Eurovision Clash - The date of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest has been thrown into doubt. The UEFA Champions League final, the biggest match in club football, will take place on the evening of Saturday 22 May. 2010 marks the first year that the game will take place on a Saturday instead of midweek. The date is the same as the preliminary date announced by the EBU for the 55th Eurovision Song Contest. The song contest and the UEFA Champions League final are two of the most viewed television shows in the world. It would be almost impossible for the two events to take place simultaneously because many broadcasters are contractually obliged to broadcast both events.

UEFA announced that the dates for the Champions League schedule last December. Because 2010 is also a World Cup year, the Champions League final will not be moved to a later date. It is therefore most likely that the E

UAE - April 2009 saw celebrations for the opening of Goboland Middle East MFZE. Based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, this new branch of the Belgian gobo manufacturers has been established to serve the burgeoning Middle Eastern market and the demand for its gobo services across the busy architectural sector.

"The Middle Eastern market has been expanding exponentially in the past few years," explains Goboland managing director, Ivo Dielen. "The volume of business this has created for us has necessitated the opening of a branch 'on the ground', so to speak, so we can bring a more customer-facing service to our new clients here in the Middle East.

"The projection of gobo images onto the exterior of buildings is a powerful advertising tool which has become a tour de force here. The number of projects and advertising ventures which incorporate gobo projection has seen t

UK - Tim Riggs has set up AV Crew Finder (www.avcrewfinder.co.uk), an operation designed to help freelance crew and production companies find each other, and also to save time and resources for all clients.

Riggs has many years experience in the conference and events market, having worked for many of the major players in the industry. "We only supply and recommend experienced and reliable staff and everyone on our database is vetted to ensure they meet our strict criteria," he says.

"We also provide clients with freelancers C.V.'s and PL insurance. We do not charge freelance staff to find them opportunities but do invoice a small fee to production companies to cover our costs."

Skills covered by the service include: general audio visual technicians, specialists in video and audio, lighting technicians and designers, cameramen, video editors, project and p

China - The Chinese HK Audio distributor Melody Development is now offering regular seminars to customers and partners. This training familiarises dealers, technicians, and sales staff throughout China as well as Melody Development's workforce with new products, teaching participants how to best use this equipment.

Melody Development's chief technician Chen Ziqian usually conducts the seminars, held by turns in the different provinces of China. The recent workshop took place in March at Jinan Shandong province. Chen Ziqian presented the HK Audio product range to 120 attendees, focusing especially on the HK Audio Contour Array system and the HK Audio P:RO series. The presentation's highlight was a live demo of the systems and individual cabinets' audio performance that left quite an impression on the audience.

Melody Development is very satisfied with the results of the worksho

USA - Bandit Lites was named the best large business in East Tennessee by the Knox Area Chamber Partnership. Bandit took home the prestigious Business Excellence Award on 1 May at the Knoxville Convention Centre.

This award is presented to an outstanding firm in East Tennessee that has clearly shown leadership, innovation and quality. Past winners include Scripps Networks and Pilot Travel Centers.

Chairman Michael T. Strickland said, "All of us at Bandit Lites are humbled by such an honour and promise to continue to earn the accolade. We are truly blessed to have the great opportunities we have and will continue to be a business that everyone can have pride in."

(Jim Evans)

Busking Cancer - Madness frontman Suggs and Rod Stewart are helping to launch a charity busking campaign on HMS Belfast. Suggs will perform on the ship, which is moored on the banks of the River Thames near Tower Bridge, on 20 June. Other acts will also perform. Busking Cancer aims to get musicians raising money for Cancer Research UK.

Rod Stewart, who started busking in Paris, told the BBC: "You don't have to be a great singer or the best musician, you just have to entertain people." Stewart, who has survived thyroid cancer and will attend the launch but not perform, said: "Busking is what music is all about - just getting out there and singing or playing for the sheer joy of it. And if you can earn a few quid for Cancer Research UK - a few quid that might just help to save someone's life - what could be better?"

Busking Cancer began in 2007

UK - MTFX expanded in to additional new premises earlier this year in order to improve the storage facilities for its extensive range of equipment.

