MALMO, Sweden – The semi-finals for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest are set to take place at Malmo Arena here May 14-16, with the finals following on May 18. Projected visuals will be playing a key role, and Barco has noted that a record-setting 60 of its projectors, including the HDQ-2K40 pictured here, will be included in the rig along with three Encore systems. This is the 58th Eurovision competition and the fifth to be staged in Sweden.
NEW YORK CITY —The world premiere of the film “The Great Gatsby” lit up the screen in 3-D with Christie Solaria Series digital cinema projectors. The star-studded event took place at Avery Fisher Hall. Christie dealer Digital Media Systems selected two Christie CP4230 DLP digital cinema projectors for the screening, which converged the light from two projectors to create a seamless image projected onto a silver screen.
BURBANK, CA – After wrapping the North American leg of Alicia Keys’ 2013 Set The World On Fire tour in Chicago, Chaos Visual Productions is set to fire up the video for Keys as she takes her show across the Atlantic. Chaos Visual COO Nick Jackson says, “This is definitely one of the more elegant shows that we’ve seen on tour in the last few years.”
When the producers of Fox TV’s American Idol decided to source a new video wall for the 2013 season, ShowFX Inc. rose to the challenge. The result is a seamless integration of rented video panels into a custom-built 12-axis motion-controlled system that tracks and rotates, creating a multitude of looks for entrances and performances during the show. The LED panels themselves, supplied via VER and NEP/Sweetwater, are Barco ILite 6.
NASHVILLE — Premier Christian Cruises tapped PixelFLEX to provide its LED curtain video screens as a backdrop for the ship’s musical performances. The cruiseship staff hung a PixelFLEX panel in the main atrium to feature announcements and a brief video to keep passengers up to date on activities. Videos and images can be sent to PixelFLEX’s screens using any computer with a DVI-D connection.
XIAN, China – The latest visitor attraction at the Hua Qing Chi hot springs resort in Xi’an, China, ‘The Song Of Unending Sorrow’ is a new fusion of traditional storytelling, song and musicianship using audiovisual technology from Dataton Watchout. More than 30 licenses of Dataton’s Watchout drive more than 50 multiple high-power projectors, holographic screens, special effects and prerecorded audio.
CALGARY, Alberta – Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame offers 11 exhibit galleries representing 58 sports, plus more than 50 interactive visitor experiences designed to captivate fans of all ages. Electrosonic offered AV support for every aspect of the new museum.
LONDON – XL Video supplied LED screens, cameras, Hippotizer media servers and control for the high profile London show by New York-based indie pop band, Fun. Paul Normandale, who designed the tour’s video and lighting, was approached by management to come up with an inventive concept specifically for the sold-out Hammersmith Apollo show on the band’s latest UK tour. Once again, he teamed up with XL Video to help make this happen, working closely with XL’s Project Manager, Gareth Jeanne.
LONDON – XL Video is supplying nearly 400 square meters (4,305 sq. ft) of LED screen, plus 72 VersaTUBE LED battens and crew to Blink TV for the UK and European legs of One Direction’s ‘Take Me Home’ world tour. The stage area is 84 ft wide and so production designer Paul Normandale needed a large surface at the back to emphasize the show’s epic proportions.
DALLAS – In the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, the Tom Hunt Energy Hall’s 4D Theater experience, “Shale Voyager,” is controlled by Alcorn McBride’s V4 Pro show controller and 8-channel Digital Binloop HD player. Video and motion chairs give visitors the sense of what it would be like to shrink to the size of a grape, travel vertically down a 6,500-foot borehole, come out horizontally through the black rock of North Texas’s Barnett Shale and whoosh back to the surface when the gas is released.
WALES – Ross Ashton and The Projection Studio have designed and coordinated a permanent 270 degree video projection installation featuring an adaptation of their successful work ‘Illuminata’ at Caerphilly Castle in Wales for CADW, the official guardian of the built heritage of Wales. The installed looped show with accompanying soundtrack is 10 minutes long.
STOCKHOLM – Södra Teatern (Southern Theatre) located in Stockholm’s lively Söder district, is one of Sweden’s best known privately run theatres and the oldest such venue in Stockholm, established in 1859. The newest Robe fixtures in the house as part of a general lighting upgrade are six LEDWash 600s and four LEDWash 300s, specified by Head of Lighting Lars Ekdahl.