Saturday night's 24th annual Gemini Awards will be broadcast live for 90 minutes from Calgary on Global and Showcase, starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Some stats on the program - hosted by comedian Ron James - to fete the best in Canadian television:
99: The number of awards that tip the hat to achievements in program, performance and craft categories, prompting gala co-host Ennis Esmer once to joke, "It's actually harder to not get nominated."
19: The number of nominations garnered by the police drama Flashpoint, the most ever racked up by a single show in the Geminis' history. Flashpoint 's Amy Jo Johnson is nominated for lead actress, and Hugh Dillon and Enrico Colantoni are both up for best actor in a drama series. The show's guest stars Nicholas Campbell, Henry Czerny, Mpho Koaho and Ron Lea will face off for best performance by an actor in a guest role. Actresses Kristin Booth, Sarah Gadon and Tatiana Maslany are also all nominated for their guest work on the series.
Rounding out the six shows with the most nominations were The Tudors with 11 nods, and four shows tied at nine nominations apiece: Being Erica , The Border , the miniseries Diamonds , and Less Than Kind .
3: The number of nights over which the Geminis are awarded (Toronto on Oct. 19 and 20, followed by the Calgary gala on Saturday.)
62,000: The number of viewers (which is considered a ratings bust) who watched last year's broadcast on the now-defunct E! network, according to BBM Canada. It's up against formidable competition from Hockey Night inCanada .
Gayle MacDonald