Wow, where has the competition been hiding? Yet another consecutive spectacular and breathtaking display was witnessed tonight. Sweden is certainly in contention for a Jupiter this year. What a fantastic display that was.

As I thought, I enjoyed every little bit of this performance along with its corresponding dance music - a selection that I haven't so much enjoyed in literally years (many spectators around me were dancing like it was the 80s-90s disco). The display had excellent product quality with a large variety of pyrotechnics and color richness. The transitions were apparent, even though there were, really, only two or three tranquil segments! The show also had amazing choreography, especially with those beautiful mines and comets at low level. Really and truly, the fireworks did each and every soundtrack justice and easily captivated the audience.

The weather really followed the conditions specified, with calm winds and mostly clear skies. Calm winds made it sometimes difficult to see the display for many viewers (especially in it being so active in general) towards low to mid level. Temperatures were a little warmer than expected in the metropolitan area at a good 22 C, although the specified temperature range held true for the suburbs at 18-19 C. Humidity levels were low.

I'll have more details later on for this wonderful and professional display. I will also post my video of the excellent finale as well.

Trav.

Here is my video of the final minutes of the display, taken from Notre-Dame and De Lorimier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZOC78wkAK8

And the cloud of smoke after the display heading North-Northwest (NNW):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG3128.jpg

Trav.

Hey,

Well this display was a first for me. By first I mean, the first time I've seen a Swedish firm put a display in Montreal. And I have just four words to say. What a fantastic display! This was by far a very standing out display. It had very funky music synchronised to the shells. Alot of music was played from when I was really young (Rythym Is A Dancer, etc.). From Paul's soundtrack list... he seemed to have forgotten to add Sandstorm by Darude & Elle La Elle L'a by Kate Ryan, but no problem about the minor flaws. From his soundtrack list, I thought Rythym Is A Dancer was the last track to play. But somehow, they put a modern french song as their final song (Elle La Elle L'a by Kate Ryan).

The opening was very nice, alot of very large loud shells with so much color. Cydi Lauper's "True Colors" was probably the nicest track that went very well with the shells. All the colors blended in like a symphony of light. It was truly a painting in the sky. The weather that Trav had mentioned in his other topic, was correct, but the smoke over the Saint Lawrence River made me upset. I couldn't see the lower effects. As for the small effects, I could have sworn they used dim-light candles (similar to what Luso used in 2008). They hardly used Studata's which didn't really make me too happy. They seemed to over-do the 10" bowtie shells which we're quite noisy. Somewhere in the first 3 or 4 segments, the shells seemed to be very loud, louder than they normally would be. The finale, wasn't really the most powerful at all. It was quite weak, like it was lacking a few more hundred shells. I can tell that they saved several 12" shells just for the final minute. Not that powerful at all. Which really dissapointed me, alot. Otherwise being, I enjoyed this display and would want to watch it all over again. I can say this display will give them a big thumbs . But this display surely won't beat Canada.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2SmtjnLwQ
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWND_XaBzA
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIO1zIv8Ih0
Finale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmaweP0WHo

My full review can be viewed here: http://pyromight.blogspot.com/2010/08/goteborgs-fyrverkeri-fabrik-swed en.html

Here are my rankings so far:

1. Canada (GO CANADA GO! )
2. Sweden
3. Italy

Pat

I'm going to post more detailed comments later, but I can't sleep without sharing my thoughts. I highly anticipated this display since the release of the 2010 schedule or, to be honest, since the first display of Göteborgs in 2005. And my expectations were completely filled tonight. What a fantastic display from this second member of the anticipated ultimate trio of the 2010 competition.

It was purely beautiful, wonderful, and magical. An outstanding display featuring the best of the Göteborgs' show in 2005 (absolutely perfect synchronization, great mix of music) and significant improvements (a subtile storyline without any narrative), helped with more clement weather (no technical problem). Despite very minor criticisms I am going to detail tomorrow, this display is ahead the Canadian one in my opinion, though by a very thin margin.

Fred

From his soundtrack list, I thought Rythym Is A Dancer was the last track to play. But somehow, they put a modern french song as their final song (Elle La Elle L'a by Kate Ryan).

You have to scroll down - all the tracks are there:

18 Rhythm is a Dancer – Snap
19 Sandstorm – Darude
20 Ella Elle l’a - Kate Ryan


Bob's video is up now too! I'll write more on this great display later today!

http://www.burchcom.com/2010/index.html

Paul.

I have uploaded the video for Sweden.
http://www.burchcom.com/2010/index.html

If you want to download the video and save it, use this link.
http://www.burchcom.com/2010/sweden.flv
Right click on the link and select "save target as"

Please note that I am uploading .flv files to conserve space.
If you download them, you will need a player to display them on your computer.

The Riva player is free at this site:
http://download.cnet.com/Riva-FLV-Player/3000-13632_4-10435953.html

Once you have the downloaded file, if you want to convert it to an .avi file, you can use this converter (also free download) http://www.any-video-converter.com/

I will leave all of the shows up in this index page throughout the season.

