Oh wow.....I just got back from this evening's show by France. Just to let everyone know that it was REALLY worth seeing this wonderful display, despite the light rain and smoke! I still have visions of the finale in my head.....a pure beauty! I'll sleep on it and get back to you tomorrow for my comments!

Good night everyone!

Pierre

Yes, it was a very good display, well-planned and beautifully executed. Unfortunately the inclement weather not only made it harder to appreciate it, but it made it very hard for me (and presumably anyone else) to take photos of it...my lens kept getting raindrops on it, and the smoke really messed things up when I managed to dry my lens. I gave up after 5 minutes, and contented myself to merely watch the show. My ratings so far (I missed Italy and Switzerland )

1) USA
2) South Africa
3/4) Canada/France...still need to think a bit about the order here
5) Argentina
6) Portugal

I might post a couple photos online, but probably not...I documented pretty thoroughly the other shows, and only caught a couple moments of this one. It's a shame too...those cascading waterfall shells and the sparkly rockets would have looked great as photographs, as would some of the shaped-explosions, particularly the one that burst with a one colour ring, and a double fan of another colour, going in opposite directions...kind of like this: >o< ...only it was in the vertical orientation. They also used some rather unique colours, particularly that sparkly metallic green.

Very awesome.

Hi guys,

Yesterday evening, I thought we were treated to a very well refined display of fireworks given by France. There is that segment (at 22:10 on the Molson clock), that was very intense with red rockets filling the sky....that was impressive! Personally, I think that the soundtrack was the best so far in the competition. Indeed, my favorite segment during the display, was the one synchonized with that "intergalactic like" type of music, where I felt as if the sky was filled with stars, comets and supernovas! Woof, what a beauty!

I feel as if the French team wanted to reward those who came to see their performance despite the light rain, with a sophisticated firework display, a piece of art!

As for the finale, the golden glittering weeping willows filled the sky, while salutes were exploding on the lower level, to the side. The intensity increased, but the finale remained majestic and incredibly moving......and then, salutes were sent in the upper levels too, sending shivers up and down my spine!

The whole display made me forget about the rain, which fell throughout the display, with just few short breaks......I was wet and VERY happy!

Travis,

I did record the finale and despite the rain and smoke, it turned out pretty nice. During the recording, a raindrop fell on my lens You'll see it appear as a blueish spot in the middle upper portion of the screen.....almost looks like an angel watching the finale!!! I also hope that you enjoyed your Birthday on Friday, my friend!

So far, here is how I rank the countries:

1. France
2. South Africa
3. USA
4. Italy
5. Switzerland
6. Argentina
7. Canada

(Unfortunately, I did not attend the Portugal display )

Have a great week, everyone!

Pierre

Well, last night's display was a beautiful one and quite intense at certain times, but it seemed like a deja vu to me.

It was an orginale show, but watching it felt like I had seen it all before. Definitely because of the rain, I wasn't in a very happy mood. lol Anyhow, in general I think it was very well done.

I just felt sometimes that the display was too complicated to follow. Also, I was sometimes listening a song that I like and then, suddenly it changes to another song... So it was kind of annoying. However, the music in my taste wasn't always very catchy or enjoyable to listen to.

I know the theme was about history and man, but I really had a hard time to follow the timeline. I was actually lost, but it's ok. I think it would have been ideal to add a narrator to this show, so he can help us follow the theme better.

Nonetheless, the piece were of great quality. There were a couple of interesing and creative segments.

As for the synchronization, in general I thought it was well done. Personally, I thought the synchronization of the lower level effects with the music was flawless!

The finale was intense, but far from powerful and fearsome.

My ratings so far:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. South Africa
4. France
5. Portugal
6. Italy
7. Switzerland
8. Argentina

Rated from Notre-Dame street and may not be debatable with those who watched the displays from elsewhere without recognizing that my viewpoint is different from theirs.

I thought this show was pretty well done. It was by far the most colorful show ive seen this year. They also made very good use of the whole sky by using low effects along with using shells in the sky at the same time. I didn't like the music from what i could hear of it, and there was just to many songs. Overall i think this was one of the better shows of the year.

