UK - The seventh annual A.C. Lighting North event in Leeds last week (1-2 May) saw the biggest increase in attendance levels since the event began - attracting over 30% more visitors than last year.

Owing to a construction delay with the new bigger Royal Armouries Saviles Hall, the event took place in its original location - a move which proved conclusively that the show has now outgrown the venue and will need the extra capacity to cope with predicted attendance levels in 2008.

The event provided a showcase of over 70 leading brands for buyers in the Midlands, North of England and Scotland, and also served as a platform for many exhibitors to unveil their new products to a UK audience for the first time this year.

This year's seminar highlights included unique talks from leading lighting designers Bernie Davis and Andy Doig, PSA general manager Andy Lenthall, and Barco crea

Sweden - W-DMX Generation 3 BlackBox units, manufactured by Wireless Solution Sweden, will be used to send wireless DMX signal to moving trusses and other equipment during the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Helsinki this month.

W-DMX will control a total of six universes of DMX, including moving trusses containing Syncrolite B-52s and moving lights. It is also being used on a 120cm large prism mirror ball suspended from the ceiling, custom assembled mobile fog machines, and a Cyberhoist-rigged Fogscreen that descends from above the stage during the interval act.

The new W-DMX Generation 3 BlackBox has a high power radio output with up to 375mW and uses AFHSS and TDMA to avoid interference - even in a television broadcast environment loaded with 24 cameras and a hostile radio signal atmosphere.

(Jim Evans)

UK - As the ABTT Theatre Show draws closer (13-14 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London), the Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that current pre registrations are indicating another record attendance and that again over 100 exhibitors will showcase a spectrum of technical solutions for everyone involved with housing and presenting the performing arts.

Amongst the many innovations on display will be the new power hoist from Unusual Rigging - The Revolution which is a flexible and efficient winch solution presented within a standard 52cm x 52 cm truss and travels in conventional roadboxes. It has single or multiple use within truss runs with either single or double wires on each winch.

Mayr Transmissions is exhibiting two new designs and three additions to existing designs within the ROBA stop range of fail-safe brakes for theatre and stage equipment /winches.

UK - The annual competition to select who will represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contestant, Making your mind up, was broadcast live from the BBC's Maidstone Studios with all the fanfare and lighting extravaganza of Eurovision itself. With a line up of accomplished artists from groups like; The Darkness, East 17, Atomic Kitten and Big Brovaz, the show had the smell and feel of the big time.

Lighting designer Roger Williams set out to differentiate this year's live broadcast from past shows by moving away from a studio feel and creating a much bigger 'arena experience'. Set in larger studios with weaving catwalks and an impressive but concealed lighting rig of over 90 Martin moving lamps, he achieved just this.

Joining at the concept stage, Williams was also able to integrate lighting directly into the set design and worked with Essential to include over 60

Dubai - Australian based manufacturer ARX Systems will be releasing its new USB-DI at next week's Palme 2007 Exhibition in Dubai.

ARX managing director Colin Park says, "The Palme Exhibition is getting larger every year and with the growing Middle Eastern market has become an important Exhibition for ARX. In keeping with our policy of creating essential audio interfaces, ARX is excited to be releasing our new ARX USB DI - a true plug and play digital to analogue pro audio interface. It removes the need to use existing sound card outputs, with their inherent noisy environment and problematic grounding."

ARX will also be exhibiting other new releases in their signal processing product range including the MSX 48 microphone & line splitter, Balance 8 & DeBalance 8 audio level matchers, and the AudiBox Optimizer.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Following the successful launch of Zakk Wylde's custom 300-watt EVM12L Black Label guitar loudspeaker, Electro-Voice has announced the newest addition to the EVM line: the EVM12L Classic.

The EVM-12L Classic features a high performance, heavy duty design that delivers "unmatched sonic reproduction at the critical final stage in the signal chain". Voiced to duplicate the sound of the long-discontinued EVM-12L, the Classic recaptures a tonality loved by guitarists in virtually every genre, says the company.