Here are photos that I took:








More photos are available here: http://pyromight.blogspot.com/2010/08/team-goteborgs-fyrverkeri-fabrik .html

Enjoy!
Pat

I think it’s a few years since I last posted a review on this website but now there’s a really good occasion to do!

To summarize things up briefly I think this is without doubt a Jupiter-show! Brad from FSC also received great reviews and I’m also a great fan of Brezac’s last Montreal-show so I’m also looking forward to their performance next Saturday. But this flowing disco-theme and the mindblowing choreography combined with first class material was a very refreshing approach that worked really well!

To me the best aspects about the display were:
-Great mixing of the pieces of music! Honor to Martin’s background as a DJ…
-An amazing choreography of the ground effects! Great sequences of singleshots, flares, cake-rows etc.
-Great mix of colors – particularly well done in the ground effects
-First class product. It’s very rare to see such great product from Spain, Italy, China, Taiwan, Germany mixed together. That stock must be the Nirvana of any fireworks designer! At least in Scandinavia for sure ;-)

My ranking of Gothenburg-displays are now as follows:
1-Montreal 2010
2-Swedish Championship 2005 (this is still the best “short” pyromusical – go search for it on youtube!)
3-Hannover 2005

Saluteness commented on the finale being less powerful. From the video I could share this point of view and as Paul mentioned in he’s review of the Canadian display, Brad from FSC did a very large and well controlled finale (the last being most important!). Firstly I found it elegant with nice product and build-up. Secondly I don’t see this as a "showstopper" for the podium. Though the finale is a crucial part of any display, the theme and overall performance should rank higher since it's easier making a large finale than designing a flowing soundtrack with a dazzling choreography - and here Gothenburg really stood out!


When it comes to designing a flowing choreography to this kind of music (disco) I don’t know anyone better, actually. Just go see their shows on youtube to see what I mean... Yannick Roy from Royal Pyrotechnie still ranks as maybe the best designer in my opinion (after I witnessed he’s show back in 2003) but he’s style of music is very different from this soundtrack from Gothenburg so it’s hard to compare the two. But I think Royal and Gothenburg are both right up there!

Now we just have to wait to see which Jupiter this show will be awarded – I think it’s out of question that it deserves one and it sounds as if people agree on this prediction. The only thing keeping me from predicting the gold is that I haven’t seen Brezac’s show and did not experience FSC’s show “live” – as every display should

BR,
Lars

This penultimate entrant of the 2010 lineup did an outstanding show. A vibrant example of the pyromusical art at its best and a convincing demonstration of Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik’s ability to make the most of a wide range of pyrotechnic products. To those who have wondered in the past few weeks, following some criticisms written in this forum and elsewhere on the web, what is required to meet the Montreal standards, I suggest to watch the full video of this one.

Interviewed by Paul and Mylène last week, the designer Martin Hilderberg said that he had learnt a lot of things from his previous and first appearance in this competition in 2005. For sure, one of them was about the importance to deliver a climactic start at the end of the countdown and to avoid the empty sky effect which sometimes happen with narrative segments. The storyline of the 2005 show was a nice visit though the city of Göteborgs with Ingrid who welcomed her friend Jacques from Montreal. The journey began at the airport, then moved to a concert, Liseberg amusement park, a movie theater, a pub, and a night club. This time, the anticlimactic sound of the airplane with discrete nautical flares were changed for a strong introduction to the « DJ’s Memories » with ABBA’s « Dancing Queen ». The theme of the 2010 show was less sophisticated, but much more engaging and clearer than in all previous on-competition displays this year.

The choice of music was safe and really met audience’s tastes. Travis reports in this thread that some people danced on Notre-Dame street. (One of my friends just told me the same thing about passengers on the cruising boat he was on last night.) We can claim that people actually dance in the street when Göteborgs comes in Montreal. Many viewers – including the author of this post – moved on their seat at La Ronde. I welcomed two more serene segments (« I’ll Find My Way Home » and « True Colors »), which allowed other types of effects. But what should be emphasized here is the quality of the soundtrack, which was similar to the set of Céline Dion’s songs heard during the mid-term off-competition display and the one of Fireworks Spectaculars Canada (FSC). The songs were perfectly mixed, with only some pauses strategically located. Moreover, some transitions were augmented with sounds creating a dramatic background, like the beginning of Michael Jackson’s « Thriller » (more on this below), or the scratching effect before the finale.

Back to the pyro. To say that synchronization was « flawless » through the show is an understatement. As soon as the fireworks began with « Dancing Queen », I was delighted with a quality demonstrated by Göteborgs in 2005 and which I evoked last week as a challenging component for FSC : the incredibly tight synchronization between ALL musical and vocal components of the soundtrack and the fireworks. (Even the smallest percussions from « Dancing Queen » were pictured with fast gerb effects.) Furthermore, the choice of almost all pyrotechnic devices fired during the display perfectly matched the rhythm of the music. The note-synchronized effects were countless since they appeared to be standard, even for very fast sequences (i.e. : the one-shot strobes on the beginning of « Sandstorm »). The selection of pyrotechnic pieces and their position through the display were far to be random : for sure, they were the result of a long designing process.

