Latest news with #MazelTov
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From festivals to weddings: Why drone shows are booming
The wedding ceremony was almost over when newlywed Bobby Underwood stepped on a napkin-covered glass to break it, as is Jewish tradition, and everyone shouted "Mazel Tov!". But as he and his new wife Siobhan turned to walk back down the aisle, their wedding officiants said, "Wait." There was a surprise. "All of these drones started rising up," recalls Mrs Underwood. "It was honestly remarkable, very overwhelming – and incredibly emotional for us." She estimates that between 100 and 150 drones appeared in the night sky, displaying lights of various colours, and forming images chosen to represent the bridge and groom. These included a baseball player hitting a ball – as Mr Underwood is a big baseball fan – and a diamond ring being placed on a finger. The couple were married on New Year's Eve 2024, in New York State. Mrs Underwood's mother had arranged the surprise drone show with help from the couple's wedding planner – who had suggested it as a "wow factor" component of the day. It seemed to have the desired effect. "It was kind of just shock – 'Is this really happening right now?'," says Mrs Underwood. "I can't believe my mom did this for us." Drone shows are becoming ever more popular. Once rarities, they are now appearing at occasions ranging from birthday parties and weddings, to major sporting events. Some theme parks even have resident drone shows that take place multiple nights in a row. Glastonbury music festival had its first drone show in 2024. And record-breaking displays are pushing the technology to its limits – the biggest drone show in history took place in China last October. It featured a total of 10,200 drones and broke a record set only the previous month. So, does all this spell the end for fireworks? "They are really beautiful – they are art," says Sally French, a US-based drone industry commentator known as The Drone Girl. She says that drone shows have appeared at baseball games, corporate conferences, and even at ports, to celebrate the launch of cruises. Drone displays are becoming highly sophisticated, she explains, with some drone shows featuring thousands of flying devices, allowing them to animate figures or patterns in incredible detail. "I saw a Star Wars-themed drone show where there was a full-on lightsabre battle," adds Ms French. One barrier might be the price tag, however, with the cost per drone at around $300 (£220) in the UK, says Ms French, citing industry data from market research firm SPH Engineering: "A 500 drone show would be over $150,000." Mrs Underwood does not have an exact figure, but estimates that her wedding drone show cost tens of thousands of dollars. The sky's the limit, actually. Skymagic, one of the world's largest drone show companies, has put on major displays that cost north of $1m says Patrick O'Mahony, co-founder and creative director. Skymagic's shows have taken place in various countries – including the 2023 Coachella music festival in California. The company has also performed drone shows in the UK, including as part of the King's Coronation concert, which was broadcast by the BBC. Mr O'Mahony has experience in designing fireworks displays and other, similar events. But drones have revolutionised outdoor public displays, he says. His company has a fleet of 6,000 custom-designed drones. Each one can reach speeds of up to 10 meters per second. The drones sport LED lights and have batteries that allow for 25 minutes of flight time. To make them easier to transport, the drones are stored in flight cases and unpacked at venues in a giant marquee before they are laid out in the take-off area, half a metre apart, in a grid pattern. "Once the drones have received their 'go' command [they] fly the entire show," adds Mr O'Mahony, explaining that a single human pilot on the ground controls thousands of the devices at once. The drones are geo-fenced, based on Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which prevents them from straying beyond the allotted flight area. In windy conditions, though, they can get blown off course. In such cases, they automatically return to a landing spot on the ground, says Mr O'Mahony. Fireworks have a "boom" factor that drones generally don't, notes Ms French. However, Bill Ray, an analyst at market research firm Gartner, says that some drones can now launch pyrotechnics, for a firework-like effect. For instance, a stream of sparks raining down from the lower portion of an image created by a group of drones. Plus, Mr Ray says it is much easier to accurately synchronise drone movements with music during a show, which could be another reason behind their appeal. But the cost of shows remains prohibitive to some, and in part comes down to the fact that laying out the devices and gathering them all up again after the performance is still a relatively slow, manual process, adds Mr Ray. Pedro Rosário is chief executive of Drone Show Animations, a company that designs drone show performances for other companies that supply the drones themselves. Mr Rosário says that one challenging aspect of his work is in coming up with displays that adhere to various regulations applying to drone flights, since these rules differ from country to country. England has stricter regulations than countries in the Middle East, for example, he says. Mr Rosário adds that drone shows, which might be paired with pyrotechnics, traditional fireworks or even lasers, allow for a huge degree of creative freedom: "You can really build something that has emotional value, it can tell a story." In Mrs Underwood's case, that seems to have worked. Her guests enjoyed the spectacle too, she adds: "We've heard compliments about our wedding in general – but, consistently, the drone show is something people bring up as something they never expected to see." The people refusing to use AI Who will win the race to develop a humanoid robot? Do we need cocoa-free chocolate and is it nice?
Daily Record
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Nobody Wants This fans say the same thing as Netflix cast confirm season 2 release date
Nobody Wants This season two was confirmed just one month after the romantic-comedy dropped on Netflix last year WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Nobody Wants This. Nobody Wants This season two's release date has been unveiled with the main cast given the job of announcing exactly when it will be out. Season one of Adam Brody and Kristen Bell's new rom-com series took the world by storm last year as Netflix fans couldn't get enough of Rabbi Noah and podcaster Joanne's turbulent romance. It took less than a month for the streamer to confirm the show's future and thankfully, there will be more to come from Noah, Joanne and their meddling families with series two on the way. The main cast made up of Bell, Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons and Jackie Tohn featured in a video where they get a Magic 8 ball to answer questions about series two. Brody was disappointed to get 'try again loser' as he asked if Noah's basketball team Matzah Ballers would make it to the play-offs and Lupe celebrated as she received a 'Mazel Tov' on Morgan finding love this time around. Bell then asked: 'What is coming on October 23?', prompting the Magic 8 ball to reply 'Ask a Rabbi'. Brody then took his cue and replied: 'And the Rabbi says, season two [of] your favourite show and mine, Nobody Wants This.' Following the announcement, fans flooded to YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, to express their excitement with many sharing that they 'cannot wait' for the new episodes. Some fans though couldn't help but comment on the quick turn around with series two's release date announced less than a year since the first outing. A user remarked: 'I'm genuinely shocked! A show that has its second season released only a year after the first one?! 'I never thought I'd see that happen again! Usually shows take two years before another season releases!' A second agreed: 'Happy to hear. It feels kinda fast in a good way. Shows have been taking forever to come back on.' Another added: 'The turnaround on this to season two soooo good ! Well done to all involved.' 'Finally a show when you don't have to wait 2 3 years for a new season,' someone else remarked. A new casting announcement has already been made with Gossip Girl legend and Brody's real-life wife Leighton Meester joining for Nobody Wants This season two. It has been revealed that Meester is going to play Abby, Joanne's school nemesis who now works as an Instagram mommy influencer.
