Slovakia - Over 100 Robe lighting fixtures made a stunning appearance at the 2009 Slovakian Miss Universe Pageant, an event on which they have a history, along with lighting designer Martin Kubanka.

The show was staged at the Sibamac Arena in Bratislava in front of a live audience of 4500, simultaneously broadcast live on STV1 to record ratings. It was directed by Thomas Eibner, and Kubanka also worked closely with DOP Vladimir ?ur?ansk? and set designer Martin Klang.

This year, the creative theme was nature and the scenic elements reflected grass and foliage, sea and sun. The overhead trussing configuration followed the wide lines and gentle V-shapes of the stage set below, presenting a coherent and highly attractive visual package to compliment the nature of the occasion and the 12 finalists.

Kubanka wanted to make a big impact with the lighting. He used 50 Robe ColorSpot

Denmark - Lighting Science Group Corporation (Lighting Science) and Martin Professional announced today a distribution agreement that will give Martin access to Lighting Science's X16 DOTZ LED strings for global distribution.

The X16 DOTZ LED string has been well-received in the market since its introduction and will be marketed under the name FlexDOT in Martin's line of LED video products. FlexDOT has already been used in multiple projects across the lighting market.

FlexDOT is a string of (RGB) LEDs designed for a variety of dynamic lighting applications including video and other entertainment displays. Leveraging the DMX512 lighting control protocol, each LED capsule on the string produces a wide colour palette of millions of hues. This allows the user to create a personalised interactive experience through colour control, special effects and animation of each light point.

USA - Barco reports that three major band tours - No Doubt, The Crystal Method and the upcoming Aerosmith tour, are all debuting the new High End Systems' Showbeam 2.5 in their shows.

The Showbeam 2.5 is a new 2500-watt automated wash luminaire that features the Twin Beam technology, allowing two hard-edge beams to exit the fixture on command. Features include variable control over the Twin Beam's deviation and rotation speed, all with little brightness degradation, the ability to add incremental colour to the Twin Beam using the CMY colour mixing system, and a LED tracking system encircling the lens. It also features a user-changeable fixed colour wheel, a variable CTO and the ability to produce an 11-degree fixed hard-edge profile with fast colour change and Electronic Strobe. The profile can be rapidly zoomed from 11 to 33 degrees.

Butch Allen, No Doubt's lighting designer,

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied lighting and power for the spectacular closing ceremony of the 2009 DLF Indian Premier League Cricket series at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The show kicked off immediately after a knife-edge finish to the Series kept the 35,000 audience enthralled right down to the last ball, before the Deccan Chargers beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs.

Gearhouse's Tim Dunn designed the light-show for the event, - a fusion of Indian, African, Bollywood, Caribbean and American entertainment with special guest appearances by American rapper Akon, Eddie Grant and Bollywood superstar Katrina Kaif. The high energy show also included drummers, fire dancers, traditional dancers and a Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa model parade culminating in a massive pyro and fireworks show.

Four production companies were involved with the event -

USA - When NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon debuted in the changing landscape of late night television grandMA was close at hand. Lighting designer Christopher Landy, who heads Brooklyn's Vibrant Design LLC, specified the console to control a large complement of moving and conventional lights which give the show a hip vibe while paying homage to talk show legends Johnny Carson and Jack Parr who worked in the same iconic Studio 6B at Rockefeller Centre.

"The grandMA is my board of choice for any show," says Landy. "A nightly show like Fallon is very demanding. The schedule is extremely tight and every night is a different musical performance and a different comedic bit. That doesn't leave a lot of cuing time. We need a console that can handle a large library of effects and is programmer friendly. Versatility is key"

For Late Night with Jim

UK - On 12th May 2009, Leicester's Curve Theatre welcomed students of technical theatre from across the country for the first of a planned series of educational open days at the venue. The event follows the ABTT Open Day also hosted earlier in the year by Stage Technologies at Curve Theatre, and was conceived as an introduction to automation for students of all non-performing theatre disciplines, from design to stage management.

Around 90 students and tutors from RADA, LAMDA, Central School of Speech and Drama, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Rose Bruford got a first-hand look at how the latest automation technology works at one of the most recent performance venues to be built in the UK. The exceptional environment of Curve Theatre allowed Stage Technologies experts to demonstrate the versatility, precision and capability of the hardware and software systems. The programme f

UK - Lighting Partners will be exhibiting at this year's ABTT show - its fourth year at the event. Members of the Lighting Partners team will be on hand at the show to discuss the company's expanding range of used equipment, its new item sales and ready-made cable department.

