Malta - The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC), the youth version of the international televised music competition, took place at the end of 2016, with lighting designer Anton Borg Olivier designing a fully networked Avolites control and dimming system to power broadcast-ready stage and green room lighting.
Hosted by Malta in the capital city of Valetta, JESC '16 reported a total live average audience of 3.9m viewers across 14 markets; the biggest audience for four years. With viewing figures this size, Anton relied on Avolites' advanced Timecode functionality to ensure creative director Ismael Portelli's multi-layered show went off without a hitch.
"Avolites Titan version 10 software makes running a timecoded show very easy," he explains. "Since all songs are given a different start time, all I had to do was choose the page of required playback faders and the desk

South Korea - Amadeus has announced the install of a massive speaker system, featuring the newly-released PMX 12 D self-powered active speakers, within a new multi-disciplinary institution, the Arts & Creative Technology Centre (ACT), in Gwangju, South Korea.
ACT Centre puts Gwangju at the forefront of global art, design, and culture dialogue. Launching with a major festival and exhibition in November 2015, ACT Centre commenced a dynamic year-round programme of activities that brought together leading Asian and international talents to share, collaborate, and inspire.
Located on the site of the former provincial government building in Gwangju, ACC hosts several institutions and facilities that include the ACT Centre, the Research Institute for Asian Culture, Library & Archive, Centre for Children, multiple theatres, and exhibition halls, and the May 18 Memoria

UK - RCF UK has announced the first of two showcase events, specifically focused on its burgeoning D-Line HDL series. This will take place in Hall One at Sage Gateshead on 14 March, between 12 noon-6.00pm, hosted by Nitelites. Set demos will take place at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.
The launch of the HDL10-A reinforced the huge success earlier of the original HDL20-A active composite enclosure - since when the series has gone from strength to strength.
Now RCF is offering the first opportunity for European pro audio professionals to listen to the much smaller process-controlled HDL6-A and at the same time attend the first UK demo of the large-format HDL50-A, complete with control package.
These will line up alongside the HDL10-A and HDL20-A - both permanently installed at Gateshead Sage - as well as NX and TT product.
Dean Davoile, head of RCF UK comments: “This is

UK - The Earth Hall at the Natural History Museum was selected as the venue for the exclusive book launch of Rutland Hall Publishing’s Timeless Treasures, an illustrated hardback showcasing regal Indian weddings.
The Museum welcomed over 300 guests who spent the evening exploring the regal culture of Indian marriages, characterised by abundant gift-giving and lavish displays of jewellery and textiles.
The Earth Hall provided an inspirational backdrop for the canapé and drinks reception, welcome speeches and glittering showcase of new high-end fashion collections from Sabyasachi and Cartier. Guests were invited to purchase signed copies of the new release and offered the rare opportunity to privately view the Earth’s Treasury collections throughout the course of the evening.
Maia by The AC’s project manager Charlie Womack oversaw the venue’s event

UK - Blackout has appointed the event industry’s first Trailblazer Live Event Rigging apprentices, with a double appointment, January 2017.
The drapes and rigging specialists welcome Roisin McClearn and Bridie Lane to its team. The Trailblazer Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship, part of the governments’ Trailblazer scheme encouraging three million new apprentices by 2020, was launched by the National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) in September to provide formal training to new recruits, supporting them beyond the National Rigging Certificate Level 2, and to plug the gap in trainee numbers to fill increasing demand throughout the rigging industry.
Blackout selected Rosie and Bridie from over 70 eager applicants, to become the first individuals in the UK to embark on this groundbreaking events industry training. Following an online application process, the pair proceed

Europe - Belgian sound engineerJan De Rycke has just finished the second leg of the In the Shadow of Toon Hermans tour, carrying a dLive S Class digital mixing system, comprising a dLive S5000 Surface and DM48 MixRack.
"dLive sounds great and has a huge amount of processing power, flexibility and useful plugins. Details like the selectable and steep HPF - the most underestimated parameter on any sound desk - and the gain reduction spectrograph, show Allen & Heath has got it right,” says Jan De Rycke. "Another main benefit for me is the full redundancy throughout the system, which is essential in high end live sound."
This leg of the tour visited 34 cities in Belgium and The Netherlands, celebrating the centenary of the birth of renowned Dutch comedian, singer and writer, Toon Hermans. The tour saw his friend and manager, Herman Van Hove, collaborate with singer,

