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14 March 2016

Arts Council England chair Sir Peter Bazalgette admitted an imbalance existed, adding: "More should be done." He told the the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "There is an imbalance, there's no question. I've only been at the Arts Council for a few months. I'm absolutely passionate about funding arts and culture in the regions... We need to do more...I would say judge us in two years time. The trend is towards more spending in the regions and that's what we'll be doing."

Net News - The first YouTube awards have been held in New York. The event featured Eminem, La

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14 March 2016

Companies and individuals from PLASA's worldwide membership voted in the elections, which were conducted via a secure online poll.

There were four positions available on the European Regional Board. Filling the officer positions, Adam Blaxill of Stage Electrics was elected Regional Board Vice-Chair and Duncan Bell of Autograph Sound Ltd, was elected Secretary. Lee Dennison of Sound by Design Ltd is the new Professional Services Representative and Matt Lloyd of Global Design Solutions Ltd, has been voted as the Manufacturer Representative.

Four positions were up for election on the North American Regional Board with Eddie Raymond of IATSE Local 16 elected for his second term as Cha

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14 March 2016

After winning the Renault Clio Cup in 2012, Jack moved up a level and signed with Team HARD for the 2013 BTCC season. He achieved great pace over the season, including being second fastest for most of the race day at Silverstone and a 2nd place podium finish in the final round at Brands Hatch.

As a result of his performance, Jack has been invited to be a guest driver for CAST Motorsport in the Lotus Six Hour endurance race on the Indy Circuit at Brands Hatch this Saturday 9 November. He shares his guest drive with Simon Deacon, the current Lotus Cup UK Overall & 211 Champion.

The long distanc

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14 March 2016

These are to house a variety of kit used day-to-day by the busy rental operation which is headed by general manager Andy Reardon, including control systems, racks, a variety of different sized plasma screens, mains and power distros, 3U drawered racks, plastic blow-moulded cases with CNC machined foam inserts for audio and video processors and a number of high end bespoke designed cases to house assorted cameras.

5 Star's Keith Sykes visited Doha in the summer and undertook a marathon measure up of all the kit needing to be cased.

In the UK, CT has been a 5 Star client for many years, but this is the first time they have supplied the international facilities.

Reardon

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14 March 2016

The two day event - the first and only music festival to be promoted and staged by an industry technical production solutions specialist - has been nominated in the 'Best New Festival' and 'Best Family Festival' categories. The Awards ceremony takes place at London's Roundhouse on 2 December.

A delighted Steve Butcher, MD of UEP declared, "I can hardly believe it - it's amazing to even be nominated as a newcomer to the scene - and its certainly not something we expected even though we had such a great event."

The inaugural Chilfest was staged at Pendley Meadow in Tring and featured a lively pop night on the Friday headlined by Little Mix and a show-stopping line up of stars from the 1980

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14 March 2016

Stuart Gibbons, Le Mark Groups MD commented: "It's been a personal pleasure for me to have mentored Steve and see him develop into such a consummate professional and talented designer. Dirty Rigger products are available around the world through a network of partner distributors, this can be much attributed to the hard work that Steve has committed to building a 100% quality focussed brand. Steve has had to learn and develop his management skills along the w

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14 March 2016

Dance News - Sadler's Wells plans to create a new venue it hopes will help establish London as a global centre for dance to rival New York and Paris. The search has begun for the

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14 March 2016

According to reports, the accidental blast occurred on Friday 8 November shortly after 6pm when pyrotechnics under the musical's stage exploded, possibly due to a faulty power tool.

"An initial investigation determined that the explosion had been caused by the disc of a circular saw breaking away and igniting fireworks to be used in the show," reports the BBC.

A second explosion then caused a wall of the Palais des Sports arena to collapse. Technical director Marcus Toledano, one of many who rushed to the scene of the incident, is believed to have suffered a heart attack as a result of the explosions. When rescue workers

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14 March 2016

Never a company to shy away from such a challenge, the power, lighting and audio delivery for the Birdfair is something that Pearce Hire has been engaged in since well before 1995, demonstrating yet another longstanding customer-client relationship which has evolved over the years as the event has gone from strength to strength.

2013 saw the event celebrate its silver jubilee of offering a wide variety of activities for birders and naturalists. Known by some as the 'Birdwatcher's Glastonbury' the event continues to grow, providing greater challenges for the production team year-on-year.

The Birdfair is run by Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in partnership with the RSPB and takes place at Rutland Water Nature

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14 March 2016

"We have decided to return to Nashville as the PLASA Focus event held there in 2012 was very well received well by both visitors and exhibitors, which is not surprising as the city is renowned for its vibrant music and entertainment scene. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the latest technology from the biggest brands, be provided with free access to a two-day education program, and network with industry colleagues." says Christopher Toulmin, head of PLASA Events.

Companies already signed up to exhibitor at the show include 4Wall Entertainment, DiGiCo, Altman Lighting, Barbizon, CAST, Chauvet Professional, Drape Kings, Elation, Martin Professional, Morpheus Lights and TMB. Space is limited so compan

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14 March 2016

.Low Key - The French government presented singer Bob Dylan with the country's highest award, the Legion of Honour, in a brief ceremony in Paris. Presenting him with the award, Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said he was a hero for young people hungry for justice and independence. After the speech,

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14 March 2016

The award was presented to Rocky by Mike Garl, co-chair of PLASA's Technical Standards Council, who stated, "The person we are honouring tonight was one of the first members of the Technical Standards Program as well as one of the early supporters of what has developed into the ETCP. He has continued generously g

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14 March 2016

The award to Paul, owner of PRMi Consulting, was presented by Steven Way, a member of the Peer Group and President of ALPS / Advanced Lighting & Production Services. Paul was instrumental in helping develop the details of the Peer Group Program in 2008. He has since stayed on as the group's "parental unit," as they affectionately refer to him, to ensure the group is following anti-trust guidelines during its four meetings a year. Steven

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14 March 2016

Forty nominations were received from across the industry internationally and these were narrowed down to a shortlist of eight finalists for our distinguished panel of judges to review. The judges for this year's awards were: Sebastian Frost, Alan Jacobi, Tim Mills, Nick Pain, Richard Pilbrow, Lee Rose, Artie Siccardi, and Josh Weisberg.

