Hungary - Ayrton's dynamic MagicPanel-R and MagicBlade-R LED lighting fixtures formed key elements in Light Design Kft's lighting of the interactive singing contest Rising Star Hungary, the Grand Finale of which broke all ratings records in February 2015. The competition took place over three months and was broadcast on television networks across Hungary and the neighbouring countries.

The Ayrton fixtures were incorporated into a dazzling set of curved LED walls which displayed video content and abstract imagery throughout the show. Twenty-four MagicPanel-R and twenty-four MagicBlade-R luminaires were rigged between the LED walls where they served as a homogenous surface for video display as well as performing as standard moving head fixtures. Several of the Ayrton fixtures' on-board functions were then used to create a wide range of effects in keeping with the mapping an

Germany - This year at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt, lighting control specialist Visual Productions will officially launch the availability of three new products. The Dutch manufacturer will be located on its own stand in Hall 11 within the show area of the company's German distributor, LMP. These new products will also be highlighted in the LMP "New Product" area and available from their stock after the show.

Showing will be the QuadCore - a new solid-state lighting controller in the CueCore family. It features 2,048 DMX channels across 4 DMX outputs. The on-board flash memory allows for storing DMX shows. Playback can be fully automated and triggered by various IP based protocols.

The QuadCore is bundled with the CueluxPro software-based lighting control desk and includes a 4-universe license of CueluxPro. Larger universe numbers are achieved by stacking

USA - In Oak Creek, WI, the Oak Creek Assembly of God recently produced the musical A Little Boys Prayer. Set in a small town but with over 200 performers in the show, technical director Nate Turner needed to create a lighting design that could take the congregation somewhere they have never been before. To do this, he needed both multi-faceted and powerful automated fixtures, so he worked with Clearwing Productions who provided him with VL4000 Spot and VL3000 Spot luminaires from Phillips Vari-Lite.

"The VL3500 Spot had been my go-to light for the last couple of years, but when I found out Clearwing had the VL4000 Spots, I was very excited to use them on this show," began Turner. "I first saw the VL4000 Spot at a Clearwing demo and I was immediately impressed by the brightness, but when you add in the extra gobo wheel and the framing shutters, it makes it

Fame Academy - Sir Paul McCartney is to induct former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Starr is the last of The Beatles receive the musical honour. Sir Paul will usher in the 74-year-old at the 30th annual ceremony at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum next month. The Beatles are already in the hall as a group, as are John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as solo artists. Other inductees will include Green Day, Lou Reed and Bill Withers.

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Starr said it meant "recognition" of his work. He added: "And it means, finally, the four of us are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though we were the biggest pop group in the land."

Eagle Joe Walsh will perform some of Starr's music, while Withers' music will be performed by John Legend. It is not known if Withers, who quit

USA - Shaping Sound, the contemporary dance company founded by Emmy-nominated choreographers Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Teddy Forance, and dance visionary Kyle Robinson took their art to stages around the country to tell the story of a girl whose dreams take her on a journey through love, loss and life.

The performances featured numbers by some of the most respected dancers, whose collective work has appeared on American Idol, Glee, The Tony Awards, The Grammys, The Oscars, and The X-Factor and wrapped their 36 date tour in late February.

Seth Jackson and co-designer Nathan Scheuer worked to create a traditional dance plot with modern technology, and with lighting director Teresa Porterfield Fensler out on the road on her own, the designers selected an automated rig provided by Bandit Lites.

House pipes were used to hang the overhead fixtures and carri

Belgium - Lighting designer Jean-Jacques Marotte was the go-to guy for event agency DDMC, when they were tasked with the production and creation of the inauguration of the new railway tunnel in the north of Antwerp.

The tunnel interconnects the left and right banks of the Harbour of Antwerp, and the celebration took the form of a spectacular opening ceremony. The train arrived at the station with prominent Belgian ministers and VIPs on board to experience a live show with performers and lighting effects adding new dimensions to the outdoor railway environment.

PRG Belgium was the technical supplier of video, light, sound and rigging for this impressive project and Jean-Jacques Marotte put the equipment into perfect action.

"We started the installation one week in advance. It was extremely cold during the build-up period. These extreme weather circumstances were the reas

UK - Robe lights were right there at the hub of the action for the UK's largest student show and the world's biggest Bhangra competition, Bhangra Showdown, which this year seriously upped the ante, moving to the SSE Arena, Wembley, London for the first time, reflecting the success and popularity of the event now in its eighth glorious year.

