Drake packed the Molson Amphitheatre on Monday night for the fifth annual OVO Fest. The guest-filled celebration of Drizzy didn't quite pack the punch of the 2013 edition, which was toplined by a Kanye West appearance, but there were still surprises aplenty. Here are the Post's OVO Fest Power Rankings for 2014:1. Drake October's Very Own ceded the top of the podium last year as soon as West wandered on stage and brought the house to a vibrating, apoplectic mess. This year, Drake was the star of his own show again. Whenever a guest appeared, there was a shrill cheer from the crowd to match the arrival. But after a few minutes, that enthusiasm also seemed to wane a bit. That wasn't the case with Drake. When Drizzy was front and centre, there were no lulls in crowd energy. Plus, he hammed up the lint roller incident, used the crowd to woo Kevin Durant to sign with the Raptors, and suspended himself over the 200 section.
Tiny Flying Drizzy http://t.co/tErXJzhrSL- || ADG || (@drakesoverdxose) August 05, 2014
2. Usher No offence to Usher, who I a) never thought I'd see in concert and b) whose performance I actually liked quite a bit, but it was a bit nuts for Drake to announce him as maybe the biggest OVO moment a year after the Kanye thing. Don't get me wrong: a surprise appearance from Usher *did* feel like kind of a big deal. Thing is, people this year were still talking about Kanye. It was the peak that OVO will likely never top.
3. (tie) J Cole/Trey Songz Two of the first guests of the night (we'll get to the surprise opening set in a minute) also put together two of the most professional performances of the event. Cole and Songz felt bigger than your average early OVO guest, and their respective performances gave weight to that notion.
4. 50 Cent and G Unit Let's get this out of the way: bottled water magnate 50 Cent can't really rap live now, if he ever could. G Unit did most of the heavy lifting while Fiddy yelled into the mic at top volume and smiled a lot. Having said that, the opening bars of In Da Club can burn any house to the ground, and Sunday night was no different. If you're the last guest at OVO and you're artistically nowhere near Drake or Usher, it helps to have one of the singles of a generation in your back pocket.
5. PartyNextDoor Drake gave Mississauga-born OVO Sound artist Jahron Brathwaite an extended run on stage in the middle of the show, and Brathwaite didn't whiff on the opportunity. If PartyNextDoor seemed a bit nervous to take centre stage, that was quickly forgotten during his confident, excellent showcase.
6. Drake's mom Sandi came out in a wheelchair to start the show, which was pretty cool for Drake, I'm sure. A bit of miscommunication between the two of them was among the night's more genuinely hilarious moments.
7. Lauryn Hill The Fugees legend was a surprise opener to the night. The third-biggest name on the bill, Hill is still a borderline mess as a performer. She's uncomfortably frantic and plays her songs about 1.5 faster than they should be played. I'll give Drake this much: at least he fixed the sound issues that plagued her 2011 appearance at the Amphiteatre. Still, hope that she'll reclaim the R&B throne is, at this point, non-existent.
8. Majid Jordan The part where Jordan's mic was working during Just Hold On We're Going Home: very good. The bit at the end where Drake let Jordan freestyle the chorus for a while: not very good.
9. DJ Khaled I love rappers who did album covers like this. I always wonder, did this take more than 15 minutes? Did you Photoshop it yourself? Anyway, people were pretty into Khaled. Moving along...
10. (tie) YG, Tinashe/OB One song apiece leaves you at the bottom of the Power Rankings.
Post By http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/08/05/the-fifth-annual-ovo-fest-power-rankings/
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