I just got a press release from PRG – Bad Boy is rocking the crap out of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Check out the press release:
PRG Bad BoyTM boasts biggest show to date on Eurovision Song Contest 2009
New Windsor, New York – May 16, 2009 – The annual Eurovision Song Contest, now in its 54th year, is one of the most-watched television productions in the world, with estimates of some 200 million viewers. The format began simply enough back in 1954 – a live broadcast of the members of the European Broadcast Union competing to win the title of Best Song in Europe, with the winner bestowed the honor of hosting the contest the next year in their home country. The production has since reached astounding proportions, now with 42 countries competing in three live broadcasts – two Semi-Finals and one Final.
When Russia won Eurovision in Belgrade, Serbia last year, Russian show producers were immediately driven to make the 2009 production in Moscow the biggest and most breathtaking in Eurovision history. The live broadcasts for the Semi-Finals were held on May 12 and 14 and the Finals on May 16, with viewer numbers skyrocketing to new heights, thanks to a live feed online via www.eurovision.tv.
The equipment list is impressive to say the least, with an astounding 2,000 square meters of LED, but the real talk of the show has been the 72 PRG Bad BoyTM luminaires. Since the fixture hit the shelves at the beginning of this year, it has been seen on major tours from Oasis to Britney Spears and on television productions such as the Grammy Awards and The Celebrity Apprentice.
The fixtures are installed around the entire rig and positioned directly over the stage. Rich Gorrod, lighting gaffer, who has been on-site in Moscow since March 31 said, “They’re absolutely spectacular. They’re bright as hell, giving the Syncrolites a run for their money, with lightning snap color and gobo change. Plus the zoom is unbelievable, from pencil beam to super wide, and most of all they’re incredibly reliable. They’ve been running 18 hours a day for the last four weeks – which says a lot for such a new light. They just do everything that it says on the tin – fantastically well. We’ve brought two techs to Moscow just for the Bad Boys and they’ve been bored to tears!”
Lighting Designer Al Gurdon (MTV Europe Awards, Robbie Williams) is equally as pleased, citing, “They’re simply a dream come true. We have loads of LED, and these still stand out with no problem whatsoever. They look amazing on camera and deliver these vibrant, saturated colors that I want with incredibly smooth and fast precision. A show of this magnitude demands quite a lot from its equipment, and the Bad Boy has proven itself to be a champion.”
The Bad Boy is a hybrid luminaire that combines the qualities of a traditional automated fixture light with a large-venue fixture. “It was one of the first things specified for this production,” said Eruovision Production Manager Ola Melzig. “I first saw it at PLASA last year, and I could immediately tell that it was designed with today’s shows, which often involve high-brightness LED screens, in mind.”
The Bad Boy is definitely standing out on the Eurovision stage, with a powerful 48,000 lumens. Its high definition optics work perfectly for television – yet another reason they were specified. In addition to the optical clarity that comes with using high-quality lenses, the Bad Boy features also include smooth, fluid control of focus, zoom range of 8:1 (7° to 56°), and imaging thanks to high-speed servo motors and full-field 0 to 100% dimming. The Quantum Color® system utilizes individual color filters providing variation in both saturation and hue, resulting in a much broader and vibrant range of saturated colors. Plus, the Bad Boy was designed with energy efficiency and carbon footprint standards in mind.
“We at PRG are very pleased to play a supporting role for the Eurovision Song Contest,” says Anne Johnston, Vice President of Marketing for PRG. “It is exciting to see this many Bad Boys on such a grand stage with a worldwide audience. We were thrilled to see the Bad Boy was enjoying so many rave reviews from the hard working crew and designers. The production is a massive undertaking and we are proud to play a role.”
For more information on PRG, please visit www.prg.com.
Oh, isn’t it beautiful? BASQUE IN IT!
