on Canadian arts and culture and radio listening habits.
“At the core of all of this is what it means to be a public broadcaster,” he said. “And that is to provide programming for all Canadians and to reflect the arts and culture scene in Canada and to reflect Canada back to Canadians.”
But research done by the Canadian content watchdog Friends of Canadian Broadcasting indicates that what CBC Radio Two’s average 1.1 million listeners per week “like best about (the station) … is the classical music,” said the group’s spokesman Ian Morrison.
“So CBC is greatly compressing that kind of music, which you could call serious music, into a listening ghetto of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” he said.
“I say ghetto just because they know ñ anybody who looks at the numbers knows ñ that the available audience between 10 and 3 is very small compared with mornings or evenings or the drive home or drive-to-work period.”
Morrison also said the move “puts down” younger audiences by assuming that “young people are not interested in classical culture.”
This is the third phase in CBC Radio Two’s makeover. In March 2007 it launched a new evening jazz show and last October it made changes to its weekend schedule.
The most recent changes will see host Tom Allen start weekday mornings with “a mix of contemporary artists and familiar favourites” on the show “Radio Two Morning,” said a release.
The afternoon classical music show will air next, followed by “Radio Two Drive,” with Canadian funk/hip-hop artist Rich Terfry (a.k.a. Buck 65) serving up 75 per cent Canadian contemporary music.
On the weekends, jazz singer Molly Johnson will helm “Radio Two Morning” while CBC Radio Two personality Jurgen Gothe will follow with “Farrago,” featuring music drawn primarily from his own collection.
CBC Radio Two is also launching four new online music channels, dedicated to classical, jazz, Canadian songwriters and Canadian composers.

Mike Milbury joins Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada will welcome a familiar face and opinionated hockey mind next season, with Mike Milbury joining the show as an analyst.
Milbury, who has spent over 30 years in the NHL as a player, coach and general manager, will also be a regular contributor to the Hot Stove segment on HNIC.
ìWe’re very pleased to welcome Mike to our talented broadcast team,î HNIC executive producer Sherali Najak said in a statement. ìHis experience as an NHL player and executive is reflected in an entertaining on-air style. We look forward to his honest opinions and knowledge on what’s happening around the NHL on a weekly basis.î
Milbury played 754 games over 12 seasons as a defenceman for the Boston Bruins, collecting 238 points and 1552 penalty minutes, and reaching the Stanley Cup final twice. He also coached Boston to a Stanley Cup appearance, in 1989-90.
Milbury, 56, then joined the New York Islanders, serving as coach, general manager and vice-president in nearly a dozen years with the organization.
He called it “a privilege” to join the most famous hockey broadcast.
ìFor more than half a century, CBC has brought hockey into living rooms across Canada with passion, insight and joy,î said Milbury. ìHockey Night in Canada has been a chronicler and caretaker of the game and part of its history.”
Coach-player with Big Bad Bruins reunite
Milbury will be reunited on the show with a familiar jousting partner, Don Cherry.
Cherry coached Milbury for three seasons in Boston. In Cherry’s autobiography, Grapes, the colourful commentator recounted memorable arguments the pair engaged in en route to the team’s practice facility.
Hockey Night in Canada will kick off its North American schedule in 2008-09 with a doubleheader on Thursday, Oct. 9. The Detroit Red Wings will unveil their Stanley Cup banner before taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Calgary Flames will face the Canucks in Vancouver.