Early this week, we learnt from Paul’s/Mylène’s interviews with the designer that he had a surprise in store for the YMCA song. I have hypothesized on this forum that it was related to the YMCA letters, which might be made of lances on four setup pieces (which would haven’t allow to lit up the letters only when the letters are pronounced, though), of letter-shape mines (a special effect successfully introduced in Montreal by Pyromagic in 2009), or letter-shape shells. I crossed my fingers for a well-done effect as this segment of the song was coming! I was surprised and delighted to see these letters made of white gerbs attached on columns located on the third ramp (three gerbs for Y, six gerbs for M, three gerbs for C, five gerbs for A, this sequence appearing four times). The audience became very vocal at this time, and it was not the last. A spectacular barrage of double-ascension girandolas, the last flight ending with bursting stars, caused enthusiastic reactions from the viewers. Whereas these girandolas are not unusual, I was more impressed by two pairs of shells of comets (whose heads lit up after a moment) which embedded smiley faces. This product comes from China and I don’t remember having seen them in Montreal since the smiley faces are usually made from shells without any other effect. (The first of these two pairs of shells appeared exactly at 4:53 following the start of the show, the second pair a couple of seconds later.)

I wrote last week that Brad Dezotel made the most of the firing site. Martin Hilderberg did the same thing. Though the barrages of nautical shells were a little less dramatic than those in the Canadian show, we saw two of them (the first with rare nautical shells of red go-getters, the second with regular shells at the most intense point of the finale), nautical flares and rotating nautical fountains. Like Dezotel, Hilderberg fired huge effects from the fifth ramp, with some mines of tourbillons and three awesome z-cakes of green and purple stars.

The full use of the firing site obviously impacted the complexity of the design. For instance, the serene music of Vangelis’ « I’ll Finds My Way Home » began with nautical green flares turning to silver strobes, with candles of meteor-headed comets shot with a small angle just above the water. Once these strobes turned off and the candles ended, the segment continued with the aforementioned flights of double-ascension girandolas, led to a sequence of rising comets bursting in horsetails (or Niagara falls) effects, followed with candles of electric comets augmented with shells of strobes, and ended with larger shells of twinkling stars. After this serene segment, the more dynamic rhythm resumed with a sequence of three Michael Jackson’s songs, which also exemplified the complexity of the show. « Thriller » was introduced with red flares on the fifth ramp on the sound of thunders, a short sequence of note-synchronized comets from ramps 3 and 4 and of gerbs from ramp 5, blue flares on ramps 3 and 4, then small vertical and angled red gerbs and fountains (the whole setup thus creating a depth effect), leading to the beginning of the song with higher and more dynamic pyrotechnic devices, with the addition of red strobes along the third, fourth and fifth ramps synchronized on some percussions.

The quality and the wide range of pyrotechnic products were impressive. In addition to the rare nautical go-getters and the original shells of comets with embedded smiley faces, we seldom see the shells and mines of comets which behave at different speeds like go-getters, but whose direction changes, as we saw on the music of « Play that Funky Music ». Diversity was clear with the introduction of different effects as the show goes on and came close to the end : cakes of stars bursting in tourbillons and different sorts of shells of farfalles on the music of « Suerte », several kinds of effects which slowly fell (horsetails, falling leaves, and falling clusters of thiner stars) on « True Colors », shells of triple rings on « Sing Hallelujah », and candles of comets bursting in blue stars and white bees, and other bursting in crackling pistils during the finale.

Despite this diversity, the show was more repetitive than the Canadian one, especially with the regular use of gerbs, flares, strobes, flames, and one-shot comets. I’m sure that they were often displayed because they are the pyrotechnic devices whose effects are the shortest and most appropriate for note-synchronization. In addition, I believe that this show had potential for a more obvious faux finale, since there was a very strong penultimate music segment (Sandstorm) and already massive barrages. I am not sure what the perception of other viewers was, but I felt a lack of reaction from the audience at the end of Sandstorm as it should have at the end of a faux finale. I think that a complete pause in the soundtrack (it featured voices of people between Sandstorm and Ella elle l’a) and insertion of some barrages of salutes (which are typical of a finale) would have stressed this faux finale effect. I really can’t see what other criticisms I can address to this fabulous display.

In 2005, I and other members of the forum were very confident in Göteborgs’ chance to jump on the podium. I have written it several times as the 2005 season progressed. At the end of the competition, most of us were surprised and disappointed to not see the Swedish team among the winners. A couple of days later, Martin Hilderberg wrote in this forum how he became himself more confident as our claims about Göteborgs’ chance became more numerous. I felt very bad at this time. As a consequence, I’m reluctant to claim that Göteborgs will be among the winners “for sure”. More safely, I say that Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik will « likely » be among the winners : the show was better than in 2005, scheduled later in the competition, and one of the two best displays this year. I think that Göteborgs may be, with FSC and, potentially, Brézac Artifices, a proud member of the « ultimate trio » I have talked about since a couple of weeks.

