Hey guys,
An excellent start to the 2006 fireworks competition season in addition to some fabulous and attractive Summer weather along with plenty of humidity and just the right amount of wind to clear the smoke, which I thought would be a small dilemma due to the excess of stagnant moisture. Thankfully enough, we had an incredible amount of people for our impeccable starting audience because of these glorious weather conditions. Though the forecast had been speculating scattered isolated thunderstorms throughout the day, we ended up having a nice clearing for the late afternoon hours into the evening while some sprinkles here and there occured while skies were overcast in the earlier parts of yesterday. I'm sure this more Summer-like weather must be much more welcomed than the weather anomalies of extended cool/wet conditions we've experienced in the past.
I must admit that at some point in time in the afternoon yesterday, however, the weather was looking nefarious. In any case, this was an enjoyable evening and this Swiss team had an excellent opportunity to setup and fire their very much appreciated display.
Last night's show was much loved by many members of the audience, including myself. The dramatic start was very nicely opened leading to red stars and some crossettes along with many cracklers at the lower levels followed by brilliant high level red shells that burst into scattered red ball stars. This was a more ideal approach than the narration attempts devised by many displays at the beginning last year leading to an obvious anti-climax, though some narration worked well with some displays (but still not a fan of it).
Synchronization was very good, but a bit slack in some areas. The choice of music was quite ideal but didn't fit, personally, to the main theme of the show. Some of the songs were suited but others simply just didn't feel right, although I did enjoy the music.

