Michel Lacroix, energetically introduced by the (presumably) pre-recorded voice of competition director Martyne Gagnon, was back, as well as the large floating stage, for the award ceremony of the 32th edition of the competition. This event is always an opportunity for some corporate speeches from sponsors and official representatives, which included Ms. Lucie Lamoureux, Loto-Québec director of sponsorship and social engagement. Many of us have been surprised to hear acknowledgment to “Loto-Québec de nous permettre d’être encore commanditaire de cette magnifique aventure que sont les grands feux de l’International Loto-Québec” from herself. We are our own best advocates, as the saying goes!
Many readers of this forum knows Bob Burch’s famous videos and photographs of the fireworks displays. His dedication to the event has been acknowledged by the competition director. Martyne Gagnon said :
Permettez-moi de remercier tout spécialement notre photographe officiel de l’événement. Please allow me to extend our special thanks to Robert Burch, the official photographer of the event since its beginning in 1985. Félicitations Robert pour ces 32 éditions d’émerveillement ! Congratulations, Robert!
A commemorative plaque and a gift have been awarded to Bob at the Salon des artificiers, during the aftershow celebration. Ms. Gagnon also celebrated long-time contribution of some members of La Ronde team : François Léger, senior pyrotechnician (30 years), Mathieu Cléroux, team leader (22 years), Annick Nantel (stage manager, 21 years) and François-Philippe Martel-Léger, pyrotechnician (20 years).
The organizers of the event have decided to reward the Chilean recruit, Pirotecnia SPA, with the Green Achievement Award and the Best Soundtrack Award. I dont’t know what the rationale is for the former but, regarding the latter, I can imagine how much work has been required to craft this soundtrack, which included almost 100 segments from 37 titles. That prize is especially well-deserved this year as many other contestants have used soundtrack with modest numbers of titles and made short interruptions between each part instead of fine-tuned mixing.
The jury’s decision perfectly fits with the collective choice made by participants to this forum. While I suspect a very tight race between the Spanish and Swedish teams for the highest position of the podium, I believe that each of these awards is well-deserved (although, I would have been equally satisfied with the reverse result for Gold and Silver Jupiter).
In my
review of Ricasa’s display, I emphasized what I qualified as an “ambitious claim” the narrative heard immediately before the now famous piano segment: “
Je vais me battre pour mon destin, pour ma liberté, pour mes rêves. Je vais lutter pour moi-même. Que personne ne m’arrête parce que je vais atteindre les sommets!” While this claim may be related to Tchaikovsky’s story as he composed his
Piano Concerto No 1, I also hypothesized that it may be a statement from the fireworks designer himself. I refer the readers to Paul’s great analysis which put the Ricasa’s show into a broader perspective (
click here ). I think it is obvious that Ricardo Caballer reached his goal and new heights. Exactly when the Silver Jupiter was awarded, photograph
Benoît Leroux managed to capture Ricardo Caballer’s reaction as he understood that he wins the Gold Jupiter!
That brings the 2016 season to a close.
Fred