Original EVM-12L endorsers included guitar icons Stevie Ray Vaughn and Steve Vai. A testament to this legacy of tone, EVM-12L Classic has already become the speaker of choice for a wide range of world class guitar talents, including David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Billy Duffy of The Cult, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Herman Li of Dragonforce, Joe Bonamassa, David Lee

Slovenia - MK Light Sound in Slovenia supplied Anolis LED fixtures to illuminate the Vecronia booth at the Flora Fair exhibition in Celje, Slovenia. The massive annual show held at the Celjski Sejem features everything for home and garden, and this year attracted nearly 30,000 visitors over three days.

Vecronia are specialists in garden architecture. Their philosophy is that a garden is an extension of the house - effectively another room - and should contain a fusion of natural elements and high technology.Each year, in conjunction with the NBO group of companies (Nova Bivalna Okolja - New Living Spaces), they present many innovative and exciting ideas in the field of garden architecture.

Vecronia has worked with MK Light Sound (Anolis's Slovenian distributor) on several previous lighting projects. When MK recently showed them the Anolis range, the Vecronia design team realis

Dubai - Turbosound will be featuring its NuQ range at PALME, which will be shown on the stand hosted by Turbosound's United Arab Emirates distributor Reference Audio.

Launched at Frankfurt ProLight + Sound in March, NuQ systems are billed as versatile, networkable sound reinforcement loudspeakers designed for professional portable audio applications.

All models are available in passive or bi-amped (non-powered) guise, and alternatively with integrated Class D amplifiers using 96kHz DSP for pristine audio quality, and operating at better than 90% efficiency.

The NuQ series totals 12 models and comprises 8", 10", 12" and 15" two-way models, all designed with similar voicing characteristics, as well as 15" and 18" subwoofers, in order to provide a complete and versatile loudspeaker range suitable for a wide range of applications.

PALME will see a

India - The second PALME India integrated entertainment technology show promises to grow by as much as 25% under the weight of the sub-continent's fast-developing infrastructure, according to the promoters.

Inaugurated last year as PALA India, this year's exhibition (4-6 October, Bombay Exhibition Centre) will be spread over 3,000sq.m of exhibition space and is expected to feature around 200 brands distributed across 115 stands.

This is the target for exhibition manager James Raffoul, who has been taken on by IIR Exhibitions to maximise PALME India's potential. Having previously worked on high-profile exhibitions for Brintex and Emap, Raffoul says he couldn't resist the challenge to consolidate an incipient event in such a fast-emerging market.

"The fact that last year the show attracted 120 exhibiting companies spread over 75 stands, with 2,500 visitors attending, indi

UK - Event and exhibition services company PSL has named Lauren Steadman as a new director of the company, in recognition of the success she has had heading up PSL's Exhibitions Division.

Steadman is well-known in the exhibitions industry. Coming from the music and photographic industries into the audio-visual business, she pioneered the provision of official AV services to exhibition events, becoming exhibitions director at Samuelson Communications.

A founding director of PSL in 1990, she has since spent time in the USA, opening an office in Los Angeles. Since 2003, she has been running PSL's Exhibition Division, establishing and consolidating the company's position as Official AV and IT Suppliers to leading exhibition organisers in the UK.

Steadman's promotion to PSL's main board coincides with the start of one of the busiest summers ever for PSL Exhibitions, with the addi

Eire - Dublin-based Zandar Technologies will be displaying a range of key product enhancements at InfoComm, 19-21 June 2007 in Anaheim. These enhancements are designed to increase both the flexibility and the usability of Zandar's products in a wide range of professional AV applications.

"InfoComm will be the first opportunity that the international pro-AV community has had to view our enhanced Predator Series of MultiViewers, which now offers dual HD output functionality, whereby a single MultiViewer can drive one or two displays at native HD resolution.

"We shall also be showing our flagship FusionPro+ series MultiViewers designed for mission critical environments where flexible configuration of multiple input sources is required for centralised monitoring," comments Deirdre Smith, CEO at Zandar Technologies.

(Jim Evans)

Finland - Barco once again played a key role in show visualisation at this year's 52nd Eurovision Song contest, staged in Helsinki and hosted by Finish broadcaster YLE. With an impressive combination of LED technology and digital projectors, the show was bigger and more visually entertaining than ever before.

Show designer Mikki Kunttu's visual design featured more than 200 sq.m of Barco's new MiTRIX LED screen, 125sq.m of ultra bright OLite 510 LED modules and three SLM R12+ digital projectors. Barco rental partner Massteknik (Sweden) was the general video supplier to the show.

