Just got back from an incredible display!!! It was definitely a display to remember!

Smoke says: VERY VERY VERY NICELY DONE!!!!! Killer intense throughout the entire display and an ultimate insane finale! And such a colourful, rapid, long, bright and LOUD finale! I'm not sure how long it was, but I'm sure it was close to 2 minutes! Really! During that time, like IPON, I was cheering so loudly and going crazy! Just kept yelling "MORE!!! KEEP GOING!"

Some parts of the display felt like an ending, themselves! Also, there were definitely some nice effects used! I loved those hearts and especially those scatter shots and, of course, that nice colour change in the middle of the display!

Some of those salutes were chest thumping! In fact, I think all of them were like that!

One of the best finales I've ever seen in a long time! I think it was even more intense and longer than Italy's!

BTW, I did see people turn away in the end because they thought it was over! I knew it wasn't because the ferris wheel didn't come on yet. You should've seen how they rushed back to see the finale!

Another thing I wanted to mention. This is probably just where I watch, but there seemed to be a lot of smoke build up. It was probably different at La Ronde, though. If you looked carefully at the bridge, it looked like it was blanketed in smoke and it lokked like it was taking a while for the smoke to clear the site! Like I said, it could be different, depending where you watch and the angle, as well.

Anyways, I'll have more comments tomorrow! So far, all I have to say is that Caballer and IPON are way up there! I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's going to be tough for the judges!

Just of opinion....which finale did you guys like better, Spain's or Italy's? It's really hard to say! Also, what do you think of both displays in general? And tell me of whether you saw a lot of smoke. Oh yes, for people who were on De Lorimier and Notre-Dame, did you see how many people turned away after they thought the display was truly over?

Post your reviews here! Once again, a fantastic display!

SPAIN RULES!!!!

Regards,

Trav.

Smoke, the somke was a bit of a problem, especially where we stood, but it came out ok (for us), i think the ppl from La Ronde had a great view

anyways, this display was simply a blast, it was longer filled with surprises

i havent seen in a long time a display that i call "a complete package)

its important to mention, how much time they took time in the begining, with the dad and the girl talking, i thought all those waisted time was going for the final, and then those huge HUGE blasts durning the display, then i thought we wont see a huge final, but hell, i was wrong, it wasnt only a final, but a surprise final added

the synchronization was great throught out, my criticism would be: a slow begining, there was to much talking

as for the crazy final, again they fooled the public, well, my family and every one were closing the chairs and taking their stuff, while i was still sitting and waiting, it is very distracting to see people leave, i feel like i want to slap them!!! (just kidding)

u will know when a show is finished, when Eric Daudelin starts to talk (on CITE 107.3)

i know many people, r trying to figure out whos the best so far, i say, its a very tight between Spain and Italy, but since Spain offered us the "full package" (i dont know how, but they did it) i think they can win so far

it was simply amazing, its one display i will not forget!

Came back from Spain's display. And I have to say... WHAT WAS THAT?! It was like a showcase of finales! Awesome! And Smoke, you're right about the finale. It was the best one, in my opinion, so far, especially because of the build up. I mean, during the entire show, there were 3 or 4 moments where the audience could have easily thought "Ok, that's it, it's over", since it was so intense. Caballer's team have reunited the perfect ingredients to please me.

First of all, I really have to say I loved the soundtrack and the whole concept. They managed to include oldies, one in English (Stranger in the Night) and one in French (Tous les visages de l'amour) by two legendary singers. SMART MOVE to include both languages. They added a latino song (Mais Que Nada), a contemporary song, and wonderful soundtracks from Star Wars and Schindler's List (which was the only "slow and peaceful" moment of the show). Yet, they successfully had a storyline to keep us in a unified timeline. PLUS, it was dedicated to the people who died in Madrid's terrorist attracks in March 2004, and Leandro, Vicente Caballer's gendre. It added an immense depth and a strong meaning to the display. Well done.

Some people might say the narration slowed the show down (narration is risky, most of the time), but for this show, I don't know. Except, maybe, for the beginning which was kinda slow, liek Enkil expressed. Most of the time, people expect to see some first shots right after the countdown because they get all excited to count. But other than that, it didn't feel like it was dragging. Actually, I liked it because it made the show seem longer, and we were clearly transported from one act to another, while not ever thinking "Ok, stop talking, we wanna see fireworks." Again, well done.

