“The world is becoming more colourful” – this was the motto for the christening of the new AIDAcosma, the second cruise ship from AIDA Cruises built to run entirely on LNG (liquefied natural gas). For the celebratory christening ceremony on 9 April in the Port of Hamburg, Germany, lighting designer Flo Erdmann in collaboration with Creative Director Sven Sören Beyer from the Berlin artists’ collective Phase 7 and under the direction of JP SPACES, created a spectacular and colorful light show that was accompanied by 250 drones in the Hamburg evening sky. In addition to the beginning of the maiden voyage of the AIDAcosma from Hamburg to Palma de Mallorca, the Hanseatic city experienced a second world premiere on this evening: Flo Erdmann also used 136 Cameo OTOS H5 lights on board the AIDAcosma for the lighting design of the ship’s christening ceremony.
“We were looking for a spotlight that would allow us to achieve a high number of units – within the budget – that could cope with the dimensions of a ship christening,” explains Erdmann, who was the first lighting designer in the world to use Cameo’s new beam spot wash hybrid moving head in such a large event setting. “The OTOS H5 is a real workhorse and did its job as a central beam showlight with absolute aplomb.” Erdmann placed the OTOS H5 lights, arranged as a fan beam in groups of 6, on the decks of varying heights and along the cruise ship’s railings to give the 337-metre ocean liner the visual punch it needed during the multimedia naming ceremony. For the start of the christening ceremony with the performance of DJ Alle Farben, 16 more OTOS H5 were deployed on the Ocean deck at the stern of the ship.
In addition to the low weight of the OTOS H5, Erdmann was particularly impressed by the combination of IP65 certification and lighting performance: “The OTOS H5 is really light, which helped the crew a lot in this setting. It is also fully outdoor capable and extremely bright. For me, there is nothing comparable in this performance and budget class.”
The entire project was coordinated by JP SPACES, a Hamburg-based planning office for event architecture. With his rich experience in set construction and event management, managing director Jasper Poensgen managed the merging of the trades: “Planning such a production on a special location like a cruise ship is always a great challenge. The ship is in normal operation and accommodates guests on board in parallel to setups and necessary coordination. Thus, a rehearsal of our show in advance was not possible and meticulous preparatory work was required from the entire team so that the perfectly timed complex sequences of the spectacular light and drone show could succeed. This worked brilliantly!”
AMBION GmbH – who had already proved in 2018 for the christening of the AIDAnova cruise ship that they can perfectly stage an occasion of this size – acted as the central technical service provider for the event, which was broadcast live in a stream.
The OTOS H5s were supplied by NicLen GmbH, who were one of the first dry hire providers worldwide to invest in the new Cameo series. “With the OTOS H5, we deliberately invested in a hybrid moving head that can be used flexibly in the outdoor sector and thus meets the increased demands of the market,” explains NicLen Managing Director Jörg Stöppler. “We are pleased that the OTOS H5 was able to demonstrate its full capabilities right from its first use.”
