Australia - Lighting director/operator Sam Walters selected LSC Clarity as his main lighting controller for the IGA Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols held at the Brisbane Riverstage in December.

Walters commented, "I chose the new LSC Clarity system due to the efficiency in the way it handles Moving lights and LED programming. This was my first real outing with Clarity and although the software is extremely powerful, I didn't find it complicated at all. Actually I would have only looked at the manual 3 tm 4 times during the whole programming session."

Christmas Carols events, held each year in Australia's major cities during the summer month of December, are generally performed on outdoor stages. The events are televised nationally and attract large audiences, both at the venue and at home. Brisbane's event attracted some of the cream of Australia's talent

France - The organiser of the SIEL show, one of France's leading exhibitions for the entertainment technology markets, has announced that the show is to return to its original timeline for 2011, taking place from 30 January to 1 February at a new Paris location, the Grande Halle de la Villette. The show was scheduled to take place from 19-21 October 2010 at the Porte de Versailles, Paris.

Reed Expositions says it is offering a new formula for SIEL in order to to re-establish its place as an annual gathering for trade professionals in the live entertainment and events market. The new venue, The Grande Halle de la Villette, is a key venue for culture and live entertainment, is home

throughout the year to numerous events including concerts, exhibitions and shows of various kinds.

The organisers say the primary objective of the new format is to gather together the live entertain

USA - Rihanna is currently promoting her fourth album, Rated R, with high-profile live and televised performances in the United States and Europe, taking her longtime favourite combination Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld microphone with MD 5235 capsule wherever she goes.

Rihanna has been using the SKM 5200 since adopting it for her first headlining tour at the end of 2007. According to monitor engineer Brian Evans, on this tour her two background vocalists are also using the SKM 5200/ MD 5235 combination. The wireless vocal mics are being used together with Sennheiser's EM 3732 twin receivers.

Rihanna's music has long had a rock sensibility, but the music on her new album and the current live band line-up really brings that harder edge to the fore. "It's a serious bunch of players," says Evans, "We have the all-time classic, Sennheiser MD 421 II on our lead

The Brits 2010 - Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Florence and the Machine and Pixie Lott go head-to-head at the Brits tonight, leading the shortlist with three nominations each. X Factor runners-up JLS are also up for a possible hat-trick.

Performers at the UK's biggest music awards include Lady Gaga, Kasabian, Cheryl Cole, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Prince Harry has recorded a message for the live show, as the ceremony celebrates its 30th anniversary. The awards themselves began in 1977. Comedian Peter Kay will host the event, at London's Earls Court, which will include a duet between Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine and rapper Dizzee Rascal. Robbie Williams will receive the honorary award for outstanding contribution to music, ending the show with a live performance. Two special categories have been created to celebrate the best of the Brits over the past 30 years - the best Brit

Sweden/UK - Wireless Solution Sweden has announced Core Lighting of the UK as the latest OEM partner to build W-DMX into their products. The technology will be installed directly at their London facility.

Core has developed a range of rugged battery-powered LED lighting products for the 'temporary events' market - both for indoor and outdoor use. With the addition of W-DMX, these compact, battery-driven fixtures are completely cable free.

"We are extremely pleased with this partnership," says Phil Ion, president of Core Lighting, "Wireless Solution is the leading manufacturer of wireless DMX tools and the products are widely used in Europe and the USA. We consider ourselves as manufacturers of high quality products and we received nothing but positive comments from our clients on our decision to go with W-DMX."

"This is a particularly interesting par

UK - Hawthorn, working for Shine Television, has recently supplied two of their high resolution 6mm LED walls to Sky TV for the live shows of Got to Dance on Sky 1 HD.

The set, designed by Chris Webster, incorporated two of Hawthorn's LED screens each measuring 4.6m x 2.3m (678Px by 384Px).

Hawthorn worked with LD Mark Kenyon on this project, having worked together on the last series of Strictly Come Dancing for the BBC.

Simon Deary of Poison LED, the leading LED consultants to television commented, "Hawthorn's screen, with its RGB based high resolution, has looked great on HD, it is such a good price and Hawthorn's crew have been fantastic."

2009 saw a continual investment by Hawthorn in their indoor and outdoor LED wall, as well as their new video curtain called Media Surge.

