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Le Mondial SAQ 2002
Montréal International Fireworks Competition Report

Paul's Rankings for 2002

The competition had a promising line-up, with a couple of new comers and some old favourites. However, like last year, there was a split between firing systems used with three traditional electrical and five computerized systems. And, assuming that there are no disqualifications, the winners will almost certainly be from the computerized system users.

When the weather was good, it was really good. On the one time it was bad, it was really bad. Despite dismal weather during the day, the opening show was fired under dry conditions. The rest of the displays all had pretty much perfect setup conditions. All the displays had dry firing conditions, save for the torrential rains before and during the first half of the American display. I can report, though, that the weather does not, in my opinion, alter the final result.

This was a year with both tradition, innovation and a severe break with tradition. First, I will talk about the break with tradition and will openly criticise La Ronde for changing the format of the fireworks evenings. This is a serious issue since atmosphere and antipication are a very important aspect of the spectacle. The tradition used to be like this:

This year, we had a dismal succession of radio announcers as part of a simulcast broadcast, interspersed with adverts, a brief lap of honour, introduction and national anthem. Half the time the opening salute was fired in the middle of an advert. Then an interminable mix of music and adverts until just before showtime. Finally, some incredibly feeble attempts at the countdown, many times not even starting at ten, with no authority or style whatsoever. This is fine for radio broadcasts, but, please, the people on-site at La Ronde deserve better than this. Would theatre goers who'd paid for seats expect to listen to dismal adverts, feeble banter and generally distracting nonsense before a performance of a symphony? I think not. And neither should the amateurs de feux d'artifice at La Ronde be subjected to such nonsense either.

As to tradition, we had a couple of displays which were very much in the traditional fireworks with music style. Unfortunately, the state of the art of the pyromusical has advanced considerably in the last ten years and these type of displays very rarely compete effectively with the more modern approaches, save when they are presented by Master of Fire such as the Spanish and Italians.

Finally, to innovation. The Portuguese "ring" was truly innovative. Click here for a couple of daylight photos, kindly supplied by Vitor Machado. Also innovative, in both the Portuguese and Japanese shows, but differently implemented, was the effect of breaking waves over the lake.

As usual, I will present a summary of each display and then give my personal rankings together with my prediction for the popular jury's votes. For interest, I've also tabulated how many pages of notes I took down for each display (under "Pages"). Where there is an asterix, it means my notes for the finale were mainly summarized by the word WOW in big wobbly letters.

Country Firing System Comments Pages
Japan PyroDigital & ShowDirector

Excellent theme and artistic design. Innovative wave-breaking mine sequence. Perfect synchronization. Some fantastic product used with interesting bright-orange crackling stars. Use of colours perfectly reflected the Four Seasons theme. Nice variation of rhythm and pace, though the exciting finale did not really fit into the theme of the rest of the display. Could just squeak into third place depending if France is disqualified .

27
Portugal PyroDigital & ShowDirector

Very innovative display with the use of the fabulous ring. Fabulous product, especially the many different types of glittering comets. Also used an interesting wave-breaking sequence. Almost perfect synchronization, especially on the ring. Good variation of rhythm and pace, though perhaps not the most fluid of themes. Very exciting finale. Guaranteed to be a winner.

29*
Belgium Traditional electrical

Very traditional "candles and shells" display. Not a very clear theme and only moderately good synchronization, though some parts were very well done. A good effort for the debutants, but not at a high enough level to be a winner.

22
Austria Traditional electrical

Fairly good synchronization for a manual show. Lots of beautiful product used, particularly the kamuros and crackling shells. Some good variation in rhythm and pace, though some of the music edits were too abrupt. A good traditional display, though, again, not a very evident theme.

28
Canada FireOne & ScriptMaker

Very well designed and seamlessly choreographed complex display. Perfect synchronization. Best use of the lake of any display this year, with fantastic 8" nautical shells. Slick transistions between music tracks and lots of beautiful Spanish product used. Good choice of music and a coherent theme throughout. Very exciting finale. A good variation in rhythm and pace but just a tad more dynamics would have made it perfect. The best Ampleman display ever seen in Montreal. Guaranteed a winner.

34*
United States PyroDigital

It is difficult to fairly sum up this display since the hard-working crew just did not have enough time to set up the display. Lack of planning really was severely evident. Very bad luck with the weather due to the lack of wind to remove smoke from the excessive number of cakes used. Unfortunately, despite using a computerized firing system, no synchronization was evident and it was more of a "big fireworks with music" approach. Suffered from some technical problems which were more exacerbated by the lack of time rather than the bad weather. Sad to say, not a serious contender.

18
Italy Traditional Electrical

Well themed and artistically executed display. Excellent synchronization for a manually fired show. Good variation in rhythm and pace and good use made of the lake. Beautiful product of all types and a stunning pure Italian finale. The best of the traditionally fired displays by far. Could squeeze out Japan if France is disqualified.

30*
France PyroDigital & ShowDirector

Very strongly themed display, artistically designed and flawlessly executed. Fabulous colours and lots of beautiful product used. Best use of rockets in the competition and interesting girandolas. A bit more use could have been made of the lake. Perfect synchronization and good music choices to highlight this perfection. Good choice of music which went very well with the theme. Fair variation in rhythm and pace but a few higher dynamics would have been appreciated, there being missing a certain oomph in places. A winner for sure, if there is no disqualification for the parachute shells used.

28


The top three displays this year are easy to determine, assuming no disqualifications, though there are a couple of displays which are also deserving of a podium position. It is easy to say which won't. At the back of the pack, the United States, followed, considerably ahead, by Belgium. Then Austria a way ahead of Belgium. The US display cannot be called a serious entry in the competition. The Belgian display was too traditional for the high level of such a competition, but allowance must be made for the fact they were debutants. The Austrian display was very good, but not at high enough level to be within site of the podium. The Japanese display was very artistic and well executed but not quite enough oomph to make it in my opinion. The Italian display certainly had the oomph and will make it if France is disqualified. The top three displays are clearly France, Canada and Portugal. How to determine the order? Music alone carries 25% of the marks so I think this might be the determining factor. Overall concept also carries 25% and Portugal must get top marks here because of the ring. But France and Canada were also strongly themed and will both do well here as well. For pure pyrotechnics, all three had fabulous product, but Canada stands out as having the best use of nautical shells, Portugal the best variations in comets and France the best colours. So it is all very close. For music, I liked all three, but in different ways. France was good, but it was the most memorable because it was the most recent. So it's hard to judge. I'm going to make two sets of predictions, in case France is disqualified for the parachute shells.

Paul's jury predictions - no disqualification


Paul's jury predictions - France disqualified


Paul's personal choice

One final note, just to say that I consider myself a reporter on the competition, not a critic. The combination of fireworks and music excites different people in different ways. My musical tastes are different to other people's and this inevitably influences my enjoyment of a display. This year some displays which I personally really liked, others disliked because of the music. My job, as your humble reporter, is to describe what I saw and report the music used. The Jury has the difficult job of deciding which three should "win". In fact, just being invited to compete sets these companies apart. For a different perspective on the displays, take a look at Georges Lamon's web site, Georges is the official critic at La Presse, one of the local french newspapers. His reports are in French, but the on-line translation programs give a good sense of his thoughts.


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Thanks to the public relations people of La Ronde for the official press release material, shown in white.