
The 2013 CMT Music Awards was staged at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee and featured a spectacular lighting design by Tom Kenny. The fan-voted awards show featured a stunning rig which included 24 of Robes newest moving light fixtures, the Pointe, along with a variety of Robes other ROBIN series moving heads.
After a successful show with the brand new Pointe, just previously used on the MTV Upfront Presentation in New York, Kenny specified the versatile and multi-functional fixture for the CMT Music Awards.
This was the fifth year that Kenny has designed lighting for the CMT Music Awards, a live show, broadcast on CMT (Country Music Television) and attended by a live audience in a venue with a capacity of 15,000 people.
The creative team included Lighting Director and Programmer Michael Appel, Lighting programmer David Fuji Convertino, Scenic Designer Anne Brahic, Video Content Producer / Designer Tim LaValley and Video Programmers Loren Barton.
Their visual collaboration produced another memorable show to honour the very best in country music.
The lighting equipment was supplied by VER, and all of the Robe equipment was located on the deck of the multi-layered stage set.
The Pointes were used as the main lights in that position, all of them directly upstage centre. Twelve were set on the main deck and twelve on another elevated deck about 10 feet above the main stage and performance area.
The expedient and unobtrusive size of the Pointes meant they could be left onstage throughout the entire event. They were a real workhorse of the show, featured in almost every look, scene and performance.
Appel, who programmed the show using a grandMA2 console, explains that from wide-beamed glamour looks to completely contrasting waves of tight panning beams, We were able to get a wide variety of usage from these versatile fixtures which would have been difficult with other lights of its class.
Kenny has incorporated Robe products in his work for some time. He is always keen on being the first to embrace and road test any new technology, and was delighted to be able to use Pointes again after the MTV Upfronts at the Beacon Theatre in New York.
In the larger and very different arena setting, they still Blew us away with how much brighter and more fun they are to use than other products. he enthused
Appel particularly likes the Pointes wide zoom range, rotating gobos, six-facet linear prism (it also features an eight-facet circular prism as well) and the super-bright tight beam. We were able to put these features to good use on this production he reports.
In addition to the 24 Pointes, the rig included Robe ROBIN MMX Spots, LEDWash 600s and LEDWash 1200s.
The LEDWashes were used as shoot lights to fill the camera frame with attractive backgrounds and add generally to the excitement of the bumpers, awards presentations and live performances.
The LEDWash 1200s were positioned on the main and auxiliary presenter stages, with the 600s rigged on offstage booms stage left and right of the main stage on the arena floor.
Both Kenny and Appel love the individual LED ring control on these fixtures, which is great for in-camera effects.
The MMXs were used as floor lights behind the Nationwide Insurance performance stage.
The show was presented by Kristen Bell and Jason Aldean, and the evenings big winners included Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Florida Georgia Line. Taylor Swift brought the house down with a rocking performance of the title track to her current album, Red.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
25/10/2025
LOS ANGELES As the popularity of short-for vertical videos from mobile devices continues to soar, vgames, Pitango and a group of Hollywood executives and celebr...
25/10/2025
LONDON The AI-powered VFX toolkit Slapshot has launched a professional-grade AI camera tracking tool the company said is designed to deliver precise camera sol...
25/10/2025
NEW YORK NAB Show New York said its 2025 edition wrapped up its program on Oct. 23 with 11,500 registered attendees from 95 countries, reinforcing its status as...
25/10/2025
NEW YORK Vimeo said it rolled out new AI-powered features and creative tools that it said will make professional video production faster, smarter and more rewar...
25/10/2025
HOUSTON Regional sports network Space City Home Network has upgraded its audio control room with a Solid State Logic System T S300-32 audio console as part of t...
25/10/2025
BAFTA-nominated cinematographer Annemarie Lean-Vercoe ( Breeders , Call the Midwife , Murder in Provence ) was just the DoP to set the look on sophisticated a...
25/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc, a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, today announced a new distribution partnership with Versatile Distributi...
25/10/2025
Chaos today announces the release of Chaos Vantage 3, the first major update to its real-time visualization platform in more than two years. With Vantage, AEC p...
25/10/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that it powered the first-ever delayed-live broadcas...
25/10/2025
LTN is accelerating the digital evolution of US local broadcasters with innovations that enable stations to launch streaming channels faster, deliver live news ...
25/10/2025
Rise WIB and Rise AV, advocacy groups championing gender diversity and professional development in the broadcast and AV sectors, have announced key leadership u...
25/10/2025
European technology developer Profuz Digital is proud to announce its partnership with the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria as a Special Technical Partner. To overcome...
25/10/2025
European cultural broadcaster ARTE has strengthened its long-standing relationship with Grass Valley, selecting the company's LDX 135 cameras and Creative G...
