Tina Turner Video Wall Splits and Shines

NEWARK, NJ — With at least 80 shows scheduled for her first tour in eight years, Tina Turner is proving that she still has legs. But at age 67, the only thing doing a split is the video screen backdrop. LD Baz Halpin hides 80 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300 fixtures behind the motion-controlled video wall, which separates into a total of eight sections, allowing the Alpha Beams to shine through.

CHICAGO — If Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech gets preserved as a snapshot in America’s historical scrapbook, lighting supplier Christie Lites, LD Bob Peterson and event organizer C3 Presents can claim credit for the visuals created for the moment. A rig including 72 Martin MAC 2000 Wash XBs, six Syncrolite XLs, four Lycian 1293 3000-watt Xenon followspots and other gear lit the election night stage, controlled by MA Lighting’s grandMA console.

NEW YORK — It may have been a once-a-year opportunity to recognize the best decorators and designers in the nation. But like the rainbow-hued cushions bridging ceiling-hung chairs in the form of a rainbow, the 2008 National Design Awards gala staged by David Stark Design & Production, with audio, lighting and video support by Scharff Weisberg had a whimsical touch.

FORT ST. JOHN, BC — The northern skies above this town of 18,000 along the Alaska Highway may give off one heckuva light show on occasion, but there isn’t much in the way of big city nightlife in this neck of the woods. That’s changed with the installation of new Martin gear at the On the Rocks Nightclub and Bar.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — The Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, at 470,000 square feet one of the largest non-gaming facility of its kind in the eastern U.S., opened earlier this year with ETC control products at the heart of its lighting system.

NEW YORK — The New Year’s Eve Ball that starts its slow descent from atop Times Square on Dec. 31 will itself be new this year: a 12-foot geodesic dome, double the size of previous balls. The 11,875-pound sphere will be covered with 2,668 Waterford crystals and lit by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS.

LARGO, FL — The Nemo, now available from SeaChanger by Ocean Optics, uses a LIFI plasma source to deliver 15,000 lumens on 180 watts of power. That measures out to be about 83 lumens per watt, or about six times the efficiency of other color engines with conventional bulbs yielding closer to 12 lumens per watt.