International News

LONDON — Scottish singer Susan Boyle is emblematic of the out-of-the-ordinary talents that turn up on Britain’s Got Talent, a show that features dancers, comedy, and sideshow acts along with vocalists.

BARCELONA, Spain — Barco’s wrap-around LED screen for U2’s 360° tour is the world’s first transformable screen, able to change shape in all directions during the concert, and it’s also the biggest LED screen used so far in concert touring, with more than 500,000 pixels of video in a screen measuring 24 meters by 16 meters.

LONDON — Oasis’ current Dig Out Your Soul world tour is using over 140 i-Pix BB4 wash lights for its stadium stops, along with 17 i-Pix BB7s — which i-Pix said is the largest number of its LED fixtures used on any touring production so far.

WILLEBROEK, Belgium — AED Sales was named by German Light Products (GLP) as its exclusive distributor for all of GLP’s lighting products in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg, effective July 1, 2009.

ROZNOV POD RADHOSTEM, Czech Republic — Robe’s Czech and Slovakian distributor KVS recently specified and supplied Robe moving lights to the Janikova Stodola Theatre, part of the historical experience that’s a key draw at Wallachian Open Air Museum in Robe’s home town here.

LONDON — PRG’s Scenic Technologies group got the chance to introduce a new overhead automation system and two flying scenic elements when The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour began its European leg at London’s O2 Arena, even though the division received the request to design and build the system only about four weeks prior to installation.

LONDON —RC4 Wireless has been awarded Lighting Product of the Year by the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) for their RC4BlackMagic wireless DMX and dimming system. Pictured here is James David Smith, president and chief product designer at RC4, with the ABTT trophy and the RC4BlackMagic product.

LONDON — Kensington Gardens was a favorite haunt of J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. Now the park is the locale for a new theatrical telling of that story in a 1,000-seat tent with a set designed by William Dudley, lit by LD Mark Henderson with gear supplied by White Light.

VALENCIA, Spain — VMB named Milan-based professional lighting manufacturer Spotlight as a new distributor for VMB towerlifts in Italy. Spotlight will be responsible for sales, servicing and support in the Italian market.

LONDON — Global Design Solutions’ LiteWare product line made its TV debut on the BBC’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. LiteWare gear, controlled wirelessly via DMX, lit the underside of the piano and the front of the stage before the lighting crew removed the fittings and deployed them at the front of the performance stage for another performance.

CAPE TOWN — Godskitchen’s 2009 world tour included a stop in Cape Town, South Africa, headlined by DJ Armin van Buuren and supported by Gearhouse South Africa.