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16 May 2025

UK - The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has outlined ways industry can raise awareness and find solutions to the skills gap - the primary focus of Global Lifting Awareness Day (GLAD) 2025 on 12 June.

GLAD, upheld by the theme Lifting Careers, Building Futures, is dedicated to tackling the growing skills shortages across the lifting industry and promoting practical tools to attract new talent. The day is a launchpad to inspire the next generation to explore careers in lifting.

LEEA will exclusively reveal the findings of its State of the Lifting Industry survey on GLAD. However, it has urged members and other stakeholders to create their own campaign contributions that can be submitted in advance and promoted via LEEA platforms on the day. LEEA wants to hear directly from the lifting industry about what they’re alre

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16 May 2025

Germany - Acoustics and media technology consultancy ADA Acoustics & Media Consultants GmbH (ADA-AMC) has officially been renamed WSDG Berlin GmbH, marking the next step in the company’s evolution and deeper integration into the international WSDG network. The change took effect at the end of March 2025.

Founded in 1990 by acoustician Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert as ADA – Acoustic Design Ahnert – the company has been a pioneer in the fields of electroacoustics, acoustic simulation, and AV system design. Since 2017, WSDG has held a majority stake in the Berlin-based firm and has played a key role in shaping its development. The name change underscores the continued collaboration and alignment with the global WSDG organisation, while preserving the engineering excellence and values established over more than three decades.

“This new name refle

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16 May 2025

Spain - A football final is always a moment of high emotion – but when light joins the game, the experience becomes unforgettable. That’s exactly what happened at the 2025 Copa del Rey Final, where more than 60,000 fans at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville and 8m viewers around the world were treated to a jaw-dropping lighting show that set the tone for a night to remember.

The creative force behind this spectacle was Juanjo Llorens, one of Spain’s most respected lighting designers, whose recent book on lighting as an evolving craft sparked wide acclaim. His approach to the opening show was clear: use light not just as illumination, but as narrative. And to achieve that, he relied on a powerful combination of 60 Ayrton Cobra and 50 Ayrton Perseo Beam fixtures.

Llorens’ design concept was rooted in movement, emotion and impact, as it built

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16 May 2025

USA - On Sunday 13 April, Chase & Status brought their musical kingdom to California, transforming Coachella’s massive Sahara Stage into a giant dance club with their signature sound and guest appearances by stars like Stormzy. Enhancing the vibe and energizing the entire stage was a production designed by High Scream, with management by NTRP, programming by Olly Walker, and onsite lighting by Elliott Mountford of Ti²² Design.

The lighting element of this dynamic stage panorama drew on the intense output of 172 Chauvet Professional fixtures. Of these units, 104 were Color Strike M motorised strobe washes, part of the Sahara’s house rig, supplied by Volt. The remaining fixtures, part of the Colour Sound Experiment supplied floor package, featured 48 Color Strike M and 20 Maverick Storm 4 Profile fixtures. The impressive collection of Color Strike M

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16 May 2025

UK - The Theatre nominations for The Profile Awards 2025 have now been published on the TPA website. The Theatre section is judged by eight of the UK’s leading theatre, dance and opera critics chaired by David Benedict (Variety). Every single new production seen is automatically eligible for consideration and, as each judge may see around two hundred shows over the year, that is a significant amount of work that gets covered. (https://profileawards.com/theatre-nominations-2025/)

The Profile Awards Theatre Sponsors are:

@chauvet_pro  - Outstanding Achievement in Theatre Award

@elationlighting - Outstanding Achievement in Dance Award

@elctronictheatrecontrols - Outstanding Achievement in Opera Award

@fix8group - Outstandi

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16 May 2025

The Netherlands - The three-night Ladies of Soul show landed at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome in April, backed by a series of LED screens and LED strips with Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Media Servers belting out live camera feed and pre-made content.

Dutch singers and musicians Edsilia Rombley, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Berget Lewis and Candy Dulfer starred in the productions, with a host of international guests including Sister Sledge, Robin S and Rose Royce celebrating the Ladies of Soul.

“We deployed our Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers because they were the models that could handle the multiple layers, three mixes, main screen content and masks, and much more,” explains Kevin Buysse from Tenfeet, which has delivered video for Ladies of Soul for more than a decade. “The show was built around the four main Dutch performers

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16 May 2025

Switzerland - For Stagelight, a Swiss event design company, Vectorworks Spotlight is the central tool for overcoming the increasingly complex requirements in the event industry. The firm relies on the software from the first sketch to detailed specialist planning to the final execution.

With consistent 3D planning, customer-oriented visualizations, and modern exchange formats such as MVR and GDTF, the company relies on efficiency and precision. In the shadow of the spotlight, the company ensures that despite hectic last-minute changes, everything runs smoothly, and the stars can offer their fans an unforgettable experience.

