It is interesting to note that the 2024 podium brings together three winning shows with relatively different artistic orientations from each other.
Arteventia is the third French company to win a Gold Jupiter (after Société Étienne-Lacroix in 1985 and 1990, and Lacroix-Ruggieri in 2002).
With the Bronze Jupiter won by the Omagari Hanabi consortium, this is the first appearance of a Japanese competitor on the Montreal podium since Marutamaya in 1994 (also bronze).
I was not surprised at all by the outcome of the 2024 competition regarding the Gold and Silver Jupiter. The performance of Arteventia led to a strong consensus among those I have discussed with, forum members, and other people I have read opinions on the social media. Fireworks Spectaculars Canada was also a strong contender for a Jupiter. While in the third position of my personal ranking, I had specified that it was very tight with my second choice (Italian team).
As I wrote with my predictions (in this
thread ), I had heard from many attendants that Japan was among their “top 3.” For example, as soon as La Rosa (the second contestant) ended its show, seasoned forum member BobFF, who sat next to me, said that he had preferred the Omagari Hanabi consortium’s show. My argument was that although the quality of the pyrotechnic material was the best, other criteria also matter and the Japanese team was less competitive in relation to these. I thought especially about the quality of the soundtrack and the technical design which was less sophisticated and suffered of a lack of density.
Due to the number of “top 3” comprising Japan among those I saw on social media (including many people whose opinions I value), I rewatched that show the day before the award ceremony. It is likely that I had underestimated the quality of the pyromusical design (e.g., the sequences on Disney movies with the many characters) and its synchronization, and I may have stressed too much on the lack of density, which was mainly concentrated in the portion with Céline Dion’s
My heart will go on. Furthermore, the Silver and Bronze positions were more “open” this year as we have not seen “outliers” which are easier to rank.
Paul had issued “big show alerts” (!) for all these shows, and the Italian one. My guess is that La Rosa was probably not far behind, but we will never know.
Fred