Live in London - Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith have all been booked to appear at next year's Brit Awards ceremony. They are the first names to be announced for the event in February at the O2 Arena in London and broadcast on ITV. Further names will be confirmed over the next few weeks.

Spot On - Ed Sheeran has bucked the trend for criticising Spotify, saying his popularity on the site enabled him to play three nights at Wembley Stadium. "My music has been streamed 860 million times, which means that it's getting out to people," he said backstage at the BBC Music Awards. "I'm playing sold-out gigs in South America, I've sold out arenas in Korea and south-east Asia. I don't think I'd be able to do that without Spotify." His comments come after Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke pulled their music from the streaming music site.

Why? Why? Why?

USA - Each year, Fred Loya's Christmas light show in El Paso, Texas, is one of the holiday season's can't miss spectacles and each year he uses Elation lighting to give his light show extra impact. This year Fred was approached by ABC Television to take part in The Great Christmas Light Fight, ABC's Christmas lights competition, and came away the winner.

The Great Christmas Light Fight, in which families compete to have America's best Christmas display, proved a hit for ABC last year and returned this year for a second season, premiering on Monday, 8 December. Each episode features families from across America who have transformed their homes for the holidays in hopes of winning the $50,000 first place prize. Houses were judged on their elaborate Christmas light display, choreography and over-the-top design.

Fred incorporated 12 Elation Platinum Beam 5R beam effe

USA - Arcade Fire, the Grammy Award-winning indie band from Montreal, has been praised by critics since the launch of its debut album, Funeral, in 2004. Ten years on, the group continues to press the envelope with its sonically adventurous arrangements and tours, which can feature a dozen or more multi-instrumentalists switching between an ever-changing blend of guitar, drums, bass, piano, string quartet, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, synthesizer, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy.

When the band was poised to head out on the road earlier this year in support of its fourth and most recent album, Reflektor, FOH engineer Jim Warren and tour sound reinforcement provider Solotech Inc. knew what systems would be up for the challenge: L-Acoustics' K1 and K2.

In particular, this trek represented Solotech's first official outing with the manufact

UK - Back in 2013 The Potters House Christian Fellowship decided to begin the process of upgrading its audio system in their flagship UK Church in Leyton, East London.

Housed in a large former cinema and bingo hall the existing system was struggling to accurately transfer the message from the Worship leaders to the congregation. The dynamics of the lively, high energy, resident praise band were also being held back by the existing system.

This process took Jason Campbell - sound technician at The Potters House - to the PLASA 2013 trade show where he took in information on a number of manufacturers and possible ways to enhance his Church's audio offering.

The show gave Jason his first opportunity to listen to KV2 Audio's products - most notably a full VHD System in the AudioLab. Being suitably impressed with a brand previously unknown to him, Jason visited KV2 Audio's stand a

Hungary - When the Palace of Arts, Budapest and Hungary's new cultural hub, opened in 2005, it was built to represent more than a hundred years of Hungarian cultural history. As a conglomeration of cultural venues, the building has no precedent in 20th century Hungarian architecture and claims no peers in the whole of Central Europe. The recent addition of a DiGiCo SD10 mixing console to its audio inventory is helping to ensure this exceptional status is maintained into the future.

Known to Hungarians simply as Müpa, the venue brings together the many and varied disciplines of the arts in a unique fashion by providing a home for classical, contemporary, popular and world music, not to mention jazz and opera, as well as contemporary circus, dance, literature and film.

The institution states that its "fundamental task is to introduce new artistic trends and directions - wh

The Netherlands - International superstar, Dutch DJ and music producer Armin van Buuren played two spectacular sold out shows at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome as the culmination of his year-long Armin Only Intense world tour. Central to the show were 174 Robe moving lights, part of the lighting specification for a design created by Marc Heinz, who was asked on-board by the show's creative director Jos Thie to bring a theatrical slant to the look and feel of the lighting.

He worked closely with The Art of Light, designers and specialists in the world of EDM lighting, who have been involved from Armin's very first live show. The results were a truly immersive visual and sonic experience as Armin unfolded his five-hour set - including an hour of warm-up from inside a giant inflatable ball. While absolutely centre stage, Armin was joined onstage by numerous guests including vocalists, musi

UK - Working with production manager Sarah Chaloner and designer Jonathan Paul Green, XL Video supplied a projection system for studio recordings of 'Series L' of the popular QI Ltd/TalkBack Television show, QI.