UK - Thomson Ecology senior marine consultant, Sarah Marjoram, has been working with Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and American Artist Leo Villareal on an Illuminated River art installation in London which aims to revitalise and enhance the bridges of the Thames. This will be a permanent light installation from Albert Bridge in Chelsea to Tower Bridge in central London.
Over one hundred design teams from 20 countries entered a competition run by the Illuminated River Foundation and the Mayor of London. Six teams were shortlisted including Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) who approached Sarah for specialist advice on the possible impacts of lighting the bridges on the Thames’s marine ecology. LDS went on to win the competition.
LDS has teamed up with a renowned American artist, Leo Villareal, who is famous for his project The Bay Lights which lit San Francis


USA - The Long Reach Long Riders and Behind the Scenes will host their annual fundraising raffle at the USITT Conference 9-11 March in St. Louis, MO. This year’s raffle will celebrate the 14th Anniversary of the Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride. The Riders have raised well over half a million dollars for charity in their years of touring some of the country’s most beautiful areas.
The Behind the Scenes Boutique will also be open for business during the show featuring an assortment of Behind the Scenes swag and the famous Long Reach Long Rider T-shirts and kazoos.
Tickets for the raffle are an affordable $5 each or five for $20 and can be purchased at the Behind the Scenes booth #2229 throughout the show. Winning tickets for nine regular prizes and one grand prize will be drawn at 1pm on Saturday, the final day of Stage Expo.
The pr

UK - In the heart of London’s trendy Portobello Road the UKAI sushi house has recently undergone a complete makeover with a new Martin Audio CDD sound system provided by Old Barn Audio (OBA).
Immersed within the sophisticated and stylish decor is not only a superior Japanese kitchen, but a real eclectic mix of music which OBA has ensured will be heard with maximum clarity and separation.
UKAI owner, Amir Moaven, was also convinced after being recommended to OBA by a Portuguese restaurateur (and mutual acquaintance) - for whom the installers had provided a Martin Audio system some 18 months previously. “He was clear that he wanted high quality background music,” reports OBA director, Neil Kavanagh.
The space is divided around a U-shaped room, with a restaurant and separate chill-out lounge.
In the main bar are a pair of Martin Audio’s CDD10 (housing

Slovenia - Aca Lukas’ blend of rock-fused Balkan folk music has garnered the Serbian artist a loyal following throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The popular singer’s diverse musical talents were on full display recently at Slovenia’s Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, where he played two and a half hours of hits from his eclectic repertoire.
Accenting the colourful performance was a vivid multi-faceted light show created by Mario Curkovic, using a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue and Maverick fixtures supplied by Akustika Bahun.
Curkovic had eight Rogue R1 Beam and four Rogue R1 Wash fixtures as well as four Maverick MK2 Washes in his concert lighting package. The Rogue R1 Beam and Rogue R1 Wash fixtures were hung from above stage truss, while the Maverick MK2 were flown from circular trussing suspended above the audience. This allowed Cu

UK - With cheesy jokes, sometimes questionable costumes and a central tale of good versus evil, a traditional Christmas pantomime is a staple of the festive period. But, to ensure that everyone has a great time a lot of hard work goes into creating the right panto atmosphere, from writing a great script to getting a good cast. Often, the unsung heroes of the piece are the lighting team who design the show’s mood.
From lighting the bright rooms of the prince’s castle to establishing the dark gloom of the villain’s lair, panto lighting is vital to get right, as Leigh Mulpeter, who owns the lighting design company Little Leigh, knows full well. “Over the Christmas period we were hired to manage and provide the lighting for a production of Dick Whittington at the Hawthorne Theatre in Welwyn,” begins Mulpeter.
“For a show of this nature and a venue of t

Germany - More than 100 Claypaky Scenius Profile luminaires accompanied German hard-rock legends Bad Uncles on a winter tour of their homeland in support of Memento, their first new album in 10 years, with longstanding production designer Jerry Appelt selecting the innovative fixtures to create spectacular, multi-layered lighting looks.
Appelt has worked with Bad Uncles since 2002. As a result, he is accustomed to creating the high production values the band desires. "They're a fantastic band with very powerful music which is a great base on which to create stunning looks," he explains. "They want to give their fans the best possible experience so their standard for visuals is very high."
For the Memento tour, the band's brief dictated a classic, high-impact rock show that incorporated a diverse range of powerful stylistic elements and reflected the identity and

