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UK - The television show may have come to an end but the successful acts from 2010's Britain's Got Talent took to the country's local stages in a tightly scheduled tour taking in 17 city venues in a month. Dave Farmer of THC Design specified PixelRange, supplied by Port Talbot-based Sonalyst.

Farmer explains the choice, "The touring schedule was very tight so fixtures needed to be reliable, have numerous functions, offer the maximum creative options and work as we expect, as time to redesign the fixture layout or replace defective units simply wasn't available. Small footprint was essential for the applications involved and we needed power and saturation too."

Farmer's deputy LD, Niall Hannell, adds, "PixelRange is just so reliable, they've been around for a while, they're proven, they work, and they always work - I've never seen one go wrong, I've never

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USA - American DJ has filed suit in the United States District Court Central District of California against five companies, including Wal-Mart Stores and DBL Distributing, a division of Ingram Micro, for violating the Lanham Act, which covers federal trademark law, and the California Business and Professions Code.

The suit alleges that the five companies used the 'American Audio' trademark in advertising and promoting audio products that were not made by or affiliated with either American DJ or its American Audio brand. According to American DJ, the five firms "intentionally, continuously and wrongfully advertised, distributed and/or sold audio equipment... using the American Audio® mark since 2009".

In addition to Wal-Mart Stores and DBL Distributing, the companies that are the subject of American DJ's legal action are V2GO Technology, American Audio Laborato

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Japan - GDS (Global Design Solutions) continues to expand it global distribution network with the appointment of PRG KK as its exclusive distributor for Japan. PRG KK represents a host of key brands including Phillips Vari*Lite, Clay Paky and Syncrolite and will distribute the range of GDS products.

Matt Lloyd, managing director at GDS comments, "We are delighted to announce the appointment of PRG KK as our exclusive distributor in Japan. PRG joins our rapidly expanding global distribution network as exclusive distributors for the complete portfolio of GDS products. With their impeccable reputation, affiliation with key brands and established presence in the marketplace PRG KK were the ideal choice of distributor in this territory. We are looking forward to establishing a long and successful partnership."

Yuji Tanaka, sales manager PRG KK adds, "In the past, we

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UK - Studer reports that it has recently sold OnAir 3000 digital consoles to some of the world's leading broadcasting companies, and in the process, sales of the OnAir 3000 have now surpassed the 1,000 mark.

"Today we celebrate a milestone, as we have now sold more than 1,000 OnAir 3000 consoles," said Keith Watson, marketing director - mixing. "We designed the OnAir 3000 for the medium to upper segment of the broadcast market and we have enjoyed tremendous success, thanks to the product's tremendous ease of use and versatility. To that end, it's only fitting that we surpass the 1,000 mark with sales to three of the most successful broadcasters in the world."

Recent purchases of OnAir 3000 consoles include: the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Rede Globo of Brazil, the largest television network in Latin America and the third largest network in th

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UK - A1 Entertainments from Bristol has placed an order for Nexo's new RS18 subs following a successful trial at the Glastonbury Festival. A1's Paul Wiltshire confirms that he is buying four of the French company's latest sub bass units now, and plans to add Nexo's Geo S12 line array cabinets "in the very near future".

A1 helped the Geo S12 compact array and RS18 subs to make their Glastonbury debut, deploying a six-box a side system in the 4,000-capacity Dance West tent, one of the largest stages in the popular Dance Village.

"This is the first time we've used Geo S12 in anger," says Wiltshire, "and I am very pleasantly surprised. It is smooth, loud, clean and punchy. In the Dance West tent, it's all about the bass end, and I can say that the RS18s are phenomenal, I haven't heard anything to match them."

Using one of the smallest amp racks on t

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UK - A new all-day, brasserie-style restaurant in the traditions of the grand French cafés has been opened in London's Marylebone district by Belgian restaurateur Luc Van Oostende and his daughter, Julie.

The two, who operate the Café Theatre restaurant in Ghent (in Belgium), brought in a contracting team, including architects Stiff +Trevillion, main fit out contractors Tekne and sound system specialists the Sound Division Group, to create an environment in which chef David Collard could create an imaginative modern European menu.

To create his eponymous restaurant, Van Oostende took over the former Eat and Two Veg, at 50 Marylebone High Street and he and his daughter spent £1.5m creating the new infrastructure, with soft jade interior.

