Greetings everyone,

Please post here your jury predictions and/or personal choices for the winners! Some reasoning would be interesting to go along with your choices, but it is optional.

Trav.

Dear Friends,

Firstly I wish to thank the loyal forum contributors for uploading videos and providing interviews and reviews. It is much appreciated and I can't imagine how much time is spent with this.

Initially I am very happy that the competition is speeding up again after an unfortunate period of COVID. It is the benchmark competition on this planet and therefore important to push the limits for the business.

Once again I have only seen videos (and for JoHo only one uploaded by Alex and Lily on youtube) but based on this I would predict the following:

Gold: JoHo / Finland
Silver: HC / Belgium
Bronze: Rozzi / US

I am not sure whether Rozzi could be challenged by Macedos - and since I have only seen videos I am not qualified to elaborate on this. Videos never reflect the true feelings...

I believe JoHo did a very good job last night and based on the interview I had to see this first thing in the morning I got up. I was also very pleased with the display from HC but as far as I can see from the videos I believe JoHo has an edge here. Well done to both teams which in my opinion are the best - by a margin according to my personal taste.

Looking forward to seeing what the experts who actually saw the shows might predict

All the best,
Lars

Each season goes by very quickly, especially since 2014 with the standard being 8 shows per year (instead of 9 or 10 in previous years). This year, it flew even faster with only seven actual shows, given the unprecedented cancellation of the opening show. One year ago, I wrote in this forum :

I am afraid that some consequences of the pandemic may have their full impact on the event in 2023. To setup such shows appears increasingly jeopardized by a mix of international transportation issues, labour shortage and enduring budget cuts. The upcoming retirement of Martyne Gagnon, competition director since November 1997, adds to these uncertainties. More broadly, La Ronde appears to suffer of an enduring decline, and I am not sure the current situation of Six Flags will allow to reverse that trend soon.

While transportation issues were not reported to compromise the delivery of the material prepared by each team this year, I still have these concerns. However, I haven’t predicted that our social and political context was going to become so hostile towards fireworks. Sadly, the highlight of this season has nothing to do with the performances of the competitors, rather with the politicization of the environment issues related to the fireworks and the threat it causes on each display and, ultimately, on the fate of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition and the future of the industry as a whole. I have heard from multiple sources that La Ronde, in this context, does not remain passive, and has taken some actions behind the scenes to defend its flagship event. Let’s hope its strategy will be fruitful.

Another step La Ronde could take is to bring back a more suitable calendar than a schedule focused on Thursday nights. Following almost each post about the fireworks, the Facebook pages of La Ronde and IFLQ were flooded with negative comments through the Spring and early Summer, as a such schedule is not convenient for most people. And the size of the audience has never appeared so tiny, from memories. If the La Ronde/Six Flags leadership does not understand that message and reproduces a similar schedule next year, it would be a clear cue that it does not care about what their customers feel. That leadership should also remember that it benefits a lot of public funding through the sponsorship of Loto-Québec and various government subsidies.

Beyond these schedule issues, the quality of the experience has evolved in various ways this season. On the positive side, the price point was more reasonable this year than in 2022 (especially for those who benefited of the early discounts) and the new sound systems has really improved the live experience. The previous was already very powerful, but the new loudspeakers allow for more effective stereo effects. On the negative side, there are some disorganization with the entrance procedure in the central section of the grandstands, one of the two main “doors” being now reserved for the Gold section only, as well as with the pre-show and countdown routines.

While I haven’t monitored news media as closely as in some previous years, I believe this season has not attracted more news coverage than in past years. However, the new sponsorship of Vidéotron – a company part of the Québecor media conglomerate – appears to cause an increase of media visibility, the competition being advertised in various Québecor outlets, including mentions in key programs on TVA, its flagship television network. On the web, there were two significant developments thanks to former jury members. On one side, Martine Landry Lemery and Danick Mathieu have launched mtlPYROmedia, a new multiplatform outlet, mostly in French, featuring a lot of visual content, including video interviews with the designers. On the other side, Mylène Salvas has extended her online presence with substantive reviews and previews of most shows on the online magazine LesArtsZe, thanks to an invitation from Daniel Ouimet, another former judge who covers musical shows for this outlet since many years. Furthermore, this year marked the 20th anniversary of this forum created by Paul Marriott. I am happy to collaborate with him since 20 years, and to have an opportunity to disseminate a shorter and French-language version of my reviews through the new mtlPYROmedia website.

