For the eighth year running, Entec has supplied a fabulous lighting production for LD Mike 'Sooty' Sutcliffe at the National TV Awards, staged at the Royal Albert Hall, presented by Sir Trevor MacDonald, and broadcast live on ITV.
Entec's client was production company Indigo Television. They worked closely with production manager Ruth Tester-Brown and Mike Sutcliffe to ensure the lighting fit up went like clockwork.

Sutcliffe chose a large palette of moving lights, including nearly 50 Vari*lite 2202s and 2402s, 11 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200s and 12 Stage Scans as well as Martin Mac 300s, 500s and 33 Mac 600s. Entec also supplied 14 Pulsar ChromaBanks, sited around the bottom of Richard Plumb's stylish set, which was built by Frost Scenery.

Sutcliffe ran the show with his colleague Svend Pedersen, the latter using a WholeHog II with added "Overdrive" for the moving lights, while Sutcliffe looked after the generics, set practicles and starcloth using an Avo Pearl 2000.
The overstage lights were rigged on four elegant 'finger' trusses, spreading out from upstage centre, and slightly raked from upstage to downstage. All rigging and metalwork was provided, and rigged by Outback Rigging.
Entec's team was led by their intrepid crew chief Adam Stevenson, normally found working alongside Noreen O'Riordan at Entec HQ, but a veteran of eight TV Awards with Mike Sutcliffe. The get-in commenced at 2 a.m. the day before the show, and they worked 24 hours in two 10 - 12 hour shifts of 6 people each. The lighting department was ready for a full rehearsal at 6 p.m. on the first evening, which was followed by a night of programming. The show itself was broadcast the following evening, after a full days rehearsals and programming.

S+H Technical Support draped the entire back of the stage area with a massive star cloth, transforming the hall into a perfect environment for a celebrity night out.
The live audience and galleries were illuminated with 6 Studio Due City Colors and hundreds of PAR cans dotted around the upper regions of the building.
Entec's preparation for this show begins months beforehand with meetings and discussions. The set and lighting designs change radically from year to year to ensure that the visual concept is kept fresh, vital and progressive.
With such a tight timescale, a meticulous prep is imperative. It's also important for the crew to gel together, and Sutcliffe comments that Entec's fantastic teamwork, communication and meticulous attention to detail really makes it rock under difficult physical circumstances. Sutcliffe, one of the best known lighting designers and directors in the UK, uses Entec regularly on his many and varied shows.
Entec hired a sleeper bus that was parked outside the venue for the two days of the event, allowing the some chance of sleep in between shifts. "Timescale is undoubtedly the biggest challenge with the TV Awards" states Stevenson. "The get out is pretty full-on too, with another show coming straight in".
Being live on national television puts immense pressure on all to perform well, and be glitch free, but they also they have to be prepared for the unexpected! As always, health and safety issues are also to the fore, especially at this high profile venue.
The Awards highlights included Ant & Dec winning three prizes, including one for Pop Idol, voted the Most Popular Entertainment programme.