Featuring live performances by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Pink, The White Stripes, the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Dido, The Darkness and Missy Elliott, the show was watched by an estimated one billion people in 28 countries. Britannia Row was responsible for the event audio, under the direction of their sound designer Derrick Zieba, with the main system consisting of ElectroVoice XLC.
Zieba commented afterwards: "The circus tent was an incredibly difficult space, but I was delighted with the ability of the XLC system to be a line array and deliver 120 degree coverage; it handled this huge oval space filled with audience really well."
Just six hangs of XLC handled most of the coverage, laid out in an inventive configuration. Two main hangs of eight cabinets were set up for the main stage, with two hangs of six cabinets each on the satellite or B stage. These acted as delays for bands on the main stage, and when artists took to the satellite stage, the main system was muted and a third pair of six-cabinet hangs facing the main stage were activated to shift the source image to that stage.
Zieba continued: "We used the minimum number of components to reduce the weight-loading, but the XLC always gave us the power and coverage we wanted, even with bands like The Darkness and White Stripes." Other speakers were used to complete the system coverage, notably ElectroVoice 1152i for in-fill, "for all the youngsters crowding up to the front to hear Christina Aguilera!"
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
