Proving that Heaven is a Place on Earth, PRG Europe provided the lighting rig for the show, along with premièring the G-LEC PhantomFrame. Seven heats see five artists performing two songs each week - their signature tune and a contemporary track - while the public vote their favourite through to the grand final.
With artistes such as Belinda Carlisle, Baccara, Gloria Gaynor, Limahl, Shakin' Stevens and Chesney Hawkes all playing on the same stage, an extremely versatile set and lighting arrangement was required. Lighting director Dave Davey was given the brief of creating an upbeat, impressive lighting design around the set elements, which involved projection and the use of LED screens.
After hearing about the G-LEC PhantomFrame on the industry grapevine, set designer Peter Bingemann contacted Loz Wilcox, project manager at PRG Europe, G-LEC's UK distributor. Dave then realised that Loz was able to provide a 'one stop shop' for all of the show's lighting requirements. Dave said: "I needed to create instant flexibility with the lighting of the set, with ten songs for each show we need to be able to get as many different looks as we can over the eight weeks of the series."
Two towers of G-LEC's PhantomFrame, a large scale LED graphics display system with video capabilities, were specified, along with four Virtuoso EX1 media servers, which controlled the media content of both the frames and the set projections. Displaying a mixture of stock and custom generated images, the PhantomFrames blended in with the themes of the music numbers and the different presenter-led links.
Peter created the vibrant studio set, literally spelling out the name of the show with lots of three dimensional letters. He explained: "I wanted to design a set that was different from the mainstream light entertainment look, giving a concert feel to the show. After discussions with Dave, we decided that we wanted to use really strong colours, avoiding the usual pastels. I specified the G-LEC screens because they work well with the sculptural letters while being quick and easy to rig, which is essential for a weekly show such as this."
Dave continued: "I had the challenge of lighting the various 3D elements of the set, along with the giant 'H', 'I' and 'T' right at the back of the stage, which meant that the set was very high. I wanted to highlight the set pieces, keeping them big and impressive, while maintaining their perspective in the studio." Dave specified a lighting rig that included Mac 2000 Wash Profile and Performance luminaires, along with JTE Pixeline 1044 battens. Having worked with the team at PRG Europe before, Dave added: "This is the biggest studio project I have worked on with the guys and I am very happy with the service and products that they provided."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