The new unit has meant that all the storage and customer areas have been re-arranged so that they now have a demonstration area for their Aquagraphics water screen where it can be viewed by potential clients, together with storage and a demonstration area for the new high voltage special effects equipment.

There are also larger storage and maintenance areas for the ranges of confetti and special effects equipment enabling them to carry an increased stock holding. All contact details remain the same.

(Jim Evans)

UK - 5 Star cases has supplied a flight case solution for the 2009 BBC's Blast on Tour outreach project, which is undertaking a 7 month tour visiting 27 cities around the UK.

Blast on Tour is a programme of workshops and activities supporting the development of creative skills in 13 to 19-year-olds which takes place in and around the BBC Blast Truck and performance marquee 'village' which is established at each new site.

The flightcase project included a selection of standard and custom cases from 5 Star to cover a number of areas in the whole physical Blast On Tour set up, including the first-point-of-contact registration and reception area.

"We needed a special set of cases for this," explains Tony Kavanagh, operations manager for Blast On Tour. "They needed to look good and accommodate all the necessary equipment, tools and mater

UK - After two sold-out seasons at the National Theatre, the atmospheric and emotional War Horse, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, is now playing at the New London Theatre in the West End.

The award-winning hit show is based on a poignant book by Michael Morpurgo and has reopened to resounding success. The book was inspired by a conversation with a First World War veteran in Morpurgo's home village in Devon, and relates the extraordinary journeys of Joey, a horse sold to the cavalry, and his inconsolable young owner, Albert, who sets outs on a mission to rescue his much-loved animal companion from the trenches and killing fields of war-torn France.

War Horse was designed with the drum revolve stage in the Oliver Theatre at the National in mind; however, when the production moved to the New London Theatre, different stage dimensions and dynamics had to

UK/France - Rosco has announced that it has acquired Paris-based GobosFactory. Joanna Shapley, France development manager at Rosco says: "We believe in investing when times are tough. This is an excellent move on our part, in the right place at the right time. It is a perfect match to enhance synergies and values for both companies."

Rosco and GobosFactory have united their efforts and resources and, combined with its existing market share for custom gobos in France, this acquisition now gives Rosco a solid position in the French gobo-market.

GobosFactory are the French market leaders for custom gobos. Their manufacturing capabilities will now be expanded with Rosco's worldwide production processes. With the high demands of the live events- and television market, Rosco/GobosFactory are well equipped to meet these high-quality demands and significantly reduce delays f

UK - Nick Edwards, formerly of PRG Europe, has taken up a new post as project manager at Panalux, where he will be working in the Broadcast and Events Division, alongside Ed Pagett and Simon Roose.

Edwards began as a service technician for installation company Design Intervention in 2000. In 2002 he joined VLPS (PRG Lighting) at Greenford and went on to serve as a senior Vari-Lite technician working on site across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. His experience has included theatre, corporate events, television and concert touring, with highlights including the MTV Europe Awards, The Brits, The Baftas, Live Earth, The Royal Variety Performance and most recently the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

At Panalux, Edwards will be project managing a wide range of shows for the Broadcast & Event Division's growing portfolio of clients including studio-based and outside broa

Live in Birmingham - Just over 12 months ago, Academy Music Group (AMG), whose shareholders include Live Nation, SJM Concerts and Metropolis Music, announced its acquisition of the former Dome nightclub on Bristol Street, Birmingham, for development of its new venue, O2 Academy Birmingham, due to open in September 2009. AMG is currently undertaking a £5m refurbishment programme of the 45,000sq.ft purpose-built 1970s nightspot.

A multi-room operation, O2 Academy Birmingham will have an overall building capacity of 3,859. The three venues can operate independently as well as simultaneously and will feature "state of the art in-house production". The main auditorium has a capacity of 3,009 and artists already confirmed to play this autumn include Bloc Party, The Maccabees and Dizzee Rascal.

Commenting on progress to date, AMG operations director Richard Maides say

UK - Based on an increasing demand for its maintenance services, Point Source Productions has instituted a dedicated equipment service department created specifically to overhaul clients' own equipment.