As I wrote at the end of my Finnish review, my personal ranking this season is :

1. Joho Pyro (Finland)
2. HC Pyrotechnics (Belgium)
3. Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks (United States)
4. Macedo’s Pirotecnia (Portugal)
5. Hands Fireworks (Canada)
6. Dance of Fire (Ukraine)

We know that teams which appear later in the program are more often on the podium. Here are some descriptive statistics since the introduction of the popular jury in 1992 :

- 3 out of 29 first contestants (10.3%) won a Jupiter;
- 17 out of 87 first three contestants (19.5%) won a Jupiter;
- 53 out of 87 last three contestants (60.9%) won a Jupiter;
- 21 out of 29 last contestants (72.4%) won a Jupiter.

I do suspect a very close race between the Belgian and American teams, and the latter may be advantaged by its later appearance in these circumstances. So I have a slightly different prediction :

Fred’s jury prediction is:

1. Joho Pyro (Finland)
2. Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks (United States)
3. HC Pyrotechnics (Belgium)

Fred

My personal 2023 ranking:

1. USA (solid traditional American display, very well done with rock music)
2. Finland (very enjoyable and very well designed)
3. Belgium (highlights, for me, were mainly the special effects)
4. Canada (very enjoyable, despite the technical issues)
5. Portugal (very good first half and very well done final segment, but the rest could have been better)
6. Ukraine (good display, but this fireworks competition should steer clear of any political component)

The displays were all very good this year, but no major outstanding display and somewhat weak on theme, in my opinion. I'm disappointed that there were no classical music selections. I personally think they mesh better with pyromusical displays.

My 2023 jury prediction:

1. USA
2. Finland
3. Belgium

Hi everyone !

This is my first post ever on this forum.

I'm not a "super-connaisseur" like most of the people here, but I'm a really big fireworks enthusiast and love everything about them.

I've been watching fireworks on site at La Ronde since 2011. So I have seen quite a lot. We are so lucky to have such a great competition in Montreal. Combined with the view in the stands with the bridge, downtown, all the rides, the lake, this is simply unique and amazing.

I think it's worth mentioning that I watched all six fireworks from the same spot : general admission, right in the middle where the sound is perfectly calibrated. My short reviews, in date order, are a summary of notes I took right after each shows.


Ukraine

What I like about this competition is the fact that we can broaden our personal musical culture. For me, this is the highlight of that evening. "City", "Shum" and "Stefania" were nice surprises.

There was a couple of interesting sequences, but in general it was designed in a simple way, unfortunately far too simple for the Montreal competition. On many occasions the space seemed empty and the technical errors were numerous (angles of the single-shots ramps 3 and 5, inversion of effects, etc.). It was, therefore, a rather linear show and quite repetitive.

Was I the only one to feel some discomfort with the invitation of Ukraine this year? Was I the only one to feel an even bigger discomfort during the speech around the 25-26th minute, which was executed in total darkness (as if the situation in Ukraine was not already dark enough)? The occasion would have been perfect to use blue and yellow nautical pieces (Ukraine) on one side, and white and red (Canada) on the other, to demonstrate the support between the two countries. Just my thought...


Portugal

An interesting evening, with a theme and a soundtrack that aroused my curiosity: how Portugal was going to use 23 songs in 30 minutes and that, in an effective way?

The design and the use of a lot of cakes, combined with several technical errors (inversion of effects mainly) affected rendering and synchronization. These inequalities, of which several sequences lacked fireworks, greatly diminished the feeling with the soundtrack.

Speaking of the soundtrack, the last third of the show became unstructured with the short duration of the songs and the too fast transitions, making us lose any feelings with the songs and the fireworks.

I really liked the end of "Around the world / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" with a fast on-beat sequence between ramps 3 and 5.

I liked the finale too. An "Epic" song generates a lot of emotions and it's effective. However, I still wonder about this choice in relation to the theme... Same thing for the intro song...


Belgium

Despite a failed start, creating confusion, and the second half of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which lacked a lot of punch and creativity, the real "HCShow" begun on the 2nd song (Back to Black).

During the whole show, the color changing fireworks were numerous and their quality was very high. One after the other, we saw more and more interesting effects. To add to this, the spectrum of colors was very wide, the synchronization and harmony of the fireworks with the soundtrack was there.

