UK - As part of the Formula 1 coverage on Sky Sports F1 HD, an unusual and yet fascinating collaboration took place which was filmed in Sky Studios 5. The Ballad of the Duelling Drivers is a musical journey through this season's battle between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. This weekend's race in Abu Dhabi will determine which of the two is champion.

The clip has been created and directed by Sky Sports F1's Alex Rodger with musical contributions from Tokio Myers. Actor Peter Guinness narrates the viewers through 2014's turbulent season.

LD Richard Bowles designed the lights for the performance, which was supplied by Richard Martin Lighting (RML). The specification included VL 1000's, Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700's, VL 3000's and the new Clay Paky Mythos.

"The whole set looked incredible and Richard captured exactly the mood I was after," said

UK - The Jands Vista lighting and media control console proved its flexibility and power when it provided control for this year's Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular event at popular UK theme park, Alton Towers Resort.

Alton Towers Resort specified the Jands Vista system to provide lighting and media control for the event, for the fourth consecutive year.

Simon Horsley, Alton Towers Resort's technical manager, based his lighting design for the show around this year's storyline, which took guests through a battle between dreams and nightmares, featuring the thrills and fear of the Resort's most famous rides.

Simon's dramatic lighting for the event utilised a Jands Vista console to control the rig, which featured over 150 fixtures from leading brands including Martin, Clay Paky and Robe.

In addition to the lighting, the show featured an impressive video element projected o

USA - Eric Wade, of FOHShow LLC, is the first US lighting designer to put Ayrton's Radicalnew MagicPanel-R out on a major tour - that of American R&B/hip-hop artist Usher as he embarks on a 50-date tour across America and Europe to promote his eighth album, UR.

Wade's rig includes 64 active MagicPanel-R units in the air, plus 25 Ayrton MagicBlade -R fixtures under a transparent forestage. Both fixtures are members of Ayrton's new Radfical line of LED beam projectors, which was introduced at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt earlier this year.

The common component of the entire Radical line is an individually-controllable, 15W RGBW multi-chip LED source coupled with a 67mm diameter 4.5° collimator optic. MagicPanel-R puts these emitters into a 5 x 5 matrix, while MagicBlade-R mounts them in a unique, seven-in-a-row, in-line configuration. Both fixtures feature a fast mov

Spain - The flamenco dance company De sangre y raza has drawn praise from visitors and lighting professionals alike with its self titled production at the Infanta Isabel Theatre in Madrid - thanks in no small part to the use of ETC Source Four LED Series 2 in the wings, which were used to highlight the dancers.

Lit by Carlos Fajardo, the production was a joint effort by dancers, choreographers and designers, with the aim to create accessible dance - as they say, "art for everybody" - for the full colour production of the famously emotional and passionate dance style.

Fajardo comments, "We were really impressed with how well the Source Four LED fixtures were able to highlight the dancers' colourful costumes while still maintaining natural skin tones. By being able to instantly call on a wide range of different colours, the fixtures made the job of lighting the da

UK - Two of Redbridge Drama Centre's much-loved venues, the Lovegrove Theatre and Telford Studios, have recently received a delivery of over 50 new Philips Selecon PL range luminaires as a means to reduce the Drama Centre's energy consumption.

The shift to LED came as a result of a £192,000 grant given to RDC by Arts Council England to improve the building and to implement energy saving measures, in part by replacing the traditional stage lighting with LED luminaires. The Drama Centre's technical drama officers Chris Bocking and Ben Ward along with Mick Cocker of Lighting Logic, who supplied and installed the units, spent months researching the best possible luminaires for the re-fit and selected the Selecon PLfresnel1 and Selecon PLcyc1 for their project.

The Philips Selecon PLfresnel1 is a general purpose luminaire for theatre, small studio and display lighting applica

Belarus - Prime Hall is a new 2,000-seat, multi tiered concert hall located inside Zamok, the biggest shopping mall in Minsk.

In the three months since it opened in the Belarus capital it has quickly become the city's leading concert venue - thanks in part to its 120kW of dynamic lighting, and the large number of premium discharge and LED fixtures taken from the PR Lighting catalogue.

In total over 130 pieces have been installed, largely drawn from the manufacturer's popular XS1200 portfolio. The complete inventory comprises 34 XS 1200 Spot, 13 XS 1200 Wash, 20 XS 1200 Beam and six XL1200 Framing spots. Also specified were 12 of PR Lighting's XLED 3108 Zoom and 28 of the popular XR300 Beam, and finally 18 of the economical Solo 575P Spot (575W discharge) fixtures provide further beam movement options.

