Ruggieri Fireworks & Special Effects, Regina, Saskatchewan won the La Fête du Lac des Nations Les Grands Feux Telus du Canada competition held in Sherbrooke last week.

I saw this display (shot on Friday July 15th) and confirm that it was an excellent display. Congratulations!

Pro FX of British Columbia came in second.

Paul.

Paul,

On the basis of what you have seen, does Ruggieri Fireworks & Special Effects has the requisites to compete in Montreal? Do you know if they have already competed in an international contest? Since 1985, we have never seen a Canadian contestant from outside Quebec.

Fred

Je pense que les organisateurs ont une notion très faible de l'état de feux d'artifice dans le reste du Canada et qu'il y a, en fait, une Mafia du Québec chez nous.

Hi Fred,

I'd say Ruggieri definitely have what it takes to compete in Montreal. Their display was artistic and also exciting and they deserved to win (not that I saw any of the other competitors though). I don't know if they have competed internationally though.

As for having a Canadian competitor from outside of Quebec, I believe that Hands (based in Ontario) did compete the first year of the competition.

It would be interesting if the winner of the Sherbrooke competition (which is pan-Canadian) was invited to compete in Montreal the following year.

Regards,

Paul.

I too witnessed Ruggieri's display on Friday night. It was an excellent display, and he definitely deserved to win the competition. Congratulations to Chico and his crew.

This was Ruggieri's second year in Sherbrooke, and he was definitely taking notes last year. He brought some great ideas to the lake this year, and his timing was perfect.

The only small negative comments were the music and the finale. I've heard these songs way too much, and he had so much product spread over the first 10 minutes, that the show started to slow down near the end. These are only minor items though, the show was beautiful.

Next year will be a big year in Sherbrooke. Similiar to last year in Montreal, they will only be inviting teams that have won first place in the past. They will increase the budget, and teams will be going for broke. I think the winner of this display would be able to successful compete in Montreal.

Sean

Thanks for the news, Sean. Many members here may not know it was your first time competing in Sherbrooke - I'm sure most would be surprised how much time and effort goes into putting together a competition display. Perhaps you could write an article on this for the CFA newsletter when you have some time?

I second your comments about the latter portion of Ruggieri's display and also know what you mean about certain pieces of music being over-used. I think that our problem is that we see a lot of pyromusicals so that we get somewhat jaded. For many people, unfortunatley often judges in competitions, they don't see a lot of displays and so are more impressed by music they know.

The news that the competition next year will be prior winners-only is interesting, especially given that it will be the 25th edition. I can't imagine that they'll have 24 entrants! I wonder how they're going to choose the ones who are competing? You're right, though, based on what we saw last week, I'm sure next year's winner would be more than capable of competing in Montreal. I guess we'll have to wait until 2007 to see if that's the case.

Cheers,

Paul.

Just wanted to say thanks for the kind words and the creative criticism on the music selection and show.

If I may speak to the music...for me this was out of the norm, we normally shoot to the usual classic rock, Dance music, country and the odd symphonic/instrumental piece. I went out of my comfort zone on this show with respect to the music. I wanted to challenge myself to do a entire show with contemporary symphonic type of music. This was the first time we shot a show like this.

Truth be told...I was totaly inspired by what I had seen in Montreal, Last years China show designed by Eric Tucker, WOW I was Blown away! It was the first time my crew and I had ever seen a show of that calibre and magnitude. Not to mention it was the first time we had ever been to Montreal to see the Fireworks competition....heck.. it was our first time at Sherbrooke! a lot of firsts last year!

Any way... Bottom line I thought we had found some new music...apperently not....oh well... it was new for us.

As for the Finale........well... it's a long story that I won't get into right now.

I feel Western Canada has some great fireworks designers i.e. Brad Dezotel from Fireworks spectaculars (Calgary) now there is a guy that would do Canada proud at Montreal.

Thanks Again for the kind words!!

