"Stars in their Eyes has been going for about fourteen years," explained lighting director Neil Yates, "and we've used PRG Europe for about ten of those. We like the fact that we get a total package from PRG - they have a great deal of expertise, and all problems and changes are quickly sorted out. They're always very amenable with changes and redesigns."
The brief included the stipulation that the lighting rig should not be seen, difficult when you're lighting a range of acts from Frank Sinatra to Eminem, on a stage which has sails going up some 30ft. "You have to be have three designs in one, with the variety of acts that we have each," said Yates. "The set also has a ceiling, which adds to the challenge."
He continued, "Rather than use a computer controller for the PixelLines we decided to do lots of number crunching. Board operator Mike 'Oz' Owen and I discuss what acts will be appearing each week, watch videos of the original singers performing to see how they were originally lit and watch the rehearsals to decide how to light each person. There's a day of rehearsals and we see each act for about an hour and a half before the show. By that time, we've got about 90% of the programming done."
(Jim Evans)
