UK - The introduction of the X-5 LED strobes from Peter Johansen's SGM provided all the inspiration necessary for multi-award winning production designer, LeRoy Bennett, to specify no fewer than 470 pieces for Beyoncé's The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.

The low-profile, lightweight X-5 is designed to deliver the same output as conventional strobes from one fifth of the power. Housing 2,970 LED's, power consumption of 360W with lamp life of 50,000 hours, contained in a slim aluminium chassis, it is designed into three cells - to boost creativity.

These attributes had bee

USA - Chicago Spotlight, Inc. is shedding some light on United Centre, the largest arena in the US, with help from Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots. Home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and a venue for top musical artists, the United Centre has hosted over 40m guests since it opened in 1994.

"The United Centre is in the process of replacing their current followspots," says Chicago Spotlight president Marty Lazarus. "Their existing fixtures have been there since the arena opened. Their goal is to replace two each year until all 12 are replaced

Olympic Honours - The London 2012 Olympic Games have taken three awards at this year's British Academy of Film and Television Arts Craft Awards. The Olympics opening ceremony picked up a best director award while Super Saturday - when team GB scooped six gold medals - won for best sound. The Paralympics, broadcast on Channel Four, took best digital creativity.

Hamish Hamilton who directed the TV broadcasts of the London 2012 opening and closing ceremonies, was also honoured on the night with a special award in recognition of his "outstanding creative contribution to the industry

South Africa - Keystone Productions were awarded the role of production company, and MGG Productions as technical supplier, for the Nestle Conference and Gala Awards, held in two different venues at Champagne Sports Resort which is surrounded by majestic mountains in central Drakensberg. With over 30 presentations, each with a different theme, lighting could not take a back seat and included Robe and Clay Paky at a function where video predominantly featured.

This was the first time Nestle hosted a single event for the entire company. It was aptly attended by a thousand employees who

UK - XL Video supplied LED screens, cameras, Hippotizer media servers and control for the high profile London show by chart-topping and Grammy Award winning New York based indie pop band, Fun.

The video and lighting design was by Paul Normandale. He was approached by management and asked 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.

The video design was based on a poster of the band. Norm

Germany - A record-breaking 113,000 visitors from 142 countries attended this year's Musikmesse and Prolight+Sound expos in Frankfurt. This statistic spelt success not only for the show but also for Christie, who returned to Hall 9 as exhibitors in their own right after a break last year.

Pride of place went to the Nitro moving yoke series. The company welcomed existing and new customers to hourly presentations given by Christie field application engineer, Jan Walter, in which he compared a Christie YK100 single arm projection yoke (specifically designed for Christie M Series and Chri

The Netherlands - Lighthouse of Holland has made available for download a demo version of Martin Professional's ShowDesigner (MSD) lighting and set design software package.

The demo version can be used without the need for a Martin One-Key and is available at www.martinshowdesigner.com.

The MSD demo version contains a ready-to-use scene that matches Martin's M-PC training show file. After a simple registration, the user gets a license immediately. Connection to the MSD demo version can be made via a Martin M-PC or LightJockey as well as Artnet.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - GLP German Light Products launched a number of new products at the recent PLS exhibition in Frankfurt, along with treating visitors to a sneak preview of some upcoming product releases.

Reporting a busy attendance from all four days, distributors and customers alike gave a great response to the new showings, in what was definitely an upbeat environment.

Getting its official launch at the show was the Impression X4S fixture, which is the 'small' version of the Impression X4. Featuring the same 15 Watt RGBW LED's that are used in the Impression X4 - just seven instead of 19,

UK - Northern Light has announced the appointment of Ian Green as a business development manager for the company's equipment sales division, Northern Light Direct.

Green has been working within the entertainment technology industry since 1997 and brings with him a wealth of experience in sound, lighting, AV and stage technologies. His technical career commenced at Alton Towers theme park, where he worked as a permanent technician within the entertainments team, before moving into a more theatrical role with Birmingham Hippodrome as an LX and sound technician. Thereafter, he worked at

USA - On 17 March, Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, celebrated the ministry's 40th anniversary by hosting a weekend event titled ReEnvision. The weekend was intended to reflect on how Harvest grew from a small church into one of America's mega-churches with one of the largest evangelical outreaches in America and the world, Harvest America.

Harvest lighting designer and programmer Christopher Eguizabal was tasked with lighting the event, as well as a special dinner for Harvest guests and staff to be aired on television. The lighting rig therefore ne

Spain - The main auditorium of the Fundación Juan March in Madrid has received a new ETC LED lighting system, thanks to ETC's Spanish dealer Stonex and installer Salas Audio Video. Because the space is used for lectures, interviews, cinema projection, piano concertos and concerts - with many of the events being broadcast - the lighting needed to be truly versatile.

The Fundación Juan March dedicates its resources and activities to the fields of science and the humanities, with concerts, lecture series and seminars in its main auditorium in Madrid. A series of free concerts, for exam

UK - The opening day of PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013 was tremendously busy, with packed aisles, full seminars, and dozens of new products to see on the show floor.

Here are 10 reasons to join us today:

* Audio legend Tony Andrews delivers his Keynote Speech What is Good Audio?

* Martin Audio debuts the MLA Mini

* Ambersphere presents Clay Paky and the Laws of Physics

* Award winning sound designer Gareth Fry gives his seminar Creative Manipulation of Sound

* d&b audiotechnik tell you Why Size Matters

* The ABTT discuss qualifications and competence i

UK - RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, has entered into a global distribution agreement with Philips Lumileds, a leading provider of LED technologies.

