Australia - The Footy Show, an award-winning Australian sports television programme shown on the Nine Network, is dedicated to the Australian Football League (AFL). The Grand Final edition of the show is broadcast live from Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena annually on the Thursday night before the AFL Grand Final, in front of a crowd of 12,000.

This year, the show saw The Good Charlotte, Grinspoon and Ricki-Lee perform live whilst also including the AFL Players Revue, where players dress up and dance to themes.

Lighting designer for the event was Rohan Thornton who had no qualms about using a full range of LSC Lighting's Clarity for control of such a prestigious and totally live television event. His control package comprised of a LX600 console, two LX300 consoles, a LSC Clarity for Mac, a LSC VX20 Wing and two Nexus 5 Nodes for control merging.

"I have been a very ha

Belgium / Columbia - Creative lighting design practice Painting With Light collected third prize in the 2012 City.People.Light Award for its creative lighting of the C-MINE development in their home town.

The Award was collected by Painting With Light's principal light designer Luc Peumans and Luc Dullers, deputy Mayor of the City of Genk in Medellin, Colombia.

The competition, hosted by Philips and the Urban Community International Association (LUCI) and now is its tenth year, attracted world class entries from around the globe.

The Awards recognise the efforts of cities and communities to transform and develop their environments with the creative application of lighting and visual elements. Awards are given to the cities that best integrate an appreciation of contemporary urban living needs with notions of the 'city', 'people' and 'light'.

C-MINE was a massive undertakin

UK - Lift Turn Move has confirmed that White Light will be a UK sales distribution outlet for the LTM Entertainment-based product ranges. This is a natural evolution of company strategy, with a focus towards increasing the avenues to market for their Entertainment Products through key distribution channels within the UK.

While the LTM office will still deal with a number of its UK customer portfolio such as stage engineering companies and professional rigging companies, top tier professional distribution companies like White Light, with its established distribution network, will ensure that the products get to end users helping LTM to keep up with the increasing demand that they have been experiencing of late, says the company.

Dan Holme, director of the LTM Entertainment Division comments, "The LTM Entertainment Division has enjoyed continued growth this year with the Lo

UK - From April 2013 Britannia Row Productions Training will be offering courses in live sound practice and theory to people seriously considering a career in live audio. There will be a three month intensive full-time 'Live Sound Technology' course covering all essential aspects of live audio production. Advanced courses will offer training to industry professionals who wish to develop their skills further in specialist areas such as mix engineering.

Since its formation in 1975 Britannia Row Productions has always been at the forefront of live audio. In the ensuing decades, touring credits include artists as varied as The Pink Floyd, The Cure, Neil Young, Frank Sinatra, Florence and the Machine, Paul Simon, Duran Duran, Kasabian and the Foo Fighters. The company has also provided audio for events such as Live8, the Golden and Diamond Jubilees, as well as TV events such as BRIT

UK - Buckinghamshire-based live event technical solutions provider, Universal Event Productions (UEP) has made a major investment in new 12 mm pitch LED screen.

UEP already stocks its own 40 mm and 18 mm LED screen products which are used extensively on a whole variety of shows, which include live events, brand experiences, corporate presentations and conferences, awards shows, concerts and live music.

UEP's Steve Butcher says, "We wanted something that offered a higher resolution but that also complimented our existing ranges, and above all something that was versatile, lightweight, quick to assemble and generally user-friendly."

The initial purchase is of 60 tiles / 30sq.m of the bespoke screen that has been specially developed for UEP.

Devon based drapes, soft goods and LED specialist S+H Technical Support has also purchased a quantity of the same 12 mm screen

Russia - Set up in 1957, the Rostov State Circus, based in the southern Russian city of Rostov-na-Donu, has numerous circus troupes and shows.

Recently, they decided to illuminate one of these international programmes, Dreams of Egypt, with PR Lighting fixtures, having first started using the Chinese company's effects - supplied by Russian distributors, Asia Trade Music - in Autumn 2011.

The company's Rostislav Serishev explained that the circus owns all its own equipment - including PR Lighting discharge and LED heads. "They have been using 12 of the XL 700E and XLED590s on this show, and are so delighted with the effects that they will now be buying a further four of each," he confirmed.