Originally created by John Lloyd, QI is a comedy quiz show hosted by Stephen Fry, featuring regular panellist Alan Davies, which is broadcast on BBC2 in the UK. The set includes two projection screens that are key to the quiz show, displaying clues and visual alerts throughout the game.

For the projection, XL Video project manager Jeff Bailey specified two of XL's Barco SLM R12+ projectors, each of which fed to a 13ft x 7.5ft screen. Bailey chose the R12+ projectors for their three-chip DLP colours and bright 12,000 lumen light output. XL supplied Repro H screens, selected as they minimize the hot spot that the camera sees in the projected picture - parti

USA - Ohio horse racing fans are celebrating the opening of a five-eighths-mile harness racing track in Dayton and a one-mile thoroughbred track in Austintown (Mahoning Valley). Fans at both locations enjoy the excitement of horse racing and casino gambling supported by the venues' new AV systems.

Owned by Penn National Gaming, both venues are "racetrack casinos" that include casino gambling, para-mutual wagering, live entertainment and several dining options. Penn National Gaming hired integrator Control-Point Technology of Lebanon, Pennsylvania to design and install A/V systems for both venues. Control-Point designed systems featuring Community R.5HPT loudspeakers.

Control-Point's Aaron Replogle says: "Community's outdoor product range has a great reputation for wide response and great sound. We knew the R.5s would give us plenty of level and even coverage wit

UK - The BBC Children in Need annual marathon TV spectacular is vigorously supported each year by local outside broadcasts spanning the breadth of the British Isles. This year, wanting to stand out with extra pizzazz, BBC Bristol appointed TV lighting director, Paul Middleton, to bring the 'wow factor' to the outside broadcast from the West Country's Wookey Hole Circus School, near Wells. Middleton's first thought was Chauvet and turned to the manufacturer for assistance with the high profile fundraising event.

Middleton bolstered the in-house lighting rig with 10 Chauvet Professional Q-Wash 419Z-LED fixtures, seven Chauvet Professional Next NXT-1 moving head LED panels, complete with 25 pixel-mappable quad-colour RGBW LEDs, and six of the feature-packed Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Beam units.

The Q-Wash 419Z-LED moving yoke wash units provided a wide angled beam for general

UAE - Melody House, sole distributor of Primacoustic in the Middle East, has recently supplied the American University in Dubai (AUD) with London 12 room kit acoustic panels and solution.

The Primacoustic London 12 room kit is a high performance studio kit which delivers professional sound and great looks AUD equipped its new editing suites - five rooms in total - within the Visual Communication department with these kits. In order to give the rooms the best acoustic solution, the university has used five London 12" room kits, six 1" Scatter Block Panels and ten 2" Control Column Panels.

The AUD Visual Communication Department aims to remain at the forefront of design/art education in the region, providing an educational model that addresses and assesses the market needs in relation to contemporary design/art global trends. The Department runs several studios, l

Sweden - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden AB is currently controlling a beautiful display of holiday lighting at Stockholm Concert Hall in downtown Stockholm. The installation includes 32 SGM P5s equipped with W-DMX OEM boards. The lighting is controlled from a grandMA PC Wing located inside the hall.

The W-DMX gear consists of one WhiteBox F-1 and four WhiteBox F-2 units working as repeaters. Jonas Nilsson was on site for the installation and explains: "The WhiteBox F-2s are placed around the Concert Hall on the same poles as the fixtures, and are working as repeaters. This was the only way to solve this installation since we were not allowed to cause any damage to the building. Both omnidirectional and directional antennas were used." All gear was supplied by Lagom & Gott AB.

Stockholm Concert hall, inaugurated in 1926 and designed by Ivar Tengbom is home to the R

UK - Described as "The best Christmas light switch-on in Wales", residents in Barry, the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, enjoyed a specially commissioned visual spectacle created by London based The Projection Studio across the front of the municipal library building in King Square in a Christmas light switch on ceremony that would rival that of most metropolises.

The Projection Studio - led by creative director Ross Ashton - won a competitive tender to produce the large-format video show. Ross was delighted to be working in Wales again: "It was fantastic! I love working in Wales . . . the people are amazing, there is always a great vibe and everyone gets right into it," he enthused.