Excellent use of ramp 5 (although the left pontoon was not cooperative all the time). This created good depth on several occasions, especially in the finale. Very good work on ramp 3 on the creative side, but several technical errors were somewhat disturbing throughout the show.

The WOW of the evening: Great Balls of Fire with the 4 fireballs. Also I really liked the four time color changing comets on ramp 3.

"What a Wonderful World": why all white fireworks during the sequence "...The colors of the rainbow..." ? Obviously, colors at the beginning were respected according to the song (red, blue / blue, white), but I didn't understand that choice.


Canada

Canada offered us a very static, linear soundtrack, with several "slow pace music"... The more the show progressed, the more the lack of rhythm was felt. It also seemed difficult to me to make the link between "150 years of passion" and the soundtrack.

Some nice shells in the sky, but in general the color spectrum used was rather restrained.

The most beautiful execution in my eyes: "Lindberg".

Lots of emptiness on ramp 3, almost no synchronization.

I compared this evening to a hockey team suffering a really poor performance. The best thing to do is throwing everything in the bottom of the drawer, get up and start again.

*** It was only the next day, thanks to this forum, that I understood that there was major technical problems during the show. Everything then made sense.

This is sad for the Canadian team, or any team, when something like that happens. All the hard work and preparation not leading to the expected result...


United States

Despite an easy and personally overused theme (rock), the United States presented a very solid, interesting, fluid and colorful show.

We felt a crescendo throughout the whole display with several interesting effects that always kept us captivated, mainly in the 2nd half.

Very few technical errors throughout this 30 minutes. The intensity of the fireworks respected the feeling of the music. The synchronization was perfect.

Bests: "Here Comes The Sun" was very colorful, and "Purple Rain".

Worst: the finale, which had started so well! ...I would like to understand what the designer had in mind to create that last part only with noise, without colors...

Despite this detail, it was a very beautiful, energetic and well-filled show, as we like to see them in Montreal.


Finland

A performance filled with energy and emotions, almost without faults, was presented by Finland.

The idea of the soundtrack, was fun, creative and different, even if the rock theme was chosen, again...

The quality of the shells and effects was a strong point of this show. The spectrum of colors used was very wide. The absence of too many repetitions kept us entertained at all times and the perfect synchronization added more great to that great evening.

A remarkable work on the ground (ramps 3 and 5) needs to be mentioned : very creative and perfectly executed (effects used, synchronization, angles). Rarely do we have the chance to see so many different patterns with near-to-perfection angles on every shots.

Best show of the season. As simple as that.


----------

That said, here are my predictions :

Gold: Finland
Silver: United States
Bronze: Belgium
4th: Portugal
5th: Ukraine
6th: Canada


Dan

Dan,

thanks for the detailed and thoughtful review of the shows. Your top 3 are the same as mine, but I'm still not certain between the USA and Belgium for the 2nd place. I'll have to watch both of them again!

Paul.

That was yet another rather interesting edition to the Montreal Fireworks Competition, not just in terms of the competition itself, but with respect to the weather. In the grander scheme of things, it was a thrill just to see the competition still thriving, and we must keep reminding ourselves just how lucky we are to have these displays altogether. That being said, I continue to be concerned by the lower attendance yet again this year, and even lower than the inaugural year last year following the COVID-19 pandemic. In year’s case, it is likely that the poor attendance this year was an artifact of frequently poor weather conditions on fireworks days, mostly Thursday scheduling, and in La Ronde’s case, continued high admission costs. Even when the weather was good, attendance remained quite low, as represented by the relative ease of being able to navigate through the spectators. As such, following the pandemic, this still did not quite feel like a true restoration of the competition, which I had expressed last year at the end of the competition.

This year’s edition itself was nevertheless quite enjoyable. The displays exhibited qualities that all made them engaging in their own respective way, with some obviously more than others. We were able to see at least a decent range of creativity/complexity among the in-competition shows, though it was quite surprising to see that themes used this year across displays were fairly light and not very explorative.

As mentioned, the weather pattern was quite interesting in itself, but in a hazardous manner. Analyzing this competition’s weather for what is now 20 years, I have never seen such a dedicated stormy pattern like what was observed this year. As such, there is naturally quite a bit that should be noted and addressed here.

