Capture Argo was the previz tool of choice at the recent 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta. Over 400 fixtures and a massive backdrop of LED surrounded the stage, bringing light and life to the young performers. Lighting designer Nick Malbon used Capture Argo to previsualize the setup with stunning results.
For the Junior Eurovision show, an array of well known Clay Paky fixtures made up the majority of the stage lighting, including the A.leda Wash K20, Alpha Beam 1500, Alpha Profile 1500, Alpha Wash 1200, Sharpy and Super Sharpy, as well as other popular brands such as Martin MAC 2000 Wash, Novalight Nova Flower, ProLights REFLEX, Robe ColorWash 1200E AT and Studio Due CityColor.
Malbon was pleased with the selection of fixtures available in Capture Argo. He commented, “I’ve been using Capture for years. At first I tried it because it was the most cost effective previz tool on the market, but then loved it because it was quite easy to learn and very comprehensive. I was actually the first person to upgrade to Argo as soon as it was released. It’s simply a fantastic tool and a great value.”
Lars Wernlund, Technical Director for Capture explained, “We make sure to have all the latest fixtures in our library, as it’s so important to our users. We work closely with manufacturers to have accurate photometrics and specs, since our users expect to see realistic images of their designs.”
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC) is an international song competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The competition has many similarities to the wildly popular Eurovision Song Contest from which its name is taken. Each participating broadcaster sends an act, the performers of which are aged 10 to 15, and an original song to compete against the other entries. Viewers from the participating countries are invited to vote for their favorite performances by televote and a jury from every country. The performance with the most points is declared the winner. The 2014 show took place on November 15 at the Malta Shipbuilding with 16 countries participating for the show theme, “#together”.
The host broadcaster for Junior Eurovision 2014 was Public Broadcasting Services Limited (PBS) with Executive Supervisor Vladislav “Vlad” Yakovlev. Set Designer was Claudio Santucci from Gio Forma, Creative Director was John McCullagh with lighting design by Nick Malbon and Viewing Room Producer was Ola Melzig.
Melzig said, “I was very impressed seeing Nick’s previz designs and then the final result. It’s a very accurate and user-friendly program. Then again, it’s from Sweden…what could possibly go wrong?”
Once the online and televotes from sixteen nations and an international Kids' Jury were revealed,14-year-old Vincenzo Cantiello from Italy was announced the winner with the song "Tu Primo Grande Amore”.
Photos: M & M Production Mgmt