
CBC's Commotion Sophie Gilbert Book Giveaway
1. HOW TO ENTER
No purchase required. This Contest is open to Canadian residents only and is governed by Canadian law.
To enter the Contest, you must have an Instagram account, follow @commotioncbc https://www.instagram.com/commotioncbc/ ("Website") on Instagram, like our Sophie Gilbert book contest announcement post on Instagram, comment on that same post the name of your favourite female artist from the 1990s or 2000s, and tag a friend in the comments.
Submission of an entry to the Contest signifies that you have read and agree to the Contest Rules. By submitting an entry to the Contest through the Website or any other electronic platform, you agree that the act of submitting the entry to the Contest is a binding form of your electronic signature, which you agree binds you to these Contest Rules.
Questions marked with an asterisk or otherwise indicated as mandatory are required to be eligible for the Contest. Answers to questions not marked with an asterisk on an entry form are appreciated, but not required to participate in the Contest.
To be valid, entries must be received by no later than Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 12 p.m. ET.
Limit of one entry per person/social media account/email address during the Contest Period/per day or per method of entry. If you attempt or are suspected of attempting to enter more than the authorized amount, or use robotic, automatic, programmed or any other methods of participation not authorized by these Rules, it shall be deemed as tampering and will void your entries, votes or other results of such participation.
No submissions will be accepted after the above deadlines for any reason. Any entries received after the above deadlines will be void.
2. ELIGBILITY
Contest is open to all Canadian residents who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory of residence as of the Contest opening date.
In cases where the Contest is open to contestant who has not reached the age of majority in their province (a "minor"), parent or guardian consent is necessary to enter the Contest and participate in the prize. Parent/guardian will be responsible for minor's participation in the prize. Where appropriate, the terms "contestant" and "winner" mean parent or guardian of the minor. If a minor contestant has not received consent to enter the Contest or a minor winner does not have parental/guardian consent to participate in the prize, or, where applicable, does not have a parent/guardian to accompany them in the prize, the entry shall be invalid.
The following individuals are not eligible:
Employees of CBC, during the Contest Period;
CBC personalities on air anytime between the start of the Contest Period and up until the prize is awarded
Members of the Judging Panel; and
Any of the above persons' immediate family (father/mother, brother/sister (including step brother/sister, half-brother/sister), son/daughter) and persons living under the same roof.
Where an entry is made on behalf of a group (i.e. class entry, school entry) which includes a person mentioned above, such group's entry may be allowed by CBC in its sole discretion.
3. PROCEDURE FOR AWARDING PRIZES
After the Contest Period has ended, a random draw will be conducted by the producers of Commotion on Tuesday May 27, 2025 from among all eligible entries received during the Contest Period.
The first selected contestant from the random draw who fulfills the submission requirement and correctly answers the mandatory mathematical skill-testing question shall be declared the winner, subject to meeting all the conditions described in these Rules.
The Winner will be announced on the Website and on CBC's Commotion episode airing Wednesday, May 28, 2025.
Selected potential winner(s) will be contacted using the social media account used for entry and should claim their prize as instructed by CBC by no later than 5 days after the date and time they are initially contacted. If a potential winner does not claim their prize within such time, incorrectly answers the mathematical skill-testing question (where applicable), declines the prize, or is otherwise found to be ineligible, the prize shall be forfeited and CBC has the right, at its sole discretion, to select another potential winner, even if the potential winner's name has already been publicly announced; forfeited prizes will not be awarded.
You may be required to provide proof of your name/identity/age as requested by CBC in its sole discretion. If you fail to provide adequate proof you will be automatically disqualified from the Contest.
4. DESCRIPTION OF PRIZE(S)
The winner will receive one (1) signed hardcover copy of the book Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert.
The prize includes only what is specifically described and no other allowance will be granted.
The total approximate retail value of all prizes offered is: $36.00
5. GENERAL RULES
5.1. To be declared a winner of a prize as a result of a random draw, the selected contestant must first correctly answer a mathematical skill-testing question.
