1.) Gold Argentina
2.) Silver USA
3.) Bronze Canada

Hey guys!

I just got back from the final show of the year.

Anyways, I was surprised with the results, well, most of them!

Jeeze, I never would have guessed Canada to get in there! But I'm happy for them! Go Canada!!!

I had U.S.A and Argentina in the wrong place in my predictions, though! Paul, you were right about U.S.A in second! But, what happened to Sweden??? I think we all agreed on them for first. I was very surprised when I heard the announcement! Well, as I said, we should expect the unexpected. You wouldn't believe how nervous and excited I was! A truly remarkable way to end the competition and the results are sort of what we expected, though Sweden did not make it.

The show, in general was quite exciting, though I felt the beginning was better than the ending! The smoke was also at times a slight problem because of the lack of wind. This is why I worried about the wind speeds this evening. How ironic that last year's Panzera was the same deal, though barely anything could be seen then. I was sort of disappointed with the end, though, but still intense. I actually thought that it was the faux finale and they would use those EXTREMELY LOUD SALUTES that we heard sometime after the beginning. I was looking at the clock and it was 10:30 already and there wasn't anything big, but it just blasted off after that, but not to my expectations. However, the feeling of the end was there!

You know, before I left, and got back to the parking lot, I felt sad. I said good bye to the bridge, La Ronde, the crowd, the usual people, De Lorimier and Notre-Dame and whole environment. I then said "See you in 10 months....." I actually sheded a tear. It's embarassing to say that, but I always get emotional at the end of the competition. It's so hard to say good bye, especially after seing the competition for 16 years.

So......................................................What do we do for the next 10 months?

Best regards,

Trav.

Well, I have to say I'm a little bit dispointed, especially because of Sweden wasn't rewarded. In my opinion, there's two winners there who really deserved it... But how could you possibly say Canada was better than Sweden? All this time, I thought the judges always made the best decision. But now, I understand even more that everyone has different tastes! Well, I guess in general the decision was OK, but I was surprised!

Anyways, as for the display, as usual a "neutral" show from Panzera. Loved those salutes in the beginning (it should have been used in the very last seconds!!!!!!!!). And oh yeah, the finale was not as good as it used to be. Where were the salutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last time, I said to Smoke that Panzera should bring in different finales, but this one wasn't better.... But still, it was the 2nd best finale this year. Though, I wasn't shaking like during France's finale!

I just came from La Ronde... I have mixed feelings about the official results. On one hand, I am happy that the Argentinian team has been rewarded with the Gold Jupiter. This is a well-deserved prize for an almost perfect display. In my initial report about the Argentinian show, I started my text asking: "Is Fuegos Artificiales Jupiter a prophetic name?". Tonight, we have the answer. And it is a big "YES"! I have had the pleasure to congratulate the president of this Argentinian firm a couple of minutes after the closing ceremony. Thanks to Paul who introduced me to him.

On the other hand, I can't understand that the Swedish team was not on the podium. It was so clear for me and many other people that Argentinia and Sweden were the two best contestants... This is not only a shame: it is a tragedy. Seriously, we can't state that the USA and Canada were better than Sweden. I hope that the organizers will carefully analyse the notes written by each judges to understand the "rational" (I am not sure that it is possible to talk about some rationality!) underlying this verdict.

The Swedish team deserves a prize. It had won the first prize 2 or 3 years in a row at Cannes. This summer, it produced an excellent and very creative display in Montreal. Really, I do not understand...

I will write more tomorrow about the Panzera's closing show (which has unfortunately become a secondary issue tonight!). I am sure that we are going to debate about the official results for a time... And we have also to discuss about the assessment of this 21th Montreal International Fireworks Contest.

Fred

Hey Fred,

I truly agree with you. I had mixed feelings, as well. I wasn't surprised that Argentina won! But, I think the biggest surprises were that Canada picked up 3rd where Sweden did not get anything! I thought that this display had one of the best attempts at choreography and excellent use of effects and color. not to mention the unique design of the show, that was so well integrated to the overall display that I, too, am very surprised.

