Montrealers
Best Montrealer
1. Father Emmett "Pops" Johns
2. Sam Roberts
3. Bob Gainey
4. Pierre Elliot Trudeau
5. Saku Koivu
6. William Shatner
7. Leonard Cohen
8. Jaggi Singh
9. Jose Theodore
10. Plastik Patrik
Honourable mentions: Mordecai Richler • Mado • DJ Fat Sak
Notwithstanding Le Bon Dieu dans la rue's Father Emmett "Pops" Johns' lock on first place for as long as anyone can remember, there are several new names on the list this year. Cancon darling Sam Roberts is riding high after collecting an armload of awards, while Habs GM Gainey proves what building a winning team can earn you.
Worst Montrealer
1. Gérald Tremblay
2. Celine Dion
3. Pierre Bourque
4. Paul Martin
5. Jean Charest
6. Malik Shaheed
7. Ben Mulroney
8. Bernard Landry
9. Brian Mulroney
10. William Shatner
Honourable mentions: Jacques Parizeau • Lucien Bouchard • Jack Todd
The current mayor overtakes the former mayor (who falls to #3) for the first time this year, while Celine moves up one slot. The big news, though, is that for the first time ever a father and son (Brian and progeny Ben Mulroney) tandem appear. MusiquePlus VJ/promoter Shaheed, meanwhile, comes out of nowhere to take the sixth spot.
Most Desirable Man
1. Sam Roberts
2. Rufus Wainwright
3. Jose Theodore
4. DJ Frigid
5. William Shatner
6. Plastik Patrik
7. Todd van der Heyden
8. Leonard Cohen
9. Ben Mulroney
10. Justin Trudeau
Honourable mentions: Jean Leloup • Roy Dupuis • Youppi
Pointe Claire's scruffy rock star Roberts shoots from #7 to the top of the heap, Rufus stays in second, while Theo drops - due to either legal difficulties or playoff record - to #3. CFCF investigative cutie van der Heyden reappears after a year's absence, but how on Earth or anywhere else can big Bill Shatner be fifth?!•
Most Desirable Woman
1. Mitsou
2. Jessica Paré
3. Izabelle Desjardins
4. Mutsumi Takahashi
5. Melissa Auf der Maur
6. Elisha Cuthbert
7. Virginie Coussa
8. Celine Dion
9. Dee from Atach Tatuq
10. Catherine Kidd
Honourable mentions: Annie DeMelt • Anne-Marie Withenshaw • Catherine Kidd
Mitsou and Paré maintain holding patterns on the top two spots, but last year BOM Honourable Mentions Desjardins and Cuthbert make big leaps. The ever-elegant and handsome Mitts is still a city-wide fave, as are Auf der Maur, Coussa and, strangely, Celine. Franco hip hopper Dee and spoken wordsmith Kidd appear for the first time; pulling up the rear are CFCF's DeMelt and TQS's Withenshaw.
Best-Dressed Montrealer
1. Ricky J
2. Sam Roberts
3. Dubuc
4. Rufus Wainwright
5. Jose Theodore
6. Maysr
7. Leonard Cohen
8. Mado
9. JF Robitaille of Social Register
10. Mitsou
Honourable mentions: Plastik Patrik • Karen Simpson • Lederhosen Lucil
Besides DJ Ricky J, Roberts, Wainwright and Theodore, everyone on the list is new. All told, music types make a strong showing, although fashion designers Dubuc and Simpson also have good taste - which is perhaps to be expected. Theodore's $5.5-million can buy him a nice suit, but one wonders how much of a statement Cohen is making in his Buddhist garbs out in Los Angeles.
The science of style
 Ricky J's guide to looking good
by RAF KATIGBAK
Whether he's hosting a swank New Year's Eve party in a custom-tailored Versace suit or rocking Red Lite, Extreme or Jet Club in a baggy, matching, two-piece, baby blue Roca Wear ensemble, Montreal MC Ricky J is always on point. Here, the self-professed clotheshorse (and Best Dressed Montrealer) shares his tips and tricks to getting out of the gate and finishing in style.
Keep it clean: "Sometimes you don't have to spend the big bucks, it's just how you wear it. A lot of these club owners get mad 'cause I walk in with a hat, but it's not like a bummy hat. It's fresh, it's new. As long as it's sparkling and dazzling, hey, you're good to go! Just make sure it's not faded. Even though I have a lot of shoes, before I go out I clean them and make sure they look new."