The flexibility offered by PR Lighting's fixtures had been one of the key

Back on Song - The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall has reopened to visitors and live music performances after completion of part of a £14m refurbishment. Originally designed by Liverpool architect Herbert Rowse, the Grade II-listed building first welcomed audiences in 1939 but was closed in May for a revamp of the main concert hall and auditorium. Changes to the concert hall are the first part of the overhaul of the interior, due for completion next summer.

Wembley Bound - Ed Sheeran has announced plans for his biggest solo concert to date at Wembley Stadium on 10 July 2015. He said: "I've made no secret recently of my ambition to play Wembley Stadium on my own in front of 80,000 people. I am absolutely over the moon to be able to announce it's going to happen next summer. It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait." The show will be part of his Multiply

UK - Pulsar moved into its present Cambridgeshire premises in the latter part of 2002. It was also at this point they installed LED lighting on the front of the building, confident in its reliability, longevity, and durability. Twelve ChromaPanels were installed on the South-facing front of the factory building in May 2003 and have been running 24/7 ever since, with an additional 21m of ChromaStrip 2 installed the following year.

Fast forward to today and the original ChromaPanels printed with the Pulsar name have clocked an impressive 11 years 5 months of continuous activity - actually surpassing 100,000 hours! This real-world industry first is proof of LED's amazing longevity and also of Pulsar's dedication to making the highest quality LED lighting fixtures on the market, says the company.

Braving all that the Great British weather has to throw at them, the fixtures have en

USA - City Theatrical will be launching a number of new products at LDI 2014 in Las Vegas this month.

A new feature to the multi award-winning SHoW DMX Neo product line is the addition of Maximum Bandwidth Technology which allows SHoW DMX to change from Frequency Hopping to Wide Band Digital Modulation, which allows it to narrow its output to smaller areas of the 2.4GHz spectrum, such as Wi-Fi channels 13-14, where in the United States, no Wi-Fi broadcast takes place.

This allows SHoW DMX to avoid all Wi-Fi interference in an otherwise saturated spectrum. This is accomplished simply by selecting a SHoW ID on the user interface or via RDM. This feature will be available as an upgrade for all present SHoW DMX Neo users and will be a standard feature of all new SHoW DMX Neo sales.

CTI is expanding their line of professional QolorFLEX brand LED tapes with the addition of 23 new

UK - UK wireless LED lighting manufacturer CORE Lighting is exhibiting at the 2014 LDI expo in Las Vegas for the second consecutive year ... reflecting increased business and a strong interest across its product range in the US and central America.

Two new products are presented in the US for the first time - the PinPoint and the ColourPoint Mk2.

CORE's Phil Ion comments, "Following a great reception for the new products at PLASA, we are hoping for further positive feedback at LDI. We will also be making some important announcements after the show as we focus attention on developing our markets in Canada and the Americas."

As for the new products, the PinPoint - launched at PLASA in London - is a new highly dynamic product - fully designed and made in the UK as with all CORE's technology. Already in production, the tiny IP65 rated wireless pin-spot / birdie weighs

USA - Martin Professional has announced the immediate availability of the Rush MH 5 Profile.

The Rush MH 5 Profile is a compact and bright LED profile moving head with efficient optics to punch out a variety of effects and colours. With two colour wheels, two gobo wheels and rotating prism the MH 5 Profile offers full effects in a super compact housing, making it perfect for DJs, bands, clubs, bars, cruise ships and installations where small footprint and low weight is critical.

"This highly anticipated fixture is fully CE and ETL compliant, which is a strong differentiator to non-certified products," said Mark Buss, product manager for Rush by Martin. "The Rush MH 5 Profile has suffered a slight delay in reaching the market, as we wanted to ensure that all the necessary third party certifications were in place before shipping."

(Jim Evans)

Switzerland - The new Diode Series laser systems from Laserworld has only been on the market a few weeks, but is already experiencing massive demand.

"Many of the big sound & light retailers in Europe listed the products quickly after the product release and the demand from the customers was great," says Norbert Stangl, sales & marketing director at Laserworld. "We set this product line to provide a semi-professional laser show system at significantly low pricing, but with professional features like the latest diode-only technology and analogue modulation."

