Canadian-born international superstar Pamela Anderson will be coming home to host the 2006 Juno Awards on April 2, an addition that is turning up the heat on an already-sizzling lineup.

"Canadian music rocks," Anderson, one of Canada's most sought-after exports, said of her hosting gig for the nation's premier music awards show.

"No matter where I am in the world I can listen to Canadian music and feel like I'm at home. This is going to be one kick-ass awards show."

Anderson joins an esteemed list of homegrown, international stars who have hosted the Junos since CTV began airing the awards telecast in 2002, including Barenaked Ladies, Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette.

Anderson will host a two-hour broadcast that will feature performances by Canadian indie sensations Bedouin Soundclash and Broken Social Scene; 2006 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Adams, British rock band Coldplay, crooner Michael Bublé and Alberta rockers Nickelback.

"She's famous around the world, but Pamela will feel right at home in Halifax," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's president of programming and chair of the CTV Media Group.

"She can expect a hearty east coast welcome for what promises to be a spectacular awards broadcast."

Anderson, who was born on Canada's centennial birthday on July 1, 1967, was raised in Ladysmith, B.C.

Her road to stardom began when she was spotted at a B.C. Lions football game, which led to a contract with Labatt Breweries and several other commercial deals.

The famously buxom beauty has appeared in Playboy magazine more times than any woman in the publication's history.

Anderson's first TV role was playing Lisa, the Tool Time Girl on the television series Home Improvement.

But Anderson soon gained worldwide notoriety for her role as one of a team of eye-catching lifeguards who patrol a crowded beach on Baywatch.

Since then, Anderson has also starred as a private investigator in the series V.I.P. and lent her voice to the mature-audience animated series Stripperella.

Most recently, she has made headlines as an activist for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), most notably for her work in a campaign to raise awareness of conditions in processing plants that supply poultry to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Next, Anderson also hopes to launch a cruelty-free line of clothing, beauty and pet care products as well as a vegetarian line of frozen food for kids.

Anderson moved to California in 1989 and was sworn in as an American citizen in 2004. But she has kept her Canadian citizenship.

"I have no intention of giving up my citizenship in Canada and am very proud to be a Canadian," she said at the time.

Culminating in a two-hour telecast on CTV on Sunday, April 2, The 2006 Juno Awards will be celebrated over three days in Halifax beginning March 31.

The event will be held April 2 at the Metro Centre, a smaller venue than recent Juno locales, which promises to provide an intimate setting.