Word on the street has it that Luso Pirotecnia are planning a huge display, possibly the largest ever in the competition's history, this coming Saturday. The crew at La Ronde are apparently scrambling to find all the extra mortars that will be required for the enormous shell count.

Further word on the street has it that the show will start very strongly. With the traditional countdown from 10 delivered in authoritative style be the estimable Michel Lacroix, there's nothing more disappointing than a weak start. This will assuredly not be the case as "the first line in ShowDirector is just incredible".

Fans of Luso will be waiting with bated breath for 10:00pm on Saturday.

Paul.

Paul,

This is music to my ears - thanks for the glorious news. Indeed, the crowd is always most appreciative of a noisy start, and so far, France, Italy and South Korea have delivered on the slow side (as well as many displays in recent years), giving off that feeling of a sort of anti-climax after the impeccable countdown provided by Michel Lacroix.

Speaking of large displays, I recall well that Spain (Caballer) 2004 had one of the largest setups ever, so if this is anything like that, then it's very possible that we're in for quite a complex performance.

Aside from that, I'm also curious to see as to how Portugal will represent their theme.

Trav.

Wow this even makes me more excited to see the video! I'm a very big fan of luso... just the title of their show already give out a lot on what the show will be like.. it seems that they really want to win this!! I wish that they'll be able to execute their display flawlessly!

vander

Personnellement, le spectacle de Grupo Luso Pirotecnia est celui que j'attends avec le plus d'impatience depuis la publication du calendrier en décembre dernier. Cette firme avait produit un feu extraordinaire en 2002, lui méritant qu'un Jupiter d'argent, une décision du jury que je n'ai jamais comprise. Leur retour en 2005 a été caractérisé par l'un des feux les plus originaux, à la limite de l'expérimentation. Le segment "Ritmo", entièrement fait de marrons d'air et où les feux devaient eux-mêmes créer la musique, n'avait pas été particulièrement bien reçu par une part significative de l'auditoire. Le tableau d'ouverture, avec jeux d'ombres chinoises, avait aussi reçu un accueil mitigé. La firme n'avait obtenu aucun prix à ce moment-là, malgré des effets spéciaux émanant d'un pyrodôme très spécial (voir la section photo de ce site).

Je souhaite que Luso soit encore cette année un exemple en matière de créativité et que nous sortions des sentiers battus. Par contre, à la suite des résultats obtenus en 2005, je crains que la firme ait adopté une approche plus conservatrice pour maximiser ses chances de l'emporter. Le synopsis annonce une trame sonore constituée de musiques de films. Voilà un indice qui m'inquiète un peu, compte tenu qu'il s'agit d'un répertoire déjà largement exploré en pyrotechnie. Cependant, il ne faut pas douter que Luso voudra prendre sa revanche cette année et fera tout pour obtenir le Jupiter d'or.

Comme l'indique Paul, il semble que le feu de Luso Pirotecnia serait d'une très grande envergure. J'ai très hâte d'en voir le montage et le résultat. Il semble aussi que le processus de conception de ce spectacle ait débuté par une étape très particulière visant à bien cerner les goûts du public montréalais. Mais plus les attentes de l'auditoire sont élevées, plus grand aussi est le risque d'une déception. Attendons sagement à samedi soir... bien qu'il soit difficile de ne pas s'emballer dès maintenant!

Fred

Greetings from the U.S. Cradle of Liberty!

Well Paul, you just made my WEEK!

My wife and I travel from Philadelphia to Montreal once or twice a year to watch the fireworks and this is one of the shows we chose this year (the other is the US entry . . . Rock Loves . . . just the theme was enough to get us there!).

I'd really appreciate any thoughts from anyone about where to sit for this show outside of La Ronde, taking Grupo Luso's history at Montreal in account. We've done the bridge for the past couple of years but we were thinking about going back to Notre Dame St. What I'm most concerned about is seeing the low effects since you really can't see them if you're not on the bridge. If Grupo Luso has a preference (or talent) for low effects, then we'll bridge it . . . if not, we'll probably watch from across the river.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Chris

I'll use the Six Flags marketing slogan: "Come to La Ronde and see what you've been missing". There is no better spot than the silver section grandstands. You see the show as it was designed, with all the low level and high level effects in perfect proportion, together with the experience of an amazing sound system. If you already have Six Flags season passes (and many Americans do since there are a lot of Six Flags parks), I believe you can upgrade your pass to an actual seat for a nominal fee. I realize the US$ isn't as strong as it was so this makes paying for park entrance more (in real terms) than it used to be, but why not treat yourself and your wife?

All that said, the best place to stand is Notre Dame street since you'll still get the same symmetry that the designer intended, rather than the edge-on view from the bridge (despite having a better view of the low level effects, the odd angle spoils the overall design of the display in my humble opinion).

Wherever you decide to view from, please write back your thoughts on the display and have a great time in Montreal!