On the stand for the first time will be the entire range of Hazebase smoke and haze machines including the new 650W Base Cap. Iain Dennis of Lighting Partners commented, "We are excited about showing the Hazebase range for the first time at the show. We have represented the brand in the UK for only a couple of months but we are already staggered by how well it has taken off. Machines are already in the West End and we are delighted that one of the largest arena tours of the decade is going out with over 30 Hazebase machines."

Lighting Partners is also launching a new niche website, www.colourfra

UK - RC4 Wireless will introduce the latest in its RC4Magic series - the new RC4 Black Magic system - at London's ABTT Theatre Show.

"When we first introduced the original RC4Magic system in 2007," says James David Smith, president and chief designer at RC4, "we brought the cost of wireless dmx dimming below the $1000 threshold for the first time. With 15 years of RC3 and RC4 experience behind us, RC4Magic performance has been excellent, but we did hear one complaint over and over again."

Users didn't like the bright yellow labeling. A design decision that helped the product stand out at tradeshows and demonstrations also made it stand out where it shouldn't - inside props and set pieces on stage.

In 2008, the company released RC4Magic Series 2 with purple labels. "Problem solved, I thought," said Smith, "but I was wrong."

RC4 Black

Israel - Compulite's flagship console Vector has a new major software release centered on productivity features that accelerate the programming and operation of even the most complex show, says the company.

New features allow the user to organize editing and playback screens in multiple workspaces. Each workspace allows you to customise a whole environment with multiple views and panes. You can build each one and save/open each workspace separately. Create various workspaces such as live workspace, editing workspace and TOPO workspace.

You can also use the navigation utility when some of the workspaces are not visible due to the length of their name.

Editing the object's attributes right on the grid (table) where you are viewing the data saves many steps of opening the object and editing each object separately. Among the new display types that you can now edit - cue sheet. G

Turkey - The end of May saw the spectacular opening ceremony of the five star Mardan Palace hotel take place in Antalya, drawing an illustrious international presence of celebrities and press. LSE, the Belgian based multi-media show company, worked with long-time collaborator Tara W Smith, the Australian creative director of Stargrace, to create a memorable visual experience for the opening.

The event, which took place over two days, was a high profile affair featuring presenters and performers including Sharon Stone, Richard Gere, Paris Hilton, Monica Belluci, Tom Jones and Seal.

Two multi-media shows took place over the two days, the first at the Grand Inauguration on 23 May, the second the following day at the Dance of the Scorpion beach party on the hotel's Scorpion Pier.

For the Grand Inauguration, Smith wanted to celebrate the historical influences, modern techn

USA - The Broadway production of British-born musical Billy Elliot swept the board at last night's Tony Awards, taking home 10 of the 15 awards it was nominated for including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical (for Stephen Daldry - who also directed the film version of Billy Elliot) and Best Performance by a Leading Actor for the three teenagers who share the role of Billy - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish. It was the first time in the 63 years of the Tonys that three actors won for one role in the same category.

At the Creative Arts Awards, a special ceremony held prior to the main event and broadcast online at www.tonyawards.com, British theatre talent continued to shine as Billy Elliot won in six categories - including Rick Fisher for Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Paul Arditti for Best Sound Design of a Musical. The award for

Denmark - Peter Høy has been appointed Martin Professional's new factory manager at its 12,500sq.m facility in Frederikshavn, Denmark.

Høy, who started in the position on 4 May, brings with him more than 20 years of experience from highly technological companies in the electronics industry including Thrane & Thrane, Eurocom Industries and S.P. Radio.

Høy has several years of general management experience at the director level in Operations. He also brings with him broad staff and management level knowledge, particularly in the areas of production, logistics, quality assurance and IT.

"I look forward to the challenges and responsibility that comes with the manufacture of hi-tech quality products and am proud to be working with such motivated employees in a factory that is the world leader in its field," Høy stated.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Lightfactor stand at ABTT 2009 will be filled with a wide selection of products aimed at core theatre and live performance orientated applications from high profile manufacturers including SGM and LDR from Italy and LightProcessor from the UK. Lightfactor is the exclusive UK distributor for all these products.