The show - organized by Imperial College Bhangra Society also featured its largest and most ambitious technical production to date to accompany the eight top student teams who strutted their talent in the battle for The UK's Best Student Bhangra Team.

Kudos AV, based in Middlesex, have sponsored the event for many years and this year were also the main technical production provider. With the move to the larger venue, they asked High Wycombe lighting rental company Siyan to supply some of the additional kit needed and also assist on t

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has been appointed exclusive UK distributor for the Fiilex range of premium performance hard source location LED lighting, which is aimed at professionals in broadcast, studio and film requiring high quality colour tuneable lighting.

Manufactured using the very best components and production techniques, Fiilex products are extremely robust, powerful and portable. The range utilises multiple colours of LEDs to produce a spectral curve with significantly less peaks and troughs, resulting in much better colour response on camera than is traditionally experienced from single colour LED light sources.

The high quality, colour tuneable (Bi-Colour) light output, which is a much closer emulation of a traditional tungsten source, reduces the likelihood of variation with natural light at a range of colour temperatures between 3,000K and 5,600

Sweden - LumenRadio has appointed Bellalite as the new exclusive distributor of the CRMX brand in Sweden.

Bellalite is the leading supplier of lighting and sound solutions in Sweden for a wide range of applications ranging from rental, live events, theatre, TV and film to indoor and outdoor architectural applications. Bellalite, with offices located in Växjö, Gothenburg and Stockholm, has an extensive product portfolio from leading lighting manufactures including such well-known brands as Robe, Avolites, ADJ, Antari, ETC and Elation.

The new cooperation got off with a flying start at this year LLB Show in Stockholm, where Bellalite was showcasing the entire CRMX product line in the 'BigBlack' stand.

Preparing to further introduce the advantages of LumenRadio's award-winning CRMX technology to the thriving rental and theatre market in Sweden, Joakim Lundgren, Bellalite's ma

USA - Staging and production design company 44 Designs of Nashville, Tennessee, has provided Elation Cuepix Panels and Sniper 2R multi-effect lights for Christian rock band Family Force 5's set on Winter Jam, the U.S.'s largest annual Christian music tour.

Winter Jam, which tours the US South and Midwest through the end of March, features Christian rock, rap, and contemporary music, along with other performances and speakers. 44 Designs worked directly with Family Force 5, providing design and rental gear for their Winter Jam set.

Lighting designer Jeff Lavallee of 44 Designs mounted 12 Cuepix Panels and 12 Snipers in custom set carts on each side of the drum riser to add visual excitement and punch to the band's eclectic mix of music. The custom set carts are stationary during the performance but are on casters should the band decide to change or adjust their position one nig

USA - The Next NXT-1 moving head LED display from Chauvet Professional combines fast pan/tilt movement with a tight 6° beam angle to create "brilliant in-motion eye candy displays" that will mesmerize audiences at concerts, festivals and live productions of all types.

The Next NXT-1 is powered by high-performance 4-in-1 (red, green, blue, white) Osram LEDs, configured in 5 rows of 5, which produce a monstrous 15,500 lux at 5 meters. This ultra-bright output allows its sharp pixel-mapped images to cut through haze and washes on stage and -- combined with its extremely narrow beam angle -- deliver maximum punch at long throws, when used as an LED wash, making it suitable for concert/touring applications.

The Next NXT-1 was engineered to make the programming process fast and easy for users of all technical skill levels. The panel is equipped with a "virtual-gob

UK - This year's X-Factor Live tour featured an outstanding collection of new artists including Fleur East and 2014 X Factor winner, Ben Haenow, who showcased their copious talents in a fast paced performance together with a vibrant and fluid visual environment produced and choreographed by Beth Honan and lit by Peter Barnes. The tour's technical direction was by Production North for Syco; production manager on the road was Mike Clegg. Lighting equipment was supplied by Blackburn-based rental specialist HSL.

HSL has worked on the last few X Factor Live tours and seen the production values increase year-on-year as the live tour concept has proved every bit as popular as the TV show and a great showcase and learning curve for the new talents to start reaching out and building their own fan-bases.