Oh and about the smoke, I was on Montreal's side and actually felt really bad for those people on the bridge. I never watched a display from there, but the bridge was wrapped in smoke just about 2 minutes into the show. From where I was standing, smoke did hide part of the display, but not to a point where I couldn't see anything. So for me, it wasn't a big problem.

Anyway, it seems Paul's information about the display set-up gave us a hint about what was in store tonight. He was right, it WAS huge. I would be really interested to know how many shells were used there. And the use of candles and lower level fireworks was impressive.

For most people though, what they will remember from it were the numerous faux finales. Especially towards the end. That's what I call a truly real intensity build up. The most obvious one started with Duel of the Fates with about 30 seconds of non-stop shells (that sequence alone was even more intense than some of the real finales in the past years of competition! I'd say). Then immediately followed by Rejoyce (which is also know as Reflections of Earth, the fireworks show taking place at Epcot in Walt Disney World). Again, that finale could have been THE finale as people cheered even more and some even started to head home! And like that wasn't enough, there was still the last part to come! And THAT was the finale.

Smoke, from my point of view, the entire last song was a finale in itself. It never stopped! So I think it was more than 3 minutes. Really, for 3 minutes there, it never stopped being noisy and colorful. Caballer will be HARD to beat in terms of finale DURATION and SCALE. Spain was way over the top. I loved Italy's finale, but I have to admit that personnally, tonight's display deserved my own personal star (of course, just for now, the competition is not over yet).

In short, everything from theme, to music, to synchronisation, to intensity, was right on the money. They stole my heart. It was the most rewarding display ever. And it was hard not to be excited. I've read the press release with the soundtrack, so I knew in advance that Robbie Williams's song would be used as the last song. Imagine how I felt after all those intense "faux finales", when the last song was going to start... I didn't know how it was possible! "Can they really keep shooting after all that?!?" I've never anticipated much in the past, and was surprised tonight at how excited I got during the last 3 minutes. It was a feel good, in your face, show.

Now my chest hurts so much!!! (No I'm kidding, but I just felt the explosions were really loud, I mean, scary loud! Don't you think?)

There is one thing I can say with some confidence. I've been waiting to see how two Spanish team would compete, and now that they are both done, I'll give my opinion on that. Between Igual and Caballer, I have to choose Caballer. I feel that within the ranks of a 20th anniversary competition, Caballer would be more likely to win. Very hard to say what the judges will think though, and I can't imagine how they will manage to pick just one winner.


Ok. Now I have a good and a bad news.
The good news is you'll see small excerpts of today's display on video as soon as I'm done editing them. Now DON'T get too excited. I only had a digital camera available, which is not a camcorder. So the quality is rather poor, but it does have sound. BUT the bad news is that the finale part is scrapped. Batteries went out. I CANNOT believe my camera did this to me. The one time I decide to bring it to the fireworks, it shuts off during the finale. It's little of a bummer, but it's better than nothing I say.

I did record parts from Duel of the Fates, Rejoyce and the beginning of the finale. So they were my three favorite parts. I'm happy with that.

I'll post that on the internet as soon as I can. I assure you it'll be better and longer than what you'll find on Mondial SAQ's website. I just hope they release the finale I wasn't able to capture, then we'll have everything!

Ok nite nite!

thats very kewl badnitrus! Lars said he would record and post some too

i hope u have a website that u can post on, if u dont let me know, Paul was also concidering posting on this site

my family wants to buy a video recorder, but it prolly wont be a DVD recorder, dunno

i wish i could record as much as displays i could, that would so kewl, as much as i would want to do that, i cant becuz it would distract me, oh well, ill pressure someone to do it

Smoke, i made a very simple map to show u where i stood tonight

http://www.geocities.com/mondialsaq/untitled1.gif

the traffic lights r not placed correctly, but do u think u could kind of show me where u stand

next wednesday (it the rain threat goes away) ill have to watch from the bridge , cuz my mom wants my aunt to see it from the bridge, but i will try to draw a bit the area it show it better, ill be on the bridge so i might see it clear

I have guests so my report and review will be delayed until 2pm this afternoon.

Paul.

badnitrus and Enkil,

Well, I have more comments on the display! I could've put more on the display, but I was feeling sleepy.