This partnership with RS is part of a recent initiative by Philips Lumileds to restructure its distribution channels, steered by the LED vendor's strategic objective to grow its customer base globally through expansion into new markets.

In its 17 distribution centres located around the world RS has the capacity to stock the full breadth of the Philips Lumileds range, and is thus equipped to provide lumina

Sweden - There is less than one month to go before the start of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest (14, 16 and 18 May), the most prestigious annual event for the European music industry and the most watched live TV broadcast in Europe. The organizers have planned a show in Malmö on 7 and 8 May 2013 to present the event to the industry and the international press. This unmissable date will also feature an exclusive 'backstage tour' that illustrates the cutting-edge technology that will be used during the contest, along with some workshops where the various technical partners will present

Singapore - Robe DLX LED Spots have been installed in a lighting upgrade at a leading international school in Singapore.

The Spots were specified by Tanglin Trust School's theatre manager Vincent Teo for the school's 400 capacity Berrick Performance Hall; they were supplied by Robe SEA's office, in a sale co-ordinated by Louis Teo.

The Berrick Performance Hall is a multi-purpose space used for a wide range of shows and events including in-house drama and musical productions, graduation and other academic ceremonies, conferences and exhibitions, music concerts, dance shows and other

UK - Innovation Productions Ltd is preparing itself for a busy summer with some new additions to its already extensive rental stock. Innovation Productions provide hire and sales of lighting, sound, video and staging equipment have added new additions to all areas of their range from leading brand names, including Clay Paky, Martin Professional, Sennheiser, Christie Digital and DPA. Innovation Productions have other additions planned over the coming months.

Andrew Pygott the company's managing director and himself a respected lighting and systems designer commented on some of the addi

UK - Lumonic Ltd , designer and manufacturer of LED lights under the ilumo brand have moved.

Mike Edwards, Director at Lumonic says, "Our expansion as a business over the last year has allowed us to search for and find premises that are now much more suited to our needs. Our new premises are more than four times the size and afford all the requirements that we wanted to best serve the needs of our business and customers. We are excited about the move."

The new address is: Lumonic Ltd, ilumo House, Broadoak Business Park C5, Ashburton Road West, Trafford Park, Manchester M1

UK - ETC is showing a range of new and updated products at this week's PLASA Focus in Leeds:

The Source Four LED Studio HD is designed to perform in a high definition production world where people (with varying flesh tones) need to look their best. The fixture combines exceptional light output with an ultra-flexible, variable white light (2700K-6500K), for more accurate colour rendition on camera, and uses the colour technology of ETC's Selador x7 Color System for a more spectrally complete white light that can be finely tuned to the on screen talent.

Source Four Mini is the tiniest

Australia - The AUD$135.8m redevelopment of Hamer Hall was part of a larger revitalisation project for Arts Centre Melbourne and the first step in the Southbank Cultural Precinct Redevelopment plan. The project was overseen by theatre consultants Schuler Shook, and designed by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall.

The heritage listed Arts Centre Melbourne is the largest and busiest performing arts complex in the southern hemisphere; Hamer Hall is the concert hall within the centre. Home to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall also hosts a wide variety of performance events thro

USA - Chauvet is gearing up for PLASA Focus Orlando, scheduled for 15-16 May. Built with TRUSST, backed by Chauvet, booth 501 will house a selection of fixtures including Chauvet Professional Legend 230SR Beam moving yoke, Nexus 4x4 tour-ready wash light, Ovation series of theatrical luminaires, PVP S5 high-definition video panel, MVP Ta8 Curve modular video panel, wash lights from the COLORado Series and more. Additionally, Chauvet will present on 16 May the seminar How to Blend LED with Traditional Fixtures.

Chauvet Professional Legend 230SR Beam is a compact, lightweight, in

USA - For the eighth year in a row, CAST Software has sponsored the USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology) Southwest Student Design Competition, an annual event which recognises young talent in the categories of Lighting, Sound, Set and Costume Design, Stage Management and Scenic Technology.

Each year, CAST bestows the winner of the Lighting Design category with an educational wysiwyg license, and announces that this year's winner is University of Oklahoma student, Leahe Knott, who scooped the prize for her work on Peter Oswald's translation of Friedrich Schiller's pla

USA - When the alternative rock band Neon Trees first burst onto the music scene, the four member band had no idea how quickly their lives would change. In February 2013, the group launched their most expansive North American tour opening for Maroon 5, with multiple tour dates across the globe set to follow immediately after.

As the production team prepared to bring the group's latest album Picture Show to life, lighting designer Matt Guminski would be inheriting part of the largest moving light rig they had ever used and they would capitalize on this by using the power and per

South Africa - Alistair Kilbee, managing director of Gearhouse Splitbeam, is proving over and over again that South Africa has what it takes to offer a technical solution for international Broadway production; the latest being Jersey Boys.

This multi-award winning musical is currently running at the Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg before opening at the Artscape, Cape Town, on 19 June 2013.

"I work extensively for Showtime Management productions, the SA Producer for Jersey Boys, on most of their productions," said Kilbee. "Showtime started talking abo

USA - Belmont University's annual Best of the Best Showcase honoured Bandit Lites with the 2013 Robert E. Mulloy Award of Excellence. The event took place on Saturday, 13 April in the Curb Event Centre and was hosted by the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. Brent Barrett, Bandits' business development officer, accepted the award on behalf of Bandit Lites.

Wesley Bulla, Dean of the Curb College stated, "Bob Mulloy loved creating opportunities for students to experience the music industry first hand through programs like our showcase series. Today, this program

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