Things can get heated when panellists vote each other’s books off the list, as they did in March 2016.

Things can get heated when panellists vote each other’s books off the list, as they did in March 2016.
Photo Credit: CBC

Canada gears up for game show featuring books

The public broadcaster, CBC has announced the host for its annual game show called Canada Reads 2017. Actor and stand-up comedian, Ali Hassan will host what he calls a reality game show that is a battle of the books.

A long list of 15 books in the running has already been announced. In January, five panelists will be named and each will choose one book to defend. In the past, participants have included luminaries like Justin Trudeau before he was elected prime minister of Canada, Stephen Lewis, Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations and dedicated campaigner on HIV/AIDS, Olympic gold medallist Clara Hughes and actor Jay Baruchel.

As host, Ali Hassan says it will be fun to encourage people to ‘squirm’ as panellists vote against each other.
As host, Ali Hassan says it will be fun to encourage people to ‘squirm’ as panellists vote against each other. © CBC

Voting against each other ‘gets heated’

In the last week of March 2017, the panelists will defend their own book choices live on television, radio and the internet. At the end of each broadcast, the five panellists vote one book off the list, until only one book is left.

“It gets heated. That’s part of the fun thing for me. I get to facilitate and help people squirm a little bit, whether they want to or not,” says Hassan. “It’s a very un-Canadian thing, that squirming. But I’m going to encourage it as they have to vote off their fellow panellists.”

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Special anniversary theme in 2017

Next year is the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada. The theme for Canada Reads in 2017 is “What is the one book Canadians need now?” It is purposefully vague to give the panellists the widest latitude, which Hassan says, will make for good debate.

‘A big, big deal for authors’

Canada Reads is “a big, big deal for authors,” he says, noting that the books that make the long list usually see an increase in sales. Those that make the short list often become best sellers, win awards and some have even been made into television mini-series.

Having this kind of an event is a good fit for the public broadcaster, says Hassan.

CBC showcases ‘the best books in the country’

“It’s in the interest of the public to read, CBC would like to believe, and who better than CBC Books to narrow down some of the best books in the country.”

Canada Reads  will be streaming on cbcbooks.ca

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