25/10/2025
IBC today announced the official call for challenge submissions to the Accelerator Media Innovation Programme 2026, inviting forward-thinking organisations from...
25/10/2025
ASB GlassFloor, the Germany-based global leader in high-performance sports flooring, announces the official launch of ASB Arena and Event Services AG (AES), a s...
25/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has announced that its internal playback stream testing system for the Bitmovin Player now leverages AI...
25/10/2025
Envoi, multi-cloud data management and data protection solutions provider, has launched a new solution, Envoi Express Lane, for managing the demands of distribu...
25/10/2025
Accedo, a global provider of video streaming software and services, has supported FloSports, a leading sports media company, to expand its service to Samsung an...
25/10/2025
Spanish-Language Music Production Course Debuts at Berklee Online New 12-week online course expands access to Berklee's renowned music curriculum for Span...
24/10/2025
NEP CEO Martin Stewart on $700M Investment, Restructuring, and the Challenges Fa...
24/10/2025
FOX Sports Debuts Next-Gen Graphics, Celebrates Career of Lead Producer Pete Mac...
24/10/2025
GROUP MEDIAPRO Chairman and CEO Tatxo Benet Steps DownBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 2:37 pm
Print This Story | Subscri...
24/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: Amazon Prime Video Debuts Cutting-Edge Studio, Mobile Units, Global...
24/10/2025
(L-R) Director Justin Lin with his cast and producers at Eccles Theatre for the premiere of Last Days in Park City. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shutterstock for...
24/10/2025
As global connectivity demands continue to grow, non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are emerging as a transformative force in telecommunications. By extending cove...
24/10/2025
Warsaw - Poland, October 20, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has published its latest All Screens Video Landscape r...
24/10/2025
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere Filmed at Berklee NYCs Power Station The biopic, starring Jeremy Allen White as the Boss, focuses on the period when Spri...
24/10/2025
TORONTO Sometimes in sports, as in life, it's the little things that matter, and that aphorism will be on full display tonight when the Toronto Blue Jays ta...
24/10/2025
NEW YORK Charters Spectrum Reach has announced that its clients have used Waymark's AI-driven ad creation platform to create more than 15,000 ads since Spec...
24/10/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has today announced the release of Pro Tools 2025.10, a feature-rich update that the company said offers notable advances in immersive mu...
24/10/2025
NEW YORK In a major change for the ad industry, Comcast Advertising will unveil technology that enables agencies and brands to buy targetable, biddable ads on l...
24/10/2025
WASHINGTON The ATSC broadcast standards group has outlined a growing list of international activities that the group said is expanding its influence and solidif...
24/10/2025
FIRST PLACE AND 5,000 LYNDA McCARTHY FOR WITNESS'
SECOND PLACE AND 4,000 ANGELA FINN FOR A SPECTRUM OF SORROW'
THIRD PLACE AND 3,000 IAN FE...
24/10/2025
24 Oct 2025
VEON to Release 3Q25 Earnings Update on November 10, 2025 Dubai, October 24, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today conf...
24/10/2025
One-off special from the team behind BAFTA award-winning Libby, Are You Home Yet...
24/10/2025
The review examined how the model is developed, managed, and delivered against the requirements set out in the Origin framework.
Simon Redlich, Chief Executive...
24/10/2025
Countdown to GTC Washington, DC: What to Watch Next Week Next week, Washington, D.C., becomes the center of gravity for artificial intelligence. NVIDIA GTC W...
24/10/2025
RT will provide extensive coverage of the results of the Presidential Election across television, radio and online on Saturday, 25 October 2025.
Throughout th...
24/10/2025
New Coaches, New Families and New Challenges Set for Ireland's Fittest Famil...
24/10/2025
Westlife, Imelda May and Ben Elton among the guests on this week's Late Late...
23/10/2025
Unlocking character: Sportcast on executing the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 new ...
23/10/2025
Clear coordination: Juggling the new Bundesliga rights cycle requirements and pu...
23/10/2025
Analysis: Is piracy just the cost of doing business? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 09:58
Print This Story
It's high ...
23/10/2025
ESPN's Adam Whitlock on Driving Real-World Innovation Across the Video-Trans...
23/10/2025
SVG TranSPORT 2025 Unites 300+ Industry Leaders in New York for Deep Dive Into L...
23/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: League Starts Season With Two New Broadcast Partners, In-House NBA ...
23/10/2025
NFL Deepens Business Partnership with EA Sports; More Madden Casts to Come?EA Sports will remain the exclusive producer and distributor of Madden NFL video game...
23/10/2025
NFL Moves Pro Bowl Games Indoors and to Super Bowl Week; Leans Into a Made-for-T...
23/10/2025
By Alan Dominguez
Recently I have been thinking about the intersection of two e...