Hi there, fellow enthusiasts,

Well, we certainly had an enjoyable evening, though it did involve some steadier light rains up till 9:30 with light winds from the East. In addition, which I do love, it was quite humid and ideal along with temperatures steady at 24-25 Celsius, but this did lead to smoke accumulations, but this had more of an effect for those on the opposite side of the river. We also had a very small crowd, obviously, due to the weather scenario, but thankfully enough, there wasn’t any rain at all at 10:00 and the display started on time with much enthusiasm. Though my vision was obscured by a lot of the smoke, I was still fortunate enough to still see a lot of what was presented.

I loved the way a lot of the effects were exploited in this display, especially at lower level. The theme of the show was well respected with collaboration with the fireworks while I simultaneously felt that the music well connected to it, though it didn’t seem totally legitimate in my mind (more on this later). The display started off with some low to mid levels of glitters in addition to lower sparkles. This then lead to a wonderful series of golden fans that went beautifully with the music, especially upon the rate of fire from the sides to the middle. Personally, this was probably the most fantastic opening scene so far, especially with those wide golden fans a left to right in addition to the pace flow.

The colors were very standardized and brought out much elegance while even giving a sort of fictitious feeling of glamour, especially with the darkened intense reds given off. The golden colors were also quite impressive in relation to the concept demonstrated. Other tangible examples would more and less relate to the actual contrast between colors. I personally loved the dynamic mixture of the reds and greens with middle leveled mauves. The lasting silver colors at times, especially with the fountains, were unique and obviously manifested a differentiating contrast to the elegant light pink lasting glitters.

Synchronization was excellent for the most part while a lot of the fireworks, especially at ground level, matched the music speeds along with the actual effects that were used, particularly the nautical flares and shells. There were some slack spots at both the low levels and high levels, but moreso the higher areas of the sky. However, the lower pieces were definitely in the right tempo while a lot of the shells and kamuros (at times) did it justice to support them. I personally found that most of the lower effects were incredibly synchronized at times and this made things very passionate! The choice of music was ideal for this type of approach, but the feeling connection just didn’t seem right, but still fitted in to the thematic attempt.

The effects used in this display were fantastic while I truly did love the unique type of gold slender girandola that would burst into mauve or light purple stars upon reaching a certain height. This was a truly nice way, as always, to differentiate the variations of pace. The fact that there were plenty of glitters of differing colors easily paid its tribute to utter elegance and superb serenity, especially with the lighter pinks and lush green glitters by contrast to the standard silvers. Kamuros and coconut trees also made a delightful appearance where appropriate allowing for a considerable latter burning of green to red stars as they trailed downwards. There seemed to be some gallant mixtures, as was seen with a couple of previous displays, of ball-stars that burst from either shells of similar typical reds and greens, which usually gave way to an apocryphal notion. The extensive use and variety of the screaming serpents were totally a success since they made plenty of noise while giving the impression of intensity. The accompanied shells of swirls were also nicely deployed and they always seemed to be fantastic as they filled the sky in number giving a lasting fortifying feeling. Near the penultimate area of the display, the incredible reds at low level were simply incredible and truly dignified both the music and the pace while also relating to a fundamental concept of the show. The red and green variations of go-getters (I think that’s what they are) were also quite subtle over our heads. Finally, the exciting parts, which were more tied to the music flow, often involved a series of shell of shells of multi-breakers. This concept easily connected to the sequence of salute shots given in a specific rhythm with the “1, 2, 3, 4” flow (best way to describe it) which then gave way to more shell of shells immediately after. Other than that, there were many surprises overhead, which usually involved quite loud shells, especially when in combination with the silver multi-breakers; always a truly welcomed effect to us all.

The lower effects were superb, especially with elongated golden slender fans that numerated from the left to right. There were some dramatic intense reds from many of the nautical shells, which gave off a splendid noise at ground level. The large shells at the bottom were usually excellent since they did accompany some nice impressions via higher levels. There were a few pieces where I noticed some fascinating silver fountains in correspondence to the music. The bottom to mid level cracklers that exploded into fine glitters were also intrinsically chosen while in luscious aspirations by which we could appreciate what was fired at the top and sides.

The construction of the display itself was something to definitely consider since a lot of the lower leveled action was totally impressive at times, especially with the flares and or the intense and unique nautical shells that brilliantly made their appearance. There were much gasps of excitement when they were present while it certainly delivered much appeal. Much of the candles, fans and subsequent mines and flares were nearly in perfect harmony with the music and thus synchronization was most admirable to this respect, safe for a couple of candles and later fans that seemed to be just off cue while some of the upper level shells in a few segments seemed to be (in my mind, anyway) not as timed. Symmetry was rarely lost in this display while the balance between upper and lower effects was tremendously acknowledged.

