Once the ‘Flame of Hope’ cauldron was lit the show began. A video entitled Welcome to my City was played and more than 1,000 Special Olympics athletes from 32 different countries entered the arena in a colourful parade, with cheers and contagious smiles rippling through the arena.
The Special Olympics IX MENA Games is not only a significant event in the region, but it also is an important test event for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games which will also be held in Abu Dhabi. With that, client and show producer HQ Worldwide wanted to deliver an opening ceremony that set the scene for the week ahead and paid due respect to the talented athletes from the UAE and visiting countries.
This is the second time Abu Dhabi has hosted the MENA regional games, the last time being ten years ago in 2008 and it has grown in size since then. From 23 countries and 12 sports to 32 countries and 16 sports, the growth shows people’s perceptions are changing for the better, welcoming diversity, becoming more inclusive, and celebrating the abilities of people of determination.
Protec provided lighting, audio and video as well as some rigging for the show in ADNEC. HQ Worldwide provided its own lighting design and the video content.
Project manager Simon Travis, said: “Due to the openness of the venue, scaffold towers were erected around the grandstand area. For the three big ones on the open side near the road we used our total fabrications EHD truss to span across so we could hang our lights. Underneath the grandstand five more little scaffold towers were placed so we could use our smaller truss and hang fixtures around the area.
“We had four follow spots towards the back end of the arena to pick up speakers and performances. We used 16 Super Sharpies on top of the set to create a nice beam effect up top. On the floor, on either side of the stage, we used 4 Super Sharpies, our new Robe Pointes and Robe Spikies. Underneath the set, which was used as the stage entrance, we used 12 more Robe Spikies for more beam effects. Along the edges of the stage we used a total of 56 Clay Paky K10 B-Eyes with 30 SGM P2s and 24 Robe Pointes to create some interesting effects there and to wash along the stages for the performances.”
Dan Ivanovski, Protec’s lighting engineer, added: “Under the grandstand roof and front of house towers, we used Varilite Spots. 24 Varilite Washes and 24 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1200 illuminated grandstands and athletes seating area. 16 Clay Paky Scenius Profile rigged around the arena picked up the performance on stage as well as some key positions for speeches.”
The set-up took three days, followed by four days of rehearsals in preparation for the two-hour ceremony on the opening night.
Florian Hoss, senior video technician at Protec, said: “We used three Watchout Servers for content playback that involved the opening video, lower thirds for name-slides, timecode for other departments and audio tracks, whereas one production machine was controlling two display machines, one main and one backup. The Watchout main, backup and the incoming camera signal was then switched by a Barco S3-4K to screen.
The screen was powered by a quadruple stack of our 30K Barco HDF-W30 FLEX Projectors. We used two main and two backups with a seamless failover switch over Widget Designer.”
There were challenges faced due to the heavy wind and the heat, according to Hoss. The projection tower was shaking a lot and the metal changed from the hot temperatures of the day to the cold of the evening, meaning realignment adjustments had to be made every night. Nevertheless, the projection looked sharp overall, and the cameras were well directed.
Protec’s audio department handled the large space by using 24 L-Acoustic’s K2 loudspeakers, 12 hung either side covering the area with consistent coverage front to back. These were supported by eight SB28 Subwoofers taking care of the low end all powered by the LA8 amplifiers. The system was controlled by a Digico SD5 desk. The company used its new Shure Axient handheld radio systems and along with that used Sennheiser in-ear monitors for the MCs. Communications were taken care of with Clearcom Freespeak and Helixnet, allowing the crew to wirelessly communicate effectively over the entire venue while the stage management team, Protec technicians and the client used Motorola radios.