FSC did an excellent display last week. I feel that the diversity of pyrotechnic material was a little wider with FSC. I think the great use of the site and the quality of the soundtrack were similar in both shows. But it is obvious that the synchronization and the whole harmony between the music and the fireworks were better in the Swedish display, and I believe that the theme was a bit more obvious than in the FSC’s one. For these reasons, I update my ranking in this way :

1. Sweden
2. Canada
3. Poland
4. Italy
5. Portugal
6/7. Taïwan/United States (in no specific order)

Travis’ weather forecast was almost as precise as Göteborgs synchronization. The wind was dangerously weak, pushing some smoke toward Notre-Dame street. The on-site audience could see the whole show without any problem, but smoke accumulation became more important at the end of the display. As people exited the Place du Canada, we saw the light smoke above us. Other than that, it was a perfect weather for a fireworks, much more better than in 2005. As it seems to happen every two weeks since the beginning of the 2010 competition, Michel Lacroix was missing last night. And I missed the official ceremony, being jammed in the Goliath’s queue line.

Fred

Behold, the display-basher is in the house ! Once again, my French review was completed yesterday morning and I've been too busy in the rest of the day to write my usual summary here.

What a show ! Wow !

Martin Hildeberg and his team prepared us a truly exceptional display. I had some reserves regarding to the choice of music (as using popular songs can lead to not-so-original sequences), but I was totally - utterly - wrong to doubt GFF's originality. Yet, the theme was the one that appealed me the most when the list of themes was out, as I'm a part-time musician and sound engineer myself.

The Dancing Queen sequence was really great to begin with, so my initial reserves were blasted away in as much time as one would say "Dancing Queen/Feel the beat from the tambourine". Note-synchronized comets (with a mine base) started this first segment in a dramatic fashion, then were augmented by red go-getters and assorted mines. The show put a smile on my face for 30 minutes non-stop.

Like others have said, I was dancing on my seat for the most of the first part. Even though some songs might be "kitsch" to some, I enjoyed myself immensely as I knew about half of the soundtrack and would anticipate where the punches would be. Martin did not disappoint, as the timing of the various effects used was spot-on.

There was a lot of flame projectors sequences, but unlike the now infamous and highly criticized Cirque du Soleil tribute, they were never out of place nor too repetitive (they were slightly repetitive at most, but always appreciated - again unlike Cirque du Soleil's). Also, GFF opted for colored flames (green and blue ones were seen), which helped to avoid undesirable repetition.

Like Fred said just above, there were two more serene segments. They didn't detract at all from the festive mood, as they felt like a short pause before the DJ comes back again at the console to rock the house some more. Speaking of which, "True Colors" truly was a brilliant sequence; unlike "It's a Wonderful World" from Taiwan's entry, the expected colors were present - and what colors would that be ! I spotted teal (or turquoise) comets during this section; needless to say that I was quite delighted, as this color is very rarely used in Montreal.

Unfortunately, unlike in "True Colors", I felt that most of the effects used in other sequences were some variety of golden effects (or had gold inserts at least). I would have expected a lot more color, but again the smoke accumulation certainly toned some effects down. Therefore, I didn't removed too much points in regards to color use in my personal evaluation grid, as I leave GFF the benefit of the doubt on this one. The designer doesn't have any influence on the wind (or the lack thereof), so I can't, in my right mind, punish him for that !

Yet, the display was quite wide and powerful in nature. I for one won't complain about the finale, as the build-up was effective enough for me. In the final moments, I was thinking "add more, add more !" and the fireworks followed exactly my anticipation, bringing the display to an end in a really good manner. The crowd in La Ronde then gave the GFF team a truly thunderous ovation; I think that it confirms somewhat that everyone passed a very good moment.

Unlike Fred, I won't refrain from giving my prediction (sorry Martin if I'm wrong) : GFF is a tentative Gold Jupiter winner at this point. Everything now depends on how France display works out next week.

Did I talk about the Y M C A sequence ? I didn't ?! Well, this is how you redefine successful sky- (or ground-) writing ! GFF did not used any trick from a previous concurrent (letter-shaped shells, set pieces or mines), but instead opted to use very effective gerbs to spell out the now-famous letters. Awesome ! I was flabbergasted !

Then, I didn't talk about the mix either ! Well, again, awesome (and much more than that). Some concurrents should take lessons with Martin Hildeberg to learn how to craft such a perfect soundtrack (regarding to the mixing work and the various sound effects and loops from other songs).

Now, the moment of truth, the grade (and detailed breakdown, for once) :

Pièces pyrotechniques (Effects)
8 / 10
Synchronisation
10 / 10
Bande sonore (Soundtrack)
10 / 10
Conception technique (Technical design)
8.5 / 10
Conception pyromusicale (Pyromusical design)
9.5 / 10


Total
46 / 50
92 %


Congratulations to GFF : you've just passed Canada by a very thin margin in my own evaluations. I hope that the jury members think the same, though, as it's their grades that do matter...


The now-famous link to my French review and my set-up and display pictures : My website

That's exactly what i was expecting from GFF! It was a very good show!