Stiff + Trevillion have matched a dark hardwood floor with waxed Celadon coloured walls, leather banquettes and replica

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India - A new 325-seat auditorium located at Bangalore's Christ University has been equipped with a QSC Audio ILA v2 line array and amplification as part of an integrated multimedia system, supplied and installed by locally-based Acoustic Control.

The new purpose-built auditorium, with its raked seating, forms part of the new Engineering College block on Christ University's Kengeri campus, situated on the outskirts of Bangalore, and will support this faculty in hosting lectures, presentations and cultural events.

Included within Acoustic Control's system design is an L-R ceiling suspended ILA line array, consisting of five WL2082-i cabinets per side plus four 18-inch subwoofers, positioned under the stage within a masonry and concrete housing. On-stage sound is provided by four QSC HPR 112 powered stage monitors.

Powering the system are six QSC RMX5050 amplifiers, while loud

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UAE - Standing at 828m tall is Dubai's massive Burj Khalifa, now the world's tallest building. Designed by Speirs and Major Associates (SaMA), the lighting consists of over 800 Dataflash strobe lights and six Fineline searchlights controlled by an ETC Congo Light Server and triggered by an ETC Unison Paradigm system. The control system was provided by Oasis Enterprises Professional Projects Division, ETC's distributor in the UAE. The 'Celebration Lighting' system was used during the grand opening celebration in January 2010 and is designed to run various patterns on the building nightly with special shows on holidays and festival days.

Programmed almost entirely offline using Capture visualisation software - with the designers in Scotland and programmer in Germany - this project took long-distance collaboration to the limit. "We essentially programmed this show via Skype,&q

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UK / USA - Martin Professional's new MAC 350 Entour LED lighting fixture is being test driven on Crowded House's current world tour by lighting designer Paul Normandale.

"It's a very neat unit and very, very bright for its size," says Normandale, one of the first lighting professionals to get his hands on the new LED profile. Lighting operator/director on the tour is Dave Harding with Normandale's lighting production company Lite Alternative serving as UK lighting vendor with Upstaging handling the US leg.

The Crowded House tour is one of a handful of field test outings for the powerful and energy-efficient LED-based profile moving head which delivers 8,000 lumens of output, the MAC 350 Entour marks a radical advancement in light output compared to other compact LED profiles on the market.

"I was looking for a small, bright profile to suit a range of venue siz

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The Netherlands - Dutch singer and songwriter Guus Meeuwis celebrated his 15th year as a singer and his fifth year of stadium concerts with shows in Eindhoven and Heerenveen.

His show Groots met een zachte G was staged at the Abe Lenstra Stadium in Heerenveen and the PSV Stadium in Eindhoven. The stage and lighting design was created by Marco Driessen (Rentall), Henk-Jan van Beek (Light-H-Art) and Sander van den Ham (Sightline). Ezra Hommel (Light-H-Art) programmed and operated the show using two grandMA2 lights and three MA NPUs (Network Processing Units) with a total of 24 universes of DMX in a multiuser setup.

"For the past eight years I have been working with the grandMA 'series 1', and at the beginning of this year I started using the grandMA2," says Hommel, "The whole grandMA range is a very reliable tool for me. It's the perfect extension for the c

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Singapore - Wireless Solution Sweden recently took part in the Marina Bay Sands grand opening in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property.

The official opening which was held on 23-24 June featured a music concert staged on the massive outdoor event plaza starring Grammy Award-winning star Kelly Rowland (formerly of Destiny's Child) with performances from regional artist JJ Lin as well as the cast of the Broadway hit Jersey Boys.

For the occasion, lighting designer Colin Baldwin ran a total of 14 universes using W-DMX transmitters & Outdoor 21 Parabolic Aerial antennae, located at the Suite Room Balcony of the Fullerton Hotel across the Marina Bay. The receivers and antennae were located on the Event Plaza on Level 1, the Promenade on Level 4, the Hotel Buttress bridge on Level 19 and the Sky Park on

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UK - Adlib continued its summer festival run, supplying PA to The Latitude Festival, set in the chilled environment of Henham Park, Southwold in Suffolk.

Adlib was working on the event for the fifth year running - supplying audio equipment and crew for six stages including the Word Arena, Film & Music Arena, Sunrise Arena, The Lake Stage, the Cabaret Arena and a mobile system which was for various events around the site.

The 15 Adlib crew were chiefed by Hassane Es Siahi fresh from T in the Park the previous week. He also co-ordinated FOH at The Word Arena, assisted by Kenny Perrin who also looked after monitors there.