Fully integrated into the stage set was a gigantic curved screen 'the cobra'. This not only towered 9.5m up and behind the stage, but also stretched out in to the audience, creating an animated catwalk. In addition to that, extending around almost the entire stage was a massive LED backdrop made up fro

Finland - Over 500 Robe moving lights were used on the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest staged in Helsinki's Hartwall Arena.

Mikki Kunttu utilised a wide range of Robe fixtures - the new all-powerful ColorSpot 2500E AT, the workhorse ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200E ATs, the new ColorSpot 700E ATs and ColorWash 250E ATs.

The deal with Robe was instigated by Eurovision 2007's technical production manager Ola Melzig, working for lighting and video suppliers/technical co-ordinators Spectra Stage & Event Technologies from Stockholm.

Melzig also used Robe moving lights for the 2005 event in Kiev, Ukraine. This proved such a positive success, that he was keen to repeat the experience when he and Spectra won the contract to technically produce the 2007 ESC.

"Robe lights are just so reliable that we had to have them again," states Melzig, who cut the deal with Robe's internatio

UK - Martin Professional will be exhibiting at this year's BAR Show, held at Earls Court from the 5-6 June. Martin's aim is to show how it can provide solutions for external bar lighting in view of the new smoking ban legislation.

Visitors to the stand will have the opportunity of seeing the effects that lighting can provide. The Martin team will be on hand to demonstrate the latest products and innovations of its growing range, including the new LED Videowall LC2140.

Stand C24, in Earls Court 2.

(Chris Henry)

UK - Fuzion plc will join forces with DiGiCo to stage a unique product demo showcase at London's Hippodrome in Leicester Square on Tuesday 22 May.

The event, which will run from 11am-5pm, provides an opportunity for sound engineers, theatre technicians and rental companies to gain hands-on experience and training on DiGiCo's D5 and D1 digital consoles, sending multitrack mixes to Nexo's new GEO D10 tangential array, which will be flown in the venue.

The fully integrated D5 front-of-house and monitor system, with multi track/plug-in unit and ubiquitous stage rack, will be linked by a fully redundant fibre optic system to the Nexo loudspeaker system. A DiGiCo D1 will be available to allow attendees to familiarise themselves with a real-life mixing situation.

Fuzion sales director Paul Ward says: "These two major brands will be combining in a way never seen before, at a le

UK - The Sound & Light Company's new showroom in West Clayton, Huddersfield was the setting for an open day to preview the latest version of ShowMagic - Version 11. The event, held on 8 May, was attended by live performers, theatre technicians and AV & leisure installers.

With version 11, ShowMagic enters a new era of integrated AV and show control, the company says, taking full advantage of the speed and power of the new dual-core PCs and laptops. The first thing you will notice about version 11 is ShowMagic's new appearance, explains Kevin Caldwell, ShowMagic support manager: "We have received a lot of comments that the old look belied the software's capabilities. It was time to give ShowMagic a 'facelift'."

A laptop demonstrated ShowMagic AV running three AV outputs: a Powerpoint presentation rolled on a large LCD screen, whilst video and display pages were played

Finland - FogScreen projection screen stood centre stage with last year's winners Lordi when they opened the Eurovision 2007 Finals, broadcast live across Europe. The show opened to atmospheric effects projected onto the FogScreen projection screen, followed by a visual narrative of northern Finland before returning to the live broadcast with Lordi onstage, playing their winning song from Eurovision 2006, Hard Rock Hallelujah.

Lighting designer Mikki Kunttu says: "When we first began planning for Eurovision in Helsinki, one of the first products we brought into discussions was FogScreen projection screen. Production manager Ola Melzig had already earlier been interested to bring FogScreen projection screen in to the show. But this year we did, I mean, how can you do a Eurovision in Finland without a FogScreen projection screen? It is, after all, a Finnish product!&qu

UK - As the ABTT Theatre Show draws closer (13-14 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London), its Organisers' - the Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that current pre registrations are indicating another record attendance and that again over 100 exhibitors will showcase a spectrum of technical solutions for everyone involved with housing and presenting the performing arts.

Computers Unlimited will showcase its Vectorworks Spotlight entertainment and lighting design software. Featuring new upgrades its now offers PDF import and export and legend improvements. The programme offers a comprehensive range of 2D drafting and 3D modelling and production management capabilities with advanced lighting design, visualisation and production tools that benefit all phases of the design process - saving time and money.

