Hi everyone,

Please post your reviews and/or comments for the Canadian display here!

Trav.

Here are some of my notes about Canada.

I liked :
- "Color to dark to color" peonies were nice and well synchronized.
- Ground effects on ramps 3, 4 and 5 were great.
- Interesting cakes / cake-slices.
- Good range of colors, though cyan and yellow were kind of forgotten.
- Rings with crossette shells were spectacular !
- Nice variety of nautical products.
- Ramp 5 use was well done. Though some effects were creating too much smoke.
- The two towers on ramp 2 left a 50-50 feeling. Effects were nice on a few occasions. A+ for creativity!

I noticed :
- Ramp 3 was really problematic throughout the whole show. From cake-slices to single-shots, it seemed that there was always something that did not work as planned, affecting synchronization and visual aspect of the show.
- Finale song and fireworks were very repetitive and too long. Fireworks intensity increased early at the beginning of the song and never stopped, except for a brief moment. Most of the shells used were similar and the last part, which was supposed to be the peak of the show, did not create the surprise and/or emotions it was supposed to.
- Products used during some quiet segments were too intense.
- Soundtrack didn't have that "epic" feeling overall. Some transitions felt strange. Mostly felt linear.

Personal thoughts
A great effort by the Canadian team. It was overall entertaining, fun and creative. I personally found that the theme "Epic Journey" was confusing. Most of the time, songs, rhythms and melodies felt more like it was related to "nature". Epic, the way I see it, involves a big giga coaster ride with dramatic emotions from super intense moments to very quiet and serene ones. Something that didn't happen during this show. Nevertheless, it was a strong performance by Canada and a podium is possible.

After 5 shows :
1) Italy
2) Mexico
3) Canada
4) Japan
5) Austria

Dan

Being the one and only competitor of the season with Gold Jupiter awards in its record of achievements, Fireworks Spectaculars Canada (FSC) was probably the most anticipated entrant. Personally, I was excited with the soundtrack which included scores from some of my favorite WDW attractions (Soarin’ and Flight of Passage), and with news about two elevated platforms being added to the setup. Then, this sunny Saturday turned out to be cloudy and a shower occured around 7 pm. On the basis of the radar, I expected rain to resume around 10:30 pm, and I was anxious that wind speed and direction cause smoke accumulation. My fears were justified. Nonetheless, I found this Epic Journey to be an excellent show which should make the Canadian team a serious contender for a Jupiter.

So far this year, this display certainly had the most complex technical design. From the Ferris wheel, I had seen a huge number of firing positions across all ramps, including many on the 4th ramp. Several mortars oriented towards the lake were a sign of numerous nautical pieces. Indeed, the lake came into life several times with the largest number, range, and size of nautical products, which I really appreciated. I also saw a large number of cakes and other apparent products at the top of each elevated platform. However, I was surprised not to spot any 360-degree devices, waterfall or other stuff that could hardly be used without these additional structures. In this sense, they have not been optimized and their impact was pretty limited during this extravaganza. Furthermore, the display suffered of some lack of geometrical cleanliness, as a small number of firing positions didn’t work properly. But these technical problems were probably less numerous than those experienced by steyrFire, and they didn’t impact the finale as they had for Lux Pirotecnia. Overall, the size, the density, and the complexity of this show were above the average this year.

I also found the soundtrack being one of the most complex and well-edited. The genre was very close to the one chosen for the awareded shows of FSC in 2010 and, with their partner Royal Pyrotechnie, in 2014, as well as with other Royal on-competition displays in 2003 and 2009. Many of these “atmospheric” musics evoke grandiose landscapes or adventures, including the opening and the closing musics from Brand X Music (a Burbank-based company which supplies scores for movies and television series). Even the well-known What a Wonderful World song was a different, more “epic” and inspiring version. That soundtrack was carefully edited, keeping the best of the selected items (often with their beginning and ending, some intermediate portions being removed) and making most transitions extremely fluid, so the show had very few pauses. I guess that La Rosa (thanks to its medleys) and FSC are currently the main contenders for the Best Soundtrack award (assuming this prize is still awarded).

While the smoke accumulation prevented me to distinguish some of the pyrotechnic effects (for example, on Migration End, there were small crackling mines and I could not see whether they were nautical, or not) and to get a comprehensive view of the richness of colours, I would say the Canadian team used a very good range of products. I noted some rare yellow “flashes” similar to flame effects on Soarin’, shells of double rings ending in crossettes on Party Party Party, as well as some well-synchronized “laser comets” on Horton Suite (those which extinguish very suddenly; not to be confused with laser beams). We also saw double-ascension girandolas for the first time this year, in addition to single-ascension ones. However, my perception is that color-changing pieces and multibreak shells were less numerous than in many others shows, and I felt some repetitions as well (especially with the many cakes, some types of shells with pistils and chrysanthemums).

Beyond the soundtrack composition, the theme Epic Journey was vague and its reflection into the pyromusical design was not so clear. I thought I detected some connections during particular segments. For example, on Flight of Passage, the attraction scene into a cave with bioluminscent flora was possibly reflected with purple and green flares along ramps 3, 4 and 5, the Pandorian “jellyfish” with single-ascension girandolas, the ikran (or banshee) beating of wings with V-shape sequences of comets, etc. But such connections are much less obvious now that I look at the video. On Soarin’, another Disney ride which I am familiar with, I could hardly detect any connection. However, the size and the pace of the fireworks have matched with the soundtrack throughout the performance, with many rhythmic variations. The ultimate segment was truly a finale, with a build-up from serene nautical white flares with note-synchronized comets, to a wider range of colours, to an accumulation of peony-style shells, then a climactic increase with cakes of stars ending in salutes and a barrage of nautical shells (though probably smaller and less numerous than in 2014).

