There is a call on Le Mondial SAQ's website to find all former jury members since last Thursday. As recommended, I sent an e-mail Friday to jury@lemondialsaq.com.

Because the 2004 vintage will be a special one, I suspect (I dream!) that La Ronde wants a group composed of former judges. Paul, do you have any infos about that?

Roger, peut-être aurons-nous une chance de faire à nouveau partie du jury!

Frédérick

I haven't heard anything special about the 2004 Jury. I suspect that they just want to gather together former jury members for a special celebration. If I hear anything, I'll post the information here. Fred, I'm sure you'll inform us if you hear anything from your email.

Paul.

fredbastien
Fred

J'ai aussi recu ce communiqué sur le site du Mondial SAQ.
Je ne connais pas leurs intentions en rapport avec le jury 2004. Comme l'écris Paul est-ce dans le but de retrouvailles ou dans le cadre de la formation du jury 2004.
Pour ce qui me concerne certainement que j'accepterais sans hésiter de faire partie du jury pour cette formidable compétition 2004.Toutefois je ne me fais pas trop d'idées là-dessus . Si c'est pour se retrouver entre ex-juges je serai là aussi.
L'an dernier suite à la compétition j'ai formulé quelques recommendations à la direction du Mondial SAQ sur les anciens juges Il a été évident pour moi que le fait d'avoir de l'expérience comme membre de jury des feux constitue un avantage à ne pas négliger.Personnellement cette expérience m'a beaucoup servi l'an dernier.Malgré la forte compétititon j'ai trouve cà plus facile.
En tout cas comme toi je suis cà de près.Je m'ennuie des feux.
Roger

why r they doing this thro the internet?

dont they have the phone numbers of the juges? lol

Just curious, but, do you guys know if Micheal Lacroix will be here this year?

It would be real nice to have him there for this special edition, the 20th annivesary of the competition. It wouldn't be the same without him. 10, 9, 8.....3, 2, 1...

Trav.

As far as I know, Michel Lacroix will be the master of ceremonies once again! As you say, the competition just wouldn't be the same without his inimitable countdown!

Cheers,

Paul.

Excellent, everything is going quite nicely.

I can really sense the excitement this year! With Michel Lacroix here and the 20th anniversary, it will really be an amazing and breathtaking year! I have a strong feeling that this will be one of the best year's ever since I've been attending the competition since 1990! I guarantee it!

As I said before though, I don't mean to be negative, but, all we have to do is worry about the weather. I'm sure that it will cooperate, though.

BTW, I love what you've done to the web site.

Regards,

Trav.

Yes, it is going to be a good season and I'm sure the weather will be OK.

I'm glad you like the changes I made to the look of the forum. I installed the latest version of the BB software and this made it easier to integrate the look and feel with the rest of the site due to the use of cascading style sheets (all the other pages in the montreal-fireworks.com site use common style sheets - the forum didn't which was something of a pain). Now if I want to change the look I can do it for all the pages in a very simple way. I might even offer the choice of different colours and layouts that viewers can set for themselves.

Cheers,

Paul.

Yes, I know what you mean. The site looks very good and more lively.

Paul, I have a few questions.

First off, you remember the faux finale and real finale of Pirotechnia Igual in 2001, right? That was one of the best finales that I've seen! It was more of an atomic finale! I remember when everyone was turning back after the faux finale and then suddenly more intensity was added out of no where with loud bangs everywhere. I knew it wasn't over.

What I want to know is how long does it take to construct a fierce finale like that (Including the faux finale)?

And another thing, do you think every display might do something like that this year? I know it is impossible to know that, but a little guess.

All I know is that I remember most of these firms in the past and I know they all did a fantastic job. Despite Spain 2001, I also remember Holland. They did a magnificent show that year. I also remember those Chinese and Japanese firms. They did very well too.

And one more question is do you think France will burst out paper like in 1993? I think that's illegal though and plus, that was a different firm representing France that year, I think. That was actually the loudest display I've ever experienced! I can never forget that day! Every shot that was fired was a thump in my chest!

Regards,

Trav.

