Watch the Polaris Music Prize gala here

Tonight, Monday, Sept. 21, at the Carlu Theatre in Toronto, Polaris Music Prize will be awarded to the band or artist who released the best album in the last half of 2014 and first half of 2015.

The winner will be determined by a jury of 12 critics selected from the larger pool of Polaris jurors from across the country, and the prize — apart from the glory, of course — is a $50,000 cheque, a pretty sweet reward that would be deeply, deeply appreciated by any of these 10 nominees (except maybe Drake).

The host of the 10th annual Polaris gala is ’80s/’90s Canadian kids’ TV star Fred Penner, and six of the nominees will perform live, namely Toronto pop band Alvvays, Montreal art-pop band Braids, Calgary post-punks Viet Cong (the band recently embroiled in controversy over their name — this weekend they announced they would change it), Canadian folk legend Buffy Sainte-Marie, Toronto singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle and Vancouver singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr.

Watch the gala and its pre-show coverage below, beginning tonight at 7:50 p.m. ET.