The XL 700E has proved popular with customers around the world, using a 700W short arc discharge lamp, and optimising its full feature set thanks to an advanced optical pa

UK - Strictly Come Dancing decamped to Wembley Arena for the second year running during Children In Need weekend. LD Mark Kenyon reports, "Having an extra two load-in days provided more time to set up, rehearse and fine tune the look for each individual dance act."

Last time round crew chief Joe Sherno and his six man team performed miracles to have all the lighting set up in under two days. This time they had an extra couple of days on site and also spent several days prepping gear at ELPs main distribution warehouse in Alconburry before load-in. Shemo worked closely with ELP project manager Barry Denison on the technical drawings and specifying a vast amount of ELP truss for the job.

"There were 850 lighting fixtures on this year's Wembley show. That's about 50 more than last time round." calculates Denison. "The main difference on this produc

UK - Ice Age Live, a new stage adaptation based on the characters of the four hugely successful Ice Age animated movies, features Robe's powerful Robin LEDWash 1200 moving lights which were specified by lighting designer Luc Peumans.

Peumans' creative lighting and visual design practice Painting With Light is based in Genk, Belgium. The show has just premiered in London and embarks on a five year international tour, produced by Netherlands based Stage Entertainment Touring Productions.

Peumans was commissioned to create the lighting design having worked on previous Stage Entertainment projects including Holiday on Ice. He worked closely with others on the visual team including set designer David Shields and video and motion graphics creator, Jean Luc Gason.

Last year, during a lighting upgrade for Holiday on Ice's 'Speed' show, he specified Robe's LEDWash 600s for the

Sweden - Covering 1080 acres across four adjacent skiing areas, Sweden's Åre ski resort is not just one of the largest in Scandinavia, but in 2009 was judged the best in the world by Conde Nast Traveller magazine. A recently completed major upgrade of the resort included the installation of some 240 luminaires on a 3.5km ski run, enabling longer opening hours in the depths of winter and so boosting revenue.

The lighting is designed to attract more visitors, creating an experience unlike any other ski run and appealing to skiers of all ages and abilities. Controlled via DMX by a network of six Pharos LPC1s and a Touch Panel Controller, the light intensities and colours of the IP-66 rated Lumenbeam family luminaires can be modified along the route of the ski slope. Both the luminaires and the control system had to be rugged enough to withstand the tough weather conditions and fre

Czech Republic - As plans advance for Showlight 2013, more top line companies are signing up as exhibitors and sponsors at Showlight 2013.

With just six months to go before this quadrennial event opens in Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, manufacturers and distributors alike are looking to take advantage of three days during which they will meet and socialise with many of the world's leading lighting designers.

Showlight is unique in that speakers, delegates and exhibitors mingle throughout the three days of the event - during the paper presentations, at tea and coffee breaks, over meals and during the visits programme - allowing plenty of time for discussion and exchange of ideas.

Durham Marenghi, who is presenting a paper on this year's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, says, "No matter how much you think you know, there's always something to be learned

UK - Those walking down Store Street in the forthcoming weeks are in for a visual treat. Every year, Imagination demonstrates the agency's creativity and flare by transforming the building's imposing edifice into a tribute to the festive season.

This year, the lighting team looked to the past for inspiration, choosing to create a giant wreath complete with blue ribbon. The classic design is made from a large circular truss packed with real trees adorned with more than 3000 tungsten lights. Behind the design, the red brick Imagination building is lit a deep magenta colour, proving a warm background glow which complements the elegant motif.

Unlike many of the lighting displays that appear at this time of year, Imagination's efforts are always privately funded and created using lights already existing in Imagination's stores. This allows Imagination's lights to be a true manifest

Rolling On - The Rolling Stones returned to the London stage on Sunday night in the first of five concerts to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood were joined by their original bass player Bill Wyman at the 02 Arena. Music critics hailed the rockers' return a success. Reviews of the gig described the band as "still leading the pack" and "at the cutting edge of pop".

"They have a combined age of 273, but the four Stones remain an extraordinary live proposition," John Aizlewood wrote in the Evening Standard.

"Jagger, camp and louche, was a preening but energetic peacock; Richards was as cool as a man sporting a red hairband and turquoise jacket could possibly be; Ronnie Wood was a chirpy mascot and that ocean of serenity Charlie Watts showed the tiniest of drumkits can make the

Australia - Over 200 Robe moving lights were used on the 2012 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS) staged at the Sydney Exhibition centre in Darling Harbour.

