The Palau Sant Jordi is the largest indoor arena in Spain, but even this sleek 18,000-capacity venue couldn’t contain all the energy and excitement generated by the 19th edition of the annual Los 40 Music Awards held there this November.
First there was the music, with 17 internationally acclaimed artists performing 40 songs, the ceremony celebrated virtually every facet of Latin and urban music. There were also the glittering awards presentations — and this year an extra dimension, as Los 40 served as a telethon, partnering with The Red Cross to raise money for those affected by the 2024 Spanish floods.
Designer Alain Corthout with help from operator Timothy Demets supported the various dimensions of Los 40 by serving up a range of lighting looks that were equally at home pulsating to the music of performers like Rauw Alejandro, Ana Mena, Lola Índigo, and Teddy Swims, as they were setting an elegant background for presentations.
Corthout and Demets drew on the versatility of the ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console when creating this seamless flow of diverse looks for the sellout crowd at Palau Sant Jordi and the millions watching broadcasts of the global event.
An array of features in the ChamSys console helped Corthout and Demets navigate their way through this multi-faceted project. Among them was the Copy Heads Programming feature, described by Corthout as “an amazing tool for transforming an existing show into a completely new setup.”
Giving Corthout and Demets greater flexibility in running the Los 40 Music Awards show was their console’s Replace Palettes feature, which worked smoothly in combination with the filter options in the Cue and Cue Stack. The Multi Console + Visualiser settings also increased efficiency by allowing one person to program cues, while another did presets.
Among the most critical features of MagicQ MQ500M at Los 40 was the console’s MVR IMPORT + PLOT. “The import super-fast from Vectorworks and other CAD programs or visualiser,” said Corthout. “You can start to build up your show without losing time on patching.”
Losing time was something that no one in Corthout’s team could afford to do in an event loaded with as many spectacular events and activities as the Los 40 Music Awards. Thanks to their skill and a powerful, flexible console, they didn’t have to worry.