One of the highlights from SGM is the new Giotto Digital 1500 fixture. Using a special patented application of DLP technology, the Giotto Digital 1500 combines digital effects generation with a fully-featured moving head fixture. It offers the features of a moving light with an innovative all-digital system for generating graphic effects, whilst maintaining fundamental features like fast movement, brightness, control standards and compact dimensions.

Other SGM products will include the IP65 Genio Fixed and Genio Mobile LED 'bricks' and the full complement of SGM

UK - Rental supplier Amber Lites (Scotland) invested in Chroma-Q Color Web 125 LED panels to provide scenic elements for the recent Elaine Paige 40th Anniversary UK tour and other client events.

Amber purchased 60 Color Web 125 LED panels to offer their clients a flexible LED stage backdrop suitable for different size tours and events. William Adie, a director of the company, commented, "Originally, we looked at traditional LED display screens, but after seeing a demo of the Color Web at our premises we knew it was ideal for our clients' needs.

"The product is very effective for providing both video and lighting effects across a large stage area. Also, it is an elegant solution for touring as it can be transported in small, flightcased sections. From our point of view it's a great investment and we expect a lot of interest."

Lighting designer Martin Nicholas h

South Africa - Lighting designer Tim Dunn used 30 Robe ColorSpot and Wash 700E AT moving lights to light the first high profile live performances of rising young South African music star Jesse Clegg at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre.

Dunn utilised the 18 Robe ColorWash 700E ATs in the 1200 capacity theatre's house rig, adding another 12 ColorSpot 700E ATs of his own supplied by Gearhouse South Africa. The only other fixtures he used were Source Fours, for key lighting Clegg and his 4-piece band.

"I knew that 30 Robe 700s would give me more than enough options to cover Jesse and his band," reports Dunn, who also brought in his own grandMA full size console to run the lights for the three highly critically acclaimed evenings of performance.

Jesse Clegg is the son of Johnny Clegg, one of South Africa's best known musicians and songwriters. His first single Today

Portugal - Arcstream AV worked with Hipnose Events in Portugal to create a giant projection screen, laser show and the largest MagicSymbol demonstration ever attempted to launch Portugal Telecom's high profile rebrand.

Arcstream AV sourced a massive 25m x 10m projection screen which formed a backdrop to the stage set, Hipnose Events used six Barco 20K projectors edge blended to create the image.

Arcstream commissioned Harkness Screens to manufacture the Translite Midnight Rear projection screen, a dark grey screen which produced a stage backdrop,ommiting all ambient light in the venue, as well as giving perfect contrast to the image.

The laser show heralded the moment when the new logo was revealed with three 10 watt Arctos lasers and two 6.5watt ARX full colour lasers, all controlled with Pangolin Laser Show Software, in addition 72 diffraction mirrors were rigged to bounce

UK - Goboland has chosen the ABTT show in London to launch Goboland UK. In a long-anticipated move, the creation of Goboland UK reunites Wyatt Enever and Vicky Fairall as directors of the new operation. Between them, they have over 50 years of experience in every aspect of gobo production, technical support and professional services to clients.

Wyatt Enever is a founder member and former managing director of DHA Lighting, and more recently filled the role of consultant for Goboland. Vicky Fairall, was formerly graphics manager, then customer Services manager, for DHA Lighting where she worked for almost 20 years developing both graphic capabilities and customer service strategies for which the company was lauded, before moving briefly to Roscolab, and then to Goboland as head of UK operations to the Belgian head office.

"We felt very strongly that there was a need for a U

Sweden - Located outside Stockholm in the suburb of Sundbyberg, Grand Garbo is a large nightclub with an impressive 25 years of clubbing experience behind it, a virtual institution in the Swedish club environment. A recent 13 million SEK refurbishment includes a large Martin Professional package of entertainment and architectural lighting gear

Eight years on from a renovation that also included Martin gear, owner Ulf Westerberg felt it was time to again revitalise the club and contacted Henrik Rune of interior design firm Rune Design of Denmark, the same designer he entrusted with the renovation eight years earlier.

