grandMAStudy Case

Eurovision Song Contest 2006, Athens

Ralph@Larmann.com

With more than 1,000 people from 37 countries, as well as 2,000 reporting journalists, the Eurovision Song Contest that took place from May 18th to May 20th 2006 was one of the biggest music events worldwide. It was held in the O.A.K.A. hall in Athens which was fully booked with 14,000 spectators.
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece
Show completely pre-programmed with grandMA 3D
The Eurovision Song Contest was an outstanding event technically organized by the German company Procon. The lighting system used around 500 moving lights as well as Barco video- and Schnickschnack LED systems. The
video as well as the LED systems were put into motorized movable stairs that had the shape of an amphitheatre. In total 44 DMX lines were used that were divided into four lighting worlds: moving lights, LED, white light and video/media server. The complete lighting control was done via MA Lightings grandMA system. This included four grandMA full-size and one grandMA light including backup and 22 NSPs (network signal processors). Moreover an optic-fibre network with four HP switches was installed to guarantee the highest possible stability of the lighting control system especially with the network. Such a complex installation of control and network could only be realized by the continuous, two-yearstanding cooperation between the mo2 Design GmbH, the company of lighting designer Manfred Ollie Olma, and MA Lighting. This started with the variety production Blue Balance in Oberhaussen, followed by the SAT1 TV-production Urmel aus dem Eis and the Stage Entertainment musical night Best of Musical. These shows illustrated the benefits of a real pre-programming studio to the team of designers. They were able to keep within the limited scope of time and budget and to use the short onsite time as efficiently as possible. In parallel for MA this event also meant important knowledge for the further development and functionality of their system components. Pre-programming was of vital importance Six weeks before the show lighting designer Manfred Ollie Olma invited the whole team to the pre-programming in Cologne, Manuel da Costa (moving lights), Marcus Bossdorf (LEDs) and Philipp Herbst (Video) were present. Marcus Krmer and Ren Berhorst (MA Lighting) were there to support all three programmers. For the pre-programming they used another eight grandMA 3D systems for the real-time visualization in addition to the further
The team behind the scene with the winners Lordi from Finland.
Four grandMA full-size and one grandMA light including backup and 22 NSPs
consoles and NSPs. The complete show was divided into four different sessions. For each session one grandMA full-size with backup was used. Per 3D visualisation a VGA-Grabber-Card was inducted into the MA mediaPC for the projection of the overall picture. The other mediaPC was used by the respective programmer for individual switchable camera views. The advantage was, that beside the front view, which assembled of moving light, LED and white light, each programmer could use a different camera perspective on his second 3D-computer, e.g. top view on stage. Even the Greenroom was controlled by a grandMA light with backup. For the realisation of our job the MA system offered us possibilities that we loved, says Lighting Designer Manfred Ollie Olma. We really appreciated the close cooperation weve had with MA over the last two years. Since the beginning of the pre-programming in Cologne everything was to our full satisfaction. We had the chance to program and present in Real time. The pre-programming phase and the time in Athens was accompanied by a few bugfixes and requests that were, even in this critical phase, taken up and implemented immediately by MA Lighting. A bugfix that was found in the morning was already removed around midday and we could continue our work with the latest software. Stability and flexibility of grandMA praised On May 1st the whole team, materials and the mobile pre-programming studio moved to Athens. Here Oliver Heidingsfelder (programmer for the white light) and Pia Virolainen (lighting designer assistant) joined the team as well. On the evening of May 2nd the complete control network was re-built and ready to play so that they could start the on-site adaptation. Due to the pre-programming in Cologne only the correction of single presets had to be made; this did not take much time at all. As the build up of the stage in the hall was considerably

"For the realisation of our job the MA system offered us possibilities that we loved " Lighting Designer Manfred Ollie Olma
delayed the complete LED programming had to be made via grandMA 3D. As grandMA 3D is very close to reality and flexible too, the production team was very impressed and full of praise for the system. This was a very important benefit for a big, live production of this kind. The stability, flexibility and the direct access possibilities were important for the Eurovision Song Contest, as within the short lighting time moods for 37 individual songs and artists had been created.

Project team

Show Producer: Costas Charalambidis Director of Photography & Lighting Designer: Manfred Ollie Olma Assistant Lighting Design: Pia Virolainen Project Manager: Foteini Yiannoulatou Art Director & Set Designer: Elias Ledakis Artistic Stage Director: Akis Stamatiadis Lighting Equipment: Procon, Udo Willburger (Production Manager) PRODUCTION by E.R.T. (Hellenic Radio & TV)

Schematic Drawing

Company Profile
MA Lighting International, based in Paderborn, Germany, is the dedicated sales, support and service entity for the renowned grandMA control systems, digital dimming systems, networking tools and media servers of MA Lighting Technology, based near Wuerzburg (GER). The product range offers cutting-edge solutions for control and dimming and contains the award-winning grandMA consoles, the renowned Light- & Scancommander, but also the reliable digital dimmer racks and packs. With its media server grandMA video MA bridges the lighting and video worlds and integrates media servers like a fixture into lighting control. Today, MA Lighting is well known for its technical know-how and has achieved a unique international reputation for its operational philosophy. The company looks back with 25 years experience. MA Lighting strictly follows a professional user-centric approach and is getting as close as possible to the market via its own international offices as well as competence and support centres in the UK, North America, Latin America, the Middle East/India and Asia Pacific supported by an world-wide distribution and service network.
MA Lighting International GmbH An der Talle 26-Paderborn Germany Tel: + 49 (0) 65 -10 Fax: + 49 (0) 65 -88 info@malighting.com www.malighting.com 2008 MA Lighting International GmbH Version VIII.01 All technical specifications are subject to change without notification. We do not assume liability for any incorrect information in this case study.