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SKYMUSIC SELECTS VISIONLITE FOR SERBIA’S MAC AWARDS

Amsterdam-based staging automation specialist provides technology and hardware to the Music Award Ceremony (MAC) sponsored by Huawei and organised by native Sky Music Corporation (Skymusic) at Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

An evening that was dedicated to recognising artists from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, the MAC Awards Ceremony certainly didn’t hold back in its production values.

Featuring musicians such as Zeljko Joksimovic, Stjepan Hauser (2Cellos), Marija Serifovic, Toni Cetinski, Van Gogh, Karolina Goceva, Plavi Orkestar, Emina Jahovic, along with many other European personalities, the event held on 29 January involved a staging set up that truly begged belief with a jaw dropping level of automation.

Milenko Skaric Chief Executive Officer of Skymusic picked up the story: “From the first moment, the audience could see that this involved a high level of production. Our aim was to make it just like as memorable as other awards ceremonies held in London or New York, as opposed to the not-so traditional backdrop of Belgrade, Serbia. The event featured a lot of

cutting-edge technologies melded with also a lot of art and local culture in the show.”

Brought in to handle all the automotive elements of the show were Visionlite. “The collaboration of music, automation, staging to start, was immersive as soon as you walked into the venue. There was no doubt about it on paper let alone during setup that the designer wanted it big and jaw-dropping,” Visionlite’s Blake McNally reflected.

The spectacle presented the latest trends in concert technical production, scenography, audio and video technology, mobile displays and an innovative lighting concept. Visionlite supplied its VL Stage lift, in combination with the latest Kinesys Apex system to fly over 1,000m2 of LED screens sized in large box-shapes.

Skaric said: “This was by far the largest rig in the Belgrade arena I’ve

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VISIONLITE

ever seen. We had to build complete sub rig and to make sure we fulfil all the standards to use all the moving screens above the audience. More than 400 motor hoists and 2km of truss was used in order to rig this equipment. To make it happen, we simply had to build somewhat of a small ‘truss city’ above everything.”

Automation was controlled via a Kinesys K2 while a local SIL3 controller, developed by Visionlite, which manned the stage lift. McNally remarked: “All automation elements acted as a sweetener to all of the insane design by Milenko. It all worked really well together and was truly impressive.”

Over 850 moving and LED lights created big looks, controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2 to operate lights and powered by Avolites Ai media servers.

With such an expansive rig, the show didn’t come without its fair share of challenges. Skaric commented: “Live broadcasts are totally different

“Our aim was to make it just like as memorable as other awards ceremonies held in London or New York.”

Milenko Skaric, Skymusic CEO.

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to a regular performances with no room for mistakes. We need to make sure that the cameras, video and lighting teams are working perfectly with each other. Artists at times may improvise so we have to be prepared for all scenarios no matter how many rehearsals we had.”

McNally added: “We all worked well under this pressure of the live broadcast. I think the combination of all teams working well together. Our collective focus really showed during the TV broadcast and the stress of being live was forgotten,” he exclaimed adding, “Bring on 2020!”

Skaric concluded: “It was a great challenge and without doubt, the greatest show we have everdone. We are proud of what we achieved, and all our team can’t wait for the 2020 MAC Awards!” TPi Photos courtesy of Skymusic. www.musicawardsceremony.com www.visionlite.eu www.sky-corporation.rs