Hawthorn's Media Surge has proved so popular with their customers that

UK - When the Ministry of Sound London commissioned a bespoke Martin Audio stack two years ago it was just one step away from standardising on the brand throughout.

Standing in the way were the old 'Bertha' sub enclosures, whose heritage dates right back to Richard Long's epochal system at New York's legendary Paradise Garage in the late '70s.

Although the subs had been loaded with Martin Audio 18in drivers during that last upgrade, the end game - according to Martin Audio R&D director, Jason Baird - was to provide a complete active low-end enclosure.

Meanwhile, the Ministry's technical manager Alex Barrand was aware of development work taking place at Martin Audio HQ on a prototype - largely to provide low-end extension for Prodigy front of house engineer Jon Burton - but his interest really went into overdrive when he learnt that an active product would be commercially ava

Canada - To facilitate fail-safe emergency response communication during high-profile events, and on an ongoing basis, Applied Electronics of Vancouver has completed a significant installation featuring Christie visual display solutions for the City of Vancouver's Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in the E-Comm building.

The Vancouver EOC coordinates emergency response teams from Vancouver's police and RCMP, fire and rescue, traffic management, city engineering services, health authority and more. Staffed by personnel from city departments and trained volunteers, it supports all response activities in the field and provides overall direction to responders in emergency situations. The 24/7 hub is critical to the safety of visitors, athletes, spectators and residents of Vancouver.

Powered by Christie HD405 single-chip DLP high definition projectors and the Christie TVC-1210 disp

UK - Over 150 Robe moving lights, including the new ColorBeam 700E ATs, feature extensively on the rig for the current UK arena tour of the hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing Live.

The lighting design is by Mark Kenyon - who also does the TV series, and the lighting equipment is being supplied by Welsh-based Sonalyst. The touring show was programmed onto a grandMA2 light during production rehearsals in Manchester Arena by David Bishop, Roger Williams was the assistant LD, and the touring console operator and lighting director is Alex Murphy.

Sonalyst purchased 31 chrome finished Robe ColorBeam 700E ATs specially for the tour, 28 of which are deployed around the perimeter of the dancefloor. The chrome colour was deliberately chosen to bring a special televisual feel to the live show, which features eight couples shimmying, jiving, tangoing and strutting their stuff, four

France - The aim of the Capellia Cultural Centre is to enable the town of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre to work every day to promote artistic and cultural education for all, allowing people of all generations to take, renew and revive their talents in harmony with each other.

To achieve this, the Cultural Centre's entertainments team creates demanding programmes and spectacles in a number of disciplines - song, dance, circus, choreography, comedy, music and theatre (including for young audiences).

"With such a wide range of events, we needed a digital console that could be easily and quickly adapted to a number of configurations, and at the same time be able to offer a high level of audio quality," explains Yann Vaslin, technical director of Capellia. "At the same time it needed to offer a fast and intuitive experience for the sound engineer.

"When I discovered t

UK - PASMA, the trade association for the mobile access tower industry, has published a new information DVD/CD called Accidents can happen even at low level. Aimed at owners and users of low level access equipment - which PASMA defines as having a maximum platform height of 2.5m - it provides information and guidance on how to use folding step units and folding tower units safely and productively.

With an estimated 50,000 of these versatile units in daily use, the DVD covers everything from undertaking the initial risk assessment, checking the components prior to assembly and following the manufacturer's instructions, to assembling the unit, checking it before use and completing the necessary inspection record.

With a running time of 16 minutes and intended to complement the association's existing low level access training course, the DVD also highlights some of the mos

UK - DB Systems will help stage London Fashion Week's first ever Digital Schedule.

This new initiative involves the live streaming of fashion shows and a selection of digitally presented fashion films, which have been created by a number of innovative London designers.

Following a two-way pitch, DB was awarded the contract by creative event company Blonstein & Associates to be the official supplier of the audio visual elements in the show's digital presentation theatre. This will include providing networking solutions that allow video content to be sent to various screens and projectors around the site, as well as preparing and installing a number of screens, which will be supplied by LG.

Oliver Richardson, DB sales director, commented: "Since this is the first time London Fashion Week will have a Digital Schedule there is a degree of pressure for everythi

New Zealand - Auckland War Memorial Museum celebrated its 80th birthday by turning on its new exterior lighting installation at the end of 2009. The venerable building on Auckland's skyline is made of creamy Oamaru stone and was a perfect subject for François Roupinian's subtle lighting design.