I think that the strongest part is the synchronization, most of the ground fireworks were synchronized very nicely but i have to say that the shells were not really that synchronized but they all matched the music perfectly My favorite segments would have to be the september, michael jackson and the true colors segments. I also liked the darude segment. The technical design was pretty good too, they covered most of the space although more nautical shells would have made the show much better!

Another strong point of the display would have to be the effects/pyrotechnic materials, although im not sure why stl grades the effects very low. There were some very nice yung feng, san tai, and parente shells. It's also always nice to see mines and comets by ricasa! The colors were very good and they were really precise. Some of the blue mines were not so good though, i doubt that those really dim blue mines were by ricasa. They used many shells that had mine tails i thought that this was clever because the mine lifts made the segments were there were only shells look fuller even with the absence of solo ground effects. My favorite shell that they use would have to be the smiley to silver chrysanthemum. Those were really nice and i haven't seen them before. The roman candles they used were also of high quality, the height, timing and colors were very nice must be ricasa's or parente's. The girandolas were very nice too. I also liked the colored gerbs and flames/flares they used.

The theme was apparent cause clearly, they didn't fail to make some people dance on their seats The song choice were very nice and enjoyable, usualy i don't like slow segments but i liked their 2 slow segments. I think that there were a few mistakes but this can not be avoided with such complex and fast phased shows

Here's my grading for GFF:
Effects: 9.5/10
Synchronization: 9.5/10
Music: 10/10
Technical Design: 9/10
Pyrotechnical/pyromusical Design: 9.5/10
overall: 47.5/50 (95%)

My rankings so far:
1. Sweden - Gotenburg Fyverkeri Fabrik (95%)
3. Canada - Fireworks Spectacular Canada (91.4%)
4. Italy - Pirotecnia Soldi (86%)
5. Poland - Surex (85%)
6. Potugal - Macedos Pirotecnia (79%)
7. U.S.A - Western Enterprises (76%)
8. Taiwan - Santai Fireworks (72%)

Well, goodluck to France! It's gonna be hard to be the show to follow Sweden!

Vander

Another strong point of the display would have to be the effects/pyrotechnic materials, although im not sure why stl grades the effects very low

Vander, I don't consider 8/10 to be "very low". I'd consider it to be in the "Very Good" range, 9/10 being "Excellent" and 10/10 being "Exceptional".

Like I said in my review, I felt that there was a predominance of golden effects throughout the display, and unwanted repetition regarding to this dim color always lead me to lower the scores regarding to the effects. The official criterion definition says:

diversity and quality of the pieces as well as diversity and richness of colours used

Therefore, while GFF had an outstanding quality of products, their diversity of colors was not up to par with, for instance, Canada display. As I gave them 9/10, I couldn't justify giving GFF a better grade than that, as we have to remember that Canada's products also were outstanding in quality.

If it wasn't for the "True Colors" segment and the smoke accumulation (that may have caused effects to shift to more dull tones), I'm afraid the grade would have been lower than that. I'm a color aficionado when it comes to fireworks, so seeing gold, silver and white being used over and over again (in general) doesn't fare well at all with me.

Also, there was quite a contrast between the range of colors exhibited in "True Colors" and the rest of the display, so my grade reflects that, as GFF proved that they could be able to use vivid colors in an effective manner.

And, I repeat myself, this is only my opinion ! It's not used at all when it comes to decide who will get a Jupiter award. For a second week in a row, I really hope for GFF to come back and lift a coveted Jupiter in their hands in celebration !

Oh i see, so it is mostly because of color combination choices I would think that an 8 is low because one can't go wrong with the manufacturers that gff has chosen to use, specially with color vividness I'm not sure if i can agree with the golds and whites, because i've seen other firms who just mainly uses gold and silvers and it's not that bad (hint: vaccalluzzo ) ... in my opinion that is

Anyway i also would love to see gff go back to get their jupiter!!

Vander

I invite all readers to take a look on STL's website. He has a fantastic picture of the YMCA letters:

http://www.logiquefloue.ca/pyrotechnie/international-des-feux-loto-que bec/saison-2010/suede-31-juillet-2010

Fred

For those who want to stay on the forum, here it is, in all its glory (thanks to Fred for the publicity, though !) :



Just click on it to enlarge to 1024 pixels wide.

Enjoy !

I also have it with green shells above, if you'd like to see it ! Just wait for me to come back home and I'll put it in this thread.


EDIT : It appears that Bob Burch also managed to capture the exact same moment than I took in my picture, but in a portrait orientation. See Martin Hildeberg's Facebook album (here's a link to Bob's picture on FB : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4623649&id=669217420)

that really is an awesome picture

Vander

Wow! Bravo! What a performance. It was very enjoyable and entertaining.