The Diode Series RGB white light products are available in three different power levels with up to 800mW, 1,800mW and 3,300mW: The DS-900RGB, the DS-1800RGB and the DS-3300RGB. All Diode Series units have automatic mode, sound-to-light mode, DMX512 capability and an ILDA (computer control) interface. The

UK - UK-based event safety consultancy Stagesafe reports the Health and Safety Executive's announcement that CDM Regulations will be enforced on the events and entertainment industry from April 2015.

The news was confirmed at last week's meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainment (JACE) at the HSE in Westminster. The following report was produced by Michael Anderson and Lee Holloway, members of SAGE (Safety Advisors Group in Entertainment):

"This was an unexpected turn of events as it had appeared earlier this year that a "BEA" (Business Engagement Assessment) industry impact assessment process engaging with the event industry trade associations may have led to a decision not to enforce. But HSE stated that they had since received legal advice that not enforcing would breach European law and expose the government to international prosecution.

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USA - Over 1,000 students gathered 9-11 October at the Willamette Christian Centre in Eugene, Oregon, for the Oregon Ministry Network Youth Convention. Apropos for a youth event, lighting direction and design was handled by one of the youngest lighting designers around, 16-year-old Caleb Franke of Illuminate Production Services. Caleb, who already has a number of lighting designs under his belt, had a large variety of Elation lighting gear at his disposal from discharge-based Platinum Series moving heads to LED-based moving heads, strip lights, Pars, blinders and video panels.

This was Illuminate Production Services seventh year handling lighting for the event, an annual gathering of local youth that features guest speakers, performances and special parties. "When I was designing the rig we needed to transform the room from its church look to a special event conference styl

USA - After being launched to great acclaim at the recent PLASA London international tradeshow, Chroma-Q will be showcasing PLASA Members Choice Awards Finalist, the new Color One 100 LED Par, at LDI 2014 in Las Vegas.

The Color One 100 features an innovative fully homogenised beam, virtually eliminating the colour separation and shadows synonymous with LED lighting - delivering above Par performance from one source.

The unit's optical design provides a smooth, uniform and defined 20° beam. This makes it suitable for use as a front and backlight with clean shadows, and an uplighter with a smooth, even beam.

An extensive RGBA colour-mixing palette delivers outstanding colour blend across the spectrum - including deep-cold blues, red-hot lava looks and super-soft pastels, as well as a complete range of whites. In addition, the high CRI of 93 ensures extremely accurate colo

USA - Robe Lighting Inc. will once again exhibit at LDI on 21-23 November at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. With an elegant booth design and exciting new products including the recently-launched BMFL Spot, the LDI exhibition is the grand finale of Robe's 20th anniversary celebrations.

The Czech Republic-based manufacturer is also sponsoring the recharge lounge. Recharge stations and seating will be available for all LDI guests. The area will highlight the BMFL Spot, a new mega-bright long-throw signature fixture that needs a large environment in order to be shown most effectively.

Numerous products will be introduced by Robe at LDI, including the miniPointe together with all the current product range luminaires on this spectacular booth, which will also feature one of Robe's dazzling lightshows.

Anolis, the architectural division of Robe, will be integrated into the lounge

USA - The Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu launched its Helumoa Playground Superpool series this autumn, comprising two distinct 3D pool mapping light show stories presented twice every evening to entertain hotel guests and the general public. Billed as the world's first permanent installation of its kind, the 3D pool mapping shows are projected across a 7,503sq.ft pool canvas, demonstrating lively displays of volcanic eruptions in Helumoa - the birth of Hawaii and the rise of historical Hawaiian resorts and water sports in Helumoa - the legendary story of Waikiki.

The Sheraton Waikiki hired PointCloud Media, a full-service production company specializing in 3D projections, to develop innovative, energized shows featuring graphic figures and images projected onto the nearly 200,000 gallon superpool. The PointCloud solution integrates its core Raylight4D mapping system

UK - Australian dance-theatre piece Intimacy by Michelle Ryan and Torque Show recently traversed the globe to take up residence at the Southbank Centre in London. Part of the Unlimited disability arts festival, the piece was lit with eight Philips Selecon LED PLprofile1 luminaires, chosen for their crucial colourising flexibility by lighting designer John Ford.

