"We tend to do many things our own way," says Juan Pablo Banchik, sound director of Latin American Idol. "From a production standpoint, standardised methods that apply to Idol shows in other countries don't often work down here."
Banchik works for FremantleMedia, the UK-based production company behind the Idol franchise worldwide. "Fremantle has a series of 'technical bibles' that explain how every aspect of the show should be produced," he says. "I knew I was in trouble when the book on sound said that the judges had to be mic'ed with lavalier or gooseneck microphones. In both cases, that's a really bad choice for Latin Americans, as we tend to yell frequently, move all over the place without paying any attention to a microphone's location, and wear a lot of jewellery around our necks. The latter trait is especially hard on lavalier mics, which don't really perform all that well when they're being whipped by a 24-carat gold chain."
Banchik was given some freedom to meet Latin American Idol's particular production needs. Instead of using lavalier and gooseneck microphones at the judge's stand, Countryman WCE6T headset mics were used on each of the judges. Bringing input to the main mix with Shure UHF-R wireless systems, these head-worn units successfully solved the challenge.
(Jim Evans)