This year, Fleur and Ben were joined by Andrea Faustini, Jay J

World - LD Aldo Visentin decided to include the Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE in his lighting design, and they certainly "contribute to the consensus and successes," that Andrea Bocelli's new concerts are achieving in the United States, up to the final event at Madison Square Garden "where all eyes were focused on us".

The first series of concerts illuminated by A.leda B-EYE started in November and ended before last Christmas; while the second series of concerts will commence again in June, with a summer break, and then continue throughout November and December 2015.

The production of shows, of one or more concerts in different continents does not always reflect the organisation of a tour that requires a combination of well-defined organisational, managerial and strategic activities with regard to the supply of the materials and resources required: the same materi

The Netherlands - The ADJ Group of Companies has announced that a new management team will be running its European operation with immediate effect. The new team will be responsible together for the continued growth of all European-based companies including ADJ Supply Europe B.V., Elation Professional B.V. and DuraTruss B.V.

The new management team is made up of familiar faces from within ADJ Europe and consists of Marc Librecht, European sales manager (Elation); Kris Dawber, European sales manager (ADJ); Jo Mulders, general manager; and Sebastian Mobers, purchase manager.

The new management team in Europe has been hand-picked by ADJ president Toby Velazquez. Speaking of the change, Velazquez said: "These are exciting times for ADJ in Europe. The last couple of years have seen rapid expansion, new warehousing and hundreds of new products. At the heart of any good company i

Slovakia - Bratislava-based rental company Q-99, has expanded its already extensive stock of Robe moving lights with the purchase of 24 of the new BMFL Spot multi-functional moving lights. The company is headed by Martin Kubanka, who is also one of the country's leading lighting designers and a leading practitioner in European television and special event lighting and visuals.

Kubanka first saw the BMFL in action during Robe's BMFL World Tour roadshows after its launch in September. "The technical parameters were so impressive," he says, "- the speed of the fixture, the ultra-smooth dimming and colour mixing, special features like the auto-focus, and the consequent wide range of applications . . . made them a 'must-have'."

Having now had the chance to put them into action on his own shows, Kubanka is extremely happy with his decision. "The BMFL Spot is

Italy - Wireless Solution Sweden has appointed Music & Lights as the exclusive distributor of W-DMX for the Italian market.

Wireless Solution has worked with Music & Lights for years, as OEM W-DMX systems are already installed in several products in the Music & Lights portfolio, including projectors by Prolights and ArchWork. "W-DMX has been recognized as a standard of high reliability and quality for professional performance and demanding environments," the manufacturer says.

Fabio Sorabella, CEO of Music & Lights, states: "It has been proven that Wireless Solution Transmission Systems are the best choice to sustain our lighting solutions. The use of a W-DMX is a guarantee both for us and for our customers and partners worldwide. We strongly believe in this technology and we consider it to be much more than just an alternative to transmission cables since it al

USA - A new contemporary live entertainment venue, Livewire, opened recently in Scottsdale, Arizona, outfitted with a large, professional lighting and video system from Elation Professional supplied by Elation dealer Fyxx Entertainment.

Located in the heart of Scottsdale's Entertainment District, Livewire is Arizona's newest premier concert and performance space, playing host to a spectrum of national touring acts (Jeff Bridges, The English Beat, Boyz II Men) and up-and-coming local bands all supported by state-of-the-art sound, lighting and production.

Designed from the ground up for live music, the 14,000sq.ft venue occupies the same location that iconic Scottsdale nightclub Axis/Radius did for 16 years. Les Corieri, owner of Evening Entertainment Group, shut down the club last summer to make way for the 1,100-guest live entertainment destination.

Adrian de Pamphilis, owne

UK - Le Maitre is supporting Punchdrunk Enrichment in Against Captain's Orders: A Journey into the Uncharted - an adventure on the high seas of maritime history at the National Maritime Museum.

In an exclusive first for the museum industry, the National Maritime Museum is collaborating with Punchdrunk Enrichment to take six to 12-year olds and their families on the adventure of a lifetime. Against Captain's Orders combines the National Maritime Museum's wealth of maritime history and artefacts with Punchdrunk Enrichment's innovative practice and commitment to creating captivating, educational experiences.