5.2. By entering the Contest, you:
declare you have read, agree to and have complied with the Contest Rules;
declare you meet all criteria to enter the Contest and to accept and participate in the prize (if awarded);
agree that subject to the accuracy of the response to the mathematical skill-testing question, if you are the winner of a prize, you agree to accept the prize as provided by CBC;
consent and agree that your name, city/province of residence, image, statements and/or voice and your entry may be used for promotional and other purposes related to this Contest free of charge by CBC;
your heirs, your successors and your assigns, release CBC as well as its affiliates, directors, officers, consultants, agents, volunteers and employees (the " Contest Parties") from all liability for any damages, compensatory, direct, incidental, consequential or otherwise arising from your participation in this Contest, the use of your entry, and from the awarding, acceptance or use of the prize (if awarded).
5.3. If the prize allows the winner to be accompanied by one or more people anyone accompanying the winner in connection with the prize shall sign a release agreeing that their name, image and/or voice may be used for advertising purposes related to this Contest free of charge, and releasing the Contest Parties from all liability for any damage or loss arising from use of the prize.
5.4. The prize shall be accepted as is and may not be exchanged or refunded for an amount of money, sold or transferred. No substitutions will be allowed. Any portion of a prize not used for any reason will be forfeited.
5.5. If the prize cannot be awarded as described in these Rules, the Contest Parties reserve the right to substitute a prize or prize component with another of comparable value, as determined in their sole discretion. In no event will CBC be liable for more than the stated number of prizes available to be awarded.
5.6. Refusal to accept the prize or a portion of the prize releases the Contest Parties from any obligation toward the winner with respect to that prize/portion of the prize.
5.7. In the event of a dispute or complaint regarding whether an entry contravenes the Contest Rules, entries will be deemed to have been submitted in accordance with the Contest Rules, by the authorized account holder of the account used to submit the applicable entry. You may be required to provide proof (in a form acceptable to CBC) that you are the authorized account holder of the account used to submit the applicable entry and, if applicable, that you have all necessary consents, permissions and/or licenses as required by these Contest Rules. If CBC determines (in its sole discretion) that an entry contravenes the Contest Rules, the entry will be automatically disqualified from the Contest.
5.8. The decisions of the CBC with respect to all aspects of this Contest are final and binding on all entrants without right of appeal, including, without limitation, any decisions regarding the eligibility/disqualification of entrants and/or entries.
5.9. CBC reserves the right to amend the Contest Rules or to terminate the Contest at any time without any liability to any contestant. Any amendments to these Contest Rules will be posted on the Website. Without limiting the foregoing, CBC reserves the right to, without prior notice, adjust any of the dates and/or time frames stipulated in these Contest Rules, to the extent necessary, as a result of any technical or other problems, or in light of any other circumstances which, in the opinion of the CBC, in its sole and absolute discretion, affect the proper administration of the Contest as contemplated in these Contest Rules, or for any other reason.
5.10. For the award of a prize by voting method, CBC reserves the right to cancel any vote deemed unlawful or illegitimate and to make adjustments accordingly in calculating the number of votes received by the participant.
5.11. The Contest Parties assume no liability for any loss, damage or injury, including without limitation: (i) lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, misdirected, late, destroyed, illegible or incomplete entries; (ii) loss, theft or damage to software or computer or telephone data, including any breach of privacy; (iii) fraudulent calls; (iv) inability of any person to participate in the Contest for any reason including but not limited to: mistaken addresses on mail or e-mail; technical, computer or telephone malfunctions or other problems with computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, or software; lost, late, incomplete, illegible, incomprehensible or misdirected entries; bugs, failures in services, hardware or software transmission failure or loss, delayed or corrupted data transmission; congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination of the foregoing; (v) damage to any person's computer, including as a result of playing or downloading any material relating to the Contest; (vi) any delay or inability to act resulting from an event or situation beyond their control, including a strike, lockout or other labour dispute at their location or the locations of the organizations and businesses whose services are used to administer this Contest; (vii) prizes that are lost, damaged or misdirected during shipping; (viii) loss, damage, defects, or inability to use the prize once awarded to the winner for any reason whatsoever.
5.12. Social media or other platforms used for this Contest, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, consultants, agents, volunteers and employees shall not be responsible for any damages, compensatory, direct, incidental, consequential or otherwise, with respect to or in any way arising from damages to participants occasioned by participating in the Contest or downloading any information associated with the Contest.
5.13. You agree that in your use of social media or other platforms for this Contest, including but not limited to chat areas, and the registration and use of social media accounts, user names or group names, you will not use obscene, libelous or slanderous language, or language which infringes upon a third party's trademark, trade name or other intellectual property right or right to privacy.
