Countdown to the Knight of Illumination Awards: London and Las Vegas The 11th Knight of Illumination Awards UK (KOI) lands at London's famous Eventim Apollo Hammersmith on Sunday, September 16. Hot on its heels comes the first ever KOI Awards USA, all set to be staged at The Foundry inside Las Vegas' SLS Hotel and Casino on Saturday, October 20. Both events recognize great lighting and video design across Theatre, Concert Touring & Events, and Television (named "Live Broadcast" in the USA). Nominations for this year's UK awards have reached record levels. KOI-USA has hit the ground running and is gaining momentum as the deadline draws near. "The vision for KOI has always been to champion both the craft of lighting and video design and the creativity of the designers," says Pio Nahum, CEO of headline sponsor Claypaky. "In the UK, and across Europe, I believe KOI has dramatically raised awareness and appreciation of lighting and video design and continues to do so. We're thrilled that we are now able to bring this to the USA." "Thank you to the industry for your overwhelming support for KOI on both sides of the Atlantic." In the run-up to the 2018 ceremony, Britain's "longest-serving theatre critic" Michael Billington, who writes for the Guardian and is a KOI-UK Theatre judge, penned an article highlighting his new-found appreciation of how "lighting design can enhance, enrich, and even explain" our experience of a show or performance. Previous KOI winners have included Patrick Woodroffe and Adam Bassett of Woodroffe Bassett Design, Fabiana Piccioli, David Hersey, and Lucy Carter. Winning a KOI Award has fueled success for younger recipients, who are starting out on their careers, and given credit where it's due to those who have been pushing creativity and professionalism forward for years. This year's shortlisted lighting and video designers can be found on the KOI website at the URL below. The judging process has always been a key part of the KOI Awards' integrity. Nominations are submitted through the KOI-UK and KOI-USA websites, and each category's nominees are evaluated by an independent panel of expert judges. The judges exhaustively review the shows and supporting materials, narrowing the field to a final shortlist of three designers per award and, finally, agreeing on the winner. Both ceremonies also present a Lifetime Recognition Award. For KOI UK, critic and broadcaster David Benedict chairs the Theatre panel' lighting director; chair of the Society of Television Lighting and Design (STLD) Stuart Gain chairs the Television panel; while Jess Allan, owner of Productionomics, chairs the Concert Touring & Events panel. The UK ceremony will be hosted by lighting designer and KOI co-founder Durham Marenghi, with entertainment courtesy of BBC Comedy's "mind-reader" magician, Chris Cox. David Johnson, managing director of LDI, will compere the USA awards. 
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