As you said, it is a tragedy and I still can't believe the results. My predictions were as follows. You wouldn't believe how close I was.

1-Sweden
2-Argentina
3-U.S.A

The offical results were almost like this, except, if I had shifted both Argentina and U.S.A 1 up each, I would have been right. But I was so sure that Sweden was a contender. It doesn't make sense. That's why I put Argentina and the U.S in 2nd and 3rd respectively, because Sweden was going to be first, in my mind.

And yes, I'm sure there will be tons of arguments about this. No doubt!

As I was telling Enkil, there should still be a Special Jupiter!

Trav.

Hi Guys,

Here's a few words from the Swedish team....

First of all, thanks for your support. We were really glad you liked our show.

At first, we were not entirely satisfied with the show for various reasons, involving rain damage, bad connections, smoke, wind direction etc.
We thought we could not bring quite the experience to the spectators that I had envisioned.

Still, many parts of the show were good under the circumstances, and after reading your posts and rankings we were getting more and more confident we were getting a jupiter. So, of course it was disappointing not to go to the ceremony...

But it was a great experience to come to Montreal and do a show. All our crew enjoyed the whole trip a lot. Big thanks also to La Ronde and their crew who helped a lot to make it so enjoyable !

So, we want to come back in due time to make another try. Any advise from you guys would be helpful. We will probably never get to know the actual scores, and I'm sure you jury members on the forum have your lips tightly sealed. But maybe you could tell us something in very general terms, what you think we could improve, what criteria we must consider more next time and so on..?

Thanks again for all kind words about our show - and hope to see you in Montreal i the future!

Martin Hildeberg
Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik AB
Sweden

Bonjour les passionnés,

ALÉA JACTA EST. Le sort en est jeté. J'avais choisi dans l'ordre L'Argentine , les Etats-Unis et le Portugal mais le jury 2005 a opté pour la firme BEM du Canada.
Ma réussite est donc de deux sur trois. Comme membre du jury en 99 et 03 j'avais aussi eu la note de deux bons choix sur trois.
Cette année au moins trois firmes avaient misé sur la créativité et l'originalité entre autre la Suède ,le Portugal et la France.
En fait nous réalisons par la décision du jury qu'il en faut plus que cela.
Si on y regarde de près les trois pays gagnants ont offert au public
des feux traditionnels en y insérant des éléments de créativité et d'originalité.L'Argentine a atteint ce but mieux que les deux autres en nous servant un spectacle équilibré de très grande qualité.Il est évident que peu de gens étaient prêts à des changements majeurs dans la facon de concevoir un spectacle pyrotechnique.
Voilà donc la réponse à la question que tu te posais Paul quant à la réaction du jury.
J'avais chosi le Portugal malgré quelques séquences moins bien réussies, à cause de leur audace à sortir des sentiers battus pour nous présenter le met pyromusical d'une autre facon.
Je crois maintenant qu'ils auraient garder la recette gagnante de 2002 en y ajoutant plus d'éléments originaux et créatifs.
En tant qu'ex membre du jury je félicite ceux de 2005 pour leur beau travail qui je le sais bien n'a pas été facile tellement les participants étaient de qualité.Comme en 2003 dans un contexte identique il y aura des critiques mais pour ce qui me concerne malgré mon désaccord sur le choix de BEM je suis solidaire de vos choix.
Merci à Martine Gagnon et à toute son équipe pour nous avoir présenté encore des spectacles de haut niveau.
Merci à toi Paul de nous permettre de s'exprimer sur ton site .
L'autre soir j'ai eu le plaisir de jaser avec Fred sur les résultats de la compétition. Il avait amené ses notes, les prédictions de tout le monde etc...Voilà un vrai addict de l'art pyrotechnique.
Un de ces jours j'aimerais bien voir les autres comme Enkil , Smoke etc..au hasard d'une rencontre sur le site.
Samedi prochain je vais à Québec pour le feu de Parente d'Italie .

