International News

MINSK, Belarus – The eight Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held Nov. 20, 2010 in the Minsk Arena, hosted contestants aged 10-15 from 14 different countries, all performing before a live audience of 15,000 and some 40 million viewers in 15 European countries.

LONDON – The Colombo Group's new dance club, The Nest, occupies the site of the former Bardens Boudoir in Dalston, East London. Co-owner Steve Ball and general manager Matt Monhardt turned to Middlesex Sound & Light (MSL) for a flexible sound system, specifically requesting that MSL use Martin Audio components for the job.

BERLIN – EAW's KF740 Three-Way Full-Range Line Array modules made their German debut recently at a concert for Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis' Canto General at the Max Schmeling Hall. Hacksound Veranstaltungstechnik provided the multi-zone P.A. system comprised of EAW speakers powered by Lab.gruppen amplification.

GUANGZHOU, China – The opening ceremony of the Asian Games in China was bound to invite comparisons with the Beijing Olympics, but organizers were determined that Guangzhou would be different from anything that had gone before.

PARIS – For Deep Purple's tour, which continues through Germany and France, their long-serving FOH engineer Gert Sanner has taken the opportunity to transfer his show mix from his Soundcraft Vi6 digital console to the smaller footprint of the new Vi1.

ROME – EVR Media, one of the companies in Proel Group, opened its new office here with the kind of fanfare it hopes to be providing for other corporate events in the region. The event including sound support for jazz and DJ performances along with choreographed dancers, lighting and projection.

OSLO, Norway – Rubicon AS purchased an MLA rig consisting of 20 MLA top boxes, 12 MLX subs, and four MLD Downfill enclosures from their local distributor, em nordic AS. The order follows major system purchases by launch customers Complete Audio of Germany and North Carolina-based Special Event Services (SES).

SYDNEY – The Sarah McLachlan-led Lilith Tour 2010 suffered a number of setbacks, including the cancellation of a number of shows due to soft ticket sales, but McLachlan and her supporters still managed to raise money for women's causes, and McLachlan pressed on with an abridged, five-stop version of the tour in Australia, joined by Kate Miller-Heidke and the Verses.

VIENNA, Austria – Following his fourth studio album release in September, Trey Songz has teamed up with Usher for the international OMG Tour, utilizing AKG microphones for lead vocals and his band's lead guitar and percussion. He is performing a 40-minute set on each of the 58 nights of the tour.

MADRID – Named "Best Live Act" at the 2010 European Music Awards earlier this month, Linkin Park's band members invited the crew, including FOH & Monitor engineers "Pooch" Van Druten and "Tater" McCarthy, up on stage. Along with Van Druten and McCarthy, the band has been touring with gear from Adamson and plug-ins from Waves.

LONDON – When Broadway's Fela! moved to London's National Theatre on the South Bank recently, Tony Award-winning sound designer Robert Kaplowitz took advantage of the auditorium's vastly different form to rework his original soundscape, with a Studer Vista 5 digital console for control.