Clay Paky Shines on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Over 200 Clay Paky fixtures including the A.leda and Super Sharpy recently provided lighting effects for the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC) held in Malta. Lighting director Nick Malbon and creative director John McCullagh specified the setup with stunning results.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organized in 2003 by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The competition has many similarities to the Eurovision Song Contest from which its name is taken. Each participating broadcaster sends an act, the members of which are aged between 10 and 15 years old. They must perform an original song to compete against the other entries. Viewers from the participating countries are invited to vote for their favorite performances by televoting, and there is also a jury from each participating country. The performance with the most points is declared the winner.

The show is broadcast live and streamed on the Internet, as well as performed in front of a live audience. Provisional audience figures for 2014 were in the region of three million viewers. The show took place on November 15 at the Marsa Shipyards in Malta, which were converted specially into the host venue for the event. With 16 countries participating, it was a new record, the company says. The show also introduced online voting and estimated perhaps 8,000 votes--twice the amount of 2013. However, it was revealed after the show aired that in the first three seconds of online voting opening some 37,000 online viewers clicked to cast their vote, further supporting the show theme, "#together".

Clay Paky fixtures made up the majority of the stage lighting for the show. Malbon created a display to highlight the young performers. 24 Clay Paky A.leda Wash K20 were located on floor level and on vertical towers at the rear of the stage, while 24 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700, 50 Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500, and 24 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1200 filled the ceiling. Not to be missed were the 68 Clay Paky Sharpy and 24 Clay Paky Super Sharpy fixtures that brought in the visual Wow factor.

Malbon says, "I really enjoyed working with the assortment of the Clay Paky fixtures. The A.leda is very, very bright but quite flexible, while the Sharpy and Super Sharpy deliver those amazing sharp beams. The whole package worked really well together in terms of color and set nicely with the rest of the rig."

McCullagh agrees, adding, "The Sharpy is always a fantastic go-to fixture and the Super Sharpy was equally impressive with the extra punch allowing more effects to stand out against the brightness of the TV lighting, allowing the rig to be more flexible. The Alpha Beams and Alpha Spots rounded out the look nicely and the A.leda looked great on the stage."

Italian-based Agorà, in association with local company Nexos, supplied the lighting. Head of lighting Nicola Manuel Tallino of Agorà says, "The Clay Paky fixtures are always a favorite, and for good reason--they're bright, reliable, and there's such a wide range of fixtures that all work perfectly together to deliver the best looks."

The host broadcaster for Junior Eurovision 2014 was Public Broadcasting Services Limited (PBS), executive producer Anton Attard, Vladislav "Vlad" Yakovlev Chairman of the EBU Steering Committee, McCullagh, Malbon, set designer Claudio Santucci of Gioforma, and viewing room producer Ola Melzig.

Melzig says, "The Clay Paky product range is always coming up with very innovative solutions for every situation. I could really appreciate the variety of fixtures we used this year on Junior Eurovision. And I always look forward to getting my hands on the next new product from them."

Coincidentally, for Clay Paky, after the online and televotes from sixteen nations and an international Kids' Jury were revealed, the winner Vincenzo Cantiello from Italy was announced with the song "Tu Primo Grande Amore." The 14-year-old singer from Sant'Arpino racked up a total of 159 points.

See Clay Paky at PLASA Focus: Orlando, February 17 - 18, 2015.