TORONTO -- It's official. Shania Twain is not a flash-in-the-pan.
The multi-platinum country singer has long been the number one nominee on ballots for Canada's Walk Of Fame -- as much as 90% some years. But Walk Of Fame rules insist on a "10 year body of work," before a nominee is eligible.
Yesterday, Walk Of Fame organizers announced her name on a list of 11 prominent Canadians who'll be honoured with sidewalk stars outside Roy Thomson Hall June 25.
Walk Of Fame chair Peter Soumalias said that after much deliberation, the committee decided to mark her career from her first unsuccessful Nashville recordings. That was shortly after she'd changed her name to Shania from Eileen Edwards and a full two years before she broke with the hit Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under (under the tutelage of her husband, producer Mutt Lange).
"If you want to see real excitement, come to one of our board meetings and listen to us argue," said Soumalias.
The Walk itself doesn't have a 10-year body of work. But it has come a long way in five years of honouring Canadians. This year, a concerted cross-country nominations promotion pulled in about 250,000 ballots. And for the first time, Soumalias said, all the honourees have indicated that they'll be able to attend the induction ceremony.
The others named to the Walk Of Fame include (listed top and bottom of page):
MIKE MYERS: Austin Powers' alter ego , who was the voice of Shrek, and is about to reprise that voice for Shrek 2.
ROBBIE ROBERTSON: Founding member of The Band and now an executive at DreamWorks Records who develops new talent for the label.
LINDA EVANGELISTA: Supermodel who strutted on the runway this Sunday at the Dolce & Gabbana Milan show.
LORNE MICHAELS: Saturday Night Live creator, who has earned 11 Emmy awards, mostly for SNL.
DAVID STEINBERG: Comedian/ actor/director, a prolific and creative TV director, as well as feature film director.
SCOTTY BOWMAN: The nine-time Stanley Cup winning coach dubbed the greatest coach in professional sport by Sports Illustrated.
TOLLER CRANSTON: Figure-skating artistic innovator, who is also a painter and illustrator of note.
LUC PLAMONDON: Theatrically-minded Quebecois musician/songwriter, whose rock operas include Starmania, La legende de Jimmy, and Notre Dame de Paris.
JIM ELDER: The iron man of Canada's Olympic equestrians, from the '50s to the '80s, who owns two Olympic gold medals.
LYNN JOHNSTON: Creator of the hugely popular For Better Or For Worse syndicated comic strip.