Overall, the synchronization was excellent most of the time, including at the transition points of most items of the soundtrack. However, it was less obvious in specific parts, for instance on the music of Soarin’, and with the transition from You’re Welcome to Migration End where a continuous sequence of shells (probably chrysanthemums) has overlapped both segments.

My feeling at the end of the show was that I had attended the best one so far this season. However, following a pretty extensive analysis, based on each criterion and their respective weight, my overall assessment is that FSC, La Rosa and, to a lesser extent, Lux Pirotecnia are tight. Also, it is not very clear for me which was the best among the other two contestants, as steyrFire and Omagari Hanabi are also very close.

My personal ranking so far :

1. La Rosa S.R.L. (Italy) *very tight*
2. Fireworks Spectaculars Canada (Canada) *very tight*
3. Lux Pirotecnia (Mexico)
4. steyrFire Fireworks (Austria)
5. Omagari Hanabi (Japan)

Laser segments On What a Wonderful World, we certainly had the best laser segment this season, with the colors matching the lyrics and the overall movements reflecting the pace of the song. I assume that Lux Pirotecnia is not going to be penalized for its pyrotechnic products during the first laser segment as Fireworks Spectaculars Canada also lit up some fireworks devices simultaneously with the lasers, though less extensively than Lux. About 12 seconds before the end of the first laser part on Make Believe, between 30 and 40 fountains came into life across ramps 3, 4 and 5, with more pyros following the lasers. Later, the lasers started about 10 seconds before the end of the previous musical segment, then three large shells exploded at the very end of What a Wonderful World. It is not clear who is responsible for these overlaps.

Fred

My review of this most excellent display. http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=2382

It's very close at the top - the final display this coming Saturday has everything to play for!

Great drone footage of this display: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkgsKsvEJ40&t=14s

Paul

Weather conditions were largely ideal for the Canadian team. However, by the late-afternoon of the Canadian display day, a cold front encouraged scattered convective rainfall, and sparse non-severe thunderstorms among these (one appearing in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield). Following this light to moderate (even heavy) rainfall locally, humidification left the air quite moist, and winds adopted a light WNW flow (5-8 km/h). This caused a display-time temperature of 20 C, along with a Humidex of 27 C due to high humidity. Such a combination meant many periods of thick smoke accumulations directed often slowly at central and left-hand sections of the La Ronde audience. Some light rain was then observed at the final minutes of the display, making this the first display to observe some kind of rainfall during display time.

A truly well-delivered performance by team Canada. Indeed, I found myself frequently quite engaged during most segments, and the sequences throughout this display often never really featured any dull moments. That said, this display felt much grander from Notre-Dame Street because of much more limited interference from smoke accumulation – this was a somewhat similar experience during the Italian display. The finale was easily the best one for me so far this year, too, including a very convincing faux finale – it has actually become quite difficult over the years to eclipse a faux finale successfully during the actual finale in displays that use this approach. As such, this display, and the Philippines previously (and even more magnificently at the time), on July 21st, 2018, were exemplary outcomes.

Synchronization was very well executed and, for me, offered a higher level of complexity, as compared with what we had observed in most other displays this year and previous years. This may be also because of the extent of nautical products that were utilized in this display, and also their ability to highlight signature components of the music quite well whenever they appeared. The inclusion of such effects really, thus, added a very important dimension to this show that I think was missing in others. Nautical shells were particularly impressive. Among other shows, too, the laser segments were a little more enjoyable with the music in the Canadian one, much like what we saw with Austria.

A few negative points could be directed at the thematic connection. There were several soundtrack choices used that did not seem to always showcase and articulate the theme so clearly. As such, some selections appeared random and affected the tenacity of the transitions at times. In other moments, the sequences were a bit more simplistic in their design to represent songs, as compared to previous entries from Fireworks Spectaculars (notably in 2010 and 2014). To that end, it would have been more interesting to see a better interplay between effects to create a more complex overview of the songs and create more engaging moments. There were also some transitions that were less tidy, with fireworks to appear with continuity following the end of a given track. By contrast, there were tracks that exuded well the passion that the theme realistically commanded, and I really felt that degree of passion through both the pyrotechnics and the music itself. Then, those feelings would be lost through songs that were much less clear, even though the fireworks stayed with the correct level of energy. Other instances showed firing positions not igniting when they should have at low-level, affecting the symmetry of the display at several points.

Overall, this was a very good performance from the highly anticipated Canadian team, and I really enjoyed the energy that it brought to the audience. The creativity and complexity were very good and elevated the technical design, even though the conceptual framework surrounding the display was weaker through some of the selected songs. The faux and real finale were just incredible. My concern, though, is how much the smoke dimmed the richness of the colors, as well as the delivery of the effects from La Ronde’s vantage point at several important sections of the show, and so it is difficult to say the extent to which the judges will draw on this.

Trav.