The latest redesign, which covered the club's top floor, was comprehensive and Rune worked with Westerberg on the new look for nearly a year. "When a club or design gets to be more than five years old it is time to refresh it - there is a need to create someth

UK - Zero 88 will be showcasing its latest control products at the forthcoming Showtech exhibition in Berlin and the ABTT show in London, with particular focus on products designed for theatrical applications.

Taking centre stage at both shows will be the new theatrical lighting console ORB. Designed to provide innovative control of latest LED, moving head and video system technology the ORB combines extreme flexibility, incredible capability and contemporary styling to create a dedicated control solution for those operating in professional theatrical environments.

Also featuring is the latest member of Zero 88's popular Jester consoles. The Jester TLXtra brings the power and flexibility of these popular consoles to those operating in smaller theatre spaces.

In addition, visitors to the ABTT show will see Version 2 of the LightFactory PC based lighting control software. Vers

UK - Earlier this year, Selecon joined Strand Lighting under the umbrella of the Entertainment Group within Philips Professional Luminaires and this year's ABTT show in London will see the two lighting companies exhibit side by side for the fist time.

Selecon will be showing its comprehensive range of theatrical and display luminaires including the new Selecon Display Profile which delivers accurate beam shaping, two beam angles ranges, 15°-35° and 25°-50°, and precision projection optics. Designed around Selecon's core principles of precision, performance, simplicity and safety, the SDP combines high light output and beam quality with the capability to record and maintain design specifications, control and consistency.

Also on show will be the Rama 80V 175 High Performance Fresnel which produces a beam approaching the visual output of a mains voltage 2.0kW Fre

UK - Essential Lighting's new website is now available and ready for use. The site has been developed to provide customers with a useful resource to learn about the people at Essential, their services and most importantly the equipment they can provide.

Adding equipment to the new site has allowed Essential to start creating a complete technical resource, offering information including specifications and in-depth technical detail on many fixtures.

A download section that includes brochures, user manuals, datasheets, accessories and more is also available on a growing list of equipment.

The 'news' and 'equipment' sections have also now been linked together to allow users to see photos and videos of fixtures in use. Equipment items now include a 'recent uses' gallery to show how they have been included on shows - this will be especially useful to demonstrate the versatility of

Denmark - A new version of Martin Professional's Windows-based LightJockey lighting controller is now available - LightJockey v.2.9.1. Notable changes in the new version include Vista 32-bit compatibility and new fixture updates, as well as other upgrades.

LightJockey will now recognize Windows Vista (32-bit only) as an operating system and allow for Universal USB/DMX interface configuration and use when running under Windows Vista.

Fixture additions/upgrades include: Martin MAC III Profile (basic 16-bit); Martin Extube single segment with HSI, HSIC and RGBW control; Profiles for 16-bit control of RBG fixtures (includes profile for one 16-bit RGB unit and four 16-bit RGB units). Other improvements include an update of the driver for the Universal USB/DMX interface, bug fixes and more.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Hawaii's East-West Centre is the latest international conference facility to upgrade to Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion systems following a recent installation by Oahu-based AV specialists The Audio Visual Company (AVCO).

The 50-year-old facility was established by the United States Government to promote understanding and education between Asian and Pacific countries and the US.The East-West Centre continues to work toward these ends on its 21-acre property adjacent to the University of Hawaii's main campus on the Island of Oahu.

The new Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion system replaces a 25-year-old system in the Centre's 1,400sq.ft Asia Room, which seats 64 people. Each DCN interpreter station is configured to translate Korean, Japanese, and Chinese - the system can be configured to translate up to 10 languages.

AVCO project manager Wade Higa

USA - LEDtronics has introduced G15-Style DécorLED lamps that consume less than 1 watt and directly replace 10W incandescent bulbs. The DEC-G15E12 series of globe-style clear-lens with standard candelabra-based LED light bulbs provide architects, entertainment designers and other lighting professionals with the means to integrate ornamental illumination into maintenance-intensive applications, says the company.

These solid-state G15 DécorLED lamps are available in extra pure white (5000K) or extra warm white (3000K). 18 discrete LEDs are optimally configured to disperse light in an omnidirectional 270°-wide beam, with each high-intensity LED incorporating optical-grade epoxy to produce vivid illumination between 25.4 to 27.4 lumens, depending on model number.

A moulded polycarbonate, UV-protected and shatter-resistant 1.9"-diameter globe protects the LED

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