Sweden - Sweden's cold October was warmed up this year by the lecture Patrick Woodroffe held in Stockholm. It saw the participation of trade professionals, students and enthusiasts from Sweden, other Scandinavian countries and the Baltic States.

In the Södra Teatern in the Swedish capital, one of the most prestigious venues in the city, famous for hosting musical and theatrical events of international importance, over 150 people avidly followed Patrick Woodroffe as he recounted the most exciting moments of his career, focusing in particular on the preparation for the last Michael Jackson tour, which did not take place owing to the singer's untimely death.

The event was organised by Interlite, one of the most important Swedish companies in the lighting industry. Its CEO, Niclas Ardvisson, owns the Wireless Solution brand name, which is particularly well-known among trade profe

The Netherlands - Switch Concepts, a subsidiary company of the Ampco Flashlight Group in Holland, has purchased an ASL Digital system to address the ever-increasing demand for Intercom communication systems during major events. Switch Concepts' business is the design and execution of entertainment events including sound, light and video.

"We were looking at many different intercom systems, but there are several reasons we decided to go for ASL digital intercom," says Frank Verbeek from Switch Concepts.

"We were very impressed with the sound quality of the system and that it can actually produce the required listen levels in environments with high SPL background noise. Many other intercom systems are not able to do that.

"Then we also noticed how easily you can configure an event. It is so quickly done, that you can take the system even for a one day produ

Finland - Airing on MTV3, Idols is a Finnish reality-television singing competition that debuted in the summer of 2003 and went on to become one of the most popular shows on Finnish television. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality programme Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the UK.

Lighting, set and video designer Mikki Kunttu once again created a stunning design for the TV show that seeks to discover the best unsigned singer in Finland. To achieve this task, Kunttu relied on one grandMA2 light and one MA onPC command wing as backup for lighting control and stated, "grandMA2 is the only choice for me. As we are working on one of the most popular TV formats we had to use the best equipment on the market. The grandMA2 has never let me down."

Kunttu continued, "This

UK - PRG has added the following products to their offering.

The GLP Impression X4 fixtures bring power, flexibility and practicality in a new breakthrough design. Behind the front lens, the X4 offers 19 RGBW LED's, each rated at 15W providing a homogenized beam with high output and individually controllable "allowing you to programme unique looks and animations".

SGM's P-5 Wash Light, IP65, low-profile fixed, rectangular, full-colour LED wash light and just 408W power consumption. Wide angle lens fitted as standard.

Philips Colorblaze TRX, versatile, feature-packed linear RGBAW LED fixture with industry-leading light output, native 10° beam angle.

MA Lighting's most powerful console, Grand MA2. Offering the control of conventional light, moving lights, LED fixtures and media from one platform.

Look Solutions Viper S, a low power and fluid consumption, but

USA - ETC has announced the students who have been selected to attend the LDI 2013 tradeshow as part of ETC's LDI Student Sponsorship programme.

Now in its 14th year, the programme awards exceptional lighting design and stage technology students an all expenses paid trip to the LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas, 22-24 November, to get a behind the scenes look at new technology and to network with industry professionals. The sponsorship recipients are also matched with industry luminaries, who offer individual support, advice and encouragement to the students as they launch their careers. The 2013 recipients of the LDI Student Sponsorship are:

Brandon J. Clark holds a bachelor of arts in theatre through the design/technical track from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Under the mentorship of Professor Victor En Yu Tan, he designed the lighting for a number of theatre, ope

USA - Harman Professional has announced the appointment of Jonas Stenvinkel as head, Martin Professional Asia Pacific with permanent base in Singapore. Stenvinkel, who previously served as sales director of EMEA North, will lead Martin Professional's sales and service staff in the Singapore and Asia region. He will report directly to Thomas Marcher, director of sales at the Harman Professional Regional sales office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

"Jonas has demonstrated a strong commitment to comprehensive customer service and support over his 10 year career with Martin Professional. Jonas is a strong addition to the Asia team and I'm confident his strong leadership and experience will be an asset for our customers in the Asia region," says Marcher.

Before joining Martin Professional, Stenvinkel owned and operated a sound and lighting rental house. Commenting on his appoin

Belgium - The Belgian organisation CAP48 aims to change society's view about the question of handicap (be it physical, mental or social) with enhanced integration. It strives to raise funds for the disabled in Belgium via activities such as an annual TV show, produced in cooperation with Belgian TV channel RTBF.