The Word Arena featured a lively mix of bands including The National, Wild Beasts, Richard Hawley, The Horrors, Jonsi and The Coral among many others. To provide good all round coverage for a variety of sounds and styles, a JBL VerTec system was specified, whi

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South Africa - As Spain celebrates its victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it is fitting that one of the country's leading pro-audio manufacturers will be part of the legacy that remains after the global football circus has left town. Vieta sound reinforcement systems can be found throughout the new Nike Football Training Centre in Soweto, which will give 20,000 young footballers a year the chance to develop their talent.

Audio agency Metropolis Consulting only took on the Vieta product portfolio for distribution at the start of 2010, and was quickly able to build the systems into a quote for Solid Rock Productions, working on Nike's new Centre. Metropolis proposed a full turnkey solution for the venue, with Vieta loudspeakers specified for all the indoor areas, including the Gym, auditorium and The Red Room educational facility.

The brief called for high-quality versatile sys

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UK - The organisers of the PLASA Show (12-15 September 2010, Earls Court, London) have announced the final shortlist of nominees for this year's prestigious Gottelier Award, which will be presented at the PLASA Show on Monday 13 September.

This will be the fourth Gottelier Award - named in memory of the former designer, developer and commentator Tony Gottelier (pictured), who died in 2006. The Award (sponsored by Lighting&Sound International magazine for which Tony Gottelier was a regular contributor for many years), aims to recognise those who have made a significant and sustained contribution to the development of entertainment technology. Former winners are Tony Andrews of Funktion One (2007), John Stadius of Soundtracs/DiGiCo (2008) and Alex Cooper of Klark Teknik and Midas (2009).

This year's nominees are, in no particular order:

Richard Cuthbert

Richard Cuthbe

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Celebrating Sondheim - Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim was greeted with a standing ovation at the BBC Proms on Saturday at the end of a concert marking his 80th birthday year. Dame Judi Dench and opera star Bryn Terfel were among the performers at the event, held at London's Royal Albert Hall. The concert featured numbers from Sondheim musicals such as Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Company and Follies. West End stars Maria Friedman, Jenna Russell, Julian Ovenden and Simon Russell Beale also participated in the event, the first Prom to be signed for deaf concert-goers.

Since making his Broadway debut in 1957 as the writer of West Side Story's lyrics, Sondheim has become one of the most popular and revered figures in musical theatre. A London revival of Into the Woods opens shortly at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, while L

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Australia - It was a busy summer for Sydney's EventSound with their gear seen all over the city at such events as Sydney Running Festival, Jazz in the Gardens and even Prince William at the Block.

Making life easier for the crew on all of these events was the JBL VRX compact line array system owned by EventSound. The RedBull Junior Surf Pro held on Cronulla beach is a good example. Featuring a line up of bands such as Urthboy, Children Collide and DJ's, the event culminated in an award ceremony hosted by surf legend Mick Fanning.

EventSound were contracted through production manager Peter Pollard to supply the audio and lighting for the temporary beach stage as well as links into the VIP Marquee.

"We required a sound system with a good throw distance as we needed to get even coverage down the beach," remarked Keith Clarkson, managing director of EventSound. "T

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Norway - When Posten Norge decided to install induction loops at its counters, the sheer number of systems required meant that their reliability had to be rock solid. High quality audio reproduction in a busy retail environment was also an essential consideration.

Working closely with the company's Norwegian distributor, Trollaasveien-based Scandec Systemer AS, Ampetronic is supplying 1000 CLD1-CT counter systems for a programme that will see them installed throughout the country.

"Posten Norge decided to install induction loops as part of a wider programme of upgrades to its counters and retail furniture," says Bj°rnar Riise, Scandec product manager.

"We did some pilot demonstrations of Ampetronic equipment and also supplied them with references from London Underground and other users. They agreed that the combination of Scandec, as a local supplier, and

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UK - The Events division of leading UK sound and lighting installer Northern Light is providing specialist technical support to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society for a number of their key events and venues. 2010 marks the Festival Fringe's biggest line-up to date and the number of shows has increased by 17 percent since last year to total 2,453 this year.

Nick Read, head of hire and events for Northern Light, says, "We're delighted and proud to be supporting this world renowned event in our home city of Edinburgh. We've been working with the Festival Fringe organisers to ensure that they benefit from our extensive experience in theatre, events, live music, opera and comedy and receive all the technical support they require. Northern Light is supplying lighting, sound and AV equipment and staging plus technical labour and advice for both festival organised events and vis

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UK - The summer of 2010 has seen the reopening of Europe's largest open air theatre in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Late July saw the 6,500-capacity venue's gala opening concert, which featured opera singers Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, plus a trio of Yamaha M7CL mixing consoles playing a key role.