The music, for the most part, however, did go nicely with the pace of the fireworks. On the other hand, in respect to a thematic approach, the way the fireworks were launched at times (especially with the colors), it gave me the overall impression of what the theme implied more so than the music ever did, so my judgment was mixed here.
The effects were delicately used. I personally loved the double and triple ring shells accompanied by latter shells of swirls. There were also some single ring shells being deployed here and there, which were quite loud at times. Those Saturn shells were also very intrinsically fired in relation to the mixture of colors. There was a piece that I was quite enamored about and I simply must comment on it. This was the part where there were rapid shots of shells that contained about 3-4 colors in one. I believe the colors were light orange, green and purple. This was then followed by low level cracklers of the same colors and suddenly became more in number.
There were also some silver brocades (I think that's what they're called) about mid way, or earlier in the show that made the atmosphere very peaceful, which relates back to my statement of transitions between "pace". The kamuros, or weeping willows, used in one of the segments were also quite dramatic, especially the way they later burned into blue stars as they trailed downward. I'm sure we all enjoyed the frequent use of the shell of shells. But it's not only the frequency of their appearances that was appealing, but rather the way they were mixed in with the other multi-breakers and comets. The candle-like fans at the bottom were nicely exploited, though a tad repetitive for my likings, while in different forms throughout the show, such as the gold glitters used later on. The massive white shells with the gold dust in the middle that made that familiar "heavy rain" noise was very nicely used as well while they always make things feel intense. Of course, one of the most spectacular effects were the shells that burst into a huge star shape with multi-colors along its edges while encompassed by a ring of green or white stars (I think these are what you guys call "pistils", but I'm not sure about this). In any case, these took the breath away from the audience while I was so taken up with them as they were so fondly exploited. Finally, the nautical effects were not totally inconspicuous to us since we could see some illumination very low at ground level, so I suspect that these were the” nautical volcanoes" that were mentioned. However, I can't confirm this, but I recorded the time at around 10:10-10:12 when I saw them.
On thing about the effects was definitely the rapid change of pace between the slow and fast pieces, which ultimately made things rather dramatic, though somewhat abrupt.
The colors were extremely important in this display and the wide variety and richness of colors used typically depicted the success in which this display was executed. Despite my feelings of the repetitive use of the red color via the beginning of the show, we were treated with an array of dramatic colors that led to an immediate representation of what was being demonstrated as the main theme of this show. Although some of the music did not relate too much to the show in its entirety, the colors certainly did it justice by which they were organized in mixture with the variety of pace, especially with the "dancing bottom effects" as well as the multi-color and rapid paced shell of shells.
My criticisms are relatively minor, but I believe that the major flaw with this display was the lack of originality in which it was delivered. Though this is not entirely true for some of the display, parts and pieces of the show were a tad similar to the way I remember how their past couple of displays were fired back in 1999 and 2000. However, in some contradiction, the way the show was presented to us was particularly distinct to their past displays in the sense of the differences in rhythm and pace by contrast with the music while using a somewhat different technique in exploiting the colors. In this respect, the show did have some originality, especially with the creativity and use of different effects. But, nonetheless, I felt the overall idea was a tad redundant, but it still made things enjoyable. I also had a hard time, as I've said, trying to establish a concise link between the main theme of the show and some of the selected soundtrack.
Other minor criticisms that arise in my mind are practically to do with slight repetition. For example, the beginning of the show used quite a bit of a standard predominant red color while perhaps some of the paces in between segments were somewhat repetitive. Synchronization was pretty much well done, but , as I've said, was perhaps a little off near mid way of the display. I would have also appreciated the use of girandolas in the more sirene parts of the show, especially mixed in prior to the coconut tree shell segment. Finally, I felt that there was a sense of some imbalance between what was going at high and low levels. However, there was equilibrium in other parts and it worked well with the colors for those respective areas. Nevertheless, these are fairly minor criticisms and did not present a devious plot in the display as a whole.
The ending was rather interesting while creating much zeal and enthusiasm among people just after it had begun. Its design and organization was very tempting and provocative for excitement due to the pauses in between the more active pieces. However, the ending didn't present too much variations of color as compared to more active areas during the display itself. In any case, many people were happy with the two smileys and the prior short intense finish at the very end bringing the display to a dramatic close with a barrage of salutes at the bottom and shells at the top with a departure of some go-getters (I think) with some pretty loud crackling mines at the bottom. However, I felt that the entire ending was more of a series of faux finales and would have probably felt more intense if it all were to combine (while a touch more color mixture) without the little pauses of the bright glitters in between. However, it was a strong and brief "real" finish, which reminded me of the ending presented by Sunny International (China) in 2004, though that was more intense.
Travis' personal rankings and display criteria rankings:
-Synchronization: 7.5/10-Though not entirely perfect, they made some good attempts in many areas in between music speed, so a decent score from me.
-Color: 8/10-Simply gorgeous colors, especially the shells that contained 3-4 colors as well as the "pistils" (someone correct me on this) for most of this display, but a little more color in the end while a little less repetition of the red color at the beginning would have given them a near perfect score from me.
-Creativity/Originality/Concept: 7/10-Though not totally original, the creativity was still really good in this display, especially with the mixing rapidity of pace and color transitions. The concept, however, was still somewhat similar to the displays they've done in the past, but still different in the way it was fired with the color and effect variations. Moreover, there was no major improvement to take advantage of a fundamentally different innovative approach by contrast to their prior displays, although I felt that the firing sequences were different.
-Choice of music: 8/10-I loved the music, but I just had a tough time trying to get a connection between some of the soundtrack in relation to the main theme approach. The music was very popular with the audience, though. It also gave way and set the stage for differentiations in pace flow betweem segments.
-Finale/Overall Appreciation: 7.5/10-Though mostly a series of mini/faux finales, the ending was still quite interesting and went well with the soundtrack used here. The overall appreciation was still very much present, though.
-Overall: 7.6/10
I thought that this was an excellent start to the competition, which was much better than last year's opening. The materials used in this display were very good and the transitions between segments were very well executed and concocted. Most of the effects were dazzling, especially the use of the silver glitter shells in between the finale while some the triple and double ring shells were used elegantly. The pace variations in this display were demonstrated clearly and the richness in colors were suited for the way it was designed and choreographed. The use of colors were definitely the strongest point of this display and made things very attractive to the audience. There was also plenty of action in the sky while there were many massive shells of white that blow your chest inward! There was some minor smoke accumulations at times (moreso towards the ferris wheel), but there was nothing entirely serious thanks to the right wind velocity. Actually, there were times when we could smell the smoke quite heavily on the other side of the river. In a personal opinion, I felt that the fireworks were actually creating their own music in which they were launched in some segments, so I felt that this was a neat attempt (perhaps like Spain last year, though not as distinctive). For example, the parts where there were 2 big shells and then a massive one above our heads. This was repeated for some time and similarly in a couple of other spots in the show.
In any case, this was an excellent show and everyone was very much satisfied. The series of shells that were fired around 9:29-9:30 all gave us a constant reminder of what we've been missing for 10 months; we all welcomed those big bangs with pride. It was a nice night and a truly nice display from the Swiss team altogether.

Most of my criticisms were directly related to redundancy in some aspects, but this absolutely did not deter me from enjoying such a fantastic, exciting and intense show. They did a great job, despite the little errors.

Because the show was so active and the music was most admirable, I personally enjoyed the display to an optimal level, though the ending was a little less than I expected, but intense, nonetheless.
Regards,
Trav.