Roupinian had lit some projects in the interior of the museum and was engaged to design and implement the exterior lighting project. Having used Martin Professional fixtures on a number of projects in his native Canada, he was keen to integrate them into this project.

In the end he used a number of Martin Inground 200 full colour mixing fixtures to uplight the main northern portico and also the east and west fountains on the corners of the building. The Inground 200 is a discreet, programmable 150W buried luminaire.

In addition, he used a number of pole mounted Martin Exterior 200 co

UK - The winners of the 2010 Whatsonstage.com Awards were announced at a star-studded awards ceremony held at London's Prince of Wales Theatre last Sunday, 14 February. Run by theatre news website WhatsOnStage and covering all the shows to open in London's West End and beyond over the last 12 months, the awards represent the voice of the theatre-going audience: nominations in all categories come from members of the public, and the public then vote for the winners.

White Light is the sponsor of the Best Lighting Designer award, which was presented to Natasha Katz for her work on the hit musical Sister Act at the London Palladium. Her fellow nominees in the category were Johanna Town for Speaking In Tongues, Mark Henderson for Enron, Mike Robertson for On The Waterfront and Neil Austin for Life Is A Dream and Madame de Sade.<

The Netherlands - Audio specialist manufacturer, TOA received the esteemed Most InAVative Audio Product for Commercial Use (non loudspeaker) InAVation Award for its D-2000 series all-in-one digital mixing system at the prestigious InAVation Awards Ceremony.

he ceremony was held in the Diamond Lounge at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Congress Center during Integrated Systems Europe (ISE 2010). The award category was sponsored by ProAudio Middle East Magazine.

The D-2000 was previewed on the TOA stand at ISE and combines the functions of auto mixing, matrix switching, and signal processing. "Receiving such an esteemed EMEA award is a true success for one of our most exciting products to be launched in the EMEA market and we're delighted that the industry has recognised it for its innovation and functionality and sends a big thank you to all who had voted," says Brett

USA - As the principal performance venue for the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre regularly hosts classical music concerts by the conservatory's celebrated orchestras and ensembles. With the recent installation of a new Meyer Sound MIca line array loudspeaker system, the 2,326-seat hall is now much better equipped to support another musical genre - jazz.

"In addition to the school's own jazz events, the hall hosts the headline concerts for the Rochester International Jazz Festival each summer," says system designer Anthony Nittoli of consulting firm Akustiks LLC of South Norwalk, Conn. "With the old system, coverage was spotty at best, and it simply didn't have enough power for louder contemporary jazz. The festival had to bring in temporary systems, and they were often not well matched to the room.&quo

Kenya - The Carnivore in Nairobi was recently chosen as one of the "World's Top 50 Restaurants" by a specialist magazine and boasts kings, presidents, famous musicians and film stars among its clientele.

Besides being a world-class restaurant, the establishment boasts a club called the Simba Saloon in which music is performed live, and it too has a reputation not only for the cultivation of local talent but as a stage for top international acts from genres as diverse as rock, soul, jazz and reggae.These have included the likes of Maxi Priest, Yellowman, Sadao Watanabe, Chaka Demus, Manu Dibango, Salif Keta and most recently, the Jamaican reggae star Beenie Man.

The steadily rising expectations of visiting bands made investing in a new sound reinforcement system essential. After analysing what was on the market, comparing offers and attending demos from leading suppli

UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of Shure microphones and audio electronics in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have supplied Sound and Stage in Dubai with the top of the line Shure UHF-R microphone system for their live sound concerts and other events.

"For the last UAE National Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi, Sound & Stage provided the complete audio requirements for the event," commented Richie Hiranandani, marketing manager. He added, "Famous stars like Fadel Shaker, Nancy Ajram and Shireen all relied on the Shure UHF-R microphones for their performance."

(Jim Evans)

Honduras - Event and AV rental company, Comunicaciones Mango BTL, recently added a new digital console to its hire stock, selecting an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system to complement the company's existing Electrovoice PA and DAS PA Line Array.