Be prepared: "The worst is when you see guys at the club walking around and they're full of sweat. It's like, you gotta do something about that. Take a drink and cool off or something! I always try and have at least a backup T-shirt in the trunk of my car, just in case."
Match it up: "Everything's gotta match. Like, I'll be rocking a blue and orange Knicks top with a matching hat and a white T-shirt and jeans, but then the sneakers will be white but with a blue sole, so then you get a little bit of matching all over. Yeah, I have my days when I go to the gym, and no one really sees me at the gym. But then again, I might still match at the gym, so that doesn't really count."
Catch Ricky J in all his matching glory on Thursdays at Extreme, Saturdays at Red Lite, Fridays and Saturdays at Jet Club and at the upcoming Notorious Sundays (location TBA)
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Tackiest Personality
1. Mosé Persico
2. Mado Lamotte
3. Ben Mulroney
4. Celine Dion
5. Aaron and/or Tasso
6. Mitsou
7. Dom Castelli
8. Tommy Schnurmacher
9. Nabi from MusiquePlus
10. Plastik Patrik
Honourable mentions: Jojo Savard • MC Mario • Rufus Wainwright
CFCF's celluloid-shiller Mosé Persico rockets up from #10 last year to replace perennial tacky queen Celine in the coveted top spot. Repeating at #2 is drag queen extraordinaire and Ici columnist Mado Lamotte, while Ben Mulroney, new to the list but surely not appearing for the last time, has a solid grasp on #3. Best of Montreal chronic candidate Rufus Wainwright also makes a first-ever appearance in this category - must be all that drugging-and-telling he's been doing in the media lately.
Best Montreal Weirdo
1. Black Bum With Banana Gun Around
Concordia (Named Hollywood)
2. Maysr
3. Spoon Man
4. Great Antonio (RIP)
5. The Guy Who Screams at People Outside College LaSalle
6. Mado Lamotte
7. Biker on the Tricycle
8. The Guy on Parc With Cats and Dogs
9. Madness
10. Plastik Patrik
Honourable mentions: Dancing Batman • One-Armed Man (Stumpy) • Bloodshot Bill
Now that the Great Antonio has gone to the big bus-pull in the sky (although still reappearing on the list), Hollywood, the odd and occasionally hostile banana-stick-'em-up guy around Guy-Concordia is filling in his big shoes. Spoon Man appears here as reliably as he does in front of Ogilvy's, as does Mile-End's dog 'n' cats cyclist guy. Sports Rage caller Madness lives up to his name, the trike biker shows up for the first time in a while and sludgeabilly rocker Bloodshot Bill stomps onto this very spirited and lively scene.
Best Politician
1. No such thing!
2. Jean Charest
3. Paul Martin
4. Gérald Tremblay
5. Jean Chrétien
6. Boris St-Maurice
7. Pierre E. Trudeau
8. Mario Dumont
9. Jack Layton
10. Alfonso Gagliano
"No such thing!" or variations thereof won by a landslide, proving once again that Montrealers are inherently distrustful of politicians of all stripes, even if they're dead - either literally (Trudeau) or professionally (Gagliano, Chrétien, Dumont).
Best Political/Social Cause
1. Anti-Poverty
2. Anti-War/Peace
3. Homelessness/Housing Crisis
4. Environment
5. International Human Rights
6. Bloc Pot/Legalize Marijuana
7. Anti-Globalization
8. Animal Rights
9. Demerger
10. Education
Honourable mentions: Health Care • AIDS • Cancer Awareness
This year Montrealers were particularly interested in how broke they are, and while peace is still popular, protecting the environment and defending human rights are shooting upwards - they didn't even appear last year. A notable absence is the Save the Expos campaign.
Loudest Activist
1. Jaggi Singh
2. Concordia students
3. Samer Elatrash
4. Paul Cargnello
5. Boris St-Maurice
6. Linda Sullivan
7. Tommy Schnurmacher
8. Darryl Gray
9. Laith Marouf
10. Stefan Christoff
Honourable mention: Ken Frankel
Jaggi Singh, almost at the end of his legal problems, is tops again. Having been acquitted in four of his six trials, Singh is appealing one regarding 2000's G20 protest and is going back to court in October to face charges of assault and illegal assembly in the Sept. 9, 2002 fracas at Concordia. Nursing activist Linda Sullivan drops to #6 from #2, while just about everyone affiliated at one time or another with Concordia is considered loud.