Ratings so far
1. South Africa
2. USA
3. France
4. Canada
5. Portugal
6. Italy
7. Switerland

Didn't see argentina

Un commentaire en français pour ce feu de Brézac représentant la France! Ils ont offert un excellent spectacle, certainement le concept le plus original présenté jusqu'à maintenant en 2006. Le feu entier était véritablement articulé autour d'un projet, celui de raconter l'évolution de la vie et de l'Homme sur Terre. Brézac a été capable de bien illustrer ce récit musicalement et visuellement, sans recourir à aucune narration. La bande sonore, originale et de grande qualité, était formée de 25 pièces musicales qui se succédaient parfaitement, créant plutôt un immense tableau, une grande fresque sur l'histoire de l'Humanité.

Les quatre rampes de lancement permanentes de La Ronde ont été mises à contribution. Des mines bleues lancées diagonalement de droite à gauche ont bien illustré les vagues (Marutamaya et Luso Pirotecnia avaient produit la même illustration en 2002). Deux pyramides sur la seconde rampe de lancement ont clairement marqué l'ère égyptienne. Le décollage de la fusée était bien illustré. Quelques pièces nautiques ont été utilisées: des fusées éclairantes, des fontaines propulsant verticalement des comètes et, à l'intérieur de la finale argentée, des bombes nautiques de même couleur.

Le matériel pyrotechnique était intéressant avec une bonne variété de pièces, incluant des bombes et des chandelles d'étoiles se transformant en tourbillons et des bombes à effets multiples (shell-of-shells). Les tableaux n'étaient pas aussi monochromes qu'annoncés dans le communiqué de presse, offrant une richesse de couleurs plus grande que ce qui était attendu. Je crois cependant qu'il n'y avait aucune pièce changeant de couleur lors du déploiement.

La synchronisation a été excellente tout au long du spectacle. Sur ce site web, nous mentionnons souvent la présence d'effets pyrotechniques simultanément à certaines notes musicales ("note-synchronized" ) . Au début du spectacle, plusieurs éléments d'artifice étaient plutôt parfaitement synchronisés avec des cris d'animaux... je propose donc l'expression "noise-synchronized"!

En entrevue sur le site web de La Ronde, Dominique Brézac reconnaissait cette semaine que la firme souhaite vivement remporter un Jupiter au terme de cette 3e participation. Brézac a sans doute des chances de récolter un prix, mais je pense qu'au moins 4 firmes peuvent prétendre à un podium cette année. Et il reste l'équipe australienne. Rien n'est gagné.

La pluie légère m'a amené à conserver mon appareil-photo au sec et à ne prendre aucune image de ce spectacle, ce qui est par ailleurs bien malheureux. Par chance, la pluie n'était pas assez intense pour distraire les spectateurs et la fumée n'a pas gêné la visibilité, du moins pour les spectateurs rassemblés à La Ronde. Je souligne le savoir-vivre de ces derniers qui, assis dans les gradins, ont rangé leurs parapluies juste avant le début du spectacle, ce qui a permis à tous d'avoir une bonne vue sur le lac et les pièces en basse altitude.

Fred

A report about the French show and interview with the designer Dominique Brézac are now available on PyroPlanet:

http://www.pyroplanet.com/Article311.html

Fred

Pierre ? Where can we see the video of France display ?

Thank you very much !

Jab
**********************************************
"I did record the finale and despite the rain and smoke, it turned out pretty nice. During the recording, a raindrop fell on my lens You'll see it appear as a blueish spot in the middle upper portion of the screen.....almost looks like an angel watching the finale!!!"

Salut

Je n,ai pas vu la présentation du groupe Fiatlux et celui de Melrose des USA. Parait que c'était bon.
J'ai vu la firme brézac présenter un excellent spectacle pyro...à partir du concept le plus original jusqu'à date.
A l'instar de Fred je vois bien ;a France dans la course au jupiter avec ce spectacle de haut niveau , une présentation consistante et bien rytmée.
Comme j'ai manqué 2 feux je ne me risque pas à faire un classement.

J'ai hâte de voir Foti..j'aime beaucoup leur approche en art pyro.

Bonne soirée

Roger

Hi Jab,

If you're talking about my personal recording of the France finale, I will put it on dvd at the end of the competition, along with all the finales I have recorded this season. Then, I will send it to one of the guys in here (probably Enkil, like we did last year), who will make those finales available for everyone in here to see!

Take care!

Pierre

Roger,

Tout comme toi, je suis certain que la France aura une place sur le podium J'ai été vraiment épaté par leur superbe performance samedi dernier! Ça valait la peine de se faire arroser un peu par la pluie!

Bonne semaine!