The use of ABBA for the introduction was a good choice; it is an international, intergenerational musical success that enabled the GFF to get our attention. The visual that accompanied the music was exquisite. Right from the start the fireworks were grandiose; big explosive entrance using high and low fireworks (using a good amount of visual space) and that created a great impact for us the audience. Synchronicity between music and fireworks was very tight and clean. The diversity of explosive material (colors, sizes and shapes) during this piece was noticeable; I would even say appropriate to produce a strong and beautiful beginning. Visually, it had a nice “exit of song” as well.

The switch to “Play That Funky Music” offered a very neat transition with lower fireworks, displaying a wide spectrum of colors that enabled us to draw our attention to new explosive material and new shapes. Again, the use of very efficient synchronicity while enhancing the rhythmic elements was powerful. In addition, offering a good variety of high and low fireworks made a perfect continuation for the Swedish show, as if it was only during the next song from “Earth, Wind & Fire(works)” that we could begin to catch our breath since the amazing start of GFF’s performance. Thus, “September” had a beautiful introduction that led me to think and understand that being a DJ, surely helped Martin Hildeberg to offer great transitions between musical songs and visual scenes. This last song is, for me, very nice and smooth and I thought the fireworks offering accordingly a feeling of smoothness that, like I was saying earlier; enabled us to catch our breath. This helped create that sense of a dynamic flow, which provide high-energy moments and, in contrast, a more relaxing section.

Afterward, “DJ memories” cameback with another strong rhythmical song by Donna Summer; “Hot Stuff”. And of course it did offer some really hot and intense visuals. Although, it was then that I started to perceive some minor weakness in the show, especially during the guitar solo. But then again, the rhythmical enhancement of the beat of “Hot Stuff” were so robust that it made us forget this little detail. The musical mixes brought us to very solid transitions towards “Disco Inferno” (which was short and sweet) and then, the big surprise; the “YMCA” letters, this was an absolute favorite with the crowd and also for its great busy visual section.

Next transition was another calm “tableau” displaying a more elaborated visual spectacle (on the music by Jon and Vangelis), including the famous “2nd life UFO’s” that took the crowd by surprise and fascinated them completely. Following up, was a treat for the DJ that remixed several songs by Michael Jackson. This is where I think the substantial elements of GFF’s work where presented; The Swedish team delivered the goods which made me also think that they might deserve the first rank in this year competition.

With Shakira’s music, Martin brought a variety in the visual, the mood and subtlety in the disposition of the explosive material. The Latin flavor continued with Gloria Estefan’s “Conga” which is totally appropriate for a visual party. Again, with great mastery, Martin mixed the music and visuals to another Latin classic, “La Bamba”. I also have to restate myself by saying how well he worked his visuals and musical transitions, which were for me the “Forte” of this performance that made the show so enjoyable. In addition, to follow up this festive section, he included the music of “Samba de Janeiro”, where the sky of Montreal was all lightened up with fireworks (The party goes on!)

A big "finish" to help create a delightful changeover towards a new section with the music of Cindy Lauper. At this moment, the term “less is more” takes all its meaning; the usage of few explosive material, in order to reflect the songs emotional power, worked perfectly. Colors and synchronicity were exquisite; it was a memorable moment (the ones we hope to get when we’re going to see a pyromusical show… thank you Martin).

Then, going back to more bouncy, dancing music that took us back to the dance floor of the 90’s. I thought the musical mix between C+C and Dr. Alban was awesome. The fireworks were very good in the variety (sizes and shapes), as well as for the enhancement of the rhythmical elements (which shows that this DJ knows something about rhythm). The transition and “tableau” for Snap! had some weaknesses, I guess the visuals were not reciprocating the emotion of that powerful song. In conclusion, the two last songs offered us a “mouthful” of beautiful explosions and artistic display, and they kept a steady flow of efficient pyromusical elements that suggest strongly the relevance of the Swedish Team as winning this year’s fireworks competition.

Sebastian

Thanks for your segment-by-segment review, Sebastian ! It's highly riminescent of the reports Paul Marriott used to write, which is always a good thing (not that I dislike his actual report format, far from it !)

Now, here's the YMCA letters with green peonies above (and some orange ones as well) :



Like you may notice, I prefer the first one I posted, as the smoke is less of a problem.

Thanks Simon(STL),

I appreciate your kind words. It was fun to write it. Rarely a pyromusical show made me dance and sing, while being seated!

Cheers,

Weather had some influence on this display due to the calm to very light nature of the winds. An area of moderate high pressure had a foothold on much of Eastern Canada for several days in the region, leading to pleasant days with calm conditions and cool overnight lows. Consequently, though conditions were in fact suitable, the weak winds present sometimes allowed the display to be obscured by building smoke at low to mid level. Smoke was often heading "very" slowly to the right of the audience at La Ronde, though displayed more variability towards the final seven minutes of the performance, where it appeared to create a large veil over nearly every vantage point except Southward towards the bridge as the cloud was not moving too much by this point. All that said, temperatures maintained 22 C during the late evening hours (18-19 C in the suburbs) along with low humidity and mostly clear skies. I noted the cloud of billowing smoke at the end of the display following the vehemence exploited during the final minutes – the final product resulting in a cloud taking on the appearance of the anvil of a thunderstorm from a distance.

