Doha 2006 and Quest; when the show must go on.
Doha 2006 will be the largest Asian Games ever with 45 countries and regions taking part in 39 sports and 423 events.
A spectacle to remember is promised for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games. Both ceremonies "will be to Olympic standards", said Sharif Omar Hashisho, Director of Ceremonies and Cultural Events for Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC). "We have hired the best in the business," he said. David Atkins, artistic producer of the opening and closing ceremonies at the Sydney Olympic Games, is devising the shows, with specialist teams in Canada Europe and Australia preparing the planned displays.
Australian production company Norwest was responsible for the audio for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Athens 2004 and the recent Commonwealth Games has been contracted for this Doha spectacle.
Norwest's Melbourne Branch production manager Tim Milikan with his new Quest boxes
Great care and planning have preceded the games as Doha will be a demanding environment for any audio production, due to the considerable temperature range and severity of the desert environment.
Because of it's reputation for reliability and performance in severe environments, Quest Engineering was selected as the speaker system that would be employed for the toughest jobs the games would be presenting.
Norwest have well over 200 Quest speakers in their inventory and recently added another 240 Quest speakers to send to the Doha games installation. “Quest is our most reliable speaker system and accordingly, is sent to our toughest jobs” comments Tim Milikan, Norwest's Melbourne Branch production manager.
Norwest's speaker inventory includes names such as EAW, Nexo, L'Acoustics RCF and Funktion One and would be arguably Australia 's largest production company. Quest Engineering is another useful tool when compact speakers are required for “mission critical” applications.