The finale was in good crescendo and was a decent length, but there was too much repetition in the barrages of golden kamuros or weeping willows while not allowing for a more appreciable variety of standard colors, which the press release over estimated in its description. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a bad finale at all, but I know it could have been better, especially with the soundtrack used here.

My criticisms are mostly related to perhaps a tad of redundancy with some effects, while there could have been a little more in the way of special effects at higher levels, which I’m sure would have given a little more to the concept of the show. The screaming serpents were a little repetitive at times, though I did enjoy them to the fullest. The music choice was ideal for this attempt, but I found that there wasn’t much of a sense of coordination in connection of feeling to the display itself, so it sort of through me off with an ideal connection of establishment with the essence of the display. However, of course, the music fitted the theme of the display, but I found the core concept of the display to be a little devious and elusive. The colors present in the display were excellent, but did not present too much variety by comparison to the South African display, for example. However, I found the strongest points in this display to be primarily with the attempts at choreography as well as the synchronization tightness for much of the display.

Travis' personal rankings and display criteria rankings:

-Synchronization: 8.5/10-I loved the attempts in this criterion, especially the tightness at the bottom pieces. Some parts were just a tad off, but this was mostly prevalent at higher levels, but still quite enjoyable.
-Color: 7.5/10-Some very dramatic appearances of colors, especially some of the contrasts between paces and pieces. Some colors were totally breathtaking. However, there wasn’t a huge variety of colors, but the selection was very nicely chosen, especially the gold and reds.
-Creativity/Originality/Concept: 8/10-This was additionally a very artistic display at some moments and thus had some neat creativity. The choices of color also reinforced this area very neatly to my standards. The lower effects, particularly in the sweet opening, really brought out the concept of the display as well, especially in relation to both the music and the theme. The transitions between fast and quiet segments were apparent and certainly supported some of the effects used from time to time.
-Choice of music: 8/10-The team really chose the music well in correspondence to the concept of the display and main theme while it worked incredibly well with the pace transitions as well as the fireworks executions at the lower levels. However, as mentioned, the music choice was a little vague with the core essence of the display, so it sort of deviated away from the main idea. Nonetheless, still a truly nice selection and it worked well with this approach, especially with the periods of potential intensity.
-Finale/General Appreciation: 8/10-Not a bad finale since there was plenty of noise while it had good length. However, the color variations were not present, so this was disappointing. The lasting appeal was fabulous as it concluded with a lot of zeal to a powerful overall performance!
Overall: 8/10

My personal predictions for the winners so far:

1-South Africa
2-Italy
3-Portugal
4-Argentina
5-Switzerland
^^^
As usual, I’m still contemplating between Argentina and Switzerland for 3rd while I think Portugal could also make 2nd place. I’ll have a lot of adjusting to do when I make my final remarks at the end of the competition, which isn’t too far, unfortunately.

This was a truly enjoyable display and I simply loved a lot of the effects used in and around the areas of sky. The display wasn’t devoid of excitement at all while a lot of it seemed to be quite complex in nature. I personally found most of the colors in total admiration, especially that deep red. The contrasts were also demonstrated in a subtle manner while quite a bit of the colors were in excellent mixture most of the time, though not a huge variety of color to my expectations. The quality of the materials used was mostly in total admiration on my part while I found the display to be very organized and balanced, so this made things equally as enjoyable. The choice of music was absolutely enjoyable and certainly was legitimate to the overall theme and concept, but the music selection was a little deterrent since it didn’t totally administer the nature of the show as much. However, the transitions were very neat and fit perfectly in fluctuation. Just a reference recap to the salutes that were deployed just before the multi-breakers in one segment: I have a feeling that there was an attempt to actually create rhythmic flow solely with the salutes themselves just prior to the explosions of the multi-breakers. I personally thought that this was quite attractive considering it sort of created its own music in relation to the music. In all, this was a remarkable performance by the debutant Portuguese team and they certainly can make an appearance on the podium. This time around, it’s a shame that my viewpoint was obscured to vast amounts of smoke build up due to moisture and wind direction. Incidentally, I wish I had a seat at La Ronde for this display since the effects and colors would have been far more elegantly brought out while my perception of enjoyment would have dramatically increased. With that being said, I was still lucky to mostly see the display from where I was standing, but not totally in an entertaining manner.

And Pierre,

Well, it must have been more of a surprise for you since you didn’t even notice Enkil’s surprise to you, my friend. I’m just so happy that you managed to finally see IPON’s ending of 2004. I’m equally as happy to see you get your satisfaction after all this time, so here’s to you, Pierre! I suppose you took it as a latter birthday present!

I just only wish that you had seen the Portuguese display, but the ending wasn't as good as hoped, but the display was very intense for almost all the way through!

Regards,

Trav.