Three hundred and seventy Robe moving lights were used by LD Per Sundin for the 50th Eurovision Song Contest held in the Sports Palace in Kiev.

The fixtures – a mixture of ColorSpot 1200s, ColorWash 1200s and ColorMix’s– were the main workhorses of the spectacular rig, which combined with Michael Ilka’s set design to create one of the most visually stunning Eurovision shows ever.

The Eurovision Song Contest, with a TV audience exceeding 150 million, is one of the biggest and highest profile TV shows in the world.

Lighting and technical production was co-ordinated by Ola Melzig of Swedish based Spectra Stage & Event Technologies. He and Sundin originally approached Robe at SIB 2004 with a view to them supporting Eurovision 2005 – as the event has a penchant for choosing and using the latest cutting edge technology. “We were immediately impressed with Robe’s enthusiasm and attitude” says Melzig, “They were very keen to get involved and to be part of the show”.

The fixtures were arranged all over the rig. Eight over-stage ‘finger’ trusses featured 70 ColorSpot 1200s and 70 Color Wash 1200’s plus 22 Robe ColorMIx’s for truss toners. These were used for the main colour and beam looks and were controlled by Emma Landare, one of three lighting operators. The effects lighting – on the trusses and on the floor – features 67 ColorSpot 1200s and 21 Color Wash 1200s between the upstage "trees" (scenic shapes clad with a silvered scrim) and 16 ColorMix’s, controlled by Danne Persson. The audience lighting pods also contained 72 ColorSpot 1200s among other lights – controlled by Oskar Krogell. Sixteen Catalyst digital media servers were controlled by Pontus Lagerbielke.

Sundin says that he’s generally been very impressed with the Robe fixtures and their functionality, but their reliability has been outstanding, “The reliability factor is essential. They are the workhorses of the rig and I need them all to keep going and do their job properly. We’ve also had great support from Robe”.

Chief moving light technician Dick Welland – who’s done the last 3 Eurovisions - weighs in with, “The Robe’s were fantastically reliable, in fact I’ve not encountered such a reliable moving light in many years – they came straight out of the boxes and worked” he declared. Once the Eurovision lighting rig is up and running, it gets worked extensively for two to three weeks of programming, plotting, rehearsals – and this year for the first time – the televised semi final. “Normally by that stage, we would expect to have swapped out 50 or 60 moving lights” says Welland “But this time with the Robes, only about 10 fixtures were taken briefly into the hospital for minor repairs before being returned to the rig”. That’s an improvement of 500 per cent!

The fixtures were supplied by HSL Productions in the UK and Niclen from Germany.

The Eurovision 2005 final was won by Greek singer Helen Paparizou, the hot favourite, who beat 23 other nations with "My Number One", with 230 points, 38 ahead of second place Malta

Robe’s Greek distributor, Lights & Effects, in co-operation with Audio & Vision Co. provided 8 ColorSpot 1200E ATs controlled by ROBE's Cyber Control, for the Euromania TV show, broadcasted on nationwide every Friday with the latest updates and news for the upcoming Contest.

Spectra will also be bidding for next year’s event in Greece, again offering cutting edge technology for another spectacular design.

For more press information on ROBE please contact marketing department on +420 571 751 506, e-mail: [email protected].