Russia - A total of 16 P-5 LED wash lights played a crucial role the in the Moscow Ice festival, notably in the Family Circle, which was a huge ice installation in Moscow’s Victory Park (Park Pobedy).
The festival represented landmarks from Russian cities such as Moscow, Crimea, St Petersburg, Volgograd and Vladivostok. The statues were 5-6m high and together they formed an ice city completely made from real Siberian ice. More than 1,000 tonnes of natural blue ice had been shipped in for the construction. The Kremlin fortress, which was 10m high and 40 m long, was the centrepiece of the ice city. From six slides descending from the Kremlin wall, visitors could glide their way down to the different regions of Russia.
Adding coloured light to the sculptures added a whole new dimension and brought them to life after dark. Using P-5 wash lights for seven of the sculptu

UK - ITV Studio One has just hosted its biggest ever production, announcing for the first time the nomination shortlist for February’s Brit Awards show at the O2 London. As well as being broadcast live, the Brits Launch (Sat 14 January) featured, amongst the many artists, over 400 moving lights from PRG and an audio set-up provided by Britannia Row Productions.
“From a sound point of view the PA we put in was simple, three hangs of L-Acoustics Kara which was more than big enough for Studio One,” explained Colin Pink who provided that critical interface between the broadcaster and Britrow’s live sound team.
“But it was in the control room where things were a little out of the ordinary. With the exception of Rag & Bone Man, we put all the performers on the Digico SD11 ‘presenters’ board and doubled up the live vocals and tracks to a second SD11 in mirr

UK - PLASA has collaborated with some of the industry's leading experts, brands and production teams to expand its free-to-attend seminar programme for PLASA Focus Glasgow, which returns to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) on 18th and 19th January 2017.

Production services supplier, Adlib, has partnered with two of its biggest brands, Martin Professional and L-Acoustics, to deliver both a video and audio seminar respectively. Martin Professional will demo the ease of setting up and mapping creative LED fixtures including using their VDO FACE 5, Sceptron, and VC video ranges. On the audio side, L-Acoustics Application Engineer & Educator Fran

USA - Dierks Bentley was up at dawn to kick off the morning of the 50th Annual CMA Awards with a live performance on the streets of Nashville with Good Morning America. The televised concert featured a lighting package designed by Mark Carver and provided by Bandit Lites.

The crowd was not only treated to hearing Bentley's new single Black, but GMA host Lara Spencer also took the stage to announce the first two CMA Award Winners: Music Video of the Year to Chris Stapleton for Fire Away and Musical Event of the Year to Dierks Bentley and Elle King for Different For Girls.

In addition to ensuring that the lighting aided in energizing the early morning crowd and conveyed excitement to the millions of viewers watching at home, lighting designer Mark Carver took special consideration that the performance, while early, would still be taking place with

Europe - Midas has recently taken its console training across Europe with courses completed in the UK, Germany and Spain. The events, designed and delivered by Midas senior solutions manager Daniel Paine, were hosted in partnership with local Midas distributors Amplified, thomann Audio Professionnell and Adagio respectively.

Tailored for a range of mixed-ability users, from beginner to advanced, the training covers the entire Midas and Klark Teknik product portfolio and includes configuration solutions for a range of applications. Trainees are taught basics such as; linking front of house and monitor desks, transferring audio between different desks and recording features using Klark Teknik's DN9650 with Dante card.

The course then advances into more specific mixing skills such as automation which is covered in detail. This shows users how to move between different show sc

UAE - Production Resource Group LLC (PRG) worked with Balich Worldwide Shows (BWS) to supply a huge multi-surface video projection for the United Arab Emirates National Day celebration in Abu Dhabi.