Head of light Stefan Rüttimann, who has been working at Stagelight for 17 years, described Vectorworks as the ultimate "all-in-one" tool. “From the first draft to the final execution – we do everything in Vectorworks: stage,

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16 May 2025

Iceland - Located 20 minutes from Keflavik International Airport, Icelandair’s headquarters has recently undergone a major expansion with the addition of a new flight simulator with additional facilities for pilot and cabin crew training, along with new office facilities including an impressive atrium and multi-purpose spaces for the hosting of meetings, presentations and events.

The project’s electrical contractor Verkhönnun issued a tender for the design and installation of cutting-edge audiovisual systems, with the contract ultimately awarded to local event production and AV technology specialists Exton.

“The initial brief included line arrays for the main atrium, but our modelling of a Nexo point-source system using NS-1 performance prediction software proved that a Nexo ePS system was perfectly adequate for the space, while making a much

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16 May 2025

Australia - Clearlight Shows, a long-standing name in Australia’s entertainment lighting industry, has delivered a major lighting upgrade at the Marriner Theatre Plaza Ballroom. The installation combines Infinity and Showtec fixtures from Highlite International to provide a robust, modern rig optimised for live performance, broadcast, and high-end event lighting.

The Plaza Ballroom, part of the Marriner Group, is a richly decorated venue with no natural light – making colour accuracy and flicker-free performance essential. Having worked closely with the theatre group on many occasions, Clearlight was invited to propose a system based on Highlite products, which the venue had successfully hired in the past.

John McKissock, founder of Clearlight Shows, explained: “The venue team had been trialling LED replacements for some time. When they saw the

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16 May 2025

France - Christie projection is powering screenings at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which is running until 24 May.

RGB pure laser, laser, and Xenon illuminated projection technologies from Christie are deployed across 24 spaces at the globally renowned festival, including the flagship Grand Théâtre Lumière room and striking outdoor Cinéma de la Plage screen. More than 40,000 festivalgoers will attend the global event, with a host of A-list stars poised to grace the red carpet.

“Festival de Cannes remains among the most prestigious and iconic events on the cinema calendar, and it’s a real honour to once again play our part as the official projection partner,” says Adil Zerouali, vice-president, sales EMEA, Christie. “We are pleased to continue our work with the Festival and the Commission Supérieure Technique de l'Imag

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16 May 2025

UK - Spotlight Sound, a fast-growing national AV and event production company based in Essex, has announced the appointment of Ed Guest as its new AV service engineer. With over 15 years of experience across theatre, live events, and AV installation, Ed brings considerable technical expertise to the expanding Spotlight Sound team.

Spotlight Sound specialises in audio-visual installations, event production, and equipment hire across the UK, with clients ranging from local authorities and schools to national venues and entertainment providers. As the company continues to grow, Ed’s addition is set to strengthen its technical offering and drive further excellence in project delivery.

Ed's journey in AV began in school theatres, eventually leading him to a BTEC in technical theatre and a BA in Lighting Design at Rose Bruford College. He has worked in s

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15 May 2025

USA - ACT Entertainment has been selected as a US distributor for the live sound portfolio from Avid. ACT and Avid will officially debut this partnership at InfoComm 2025.

ACT Entertainment has a proven track record of building infrastructure and market presence for premium brands, such as Ayrton, MA Lighting and PK Sound. This new partnership represents a significant expansion in Avid’s US strategy and underscores its commitment to serving the professional live sound community with exceptional service and support.

“The partnership with Avid represents another major step forward in our strategic initiative to build the ACT Entertainment portfolio with class-leading solutions across all categories of entertainment technology,” says ACT CEO Ben Saltzman. “We have long admired Avid’s commitment to innovation, and we believe this collaboration

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15 May 2025

Spain - At the recent Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (JESC) in Madrid, the lighting design by Raphaël Demonthy (Sunrise Studios) was based around finely tuned technology from GLP, which created enormous impact under demanding conditions.

In the Caja Mágica, a well-known tennis arena in Madrid with a capacity of 12,000 seats, more than 250 GLP fixtures ensured that the performances of each of the 17 participating countries could be staged in a special way. With the right balance of creative versatility and technical precision, the various fixtures in the X5 Series supported the visual implementation of the show, which thrilled millions of viewers worldwide.

Raphaël Demonthy had to integrate into his design a 20m-high LED wall and a gigantic flower decoration – the so-called ‘hanging gardens’ – which extended from the stage int

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15 May 2025

USA - Martin Professional collaborated with Verity Studios, provider of indoor drone show systems for live events, for a dynamic three-day customer showcase at the Harman Experience Centre in Northridge, California. Held in April, the event revealed how autonomous drones and advanced lighting can operate as a single, unified show experience.