The judges panel was chaired by Mike Wood, who said prior to announcing the winners, "A Rock Our World Award takes a look at the big pictur

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14 March 2016

Former participants including Slovakia, Czech Republic and Andorra will remain on the sidelines, while Turkey are shunning the competition for a second year in a row, saying they are unhappy with the rules. They have created an alternative contest called Turkvision, whic

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14 March 2016

Regarded as a "most modern studio" at the beginning of the 1990s, the privately operated radio station had outgrown its old location by 2012, and was no longer at the cutting edge of technology. Since then, the 'Löwenbräu' Area of Zurich has provided an ideal new space - not more than 1200ft from its old location. Here, SLG constructed an entire studio complex at the beginning of 2013 in the time-honoured 'blue hall' in the Löwenbräu Area.

In a record-breaking construction period of just two months, two state-of-the-art broadcast studios and associated equipment rooms were built, pl

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14 March 2016

Awarded in the Expendable Category was the Nano Spot by Darklight. As the smallest and more affordable LED spotlight on the market, members were pleased with its small size as well as the easily adjustable swivel head.

In the Gadget Category, members awarded the Source Four Mini by ETC. Impressed by its crisp Source Four optics and image projection, members appreciated its efficiency.

In the Equipment Category, members awarded the Phoenix LED by Altman Lighting, taking notice of its brand new 250 watt LED unit offered in 3K, 5,600K, RGBA and RGBW ve

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14 March 2016

Peterborough Regional College runs a BTEC Extended Diploma in Music Technology. It is a two-year full-time vocational course covering all aspects of music technology and is equivalent to studying for three A-Levels. Subjects covered include live sound and production; studio recording; acoustics and audio engineering; and media, marketing and promotional skills.

The link established between Pearce Hire and Peterborough Regional College has enabled those students with an interest in the Live Events sector to go into the workplace of this busy production and hire company and learn the ropes in a bona-fide work environment.

The idea was originally moot

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14 March 2016

Junior Eurovision - Malta has won this year's Junior Eurovision Song contest held in Kiev, Ukraine. Eleven-year-old Gaia Cauchi scored 130 points with her ballad, The Start, which she also helped compose and write. She beat 11 other countries to win the trophy, with Ukraine and Belarus finishing second and third. It is the first time Malta has won the contest, after retur

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14 March 2016

"This app was developed by ETC software engineer, Chris Mizerak as a cool tool that ETC thought some might find interesting," says ETC. "When another employee in ETC's London office (Luke Delwiche) suggested that we give the profits to Behind the Scenes and its UK counterpart Light Relief, Fred readily agreed. Since then the sales of the app have exceeded expectations and both charities have benefited greatly."

ETC CEO Fred Foster says: "It's wonderful to see how successful this program has been. Simply by purchasin

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14 March 2016

Critics' Choice - Three artists have been shortlisted for this year's Brit Critics' Choice award, won last year by singer Tom Odell. Chloe Howl, Ella Eyre and Sam Smith are in the running with the winner to be announced on Thursday 12 December. Howl has been compared with Lily Allen, while former Brit school student Eyre scored a number one as the vocalist on Rudimental's Waiting All Night. La, La, La, Smith's collaboration with producer Naughty Boy, also reached number one in the UK singles chart.

Voting for the 2014 Brit Awards opened for members of the music industry last week. Their shortlists fo

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14 March 2016

The 268-seat Performance Hall has been created to provide a reconfigurable space for larger events and functions. Charcoalblue's head of technical design, Paul Franklin, advised on the design and fit out of the performance hall and oversaw the works on site during construction.

"The Performance Hall is a flexible, multi-function room, capable of hosting a wide range of events, including drama, dance, live music - both amplified and acoustic - as well as film and 'NT live' type events, lectures and workshops," explai

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14 March 2016

This will specialise in the design and manufacture of tough, hard-wearing and practical bespoke padded bags, covers and associated products that will complement the vast range of case and trunk products offered by the 5 Star Group.

Manufacturing for ProTect is based at the existing 5 Star site in Cambridgeshire in a separate production unit recently acquired to help facilitate a general increase in business throughout 2013.

Being in a dedicated space will keep a separation between the case and the bag divisions and ensure maxim efficiency for the ProTect production process, which is headed up by operations manager, Andy Hudson, who has worked for 5 Star for over 23 years.

ProTect's products will bear all the h

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14 March 2016

Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour was second on the list, followed by singer Pink. The Rolling Stones were the highest placed British act - at number six - raking in $126m (£75m) from 23 shows. They finished behind Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, who were fourth on the list after grossing $147m from 53 shows. Rihanna was at number five in the rankings after she played to more than 1.5m fans during the year, bringing in £137m.

Ticket pricing - A majority of audiences say booking fees for concert and theatre tickets are too expensive and any extra charges should be revealed up