Merci à tout le monde de m,avoir lu.

Roger

P"S Il est très beau ton chandail de Royal Pyrotechnie hi hi

Dear Mr. Hildeberg,

As a member of the 2005 jury, let me say that I completely enjoyed your display. However, there were many misfires, timing errors with roman candles (not synchro wise), height distribution was not always equal, the girandolas's were flying everywhere, ...ect. I'm not saying more since I going to write my entire notes! However, the synchron was almost perfect. The segment with the dancing fountains (cross-shaped) almost knocked me out of my seat! The final was great but more salutes could have been used to end the show. The music slection was incredible, I was dancing in my seat. As a general rule, the montreal public does not generally appreciate narration, unless it is perfectly done. Otherwise, it destroys the momentum and could ruin a great introduction. Please don't be offended by my comments since they could be used to improve any firms display. Let me just say that montrealers are rather fussy about pyrotechnic displays!

Now the presence of Canada on the podium is a discussion of it's own...

Wishing you and your team all the best,
Dan

Hi guys,

The season is already over I just can't believe that one month and a half has already passed. Not so long ago, we were all waiting impatiently for this new season (2005) to start, and now it is all over! I DO understand you Trav. Every year, I feel SO sad, as I watch the last display.....and right after the finale, I turn around and head back towards Montreal on the Jacques-Cartier bridge, feeling deep emptyness and sadness. You must not feel embarassed saying that you shed a tear after the final display. It is only normal to feel this way, when something you love so much, ends! Just think that the next 10 months and a half will go much faster than you think I am already thinking of the time when we will get the list of the countries who will participate in the 2006 season.....hoping that Italy's IPON SRL will be there.....God, how I wish!!!

As for the final results of this year's competition, I was very surprised. I did not expect Argentina to win at all, as I did not really enjoy their display as much as I did other ones. I am no pyrotechnic professional though. Seeing the USA win the silver is no surprise though, as they had a wonderful display, not to mention a great finale! Although Canada is my favorite country in the world, I remain impartial and say that Sweden and France did better overall......so I was surprised and disappointed that neither one of them got on the podium.

Finally, my personal choice for best display for this year's competition, goes like this:

1. Sweden (Gold)
2. France (Silver)
3. USA (Bronze)

In case you are curious, I put Canada in fourth place just missing the podium Oh well, there's always next year!

I think that this was a good year for firework competition again. The only thing that I am disappointed about, is the large number of finales that lacked intensity and length this year. Only 4 finales out of 10 were really exciting, and that includes the show by La Ronde. If I put that aside, I think that we are pretty fortunate in Montreal, to be able to experience this international competition every year.

As a final note, I will put all of my recordings on dvd and send those finales that I have recorded this year, to Paul. This way, you will all be able to see them once again

Have a great week guys!

Pierre

Hola a todos!

Para mí estuvo muy bien reconocido el premio para la Argentina porque fué el mejor!!!

Missile

don't worry, don't listening to us we are a bunch of ignorants

It is now the time for a general assessment about this 21th Montreal International Fireworks Competition.

I understand that some people are disappointed for certain poor finales or anti-climactic starts, but I have found this edition very interesting. We have seen many innovative displays. I have appreciated the experiments with human performers in three shows (France, Argentina and Portugal). I believe that Grupo Luso Pirotecnia has an interesting idea with the shadows and adding some pyrotechnic elements during this sequence would have created a perfect segment. In this show, I also enjoyed the giant "pyrodome" and rotative nautical fountains.

About the lake, we have seen nautical effects in all displays but the Spanish one. I believe that 2005 is the year with most nautical effects! An interesting trend since a couple of years is that the contestants maximize the benefits from La Ronde layout. For instance, it is now common to see a fifth ramp on the lake. The next step can be more effects along the third dimension, that is, by using the depth of the firing site. There is a large distance between the first and the fifth firing ramps and I am sure that it would be possible to design amazing sequences along this dimension.