The centrepiece was a choreographed performance of Verity’s Lucie micro drones, equipped with powerful LEDs, flying in sync with Martin’s newest lighting fixture releases, including the MAC Aura Raven XIP. With its high-resolution aura effects and bold beam presence, the MAC Aura Raven XIP provided a rich visual counterpart to the drones’ motion and light patterns.

“We built the show with the MAC Aura Raven XIP as the lead performer,” said Brandon Robbins, regional sales manager for North America, Marti

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15 May 2025

Singapore - For the third successive year, Martin Audio and Generation AV entertained all APAC distributors at their Singapore Experience Centre to celebrate growth and discuss future opportunities.

Attending the recent event, Dom Harter, Martin Audio managing director, shared updates from across the Audio Reproduction division of the Focusrite group, which also includes Linea Research, Optimal Audio and TiMax. Harter confirmed: “More partners are representing multiple brands, and while we want to ensure that each brand continues to flourish in its own right, there are increasing opportunities for convergence and valued-added solutions to customers.”

Addressing the notable interest in spatial audio which naturally leads to the potential sale of additional loudspeakers and electronics, the agenda included dedicated demonstrations of TiMax panLab a

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15 May 2025

France - Smode Tech has announced its partnership with Cercle Odyssey, billed as the world’s first large-scale 360° immersive concert. As an official partner, Smode Tech is providing its real-time media server technology, Smode, for Cercle Odyssey’s global tour, which is pioneering an ambitious new form of entertainment fusing spatialised sound, video, olfactory experiences and classically influenced storytelling on a monumental scale.

The Cercle Odyssey tour began in Mexico City before heading to Los Angeles and will be culminating in Paris for a spectacular finale from 28 May to 1 June. Highlights from the Paris leg of the tour include Max Richter (28 May), ARTBAT and WhoMadeWho (29 May), NTO × Sofiane Pamart and Monolink (30 May) and Bonobo and Ben Böhmer (31 May).

Described as a “nomadic” installation, Cercle Odyssey places audiences a

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15 May 2025

USA - For rapidly rising (No. 1 on Billboard Airplay Charts) country star Russell Dickerson’s 2025 tour, the production and lighting design came from Scott Cunningham, production/lighting designer at Cut2Black Designs, with support from IPS (Integrated Production Solutions).

Cunningham reflected on the collaboration behind the Russell Mania tour; “The teamwork behind the entire tour has been an inspiring collective, with many thanks to LD Nate Augustyn, tour PM Chris Lee, associate programmer Luke Elrod, video programmer Alex Talbot, and especially Nick Brown and his team at IPS. They made sure we had a rig that could travel well, handle all the different demands placed on it, and deliver powerful looks.”

“From day one, our goal was to provide a flexible, tour-ready rig that could support Scott’s creative vision without co

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15 May 2025

China - Lars Huang is a Chinese pop singer who has found fame with his lyrical, passionate musical style. His most recent tour, Fun! Only, is a celebration of video game and digital culture, requiring fans to ‘level up’ to get the most out of the experience. The design concept was a Platinum Muse Award 2024 winner. The audio team insisted upon DiGiCo consoles, choosing a Quantum 852 for the front-of-house position and a Quantum 338 for monitors, supplied by DiGiCo distributors in China, RAC Pro.

“The tour is all about letting every audience member really enjoy the music,” Li Wenhao, senior product manager of RAC, technical support for the tour explains. “We insist upon using only the very best equipment and the Quantum 852 delivers excellence for us. At the monitor position, the Quantum 338’s compact design and highly efficient signal pr

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15 May 2025

USA - RZI Lighting, a provider of professional lighting rentals in the greater New Orleans area, supplied Elation’s powerful Proteus Maximus IP65-rated LED profile light for Our Moon Shines, For All the World to See, a light-based installation by multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Meris that featured in the recent Prospect contemporary art exhibition.

Founded after Hurricane Katrina to revitalise New Orleans’ culture and economy, Prospect is a triennial exhibition that invites artists from around the world to create citywide projects that are often rooted in social justice and inspired by the city itself. The latest iteration, Prospect.6, prompted reflection on themes of climate vulnerability, colonialism, belonging, and home.

Commissioned as part of Prospect.6, which ran from November 2024 through Febru

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15 May 2025

USA - Pharos Architectural Controls has confirmed its attendance at InfoComm and announced its plans for the conference next month.

The Pharos team will be on stand 7575, meeting with visitors and highlighting key updates to their lighting control product ranges – Pharos Designer and Pharos Expert. Product demonstrations will be running with a focus on their integration capabilities and how these can help meet the specific needs of the AV industry.

Pharos Designer is the company’s flagship range, centred around scalable, highly configurable lighting controllers for any DMX, eDMX, and DALI lighting project. Programming with Pharos Designer 2 software offers a versatile, comprehensive feature set, powerful show control solutions and ultimate flexibility.

The team will also be demonstrating what's new in Expert, the company’s easy-to-progr