Martin Goes Big at Eurovision

The 46th Eurovision Song Contest at Denmark’s national stadium, Parken, featured one of the largest automated lighting rigs ever assembled for a single show. Danish lighting rental company SeeLite A/S, who recently took over Martin Danmark’s rental division, supplied all the lighting for Eurovision 2001 (subhired through rental company ProCon of Germany). The package included nearly 900 automated, computer-controlled fixtures including over 700 of Martin’s most successful and popular lights, MAC luminaries. The massive rig also included over 1000 conventional luminaries - all in all a 4.2 million watt lighting system. The Eurovision Song Contest has featured Martin lighting for the past several years, including in Israel in 1999 and Sweden in 2000. By comparison, last year’s Eurovision show in Stockholm incorporated just 300 computer-controlled fixtures. Set-up began a full two weeks before the event.

The lighting design was by SeeLite’s Lars Nissen. With a mandate to produce a show that was bigger than last year’s, and with a large 38,000 seat stadium to fill with atmospheric effects, Lars incorporated a massive amount of Martin automated lighting into the designs. The Eurovision stage itself was enormous; a large and open platform surrounded by several video and projection screens with back light and projection provided by MAC 2000s. Lars placed 78 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes on the projection and video screen truss to the back of the stage for powerful white flash effects. Truss arms hang straight down from the ceiling with pods of MAC 600s mounted at the ends. MAC 600s were also placed under the stage, projecting upwards, to create the effect of a lighter almost floating stage. Above the stage hangs a moveable truss of various sized semi-circles, repositioned for each act and culminating in the shape of the Eurovision logo. MAC 2000s, MAC 600s and MAC 500s line the truss in abundance, providing the various color and image projection sweeps for each song. MAC 2000s were also positioned on each side of the stage to pan the stadium. Control was provided by four Vari-Lite Virtuoso consoles. Martin Danmark and SeeLite also delivered a mass of lighting accessories including followspots, smoke machines and other equipment, which equates to the largest number of lighting fixtures and support equipment ever supplied for a single show in Denmark. The contest was won by Estonia.

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