The event, held at the request of the Crown Prince's Court, celebrated 45 years since the unification of the United Arab Emirates, and took place in the presence of a selected crowd of dignitaries. Tom van Hemelryck, VP global sports and special events was contacted by Balich Worldwide Shows to provide both the technical expertise and technology for this special commemorative show. Tom brought together video and technology specialists, Yves Winand, from PRG in Belgium and his counterpart Bill Ainley from the group's UAE operation to work with the design specification from Balich Worldwide Shows.

Starting with the mapping of the surfaces, d3 was identified as the media server fo

UK - Adlib renewed its excellent and long term working relationship with Grammy nominated US rock band Panic! at The Disco, providing sound, video and lighting production, plus crew for their recent UK and European tours. Once again Tony Marino was at the helm as the highly-respected tour manager.

The band released their fifth studio album, Death of a Batchelor in January 2016 and have had a mega busy year.

Lighting designer Alex Specht took a floor package for the European dates, which was supplemented by a full overhead rig and video for the high-profile UK gigs in Manchester, Cardiff and two sold out nights at London's Alexandra Palace where this leg of the tour came to an exhilarating end.

The high-impact floor package comprised two grids of 3 x 5 Ayrton Magicdots which were built into special roll-on-roll-off dollies designed by Adlib and streamlined for qu

USA - Soaring four stories high, the elegantly appointed Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria creates an awe-inspiring impression. Its 44' high ceiling, custom made 16' diameter chandelier and ornate carved balconies provide a dramatic setting for any event.

To stand out against this backdrop, a stage presentation has to be as bold and dramatic as the ballroom itself. Chris Hubbard and his team at Emergency Production provided just such a presentation recently for buildOn, a global charity, with help from 117 PVP S7 panels from Chauvet Professional.

Hubbard and his team used the LED video panels to build walls across the ballroom's Broadway-sized stage. The centre wall measured nine panels wide by five panels high. It was flanked on either side by vertically oriented walls measuring two panels by five panels, two panels by six panels and two panels by seven panels. There

Germany - Built in 1911 and former home ground to local football teams 1860 Munich and Bayern Munich, the multi-purpose Gr

UK - ISCE, the Institute of Sound and Communication Engineers has announced the seminar programme for ISCEx 2017. Taking place at Coombe Abbey on Wednesday 8 March 2017, ISCEx 2017 combines educational seminars with leading networking opportunities and a table-top manufacturers' exhibition from more than t20 commercial audio market leaders.

Topics for the 2017 seminar programme include Digital Amplifiers - are they too well designed?, Hearing the Invisible and Taking Noise off the menu presented by industry experts Dr Peter Mapp, Alberto Fueyo, Tony Stacey and Gillian Rollason.

If you're working in commercial audio system design, integration, project management or sales, ISCEx 2017 provides excellent opportunities to learn, engage and discuss commercial audio solutions in an intimate, non-imposing environment.

Attendees can expect to learn first-ha

UK - The Broadway hit musical Disney's Aladdin opened this summer at the Prince Edward theatre in London's West End, with TiMax vocal imaging and effects spatialisation firmly in situ at the heart of the Ken Travis sound design.

Three TiMax2 SoundHub-S64 units (including a hot spare) were purchased by audio provider Autograph Sound, and linked to a DiGiCo SD7T console and d&b amplification via MADI and Optocore. Autograph also provided a TiMax Tracker system which follows the actors around stage to automate the magic of spatial amplification delivered by the TiMax dynamic delay-matrix.

Seven TiMax Tracker (TT) Sensors from the Touring version range, (with ethercon interconnects, rackmount POE Hub and two 1U TiMax Tracker PC's including backup), are mounted in pairs upstage and at the proscenium while a further three sensors reside on the balcony front. These are map

UK - Each year, as the Salvation Army gears up for one of its busiest annual periods, the Christian charity puts on a special Christmas carol concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. This year's sold-out, multi-artist event saw production company b+h relying on Yamaha and Dante.

Although brass bands tend to feature heavily in the Salvation Army stereotype, the Christmas carol concert features a range of different performers. This year's event took place on 24 November with a cast numbering over 150 - including choirs, a contemporary praise band, readings and a guest performance by prominent supporter Shakin' Stevens.

"It's a traditional carol concert, but on a grand - and far more technically complex - scale," says Sam Lynam, business development and project manager at b+h. "As well as managing the live sound production, we assist the Salvation Army's recording and broadcast

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