{"id":566866,"date":"2026-03-28T16:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T16:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/566866\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T16:03:09","slug":"why-am-i-hogging-it-director-bows-out-of-2026-b-c-country-music-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/566866\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Why am I hogging it?\u2019: Director bows out of 2026 B.C. Country Music Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Surrey, B.C., musician and director Stephano Barberis has decided to withdraw his name for consideration from the B.C. Country Music Awards video director of the year category.<\/p>\n

After winning for 23 consecutive years, he said he\u2019d like to give other artists an opportunity to take home the award.<\/p>\n

Barberis said it struck him when he was making a promotional graphic for the awards: \u201cI thought, \u2018Why am I hogging it?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s kind of like a stepping stone to the national ones. And it helped me get to MuchMusic and to CCMAs and to so many other awards that I didn’t think I should do it anymore,\u201d Barberis told CBC’s On The Coast.<\/p>\n

The answer to his success? Barberis said he himself doesn\u2019t know because country music wasn\u2019t in his wheelhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess my eye was more of a European kind of eye, slick American looking production, cinematic vibe. And I think people just got drawn to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it just turned into a snowball that kept getting bigger and bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Barberis shares why he decided to withdraw his name from the awards:\"\"<\/p>\n

Musician has won at the B.C. Country Music Awards for 23 straight years, but 2026 is different<\/p>\n

Stephano Barberis has won the Video Director of the Year award at the B.C. Country Music Awards every year for 23 years. But this year, he withdrew himself from consideration, and he tells the CBC’s Gloria Macarenko why.<\/p>\n

Barberis said his parents are Greek immigrants and he was raised on Greek, disco, rock and pop music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t care what genre it is, as long as [the] melody gives me goosebumps and watery eyes. I kind of try to bring that to the visuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘We really appreciate his thoughtfulness’ <\/p>\n

B.C. Country Music Association president Cassandra Smith said she spoke with Barberis about his decision and she understands his reasoning. <\/p>\n

\u201cI jokingly said, \u2018You know, we should name the category after you,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s been honoured so much in our organization that, you know, we really appreciate his thoughtfulness,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe’s super professional. The work he does is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Kelowna hosts the Canadian Country Music Awards:\"\"<\/p>\n

Canadian Country Music Awards take over Kelowna, B.C.<\/p>\n

The top names in Canadian country music are in Kelowna, B.C., this weekend for the Canadian Country Music Awards. With multiple events over several days, country music fans are taking in performances from emerging artists and established stars. The CBC\u2019s Brady Strachan reports.<\/p>\n

Smith said she hasn\u2019t spoken with the other nominees in the category about it, but believes they will have respect for him.<\/p>\n

For artists wanting to break into the country music industry, Smith’s advice is \u201cto just go for it and get in with like-minded people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 48th annual B.C. Country Music Awards is being held on April 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-566866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}