5.14. Contestants found tampering with or abusing any aspect of this Contest, including but not limited to acting in violation of these Rules, attempting to participate in the Contest more than the maximum number of times allowed, acting with the intent to disrupt the normal operation of this Contest, as determined by CBC, will be disqualified. The discovery of any use of robotic, automatic, macro, programmed, third party or like methods to participate in the Contest will void any attempted participation effected by such methods and the disqualification of the contestant utilizing the same in CBC's sole and absolute discretion.
5.15. When the Contest Rules allow entry via Facebook, X or any other social network, the terms of use of these social networks apply and the social network, as well as its directors and officers, assume no liability whatsoever in connection with the Contest.
5.16. CBC reserves the right to cancel or suspend this Contest in its sole discretion for any reason including but not limited to corruption of the security or proper administration of the Contest as a result of a bug, virus, tampering or other cause. Any attempt to deliberately damage any website or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, CBC reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law, including criminal prosecution.
5.17. Personal information collected at the point of entry, such as your name, age and contact information, is collected by CBC and will be stored and used by CBC solely for the purposes of administering this Contest as well as for any other purpose you may have opted into at the time of entry. By providing your personal information, you expressly consent to these terms. Please see CBC's privacy policy at https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/vision/governance/corporate-policies/secretariat/protection.
5.18. If the identity of a contestant is disputed, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry will be deemed to be the contestant. The individual assigned to the e-mail address for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address is considered the authorized account holder. A selected contestant may be required to provide proof that (s)he is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the selected entry. All entries must be submitted from a valid e-mail account that may be identified by reverse domain name search. The sole determinant of time for the purposes of receipt of a valid entry in this Contest will be the Contest server.
5.19. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. All entries that are incomplete, illegible, damaged, irregular, have been submitted through illicit means, using any robotic, automatic programmed method that artificially increases the odds of winning or do not conform to or satisfy any condition of the rules may be disqualified by the CBC. CBC is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.
5.20. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between these Contest Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Contest-related materials, including, but not limited to: website and/or point of sale, television, print or online advertising; French version of these Contest Rules, and/or any instructions or interpretations of these Contest Rules given by any representative of CBC or the CBC Terms of Use, the terms and conditions of these Contest Rules shall prevail, govern and control to the fullest extent permitted by law.
5.21. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Contest Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Contest Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with the terms as if such provision were not contained herein.
5.22. By entering, you agree to abide by the Contest Rules and the decisions of CBC and/or the Judging Panel, which decisions are final and binding on all contestants.
5.23. The Contest shall be deemed to be entered into pursuant to, and your agreement to enter and abide by the rules of the Contest shall be construed, performed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. By your submission of the registration form you agree to attorn to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.
5.24. If you have any accessibility requirements or special needs in relation to this Contest, please contact the contest coordinator, as noted below.
May 16, 2025
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Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
UFC title contender Sean O'Malley quit weed, social media and hair dye. Can it make him a champion?
MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Sean O'Malley lost a title fight that could have stamped him the true face of UFC and decided it was time for a makeover. O'Malley realized to truly be at his best — as a fighter, as a family man — he needed to make difficult lifestyle sacrifices to round himself into peak form. So he weeded out his bad habits. O'Malley said he's on a complete detox of all his vices. He's cleansed himself of scrolling social media, stopped the hours of gaming each day — though he dabbles a bit more in poker — and said he even quit smoking marijuana. The 30-year-old contender also ditched his trademark dyed hair. No more cornucopia of colors that turned his locks into rainbows or cotton candy tops. O'Malley sported brown, braided hair this week and had no plans to brighten it on Saturday night. O'Malley is all business as he trained for his 135-pound title fight against Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 316. O'Malley, with his flashy knockouts and flashier style that made him pop as a character in a sport currently devoid of over-the-top personality, was unbeaten in seven straight fights and held the UFC bantamweight championship when he fought Dvalishvili last September. Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing — though not aesthetically pleasing — unanimous decision over O'Malley. Dvalishvili (18-4) successfully defended the championship in January against Umar Nurmagomedov and is a slight betting favorite to win at the Prudential Center over O'Malley, per BetMGM Sportsbook. 'I'm ready for the best version of Sean O'Malley,' Dvalishvili said. He seems poised to get it if O'Malley truly has squashed his distractions in his personal life. 'I never felt like I was in a bad place, or sad place or dark place,' O'Malley said. 'I always felt pretty good. I always felt like I could feel better. Whether it helps the performance or not, I feel better. That's all that matters.' O'Malley and his wife recently welcomed their second child, a boy named Matteo, another defining moment where the fighter realized he had become almost addicted to his 'Suga' persona. His life is now 'slowed down' without the constant need to check his phone or the paranoia he said he felt from regular marijuana use. 'I'd catch myself driving, surfing Instagram, and it was like, what the (heck) am I doing?' he said. 'I'd be playing with my daughter, surfing X, and it's like, what am I doing here? I feel like just limiting those distractions definitely made me more present with the family. With training. With friends. In general.' He also found some solace in that fact that he's pretty good in UFC at rematches. O'Malley has two losses since his 2017 debut; to Marlon Vera in 2020 and he rebounded to beat him in March 2024 in 135-pound title fight, and to Dvalishvili. O'Malley fought Dvalishvili the first time with a torn labrum in his hip and needed surgery after the fight. 'He didn't get the best version of me,' O'Malley said. As for the clean hairstyle for this fight, well, that's more about convenience than purposely tamping down the 'Suga' character. 'I just didn't want to sit down for it,' he said. 'I love the pink hair. It's fun. But it's a process. I thought bringing back the OG hair would be pretty cool.' And if he wins, let the party begin? 'I've got to jet home at 3 a.m.,' he said. 'There's no after party this time. I'm going straight home.' Olympic medalist Harrison goes for UFC title Kayla Harrison says she keeps her Olympic gold medals in a sock draw. That's a bit too small of a holding spot for the UFC championship belt. Harrison will take it around her waist if she can knock off 135-pound champion Julianna Peña in the other signature bout of UFC 316. No U.S. judoka — man or woman — had ever won an Olympic gold medal before Harrison beat Britain's Gemma Gibbons to win the women's 78-kilogram division at the 2012 London Olympics. She won gold again four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Games and made her MMA debut in 2018. The 34-year-old Harrison was a two-time $1 million prize champion in the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship division before she moved on to UFC last year. She won her first two UFC bouts and her record — 18-1 in MMA overall — coupled with her fame made her an instant contender for a title shot. 'There's going to be a new face of women's MMA very soon,' Harrison said. Peña, who won the championship when she upset Raquel Pennington last October, enters the fight as the betting underdog and has two losses in her last five fights. She dismissed the critics and the oddsmakers — UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov once took a shot at Peña after she stunned Amanda Nunes — who gave her little chance to keep the championship and insisted she was ready to defeat another potential anchor of the women's division. 'I moved on the next greatest thing since sliced bread and it was Kayla,' she said. Pyfer says no to Mexico and yes to New Jersey Joe Pyfer is thrilled he's fighting closer to his South Jersey home — and only about two hours from where he was raised in suburban Philadelphia — than even thinking about taking another fight in Mexico. The UFC middleweight was scheduled to fight in March in Mexico City against Kelvin Gastelum until Pyfer was hit with a violent illness that he blamed on food and was forced to drop out. The fight was rescheduled for Saturday night. 'It's just 14 out of the 15 meals I cooked, I didn't cook on the last day and I got super sick and I was sick for weeks,' Pfyfer said. 'So yeah, I got a lot of hate because you know I'm sitting there borderline crying upset and gutted that I didn't get to perform. I make the weight I felt great and then all of a sudden I get hit with this vicious (illness) throw up like, it's just like the sweats. I lost 14 pounds in seven hours and I slept one hour.' Pyfer grew up in a house he described as mentally and physically abusive until he was essentially rescued by one of his Penncrest High School teachers and a wrestling coach, Will Harmon. It was Harmon who encouraged Pyfer to join the wrestling team and showed his student kindness and a path toward a professional career that sparked interest in UFC. Harmon has been a staple at Pyfer's fights and Pyfer still returns to the school for pep rallies or other activities to 'get the kids hyped up.' 'He's always going to be somebody very special in my life,' Pyfer said. 'He's the guy that gave me the opportunity to pursue this career and be where I am now. So without him, none of this is possible, to be honest.' ___ AP sports:


Globe and Mail
29 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
How the Canadian behind the Glambot became a ‘talent whisperer' for celebrity red carpets
