1998 l'International Benson & Hedges Montréal Pyromusical Competition Report
Paul's Rankings for 1998
The quality of the competition was outstanding this year, making it very difficult to pick a clear winner. Every display was unique and enjoyable and there is very little to seperate the teams from each other. However, I will be bold and give my overall ratings of all the displays and try and pick the three winners.
First of all, a small critique of each display:
- Italy - Incredible choreography and synchronization, with choice of music which really highlighted this, especially the note-by-note effects. Good colours, beautiful shells, especially the multi-breaks and the best finale of the competition.
- France - Some very unusual effects, from smokey fireballs to bee-like crossettes. Excellent colours and nice use of rockets. Overall good synchronization and music.
- Canada - Smooth flowing display with excellent synchronization and choreography. Good choice of material including girandolas and nice use of rockets and nautic mines. Good finale.
- Spain - Fantastic girandolas, incredible colours, especially the blues. Synchronization not as tight as some but a fantastic finale. Music not to everyone's taste.
- Austria - Great material, fantastic nautic mines, synchronization not as tight as some but good choice of music. Great finale.
- China - Incredibly complex display with a very theatrical style and great choregraphy and synchronization (technical difficulties excepted). Lots of unusual material but a pity that the periods of darkness spoiled the rhythm.
- Germany - Best use of rockets. Some nice material including girandolas. Good synchronization but the initial theme of the display was lost part way through. Rather unexciting finale.
- United States - Very artistically choregraphed. Very complex display with seamless flow throughout. Excellent synchronization though the music didn't always exploit this. Great choice of material. Would be perfect with a slightly more dramatic finale.
My pick for the prizes this year is:
- Gold - Spain
- Silver - Italy
- Bronze - United States
- 4th - France
- 5th - Canada
- 6th - Austria
- 7th - Germany
- 8th - China - Due to technical difficulties - otherwise a Jupiter winner
The competition was very close this year and knowing the order of the competitors
my predications for the jury's results are:
- Gold - United States
- Silver - Italy
- Bronze - Spain
Official Results
- Gold Jupiter Performance Pyrotechnic Associates, United States
- Silver Jupiter Ipon S.R.L., Italy
- Bronze Jupiter Ricardo Caballer, Spain
- Special Jupiter Richard Shaw, Canada, for recognition of years of service responsible for safety at the firing ramps
La Ronde Successissimo Sunday July 19th, 1998
Panzera
As usual, a fantastic display by Maestro Giovanni Panzera. I didn't take any notes, but just sat back
and watched a perfect summer's sky painted by fire, building to a deafening finale, a fitting end
to a fantastic year's competition.