The charity appeal - in the shape of a special show featuring top national and international artists - is broadcast live, and as such the TV set calls for an exceptional stage design.

Belgian lighting designer, Jean-Jacques Marotte, was tasked with delivering this, and his vision for achieving it hinged around the SGM LT-200 LED tubes.

"We wanted the audience to be very close to the stage, with an illuminated centrepiece creating an intimate effect during the dialogue, but also deliver a bright set, as you would expect on prime time TV," explains Marotte. &

Italy - Luciano Ligabue held six concerts in the evocative setting of the Verona Arena in the second half of September. They were a great audience success. Fans rushed from all over Italy in order not to miss the chance to attend the only live events planned by the Correggio-born singer in 2013. The six evenings sold out in advance in one morning, during which all 72,000 tickets were bought. Besides the usual band, a real seventy-piece classical orchestra enhanced the concerts. Its contribution made the type of music the singer-songwriter performed highly unusual.

The show was split into three distinct parts. During the first part, Ligabue was accompanied by the orchestra. He performed some of his most famous pieces rearranged for the occasion by Maestro Marco Sabiu. Next came a part extended to electric musical instruments, followed by a section with a decidedly more rock feel,

Ireland - Chroma-Q Color Force 72™ LED battens have delivered premium lighting performance for productions during this year's renowned Wexford Festival Opera in South-Eastern Ireland.

The event is one of the most innovative and fastest growing of the world's major arts festivals. A diverse line-up includes full-scale opera productions plus daytime performances of shorter works of music theatre, concerts, recitals, talks and stand-up comedy from new creative talent.

The Festival's chief electrician, Didier Barreau and lighting designer, Paul Keogan specified the Color Force fixtures for use in the Festival's main stage operas.

"I'd used the Chroma-Q Color Force 48 fixtures at another opera festival earlier this year and was really impressed by the quality of their output and colour mixing," says Keogan.

"The Color Force units are the only sources we use

South Africa - The Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town's foreshore area is in the process of upgrading the lighting facilities of its three theatre spaces. The centre was originally established in 1971 as the Nico Malan and was renamed Artscape in 2001 under the aegis of the provincial administration.

With its close proximity to Cape Town's central business district, the new International Convention Centre and the V & A Waterfront, Artscape is ideally situated to serve the Cape's performing arts, film, tourism, entertainment, conference and exhibition industries.

Covering an area of some 14,000 square meters, the Artscape complex consists of a fully equipped Opera House seating 1,487, a theatre auditorium seating 540, the smaller Arena theatre seating 140, a piazza, gardens, rehearsal rooms and ample parking.

It is a prominent feature of the Cape Town cultural scene with th

UK - Creative projection guru Ross Ashton from The Projection Studio in London and Sound Artist Karen Monid produced their third son et lumière Triquetra in the historical city of York, UK, for the 2013 Illuminating York Festival of Art.

The acclaimed work - which received massive coverage in the local and national press and an incredible public response - was beamed onto Clifford's Tower. Once the keep at York's famous Castle, the imposing Clifford's Tower sits on top of a tall mound and is one of York's signature pieces of architecture as well as among the most popular attractions in Yorkshire. English Heritage owns the tower, and Ashton was delighted to have the opportunity to apply his spectacular and unique visual magic.

The giant images stretched 75m wide across the base of the mound and were 25m tall, filling the whole space, lifting the landmark out of its surr

USA - On their largest LDI exhibition stand yet (booth #1925) Le Maitre, will be displaying and demonstrating their complete product line. The line-up will also include a preview of the soon to be launched Salamander Quad Pro flame effect, as well as the launch of the much awaited HazeMaster.

The Salamander Quad Pro is the latest flame unit under development from Le Maitre, and LDI will provide the first opportunity to see the new machine prior to its launch later in Spring 2014.

The original Salamander flame effect, launched earlier this year has been a resounding success units sold across the globe and particularly in the US, where there has been a big uptake for tours and cruise ships. The Salamander Quad Pro follows on from this successful launch, extending Le Maitre's flame family offering.

The Salamander Quad Pro is a larger, more versatile system than the Salamander.

South Africa - Robe moving lights are in action on the 2013 series of Idols South Africa, with lighting again designed by Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier and supplied by technical production specialists Dream Sets for series producers Sic Entertainment.

