Like last year, I wish to start by saying 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, weather permitting. Once again, this was an exceptional year with no notable technical problems. The only problem this year was the wind, delaying the start of the American display.
A special thank-you to my co-critics, two-time Jury member Frédérick Bastien and fellow bloggers and licenced pyrotechnicians, Mylène Salvas and Simon Turcotte-Langevin. Once again we were honoured to receive so many marvelous photographs from our esteemed photographs Bob Burch and Rachel Bilodeau. A final thanks to Mother Nature, who provided perfect summer weather for all of the displays I witnessed and who is forecast to provide such conditions for tomorrow’s closing show.
With full-length videos of all the competitors available on Bob Burch’s site it is somewhat redundant for me to describe the displays. At the end of the day, there were three displays that became obvious contenders for a Jupiter award, those from Morsani, Howard & Sons and Lacroix-Ruggieri. Three quite different displays, all excellent in their own right and with very different approaches to the design and soundtrack. I believe it will be this latter component which determines their place on the podium. For me, the Italian display of Morsani had a soundtrack that moved me more than the others and the display itself elicited more excitement and WOWs from me then the whole of the rest of the competition put together. This level of excitement is the key element in a fireworks display for me personally and so Morsani are the clear leaders in my heart.
So my final personal preference is
- Gold: Pirotecnia Morsani SRL
- Silver: Howard and Sons
- Bronze: Lacroix-Ruggieri
My predictions for the Jury are more difficult to arrive at as they have to finalize their scores after each display. I’m sure the Morsani display scored highly since it was so much better than the preceding competitors. The Howard and Sons display is hard to assess as the soundtrack was very unconventional, but the creativity used was very high. Finally, the theatrical performance form Lacroix-Ruggieri is bound to find resonance in the hearts and minds of the jurors and has the advantage of performing last. I have a hunch that this will be the final ranking:
- Gold: Howard and Sons
- Silver: Lacroix-Ruggieri
- Bronze: Pirotecnia Morsani SRL
I would be astounded if the above-named companies are not the ones awarded this year. There’s also a strong chance that Lacroix-Ruggieri will win the Gold Jupiter, too.
We will know the final result shortly!