Cirque du Soleil returned to London’s Royal Albert Hall (RAH) on 12 January for an eight-week run at the prestigious venue, bringing LUZIA to Europe for the first time. Britannia Row Productions once again supplied the sound, continuing a relationship that has spanned almost two decades. Through the unique design, chorography and acrobatic elements that give Cirque du Soleil shows their unique character, LUZIA takes audiences on a journey through imaginary Mexico. The name is derived from the Spanish words for light (luz) and rain (lluvia), two important themes in the show’s narrative.

Broadcast on Fox to an international televised audience of more than 100 million, this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. While the performance itself only lasted approximately 14 minutes, the preparation was immense and technical execution flawless. According to numbers released by Fox network, this year’s Halftime Show reached more viewers than the game itself – with a total of 104.1 million tuning in from around the world.

After last year’s success, the collaboration between Messe Frankfurt and the creators of the Sample Music Festival is to continue for a second year. In cooperation with well-known manufacturers and the Raycademy Frankfurt, the organisers are setting up an exciting experience zone called ‘ProDJ SMF’, with interactive demonstration areas for music production and live performance. Product specialists from some of the top brands, such as Native Instruments, Ableton, Akai and SERATO, as well as start-ups in the music tech scene, will provide insights into the future of music making. International artists, including Pedro Le Kraken from France, Tony Beatbutcher from Belgium, Frankfurt DJ Legend Ray-D as well as Tonspielzeug, Hix Boson and Arkaei will make the event one of the highlights of Prolight + Sound.

At the end of its regular season of Shakespeare in the Park, New York’s Public Theater stages an open-air production at Central Park’s 1,800-seat open-air Delacorte Theater. This past season, the glorious story of Hercules was presented, a theatrical pageant brought to life by some 200 performers with an enchanting lighting design by Tony-award winning lighting designer Tyler Micoleau. The designer turned to Elation Professional’s multi-use Proteus Hybrid™ luminaire to provide visual impact in the outdoor environment.

Teatro Colsubsidio Roberto Arias Perez is a 1,000-seater venue opened in 1981 in central Bogota, Colombia’s vibrant capital city, that has established itself at the center of quality live entertainment, culture and performing arts. It’s renowned for high production values and imaginative shows offering a lively mix of concerts, musicals and classical performances.
 

For Marillion’s orchestral UK tour dates in November, lighting designer Yenz Nyholm chose the remarkable light output and color mixing ability of the VL2600 Wash fixture from Vari-Lite, a Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) entertainment lighting brand.

Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Media Servers were chosen by video director Jay Baker of Creative Video Design to drive the visuals for Spotify Presents: Who We Be Live 2019. Performed live at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, the Spotify show was part of its award-winning series of events featuring the UK and Ireland’s leading Rap, Grime, R&B and Afrobeat line-ups.

When Berlin-based creative event solutions company Pixway helped to create the Renault booth for the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) they utilised four disguise 4x4pro media servers to drive the booth’s massive LED video screen and feed colour information to an innovative interactive lighting rig.

The Vridilo Je show was a massive high-profile tribute concert in Spilt Arena, Croatia, starring the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (ZPO) and dedicated to the late singer, entertainer, and Croatian superstar Oliver Dragojević, an iconic figure who passed in 2018 following a career spanning over 50 years. The event was organised by his family, management, and record label, and was an emotional and important occasion for his many fans.

Elliot Griggs chose Robe’s T1 Profiles to provide major key lighting for Amélie the Musical, a new production first staged at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, UK, which then undertook a nationwide UK and Irish tour and is now playing at The Other Palace in London until the start of February. Elliot was asked to light the show, directed by Michael Fentiman and based on the much loved and five-times Oscar-nominated 2001 French art-house romantic comedy film, Amélie. The lead character has an eccentric upbringing and a vivid imagination which she uses to explores the complexities of love, loneliness, existence and survival in the big city.

The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards, the leading celebration of light and video design in stage and screen entertainment, has announced the appointment of five new judges across its three categories for the 2020 Awards. Renowned for the professionalism and impartiality of its judges, the KOI Awards invites critics, journalists and industry professionals to form its three independent judging panels for the categories of Concert & Event, Television and Theatre.

Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) 2020 was the 58th edition of the music competition functioning as the Norwegian qualifications for the Eurovision Song Contest. The 6-show competition was organized and broadcast by Norwegian public channel NRK in January and February. The semi-finals were held at the H3 Arena in Fornebu, with the final in Trondheim Spektrum.

Grass Valley’s cloud-based video production and distribution solution was central to AKK TV’s live streaming of the Miss Germany 2020 competition, held on February 15 at the Europa-Park Arena near Freiburg. GV Alyve, allowed the German OB company to leverage one-click distribution of the live HD event stream to Facebook and the dedicated Miss Germany YouTube channel.

WIcreations used its new WImotion system – motors, tracking and control – to automate five ski lift cable cars in spectacular style as part of a massive visual extravaganza for the 2-day Moose Bar XXL event at Antwerp’s Sportpaleis venue … Belgium’s only and ultimate après ski party! The brainchild of organiser and legendary Belgium night scene inspirator Yves Smolders, Moose Bar XXL ran for two nights this year after 2019’s inaugural event, and featured an epic scenic production design and a slew of music and live entertainment that transported 20,000 party-people to the mountains over the two nights!

Keeping tradition alive, Sennheiser has once again raised the bar at the 2020 Brit Awards, with its microphones and IEM systems delivering sensational performances. Hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall and held at a sold out The O2 Arena in London, this year’s BRIT Awards celebrated its 40th anniversary with an explosion of great acts and performances, solidifying its status as the biggest music awards show in the UK calendar.