International News

SANDHURST, U.K. — Large-format projection joined the fireworks, orchestra and chorus for the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst’s 2008 “Music on Fire” extravaganza. The biannual three-day mixed-media event and “Firework Prom” attracted up to 10,000 visitors per night to the main training center for British Army officers, with proceeds going to the Army Benevolent Fund.

LISBURN, Northern Island — A destination for fans of Irish linen, with perhaps a few lost tourists seeking the capital of Portugal, Lisburn offers a variety of live performances from the Island Theatre, which recently invested in an Avolites Pearl Tiger lighting console.

JOHANNESBURG — Robe DigitalSpot 5000 DTs were used to project images onto an elliptical set for the three-day annual conference of Avroy Shlain, South Africa’s leading direct-sell cosmetics house. The event was staged in the Pavilion at the Sandton Convention Centre and attended by 850 delegates.

BELFAST — LD Stuart Gray and lighting supplier Adlib Lighting are giving speed metal band DragonForce anthemic rock ‘n’ roll looks for the group’s current U.K. tour. More upbeat than most metal bands, DragonForce still relies on a heavy dose of smoky looks and beams.

BEIJING — Lighting designer Durham Marenghi specified individual i-Pix BB4 LED cells to up-light the performers onboard the special double decker London bus in the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Handover sections of the 2008 Beijing Olympics & Paralympics Closing Ceremonies. The two Handover events took place three weeks apart in the Birds Nest stadium, and were integral elements of both Games’ Closing Ceremonies.

ROTTERDAM — Extending a tour attended by close to a million fans, Queen and Paul Rodgers are supporting the recent album The Cosmos Rocks this fall with a four-month, 14-nation European tour. An LED screen measuring 17 meters wide and five meters high is traveling with the tour, flashing images of Freddie Mercury.

LONDON — Its 2.2 million members in 150 countries and regions have a joint mission of exposing and documenting human rights abuses. But if its mission is deadly serious, Amnesty International also relies on live comedy and music for part of its fundraising activities. A case in point is the 14th incarnation of its Secret Policemans Ball, recently staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall and broadcast the following day on U.K.’s Channel Four.

MAINZ, Germany — Robe’s international road  show, titled “The Future is Digital,” had a two-day stop recently at SKY Europe's Mainz-based TV Studio, in the same neighborhood as ZDF Television’s headquarters complex. The two-day event included hands-on product demos, and was attended by visual designers, operators, programmers, technicians and other industry professionals from across Germany and Austria.

PARIS — Traditional pipe and drape may not have gone the way of the horse and buggy yet, but LED displays with video graphics are becoming increasingly dominant in the trade show world.  Barco reports that for this year’s Mondial de Automobile in Paris, its LED displays are used on over 70 percent of the booths at the show.

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia —The lighting rig at the Gold Coast Arts Center has been updated with eight new Robe ColorWash 750AT Tungsten moving lights. Robe’s Australian distributor, the ULA Group, provided the Arts Center with the Tungsten lights. “We needed some new fixtures, and the Robe Tungsten’s were the best choice for excellent reliability and great features,” said Chris Dbais, technical manager

SHANGHAI — Chinese President Hu Jintao declared the beginning of the 2007 Special Olympic World Summer Games at the recent opening ceremony.