Anyways, I totally agree with you, badnitrus. A good portion of the display was like a series of faux finales, which I really haven't seen in a long time! The Spanish really gave us something to remember, last night!

If you guys read Paul's topic in the section called "Caballer will be Huge," you'll see that he wasn't joking! I know what he meant by "Huge," however I didn't think it would be that big!

The finale was beyond my imagination could possibly comprehend and the fact that it was so good! I've never thought it would be so long and intense and big! Actually, after giving it some serious thought, I think that ending was the best so far. I know IPON's was long, but this felt LONGER, and also the fact that they kept going! It literally felt well above 2 minutes. All of hell was breaking lose in the end. I wasn't even paying attention to the time and therefore, there were times when I thought it was the real ending, because there were some segements near the end where it felt like the ending.

Just plain and simple, the ending was godly, it was an infinite ending and to think that they had so much set up, that there were pieces of mini finales ALL OVER THE PLACE! I also agree with you, it will be tough to beat that kind of display, especially ending wise!

Actually, it will be also hard to beat them in terms of intensity, too! I have to say that last night's show was totally impressive. It was something definitely not to miss. I would've felt bad for people who missed THAT!

The entire display also had some really nice special effects, especially those double ascension girandolas, I think that's what they're called. As I said before, it was also nice to see some of those heart shells and especially some very very dramatic colour changes in some segemnts. One of my personal favourites, is the soundtrack, "Stranger in The Night." Although synchronization was
pretty much flawless, this segment really showed it. Also, the music, in general, was good and it went very well with the fireworks. I also like when the music is fast paced, which was the case most of the time, because it makes it the fireworks go at a faster pace!

Another comment was the use of the coulour. A LOT of colour was used in this display and also very dramatic changes at times. This also made the ending enjoyable!

As for the smoke, I guess you guys experienced it, as well. It really covered up the bridge with smoke! I did also feel sorry for people constantly inhaling that! And yes, I guess I was right. There was a lot of smoke. I'm still thinking that it was weather-related, in a way. I don't know if it was the humidity, although I don't think that factor was present last night. There's a good chance that it was probably the lack of wind. But yes, it was a lot of smoke! i agree with all of your comments.

Recording such a display would have been nice! Perhaps you could post it on the forum. Like you say, your camera couldn't have picked a better time to lose battery power! It's only normal that something should happen!

And Enkil, I will try to show you where I stood last night, although I can really tell you that you were close to where I was! I guess we can agree with each other since we were almost on the same viewing area. So I guess you saw the same thing I did. BTW, did you like the view? And did you see the bottom ones well? I did!

Finally, I was literally shaking before the ending came because I had a feeling it would be a killer finale! Of course, I also thought that they would try to fool the public by waiting until they leave! Typical.

I've got no complaints! It was flawless! It really was dedicated to people that died in the terrorist attacks in Madrid. And you can see how powerful they dedicated their show to that perspective and occasion! A strong reason for the strenght of their performance last night. It was also a true honor for them to show that nothing can break their spirit and the fact that their dispaly still shows that Spain is still stronger than ever and nothing can overcome their powerful determination! This is also what I felt what the intensity of this display was, symbolically. I'm also happy for them, in this context.

Best regards,

Trav.

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone and say that I was somewhat disappointed with this display. Whilst most of it was really excellent, there were undeniable technical problems which
were manifested as less than perfect synchronization in a couple of spots, missing sections on ramps 3 and 5 and the wrong things fired in the wrong places a couple of times. Plus I'm sure there were things which were just not fired at all. After seeing the setup and then seeing the display, I'm afraid that we really didn't get to see everything that we should have. This is very sad since, if everything had worked correctly, this display would really be in with a chance.

Personally, I found some of the narrative sections just too long and they, for me, broke the display up into a series of vignettes, rather than an integrated whole. The theme was very good, but these pauses I found were just too much for my tastes. The faux and real finales were good, but there was just something missing in the Rejoyce (faux finale) and the synchronization was just that bit off that I was disappointed.

After speaking to some pyrotechnicians afterwards, it seems that the problems may have been to the sheer scale and complexity of the display, particularly the massive setup on ramp 3. Very unfortunate since if everything had gone as planned, I'm sure this would have been in with an excellent chance of winning.

Cheers,

Paul.

