The 2008 edition of the Montreal fireworks competition has certainly been a “blast” and has now sadly come to rapid close. With our nine fierce competitors, five of which were new companies visiting Montreal, we’ve experienced a wide variety of displays all depicting interesting and complex themes to represent them in very unique ways. In the process, we have witnessed many enjoyable aspects, ranging from very creative pieces, gorgeous sequencing, excellent thematic representations, an enormous variety of effects (some of which were unusual – namely the rising tail shell variety used by the Australian and American team), and a slight increase in furious finales. We have then provided full in-depth analyses of each competitor illustrating all strengths and weaknesses (even though we pointed them out in very different ways at times), but now the time has come to consider everything carefully and come down with our own personal predictions in accordance to how we responded to each show!
Finally, a little about the weather – it has been a very unsettled Summer, even though the temperatures have been consistently hovering at or near the norm. One main aspect of Summer 2008 was definitely the dense humidity, and so this always was a danger, in addition to the risk for t-storms, for smoke accumulations to develop. Most strikingly with the weather this season was that all the competitors were under the risk for showers and thunderstorms, with the exception of South Korea. Out of the eight affected, only one suffered with rain during the display, and that would be Canada! Now, even for the closing display, the weather is tricky (I’ll have more on that).
In any case, without further delay, here are my personal rankings for each display this season, outlining briefly what I thought were strengths and weaknesses followed by a final score, which encompasses all the evaluating criteria. I will then present my jury predictions followed by my personal choices, and then finally with other little sections that provide rankings for different criteria individually – I will list my top three for each in ascending order. On an interesting note, as Paul mentioned before, this was certainly the season for horsetails. Simultaneously, it was also a season with very little girandolas!
Country participant: France
Company: Prestatech Artifices
Date of presentation: June 21st, 2008
Threatening weather was associated with our debutant French competitor, but we were left with partly cloudy skies along with a thunderstorm in development that later produced lightning toward the N-NE before and slightly during the beginning of the display – fortunately it did not tamper with it. This was a decent display, but it had the overall impression of being average under many regards. Synchronization was ok, but often was not connecting with the music. The effects and colors were not in a large variation and therefore much of the display lacked vibrancy, especially since the theme was probably one of the most interesting, thought-provoking and most complex this season. Furthermore, many of the segments had very similar firing patterns and design, nullifying any transitional points attempting to be made whatsoever. Still, the low level effects, particularly the nautical flares and strobes were very appealing, as were the gerbs, and there were some interesting shots at sequencing at low to mid levels of sky. The finale was disappointing in that it was very short and consisted of only weeping willow shells. Overall, a decent effort from the French team, but not enough to be awarded with a Jupiter, in my opinion.
-Score: 7/10
Country participant: Italy
Company: Pirotecnia Morsani S.R.L.
Date of presentation: June 28th, 2008
Terrible weather conditions prevailed for most of the day, but once again partly cloudy skies emerged following the warm front by 9:00 p.m. Winds were also successful for blowing away the fast building of smoke associated with the most humid night this season. This was a beautifully crafted display from our debutant Italian team with some typical Italian-style shells, especially the shell of shells variation, and some thundering barrages of salutes throughout the display. The quality of the products was good, and I admired many of the effects, particularly the powerful and numerous salute terminating shells. A good theme was employed, and a lot of the effects did it justice for representing it, perhaps in part why the shells of strobes were used so extensively. However, while the theme was organized and fairly easy to work with, at times it was unclear as to how it was being represented through other various effects. Furthermore, the variations in pace weren’t always there, seeing that much of this display was so active, and some firings of the effects endured for a little too long for my tastes. The music choice was nicely chosen, but some selections through me off a little bit. The low level effects were good, but compared to our other competitors, they were in short supply, and virtually no nautical effects were used. The finale was the most powerful one, in my opinion, and had a convincing penultimate piece. If there’s anything out of the usual with our predictions for the jury’s descision, I would think that this show would be the runner up for third place.
