I hear Justin Bieber is pretty big deal with the younger set and he was the half time show at a Toronto Grey Cup.

Yeah, him too.

I avoid country music like the plague (although I do like a few old school country songs, and I absolutely love Willie Nelson's 70's album of cover songs - "Stardust"), but it's hard not to have even heard of Urban.

Definitely one of the bigger country stars out there and he's even got non-country music fans onboard. I find his music bland and uninspired, but he's a good haul for a half-time show... even more so that it's in Calgary.

I'm more excited about The Beaches doing the pregame show than I am for Keith Urban at halftime. That's no knock on Keith Urban, he just isn't my cup of tea. But he is undeniably a big star with marquee appeal. Seems like a good guy too, a good Queensland boy.

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I'm a little troll short and stout, here is my handle, here is my spout :)

I enjoy listening to these guys and gal. Saskatchewan Blue Grass I'd call it.
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Amen, my sentiments exactly! I must say though, that Ken Burns' Country Music is a good watch although the Carter family/Johnny Cash arc was a bit much and left out a lotta people who deserved a mention.

I think TorontoDrew must have been starved of attention as a child

Maybe he's still recovering from the Panda game.. :D

I was there. There were still people pouring into the gates at half time, most of them were half in the bag already.

I'm a fan of bluegrass but it's the kind of music that when it's done well there's nothing better but when it's not there's nothing worse.

That Ken Burns' series I mentioned explains where the name bluegrass music comes from, I found that interesting. Also interesting were the amount of styles of music that come under the country umbrella, very wide spectrum. I was a fan of the Nashville Sound: Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline but I can't stand much of the the stuff that's played today.

I'm that case I'll just come back this time next year and requote my post word for word.

Probably not in Quebec, but in Ontario and out West country music (well more specifically today's stadium pop country) is extremely popular among young people. Seriously, in University you'd go to a party and there'd be Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rett, etc. blasting and everyone at the party grew up in the city and never spent a day "driving a jacked-up truck down a dirt road" in their life.

I feel like it's not as big for younger kids though. Like I never really heard country that much until the end of high school, then went to University in 2012 and it was like it came out of nowhere and everyone was going to Boots and Hearts that summer.

Yeah country music is pretty discreet here across all age groups except for small fringes here and there.

I only have two Québécois friends whom I would call country music fans and one of them spent some years in Ontario going to school (and I believe actually worked as a bouncer in a country bar on the side) and the other lived in Ontario for a while working in construction.

LOL your grasping at straws is impressive.

"Yes the stands were packed but they aren't really fans!"

The only country-ish songs that my kids and their friends seem to know is stuff like Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, or Old Town Road by Billy Ray Cyrus and some rapper.

I can't wait to hear the rebuttal :)

Keith meeting Nicole was as a result of his music career success, his success didn't come from being her husband.

This is true of nearly every sporting event I can think of, whether it be the Leafs, TFC, Canadiens, Jays, Riders, Rouge-et-Or, Raptors, Wanderers, or Rush.

Every year we have a post pointing out how packed Lansdowne is for Panda Game and it devolves into some conversation about how popular/unpopular USports is. The Panda Game attendance has less to do with USports and more to do with uOttawa/Carleton having a friendly rivalry in all things sports or not. That's all. Nobody's really watching uSports regardless of what the official crowd at the Panda Game is, and despite how many times it's brought up in this thread.

It's a nice stat but is not indicative of uSports' popularity on the whole. Seriously, we have two of the nation's best basketball programs in Ottawa and nobody really cares outside of those programs.

Very true