Lighting equipment for 10 of the highest profile stands - including Ford, Holden, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes and Toyota - was supplied by Clifton Productions.

Lighting was designed by Ziggy Ziegler for the Toyota booth and by Mark Hammer for Ford, and for the rest of the stands by the Clifton Productions lighting team.

Robe fixtures were specified by both the LDs and by Cliftons - which has the largest Robe rental stock in Australia - as the best option creatively and because they are robust and reliable.

A wide variety of Robe products were utilised overall - including the Robin LEDWash 600 which was used extensively as it is ideal for automotive applications. The Hyundai stand

UK - Stage Electrics have appointed Jon Smith as the company's new service manager. Jon is taking over from Steve Chappell who was the service manager for over 10 years. Chappell is moving into the newly created role of a full time commissioning and design engineer, responsible for lighting control system design and programming. This new challenge is a reflection of the company's busy order book requiring a dedicated full time position.

Jon Smith takes responsibility for the company's field service engineers and maintenance workshop, planning and directing the activities of all service engineers. Smith is a highly experienced engineer; with over 30 years' experience managing multidiscipline teams in specialist engineering environments for the Royal Air Force.

(Jim Evans)

France - The French distribution company Dimatec has made a substantial investment in a range of Philips Selecon LED luminaires.

Dimatec, which distributes and imports the world's leading lighting equipment brands to service film, television, events and architectural applications, has purchased a considerable palette of luminaires from the Philips Selecon PL range and Studio Panel LED luminaires.

Olivier Bordini of Dimatec says the company made the investment in order to "stay ahead of the game as LED lighting technology progresses."

Bordini praised the Philips Entertainment Group for developing the Philips Selecon brand over the last decade into a renowned specialist for live performance lighting technology, and says that he is particularly impressed that Selecon can build 100% of its products in-house.

The Philips Selecon models currently in stock at Dimatec in

France - An array of Clay Paky Sharpys helped global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi launch the New Directors' Showcase at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase is one of the Cannes Lions Festival's most popular events and premieres films by some of the world's best new talent. The event is renowned globally for the ambitious, sometimes outrageous theatrics of its opening events. And this year was no exception.

Sixteen free flying Quadrotor Robots, designed and built by Kmel Robotics, featuring mirrors on their undersides, worked in synchronicity with Clay Paky Sharpy luminaires to perform a surreal ballet of light and reflection. Razor sharp beams of pure white light danced in millisecond sharp time to a chilling electro soundtrack called 'Meet Your Creator'. The swarm of tiny flying machines look

USA - Marc Janowitz, long time lighting and production designer for Kentucky psychedelic rock band My Morning Jacket, has kept up his tradition of using the evolving series of GLP impression LED heads by specifying 50 of the latest impression X4's on the band's recent US tour.

The LD admits to having been a fan of the GLP impression since the first impression 90 and later the 120RZ zoom. But he says that by embracing new technology, the X4 provides a higher level of functionality entirely.

Incorporating 19 quad colour RGBW LED's, each rated at 15 Watts, in a breakthrough design, the X4 offers a single homogenised colour output from its unique looking front lens across a wide colour spectrum and with high output. Janowitz could immediately see how he could put this featureset, with its impressive 7:1 (7°-50°) zoom ratio, to good use.

Given a free hand with the band's

UK - Multi Grammy Award-Winning Evanescence have just completed their UK arena tour. The Arkansas rockers, who released their self-titled third studio album in October last year, played four arena shows. The band kicked off the tour at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on 5 November and finished up with a show at London's Wembley Arena on 9 November.

PRG account manager Roy Hunt was pleased to supply Live Nation with a moving light rig. Working with celebrated lighting designer Dan Hardiman (Moby, Goo Goo Dolls, McFly, UB40), PRG supplied a mix of VL3000 and VL3500 Spots, VL3500 Washes and Clay Paky Sharpy's to illuminate the stage.

Dan Hardiman commented, "The core element of the show is the backlit backdrop; a multi layer device that has the band's album artwork printed onto fabric downstage of a sharks-tooth gauze with the band's logo appliqued onto it to form a giant gobo

Venezuela - The ever popular Miss Venezuela Pageant saw the radiant addition of 54 Chauvet Professional fixtures, used as principal downlighting and audience lighting by lighting designer Roberto Penso.