Based in the capital, Tegucigulpa, Mango provides event management services for a client list that includes Unilever, Pepsico, Tigo, Bimbo and Cerveceria Hondureña.

"We started using digital consoles three years ago and we love the flexibility digital gives us as we can carry less equipment. Recently we decided to invest in a digital console with at least 48 channel capacity," explains Mango's Andre Ferrer. "Our first choice was the Yamaha M7CL but following a demonstration of the iLive-T system by All Music Corp we decided iLive was the right choice due to the flexible digital snake and easy learning curve."

UK In less than seven years, the impressive growth of the congregation of CRC London, an evangelical Christian ministry with its roots in South Africa, has brought them from the London suburbs to the 770-seat Vue cinema at the O2 in London. Citing multimedia as one of the essential tools in the expansion of the church, CRC's AV team has called on Edirol to help them optimise their dynamic service content for one of the largest cinema screens in the UK.

Sunday morning services in the huge Vue theatre are co-ordinated by a large team of volunteers, led by Sakkie Erasmus and Glen Trollip, which mans SD and HD cameras, numerous laptops, live streaming, audio control and vision mixing. The church has just invested in an Edirol V-440HD multi-format video mixing system to help them step up their video presentation from standard to high-definition.

Says Erasmus, "For the last thr

UK - Based in Stockton-on-Tees, John Saunders Productions (JSP) has carved a reputation for supplying cutting-edge audio systems to some of the highest-grossing 'nostalgia' live productions. With five DiGiCo SD8 consoles recently added to the company's inventory, the shows that the company services may be nostalgic in nature, but in reality are very much the real 21st century deal.

"In the past, I have made purchasing decisions based on who could offer me the best deal," admits JSP owner, John Saunders. "But sound designers have very definite ideas about what they want and they tend to stick to that, so it's hard to compete if you don't carry the kit they want to work with. It's all about quality."

Working in tandem with d&b loudspeakers, Sennheiser in-ear monitors and Shure microphones, all shows the company services claim to sound as good, if not better,

Mauritius - EAW was recently chosen as the loudspeaker of choice for a house-of-worship installation at CTMI Church in the town of Trianon, near Port Louis in the island nation of Mauritius. Durban, South Africa-based Northwind Recording provided the system design, analysed the space's acoustics and performed the installation. EAW's South African distributor Surgesound supplied the equipment and managed all processing and system alignment. Further consultation was provided by EAW's Whitinsville, Massachusetts-based Application Support Group (ASG), under the management of Joe Fustolo.

EAW loudspeakers selected for the space included 15 EAW AX366 and AX344 Arrayable Install Loudspeakers, six EAW JF50S Compact Full-Range Loudspeakers, eight EAW SB1000z Large Format Subwoofers, five EAW MW12 MicroWedge Stage Monitors and two EAW UX8800 Digital Signal Processors.

Amplification was

Germany - Norway's projectiondesign is supplying seven F32 DLP projectors for an immersive and panoramic 180-degrees high resolution display measuring 3.35 by 12m wide. The display is the centrepiece of the new HHi TiME Lab - HHI Tomorrow's Immersive Media Experience Lab to be launched at an official opening and symposium on 19 February at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, Germany.

The audio visual system uses the seven F32 projectors for the reproduction of panoramic video images with a special resolution of about 7,000 pixels and luminosity of around 28,000 lumens. The HD images are projected using an optical mirror system as vertical slices onto a curved 180-degree screen. Dedicated warping and blending hardware allows seamless transitions between these HD slices to enable the video to appear as a single panorama of brilliant image quality. The system is backed u

Australia - Robe moving lights once again took centre stage at one of Australia's biggest annual music events, when Parklife 09 officially signalled the start of the summer dance festival season.

Tens of thousands of revellers gathered in five cities, with a massive line up featuring more music than ever before - including main acts like Empire of the Sun, Tiga, MSTRKRAFT, La Roux and Autokratz, along with local supporting DJs such as Art vs. Science.

Clifton Productions supplied moving lights for the Melbourne event with stage designs by Fuzzy Events and Parklife's national lighting designer, Davyd Williams. This massive production was managed by local production manager Adam Gibson in conjunction with national producer, Josh Chapman. Over 90 Robe fixtures were utilised across four stages, with Parklife featuring its trademark Earth, Wind, Fire & Water themed arenas an

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