Construction workers rush to complete a three-meter extension of the grandstand at the Cebu City Sports Complex to accommodate the judges, VIPs and paying guests during the Sinulog Grand Parade on January 17/ (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Giant LED television screens installed on the stage will light up the Sinulog Grand Parade showdown at the Cebu City Sports Center’s grandstand area this coming Sunday.
“This is the first time that we are being more technical. In the grand finale, we will have an element of surprise. Since it is the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), the LED wall will open and a big globe will appear,” Sinulog Foundation Executive Director Ricky Ballesteros said.
Each of the 10 LED TV screen walls measures nine by 12 feet.
Ballesteros said the screens will be used to show audio-visual presentations, videos and other materials from morning until sundown.
Binibining Pilipinas Supranational Rogelie Catacutan, a Cebuana title holder, will lead nearly a thousand performers during the grand finale on Sunday.
Catacutan recently represented the country in the Ms. Supranational pageant.
She was crowned Reyna ng Aliwan representing Cebu in 2011 and was also Miss Cebu 2010 3rd runner up.
With the IEC scheduled nine days after the Sinulog, Ballesteros said the theme for this year’s grand finale will be related to the international event.
Dancers will perform the different dances of the nations represented in the IEC.
“It’s very timely also since she (Catacutan) is Ms. Supranational. She will be surrounded with different flags of different nations,” Ballesteros said.
The performers in the finale will also dance to a new song composed by the SFI titled “Celebrate Cebu,” an upbeat, “danceable, island beat.”
The SFI also chose to use white canvas cloth, put up in wooden braces as the stage’s backdrop instead of the usual plywood painted white.
Ballesteros said the white painted plywood is glaring to the judges and the spectators.
He said they used a white background so it would complement the blast of colors from each of the contingents that will be presenting on stage.
This year’s Sinulog stage, including the LED walls, costs P1.7 million.
The grand finale is estimated to cost P2.5 million excluding the fireworks which usually costs P300,000 and is sponsored.
“A huge globe will come out in the stage that signals the grand finale. I think we’ll have to portray 70 international dances with only 16 counts each. They will be wearing traditional costumes of different countries,” he told reporters.