Paul.

Did you really need to tell us this on Monday, there are still 5 days left till Saturday. What the hell am I supposed to do now, I was already excited about Luso but now the wait will be unbearable.

^^^^

Those five days will go by pretty fast, and seeing that the weather is fairly hot for most of this week, there's plenty to plan and do.

But yes, I, too, am in high anticipation for this display, even well before Paul released the news.

Trav.

Luso's website provides the following piece of information:

The Luso Pirotecnia Group is going to take part in upcoming the 23rd Edition of the International Des Feux Loto–Québec, held on the 12th of July. It is going to be the third time the Group takes part in such event, this time with a pyromusical show fully inspired in the 7th Art. The soundtrack for “and the winner is…” shall be different themes from different success soundtracks such as “The Star Wars Trilogy”, “ Jaws”, “E.T.”, “Mission Impossible” and “Ghostbusters”.

Some segments have already been heard this year in the French show. I'm really afraid that Luso may be less original than in the past. Despite the traditional-style of the listing, I hope that the pyrotechnic side of the show will be innovative and surprising.

Fred

Maybe with a more traditional theme, Luso will be able to present an extravagant, original, entertaining, and a creative show in a more "understandable" way in which both pyromaniacs and fireworks fans will enjoy and remember for a long time.

vander

GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT NEWS !!!!!!!!

I'm sure Luso Pirotecnia will do a Super-show. I hope to see a creative and big display, with an enormous finale and some surprises.

Does anybody know if they are going to use any special structrue ?(as the ring or the 3D ring)

I can't wait to see the video !!!!!!!! I would like to be in Montreal the next Saturday, maybe it will be a display to remember.... You're VERY lucky.


Thanks for the info, I'm very excited !!!!

My only concern is, as I stated previously, how they will link their display to the theme, in which case it is vague. Luso, in the past, had concocted some extraordinary displays in terms of creativity, but again this criterion could prove to be quite a challenge in fulfilling when working with a rather "abrupt" theme, so to speak, such as this.

Nevertheless, I'm confident that the Portuguese display will deliver much in the way of complexity given its sheer size, and I'm fairly sure there will be some good shots at creativity, though perhaps it will at times be less understood in relation to the thematic premise employed. However, this also simultaneously means that an enormous setup could raise the chances for firing errors (or any technical problem, for that matter) to occur, which also brings further concerns to me. I recall this occurring with Caballer of 2004, who also had a reasonably large setup, but experienced multiple dilemmas with respect to erroneous firing, particularly in sequencing. By the time the performance had concluded, as thunderous as the entire thing was, there was quite a bit of material that was still left behind, some of which was, I think, supposed to be used for the already mighty finisher!

Anyhow, we'll see what happens this Saturday.

Trav.

Holy Cow

Im going for sure
I am also gonna pass on the monrail a few times to see the setup or go near the exit of the ferris wheel.

My whole family is coming to see it on the bridge.
I'm going to film it. If it's more intense than IPON. I can say, Benito and Enrico Pagano will be jealous!

Glad to hear the news Paul!

Pat

The Portuguese 21-part soundtrack is now available on the official website.

Fred

Here is the press release:

Portugal invites Montréalers to an outdoor pyromusical theater at the International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS on Saturday

Montréal, Friday, July 11, 2008 – The stands at La Ronde will serve as an outdoor theater Saturday evening when Grupo Luso Pirotecnia offers up a pyromusical tribute to the greatest films that have long been sources of inspiration for composers and performers as part of the International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS.

Music from the shows—ranging from Beauty and the Beast to Jaws, from James Bond to Mission Impossible, including, of course, Psycho—are indeed unforgettable. Indeed, it has carried a number of producers to the podium for that little statuette on hearing their names called out after that memorable phrase "And the winner is...."

The Portuguese firm had no pretensions of proclaiming its own victory by naming their presentation "And the winner is...." Indeed, its representatives are very aware that the title could be misunderstood or appear pretentious. Nevertheless, Grupo Luso Pirotecnia has no need to be modest after having won the silver Jupiter in Montréal in 2002 as well as taking top awards in other prestigious competitions (Cannes and Chantilly). Moreover, the firm was selected to design a major pyrotechnical show to inaugurate the sublime Vasco de Gama Bridge in 1998 and another to kick off Euro 2004, the European Football Championship, which was held in Portugal that year.

For "And the winner is..." on Saturday, Grupo Luso chose readily identifiable music. While designer Vitor Machado acknowledges that the selections are often used for pyrotechnical shows, he feels that he has given them new life through an original interpretation. As he puts it, "we are transposing the emotions created by these movies and music into pyrotechnical effects." These musical hits have been grouped into blocks (classical, suspense, science fiction, animations, romance, and adventure). A number of them will be accompanied by rare pyrotechnical pieces, including some lying directly on the water without flotation devices. It's one of those effects that can't be seen anywhere but at La Ronde!