-Score: 8.5/10
Country participant: South Korea
Company: Hanwha Corporation
Date of presentation: July 5th, 2008
The only competitor not being threatened by the buoyant atmosphere, although this company did have a tough time getting everything together because of shipping problems. Despite this frustrating dilemma, the South Korean team managed to get everything ready successfully and was prepared to fire their second display after 14 years since the last visit, in which case this wasn’t successful at the time. The display this time around, on the other hand, was truly beautiful and ranks among some of the best sequencing attempts this season. The low level effects were dazzling, especially when involving the Z-cakes producing the rainbow-like colored stars, as well as the fans of mines and candles executed in perfect timing and motion with the soundtrack in which they were involved in. The most glamorous piece was definitely witnessed during the “Dancing Queen” segment with the arrangement of candles firing repeatedly to make a beautiful waterfall of colors, and the actual waterfall structures to the left and right were beautiful and used well – there were no spaces in between – fully perfect waterfall simulations. Synchronization was excellent, but there were some points where shells did fire once the music had concluded. Firing errors occurred here and there as well, but it was nothing considerable. Using a suitable choice of music, it made the display very enjoyable as well, and nicely enforced the very interesting theme of “Shall we Dance?”. The finish was strong but a little disappointing since it only consisted of one color, and I found the penultimate part more powerful than the actual finisher itself, inevitably giving off the feeling of an anti-climax. With careful consideration, this display is definitely in contention for a prize.
-Score: 9/10 (*Please note that I did not attend this display, but the video, especially since the perspective was from La Ronde, served well to give me a very good picture in all it had to offer (especially the low level pieces), thus giving me the chance to still analyze everything accordingly, and allowing me to give a fair ranking).
Country participant: Portugal
Company: Grupo Luso Pirotecnia
Date of presentation: July 12th, 2008
Ideal weather conditions presented themselves for the popular Grupo Luso Pirotechnia, despite the chance of rains in the later evening hours through the overnight. This was a highly enjoyable display (despite the initial dubious feelings regarding the theme) with such a large variety of effects from low to high level and from the left and right, that it was hard for me to keep track. That said, the available space was well used and the display was quite wide. The choice of music was probably the most enjoyed (especially since many were popular) and went almost flawlessly during practically all of the segments, particularly during “Be Our Guest”. The display also delivered the necessary transitions and emotions most successfully of any competitor, in my humble opinion, while using the appropriate effects to represent each soundtrack i.e. the horsetails for “Singing in the Rain”. Synchronization was virtually perfect during many pieces, but there were some shells at times that were just slightly off cue. The low level pieces were thrilling and so well executed. The display was also very exciting in that it had the largest shell count (I think) of all competitors, and about 33% of them being fired during the finale alone! The structure that was used was appropriate, but it didn’t stand out as much as it could have - it would have been appreciated to see it used at least a couple more times during the show, too. The effects were excellent and there was a wide variety of shells, which really enhanced the creativity aspect of the display. The performance never lost symmetry despite its vast width, though the piece during Titanic felt a little disproportionate because of the firing towards my left for some time (although I’m pondering the fact if this was indeed a symbolic representation for flares signaling for help in the film when ship was in the process of sinking). The finale endured and sort of had the same idea with color transitions as did USA 2003, but the repeated candles at the bottom did not have a suitable choice for color, and made the bottom part of it a little “bald”, so to speak, while the chaos was occurring directly overhead. A very enjoyable, creative and highly successful display – it had it all. Must be a winner, especially appropriate to finish off their sentence in the theme!
-Score: 9.6/10
Country participant: Australia
Company: Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics
Date of presentation: July 19th, 2008
More unsettled weather made its debut throughout the day, and a heavy downpour arrived about 8:00 p.m. in the metropolitan area. Following this, the skies remained partly cloudy and therefore ideal conditions once again too their place in time. Howard & Sons did a wonderful performance with their display and captivated the audience tremendously with its vehemence, especially seeing that they delivered the first noisiest start that we all coveted. The Australian’s used a beautiful set of effects, many of which people were enamored with - one in particular was never seen before in this competition: the rising tail shells. I personally loved the overall choice of music and the fireworks-connection was nicely done. While synchronization was good, there were times where things just seemed to lack that tight connection that I was looking, but this seemed to be sometimes more focused near the top as opposed to the lower level effects, in which case, these were often nicely sequenced with the transitions between the red and yellow nautical flares at one point. The colors were very diverse, but some of the blue stars near the beginning of the display tended to fade much too quickly. That said, the theme was good, but a little vaguely demonstrated through the fireworks, although it was a little clearer through the music. The finale ranks as one of the most powerful, but it was cut off a little too soon, perhaps in part because the rest of the display was already so intense – still a breathtaking finish to an overall noisy display - also in good standings for an award.
