this should prolly not be a question asked right now, but just for the curiousity

who do u think will be the winners this year, just by looking at the countries and their company

mine would be:
1. Germany (their 2000 display was simply amazing, i will never forget those waterfalls, who knows what surprises they will might bring this year)

2. Spain, nevermind the company (2 different companies and the country who won the most jupiters)

3. Holland (simply becuz this country is a mystery and we havent seen them often)

also, please recommand the countries u would recommand to watch (this would be for the pros. like Paul)

All I can tell you at this point is that there will be some very interesting suriprises coming up in the next few weeks. I am privvy to some inside information on some of the shows but I have to keep it secret for now. I also personally know some of the designers and therefore have an insight into how many months (or years) they've been working on their entries for this special competition.

As for which countries to watch? Well, don't miss any of them this time! I would be showing my bias (yes, like everyone else, I am biased) if I recommended any particular shows. I do, however, get a lot of emails from people asking which is the best week to come to see good shows. Obviously, everything else being equal, i always will favour those weeks in July where there are two shows a week (really, three in eight days) as the best bang-for-the-buck.

BTW Enkil, it is wrong to speculate who the winners will be as, this year, there will be only one prize and hence winner will be in the singular.

Cheers,

Paul.

opps i forgot that, again! it seems very weird to have 1 winner only

i suspect the surprises will be

1. addition 5min or 10min of fireworks from a country

2. a surprise like German's waterfalls,

3. fireworks on the ferris wheel

can u think of anything else Smoke?

Enkil,

You propose a good topic. However, it's hard to say who will be the winner, at this point.

All I can say is, like Paul said, that there will be only one firm to win this unique and prestigious award, the platinum Jupiter. This is the fact for the fierce competition this year and I can really tell you right now that Spain(Pirotechnia Igual) could be right up there to win so far, after seing an incredible performance. It was almost, or if not, flawless. I have more of my personal views on this show in my little review in the section "Pirotechnia Igual Reviews."

However, we must remember that the other participating firms will most likely put up excellent displays that may potentially be adequate for the platinum Jupiter.

In essence, this is going to be the most challenging year of the history of the competition, which is quite suitable for the 20th anniversary. In fact, this is the beauty of this year's competition. We're experiencing 8 firms going head to head for one prize, which has never been done before.

Now to make my answer more precise according to "who will be the winners this year," it's still extremely hard to say. What I say is not official and it's just an educated guess. All I can interpret at this point is that Spain has the best chance of winning, country wise, not in terms of "firms", since Spain has 2 firms representing the country. Igual has done an incredible job and I feel the same about what Caballer may potentially do.

Now don't get the wrong idea, we still have to see the other firms, as well, before we make further analysis and judgement. What I've mentioned is just in terms of probability. In reality, in terms of country, Spain has 2/8 chance of winning, depending on how well they do compared to the other firms, so this means a 25% chance.

These figures are also biased because, then again, the other firms may have the upper hand, increasing their chances to higher depths.

So, this leads to my conclusion. It's still wayyyy too early to make any judgement. I guess we'll have to wait and see all the remaining displays. Also, remember that the judges will have a very difficult task of choosing the winning firm. And as I've said many times, there's bound to be disapointment, since we may actually feel that they all deserve the unique award. Another important thing to remember is that every firm can and may have a distinct advantage over another. The part where I said that Spain has a 25% chance of winning, as a country, is a useless figure. That's just in terms of probability and assuming that they have a good chance of winning, according to the strength of their displays, compared to the fellow competitors. Once again, we need to experience all the displays, before we make a move.

As for the possible surprises, my guess is as good as yours. I do know that firms have used the ferris wheel in the past, and I suspect that may be done again, this time around. I'm guessing that new rides may be used, like maybe the mysterious Telefrique or maybe even Le Spirale, or the Orbit, or even that railway express ride, that takes you around La Ronde. I think the railing line may be used, as well. However, I believe this has been done in the past. I suspect the more noticeable rides may be used. Also maybe some new fireworks may be used for a first try.

In terms of extra display length, I don't really consider that a possibility, since every display must stay in its respective time limit. I know some displays go slighlty over 10:30, sometimes. The best bet is to get addtional fireworks prior to the display, as a surprise.

And I'm happy that Paul is keeping it a secret. That's what makes it exciting. Reminds of when the schedule came out. I also agree that we should try to attend all the displays this year, so this way, we can all have our own personal judgement on the winning firm.

Remember that the judges have the toughest decision to make at the end of this particular competiton, since there's only one award! Much harder than any other typical year! Like I said, there's guaranteed to be disapointment. We can expect extreme tightness in competition this year. We must remember that every firm is going to do their absolute best of their ability to succeed. I'm 100%certain that a tremendous amount of work and effort was made by each firm in contribution to the displays this year. A logical reason for increased intensity, because of what's at stake!

After seing Igual, the competition is already heating up. It looks like it's already contending for the platinum Jupiter!

Enkil, have any other guesses on the surprises?

Regards,

Trav.

Great thoughts on the possible winner - which is almost impossible to predict

I believe we can expect to see material of an extremely high quality from all the participants and therefore I agree that if probably will be the way to use them in surprising ways, that will make an impact on the decission.

Besides that I believe it will be the show with either the most surprising music or the best defined theme, that will win the platinum jupiter. Last year theme was an important issue, as both the canadian and australian shows (winning the gold and silver jupiters) were thematic with a line through the whole show. On the other side, no jupiter was given to the american team, presenting a show I will describe as a demonstration of technical skills and first class material. However they used different songs with no connection, which apparantly did not appeal to the jury.

Bottom line: Theme and surprise will be the 2 determining factors, I believe.

My guess for the winner of the platinum jupiter is Sunny or Caballer

Best regards,
Lars

(Denmark)

I agree. It's definitely going to be tough getting a winner this year, but that's what competition is all about!

Like Lars said, it's almost impossible to predict at this point. We've seen 2 competitors, so far, and both of them are top noche!

It's going to be a great year!

Regards,

Trav.

Lars,

your assessment is very insightful and I know there are some interesting surprises coming up.

As for the winner, both Caballer and Sunny are certainly capable of bringing home the Platinum Jupiter ... but so are all the others if the displays we've seen already are anything to go by

Cheers,

Paul.

I guess we can only make final judgement and anaysis after we've seen all of them.

Trav.