Dancing With The Stars

The nation’s favourite dance extravaganza Dancing with the Stars New Zealand is back for its sparkling ninth season.

The show introduces New Zealand celebrities paired with professional ballroom dancers who each week compete against each other in a competition to impress a panel of judges and the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination.

Through a telephone poll, viewers vote for those couples who should stay. The public vote and the average score given by the panel of judges equally go towards deciding who should leave. Proceeds from the voting go to the celebrity contestant’s charity of choice.

Andy Tait at Tom Cat Productions used multiple Shure components to ensure rock-solid reliability of wireless sound for these critical broadcast sessions.

RF coverage stability was broadly maintained via multiple Shure UA874 active antennas across both the set and backstage areas, with an integrated amplifier on each, providing with four gain settings to compensate for varying degrees of coaxial cable signal loss.

The RF channels were coordinated using Shure Wireless Workbench 6 software allowing remote monitoring and management of every piece of gear connected to the system.

This free software is an RF engineer’s best friend when it comes to setting up complex and challenging environments and can be used safely without disrupting on-stage productions.

Clarity and articulation was guaranteed for the show’s presenters and guests during interview segments, by using a combination of Shure VP 68 capsules paired with Shure Axient Digital AD-2 handheld transmitters for clear, dynamic reproduction of the in-show scores and information.

With a wide omnidirectional pickup pattern, the VP68 requires minimal positioning towards the sound source, can be used by non-technical personnel and has excellent clarity for either on-axis or off-axis sources. Presenters Clint Randell and Sharyn Casey also used Shure AD1 beltpacks with lapels for shots where a handheld wasn’t suitable.

Tom Cat’s rack included five Shure Axient Digital AD4Q Receivers encompassing up to 20 channels of flawless wireless transmission.

Setting the new standard in spectral efficiency, Axient Digital offers groundbreaking performance with the widest tuning and lowest latency available, all fully networkable bringing a new level of management and flexibility to the entire workflow.

With multiple routing options including AES3, AES67, and Dante™ for pristine digital transmission as well. – Note not a single analog XLR cable in the back of this rack!

In addition, on-stage monitoring was handled by Shure PSM1000 Wireless In-Ear Monitoring Systems. The P10T transmitters feature touring-grade all metal housing, to handle the rigors of life on the road, as well as ethernet networking and control via the aforementioned Wireless Workbench software, 72MHz tuning bandwidth, and precision front-end RF filtering for enhanced signal stability.

The P10R bodypacks feature diversity reception for stable, reliable signal, and CueMode allowed monitoring of different stage mixes and storing of up to 20 separate channels on one bodypack for quick and easy reference. They can be paired with industry-standard In-Ear monitors such as the Shure SE846 Pro, SE535, or SE425, or SE215 series. Antenna distribution for this complex setup was handled with ease with help from the Shure UA845 Antenna Distribution System, splitting multiple antennas and amplifying RF signal across BNC connectors.