Paul, i agree the fact that they took alot of time with the narration thing

i guess for u to know that there were problems and it could have been better, its ok to feel disappointed

althro, i didnt notice anything

its interessing to know that it could have been better, but i think until now it was the most original and the best

do u think the judge will take technical problems seriously?

Yes, they will have to take the technical problems seriously.

They were quite apparent for the people at La Ronde. Don't get me wrong, the problems were quite small, but the level of competition is so high this year that everything really has to be perfect. Even IPON had some technical problems, but they were lucky because their problems didn't affect the symettry of their display.

Paul.

Wow, well, I didn't notice the problems because I'm far from being an expert. Even though some people noticed these flaws, I think that display was the most crowd pleasing one for the general public, but that's only because of the scale. Of course, we expect now that the judges will take that into consideration (the flaws). But I'd say, it's sad to hear that because now I know it could have been better, which is sad for Spain...!

Paul, I wish that those technical problems weren't taken into consideration, but as you say, everything has to be perfect. I do agree with you and Enkil about the narration scenario and the fact that it had too much a pause between segments, but regardless of that, I have to be honest, the display itself was very well done and pretty intense all the way through. I didn't even have the slightest clue that there were signs of technical problems! It really felt that way.

Now, after watching the display, I thought that was #1, but unfortunately, it's really too bad that such a complex, intense and amazing display took such a serious disadvantage. I really feel bad about that. It's really too bad that something like that happened.

It might of still had the chance if there wasn't such a high level of competition this year.

All this time I was saying that Caballer is the impossible to beat! Oh well.... Darn...if it wasn't for that, it would've been flawless!

Plus, that was such a wonderful ending, not to mention the entire display! It really was huge. I think that was the best ending, so far, though! It was a real long lasting and an intense one! Did you know how long it lasted? Anyways, just by watching their display, it looked definitely huge! It was one of the best displays I've ever seen, despite the technical problems!

BTW, Paul, did you notice the smoke build up? Was this weather related?

Ah...the sorrow...Well, I'm still rooting for IPON!

Trav.

I have to agree with Paul. Having seeing this show I was deceived.
I found the narration to be too long and too frequent. There quite a few moments where shells were placed incorrectly to the music. I think Paul would remeber the violin piece where there were comets and at stage left they had comets with reports going off and 3 or 4 large shells going off in the center stage. To me that was to aggresive for that piece of music. Also spain had too many bad synchros where shells where just not there. In all i found this show to be rather dissapointing.
Also I found quite alot of repetitous fixed pieces of the candles, where there should have been a better placemnet of the candles. For example too mant fan racks in a Arc instead of breaking up into angled left or right or one shot sequences, just to name a few.

The crowd may have liked it, but anyone who just sees fireworks lighting up the sky with no emotion to the music may as well just watch the show from the bridge instead of paying the ticket price.

It's really too bad things turned out the way they did, especially to such a good display.

I also agree about the fact that the narration was a little too long and was very distracting. I never liked narration much, anyways.

Anther thing I've noticed was some synchronazation flaws in some spots, although I said it was a good in some spots in my previous posts. I did notice that at times, the fireworks went on while the music stopped.

Despite all this, I still enjoyed the display to the fullest. It's too bad it wasn't a big success, though. It was such a good diplay! And to think it would have been bigger, if it wasn't for the technical problems!

Regards,

Trav.

...just another confirm of the statement that the technical problems unfortunately were pretty apparant.

And it's a pitty because it is a lot of nice work for the Pyros who's lost...

Anyway - in my oppinion the finale was good but i had expected some more material in the first half of the show. I also think some of the music were pretty similar and the narrations were pretty disturbing for me because i don't understand french
Since i`m a visitor i am not to comment on that point...

As Paul mentioned one could expect more use of one-shots in fast sequenses like in the finale of the Valencia show at the Symposium this spring. This was might due to the mentioned technical problems. Still we were served the large silver-fan sequense though, which was difficult to overlook

Overall - impressiv material, fantastic colours, some of the best multibreaks and 12-inch shells i have seen and not least a good finale. But still not as good an overall impression as Feux Royal`s unique winner-show last year. It was more a "complete show" with a red line from start to end and it is my impression they used as much material as Caballer...

Anyway - this is not critisism. I was still shaking after the show and thought to myself "wonderfull to be back"

Lars