I strongly believe that this international competition is the place for innovative and creative displays. Unfortunately, the jury has rewarded more conservative shows this year. Two days after the final verdict and despite the explanations of PyroDan, I can't understand why the Swedish team did not receive a prize... It is not just me, since so many people were agree to reward Sweden for their fantastic display. I begin to consider a research project to achieve a better understanding of the judges’ decisions in the framework of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition. I will keep you informed about it.

On the technic side, we have not experienced any major failure this year: no delay to start the shows, no long blackout... Congratulation to Paul Csukassy and his team of pyrotechnicians from La Ronde! We should also recognize Martyne Gagnon's work. These two people are the heart of this event and I am sure that they have to work hard throughout the year for these fantastic 10 nights!

This year, La Ronde has given to former judges of 2003 and 2004 an opportunity to buy tickets for all displays at an affordable price. I really appreciated that. I did not have to stand for a long time before each display to be sure to have a good spot. Moreover, this allowed to bring with me friends and relatives who would not have enjoyed the fireworks otherwise. Since the terraces are not full for each display (in the Silver section, I saw many empty seats each time but for the closing show), this kind of special package should be offered to more people, for instance to all season pass holders.

Furthermore, it was a great pleasure to meet many interesting people throughout the competition, like former judges (comme Roger – merci pour tes bons mots… C’était aussi très agréable de jaser avec toi le soir de la clôture et j’espère te revoir l’an prochain), some pyrotechnicians and, of course, the webmaster of Montreal Fireworks, Paul Marriott. He is a very sympathic guy, really passionate for fireworks and I appreciated to talk with him. We are very fortunate to have this website to discuss with other fanatics and some professionnals, and to share our passion for the fireworks.

Frédérick

I think there is something most people here will agree on; it's that we all disagree with the Judges decision regarding Canada's final results in this year's competition.

When I learnt the news, my first reaction was one of disbelief. I have seen most of the shows and BEM was towards the last position in my personnal ranking, as seems to be the case with most posters here.

I am trying very hard to understand the judges decision but I can't. Nothing new was done in this show, as opposed to France's show, Portugal's show, etc... It was a very, very traditionnal show with nothing exceptionnal at all.

My worries are that poor judging might lower the prestige of Montreal as the top fireworks competition in the world. If the contestants start to think that you must shoot a "safe" show to win here, then we might see less companies use Montreal as a laboratory to push the limits of Pyro design.

Altough they had their weaknesses, I think it's a shame to see shows from Sweden, France and Portugal being beat by what was, IMHO, a very safe and traditionnal show.

They should have Paul Marriott head the jury next year!

Hello PyroDan,

Thanks for your advice. I am not offended at all by your comments!
Here' my further comments:

I am aware of the errors, such as rain damage to cakes and one shots, and some by cues connected to the wrong channel... We are not used to see so many errors, but the massive rain fall, and the working conditions it caused, made them possible in this (for us anyway) very large show.

As for the narration, I would gladly have skipped it. But for our theme I think it was necessary to build the story. Just the music would'nt have made the theme comprehensible. This brings me to a question we disucssed a lot before we designed the show - just how important is the theme? Is it better to skip narration even though the theme will be less comprehensible? What's your opinion?

Salutes: In fact we had a bunch of salutes and multibreak salutes lined up for the finale that did not fire. One firing module had a bad day it seems....

I hope everyone understands that I am not writing here to criticise the jury or anyonbe else. I have not seen the three jupiter winning displays so I don't really have an opinion of which one was the best!

Regards,


Martin Hildeberg

Missile,

"how important is the theme? Is it better to skip narration even though the theme will be less comprehensible?"

I'd like to give you my opinion about this.
*I am no professional, just an amateur .*

I think the theme is a very important aspect of a display, A lot of firms, I don't know why, but they often don't take it seriously. A good theme really adds originality to the display, for me.

As for the narration, a lot of people hate it. However, when it comes to intelligent and short narration, it is always acceptable to me, that is. In your display, it was.

There was a real connection between your theme and your narration and that made the show more enjoyable.

Believe me, your display was, for me, excellent!