This year’s edition of Montreal Fireworks firstly faced the ongoing smoke hazards from the Quebec forest fire situation in Northern Quebec early in the fireworks period, with rainfall and principally thunderstorm threats taking over beyond that. Often, extensive smoke concentrations would be circulated farther South into these regions enough that Smog Warnings would appear during mid-June to early-July – sometimes so concentrated that one can smell the odor of the smoke. In response, on June 29th, the very first cancellation in this competition’s history occurred (outside the total cancellations induced by the pandemic). Indeed, the smog that was driven largely by the smoke accumulations prompted a cancellation of the opening show.

Then, in sharp contrast with last year (and all other years in this competition’s history), more display days than usual met with rainfall. However, it was not just the rainfall - it was the extent to which this rainfall was accompanied by thunderstorms on fireworks days, either in the (near-) distance, or in the area directly. Ironically, a large part of this observed increased in rainfall/thunderstorm threats on fireworks days was attributable to a shift in fireworks days a day forward in this year’s situation, from Wednesday to Thursday, and even the single Sunday representing a day-later shift from the usual Saturdays. For that reason, July 6th, July 13th, July 30th, August 3rd, and now what is likely to be August 10th (a whopping 5 out 8 displays days) faced hazardous weather conditions, and in some cases violently. Granted, the Thursdays did save some displays from poor weather situations, such as the afternoon to early-evening thunderstorms of July 26th missing the Canadian display a day later, and the Belgian display narrowly missing the July 21st predawn severe thunderstorms/heavy rainfall (although those severe thunderstorms largely missed greater Montreal). Part of this highly unusual wet pattern, too, was the increase in severe weather this late-Spring and Summer so far – indeed, this July was the wettest July (and one of the wettest months) for the island of Montreal in recorded history.

An isolated distant thunderstorm family first appeared in the distance during the late-afternoon to early-evening of July 6th, around Napierville, with lightning appearing fairly frequently in the Southern skies at the time. A week later, on July 13th, Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings, accompanied by several Tornado Warnings, guided what was the scariest severe weather situation to appear on a fireworks day in this competition’s history. Then, on July 30th, an isolated strong thunderstorm family affected the West Island-Vaudreuil corridor during the late-afternoon to early-evening, followed by newer isolated thunderstorms that again affected that corridor but also farther East to capture greater Montreal; this July 30th late-evening thunderstorm led to significant rainfall on the island, and only very shortly after the American display. Then, on August 3rd, Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings once more made an appearance, and this time for the Finnish display day with a much closer call than the July 13th case. Everyone watching anxiously, thunderstorms exploded over the central part of the island and South before becoming more organized with eastward progression near sunset to early-evening August 3rd. This was followed by more isolated thunderstorms shortly after the display. At the same time, this was the first time in this competition’s history that consecutive fireworks days (July 30th and August 3rd) had thunderstorms on fireworks days, including with respect to happening so closely around display time.

Fortunately, and extremely luckily, all of these affected display days managed to be affected by no more than a (brief) light rain or even drizzle during actual display time, including on July 30th and August 3rd (albeit more persistent on July 30th during the first 10 minutes). The winds were also thankfully generous in both speed and direction with respect to the La Ronde audience, with only the Portuguese display resulting in smoke moving towards this audience as a result of the WSW tendencies. The warmest and most humid fireworks day belonged to July 6th, which was also the warmest day overall this year for the island so far.
I also take this opportunity to thank Paul for keeping this forum/website alive, especially now reaching this special 20th anniversary of the forum, as well as for taking the time to provide us with very interesting inside information concerning each display through the interviews! I similarly extend my thanks to Mylene for all of her work in bringing us in-depth information concerning the displays! Many thanks to Fred, too, for kindly sharing with us his full-length videos of the displays from on-site, and to everyone altogether for sharing their reviews/comments of the displays (and in other discussions), despite the quieter nature of this year! Finally, I would like to thank all organizers and setup crews for their diligent and hard work to prepare all displays for us to see every fireworks evening.
Below are summaries that ‘broadly’ describe what I thought were the strengths and weaknesses of each of the six in-competition displays. This is then followed by my jury predictions and personal choices for the winners, and then miscellaneous rankings for other display attributes.

Country: Ukraine
Company: Dance of Fire
Date of presentation: July 6th, 2023

Winds remained breezy from the SSW under the warmest (27 C) and most humid conditions this year during display time, blowing the smoke quickly clear to the right of the on-site audience.