The immersive theatrical experience will be further enhanced with Le Maitre's four MVS haze units along with a G300 and Freezefog Pro atmospheric low smoke system. The haze units are positioned in four rooms throughout the show, with one haze unit and the low sm

UK - SPIE has been appointed principal contractor of the £2m, A55 Pen Y Clip tunnel refurbishment. SPIE will be working with Philips Lighting to introduce LED lighting technology into the tunnel which is expected to reduce energy and emissions by up to 50%.

The scope of work involves the design, supply and installation of the A55 Pen Y Clip Tunnel LED lighting scheme and infrastructure upgrades. This includes the electrical and mechanical services, covering the installation of the 900m linear support grid and containment, fitting the LED linear base and boost lighting system along with finally testing and commissioning.

Steven Nanda, managing director of industrial services at SPIE UK comments, "We are thrilled that we have been chosen to manage the upgrade of the Pen Y Clip tunnel. This is a major contract for the Industrial Services North West division; the Welsh

USA - Live production company L3 Productions was hired by a corporate client to build a themed night club environment for a large holiday party for 1,400 people and turned to Elation Professional lighting and video products to fulfill the brief, including Elation's new EMAG4 LED panel for graphics, playback and live video.

Held in December at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, California, L3 Productions handled the entire creative production for the event including CAD, decor, lighting design, stage design, audio, video, DJ stage build and live broadcast.

The room's lack of space did not allow for rear or front projection, which also would have required moving equipment, so L3 placed three EMAG4 screens over the stage for optimal viewing anywhere in the room. According to L3 Productions CEO Laine Rinker, although the client was worried that

UK - London's Sadler's Wells Theatre stages a richly diverse range of national and international collaborations. In 2013 Sadler's Wells embarked on a comprehensive upgrading of its infrastructure and technology, to improve both front of house and backstage environments in its 1568-seater main auditorium. Renowned theatre consultant Roger Spence was placed in charge of the project and engaged a team comprising designer Graham Large of Chapman BDSP, integrators Stage Electrics and lighting manufacturers GDS.

GDS was invited to supply a comprehensive, low-energy, LED house-lighting system to cater for virtually every functional and architectural demand. This was to include everything from panel lighting at the front of the circle, to row-end markers, emergency lighting, emergency exit signs, cleaners and house lights. In the initial stages of the project GDS worked closely with all

South Africa - A star studded line up including Bok van Blerk, Theuns Jordaan, Jay du Plessis, BlackByrd, Elvis Blue, Claire Johnston from Mango Groove, Peter Mitchell, PJ Cruz and Martin Bester (Jacaranda FM) showcased at Carnival City's Big Top Arena on 27-28 February after running in London. With 70 Robe fixtures, the Big Top Arena was brought to life with effects and colour.

Carnival City was the main in-house technical supplier for the main PA, rigging, staging and lighting equipment. MGG Productions provided the back line, monitor and main sound desk.

Lighting designer Magz Schoeman from Carnival focused on creating a fully washed stage and literally painted with lights.

"The Robin 600LEDWash and Robin 300 LEDWash really made it easy to create a pretty picture and enriched the mood," said Magz.

Six super-fast Robe Pointes created sharp beams and the show al

Israel - Popular Israeli singer, songwriter and musician Yehuda Poliker played a high profile concert at the 2500 capacity Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, a show that came alive with Robe BMFL Spots and a 90 per cent Robe lighting rig supplied by Argaman Systems.

The lighting was designed by Eyal Tavori - the artist's long term LD - and operated by lighting director Tsafi Dagan, who has also worked with Poliker for several years. The artist is constantly busy engaging in live performances and reaching out to the many fans and followers of his amazing 30 year entertainment industry career.

A 50m semi-circular truss was flown above and around the stage - opening at the front, with lighting rigged on this and on the auditorium's house bars.

Originally Robe's ColorSpot 2500E ATs were spec'd on his ongoing tour, however as soon as BMFL Spots became available - part of a

USA - Elevation Church in North Carolina has used Jands' flagship Vista L5 console to provide powerful control for a major concert show held at the nearby Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte - attended by nearly 13,000 people.

Elevation's in-house lighting designer, Andy Bentley, specified the Jands Vista L5 for the concert show.

He commented, "The Vista (v2) software allowed us to do things in just minutes that would've taken hours on other desks. The effects engine was awesome to work with. The ability to stack multiple parameters in the same effect helped us create some really unique and energetic moments. The interface also made working with the almost 600 pixels of the B-EYEs painless."

(Jim Evans)

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