-Score: 9/10
Country participant: Canada
Company: Garden City Display Fireworks
Date of presentation: July 23rd, 2008
The only entrant to have rain during the display, and only appropriate that it was Canada, right? Regardless of the rain, we had sufficient winds to blow the smoke quickly towards the North, but there were times when the smoke was accumulating too quickly when the display got more active, and so shells were often obscured towards the center and especially to my left. Despite the fact, this was an enjoyable, and at times exciting, display put on by our debutant Canadian team, while possibly offering the widest range from left to right (though this may also be due to the winds), as well providing some excellent quality products along with a relatively large number of shells. The transitional points using both the fireworks and music were probably some of the most successfully delivered, and therefore the music employed was very appropriate and correlated well with this year’s most inspiring theme: Aurora. The music was enjoyable in that it was all predominantly instrumental, but I felt that perhaps a couple of choices sounded a little too similar to permit successful changes in both rhythm and pace. Many of the effects were good, particularly the stunning double-ascension girandolas in addition to the well timed low level mines and candles, which worked rather well because of the type of music utilized. However, the display did promise some unusual effects, but as vigilant as I was, I did not spot any of them at the time - either they escaped me completely or they were just absent altogether. The colors were impressive and obviously were required for a theme dealing with the Aurora phenomenon, although it is also arguably true that they were not always as rich as they could have been throughout a handful of segments. On that note, the finale had a broken feel to it before the colors finally started to emerge, making it feel a little too short despite how powerful it was near the climax with the huge deafening volleys of salutes near the bottom. In the end, despite the weather, I personally adored and appreciated this display greatly, and I feel that it has a chance to be awarded with a Jupiter.
-Score: 8.7/10
Country participant: Austria
Company: Pyrovision Gmbh Austria
Date of presentation: July 26th, 2008
Once again, unstable weather was the story behind this display with the risk of showers and thunderstorms, one of which was producing lightning for at least 45 minutes before the show and about 10 minutes during it. Regardless of this, we were left with the usual partly cloudy skies and subsequent ideal conditions for the Austrian display. Much of this show had long periods of silence that clearly were not appreciated by the vast audience outside the park. Despite a selected few low level effects being faintly seen from our vantage point, they would be in use for far too long of a time frame, which gave the overall impression that the display was poorly balanced between low and high level. It’s also a pity that technical problems endured in hampering the overall synchronization of the show. The music was appropriate, but it was not organized, and I felt that music (which I wasn’t so much of a fan of) was moreso giving off the emotions and feelings, namely that intimidating feeling, than the fireworks themselves. Despite this, synchronization was good still at a few points, and it’s simultaneously true that when the display became active, it really became active - just we would lose the enthusiasm shortly after those pieces since the show had a tendency to revert back to the more overly silent treatment. The finale was actually not too bad, although it was cut into three parts, and the pace was always steady, making it not really to the point. Overall, the show was disappointing because the theme was probably the most appealing this season. There were parts that were fairly good, and the low level effects were appropriate, just painfully persisting for too long.
-Score: 6.7/10
Country participant: United States
Company: Pyrotecnico
Date of presentation: July 30th, 2008
Terrible weather conditions prevailed for most of the day, and a light to moderate shower endured for about 10 minutes starting around 9:00 p.m. In the end, we were left with ideal conditions (with the odd sprinkle), though just a little more wind would have benefited the display at times towards low level. Like Portugal, this was an absurdly powerful display – easily the most vehement this year. With much of the display having splendid sequencing, the three towers and three arcs used throughout the display made it feel even grander, particularly the arc situated on top of ramp four. The theme was excellent, but not totally original. However, despite the lack of originality, I felt that the display was very unique in portraying the thematic framework, so in that sense, the display was conducive to promoting a very different atmosphere. The quality of the products was fantastic (especially using at one point a different variety of the rising tail shells) and excellent use was made of the entire area, especially in knowing how much some the ramps were loaded to full capacity, and more! As a result, there was massive amount of shells used, quite a few of which were the expected 10-12” shells. The music was enjoyable and permitted good emotional transitions. The theme again was good, but didn’t have that perplexing feel to it that other competitors possessed for their themes, even though it was uniquely represented during the display. Also, the firing pattern seen during “One” was repetitive and wasn’t doing the music justice as compared to other parts we’ve seen during the show – very deviant. The display itself was nicely balanced and never lost symmetry, although there was a point where things were firing for some time on one side without much happening towards the center and the other side to keep things into perspective. Synchronization was practically flawless, but it’s unfortunate that brief pause emerged when a 12” shell muzzle had broken out a part of ramp one for a small period of time. As for the finale, it’s easily one of the best this season with one of loudest barrages of terminating salutes that I can remember.