"Point Source Productions has always serviced its own hire equipment and, in the past, we have serviced our customers' equipment on a more or less ad hoc basis, fitted in around our existing work schedules," says hire manager, Ian King. "But a large increase in demand over the past year has shown us there is a distinct need for a dedicated service department."

Equipment servicing can take place either at the client's own premises or those of Point Source Productions and can be tailor made to suit each customer.

"Many schools, for example, have their annual Portable Appliance Testing done by electricians who have little knowledge of theatre equipment,&

UK - PSCo has announced the relaunch of its website, www.psco.co.uk. Managing director Stuart Holmes comments: "We are launching the first phase of the website which is online now, designed to help clients access technical information more freely, find out about our training courses and to make contact with the team more simple. We wanted to create a site which easily cross referenced the products with their accessories and gave clear outlines about our services to the trade."

The new site has video content, showing the PSCo technical team in action as well as details of the company's upcoming showcase events, product information for the 108" Sharp LCD, Orion Infinite Plasma and Samsung large format display range and an area to contact the training team directly for details of upcoming courses.

(Jim Evans)

USA - The ESTA Foundation has announced the 2009 Behind the Scenes holiday cards created by some of the industry's most talented designers. Four designs are offered this year.

Scenic designer Douglas Schmidt has created an elegant stage waiting to be brought to life by dancing snowflakes, while colleague Beowulf Boritt's card is a challenge for theatre lovers, filled with props to identify from some of the many shows he has designed.

Photographer Andrew Hefter is back for a third year with a card featuring the ghostlight as a beacon of hope against a brilliant night sky. Tim Hunter Design has used a large canvas with the Behind the Scenes ghostlight to remind us that the holidays are the time to care for each other and for those less fortunate.

There are several ordering options. Meeting the minimum order of 250 cards, you can personalise your card with a company logo and a

UK - RG Jones Sound Engineering demonstrated the versatility of its custom Martin Audio AM distributed stadium system when Wimbledon's Centre Court retractable roof received its inauguration at a TV spectacular.

A packed crowd assembled to see a programme of exhibition tennis, and were at the same time treated to songs by Katherine Jenkins, Faryl Smith and the four-man classical/pop group Blake. Jenkins and Smith performed Amazing Grace as the opening number to coincide with the roof inching its way across to full cover position for the very first time.

RG Jones worked with production company 360 Events to stage the production, which was broadcast live on BBC2.

RG Jones' Tim Speight, who had joint project managed the installation for The All England Lawn Tennis Club with Jon Berry, explained, "When the requirements of this system were first set out three years ago, it w

USA - When Capron Lighting & Sound Company's David Gruber was looking for a powerful light with which to project the Jake Burton logo at the 27th annual US Open Snowboarding Championships, he decided that Robert Juliat's 4000W HTI Lancelot was the right light for the job.

The championships, which took place in March this year at Stratton Mountain, Virginia, were to be televised, so a bright, sharp image was called for to ensure the logo of the world's leading snowboard manufacturer, and founder of the championship, was presented to best advantage, for both broadcasting purposes and to the surrounding audience.

"I needed a fixture that would project a sharp image at a distance of 500ft," explains Gruber, who was project lighting manager for the event. "My research indicated that a Robert Juliat Lancelot 4,000 watt HTI followspot would be the best choice, and that

USA - Building on their prior joint success at The Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, Total Structures recently provided EPIC Production Technologies with over 500ft of its Element 12 & Element 20 truss for Club Nokia L.A. Live, the latest entertainment venue to open at this new Los Angeles entertainment development.

The truss, all powder coated with a specific texture of black, varied from straight 20.5" square Element 20, fitted with steel fork-ends for maximum strength, to 12" square Element 12 nut and bolt connection truss, custom radiused to match the architectural lines of the newly completed building.

The truss, which was designed, fabricated and delivered to site in less than three weeks from date of order, was supplied with specific California stamped engineering reports to provide the 2,300 capacity, 59,000sq.ft venue with accurate loading capabilities of their new s

UK - Ryan Thomas has joined Overt Light to Sound, as the area sales manager covering the East/North East England & Scotland. After many years at Audio Technica, Thomas will now be concentrating on promoting Overt's main brands, Dap Audio, DMT (Dutch media Tools) Showtec Lighting & Antari Smoke & Effect machines.