Chico

One more thing! I did not see all the shows but, the saturday night show, I thought was great, Sean Morris and Team Ontario brought some cool and innovative ideas to the table. I look forword to seeing more of Sean's work in the years to come.

Did you guy's see Yanick's/Royal's show on Sunday?? WOW! WOW! WOW! I have never seen the sky used that way!
I Thought it was incredible!

Hi Guys!

Before I give my personnal opinions about the Sherbrooke Competition teams this year, I want to congratulate the winner of the first prize: Ruggieri Fireworks & Special Effects. I think that they deserve to win first prize and I really enjoyed their show, just like everybody who was present that night.

Even if some people think the music he used has been overused for fireworks - I kind of desegree: it is always interresting and a new experience for me to see how another designer will work on the same music: choice of products, range, colors, variety, synchro, etc... Personnaly, I enjoyed the type of music they used, and I know that it was quite a challenge for them to script a show with that type of music.

I was very fortunate to see all shows this year at the Lake - I even saw Paul Marriott one night ...that means that it worth the trip from Montreal- and I think that Firemaster Productions should have won a trophy, second or first place. I believe that they lost points because of the type of music they used - alternative rock - it is very sad for them that the judges could not open their minds to other styles of music. Very much often
judges like commercial musics, classics, etc. I wish they could learn a little more about judging shows on music they do not know of..or like, and open their eyes and minds to new sounds....Let's say that it is not the first time - and first competition - in which most of people desegree with the judges. The BEM trophy this year is a good exemple.

I also think it would be interresting to have the Sherbrooke winner in the Montreal Competition. If Ruggieri have more opportunities to create and design big shows in the future, I believe that they could be ready for Montreal in about 3 to 4 years.

Now, I discovered a new promising designer in Canada this year at the Sherbrooke Competition: Sean Morris from Firemaster Productions. I hope him and his team will be invited to Sherbrooke again, and to other canadian competitions in the futur. All I can say is that Sean vision really brought some interresting things in is show - the 2 towers he builded allowed new effects never seen before at the Sherbrooke's displays.

I believe it's a big challenge to script a show at the Sherbrooke Competiton, having to work with very small budget (compare to La Ronde or other competitions) and setting on water and land. with pubic located all around the site.

Once again congratulations to Ruggieri. Hope they will be invited next year for the 25th edition of the Fete du Lac des Nations.

Studata Girl

Thank you for your kind words regarding my display this year.

Paul’s comment about being my first time competing in Sherbrooke was correct, but it was also my first pyro-musical show. It’s hard not to design a good show when you are watching some of the best designers in the world on a regular basis.

Our goal for Sherbrooke was to design a show different than the tons of shows we had seen in the past. We brought in set pieces and a different style of music not usually seen/heard in Sherbrooke.

The 3-tower idea has been on paper for over three years. It broke my heart when I saw them in a similar style with Holland’s show last year at LaRonde. But their innovative display inspired me to try new ideas.

We knew bringing the towers to Sherbrooke would be a gamble, but it worked well. The only disappointment was the limited use of the towers. The small budget limits the amount of special effects you can use; otherwise the rest of the show would be weak.

The music was a big issue. We tried something different, and it failed with the judges and the critics, but the audience loved it. As we walked through the crowd after the show, I saw a lot of young people in the audience that night, and I’m sure they appreciated hearing music they enjoy. Hey, I’m a young person, and I wanted to see a show scripted to some Prodigy. I thought it was cool.

Team Saskatchewan, hands down, deserved to win the competition. Their show was amazing. Chico and his crew brought some cool scenes to Sherbrooke I really enjoyed. In addition, Chico told me that his musical choice was challenging to him because he had never scripted to that style before. His choice of products and effects were perfect for the type of music. I’m looking forward to his display next year.

If Firemaster Productions is ever invited back to Sherbrooke, or any other competition, we will continue to design a show to appeal to the most important person, the audience member. We are not going to design a safe show to win, we are going for broke to have fun and try something new and different each time.

Sean

Well, it appears that this was also an interesting experience for all of you! I wish I could have seen it!

Trav.