So
Jubilee Fireworks won its second Gold Jupiter, a perfect score for this British company who competed in Montreal for the second time.
Féérie and
Macedo’s Pirotécnia, both participants for the third time, achieved their first Montreal podium. Although I had favoured the Polish display, I was not very surprised that Surex missed the podium. I had predicted that the three winners would be the last participants (while I expected a reverse order for Féérie and Macedo’s Pirotécnia). I was much more surprised, and disappointed, to learn that Surex also missed the Best Soundtrack Award as theirs was, in my view, much more elaborated than the one of Innovative Pyrotechnick.
I already wrote that the “
Public Choice Award” was meaningless. There are a couple of reasons for that judgment. First, it doesn’t make sense to my eyes to add a “public choice” prize because the Jupiters are awarded by a popular jury, so it is a sort of duplication. Second, we don’t know who vote because the voting system is available through the Internet to everyone. It allows to people who didn’t see a show to cast a ballot. It is also well-known that such techniques allow to demonstration of support for more organized communities. I do not claim that it is the case, but there’s potential for this kind of manipulation. Third, this year, it was even possible to vote for shows which haven’t happened : as soon as the system went online, the full slate of contestants was available to vote for.
I address this issue because I believe it is bad to allow a contestant to claim that it wins a “Public Choice Award” in Montreal competition, given the aforementioned arguments. Furthermore, to award a such prize to a contestant who didn’t even make the podium is an illustration that a such procedure doesn’t make any sense. The best thing, in my opinion, is to not award a such prize and to find other, more creative ways to fullfil sponsors’ requirements.
The hour prior to the closing show has been an eventful one. First of all, a shower occurred, approximately between 9:00 and 9:30pm, as the cold air (about 19 Celsius degrees) and strong winds made that part of the night a bit less enjoyable than usual. The award ceremony, hosted by Michel Lacroix, began in these active weather conditions. Martyne Gagnon ironically began her speech with a reference to what was one of these “nice summer nights” that we often experience this season (which is especially rainy in Québec).
Then, it was announced that La Ronde will present, as part of its 50th anniversary, a special fireworks show on Sunday, September 3rd (see another thread,
here, for details as they become available). As I expected, commemorative plaques were awarded to Martyne Gagnon and Paul Csukassy who ended their 20th edition, respectively in the positions of competition director and technical director.
As Michel Lacroix moved to the anticipated part of the ceremony and introduced the “Green Achievement Award,” most lights on the floating stage extinguished, briefly distracting the master of ceremony! I thought that it might be part of the concept regarding environment protection (!) but it was not. So the ceremony continued with some minimalist lighting.
Whereas serene Vangelis’ musics typically plays immediately after the ceremony, a speaker appeared on the concrete base in the centre of the grandstands to entertain the audience. This concept began two years ago and used to be hosted by an anchor from an English-language radio station which sponsors the event. This year, that role was played by another person who was much more fluent in French, but she elicited less reactions from the audience.
At one point, she announced two winners of a special prize related to La Ronde 50th anniversairy by calling their seat numbers. A couple of minutes later, the lucky viewers appeared on the “stage” and were asked typical questions : their names (Carlos and Carla), their origins (Spain and Mexico) and previous experiences with the Montreal fireworks (they had seen fireworks from the other side of the river). Then, the host gave her microphone to Carlos and it quickly became obvious that the contest was a fake one, as he made a proposal to his girlfriend in front of the audience which warmly applaused.
Less than one minute after this entertaining event, at 9:55pm, Michel Lacroix read the following statement, first in French, than in English, in memory of
Robert Burch who passed away in January 2017: “
La Ronde is honored to pay tribute to Robert Burch, our official photographer who passionately covered the competition from 1985 until 2016. Bob will light up the sky of Montreal one final time this evening. Thank you for everything.” Then, 8 or 9 shells flew and burst into twinkling white stars. While most of the audience sounded pretty inattentive, I found the moment very touching. Early in the evening, some white flowers had been dropped where Bob used to sit to capture the shows.
Now, I am looking forward to get more information about the 2018 edition!
Fred