Holy Mosé!
 Montreal's premier anglo junketeer wins for Tackiest Personality
by MATTHEW HAYS
"It doesn't have anything to do with the shirts, does it?" Mosé Persico asks, a bit dumbfounded at being told in which category he's taken the gold in the Mirror's Best of Montreal survey. "These shirts are Italian and cotton!"
For whatever reason, Mirror readers seemed to find something kitschy about Persico, long-time interviewer of Hollywood celebs for CFCF-12. Last year he was in the #10 spot in this category, though he's now shot up through the ranks - past Celine Dion and Ben Mulroney even - to #1. "It's been a great year," he enthuses, presumably not about the BOM results. "We're the only English-language entertainment magazine show in Montreal, which is kinda nice. It's been amazing. Believe it or not, people have found our show - our numbers were really good this past year."
Now 42, Persico began in the mail room of CFCF after finishing a BA in communication studies (with a minor in journalism) at Concordia. He began doing his own shows on community cable, learning the ropes while incorporating his own love of cooking for programs like Mosé's Barbecue and Mosé's Kitchen. Then came the big break, when CFCF gave him a three-minute weekly segment, slotted in the coveted spot just before The X-Files every Friday night.
Then came Persico's next break: MGM invited him to London for a junket for The World Is Not Enough, the '99 Brosnan Bond entry. Persico envisioned an entire half-hour special on the movie, and CFCF bit. "The CRTC has some regional programming commitments," says Persico, and his show enabled CFCF to fulfill them.
Which prompts certain questions about Persico's gig. Can a show featuring fawning interviews with Hollywood celebs really count as a local show? Haven't junkets - where studios pay for airfare and hotel perks to cram as many journos through an assembly-line interview process - cheapened cultural reporting generally? "I don't give a quote to a film I don't like," Persico insists. "Our show is designed so that if there's ever a Montreal angle on a story, we get it. If I interview De Niro about The Score, we talk to him about Montreal. You know it and I know it, when we go to New York or L.A. and speak to these A-list actors, they always have something nice to say about Montreal!"
As for the assembly-line charge, Persico is unapologetic. "Yeah, it's like making sausages. I'll admit that. I don't take myself too seriously. It's a factory. Is it real journalism? No, it's infotainment."
Entertainment Spotlight airs Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on CFCF-12
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Political Gaffe of the Year
1. Sponsorship Scandal
2. Jean Charest being elected
3. GW Bush's "war"
4. Merger/Demerger
5. Paul Martin's coronation
6. Potholes
7. Gérald Tremblay
8. Construction Site Bomb Scare
9. Burning of United Talmud Torah Library
10. Harper as PC leader
You simply cannot top the revelation of massive pork-barrelling, political patronage and gross incompetence that the sponsorship scandal unleashed - with Montreal at the centre of the shit storm!
Best Local Radio Show
1. Off the Hook, CKUT
2. Terry, Ted and Thumbs in the Morning, CHOM
3. Ken & Cat in the Morning, MIX 96
4. Aaron & Tasso, Q92
5. Masters at Work, CKUT
6. WeFunk, CKUT
7. Sports Rage, Team 990
8. Daybreak, CBC Radio One
9. Melnick in the Afternoon, Team 990
10. Tommy Schnurmacher, CJAD
Honourable mentions: Brave New Waves, CBC Radio Two • Street Sounds, K103.7 • Venus, CKUT
CKUT's Off the Hook, hosted by Orion and Revolution, climbs back to #1, while last year's upstart winner, Team 990's Sports Rage, drops to seventh. Two other CKUT shows finish in the top 10: hip hop staple Masters at Work, hosted by Mike Mission and Ken Dawg, Saturday 7–9 p.m.; and the deep funk/rare groove party show WeFunk, with Professor Groove and DJ Static, Friday midnight–2 a.m.
Best Local Radio Host
1. Aaron and Tasso, Q92
2. Terry Dimonte, CHOM
3. Ken and Cat, Mix 96
4. Dave Bronstetter, CBC Radio One
5. Mitch Melnick, Team 990
6. Orion/Revolution, CKUT
7. Gabriel Morency, Team 990
8. Too Tall, CHOM
9. Peter Anthony Holder, CJAD
10. Tommy Schnurmacher, CJAD
Honourable mentions: Nat Lauzon, Mix 96 • Patti Schmidt, CBC • Ken Dawg, CKUT
This year, Aaron & Tasso chortle to the top of the host heap, even though their show finished fourth in the previous category. This would seem to indicate that they are better than their own show, or the rest of their team is weak, or the Lite Rock format sucks, or something.
Best Local Newscaster
1. Mutsumi Takahashi, CFCF
2. Bill Haugland, CFCF
3. Dennis Trudeau, CBC
4. Bernard Derome, Radio-Canada
5. Jamie Orchard, Global
6. Brian Britt, CFCF
7. Tarah Schwartz, CFCF
8. Todd van der Heyden, CFCF
9. Natasha Gargiulo, Ciao Montreal!
10. Andrew Peplowski, Global
Honourable mentions: Brian Wilde, CFCF• Hudson Foga, 940News
Takahashi edges out Haugland in a close race that was right down to the wire. Once again the CFCF mafia dominate the English TV world, though Dennis Trudeau and Jamie Orchard make their usual strong showings. Meanwhile, Bernard Derome, new to the list, crosses the language divide and nearly cracks the top three.
Best Local TV Personality
1. Frank Cavallaro, CFCF
2. Ben Mulroney, at large
3. Mutsumi Takahashi, CFCF
4. Dennis Trudeau, CBC
5. Izabelle Desjardins, MusiquePlus
6. Jamie Orchard, Global
7. Bill Haugland, CFCF
8. Jean-René Dufort, Radio-Canada
9. Ron Reusch, CFCF
10. Don McGowan
Honourable mentions: Véronique Cloutier, Radio-Canada • Andrew Peplowski, Global • Natasha Gargiulo, Ciao Montreal!
Jolly bon-vivant Cavallaro, the CFCF 12 weatherman, insinuates his way into readers' good books with his suburban charm and fascination with Christmas lights and garden vegetables. Another, more disturbing, result is Ben Mulroney's second-place ranking. And then there's Don McGowan, still legendary after all these years.
Best Sports Personality
1. Saku Koivu
2. Jose Theodore
3. Ron Reusch
4. Mike Ribeiro
5. Randy Tieman
6. Brian Wilde
7. Anthony Calvillo
8. Sheldon Souray
9. Alexei Kovalev
10. Michael Ryder
Honourable mentions: Gabriel Morency • Mitch Melnick • Red Fisher
Habs captain Koivu remains the city's darling, while Theodore takes advantage of Vladimir Guerrero's departure to backstop his way into second place. Six Habs make the list this year, as opposed to three in 2003. Throw in one Alouette, no Expos and a bunch of media guys and you have a pretty accurate reflection of the city's sports scene.
Queen of local TV news
 CFCF's Mutsumi Takahashi on ratings, race and staying real
by MATTHEW HAYS
Mutsumi Takahashi seems genuinely flattered upon hearing of her placement in the Mirror's Best of Montreal '04 survey. And well she might: the long-time anchor for CFCF's local nightly news broadcast has scored highly for years, this time ranking in three different categories.
Takahashi scores first place in the Best Local Newscaster category, third in Best Local TV Personality and fourth in Most Desirable Woman.
Does the soft-spoken, delicate featured Takahashi take a philosophical approach to her work? "You take the job seriously, but try not to take yourself too seriously," she responds.
The only child of mathematician academics, Takahashi came to Montreal as a wee child and grew up in Côte-des-Neiges. She completed a BA in psychology at Concordia, but found herself drawn to broadcasting, beginning as a cub reporter on local radio and then jumping to CFCF 20 years ago. (She returned to Concordia part time to get an MBA while maintaining her day job.)
Takahashi is well aware there is talk of replacing Lloyd Robertson in the near future, but, while she did anchor the CTV national news one night, has no desire to leave Montreal. "I guess some people would say, ‘Wow, an additional 500,000 people saw me last night!' I'd rather be able to say I went for dinner with six of my closest friends last night in Old Montreal and had a fabulous time. I think that makes for a better journalist too. The more well-rounded your life is, the more real you are and the better journalist you are."
And finally, it must be asked: has Takahashi ever felt the sting of racism in her position as a high-profile visible minority media figure? "I think the fact that I'm doing the show is proof positive that Montreal is not a racist place. Every year we go back to Japan to visit my parents. And you look at the anchors there and you'd never see a Caucasian anchor doing the 6 o'clock news. You see me here, as well as black people, doing it. I think sometimes we should take a moment to step back and pat ourselves on the back. I think we're a lot more open to visible minorities than they are in a lot of places."
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