A few scenes from a video interview with representatives can be viewed on the Internet at www.internationaldesfeuxlotoquebec.com. The site also lists the 21 pieces of music that will be heard at the La Ronde, none of the pieces lasting longer than 2 minutes and 40 seconds. The pace promises to be nearly frantic.

It is surprising that the press release doesn't contain any cue about the anticipated size of the show, as well as other features of the setup. We should note the use of pieces "lying directly on the water without flotation devices". It reminds me the carpet of nautical fountains installed on the lake in 2005 and which came into life with the pyrodome...

Fred

Fred,

where did you get the press release? It's not up on the official site yet and a search newswire.ca didn't find it either! The video interviews have just been uploaded though - at least, the Portuguese version (despite what it says on the site).

It's not obvious what they mean about nautical devices lying on the water without flotation devices ... but I did know there are to be some special nautical mines used that light under the water. I guess we'll see for sure tomorrow!

I'm heading down to La Ronde this lunchtime to see what I can discover - but, as far as I know, no special structures this time.

Paul.

Fred, where did you get the press release?

From a very reliable source.

I did know there are to be some special nautical mines used that light under the water.

Under the water? That looks new for me...

Fred

I just got back from La Ronde.

First thing is that nothing has been setup on ramp 3 yet - now there was a day of rain this week so the setup is probably a bit behind but this indicates how much work must have been done on ramps 1 and 2.

There is a special structure on top of ramp 4 though - it is a semicircular arrangement of crescent shapes - think of segments of an orange arranged around half of a plate. I also noticed that the seven floating platforms, which weren't used last week, have product setup on them.

I went up on La Grande Roue to get a better view of ramps 1 and 2 (which are more difficult to access due to the new Catapult ride) and did see that both ramps have an incredibly large number of mortars setup. Ramp 2 was still being loaded as of this lunchtime and there were some groups of candles ready to move onto ramp 3.

Looks like the crew have a lot of work to do before now and tomorrow night. This is somewhat disconcerting because time pressures have a knack of introducing errors or other problems. Let's hope the Luso and La Ronde crews can get everything done and tested in time.

I'll post some photos later this afternoon.

Paul.

wow!! just one day to go and still nothing on ramp 3?? that's tough!! But who knows.. there are competitions where teams need to set up for 1 day for a 20 minute display!! ehehe!! So nothing is impossible! Their sountrack looks quite an enjoyable one! I wanna see how they do singing in the rain and the finale!! Looks like the psycho piece will be more of a "comedy" stop ehehehe! comedy in shows has been quite popular this year in other competitions!

vander

Here's the pictures:

Ramp 4
Ramp 2 and 1
Ramp 4 close up

Paul.

A nice selection of soundtrack, and quite a few segments, too.

Thanks for providing the pictures as well - the structures on ramp 4 are interesting, but it's curious to see what they will do during the show itself.

The Portuguese firm had no pretensions of proclaiming its own victory by naming their presentation "And the winner is...." Indeed, its representatives are very aware that the title could be misunderstood or appear pretentious.

That's reassuring, but I'm still skeptical about this kind of theme chosen to structure the display. However, given this bit of information, I suppose that the team has something convincing enough to enforce such a choice, so I guess it's all figured out accordingly.

Let's hope the Luso and La Ronde crews can get everything done and tested in time.

Let's hope. I would hate to think that the crews would have to be further rushed in the end to do last minute work. And yes, this does have a tendency for favoring problems to later surface.

Trav.

. However, given this bit of information, I suppose that the team has something convincing enough to enforce such a choice, so I guess it's all figured out accordingly.

All (or almost) musics come from Oscar nominee or winner for the soundtrack... which explain the theme... There's only a few of them i couldn't find.

I'M SO EXCITED !!!!! and with all you wrote on the Australian displays a hell of a week is coming up !

Thanks for the pictures Paul. Is the half circle finished or do you think they will add the other half ?

See you tomorrow !!!!

Mylene.

Yes, the soundtrack selection is appropriate. However, I'm just curious to see how the theme will be demonstrated through the display itself. I guess we'll find out tomorrow night!

Other than that, I wonder if Luso will use many, if any at all, variations of the shell of shells and multi-breakers, as in Italy's show.

Trav.

Many many thanks Paul.....first, for sharing every single display in the video section (full 30 minutes) to our PURE DELIGHT!!!

Second, for letting us know about how big the Portugal display will be. I am SO excited. If it's anything close to what IPON S.R.L. finales are, I will be jumping, screaming and crying, all at the same time....so if you see the bridge swaying during the finale, it will be me! LOL

Oh man.....I just can't wait for tomorrow evening!

Pierre

I see now luso will be having a "horizontal dome" hehehe.. i wonder if they have finished installing some more pieces on ramp 3! What's a show without fronts and one shots

vander