Ford, of lighting design consultancy Relume, specified the Selecon luminaires when it came to lighting the piece during its previous run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

"I chose the PLprofile1 luminaires as I knew I needed something flexible to get as many lighting options as possible into a small space, and a conventional rig can be limiting in that sense," says Ford. "I used the PLprofile1 luminaires in dance booms, because I wanted a wide range of colour, and they gave me the varie

Europe - The new Philips ArenaVision LED is a lighting fixture dedicated for sports and multifunctional lighting applications. The unit brings a maximum design flexibility and high level of light quality, with no flicker effect in television application. Philips and Luminex worked together to bring an exclusive way to control and monitor these fixtures, offering maximum flexibility in switching between different types of events.

The partnership between the two companies started at RDM plug fest two years ago, and resulted in an agreement between both companies to share ideas and know-how. Luminex could bring its expertise in the entertainment market, and network based lighting control solutions.

A bespoke solution based on its Ethernet-DinMX4 and LumiNet Monitor V2 software was developed to provide advanced RDM monitoring, and easy to use merged control for the on tour lightin

USA - Jands' flagship Vista L5 console is controlling a large rig on popular American country music duo Thompson Square's Just Feels Good tour, which features over 80 moving lights and a large configuration of HD video screens.

Thompson Square consists of husband and wife, Keifer and Shawna Thompson. The group have received three fan-voted American Country Awards, a CMT Music Award, and were crowned the 2012 Academy of Country Music's Vocal Duo of the Year - the first new duo to win the award in 20 years. They are now one of America's biggest country acts, selling more than 2m copies of their Grammy-nominated hit single, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not.

Jeff Lavallee from Nashville-based lighting, rentals and production company, 44 Designs - which holds a large fleet of Jands Vista consoles - supplied the Vista L5 to lighting designer Larry Foote for the tour.

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Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the immediate pre-order availability of their new M-DMX interface hardware for connecting lighting software and DMX universes as well as several new controller solution bundles, including the M-PC 2U bundle and the LightJockey 2 and M-PC+ Controller kit.

The Martin M-DMX is a rugged aluminium extruded device and is built with two XLR 5-pin DMX ports, a USB 2.0 connection and a K-lock slot for securing the device. The interface also features a new stackable design, LED indicators and isolated dual output. The M-DMX is compatible with Martin's LightJockey and M-PC software, M-Series Consoles, Fixture Upload software, and is backwards compatible with Martin's Duo-DMX interface.

Martin's M-PC 2U is a professional two-DMX universe package, bundling Martin's M-PC software and the newly designed M-DMX two-port DMX interface. As the latest e

UK - Lighting / visuals designer Jvan Morandi is enjoying his first tour with the UK indie rockers The Kooks, who have just kicked off a UK and European tour, with lighting, LED screens and several custom elements supplied by west London rental specialist, Colour Sound Experiment.

Jvan is not afraid of taking a creative risk or two, and the design involves a provocative synergy of lighting and video delivered with Jvan's trademark thought and intelligence. The set embraces a whole range of styles characterized by The Kooks own distinctive style, and for every number, Jvan's imagineering brings an individual look, theme or ambience.

It's also Jvan's first full tour with Colour Sound as a supplier, on which he comments, "I like working with this company. It's a very well-organized operation with excellent kit, everyone is friendly and highly knowledgeable - and generally th

UK - The latest in the successful series of PLASA Focus events will take place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow on 2-3 December 2014.

Aimed at bringing together audio and lighting experts working in the live events sector at a regional level, the show is a chance to meet representatives from industry leading companies to seek out the latest products and services - as well as a premier networking opportunity.

Event Director, James Ashwood, comments: "There's a strong selection of lighting and audio companies at the Glasgow show including Robe, Avolites, Ambersphere, White Light, Black Light, Chauvet and Sennheiser, along with key dealers such as TMB, LMC, Warehouse Sound, Apex acoustics, HDPro, FBT and Polar Audio and rigging, trussing and special effects companies. Add to that the free to attend two-day seminar program and the rigging conference -

UK - Using more lights than ever before STL created a light show with a punch at this year's Leeds Castle Fireworks display. Dubbed one of the South East's largest fireworks displays outside London, the Leeds Castle event in Kent, with synchronised lighting and fireworks to music, has become a draw for thousands of spectators each year and 2014 was better than ever.

Based on the outskirts of Maidstone in Kent, STL has designed and installed lighting at the Leeds Castle Fireworks display for five consecutive years. The company's ability to create a dramatic light show to music that compliments fireworks has become widely recognised, hence STL regularly works with pyrotechnic experts, Alchemy, who develop the theme for the annual Leeds Castle event.

Despite the essential maintenance work taking place on the exterior of the ancient building, which requires a permanent scaffold an

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