Yet another exemplary performance of top quality and living proof that much can be accomplished even when faced with a tighter budget - in fact, both the quality and design of Göteborgs' display this year, as Fred noted, were more pronounced from what was remembered in their introductory display of 2005. The display this year, titled "Memories of a DJ", captivated the very large Montreal audience present and took them through a very interesting, exciting and interacting (literally) set of appropriate soundtrack. With all honesty, I have scarcely seen so many individuals dance along (including occasionally yours truly as I cherish 80's and 90's music with a passion beyond belief) so extensively with a selected track listing involved in a given display for many years. This enforces a point that I have brought up for countless years now, in which 80's and 90's disco work very well in delivering a memorable pyromusical, principally because the essence of these tracks has some binding and irresistible spell that simply makes you want to do nothing but dance or move your body to some extent (unlike most music that we are exposed to nowadays), and this was partly, I’m sure, the intention of the Swedish team. Furthermore, because each and every soundtrack was so well represented through the fireworks (they, too, were dancing in a surreal fashion), the feeling became increasingly, to my delight, moving and equally enthralling.

As was specified in Paul's interview, this Swedish team has never before concocted a specific segment within their previous pyromusicals that had been centered on "Dancing Queen". I'm positive that Göteborgs had a wonderful time designing this piece after they took the initiative to use the soundtrack. Most assuredly, the opening segment was a true exemplification of their fabulous work, for this piece made for a wonderful beginning with its obvious genuine choreography. This beautifully crafted opening also undoubtedly threw some hints and indications as to what the rest of the performance would very likely offer, perhaps not knowing how intricate, creative and enticing the display would become in the following segments. Contrary to their debut in 2005, narration was not used to convey this year's less complicated theme - a simplistic theme is often advantageous because it is easier to justify and diverts more focus on the technical aspects of the show in representing it while not worrying so much about a multi-dimensional approach (doing so tends to run the risk of leading to simplicity and avoiding the loss context/relevance) - both Sweden and Canada undertook this strategy of possessing a relatively simple theme but with a complex and enjoyable display to enforce it, and it surely has led them to the utmost success.

We were treated with a notably wide diversity of effects, including many gerbs, nautical strobes (in various colors), fountains, comets and rich mines, all of which were signature components of this display's choreography and intricacy. At the mid to upper levels, spectators indulged in various forms of shells, including some multi-color star shells, Saturn shells, occasional 12" shells, triple ring shells (one might say bracelet shells), a couple of smiley face shells, red photo-flash salutes, some multi-breaks, double-ascension girandolas, go-getters, plenty of fans of comets, horsetails brilliant cakes and Z-cakes. There were also a couple of moments for nautical shells, one set of which near the beginning exhibited a go-getter-like pattern. All effects were used carefully to justify key components of each soundtrack used – horsetails, girandolas and fireflies, for instance, being used in the tranquil segments.

For the technical details, the design of the display was clearly ingenious and magnificently organized from beginning to end. Music selections were well edited and modified to appropriately suit the display and, like Canada, were seamless in flowing from one segment to the next. Soundtrack were also arranged such that transitions in pace would be apparent, which were reflected in the changing slower pieces of "True Colors" and "I'll Find My Way Home" from the encompassing active segments. All soundtrack were appropriate in corresponding to the employed theme and were not completely deviant at all for the first time this year. The theme itself was cleverly chosen and, once again, well reinforced and projected before the audience. Balance/symmetry from low to high level was almost always well maintained, and much like the Canadian display, we often witnessed a wide display from the left to right. Low level effects also supported upper level activity nicely, filling the sky at any given point during the more active pieces. Each segment was extremely coordinated and choreographed - synchronization was, as Fred stated several times previously, more than flawlessly delivered.

It would be difficult for me to choose a personal favorite segment as I had so many to choose from (being a 80’s and 90’s music fanatic). Numerous segments were elegantly introduced with often flamboyant colors at all levels of sky, but I did particularly like "Sandstorm" (currently listening to that as I write this) when all the nautical strobe lights illuminated in rapid sequences along low level posthaste to lead into the song - the feeling enhanced with the cloud of smoke being lit up overhead. Other segments that stood out in a similar fashion were the Michael Jackson pieces as well as the aforementioned Dancing Queen, Rhythm is a Dancer (love that song), Suerte and Conga, all of these being portrayed in the most breathtaking ways. YMCA was also worthy of noting in the way it was brought forward with its accompanied intensity and surreal atmosphere. I couldn't appreciate the lettering until I viewed Bob's video as well as STL’s excellent capture of this special effect - I was happy to see that the Swedish team explored and experimented with the idea for this particular track, and it seemed that everything was well executed.

