The 26th edition of the competition presents an opportunity for change, at least as far as my reporting is concerned. Since 1996, I have written detailed, almost shot-by-shot, reports on the competition displays. In the pre-YouTube days, this made sense, but now that video of the displays is freely available (indeed, members of my forum have access to the full display on video), this type of reporting is less relevant.
So I’m returning to the format of the reports I wrote in the early years which, for me, were 1993-1995. The decision to do this was taken at the end of the 25th edition, when I decided that I’d “done my time” with providing the detailed reports. So to coincide with that decision, I also decided to use a blog format to make life easier for when I’m on the road with work. I will move all of the old reports over to the blog too – though this will take some time as there are a lot of them!
So, to the 26th edition of the competition. There are a few noticeable changes to the format. In the big picture sense, it seems that there will be a “feux des etoiles” every year now – in other words, one less spot for a competitor. Presumably this is related to budget considerations as there are other changes which seem related to this. For many years, the format of the display evening was as I noted in 2002 when changes were also attempted. This is how it was for pretty much every year I’ve attended:
- Salute fired
- Chariots of Fire plays
- Lap of honour around the lake for the pyrotechnicians to the music “Winter” by David Foster
- The esteemed Michel Lacroix introduces the pyrotechnicians to music from the film 1492 by Vangelis
- Michel reads an interesting press release concerning the display
- Team’s national anthem played
- Salute fired
- Fifteen minutes of atmospheric Vangelis music until 10 seconds before show time
- Michel counts down from 10 in his inimitable style, perfectly preparing the audience for the display
- 22:00 Display starts
In 2002, that format was abandoned but rapidly reinstated for 2003. Since then, the basic format has been the same, including the musical pieces used for atmosphere. There have been certain embellishments, such as having performers sing a team’s national anthem or having a bouquet of fireworks instead of a single salute. For the past couple of years, the sponsoring radio station had their presenters engage in banter with Michel Lacroix, but this always felt clumsy and so it was good to see that this is not apparently taking place this year.
What was disappointing, though, is that the lap of honour for the pyrotechnicians seems to have been relegated to the history books. Presumably due to budgetary constraints. What was disappointing, though, was that music normally used as a backdrop to the presentation of the team, 1492 by Vangelis, was not played but just an extension of the David Foster “Winter” piece. It sounded jarring and out of place. Fortunately, the rest of the proceedings were as normal. It might seem trivial, but the way things were organized previously did add a certain atmosphere and cachet to the event.
One other disappointment, which I find hard to understand, was that the introduction by the president of La Ronde, Phillipe Bélec, was in French only. Since La Ronde is not only the largest theme park in Quebec, but also for most of New England, this is somewhat surprising, especially with this being the Grand Prix weekend with a lot of foreign tourists in Montreal. Since New England was a target market for La Ronde for many years, this was quite surprising as I know Phillipe is perfectly bi-lingual. Michel Lacroix’s formerly unilingual announcements have had an English component for a couple of years now. Another disappointment was that there were no speeches by any civic dignitary at all – very strange considering the fireworks competition is still the most popular festival in Quebec. It’s sort of if it’s the festival that everyone takes for granted – so much that there’s virtually no media coverage at all.
Let’s hope that things get back on-track as the season progresses.