Cole Walliser didn't move to Los Angeles with the intent of becoming a presence on red carpets. But today, the charismatic 43-year-old's signature laid-back energy and voluminous curls stand out even among the glitterati. You've likely seen Walliser's work, even if you didn't realize it. Since 2016, he's been helming the Glambot, a high-speed robotic camera that captures slow-motion portraits of celebrities, from Cynthia Erivo to Demi Moore to Ice Spice, at major awards shows such as the Oscars and the Grammys. At the same time, Walliser engages A-listers in candid moments as they decide how to co-create the most iconic shots. Originally from Richmond, B.C., Walliser came to L.A. in 2004 with a psychology degree from the University of British Columbia and a love of videography cultivated while filming his friends doing kickflips at the skate park. It was his keen attention to detail in motion that made him the ideal director of the Glambot. The execs at E! Entertainment 'were looking for someone who had directed beauty stuff, done a bunch of movement and choreography, and worked with A-listers,' says Walliser of getting the gig. After early-career experience directing beauty campaigns and music videos for artists such as P!nk and Miley Cyrus, 'I checked all those boxes,' he says. His role, technically, is director. But in practice, Walliser is part cinematographer, part movement coach, part talent whisperer. 'The big challenge is trying to get talent to do a cool, interesting move,' he says. Once Walliser calls out to his operator, the camera rapidly flies forward, capturing its subject's twirling or hair-tossing in a dazzling 1,000 frames per second at 4K resolution. The cost to operate the Glambot at a single event is upward of US$500,000. It's a serious piece of equipment, requiring a team of 13 to run, including video editors and social-media managers. Most Glambot clips are filmed in one superquick take. To nail it, Walliser is watching closely – trying to read what kind of direction a celebrity needs; how they are preparing to move, whether they seem nervous about the giant robot arm about to fly toward their face. He says his psychology background helps. 'I use that every day in the approach I have to creating.' What sets the Glambot apart from other red-carpet photography, he believes, isn't just the spectacle of hi-def slow motion – it's the raw, behind-the-scenes moment that happens between him and the celebrity before the shoot begins. 'You really get a candid, creative conversation which you essentially get nowhere else in entertainment,' he says of these interactions, which are captured and uploaded to social media in near-real time during awards shows. 'Even in behind-the-scenes footage for movies and TV shows, you never actually hear a director and actor talk about a shot. With Glambot, that moment is front and centre.' It's that mix of real-time collaboration and cinematic payoff that keeps the public fascinated. 'A lot of people who watch these envision what they would do if they had the chance to do a Glambot,' he says. 'And to see others confidently – or self-consciously – go through it makes it feel relatable.' Walliser's top Glambot moments include viral clips with Ariana Grande ('arguably the best ever Glambot shot,' he says of the singer's 2020 Oscars capture in a tiered Giambattista Valli gown), Brad Pitt, Billie Eilish and even Weird Al. He's now a kind of avatar for the experience, someone who has been doing it long enough that emerging actors see walking up to him as a rite of passage. 'There are people who've been watching for years, dreaming of doing one, and then they book a TV show and show up at the Emmys,' he says. 'That's just the coolest thing ever.' Representation matters to him, too. Walliser, who is half Chinese, says, 'I feel a sense of pride when I see Asians get opportunities to portray roles that are no longer stereotypical. If they find success and end up on the Glambot, it's so fun to shoot.' Walliser, a freelancer, is also busy with work beyond the Glambot. He's shot Super Bowl commercials, hosted a photography show on Hulu and hopes to direct his own narrative feature films. On weekends, he races cars, surfs and cares for his pet fish in a coral reef tank at home. He has no plans to stop vibing on the red carpet. 'I'll continue doing it so long as E! will have me,' he says. 'It's been so much fun, and my career has grown tremendously.' And if he could Glambot anyone in history? 'Michael Jackson,' he says. 'You couldn't get any better than that.' 'The pose at which you feel most natural is more likely the pose at which you're going to look your best,' says Walliser. 'Find a position that feels comfortable in your body and that you feel confident in. ... That's really going to resonate the most.' If you're working with video, try what Walliser calls a movement pose: 'You just sort of alternate, you twist, you turn in and out of that position, and then when someone says 'three, two, one, action,' you go into it.' 'I wouldn't be ashamed about practising,' says Walliser. 'The people on the red carpet, they're so good because literally their job is to pose. ... Set your phone up, hit a couple of poses, watch it, see what's good.' And most importantly, don't psych yourself out. 'If you're like, 'Oh no, I can't pose, I'm so awkward' – you're guaranteed going to be awkward. Let that go. Just relax and feel comfortable and natural,' he says. Making a lower-tech DIY Glambot is totally possible. 'The new iPhones shoot at 240 frames a second, which is pretty slow-mo,' says Walliser. Ask a friend with a steady hand to film while moving toward you and zooming in as you move into your chosen pose. For inspiration, Walliser recommends checking out the tutorial he made with creator Haley Kalil (a.k.a. Haley Baylee). 'People do home Glambots for their proms, for their events. I get tagged in them all the time, and it's really awesome to see.'


CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Charlottetown high school's rock concert puts musical talent and Canadian pride on display
Social Sharing Students at Charlottetown Rural High School are preparing to take the stage at the P.E.I. Brewing Company on Friday for their School of Rock 2025 Showcase. This year's theme — "Elbows Up!" — will pay tribute to Canadian musicians, with students performing songs by artists like Alanis Morissette, Bryan Adams and Serena Ryder. "We're all different grades from 10 to 12. It's pretty fantastic that we can all work together," said Livia Harris, a Grade 10 student and singer. "It's really showing that Canadians — we're our own people, we're our own country…. We're not American." Rocking out The showcase is part of a special music class taught at the high school that brings together students from different grades to play and perform all styles of music, with a focus on contemporary songs. The course focuses on popular music and performance — two things that appealed to Abby Krauss, a Grade 10 student who plays the keyboard, acoustic and electric guitar, and sings. "It's my favourite thing in the whole world," Krauss said. "I get to play music every single day for like almost two hours just with my best friends and just rock out. It's awesome." Krauss said the weeks leading up to the showcase performance have been a "rush." "I've seen so many people get so much better at their instruments," she said. When it came time to decide on a theme, Krauss said she liked the idea of a Canadian-inspired showcase. "I'm very politically involved because I took a civics class and it was really, really interesting to me," she said. "Getting to explore that and then play music that relates to what I'm thinking is a big thing for me." 'Much bigger feeling' When Emmett Pollard first heard about the "Elbows Up!" theme, he knew what he wanted to play. "First thing's first, please let me play Bryan Adams, which we did get to do," said Pollard, a Grade 11 student who plays guitar and drums. Pollard said the theme is awesome given that Canada produces some of the best rock music in the world. Taking inspiration from Canadian musicians is also timely and relevant given the tense relationship between Canada and the United States in recent months, he said. "Most people think that teenagers aren't exactly concerned about politics and this sort of thing, but I mean it's our future that we're thinking about here," he said. To be playing at P.E.I. Brewing Company gives the performance a "much bigger feeling," Pollard said. "I've seen plenty of good shows there and just the fact that I'm going to be playing where they played, it's pretty cool to me," he said. "You feel like you have to perform a lot better." Seeing them in the past few weeks really dig into the songs and really take ownership of the show is just so awesome to see. — Andrew Waite, music teacher As the performance draws nearer, Pollard said the group has taken a "no-nonsense" approach to practicing. "We can't really be sitting around doing nothing. We always have to be playing, noticing little mistakes and fixing them, perfecting them and then making sure we can run through the entire song — no mistakes." P.E.I. Brewing Company is a bigger venue than the Old Triangle, where last year's performance took place. That's because the Old Triangle reached full capacity, meaning 60 people had to be turned away at the door, said musician Andrew Waite, the teacher of the music class. "I think it's important for the students to get an experience playing an actual stage, like a real stage with a proper sound check and lights and the whole bit," he said. After seeing music classes like this one offered at other high schools across the Island, Waite said he's really happy to be leading the program at Charlottetown Rural. "I just love it. There's so many different skills that students get from learning music and coming together as an ensemble — a sense of identity, a sense of confidence — that I think is so important in education," he said. "Seeing them in the past few weeks really dig into the songs and really take ownership of the show is just so awesome to see." Tickets for the showcase have been going fast, Waite said, noting that all proceeds from sales will go back into the school's music program.