The 10 week series, directed by Gavin Wratten and broadcast on MNET and Mzanzi Magic, is being recorded in the 6500 capacity auditorium at Moreleta Church in Pretoria to packed houses each week. The competition is extremely close as South Africa is replete with rich multi-cultural singing talent and heritage.

It's the fourth idols series that Cutts - one of SA's leading LDs, known for his imagination, flair and style - has lit. Dream Sets' project manager for the series is Eben Peltz.

Set designer Dewet Meyer took a brief from Wratten and created a 'forest' of vertical trussing towers which sets the scene as a pseudo

UK - When Bliss Events was asked to manage a much bigger than previous Switch-On of the Regent Street Christmas lights, they turned to Star Events Group for a special set of equipment.

The brief called for a substantial stage with full PA & lighting rigging facilities, a fully roofed and raised grandstand for 220 VIPs and a screen support. All easy enough except for the need to close Regent Street on a busy Saturday in November. The road closure order gave just six hours to set up and 4.5 hours to remove everything. Star Events Group squeezed in the same mobile stage used for The Olympic Torch Relay, with just inches to spare between blocking the access to French Connection on stage right and the fire lane on stage left.

With Westminster City Council insisting that only mobile structures could be used (due to the need to re-open the road on time) and no mobile grandstand being

Australia - The recent International Fleet Review, which took place on Sydney Harbour, commemorated the centenary of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet entry into Sydney Harbour. Events culminated with a spectacular pyrotechnics and lightshow consisting of 30 minutes of complex, highly choreographed fireworks, projection, lighting and live action centred around Sydney's Harbour and Opera House.

Fat Sound was contracted to light structures for the event and after scoping the market for suitable outdoor lighting, director Ray Eberle came across the Chauvet Professional COLORado 4 IP. Believing that it ticked all the boxes in terms of suitable colour saturation, build quality, IP rating and most of all output (not to mention pricing), Ray claimed it was no brainer and that the COLORado 4 IP worked perfect on lighting the job at hand, lighting the exterior of the Royal Australian

UK - After four years of being away doing other things, Paul O'Grady is about to turn your teatimes on their head as he is back with a new series of The Paul O'Grady Show. Starting this week, the new show will be aired on ITV Monday - Friday at 5pm.

The chat show will include celebrity interviews, music, stunts and previously loved games including the Organ Game where a member of the audience has to chance to win £5,000 cash.

This series guests will include JLS, Jackie Collins, Dynamo, Dido, Cliff Richards and various actors from Coronation Street.

LD Dave Davey returns to the light the show and Richard Martin Lighting (RML) have been appointed as the lighting supplier again. The simple yet effective lighting right rig includes VL1000TS, MAC 700s and MAC Auras.

The MAC Aura has fast become a favourite with our LD's and an Industry standard, so much so that RML

UK - Samba Swirl has opened a new flagship frozen yogurt store in Camden Town, London using InStyle LED's new programmable DMX LED Tape.

Samba Swirl has opened its fourth frozen yogurt store located on Jamestown road in Camden. The new store has undergone a complete rebrand and has been fully fitted with InStyle LED programmable LED Tape through the floor, ceiling, signage and around the yogurt machines to create amazing chasing, pulsing and colour changing patterns.

The LED lights flow from outside the store to the yogurt machines inside and then on to the counter.

The store was designed by architect, Jonathan Mizzi from Mizzi Studios who contacted InStyle LED Ltd to create and program the lighting effect for the store. The InStyle lighting programmer worked with the Architect to create powerful combinations of colours and patterns to highlight the theme of the store. With

Australia - The recent International Fleet Review, which took place on Sydney Harbour, commemorated the centenary of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet entry into Sydney Harbour. Events culminated with a spectacular pyrotechnics and lightshow consisting of 30 minutes of complex, highly choreographed fireworks, projection, lighting and live action centred around Sydney's Harbour and Opera House.

Fat Sound was contracted to light structures for the event and after scoping the market for suitable outdoor lighting, director Ray Eberle came across the Chauvet Professional COLORado 4 IP. Believing that it ticked all the boxes in terms of suitable colour saturation, build quality, IP rating and most of all output (not to mention pricing), Ray claimed it was no brainer and that the COLORado 4 IP worked perfect on lighting the job at hand, lighting the exterior of the Royal Australian

USA - Never resting on its laurels, Elation Professional has been continually making R&D advances in some of its most successful lighting products and technologies, most notably the Platinum lamp and LED categories as well as new control solutions. Now the company will be showcasing products built around these innovations at the 2013 LDI Show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, 22-24 November.

