The reality show Project Fame, based on the UK’s popular TV show Fame Academy, took South African television audiences for another wild, reality TV ride. Matrix Sound (Johannesburg, South Africa) was awarded the sound supply contract; owner Trevor Peters was named sound designer.
Peters remarked, “It was one of the most challenging designs we have undertaken: In that the show, stage and space we were working in was so fluid. Each week, the line-up of musicians, their positions onstage and the performance area of the contestants changed, and most times they ended up in front of the P.A. system.”
Peters chose to install Alcons The Ribbon Line array system as the main P.A., comprising 12 units of ribbon-loaded Alcons LR16 line array modules, controlled and powered by Alcons ALCs. Peters continues, “The brief for the show was that the live event had to have a concert feel and it should read like a rock concert on TV. To achieve this, the audience had to be enveloped in the sound and the SPLs were not the norm for the usual television studio events. The directivity and the unsurpassed ‘gain-before-feedback’ played a huge role in assisting us to achieve the high levels we did with most performances in front of the P.A. and in an enclosed environment.”
The show’s contestants lived together in the “Fame Academy” and received professional training and grooming for stardom. Each Sunday, they competed against each other, and the results aired in a live television broadcast. The winner received a grand prize, which included a recording contract, a car and more.
For more information on the P.A., visit www.alconsaudio.com.