Pierre

Pierre,
Roger,

Avec un seul participant à venir, je peux affirmer souhaiter, moi aussi, que Brézac se retrouve sur le podium. Cependant, il arrive que nous soyons surpris par certaines décisions du jury, n'est-ce pas? Qui aurait crû, l'an dernier, que l'équipe suédoise serait écartée du podium?

À mon avis, des firmes de 4 pays peuvent actuellement espérer un podium. Et il reste encore l'Australie. Et il n'y a que trois prix. Il y aura inévitablement des artificiers et des amateurs qui seront un peu déçus. Mais ça, c'est le propre d'une compétition de haut niveau...

Fred

I took a video of the fireworks which I've posted to Google Video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1198189752299667009

Hi guys,

The French fireworks display the night of the 22nd was totally phenomenal with the most intriguing selection of colors used so far in the competition. The intensity was also apparent (especially with the frequent use of the shell of shells of multi-breakers) from beginning to end while the choice of music was enjoyable and unique in relation to the theme. Some spectators, including myself, additionally loved the salutes and shells that were fired, though I feel that the firing sequences were a touch redundant.

Synchronization was nearly flawless, especially with the rapid paced mines and candles from right to left along the bottom. The associated comets were also well deployed at mid levels while the intense orange stars and multi-colored shells were entirely subtle.

The penultimate area was also unique, especially with the original rapid paced horizontal rockets at ground level where distinctive rich colors of red, green, blue and mauve could be seen in combination. Attempts at choreography were possibly the best witnessed so far while it suited nicely with the approach taken here. The music choice was not favorable to personal preferences to the vast majority of the audience, but it still connected nicely with the way te show was concocted.

The finale was simply astonishing and I can see why they executed it the way they did. It had beautiful crescendo and a good debut, but I think the excessive use of the gold glittering kamuros was too repetitive, especially considering that the entire display was so colorful and intense by contrast to other pieces. The ending, nonetheless, was loud and lengthy while thumps could be felt in the chest as well as vibrations to the adjacent buildings and a certain echoing between the steel of the bridge itself.

The French team did an incredible job and their feats were totally perfectly matched. The entire display was actually tremendously loud by comparison to the others, even the U.S. They did receive a well-deserved standing ovation for their efforts and I have an optimistic feeling that they'll get on that podium this Saturday, but I also share the feelings that they will battle the U.S for either 1st or 2nd place.

It's a shame that the rains remained steady during the show, but at least it was not as copious to entriely obscure the effects, which, as one could argue, remained totally visible, especially the silver borcades and the deep pink glitters. The smoke accumulations, however, were annoying to the right part of the sky, due to wind direction and moisture. In this respect, the rain didn't help much either.

Finally, my rankings for the French display.

Travis' personal rankings and display criteria rankings:

-Synchronization: 9.5/10-Very tightly synchronized pieces along with formidable competition between segments! The mines and overhead comets were definetely something to keep in mind while a lot of shells were also sort of making their own music and rhythm.
-Color: 9.4/10-Very delicate and rich colors, which were possibly one of the richest selection this year. I loved the way they were used in variations while many of the segments went in transition by alternating with different patterns and attempts.
-Creativity/Originality/Concept: 9.3/10-A strong thematic link present in this display while the music did well to support it. The display was very creative and I personally loved the attempts made during the more quiet parts just before the penultimate area. The segment with the rocket at the bottom left was really fascinating, especially when later accompanied by a slender-like silver glittered girandola, which burst into stars upon gaining height. This went well with the "we have a lift off" part!
-Choice of music: 9/10: Once again, a very dynamic attempt with the music changes within the selection. I personally loved the way the fireworks sometimes created their own music in more tranquil areas while the music itself was in a good bond. Some songs were a little less clear than others, but that did not detract from the approach.
-Finale/Overall Appreciation: 9/10: An intense finale with plenty of noise, but sadly, no color variations. However, it was an excellent ending while the overall display was beyond belief!
-Overall: 9.2/10

This was a very dramatic, conceptual and strongly themed display. I believe that they are in strong contention for a Jupiter award this year while there was so much to acknowledge in this display that gives them a competitive advantage by comparison to other performances. The show was well designed and choreographed for the most part while a lot of the criteria was well respected. I personally loved the intensity of this display to an optimum level while the color richness and firing scheme made it both exciting and fortifying. As mentioned, it's a shame the rain had to come down steadily at some point, but at least the show was still conspicuous.

And Pierre,

I'm glad you got the finale recorded even with that large droplet on the lens. And thank you, once again, for your good wishes!

Trav.