Alessia Cara up for six Juno Awards, will be youngest woman ever to host the ceremony

Walt Disney Television/Paula LoboFour years ago, Alessia Cara was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys.   Now, she’s been tapped to host the Juno Awards ceremony, and is also the leading nominee, with six nods.

According to Billboard, at a press conference announcing the news, Alessia joked “For those of you who are hoping it was someone else like Shawn Mendes, I’m sorry, it is me. You’re stuck with me.”

She added, “I’m so excited to be a part of Canada’s biggest night in music in this way. This is the first time I’ve been the sole host of anything, so I hope I don’t disappoint. My first reaction was ‘Why?’ My second was ‘No way.’ And then my third was obviously ‘Yes’ because I’m here….I’m very, very honored.”

At 23, Alessia will be the youngest woman ever to host the Junos, and she’ll be pulling double duty because she’ll also perform on the show. She’s nominated for Single of the Year for “Out of Love,” album of the year and pop album of the year for The Pains of Growing, plus artist of the year and songwriter of the year, as well as the Juno Fan Choice Award.

Toronto rapper Tory Lanez has the second-highest number of nominations, with five.  Alessia’s pal and tour mate, Shawn Mendes, has three, as do electronic duo Loud Luxury and veteran rocker Bryan Adams.

In the International categories, the current albums from Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran and Khalid are all nominated.

The Junos take place March 15 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They’ll be aired live across Canada, and will stream at cbc.ca/music/junos.

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