My criticisms are minor and likely fall into agreement with what most of you have, or will soon write. Firstly, as many pointed out already, I, too, felt that there was a little redundancy in terms of the low level effects used for many of the soundtrack, namely the single-shot comets (fans of comets as well), fountains and gerbs. However, as also mentioned by Fred, I do not see this as too much of a problem as these effects are best employed in representing distinct notes that define a given soundtrack, especially in the sort of selection used. I was, as always, very much enamored with the interesting nautical shells, but I would have preferred to see at least a couple more sets in between the display. The music selection was undoubtedly well selected, but I discovered the display would have benefited from perhaps one more (brief) piece that exposed some form of tranquility somewhere in between. Finally, I would have personally liked it if Sandstorm was used for the actual finale as opposed to before during the penultimate part of the display - perhaps an extended version of "Sandstorm" would have been favorable for a more inviting finale, although that is certainly not to state that the finale in itself was lousy. Not a criticism as it had to do with the winds, but it would have obviously been easier to appreciate this display in all its glory had it not been for smoke buildup sometimes interfering, particularly towards the final seven minutes.

All that being said, I would more than love to see Sweden secure a spot on the podium this year for their memory-implanting display, especially after being denied a position in 2005 after their outstanding performance at the time. The choreography in this display was simply fascinating and dually awe-inspiring. The colors were rich and frequently mesmerizing when in exquisite mixes while the product quality was fabulous. The music was a particularly striking component to the display and I feel it will give the team a good advantage in the ending result. Fluidity was always maintained and therefore the display never possessed a feeling of tardiness. For these reasons and others specified above, Sweden is certainly in gold Jupiter standings (as is team Canada in my mind), and it would be an injustice if they were not to be awarded with a Jupiter altogether in the 2010 edition, especially taking into account the level of the competition this year - the same holding true for team Canada.

In any case, pleasant weather to along with a fantastic fireworks display! August was off to a nice start weather-wise with a return of the high 20s C (possibly low 30s in some cases) and higher humidity levels. Thunderstorms (some isolated severe), of course, are also possible throughout most of the week due to the instability and buoyancy returning, as was the case yesterday (August 2nd) afternoon-evening.

The designer doesn't have any influence on the wind (or the lack thereof)

Wouldn't that be something if he somehow did!

Trav.

My review of this absolutely-must-win-a-Jupiter-award display by GFF is here.

As I said with the FSC display, if GFF don't win something this year, then I really won't attend again!

Paul.

Hey all,

As stated by Paul, this show must absolutely win something this year. Without looking at the viewer's ratings on the l'Internationale des Feux website (7.7 for Canada and 7.8 for Sweden, doesn't make sense ....), this display was a true work of art when it comes to synchronization. Seeing the fireworks dancing like that to the music was fantastic. The only minor criticism is that by doing the extreme note synchronized ground effects, this display felt smaller then Canada's display. The large caliber shells were not used as often, and when they were indeed used, there was a fair bit of repetition. Also, the colors were not as bright and well defined as the Canadian display but that could very well be the fault of the wind.

Just like Canada, this display deserves another enormous

After thinking about this for quite a while, here are my predictions so far:

1) Canada
2) Sweden
3) Italy

Wow ! What a nice show !! First of all thank you for the video (again).

It was a truly great display, perfect synchronization and good effects. The choice of music was great I'm sure people were dancing and shaking their hands all the time. It's nice tho see the truly level of this competition again! It's hard to choose a favorite segment, but I think the Sandstorm and the Ymca are the best for me. Both are a good example of how fireworks should be fired.

My criticisms are minor , but are the key to understand why I prefer the Canadian show than the Swedish one. First of all the use of the low level. There's no doubt the synchronization was flawless, better than in the Canadian show, however it was a bit repetitive sometimes. The use of the space was not so creative as the Canadian show, and some effects were used too much for my taste. Moreover the synchronization wasn't always at the same level ( can't compare the Shakira segment with the Sandstorm piece).

The finale was also good, but the song was not the best for me. After the Darudes song the Ella Ella wasn't intense enough , but of corse this only my opinion.

In general a great great performance for a Jupiter award.


My Rankings so far:

1- CANADA

2- SWEDEN
-----------------

3- POLAND

4- ITALY

5- PORTUGAL

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6-7 USA / TAIWAN

Hey guys ! I leave you a video in HQ from the Swedish display recorded by the team, it's the full video, hope you enjoy, I did it !!!


http://www.vimeo.com/13969040

It could be great to be able to embed the videos but I think it's not possible ...

And here the presentation and anthem of the team:

http://www.vimeo.com/13997268

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One more question: Paul, are you going to upload the full videos of the three winners in better quality? At least Canada and France ?

Just to let you know : my orange YMCA picture is being used on GFF's website right now :



Needless to say that I'm quite happy about it I gave my permission to Martin Hildeberg to use my pictures as he may see fit, but I never thought one would end up on his home page !

Would it be possible to restore the videos of the 2010 displays? I suddenly had the urge to watch both Canada and Sweden 2010 again!

Thanks,

Trav.

I prefer this one (GFF's own), though the high level is lost due to the tight perspective.

http://vimeo.com/13969040

EDIT : Link to Canada 2010 sent, check your PMs on FB !

Enjoy !

Thank you so much, STL, and yes, I received your link on Facebook!

It's so delightful to see these displays again - I just hope to witness many performances like these (or better) for 2012!

Again, many thanks!

Trav.