Los Angeles (January 24, 2008)
The show may have been called “Clash of the Choirs” but it was all sweet music with the grandMA controlling the lighting for the new NBC series. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the grandMA in North America.
“Clash of the Choirs” featured five music celebrities -- Nick Lachey, Patti LaBelle, Blake Shelton, Michael Bolton and Kelly Rowland -- who assembled amateur choirs in their hometowns. The choirs performed on four consecutive nights in the week leading up to Christmas with viewers eliminating groups as the nights wore on. Lachey’s Cincinnati-based choir emerged the winner taking home $250,000 for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Lighting designer Greg Brunton was challenged to light more than 40 songs during the course of the shows. “We knew what songs would be performed from night to night only one hour before the show because we didn’t know which choirs would be moving on,” he explains. “So we had to reformat cues each night. Fortunately, the grandMA was so versatile that we were able to do that. We didn’t have to work in a linear fashion like other consoles; we could jump from song to song very easily and quickly. And redoing a string of cues was easy, too.”
After years of working on other boards, Brunton says he’s “grown very comfortable with the grandMA. The success of any board lies with the programmer, and I have found grandMA programmers with the level of skills I’m used to."
"Everyone knows who Greg Brunton is. His career has spanned many technology paradigms and his opinions have real weight. The fact that the grandma suites his requirements shows us that we are on the right track. We have always felt that the grandMA was the ideal console for TV, and handles 'on the fly' situations better than any other platform," comments A.C.T Lighting's President and CEO, Bob Gordon.
Dirk Op't Eynde was the programmer for Clash of the Choirs.
Brunton is now working on the new primetime “Million Dollar Password” game show for CBS on which he’s also employing the grandMA.
About A.C.T Lighting
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients. For more information call 818-707-0884 or visit www.actlighting.com.
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