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A top soccer event provides South Africawith its moment on the world stageBy: Louise Stickland Photography: Louise Sticklandhe excitement of 53,000 enthusiastic football fans packed into EllisPark stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa was amazing—even ifyou weren’t football-mad. The crowd braved sub-zero temperaturesto witness the thrilling final match of the 2009 FIFA ConfederationCup on June 28.Held every four years by FIFA (the Fédération Internationale deFootball Association, the international soccer organization), thetournament features the winners of the six FIFA confederationchampionships, along with the host country’s team, and the winnerof the previous FIFA World Cup. It is held the year before the WorldCup, and is considered to be a dress rehearsal for that event. Likethe World Cup, it rivets the attention of fans from all over the globe.Before they saw Brazil beat the USA 3-2 in a closely fought match,the audience—plus several million television viewers—were treated towww.lightingandsoundamerica.com • August 2009
SPECTACLEan equally exciting closing ceremony,produced by VWV/Till Dawn, with fulltechnical production—including sphericalprojections, customized ballooncontrol, lighting and audio design, andequipment, rigging and power—supplied by Gearhouse South Africa.The Confederation Cup is thelatest in a string of high-profilesporting events staged in SouthAfrica. As with all these occasions,the visibility of the opening andclosing ceremonies has taken on arole parallel in importance to thematch schedules, a benchmarkagainst which the rest of the worldcan judge a nation’s ability toproduce a spectacular event. Thiswas no exception.The VWV Consortium is a joint initiativebetween two of the country’s mostprolific production companies, VWVGroup and Till Dawn Entertainment,headed by Grammy-award winningartist Lebo M. (Among other things,Controlling the 8m-diameter helium-filled balloon was a major challenge.Lebo M. is also a Tony Award nominee,for his contribution to the score of themusical The Lion King.) GearhouseSouth Africa has worked closely withboth companies, and was chosen asthe technical partner to deliver theopening and closing ceremonies.The Gearhouse Group,encompassing nine companies, isdedicated to supplying all areas oftechnical production, and is thelargest and most comprehensive suchoperation in South Africa.GHSA has embraced the manyopportunities offered by the unfoldingpolitical and economic process ofSouth Africa, embracing the energy“ On the Thursday night before the show, whilebeing tracked into Ellis Park for the projectionline-up to start, the ball was caught by a gust ofwind in the parking lot and became impaled onone of the stadium’s concrete stanchions—causing a serious rupture. Reconstructive surgerytook 24 hours to complete, and the ball returnedto the field fit and healthy—but now with time foronly one end-of-show fly out rehearsal. ”and vibrance of the country and itspotential as a future powerhouse.The company has established itself ina unique position, developing aninter-departmental synergy,encouraging and sharing creative andtechnical expertise, and continuallyinvesting in the latest technology tofacilitate its work.The GHSA closing ceremony crewof up to 150, including locals, wasproject-managed by Bonni Meyer.They battled freezing cold nights andthe bitter wind chill of the SouthAfrican winter—and the stadium inparticular—working in an exceptionallytight time frame, getting in on Mondayfor a show the following Sunday. Theyalso had to negotiate the complexadministrative procedures involved inaccessing and working withinEllis Park.Mark Ransom, of JohannesburgbasedQA Entertainment Technology,came onboard as event technicalproduction manager.The pressure was really on forperfect execution of a 16-minuteshow designed to communicatequickly and directly to a pre-matchAugust 2009 • Lighting&Sound America
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