-Score: 9.4/10
Country participant: China
Company: Sunny International
Date of presentation: August 2nd, 2008
Showers and heavy thunderstorms threatened to ruin this final entrant, but we were spared with partly cloudy skies, although this display witnessed the densest of smoke due to the lack of wind. This was an excellent display devised by the well renowned Sunny International, and I thought the theme was well represented in a good artistic form, much like their performance in 2004. The quality of products was high and the low level pieces offered some of the best and enjoyable sequencing this season. The shells near mid level were also interesting, especially the infamous Saturn and cube shells. Some of the firing patterns near mid to high level, however, were a little too repetitive, and there wasn’t always a huge variation in the effects that were being used near mid to high level. The theme was well enforced, although the emotions attempted to be evoked through the feeling and tempo in the fireworks was sometimes unclear, as were some music choices. Synchronization was very well done, particularly at low level, but there were points where things either fired just after a segment had finished or nothing at all for brief pauses during some of the more hyped segments. Some of the conclusions were also a little abrupt. The finale was strong, but a little broken and much too short as compared to that of the one seen in 2004, although this particular one had some great sequences at low level. Overall, though, an excellent performance by the Chinese team.
-Score: 8.4/10
---------------------------------
Here are the different sections for rankings –
all rankings are in ascending order for each category. Most importantly-------> And the winner is…Portugal!
Trav’s jury prediction:
1st: Portugal
2nd: United States
3rd: South Korea
Trav’s personal choice:
1st: Portugal
2nd: United States
3rd: Australia
*Special Jupiter: Canada
Best sequencing:
1. Portugal
2. USA
3. South Korea
4. China
Best choice of music:
1. Portugal
2. South Korea
3. Canada
Most diversified effects:
1. Portugal
2. USA
3. Australia
Best devised theme:
1. Canada
2. Austria
3. France
Most powerful displays:
1. United States
2. Australia
3. Portugal
Top finales:
1. Italy
2. USA
3. Portugal
This is why I wish we still had the Special Jupiter – it would give someone else a chance to get something and also provide some recognition for their work for whatever strength the award was given for. It’s especially useful to have when there are so many competitors that deserve a prize, as is the case this season.
In any case, it is to my belief that Portugal will be the winner due to such exquisite sequencing attempts that went so well with the various popular and equally entertaining soundtracks. The creativity component was also always there and synchronization was virtually always right on cue – the technical design was probably the display’s strongest point. Like USA, this show had it all, but I felt more captivated by this performance most likely because the music was so enjoyable to me, as well as the fireworks working tremendously well with them to begin with – I felt the fireworks were more brought to life as compared to any other performance – this is quite critical in a pyromusical.
Again, I can’t emphasize it enough as to how much I enjoyed this year’s competition – it felt distinctively hyped as compared to recent years, most likely due to many displays being so powerful overall, especially those that had a relatively large shell count. Despite the multitude of weather threats, conditions almost always tended to be ideal during the time of presentation. I would personally like to thank all the designers and pyrotechnicians from each team, as well as those pyrotechnicians at La Ronde, for all their hard work in setting up and putting together the displays successfully. It’s truly amazing as to how much work and time is devoted into each show for just a mere 30 minutes – not many people seem to realize that. Thanks again, guys, for making all this possible. Hope to see all the teams participate in Montreal in the near future.
I also echo Fred’s statement, as I had also mentioned at the end of my USA review, about there possibly being surprises with the jury’s prediction – this is always a fair possibility, and after seeing the results from a year like 2005, there’s no reason to rule out the unexpected – the thrill of surprise! In any case, all will be revealed Wednesday night.
And just to note….I find these years to be going by wayyyyyyy too fast!
Trav.
Page 2 of 2: « Previous 1 