Here's looking at you, Bieber - The Globe and Mail

K'Naan, left, perfroms with Justin Bieber during the Juno Awards in St. John's.Mike Dembeck

He was shut out from winning any of his three categories. But Stratford, Ont.-raised teen idol Justin Bieber, with his trademark mop blow-dried to perfection, received major props from the get-go at the Juno Awards' broadcast from St. John's.

The Barenaked Ladies jokingly chastised crooner Michael Bublé from the stage for shattering a young kid's aspiration. A few minutes later (in time for young fans' early bedtimes), Bieber sang an unplugged rendition of his hit single Baby to a shrieking crowd. And Toronto rappers Drake and K'Naan both name-checked the young star when accepting their respective awards.

The rest of Sunday night's awards tread a fine line between the highly commercial and the indie minded. Toronto-based Metric wound up becoming the ambassadors for indie rock, wearing their usual dapper suits and with singer Emily Haines in an elegant, silvery, mere nothing of a dress as they strode the stage, copping earnest rock-star attitude to accept group of the year.

Although Metric is on a career high with the band's current album Fantasies, they were a long shot, against other nominees Billy Talent, Blue Rodeo, Hedley and the Tragically Hip - all Juno perennials.

K'Naan also had a strong presence last night, winning artist of the year and songwriter of the year for his hit Wavin' Flag. Drake, another star of the broadcast, took home rap recording of the year and new artist of the year, and gave one of the evenings few high-energy performances, in a somewhat muted, but nicely genuine-feeling broadcast.

But at final count, this was Bublé's year, taking home four awards over the weekend.

"I'm nervous. I don't get nervous usually," he said when taking the stage to accept his trophy for single of the year. And when taking the Juno Fan Choice award, he took a humble tone. "I love you from the west coast to the east, black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, thanks for the support."

AND THE WINNERS ARE ...

Highlights among this weekend's Juno winners include: