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International lineup of musicians to play Games

Feist, Usher, The Roots among artists to grace the stage at Whistler Victory Ceremonies
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Things at Whistler Medals Plaza are starting to take shape, literally and figuratively. The area has been paved, the sensory wall is being built, the ticket centre is up and running. On Tuesday Olympic organizers finally released the names of 15 headlining acts that will take the stage during the Games, performing as part of the nightly Whistler Victory Ceremonies.

The lineup features a diverse range of artistic styles and genres from across the globe, including Canada's own Feist, Our Lady Peace and Stars. American talents include The Fray, The Roots and Usher, and international acts are Estelle and Jet.

Tickets to all of the performances will be free. They will be distributed through a contest that will be launched in January.

"Celebrations in Whistler will be rockin' for 15 incredible nights during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games with this impressive lineup of top solo artists and bands - all playing outdoors under the stars in honour of the world's best athletes and their triumphs," Christy Nicolay, VANOC's vice president of sport production and victory ceremonies, said in a press release.

The lineup was released to the public during a sold-out Whistler Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday, where VANOC CEO John Furlong was keynote speaker. Furlong commented that, "just out of loyalty" he would like to see Feist perform, as she made her Olympic debut back in 1988 as one of 1,000 volunteer dancers at the Calgary Olympic Games, an experience that inspired her hit song, 1,2,3,4.

"I'm absolutely positive that every seat in Vancouver will go and I'm pretty sure that every single seat here will be more than taken," Furlong said.

But organizers still have one "big name" act left to confirm for Monday, Dec. 22.

Here's a breakdown of the line-up as it stands now:

Saturday, Feb. 13 - All American Rejects: This four-piece alt-rock, power pop band from Stillwater, Oklahoma is well known for their hits Swing, Swing, It Ends Tonight, Dirty Little Secret and Move Along, but more recently, their single, Gives You Hell has been on high-rotation.

Sunday, Feb. 14 - Estelle: She's a Grammy Award-winning British R&B singer-songwriter and producer responsible for American Boy, which was Number 7 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.

Monday, Feb. 15 - Pierre Lapointe: With a classical European sound, this French Canadian singer-songwriter's second album, La forêt des mal-aimés (Forest of the Rejected), debuted at the top of Canadian album charts in 2006, beating out new releases from Prince and Ben Harper.

Tuesday, Feb. 16 - Feist: Canada's pop darling, Leslie Feist, is also a member of the indie rock group Broken Social Scene. You may recognize her song 1,2,3,4, which was featured on an iPod commercial. She was the top winner at the 2008 Juno Awards in Calgary, where she won five awards.

Wednesday, Feb. 17 - Our Lady Peace: This legendary Canadian alt-rock band formed in Toronto in the early '90s, producing hits like Starseed and selling over five million albums worldwide.

Thursday, Feb 18 - Deadmau5: A one-man dance music sensation from Toronto, Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman) takes the traditional DJ set to a new level with what he describes as a "technological orgy" of playing his own material, assembling tracks on the fly and using cutting edge technology.

Friday, Feb. 19 - Hedley: This pop rock band from our own backyard (B.C.) has toured with Simple Plan, Faber Drive, MxPx, and Bon Jovi. They were nominated for the 2008 Juno Award for Group of the Year, but lost out to Blue Rodeo.

Saturday, Feb. 20 - Stars: Their music features a seamless fusion of elements of electro pop and rock instrumentation. They're all also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene, and in October 2008, opened for the British superstars Coldplay in Ottawa as part of the Viva la Vida Tour.

Sunday, Feb. 21 - OneRepublic: An American pop rock band from Colorado, this group drew serious mainstream attention with the single Apologize, which was remixed and featured on Timbaland's Shock Value.

Monday, Feb. 22 - To be confirmed.

Tuesday, Feb. 23 - The Fray: This Grammy Award-nominated four-piece piano rock band released their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005, and the title track charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was also a top five single in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Sweden and the UK.

Wednesday, Feb. 24 - Jet: Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, this garage, alt-rock band has sold 4 million records worldwide. You may recognize their hits Cold Hard Bitch and Are You Going To Be My Girl?

Thursday, Feb. 25 - The Roots: No stranger to Whistler (they played a summer festival here in 2008), this Grammy Award-winning, American hip hop band takes a jazzy, eclectic approach to the genre, featuring live instrumentals in their performances.

Friday, Feb. 26 - K'Naan: Somali-born rapper, K'Naan, has graced the stage here in Whistler many times, but this time, he steps into the Olympic spotlight with his socially-conscious lyrics for what's sure to be an inspired, emotional show.

Saturday, Feb. 27 - Usher: This North American R&B sensation is renowned for slow jam classic tracks Nice & Slow and You Make Me Wanna, and newer club bangers like Yeah! In the span of his career, he has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and won five Grammy Awards.

The gates at the Medals Plaza will open at 4:30 p.m. daily, with a DJ entertaining the crowd until the medals ceremonies start at 7 p.m. A half-hour later, the headlining act of the night will take the stage to give a performance that will wrap up at 8:30 p.m.

Though the victory ceremonies are free, they will be ticketed events, as the Medals Plaza has a capacity of 5,000 people. The remainder of the tickets will be made available to the public through a contest operated by VANOC and Tourism Whistler through www.whistler.com . The contest starts on Jan. 4 and is open only to residents from Squamish to Mount Currie, who can make one entry per e-mail address. The contest closes on Jan. 14 and winners will be notified by e-mail by Jan. 22.

The Whistler Live! team has already announced 15 acts for other areas in the village, including the Barenaked Ladies, Bedouin Soundclash, Blue Rodeo, Jully Black and Sam Roberts Band. They will perform in free, un-ticketed concerts at the Village Square stage during the Olympics.

Organizers expect to make an additional announcement in coming weeks.