Great effort for this inaugural performance by the Ukrainian team. Some interesting firing patterns appeared at several points of the show that really gave it some notable highlights for sequencing and effects, along with a good interplay of emotions, even though it carried with it a very simplistic design. This was also a very traditionally-fired display, with many of the patriotic colors appearing, as we would have expected from an approach like this. The theme also came across as light, as did practically all themes this year. The finale was also very short and left behind that feeling for something more to happen, especially since the show was aimed to at least partly showcase Ukrainian tenacity and endurance.

Country: Portugal
Company: Macedos Pirotechnia
Date of presentation: July 13th, 2023

Severe Thunderstorms and tornadoes made for a scary situation on this day. Thankfully, conditions improved significantly in time for the display. Under 21 C and moderate humidity, WSW winds, were quite breezy and pushing the smoke the most directly towards the audience this year.

Probably the most engaging display this year in light of the musical selection employed. This display also featured some interesting firing patterns and sequences that sometimes caught us off guard, especially since the audience was so often energized by the music. To that end, there was a fairly large amount of redundancy from one segment to the next, diminishing the extent of complexity in the show and subsequently losing musical distinction through the pyrotechnics. Some songs also lasted much longer than others, creating imbalance and perhaps neglected room for more songs. Possibly related to the previous thunderstorms, many sightings of asymmetry were present. The best finale was also present.

Country: Belgium
Company: HC Fireworks
Date of presentation: July 20th, 2023

Excellent weather conditions for this display, and also narrowly missing the heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms that would follow during predawn July 21st. The light ESE wind fields did create more problematic viewing for us on Notre-Dame, however, though to the benefit of those on-site. This was also the second warmest fireworks evening (25-26 C) under moderate humidity.

This was a really good overall demonstration of what a great pyromusical can look like. Fantastic use was made of most of the available space, and sometimes with some rather stunning sequences to represent the songs used. One of the most memorable aspects was the release of the fireballs to conclude “Great Balls of Fire”. As with previous displays, however, the thematic premise from “Legends” was not always so clear, and there were, to me, too many interruptions from quieter segments early in the display, leading to feelings of anti-climax and disproportion. Like with Portugal, some songs were used too extensively, such as “I Will Always Love You”, and drooping effects became much too frequent. The soundtrack itself was quite enjoyable and was among the most engaging. Wonderful finale, as well.

Country: Canada
Company: Hands Fireworks
Date of presentation: July 27th, 2023

The most humid conditions for a display were present for the Canadian show, along with the third warmest temperature (24 C). The humidity was concerning with respect to guiding thick smoke accumulations, but the winds were just strong enough to push the smoke clear to the right of the La Ronde audience.

The Canadian display brought much excitement, and indeed, it was actually one of the more exciting shows this year. I thought it was signature in the sense that it brought many awe-struck moments spent with glorious nautical shells, along with a welcomed higher density of shells, faster-paced sequences and beautiful product quality. Despite the very high humidity, the saturation of colors seemed to stand out in this display. However, again, the thematic meaning was elusive, and it was not always obvious that the selection of songs was relevant. Unfortunately, there were several dark moments, too, that gave the impression of some fairly significant technical issues. This may have also been associated with the moments of asymmetry observed along low-altitude. Not a bad a finale, but it was a bit too short and under too much of a monochromatic style for my taste.

Country: United States
Company: Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks
Date of presentation: July 30th, 2023

Thunderstorms made an appearance dangerously close to this display, both just before and after the show. The show itself had the most enduring (light) rainfall during any show this year (first ~10 minutes). Fortunately, the SSW winds displaced the smoke clear to the right of the La Ronde audience, though with high-altitude smoke moving towards far right-hand sections. Rain-cooled air guided the coolest temperature to occur during a display this year (17-18 C).

The show itself was one of the best this year. It relied on what has now becoming a fairly recurring theme of Rock. Like the Canadian show, we were treated with many rounds of nautical products, except that in this show, these sequences flowed even better with the music. The team also used a very delightful interplay between colors and effects, and there were many opportunities showcased here, for the second time this year, for many note-tight sequencing along low- to mid-level. Although the theme was light and fairly basically represented, it was the most tightly-fit theme and understood (along with Portugal’s “Tune In”) of all shows this year. Great use was made of the available space, and the color richness really dazzled the audience, along with many “Wow” moments during some interesting firing patterns that brought the skies to life. Ultimately, this created some of the best musical representations through the pyrotechnics that we have seen this year, and with yet another very engaging set of music that allowed the audience to become very immersive with the show. Surprisingly, the finale came across as disproportionately weak in the sense that it was broken up and not to the point.