Trudeau joins CBC Olympic broadcast team
Alexandre Trudeau has been added to the CBC Olympic Broadcast team, along with Sook-Yin Lee, Catriona Le May Doan, Mark Kelley and Shaun Majumder.
Trudeau and the rest of the new additions to the team will provide stories from around Beijing, reporting on the news, history and culture of China for “Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games” on CBC.
“The Olympic Games in Beijing opens up China to the world and we want to ensure Canadians truly experience the Games, not only from inside the sporting venues, but from around Beijing and the Chinese countryside as well as from across Canada,” said Trevor Pilling, executive producer of “Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games on CBC.”
“We are thrilled with the addition of Alexandre, Sook-Yin, Catriona, Mark and Shaun to our cast of reportersótheir unique backgrounds and approach to reporting will add another intriguing dimension to our Olympic broadcast.”
Trudeau will report from the ancient capital covering such topics as the city’s architecture and infrastructure.
Lee, born and raised in Canada, will explore her Chinese identity while visiting China for the first time in a 15-part series called “Yin and Yang.”
Catriona Le May Doan will report from the Opening Ceremony before returning to Canada to meet with friends and families of Olympians.
Mark Kelley will report from Beijing on issues such as traffic congestion and pollution in the city.
Gemini award-winning comedian Shaun Majumder will tell stories from his comedic perspective for “Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games.”

Deal to keep Hockey Night theme song falls through
Negotiations to keep the Hockey Night in Canada theme song have collapsed, meaning the CBC program is now in search of another anthem.
Copyright Music & Visuals, the Toronto agency representing the song’s composer, Dolores Claman, said on Friday that the deal had fallen through.
That news came as a surprise to the CBC, said Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports.
“We’re disappointed, as many Canadians are,” Moore said, adding he found out about the deal falling through from CBC News.
“We have no real idea why the deal fell apart,” he said. “We’re not sure why because the other side hasn’t communicated with us.
“You have to ask the other side what happened.”
Copyright Music & Visuals said it had offered the public broadcaster a chance to renew its licence to use Claman’s song ó a staple on HNIC since 1968 ó on terms that were “virtually identical to those that have existed for the past decade.”
Previously, each use of the song cost the CBC about $500, the agency said.
After the first two years of a new agreement, the rates would rise about 15 per cent, an increase Copyright Music & Visuals president John Ciccone called an industry standard.
“We offered to continue paying the richest licence fee in Canadian television, which was the price they asked for,” said Moore. “We also offered to buy it outright for a high six-figure sum.”
A call made to Ciccone by CBCSports.ca was not returned Friday.
Claman, who has written about 2,000 jingles over her career, is also credited with the Ontario theme A Place to Stand, which she co-wrote with her husband, Richard Morris, in 1967.
Contest for new theme in works
Moore said Friday the two sides had agreed upon a price, but added an “unfortunate set of circumstances,” including an outstanding lawsuit, hovered over negotiations.
A lawsuit filed against the CBC in late 2004 by the composer alleges that the broadcaster was overusing the Hockey Night in Canada theme and has not been settled. Copyright Music & Visuals said the litigation hasn’t interfered with the CBC’s use of music, nor was settlement of the suit a condition for the proposed new licensing agreement.
“We really can’t do business with a lawsuit hanging over our heads,” Moore said. “We feel that we’ve done everything we possibly can.”
CBC Sports will now move on and launch a new national contest in conjunction with Nettwerk Music Group to find a new theme song, he said. Canadians will be invited to write and record an original song for Hockey Night in Canada, with fans and a jury of experts choosing the best new composition.
The winner will receive $100,000 and proceeds from any royalties will go to minor hockey across the country. More details on the contest will be revealed in the next week.
“We expect a lot of terrific music, and we expect that the new theme for Hockey Night in Canada will be as iconic as the last two themes have been,” Moore said.
Earlier on Friday, Liberal heritage critic Denis Coderre told reporters in Ottawa that Conservative Heritage Minister JosÈe Verner must defend one of Canada’s most famous musical traditions and do everything possible to ensure the CBC continues to broadcast the theme.
“The Hockey Night in Canada theme is a part of Canada’s culture that goes beyond sport,” Coderre said. “If the minister wants to show that she cares about Canadian heritage, this is her chance.”

