There's the man who plays a vacuum cleaner and the occasional refrigerator shelf, two others who lead bands in vivacious polkas, a lyrical hip-hop maestro and a raven-haired sexpot whose bellybutton is as famous as her cliché-laden hits.
While it's not the biggest Canadian contingent to ever grace a Grammy stage, the performers are among an eclectic group of Canuck nominees that are anything but boring.
Some of the homegrown nominees are the usual suspects: country superstar Shania Twain, pop singer Sarah McLachlan and rock outfit Nickelback. Others include duelling polka-band leaders, Walter Ostanek and John Gora, the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, jazz artist Benoît Charest and rapper k-os.
But they'll need to work hard to distinguish themselves among the many nominees as awards are handed out in the annual music competition's 107 categories tomorrow night at Los Angeles's Staples Center.
Kanye West leads the nominee pack with 10 nods for his CD, The College Dropout. Alicia Keys and Usher each received eight nods, while the late Ray Charles -- whom actor Jamie Foxx hopes to channel in a Grammy performance -- is up for seven.
"The variety of the Canadian nominees is absolutely amazing. Sometimes you think, 'Where did they come from?' " said Richard Flohil, editor of Applaud!, a trade publication distributed outside Canada about the Canadian industry. "The amount of Canadian input at the Grammys and other international award ceremonies just seems to indicate a real proof of the way in which Canadian talent has developed, particularly over the last decade."
One of those talents is hip-hop lyricist k-os, who hopes to take home the best-dance-recording trophy for Get Yourself High, a collaboration with the Chemical Brothers. "I always use these little things as proof that sometimes the least effort garners great things . . . here's a track that I ended up free-styling and then it gets a nomination for a Grammy," he said excitedly from his home in Toronto earlier this week.
While the rapper relied on his free-styling skills, nominee Benoît Charest used a vacuum cleaner and other unconventional instruments to land in the Grammy spotlight. His quirky ditty, Belleville Rendez-Vous, from the animated feature The Triplets of Belleville is up for best song for a motion picture, against The Lord of the Rings music master Howard Shore, of Toronto.
The Triplets track was also nominated for an Oscar last year but lost to Shore's monumental work on The Lord of the Rings. The spotlight provided by the Triplets has opened many doors for the artist, an unknown prior to the film. He's about to start work on a children's picture for Universal.
"That wouldn't have been possible without the Triplets," said Charest, who's been playing professionally since 16 as a studio musician.
Other nominees include: Rush, up for rock instrumental performance for a drum solo by Neil Peart on O Baterista, a track off the band's Rush In Rio live disc; renowned producer David Foster, for best instrumental arrangement; and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, for best small-ensemble performance.
Rounding out the Canuck nominations is jazz darling Diana's Krall's Girl in the Other Room. But in the event of a win, the statue will go to her producer, Tommy LiPuma and engineer Al Schmitt.
As well, Alanis Morissette's producer John Shanks is up for an award for his work on the Ottawa singer's So-Called Chaos and Robbie Robertson's Shine Your Light.
This year's production of the Grammys also marks the end of a long and successful career for Quebec-born Pierre Cossette. Thirty-five years ago, the ambitious businessman went to the American music academy and made a deal to stage a live-to-air awards show. Prior to 1971, the show was held in a stuffy hotel ballroom far away from adoring music fans.
But it was a bittersweet first run. A year earlier, the spunky Cossette -- now 81 and producing his final Grammy shindig tomorrow -- had gotten into a "terrible fight" with Paul Simon over a song the musician had written for a TV special.
"I said, 'We can't open the show with this song. This is not what I sold,' " Cossette, who was born in Valleyfield, Que., recently recalled from his Beverly Hills office. "We argued so much he finally said, 'Let's just call this thing off. I'll buy you out.' "
A year later, Cossette was faced with Simon and Garfunkel as the top nominees.
And the big song everyone was clamouring to hear? Bridge Over Troubled Water -- the very one Cossette had deemed too boring for TV consumption.
"Simon and Garfunkel got record of the year, song of the year, album of the year," said Cossette, launching into a few bars of the song, which ended up winning five Grammys that year. "Oh god, that was really something."
Aside from that blunder, Cossette has had a successful run at helming the annual music bash.
And while naysayers have often criticized the jury's choice in winners, the show's musical variety usually wins praise, and sometimes generates controversy, such as the year Elton John and Eminem performed a duet.
Cossette credits a revolving door of musical talent for his long-standing success. Moving to California as a youngster, Cossette started out in the music business shortly after university, producing variety shows for clubs and hotels in the Las Vegas area.
He moved on to managing artists and helped found Dunhill Records, where the roster included the Mamas and the Papas and Steppenwolf.
He quickly moved into TV with Stand Up and Cheer, one of the first celebrity-driven programs. The Andy Williams Show soon followed.
After tomorrow's Grammy show -- which should be another career highlight, with hyped performances by Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony and Oscar-nominated Ray actor Jamie Foxx with Alicia Keys -- Cossette will retire to his home in Ste.-Anisette, Que., a small community about an hour west of Montreal.
He'll continue to mount the occasional production, especially ones for his friend Celine Dion.
As well, he's currently developing The Woody Guthrie Story for Broadway, where he's found much success, having produced the six-time Tony winner, The Will Rogers Follies.
"Thirty-five years is a long time to be doing one show," said Cossette, who received a star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard this past Monday.