Overt MD, Malcolm Burlow says, "Ryan is the final piece in the jigsaw that we have been looking for. He is a young dynamic guy who will fit very well into our sales team. We now have the whole of the UK & Ireland covered by on the road sales managers.

"I do believe that a good strong on the road sales team is still a very important tool for a sales distribution company in 2009. Being able to support our dealers with demos both at their premises and on site is pivotal to maintaining good relationships. After all, sound & light needs to be seen and heard."

UK - Sound Technology has announced distribution in the UK of the JoeCo Blackbox Recorder from 1 June 2009.

The Blackbox Recorder is a multi-track capturing device aimed primarily at the live music market. It records 24 channels of hi-res audio directly to a USB2 drive. It can be plugged into the insert points on any console and can also provide Virtual Sound Checking facilities. Recording to standard external USB2 disks formatted with FAT32 in Broadcast WAV file format (BWAV), any material can be instantly used in a studio Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) without any need for time-consuming file conversions or transfers.

JoeCo Ltd and the Blackbox Recorder are the brainchild of Joe Bull, who last year relinquished the reins at SADiE, the company he founded two decades ago.

Bull comments, " It's great that we've been able to team up with such a professional distributor a

Romania - Sibiu-based Artmania Foundation is busy preparing the upcoming ARTmania Festival. The Festival will be taking place between 17 and 19 July 2009, and will have bands such as Nightwish, Pain, Opeth, My Dying Bride and Tristania performing. Artmania production Manager Silviu Scrob's relationship with Adamson began when Scrob heard the Adamson Y-Axis system at the Red Rock Festival in Luxemburg in 2007. The Y-Axis system he heard was installed at the indoor venue Rockhall which seats 6000 persons.

Since then Scrob has been requesting the Adamson systems on a regular basis. Adamson partner Omnitech in Romania purchased a 16 box Y10 & T21 sub combo in the fall of 2007, and followed it up with an additional Y10 and Spektrix order in 2008, thus facilitating Scrob's requests. The recent first Artmania event with Omnitech's Adamson system took place at the 4060 seater, Sala Pala

Europe - GE Consumer & Industrial has announced key appointments to the leadership team under Phil Marshall, president & CEO EMEA. The new line-up includes the appointment of two commercial directors, one to lead the Lighting business, and the second to lead the power protection businesses.

Simon Phillips has been appointed as the commercial director for Europe, Middle East and Africa for the lighting business. He has 10 years experience in GE Lighting in Europe and prior to this 12 years with Thorn Lighting, holding a variety of European sales, product and marketing management roles. Phillips is based in the UK.

Christophe Pomeon is the new commercial leader for power protection business. He has worked with GE since 2003 and is based in Germany.

Supporting Phil Marshall's strategy for growth, GE Consumer & Industrial has also appointed new human resources and communications

UK - Six employees from the Royal Shakespeare Company will be cycling from Stratford-upon-Avon to Amsterdam this June. Members of the company's Lighting, automation, transformation and porters departments, together with two freelance lighting technicians, will embark on their 369 km trek from the RSC's Courtyard Theatre at 10am on Thursday 11 June.

The idea was the brainchild of RSC head of lighting, Vince Herbert who says: "When I first suggested the bike ride, the instant reaction from my colleagues was laughter - for some reason they don't think a 50-something like me will be able to manage it. But Holland is very flat, so it can't be that hard, can it?"

The Stratford group will be joined by an additional four cyclists, including representatives from lighting equipment suppliers, White Light, who will begin their expedition in London.

After a journey that includ

UK - Eat To The Beat is celebrating 25 years of service to the music, production and location catering sectors. The company celebrated in style with a party themed and catered for by sister company Upbeat Event Design.

The party was titled The Odd Ball and held in Buckinghamshire as a celebration for employees and friends of the company. The Odd Bal broke the norm of a traditional ball with a topsy turvy theme and a dress code of Black tie - but a bit odd!.

On arrival guests were greeted by serving staff disguised as 'living paintings' who served canapés through ornate frames dressed as Andy Warhol's Marylyn Monroe, The Laughing Cavalier, Botticelli's Venus and The Mona Lisa.

(Jim Evans)

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