Deal still possible for Hockey Night theme song
Contrary to published reports, CBC Sports hasn’t yet pulled the plug on the Hockey Night in Canada theme song.
Scott Moore, the executive director of CBC Sports, told Newsworld on Thursday that negotiations for a new licence fee are ongoing with the representatives of Vancouver composer Dolores Claman.
“We’ve been reaching out to [Claman] and her representative, and haven’t heard back,” Moore said. “We’re prepared to do a deal, we’re prepared to talk, but we’re not prepared to do a deal at all costs.
“And as much as I’m particularly passionate about the theme, and I know a lot of Canadians are, if we can’t do a deal that’s responsible, we won’t do a deal.”
Earlier Monday, Copyright Music & Visuals ó the Toronto agency representing Claman ó said the CBC had declined to enter into a new licensing agreement for next season.
A news release posted on the Copyright Music & Visuals website quotes company president John Ciccone as saying the CBC’s licence agreement for the HNIC theme song ended with the Detroit Red Wings’ 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.
The CBC “has advised the composer, owner and administrator of the musical composition that it is not prepared to enter into a new licence agreement with respect to the use of the theme,” the release said.
Composer expresses disappointment
Copyright Music & Visuals said it had offered the CBC a chance to renew its licence to use Claman’s song on terms that were “virtually identical to those that have existed for the past decade.”
Previously, each use of the song cost the broadcaster about $500, the company said.
Claman expressed disappointment that her song may no longer be heard in homes across Canada during the hockey season.
“I am saddened by the decision of the CBC to drop the Hockey Night in Canada theme after our lengthy history together,” she said in a release. “I nevertheless respect its right to move in a new direction.”
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is also upset about the possibility of losing the song, telling reporters at the legislature on Thursday he was stunned by the initial reports.

President says CBC ‘could have done better’ with songwriters gala
CBC president Hubert Lacroix was grilled by federal MPs on Tuesday over the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame broadcast this spring that did not include prominent francophone artists.
In a presentation to the House of Commons language committee, Lacroix admitted the public broadcaster “could have done a better job under the circumstances.”
The 44-minute broadcast of the Songwriters Hall of Fame gala provoked anger in Quebec because it cut out Quebec singer Claude Dubois’s performance and acceptance speech.
“This has raised awareness of what we should do to be more sensitive on this issue,” Lacroix said.
Cutting of the francophone performer “doesn’t help in promoting understanding between cultures,” said New Democrat MP Yvon Godin.
He pressed Lacroix over remarks made by Richard Stursberg that the gala broadcast had been cut to appeal to anglophone viewers.
Speaking before the same committee earlier this year, Stursberg said the broadcast was created from an original ceremony lasting three and a half hours and it was cut to target an audience in English Canada.
“He was saying people in English Canada would turn off the channel if a francophone singer came on. This kind of thing hurts us as francophones,” Godin said.
Lacroix denied there was any implication that anglophone viewers would turn off the show if a singer performed in French.
There are many other shows on CBC that highlight Canada’s linguistic duality, he said, but that was not part of the mandate of the songwriters’ gala broadcast.
“As Mr. Stursberg said, the purpose of the 44-minute broadcast was to target an English Canadian audience. That’s why it focused on Oscar Peterson and Paul Anka,” he said.
He pointed out that Radio Canada, the francophone network, did not air the gala, and that Radio 2 aired it in its entirety.
Lacroix said a cut-down version of the gala has been aired on CBC Television for the past three years. He said the public broadcaster would reconsider how it airs the gala in future.
“If we are going to be doing this type of event, broadcast, we will be more sensitive to issues of diversity,” he said.
When pressed by Bloc QuÈbÈcois MPs, Lacroix refused to speculate how the show would change.
“We’ve agreed to relinquish our exclusive broadcast rights,” he said. “It will be up to the organizers.”
MP Raymond Gravel said CBC was failing to fulfil its mandate.
“There were francohones of international calibre on the gala and they were cut,” he said. “There’s no point in francophones going to the gala next year.”
Dubois, who was an inductee into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, called the CBC racist after he learned his performances were excluded from the television version of the Toronto awards.
Shortly after the awards, Stursberg issued a formal apology to all artists whose performances were edited out of the television broadcast.