Country: Finland
Company: JoHo Pyro
Date of presentation: August 3rd, 2023

Following Severe Thunderstorm Warnings appearing very close to display time, only some periods of light rain were present for this display, mostly towards in final minutes. At saturation, this was the second coolest fireworks display, under 18-19 C and high humidity. Light SSW winds mostly blew the large accumulations of smoke clear to the right of the La Ronde audience before turning more towards those on Notre-Dame Street for the final 10 minutes. Quite anxious, there was worry that these weather conditions could induce technical issues, especially with light striking so closely, the torrential rainfall, and locally strong downbursts coming from this strong thunderstorm family.

The Finnish really created something quite special, and (very) thankfully, the weather did not spoil it either directly or indirectly. The synchronization in this display was the most elaborate and sophisticated among all displays (though in my mind, only narrowly ahead of the American show), with a vibrant set of sequences of color and firing style that really produced some fine attempts for creating changes in emotion. The organization of the show was quite unique, too, especially with the approach taken to use previews of songs before the actual segments. The “Sound of Silence” ranked among some of the most emotional segments this year, along with Belgium’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”. Very fine use was made of the available space, and the variety of nauticals and palette of color were an extravaganza in themselves. Much like for Canada and Belgium, however, I felt like some songs were overused and, thus, could have allowed for additional songs to be squeezed in. Not only this, but I personally would have preferred the original versions of the songs incorporated here, which did take some enjoyment away for me. The theme was also not well understood, and so it did not always make sense in relation to the songs being used here. The finale, though, not under a rich diversity of color, appeared very strong and built to the right crescendo over the 63 seconds!
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Overall, the Belgian, American and Finnish displays stood out as the strongest, with Portugal’s “Tune In” coming in close behind for the Bronze, I think. As mentioned, there were many engaging displays this year, but all with surprisingly light themes consistently. Portugal and the United States carried the most tenacious themes, with Portugal’s probably being the most explorative while having a framework whose meaning was understood. Color richness was great across all displays, with Canada, the United States, and Finland showcasing the greatest color richness. However, this year struggled to extend these wonderful colors into finales more extensively. The finales themselves were mostly great, with Portugal’s being my personal favorite, followed by Belgium’s and Finland’s. Finland had the best pyromusical design, though I seemingly enjoyed the American one more because of the more engaging soundtrack there, and I felt like the United States had a more thematically-strong approach than did Finland.
As such, my jury predictions and personal choices for the winners look like the following:

Trav’s jury prediction:

1st: Finland
2nd: United States
3rd: Belgium

Trav’s personal choice:

1st: United States
2nd: Finland
3rd: Belgium
Green Achievement Award: ?

Best choice of music:

1. Portugal
2. United States
3. Belgium

Most intriguing effects:

1. Finland
2. United States
3. Belgium

Best quality products:

1. Finland
2. United States
3. Belgium

Highest color richness:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Portugal

Best devised and represented theme:

1. Portugal
2. United States
3. Belgium

Best sequences:

1. Finland
2. United States
3. Belgium

Most powerful/energetic displays:

1. Canada
2. United States
3. Portugal

Best opening segment:

1. United States
2. Portugal
3. Canada

Top conclusions:

1. Portugal
2. Finland
3. Belgium

Trav.

After a lot of thought, these are my personal favourites:

Gold Jupiter: JoHo/Finland
Silver Jupiter: Rozzi/USA
Bronze Jupiter: HC/Belgium

It was very close between Silver and Bronze but, despite the bigger diversity of products in the HC show, there was more repetition and the sound track editing was not quite as good as the Rozzi show. The Rozzi show also had, in my personal opinion, a better soundtrack, but I'm still disappointed in the anti-climax at the end of the finale.

My Jury predictions are in the same order as my personal ones. If they don't give Finland the Gold Jupiter, then I will be extremely disappointed.

For the soundtrack, I believe Rozzi will take home this award as well as the Green award (as they're using almost all Panzera products and, as we heard in the final interview, they have made a lot of strides recently, though Panzera SAS did win this in 2013).

Paul.