Author: Kevin Bourne

The JUNO Opening Night Awards 2022 touched down at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto. Here are all your winners. Tonight, the Canadian music industry gathered in downtown Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the JUNO Opening Night Awards Presented by Ontario Creates. Hosted by Ann Pornel and CBC Music’s Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, this year’s festivities were once again an in-person celebration after two years of going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evening began with opening remarks from Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president, Allan Reid, followed by a performance by Valley, fresh…

In the next article in our Industry Insights series, SHIFTER’s Kevin Bourne says that as a talent in the entertainment industry, you’re only as strong as your team. Last Monday, Koliah and I went to a listening session at Universal Music Canada for their artist Boslen. Aside from the quality of his music and his attention to detail, what stood out was the quality of his team. When going over his upcoming project, he couldn’t stop talking about how important his team has been to his success. He not only bounces ideas off of his team, but he mentioned how…

While a number of characters land new jobs, this episode is a little messy, including a big breakup. Here’s our All American season 4 episode 18 recap. After getting closure and making peace with Carrie, Layla looks to make amends with the people in her life, including Coop, by writing them letters. Unfortunately, one person―Clay―can’t accept her apology. Spencer is hosting his apparel launch, but there’s some trouble brewing. The bromance between Spencer and Wade is in jeopardy as Spencer confronts Wade about the derogatory post circulating about Liv. Another player takes responsibility for the stunt, but is Wade completely…

There’s friction between Spencer and Asher as their schools get ready to go head-to-head. Meanwhile, Spelivia continue to drift apart. Here’s our All American season 4 episode 17 recap. After Spencer is moved from special teams to receiver and the focus of Golden Angeles’ offence, Wade tries to get all “buddy buddy” with Spencer. After Spencer calls Wade “the best quarterback in the country” it causes some tension with Jordan. Speaking of tension, this episode also saw some rare friction between Spencer and Asher. As Coastal California gets ready to play Golden Angeles at homecoming, Coach Montez asks Asher to…

Shang-Chi star Simu Liu is about to drop his new book. Here’s Kevin Bourne with his Simu Liu book review for “We Were Dreamers”. The release of Canadian actor, Simu Liu’s book “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story” is just around the corner. The book tells the story of his family’s journey from China to Toronto and ultimately Hollywood. Let me say right off the bat, this book impacted me. Reviews are supposed to be impersonable and objective, but let’s throw that out the window for a second. A few pages into the prologue I found myself getting…

Toronto rappers NorthSideBenji and Houdini are back together again on their new posthumous track and music video “Repeat”. Almost two years after his passing, fans are still getting new music from the late rapper Houdini. Today, fellow Toronto artist NorthSideBenji dropped a new single titled “Repeat” featuring Houdini, delivering another smash from the pair. They previously teamed up on “Too Soft” and “Levels” which currently sit at 5.2 million and 1.4 million views respectively on YouTube. Northsidebenji took to Instagram recently to tease the upcoming track posting, “Due to unforeseen circumstances we couldn’t get this out when we first made…

SHIFTER’s Kevin Bourne shares four reasons even successful artists and talent get tempted to give up on their dream. Being in a talent in any area of media and entertainment has its ups and downs, highs and lows. There will be moments when you feel like you’re the most talented person in the world and others when you doubt whether you have what it takes to make it. There will even be moments when you feel like you want to quit. But one myth is that the temptation to quit is only for those who aren’t making it. The reality…

HGTV Canada’s Gut Job, hosted by Sebastian Clovis, premiered tonight. Find out why Kevin Bourne calls it “the show we always needed, but just didn’t know it.” Tonight, my plan was to put the kids to bed and watch the premiere of the new HGTV Canada series Gut Job. I wasn’t even planning to write a review, but when the show started, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I ran upstairs to see if my wife was watching and she had the same look on her face―partly proud and partly shocked and amazed. There were two things we both…

HGTV Canada has added a number of new Black hosts and shows to its roster. Here’s our HGTV Canada Spring preview. For years HGTV has been the channel Canadians turned to for everything from design inspiration to helping them dream of a better life. There’s something aspirational about the channel. When you watch the HGTV you get the feeling that nothing is impossible; if you can think it, it can be done. But one of the knocks on both the American and Canadian versions of the station is that they’re very…white. HGTV Canada has responded by releasing a trio of…

Liv and Wade. Jordan and Layla. Dillon and Spencer. Coop and Patience. So much drama on tonight’s episode of All American. Here’s our All American season 4 episode 16 recap. Our All American season 4 episode 16 recap begins with Wade who is still salty about Jordan getting the win in the last game. Jordan tries to clear the air, but Wade makes it clear they’re not friends. As Layla and Patience are working on the album, both Sabine and Sky each show up at the door setting the stage for a messy love triangle (or square). Billy has trouble…

Play De Record documentary “Drop The Needle” set for summer release under a new distribution deal with Toronto’s LevelFILM. After almost a year since announcing the Play De Record documentary Drop The Needle, Canterbury Productions has announced a new distribution deal with LevelFILM. The Toronto entertainment distribution company has had an impressive run, bringing titles like Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Souvenir Part II, Akilla’s Escape, and more recently Scarborough which walked away with eight Canadian Screen Awards this year, including Best Motion Picture, to audiences. A music fan…

Spencer and Jordan get a chance to shine in a big game and Liv chases her first byline. Here’s our All American season 4 episode 15 recap. Spencer impresses Coach Garrett in his debut on special teams and is given the opportunity to start at gunner. Off the field, he is looking to get in on the new Name, Image, License deals with the help of Navita, but Liv still isn’t comfortable with their relationship. Speaking of Liv, she is working on an article about NIL deals as she looks for her first byline as a writer with the LA…