As I expected earlier this month, the jury for the 20th Montreal International Fireworks Contest will be a group of 20 former judges. An e-mail was sent last Friday by the person from La Ronde in charge of the jury to all those who had answered to the call. For this special context, "all rules and regulations stating that a person cannot be a judge more than twice or 3 years have to elapse before applying to become a judge once again are null and void" can we read in this e-mail.

The good news is that it is possible that I will be judge again this year! The bad one is that if it is the case, I will not be authorized to deliver in this forum my comments throughout the contest...

Frédérick

Fred,

do you know how many former judges there are and how many responded to the email? I'm not sure when the jury system was introduced into the competition, so I'm guessing that there are probably around 250 former jury members.

Anyway, good luck in becoming a member once again - though we will miss your commentary if you are chosen.

I wonder if Roger is also going to apply?

Cheers,

Paul.

From 1985 to 1991, a very small jury (6 people, I think) formed by personalities from artistic circle evaluated the displays. In 1992, the Montreal International Fireworks Contest, in the framework of the 350th anniversary of Montréal, launched a new formula: a popular jury.

From 1992 to 2001, it has been a group of 30 people (25 judges + 5 substitutes). The call to attract applications was advertized in newspapers and radio. In 2002 and 2003, the size of the jury was 15 people (12 judges + 3 substitutes in 2002; 13 judges + 2 substitutes in 2003) and the ads, only by Internet.

So:
(30 people X 10 years) + (15 people X 2 years) = 330 people-year.

We must substract some people who has been in the jury two (as Roger) or three times (as one of my friend). In all, I guess that about 300 different persons has been in the jury since 1992.

I do not know how many people will answer to the actual call. But we must take in consideration that this call is launched (I think but I am pretty sure) only by Internet so, many former judges (especially among older people) will not answer.

Frédérick

Bonjour Fred et Paul

J'ai accueilli la nouvelle à propos du jury 2004 avec beaucoup de joie. C'est une bonne idée (même si je prêche un peu pour ma paroisse). Certainement que je suis intéressé et mon inscription est déjà faite.
J'ai toujours espéré relever le défi de juger une compétition regoupant des champions.
Lorsque tu as été membre du jury une fois cà aide grandement pour la 2 ième fois. Cà facilite grandement la tâche . On sait mieux comment regarder un feu et un meilleure intégration des critères permet permet plus facilement d'aller à l'essentiel .
Bref je suis bien content et j'espère en être . Je te souhaite la même chance Fredéric.

Roger

I am pleased to announce that I am one of the 20 members of the popular jury for this 20th season of the Montreal Fireworks Contest! I am very thrilled by this exciting news!

When the schedule for the next competition was released in January, La Ronde launched a call by Internet to contact as many former judges as possible. Also, a letter has been sent by mail. At the begin of March, many of those who had answered to the call were randomly chosen and received a detailed questionaire by e-mail. It investigated our motivations for the jury and how we would react in some particular situations. Among those who had completed it, 43 then received an invitation to an interview for April 22 and 23. These interviews were done at the administrative building of La Ronde. In my case, it was a 15-minutes meeting with two persons. The interviews were recorded on video because the selection committee also included two other persons. The questions were mainly about the criterias used to evaluate each display. I received the great news a week after.

In general, I found this selection process to become member of the jury very more difficult than in 2001. I think that people of La Ronde have made greater efforts than in the past to choose the judges. It is normal owing to the special kind of competition this year.

For evident reasons, I will not comment each display in this forum throughout the competition, neither after. Also, I will (try to!) not read your comments before the show of Weco (the last contestant). However, I expect to write again in this forum after the closing night about my second experience inside the jury and a general comment about this special vintage.

To all fireworks fanatics, have a good summer at La Ronde and enjoy the 20th Montreal International Fireworks Contest!

Frédérick

Frédérick,

congratulations on being selected for this prestigious post. You have an uneviable job in front of you. From a personal point of view, I'm disappointed that we will have to wait until after the competition is over to read your interesting and informative comments in this forum. For myself, as much as I'd love to be on the jury, my task here precludes me from ever applying to be a member!

We all look forward to hearing about your experiences this year!

Best regards,

Paul.