Triple World Cup winner Pele carried the trophy onto the pitch with German supermodel Claudia Schiffer at his side, followed by 150 former World Cup winners, as the hosts put on a spectacular show.
Spotrental is the world's largest dedicated followspot light rental specialists, servicing events all over Europe from their Dutch facility. They have a comprehensive range of state of the art spotlights to suit every application in live events and broadcast.
Spotrental's policy of vigilant maintenance and testing underpins the reliability of these lights when lighting events like the ten-minute opening of the World Cup, says the company. Viewed by a live audience of 100,000 and 150million people on TV's and screens around the world there was no margin for error, so systems are in place to predict and eliminate potential problems for trouble free operation.
Martin Kuhn, managing the lighting on the project said: "It was a real pleasure to see and use such well maintained equipment, compared to the spots we get in Germany, and the 'Spot Dots' were great! They were really essential, as of course we had sunny weather (after clouds and rain for the whole set up). This made it really easy for the operators to still find their 'goal'. And despite the bright sky they could be clearly seen on TV! I will gladly tell everybody in Germany to use your services."
Strong's 4,500-watt Xenon Gladiator IV used in Germany offers large venue operators and lighting designers a new option at this level. The Gladiator IV is the highest light output followspot built. Making it a favourite for outdoor stadium events and television shows where the followspot needs to cut through higher than usual light levels - such as the sunshine that graced the opening of the World Cup 2006.
"These specialised high-power fixtures need to be handled with care, so Strong and Spotrental worked together to ensure each followspot was fully maintained, tested and provided full technical support," says Paul Rabinovitz, vice president of Strong Entertainment Lighting.
"The World Cup is one of the most exciting events on the planet, and the fans expect only the best - from the opening and closing ceremonies, to every game played in between. For us to play a role in it is a thrill, and we trust that our Gladiator IV's helped bring more life into already-exhilarating event."
(Chris Henry)