As a leader in the Platinum discharge lamp category, Elation continues to innovate in this field with three new energy-efficient discharge lamp moving head fixtures. The new additions include the Platinum Profile 35 Pro, the company's first "framing shutter" high-power moving head featuring the MSR Platinum 35 lamp from Philips, which runs at 800 watts yet delivers output comparable to 1,200-watt moving head profile MSR fixtures.

Another Platinum introduction is the Plati

UAE - Creative Communication Group's (CCG) Abu Dhabi Office has just received its impressive purchase from Clay Paky the newest Clay Paky Arc-Lamp Moving Lights. CCG purchased their first order 36 units of Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330.

"The Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330 is one of the most important lights in the market now, where eventers are keen to have it in their technical riders, the colour temperature of this fixture is amazing not to mention the light weight and the speed", says Jalal Dudin, CEO Creative Communication Group.

Along with the Sharpy, CCG added 24 units of the Igloo (EASY version with no W-DMX), "Igloo Weather proof units are something that the market needs in this region due to weather conditions, we have decided to invest on these units to make sure that nothing will stop us from delivering to our client, in the past we

faced many obstacles beca

Australia - Scene Change in Tasmania has taken delivery of Philips Vari*Lite VL880 Spot luminaires primarily to service their busy corporate market. Compact and economical yet still loaded with powerful and useful features, the VL880 comes complete with all of the optical quality and functionality designers have come to expect from Philips Vari*Lite.

"We were most impressed by their whisper-quiet operation which is very important in the world of corporate events," remarked Steve Fraser, technical director of Scene Change Tasmania. "Plus they are compact and lightweight which is great for corporate set ups. However, despite their small size they really deliver a lot of punch with their intense and powerful beam."

The VL880's 800-watt MSR Platinum 35 lamp allows for a very impressive lumen output and there is a zoom range from 15º to 36º, plus a mechanical

Italy - The inauguration of the new Science Museum in Trento was a great success: almost 30,000 visitors, 250 events including thematic meetings, talk shows, other shows, concerts and art installations, more than 450 people involved in the organization, 150 accredited journalists, 25,000 visitors to the new website in the first two days, and 40,000 views of the video Push to add Science. These are the extraordinary figures that document the success of the grand opening of Muse, an event "that projects the Museum and the city of Trento into the future," as manager Michele Lanzinger pointed out during the 24 hour non-stop inauguration.

The lighting and show designer Mariano De Tassis (who also produced the show together with Alessio Kogoy and Samuela Caliari) designed the lighting. "The customer's idea," Mariano explained, "was to put on a 24 hour non-stop

USA - After a successful show in July 2012, the PLASA Focus event series is returning to Nashville on 18-19 February, 2014, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

"We have decided to return to Nashville as the PLASA Focus event held there in 2012 was very well received well by both visitors and exhibitors, which is not surprising as the city is renowned for its vibrant music and entertainment scene. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the latest technology from the biggest brands, be provided with free access to a two-day education program, and network with industry colleagues." says Christopher Toulmin, head of PLASA Events.

Companies already signed up to exhibitor at the show include 4Wall Entertainment, DiGiCo, Altman Lighting, Barbizon, CAST, Chauvet Professional, Drape Kings, Elation, Martin Professional, Morpheus Lights and TMB. Space is limited so compan

South Africa - Every year thousands of predominantly Afrikaans speaking South Africans embark on a two hour drive from Johannesburg to Sun City's Superbowl to attend Huisgenoot Skouspel. This year was no different as fans either stayed at Sun City for the weekend, or commuted on the day, to see their favourite performers on one stage during October 2013.

The production strongly embraced a theatrical feel, with carefully selected songs and nostalgic video content stirring emotions. A combination of Philips Vari-Lite and Robe fixtures were used to create clean looks, as LD Joshua Cutts painted in colour.

Starting from the set, designer Michael Gill of MGD proved that less is more. He used curved lines to create an eye-catching yet uncomplicated space which had staircases on either side of the stage going up to a balcony type platform. DWR Distribution's Eazy Moeketsie and Gideon

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