Back

MA Lighting for Clash of the Choirs

TV show votes for grandMA2 and MA VPU

Blond Productions was involved, for the third consecutive year, to supply the full technical for the televised competition Clash of the Choirs held at Global Access Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mauritz Neethling from Blond was responsible for the lighting design, having control via a grandMA2 light. He also used a MA VPU plus MK2 (Video Processing Unit).

Filmed for Mzansi Channel on DSTV, the competition saw seven celebrity choirmasters assemble amateur singers who went head to head at the Clash of the Choirs. The competition kicked off at the end of 2015, with the finales held in April 2016. This meant the entire rig – the set designed and created by Dream Sets – had to come down and be put up again.

“Dream Sets cleverly created an arena type set which really enhanced the visibility of the choir,” said Neethling. “The competition had used the same set for two years, and the only elements reused was the Horse Shoe shape, a steel construction with silk covering which was previously hung over the main stage area, and this year was positioned over the judges table, creating great reversal shots and depth.”

While Neethling was responsible for the lighting design, he worked closely with colleague Heinrich Ströh who was operator and system technician and who took over as lighting director once the show was on route. MA was used to add AV and graphic content onto the LED Walls via the MA VPU. “MA allowed us to do a lot of programming in a short period of time,” said Neethling.

With each choir comprising of 20 individuals on stage at a single time, the greatest challenge was to create mood or ambience. The set was designed to have colour in the background and from the sides, and a key focus was to ensure visibility of choir.

The season ended with team JR from Mpumalanga, initially seen as the underdogs of the competition, winning the coveted title.

DWR Distribution CC is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting in South Africa.

Photos: © Duncan Riley

Used Equipment:

<link http: www.malighting.com en goto>1 x grandMA2 light
<link http: www.malighting.com en goto>1 x MA VPU plus MK2 (Video Processing Unit)

Further news

Saturday Showdown for grandMA3

"It was an all absolute blast using the desk and the grandMA3 system"

Lighting designer Ryan Lombard decided that South Africa’s newest DSTV games show “The Saturday Showdown” was prime time for him to make the switch to an all grandMA3 – hardware and software –…

Read more

The jury has decided

grandMA3 for Idols SA 2021

Idols SA 2021 became the first television show in South Africa to use a fully grandMA3 – software and hardware – lighting control platform, chosen by Joshua Cutts and Andre Siebrits from Visual…

Read more

“The next level”

The Voice Dominicana votes for grandMA3

Producers of the first ever edition of The Voice Dominicana wanted a high impact production for the series which showcases some serious rising star talent, and asked top lighting designer Paulinho…

Read more

Power and speed

grandMA3 convinced at the Brit Awards 2021

The Brit Awards has long been noted for its spectacular productions, and the 2021 event was no exception, staged at the O2 Arena, London, UK featuring an elegant and dynamic production design by Es…

Read more

Rotterdam rocked

grandMA3 supports Light-H-Art at Eurovision 2021

Lights flashed, LED screens pulsed, the sound system roared, pyro exploded and 26 artists proudly representing their countries gave their songs stellar performances all contributing to the palpable…

Read more