1999 l'International Benson & Hedges Montréal Pyromusical Competition Report
Spain A Voyage from Catalonia to America Sunday July 11th, 1999
Pirotécnia Igual
A return to summer-like weather warmed everyone's spirits as the Spanish team brought a visual fiesta to Montréal with their journey from Catalonia to America. 100% of the material was specially constructed for tonight's large display, with more than 4000 components launched in the 32 minute display.
Part 1 to the music El Bateo by Dominguez A. Paso- F. Chueca. The display opened with a barrage of salutes and multi-break tourbillon shells. Then a front of mines with more toubillon shells above. Next comet shells in white, with the same in candles below, then turning to red. Then the first of many wiggly go-getter shells in orange, with orange comet candles below, then the same sequence in white. Gold glitter and purple ball candles below and more wiggle go-getters above. The segment ended with orange ball and salute candles, mines of wiggly comets, wiggly go-getters above, white comet shells, and rising tail shells in silver turning to red, to cheers from the audience.
Part 2 to a medley of popular Catalan songs. Fronts of dazzling yellow mines, with yellow comet shells above opened this segment. Then the first of many nautic pieces, this being fountains opened up in the lake. More yellow mine fronts and mines of wiggly comets followed by nautic flares turning to yellow strobes. Above these, wiggly go-getter shells and then comets turning into fireflies. Next, pale gold comet candles with colour ball bombettes above, followed by comet to ball shells. More large yellow mines, then pale gold comet shells, a barrage of orange mines with shells of slow falling comets above. Then bright headed comet candles, with comet to ball shells above followed by barrages of purple mines. A large number of charcoal comet palm trees, with some really big ones were repeated again and again. Then shells of comets ending in crackle, with mines of crackle and blue below. More nautic shells, this time in comets, with ball and comet shells above and lots of comet and crackle shells. Then rising tail shells of comets to crackle and some really nice large multi-break crackling cluster shells. The segment was brought to a close with rising tail shells bursting to blue balls and gold comets, ending with a particularly large one.
Part 3 to the music Adagio in C minor by Yanni. This began with a line of yellow fountains firing over the lake, followed by a front of orange mines. Then shells of very slow falling stars which ended up twinkling. This was followed by shell after shell of red wiggly go-getters. Then a volley of firefly shells, then more wiggly go-getters. Volley after volley of these were fired and then the theme change to fireflies in repeated fronts of mines and shells above. After these, big shells of comets turning to fireflies with crackling pistils. Another big volley of firefly shells and then a barrage of nautic shells brought this segment to a close.
Part 4 to the musicRhapsodie Espagnol by Maurice Ravel. This began with wiggly comet candles with comet and ball shells above. Then shells of the wiggly go-getters with gold glitter candles below. These were repeated and followed by bright yellow comet shells and yellow ball candles. Next, a line of cross-shaped fountains opened up with mines of yellow stars behind. Then nautic white fountains with a line of fan-shaped fountains behind. As the nautic fountains burned down, they suddenly shot serpent comets into the air. Next, fans of purple ball candles, wiggly comet mines with white comet to blue star shells above. Then pink ball candles, wiggly mines, green ball candles and yellow ball and comet shells above with salute barrages. Lots of shaped-burst shells in the form of rings, arcs and spirals followed, then a huge shell of blue stars turning to white comets. A line of gold glitter candles opened up with fronts of wiggly comet mines. Above these, shells of blue and white and then a barrage of nautic comet shells, getting larger and larger with volleys of salutes above and a huge multi-break silver spider shell, bringing the segment to a close.
Part 5 to a pot-pourri of Tangos. Mine fronts and wiggly go-getter shells opened this segment. Then white glitter comet shells end in crackle and more wiggly go-getters . Next, some multi-breaks and shells with blue pistils and white comets, followed by shells of purple and charcoal comets. A front of bright yellow comet mines with more and more wiggly go-getters above. This theme was repeated several times and added to with mines and salute candles and shells of tourbillons. Then gold glitter candles, wiggly comet mines, more wiggly go-getters and some screaming serpent candles, with comet shells above. The pace increased and the segment was brought to a close with two huge yellow comet shells.
Part 6 to a Latin-American festival. Bright mines with multi-break shells above opened this segment. Then comet candle fans and screaming whistle serpents. Then a repeating section of wiggly comet candles with colour bombettes above followed by bright pink to glitter mines with crossette candles. Above these, wiggly go-getter shells and then bright ball-headed comets in pale yellow, with the same in shells above increasing in volume and followed by lots of small comet shells. Then pale gold candles, wiggly go-getters above with salute barrages and slow-fall white comet shells following. More salute barrages and bombettes with some firefly shells above. The pace kept increasing with multi-breaks and large colour changing shells and double colour shells. Then shells of crackle, salute barrages below and wiggly go-getters above. This was repeated and the segment brought to a close with barrages of salutes, multi-breaks and wiggly go-getters.
Part 7 to a New York bouquet of Gershwin and Cole Porter. Dazzling white mines and salute candles opened this segment, with white comet and blue shells above. Then mines of wiggly white comets and a barrage of large weeping willow shells, with stars falling all the way to the ground and turning white. Next, many nautic shells of tourbillons with wiggly go-getters above. Then loud fronts of screaming whistle comets with glitter shells above. This was repeated and then shells with pistils and crackle comets, blue pistil shells with gold comets, shells with bright white comets increasing in volume and bringing the segment to a close with a salute barrage.
Part 8 to Surprise Bouquet of Sinatra. The finale began with a line of fountains and lines of flashing lances in between. Nautic flares and fountains turning to strobes followed with mines of slow falling glitter and then mines of fireflies. Next shells of the wiggly go-getters, shells with rings and big flower pistils, shells with rising tails and big comets. More fronts of mines moving to a theme of weeping willow shells. Then shells of blue stars and gold comets. The pace started to increase with barrages of yellow comet shells, many barrages of wiggly go-getters and some tourbillon shells. Multi-break spider shells, lots of mines and more and more ball and comet shells. The pace increased so that it was impossible to take notes as the sky was filled with volley after volley of shells, shells with bright flashes, titanium salute barrages and barrage of salute candles below. Nautic shells exploded in the lake, filling it with comets. The number and volume of salutes in the air increased, until a tiny pause and then a finale barrage of large titanium salutes brought the display to an end with a roar of approval from the audience.
This was a fantastic display with many magnificent nautic shells, many
of which were very unusual. The scale and pace of the display was
very intense and was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The Spanish
team received a very enthusiastic standing ovation in the press room
afterwards. The synchronization was good, especially considering the
display was manually fired, though it was slightly off in a couple of
spots. This didn't detract from an excellent spectacle and this will
be the display to beat!