The Projection Studios' recent work in Wales includes illuminating the National Gallery of Wales twice and creating shows at Caernarfon Castle and Caerphilly Castles, as well as desi

Australia - Canberra Airport, recently named 'Australia's Airport of the Year', features an innovative AV installation from Rutledge AV that utilises Tannoy's digital beam steering technology.

In recent times, Canberra Airport has invested a total of $480m on a complete redevelopment of its terminal precinct. This redevelopment, termed 'AirVolution', is the largest private sector investment in Canberra's history and has delivered a world-class terminal in Australia's capital that covers 55,000sqm. The environmentally friendly building has been recently honoured by a number of industry awards, including twice being named Australia's Airport of the Year.

Rutledge AV was commissioned to design, install and deliver the Western Concourse Public Address and Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS) for Stage 2 of Canberra Airport. This system would also need to integrat

UK - A Grade II listed building in the centre of Nottingham, 50 Shakespeare Street was purchased in 2012 by Nottingham Trent University, since when it has undergone works to restore many key listed features as well as enjoying a complete internal refurbishment.

In recent times POLARaudio has established a strong connection with NTU. A recent installation at its Brackenhurst Library site prompted the university to contact the company with a view to tackling issues of sound-reinforcement and supplying conferencing solutions at its recently acquired site. The restoration of a listed building under the watchful gaze of English Heritage is a process that demands great care and sensitivity and a proven track record in designing systems for such sites further enhanced POLARaudio's credentials.

Roche AV, with whom POLARaudio already had a productive working relationship, was engaged t

UK - When lighting designer and technician Malte Hauge became involved in the preparation of comedian Andreas Bo's original set design at an early stage, he was able to participate in the perfect format and scenography; at the same time he could meet the technical challenges in order to achieve the vision of technical consultant Thomas Scharling and the artist himself.

"I'm a fan of surprising the audiences," explains Hauge about his refined yet downplayed design. "Instead of having one big SGM LED screen, we have divided the screen surface into three equally large segments to generate new opportunities for interaction between Andreas Bo and the video content." Between the three screen surfaces are beams of light, adding to the depth of the scenography.

With 69 scheduled performances (which are expected to reach nearly 80 with extra shows throughout the cou

USA - The colourful Rubik's Cube made its debut 40 years ago and continues to delight and intrigue puzzlers today. A new twist on the puzzle, Beyond Rubik's Cube, opened at Liberty Science Centre in Jersey City, New Jersey, with audio-visual design, integration and installation by Electrosonic.

Electrosonic was hired by exhibit fabricator Maltbie, a Kubik company, to take on the project designed by the Science Centre's Experience Services. The 7,000sq.ft exhibit, with 24 areas featuring AV support by Electrosonic, is intended to travel; after 11 months at Liberty Science Centre, it will start a seven-year international road trip.

The exhibit features three exploration zones with the themes of Invent, Play and Inspire. They offer tantalizing puzzles, robotic manipulations, music, art and original artifacts, which become creative platforms for the exploration of Professor

Germany - After nine months of hard work, 19 wireless professionals from the worldwide Sennheiser organisation have been awarded the coveted RF Expert certificate. The last of three on-site training sessions took place in Delhi, and in the meantime the new RF experts have been in action all over the world to provide support for Sennheiser customers and partners in their projects.

"The system of extensive online training and close supervision by mentors combined with several weeks of on-site training has proven itself," said Kirsten Wessendorf, manager Sennheiser Sound Academy, summarising the training course. Meanwhile, some of the new RF experts have already completed their first major projects.

Ryan Burr from Sennheiser Middle East provided support for his client Doummar - Q2 Advanced Technology in planning the conference and entertainment facilities for the Sherat

Germany - This summer saw 1980's German rock/punk legends Böhse Onkelz (Bad Uncles) come together at Germany's Hockenheimring for their first show in nine years, with 80 Clay Paky Sharpys and 36 A.leda B-EYE K20s delivering the gigantic reunion's key lighting and supporting the extensive visual content.

Well-respected lighting and show designer Jerry Appelt specified the Clay Paky fixtures, supplied by PRG, to reinforce his architectural show design, that saw the band brought closer to the audience through a set that comprised a main stage as well as B-stage.