Penso worked with a smaller-than-usual stage for this type of show and to design lighting for the audience in the venue and for TV. Trying to find suitable lights to work around the low ceiling at Hotel Intercontinental in Caracas, Penso tested Chauvet Professional Q-Wash 560Z-LED fixtures -provided by VLPS of Venezuela - and decided they were perfect for the show.

"The colours and the brightness are spectacular," Penso said. "They change colours very fast, have great saturation, and perform in sync all the time. The Q-Wash 560Z-LED moving yokes were the only lights in the show that didn't fail."

Penso also took into consideration that the Miss Venezuela P

Australia - Currently playing at Sydney's Lyric Theatre, Legally Blonde The Musical is lit by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller with Hugh Hamilton acting as associate for the Australian tour. The set and lighting design for the Australian production comes from the London production of the musical held at the Savoy Theatre.

The rig houses only Vari-Lite moving lights: forty-four VL2500 Spots, 22 VL2500 Washes and five VL3500 Spots whilst conventional lighting consists of over 200 ETC Source Four fixtures. It's a fairly straight forward rig that was, according to Hamilton, expertly prepped at PRG, easily hung and there were very few problems to overcome.

"The overhead trusses go spot, wash, spot, wash, spot, wash and the ladders are all VL2500 Spots," explained Hamilton. "It's a great rig because you can put anything you need where you need it, plus it's quick

USA - ANSI E1.35 - 2007, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, is being revised to increase the accuracy of the measurement procedure, while keeping it simple. The draft of the revised standard is available for free download and comment through 21 January 2013 at the web address below.

E1.35 describes a method for measuring and stating the sharpness of the image projected by a stage and studio luminaire. It's meant to be a simple way to distinguish quantitatively between luminaires as to the crispness of their projected images.

For more information, please contact Karl Ruling, PLASA's Technical Standards Manager, at karl.ruling@plasa.org

(Claire Beeson)

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light continues its commitment to the backstage industry by once again sponsoring TheatreCraft, a careers fair for those aged 17-25 exploring non-performance careers in the entertainment industry.

The one day event, which takes place today (30 November) at the Royal Opera House, will give visitors the opportunity to take part in workshops delivered by skilled professionals from across the arts, and to meet representatives from more than forty exhibiting theatres, training providers and education institutions. Topics up for exploration include producing, stage management, make-up, lighting, marketing, theatre journalism, sound, directing, costume design, playwriting and design.

Now in its seventh year, TheatreCraft aims to provide essential information and advice to young people interested in working behind the scenes of the entertai

UK - Buckinghamshire based Lightsmiths, owned by Bruce Rutter, has made a significant investment in Clay Paky's first professional LED lighting fixtures.

The Clay Paky A.LEDA Wash range offers three models, all incorporating high output RGBW LED engines with a massive zoom range (14°-70°) and unprecedented output. In addition to these features, the Italian manufacturer has also incorporated the capacity for individual pixel mapping. Lightsmiths has invested in a notable number of all three models.

These fixtures are a viable alternative to traditional discharge washlights, and offer a full range of vivid colours that are impressive even in the brightest daylight. As was demonstrated when Lightsmiths used the fixtures at the recent Berkofest event - Berkhamsted's annual music and comedy festival.

"We've been known locally up until now for supplying festivals, pro

Italy - Nearly 300 people attended the Illuminando le Star (Lighting the Stars) conference with Patrick Woodroffe, organised by Clay Paky in Rome. The event was sponsored by AILD, APIAS, the British Embassy in Rome and the University of Rome Tor Vergata, with the technical support of Agorà and DOC.

Lighting fans were not put off by the circumstances that made travelling difficult on the day: flooding, blocked streets and motorways, transport strikes and street demonstrations. The event's appeal - the only one of its kind in Italy - overcame every obstacle and drew people from every region of the country.

Patrick Woodroffe retraced the greatest moments of his career in the splendid setting of the Auditorium Antonianum, made even more impressive by the lights installed by Clay Paky. He particularly focused on the preparation he did for the recent London Olympics and Michael Jac

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