Originally opened in 1932, when English seaside resorts were enjoying good times, thousands of people came to witness theatrical productions and lavish musicals in a venue where the audience is on the shore of a lake and the stage on an island in the middle of it. But by the 1970s the theatre was in decline, its biggest claim to fame during that decade being a regular host venue for British television's It's A Knockout. Hosting its last performance in 1986, the decaying remains of Scarborough Open Air Theatre lay forgotten for over 20 years, until its recent £3

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USA - New York-based All Mobile Video (AMV) recently purchased a Studer Vista 8 console for its new Epic 3D mobile production truck. The Vista 8 is fully 7.1 surround sound capable, with 72 faders and up to 250 inputs. The Epic truck was first used on 21 July 21 for a 3D and 2D taping of Sheryl Crow in concert at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

The Epic truck features a large audio room which, in addition to the Vista 8 console's in-truck I/O complement, includes Studer stageboxes with up to 96 additional inputs.

This is the fifth Vista 8 that AMV has purchased for its mobile productions trucks. "AMV is one of the earliest and largest companies in the US to commit heavily to the Studer Vista 8," says Lee Blanco of AMV. "The advantages the Vista 8 offers are considerable and when the time came to choose a digital console for our new Epic truck, the Vista

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USA - Chaos Visual Productions is video contractor for Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's 2010, North American Mojo Tour, which his promoting the band's album of the same name. The tour kicked off in Raliegh, NC in May and will cover the US and Canada through the summer.

Chaos worked with Petty's long-time lighting designer, Jim Lenahan, to come up with six 8mm Winvision walls, which flew on a downstage, curved truss, that gently embraced the band. There is also a Sony Camera package of four D50 cameras and five BRC 300 robo cams, all switch through three Encore processors, using a Control Freak Interface.

"After working with Jim for many years, I expected this design would be top notch, and he didn't disappoint," says Chaos' president, John Wiseman.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - White Light has been appointed as lighting supplier to the new live production of The Railway Children, adapted from the classic 1970 film and E Nesbit's original 1906 novel, staged within the abandoned Eurostar terminal at London's Waterloo Station, and featuring a real steam locomotive.

The show was originally created by the York Theatre Royal at the National Railway Museum, directed by Damian Cruden, designed by Joanna Scotcher with lighting by Richard G Jones. "I have lit a lot of shows at York over the past ten years, and know Damian Cruden, the artistic director - so when the idea came up for The Railway Children he asked me to be involved, and I was very happy to be part of such an unusual project," Jones recalls of the show, for which he received a nomination in the 2008 TMA Theatre Awards.

In London, the show is presented in a 'black box'

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USA - Richmond, Virginia, is home to some of America's most legendary architecture, including the majestic building that now houses the Science Museum of Virginia. Built in 1917 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the former Broad Street Railway Station is a grand and vast space replete with massive rotunda, soaring domed roof, granite floors and marble walls. It's also an unintentional case study for how not to design an acoustical space.

"I've worked in professional sound for over 30 years, and I don't think I've ever been in a more acoustically challenging room," says Nelson Hoyt of Virginia-based Onyx Engineering. "I think of it as the Taj Mahal's evil twin." Indeed, Hoyt reports that sound in the venue has been an ongoing problem for many years. "If you get 30 or 40 people talking in there, the sound just reverberates and the vol

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Brazil - Drawing thousands of people from across Brazil, the annual Sao Joao Da Bahia festival is an opportunity for tourists and nationals alike to enjoy a wide variety of food, music, dancing, games, and more. Held each June, the festival attracts both regional and nationally recognized musical performers and this year's event was no exception.

Sao Joao Da Bahia 2010 ran from 11 -26 June and included Gilberto Gil, Elba Ramalho, Geraldo Azevedo, Candlebox, Dominguinhos, Leonardo, and Alceu Valenca among the 60 performing artists. A substantial outdoor stage erected for the performers and the sound system consisted of numerous models from the Aero Series catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Salvador - Bahia, Brazil-based Arena Áudio Eventos was contracted to provide sound services for the event. Alberto Viana, Managing partner, comments, "This event attracts huge crowds. We had au

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