"When designing a show of this size, the power of the fixtures was very important," explains Appelt. "They also needed to hold their own in sunlight, with it being an outdoor event. I had used the B-EYEs before, but only indoors, and I was really impressed with how they performed on this show in the open a

UK - For the second year running, Light School will be holding true to its school motto: Inspired by Light, giving its 'students' inspiration and ideas on how to use light within spaces and buildings. Hosted within Surface Design Show, at London's Business Design Centre from 10-12 February 2015 and presented by Light Collective and the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP) is Light School, an area dedicated to lighting.

Light and surface are inseparable partners; the interplay between light and surface can change a building's interior or exterior dramatically creating breath-taking results. Light School consists of three parts: The School Room, Product School and the School Newspaper all of which are designed to educate and inspire visitors about the latest in lighting design and lighting products.

The aim of Light School is to provide architects and designers with educa

UK - After nearly eight decades of hosting legendary events, Earls Court has had its final curtain call. After working on the venue's three concluding events, Blackout took down the last ever drape to grace the venue's walls on 14 December.

The historic London venue, famed for 'creating legends since 1937' has hosted an array of events in its 77 years, and Blackout has been part of some of them. At the very beginning of the company 25 years ago, founder Steve Tuck's second job was to install the PA system in Earls Court 2. December this year saw the exhibition centre host Victoria's Secret annual show, the inaugural BBC Music Awards and its ultimate concert by Bombay Bicycle Club. Between the first and last jobs Earls Court 1 and 2 has been a frequent destination for Blackout's team.

For Pink Floyd's 1994 Division Bell shows Blackout created 70 painted banners, featuring the a

New Zealand - Oceania Productions,New Zealand's largest and most experienced event technical production specialist, has invested in 32 of Robe's new Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire (BMFL) Spots. These are the first BMFL Spots in New Zealand, and were delivered by the ULA Group, Robe's distributor for Australia & New Zealand.

Oceania Productions provides production solutions for a diverse range of shows and events all across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, from theatres to arenas, rock 'n' roll to corporate and industrial shows, sports events to large spectaculars.

General manager Simon Garrett comments: "The current look for many event designs is 'screens and beams', so we really needed a powerful and bright general purpose moving head spot that can be utilised as a workhorse shooting between 20 and 50 metres. It had to meet international specs as well as being app

World - In a nod to her status as working mum pop star, British singer Lily Allen has been touring both the festival and venue circuit in front of a backdrop of baby bottles laced with LED strips and controlled by Avolites Ai.

Allen first unveiled her baby bottles set - a concept conceived by acclaimed stage designer Es Devlin - at Glastonbury 2014 and went on to perform with the bottles throughout the US, UK and Europe in the autumn as part of her Sheezus tour. In January and February 2015, the tour continues to Asia.

The bottles were designed by bespoke lighting creators Light Initiative and feature LED strips inside, making up a mapped 'video screen' of colours and effects.

For the tour, Ai operator and content creator Aislinn 'Ash' Clifford and Ai programmer Toby Dennis are using two MacBook laptops with Ai software licences to control the array of effects running throug

USA - Everyone knows that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but some things are too good to keep a secret. Specifically, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, where champion Kevin Harvick was honoured for his incredible win. With lighting provided by Bandit Lites and hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, the televised event featured performances by soul/R&B star Aloe Blacc, country super group Lady Antebellum, and the talent sister duo Lennon and Maisy from ABC's hit TV show, Nashville.

"The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards present the opportunity to spotlight the biggest names in NASCAR, and we are thrilled to augment that star power with some of the most popular personalities in the entertainment industry," said Zane Stoddard, NASCAR vice president of entertainment marketing and content development.

In addition to celebrating Harvick's win, The NASCAR America group

USA - Severn School is among the largest and most august private schools in the nation. Situated midway between Baltimore and Annapolis in Maryland, Severn School was founded in 1914 as a preparatory school for the U.S. Navy. Today, it serves 800 students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. In recent years, Severn School has been updating its buildings and grounds, including new turf fields for football, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse adjacent to the new Edward St. John Athletic Center.

For a few years after their installation, the school used a portable system for every football game, a solution that proved to be of low quality and, moreover, quite a hassle. Severn School called on Baltimore-based A/V contractor HP Electronics to design and install a permanent system. Citing their value and sound quality, HP Electronics installed an Ashly MX-206 six-channel microphone mixer

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