For those of us who kept a keen eye on the
entertainment technology package on the recent Eurovision Song Contest, it was obvious
from the start that lighting designer Jerry Appelt had big plans for Elation
Professional’s Paladin™ strobe/blinder/wash lights. Once the first semifinal
aired on May 9th it didn’t take long for the back wall matrix of 351
Paladins to be called into action, and was, repeatedly, across two semifinals
and one grand final show.
“I wanted to create an additional layer
behind the LED wall, something that had impact but that could also work
together with the LED video and other lighting,” said Jerry Appelt, who was the
first LD worldwide to use the fixture. “We used the Paladins independently and
also pixel-mapped video across them. Some of the delegations even asked to have
the Paladins used in their performance to give it more power.”
When Appelt was on the hunt for a strobe
effect that he could place behind the huge semi-transparent LED video wall that
served as the all-important visual backdrop, a shoot-out of fixtures was set up
in Cologne and Appelt liked what he saw in the Paladin. “We chose the Paladin
and it did a marvelous job,” he said.
Paladin is a versatile RGBW luminaire with
twenty-four 40W RGBW LEDs and zoom that functions as a bright blinder or
strobe, powerful wash light, or, because of its multiple pixel zone control, can
be used for pixel map and eye candy looks. With 42 different songs to
highlight over the course of three huge Eurovision shows – not to mention
rehearsals and a host of other performances – the Paladin’s flexibility allowed
Appelt to be highly creative when custom-designing unique looks for each
performance.
Paladin effects popped through the Eurovision
LED screen, sometimes as impactful strobe/blinder effects or chases and
sometimes as more subtle eye-candy or warm or cold light twinkle effects, then
stealthily disappeared when not in use. The fixture is also IP65 rated which
means it can be used on outdoor events without the hassle of weatherproof
coverings. Eurovision Song Contest Head of Production Ola Melzig was equally
enamored with the fixtures, stating, “The Paladin kicks ass! I love the output,
the color and the zoom. It’s an awesome fixture!”
As one of the most watched entertainment
shows in the world, Eurovision is a unique showcase for musical talent, as well
as the entertainment technology that supports it, and novelty and innovation
are keys. “The goal was to create a state-of-the-art light show,” Appelt said,
“and I was really quite happy with the result.”
Elation Professional was proud to have
been an Official Technical Event Supplier of this year’s Eurovision Song
Contest with over 800 lighting fixtures making up a large portion of the
intelligent lighting package. Held May 9-13 at the International
Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, some 11,000 spectators
attended each show with over 200 million viewers in 50 countries tuning in to
watch the grand final on May 13.
Photos: Ralph Larmann
http://www.elationlighting.com