US based City Theatrical will introduce its Stackers Taper

UK - Cambridge-based Audica Professional has announced a significant expansion of its distribution with the appointment of three new distributors - MOCOM Communications Systeme Handelsgesellschaft in Austria, QSC Audio Products Spain, S.L in Spain and Venuetech LLC in the UAE.

Audica Professional was launched at PLASA in 2006 with just two distributors, CUK Audio in the UK and M-Pro in the BeNeLux. This has expanded rapidly and the company now has established distribution throughout all major European markets as well as in Russia, parts of Asia and Australia.

Derek West, sales director of Audica Professional, comments, "The last eight months have shown amazing growth in our distribution and sales, and proved the importance of the main industry exhibitions, the pro audio media and distributor networking. Being with CUK from the start gave us a successful PLASA launch and w

Germany / China - 110PRO Ltd, the international event supporter and owner of the Stagehands.de and Hostesses.de brands, has announced the appointment of Li Xiuming as assistant to supervisor Shu Zang at the company's Beijing office, which opened in January 2007. Since joining 110PRO Ltd, she has been busy working on research, business development and preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

A native Chinese, Li Xiuming studied at the North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering and the renowned Hebei University in Baoding. She speaks not only English and French, but also Japanese.

"I am very pleased with the new support in the office, we have so much to do and new challenges are popping up everyday," reports Shu Zang, the supervisor in China. As of now, Li Xiuming is the point of contact for production issues in China.

Stagehands.de directs a unique and constantly expand

UK - Martin will be exhibiting at the ABTT show, at London's Royal Horticultural Show, stand No.111. The latest products from Martin Professional will be on display including the brand-new MAC TW1 80volt, the complete MAC 700 range, the new Maxedia Compact and the Glaciator X-Stream.

Running alongside this year's show will be a competition, giving visitors the chance to win either a Mania DC1 or Mania DC2. One Mania will be given away each day of the show at 4pm, the winner's name being announced over the hall's loudspeaker.

The Martin team will all be on hand to demonstrate the latest innovations and talk through the finer details of each product.

(Chris Henry)

UK - Leisuretec Distribution showcased the latest Vestax products to an enthusiastic visitor base at the recent NADJ Show in Birmingham.

"The complete Vestax range was extremely well received, with massive interest in the VCI-100, PMC-280 and the new TTM1V CD / Turntable interface," says Leisuretec business development manager, Stephanie Lambley. "We secured a healthy number of sales leads and enquiries which we forwarded to our dealer base.

"It also confirmed for us that in the market place the VCI is a much sought after product considered by DJ's as both versatile and solid."

The hotly contended 1st Prize for the Show prize draw was the Vestax PMC-05 ProSL, donated by Leisuretec.

(Jim Evans)

The Electroacoustics Group of the Institute of Acoustics in collaboration with ABTT, APRS & ISCE is staging Reproduced Sound 23 at The Sage, Gateshead, 29-30 November, and has issued a 'Call for papers'.

"This Reproduced Sound conference will be hosted at one of the UK's newest and largest venues for staging concerts and other live events," says an IOA spokesman. "We will have an auditorium to use for the presentations and for any demonstrations associated with these, so there is an exciting opportunity to devote a large part of the conference to subjects relating to audio in the production of live events. These might include: sound reinforcement, room acoustics, recording (audio and video), broadcast, loudspeakers and microphones, intelligibility, innovations."

Any paper on electroacoustics topics will be considered. Abstracts of 200 words should be submit

UK - The final for Unsigned Heroes, AKG's UK unsigned bands competition has been rescheduled. The three bands in the final, Liverpool's The Kashmirs, Hertfordshire's Flamboyant Bella, and London's own The Standards, will now take the stage at Koko on the evening of Friday 1 June, with DJ support from Mani of Primal Scream, before the Club NME event happening at Koko later the same evening.

Amanda Chester, Harman Pro UK's marketing manager, commented: "We're delighted to join Club NME at Koko for the rescheduled final. Club NME is all about great music and upcoming talent, so it's the perfect fit for Unsigned Heroes. It's going to be a great night for music."

(Jim Evans)

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