First of all, a big thank you to my fellow pyromaniacs who make the Montreal International Fireworks Competition more than just a competition. To Martyne Gagnon, competition director, whose hard work and enthusiasm ensure that the best competitors from around the world are invited to compete; to Paul Csukassy, competition technical director, and his team of dedicated pyrotechnicians ensures that we get to see an incredible display each competition evening at 10:00pm prompt – this year being particularly notable in absence of any technical problems. Then to my co-critics, two-time Jury member Frédérick Bastien and fellow blogger and licenced pyrotechnician, Mylène Salvas. And last, but not least, Bob Burch, Rachel Bilodeau and Steve Austin, photographers par excellence as well as a new recruit to the ranks of critic and photographer, Simon Turcotte-Langevin, helping fill the void left by the late and much missed Georges Lamon. All your unconditional enthusiasm for this most ethereal of all the arts makes every summer something to remember.
This year’s competition was definitely one of two parts, both in in terms of time and approach to the displays. The first set of competitors, before the Feux des etoiles, used a less complex approach then we have seen for several years, with cue counts around 1000 or less (except for San Tai, more on their display later). Part of this may have been because two of them used the FireMaster system which is not common in North America, making it difficult to procure sufficient firing modules for a complex display.
One of the two debutantes of this year’s competition performed in the first half and they definitely did a credible job and I feel confident that if they perform again, they will be able to put what they learned during their baptism of fire to good use as they had some very interesting and artistic aspects to their display and the best edited soundtrack of the first half of the competition.
One surprise of this first half of the competition was the performance of San Tai. I remember their debut in 2001 being a very impressive display but this year’s effort just wasn’t at the same level, mainly due to a lack of interplay between the different vertical levels of the display area with more shell-only segments than any other competitor this year. Whilst their shells are very impressive, a pyromusical needs more than this and their soundtrack editing was not at a high enough level in my opinion.
Soldi did a very credible display and managed to avoid any of the technical gremlins that they had suffered in the past. Though the fireworks were of a very high quality, the soundtrack, once again, was the weakest link in their performance with poor editing unfortunately. With a better produced soundtrack, they would have been in the running for a Jupiter but I think the Polish team of Surex are in the first place of the runners-up.
For the second half of the competition, we witnessed displays of a much higher technical complexity than the first half, with much higher cue counts (between 3000 and 4000). This level of complexity was more what the audience in Montreal are accustomed to and it felt like we were witnessing the sort of level of competition that had become the norm in recent years.
The one surprise was the US entrant. Despite a very well edited soundtrack, the display missed the mark in terms of depth and perceived complexity, with a more restricted use of the space than the other competitors on the second half and, despite the large number of cues, lack of punch. This may have been due to their unfamiliarity with displays in Montreal as the team highlighted the fact that the had deliberated avoided watching prior displays, either live or on video. This was in contrast to the French team of Brezac who proudly boasted they had studied prior displays in great detail as part of their preparations for Montreal.
The second half of the competition therefore became a competition of the three final entrants: Fireworks Spectaculars Canada (FSC), Göteborgs Fyrverkeri Fabrik (GFF) and Brézac Artifices. All three had very well produced, but very different, soundtracks. FSC’s had an epic feel, GFF’s was pure dance fun and Brézac had had the audacity to commission music specially for their display which engendered a filmatic and theatrical feel to their display. Since soundtrack design is one of the official judging criteria, I think that Brézac must take the award here for the risk they took in having a specially composed track. In terms of technical quality, all three soundtracks were of a very high level, showing the musical background of the creators of the tracks.
All three final displays were complex and demonstrated great use of all aspects of the display site, fully filling every position in the sky in every direction as well as the lake. FSC had the most impressive arsenal of nautical pieces and all three companies utilized ramp 5 too. FSC had the most powerful display with the greatest number of large calibre shells and they also demonstrated great command of the range of emotions that should go into a display, notably going from extreme serenity to 12″ shells bursting in the air – all within the first 90 seconds of the display. They continued to demonstrate this sensitivity throughout the display. GFF demonstrated the most creative and accurate synchronization in their display with perfect timing of their low-level effects, both in terms of absolute time and the correct phrasal musical moments to time their synchronization to. Brézac also had excellent synchronization, particularly their shells but they weren’t quite as tight as the Swedish team in my opinion.
As one might be able to tell, I’m having difficulty deciding between the final three competitors. All would be worthy recipients of a Gold Jupiter but, unfortunately, there is only one top-prize. Based on audience reaction and my general feelings, I have to place FSC and GFF above Brézac as this latter display just lacked a little bit of the enigmatic WOW factor that’s necessary in a winning display. Both FSC and GFF had more WOW moments. At the end of the day, fireworks are supposed to surprise and delight and it’s the moments of surprise which cause a reflexive expression of WOW.
So, we’re down to the top two: FSC and GFF. Either one could win top honours – both had excellent soundtracks, but very different styles. FSC was epic and GFF was a dance party. Both displays used very high quality products but FSC gets the tip of the hat for their lack of repetition of any effect. GFF get the tip of the hat for their superb synchronization and slightly crisper feel to their display. I know both Brad Dezotell and Martin Hildeberg and would be delighted for either of them to take home the gold.
So my final personal preference is
- Gold: Göteborgs Fyrverkeri Fabrik
- Silver: Fireworks Spectaculars Canada
- Bronze: Brézac Artifices
My predictions for the Jury are more difficult to arrive at as they have to finalize their scores after each display. The Portuguese display of Macedos had a very strong audience reaction, being the final display of the first half. There is a good chance that the jury rated it highly and it’s hard to know if their high rating may have been enough to surpass Brézac. Brézac had the advantage of performing last, giving the jury a chance to “correct” their previous marks. Since the jury must rate the soundtrack, I think this will give a boost to Brézac, maybe even elevating them above FSC.
All that said my predictions for the jury result are
- Gold: Göteborgs Fyrverkeri Fabrik
- Silver: Fireworks Spectaculars Canada
- Bronze: Brézac Artifices
with the small possibility that Brézac Artifices may be pipped to the post by Macedo’s or, conversely, robbing FSC of the silver. I would be very surprised if Göteborgs Fyrverkeri Fabrik do not win the gold. I thought the same in 2005 and they didn’t even receive a Jupiter at all! Doubtful this year though as in 2005 there were six companies that deserved to be on the podium.
We will know the final result shortly!