Become a juror at Masters de Feu 2018 and experience the competition from the front row

What if, for one evening, you were to watch the fireworks not from the stands, but from the jury table? For its third edition, held on Saturday, September 22, 2018, at the Compiègne racecourse, Masters de Feu invited the public to take part in one of the evening’s most anticipated decisions: naming the winner of the 2018 Silver Master. Five spectators were to be drawn at random on site to join the personalities gathered around jury president Gérard Jugnot. An elegant and spectacular way to remind everyone that pyrotechnics is an art of precision — but also a shared emotion.

Five places open to the public on the 2018 jury

The principle was simple, direct and especially appealing: spectators at the racecourse could register as soon as they arrived for a chance to become jury members. The draw, announced for 8:00 pm, was set to select five representatives from the general public. These one-night jurors were then tasked with carefully observing the competing creations, comparing them, and scoring them according to the framework set by the organizers.

The experience went far beyond symbolism. To be a juror at Masters de Feu is to change perspective: you no longer simply marvel at the scale of an aerial tableau, the power of a grand finale or the precision of a musical synchronization. You learn to look. You distinguish the effects, the rhythms, the transitions, the storytelling, the balance of colors, the mastery of tempo and the ability of a show to deliver on its artistic promise from the first shot to the last.

Alongside Gérard Jugnot, Sandra Lou and Philippe Candeloro

For this cinema-themed edition, Masters de Feu entrusted the jury presidency to Gérard Jugnot, actor, director and producer. His presence naturally echoed the 2018 theme, “Les émotions du cinéma,” which invited pyrotechnicians to translate into light, rhythm and intensity everything the seventh art can evoke: suspense, lyricism, humor, nostalgia, epic sweep or pure visual magic.

He was joined notably by Sandra Lou and Philippe Candeloro, two personalities already associated with the history of the competition, as well as other guests from the worlds of culture, entertainment, media and local life. This blend of professional perspectives, artistic sensibilities and public representatives is one of Masters de Feu’s strengths: it makes it possible to assess the shows for their technical skill, coherence and immediate emotional impact.

Scoring a fireworks display: both a responsibility and a privilege

The five spectators drawn at random were not merely honorary guests. They were to take part in scoring the three competing countries, with a mark out of 20 and according to the criteria announced by the organizers. In an international pyrotechnic competition, this mission demands constant attention: every second counts, every silence may be intentional, every musical rise must find its answer in the sky.

The overall aesthetics of a show, the precision of the figures, the quality of the synchronization and even the emotion it conveys are all elements that transform a sequence of launches into a true composition. A competition firework display is not simply “spectacular”: it must tell a story, surprise, breathe, create an atmosphere, then lead the audience toward a finale worthy of the theme. The juror must therefore combine personal feeling with a more structured, almost critical, observation.

France, Canada, Poland: three visions of cinema in the skies over Compiègne

The 2018 edition brought together three international contenders around the same challenge: interpreting “Les émotions du cinéma” in a fifteen-minute show. France was represented by Grand Final, Canada by Apogée and Poland by Surex. Three signatures, three pyrotechnic cultures, three ways of writing in the skies over Compiègne a score made of light, music and sensation.

The theme opened up a particularly rich creative field. Cinema thrives on contrast: the delicacy of an intimate scene, the tension of a chase, the grandeur of an epic, the sparkle of a musical, the emotion of a memory. For the pyrotechnicians, the challenge was to avoid easy illustration and build a true pyromusical narrative. For the jurors, it was necessary to perceive this intention and assess how each team managed to make it clear, moving and spectacular.

A decisive Silver Master on the road to the grand Gold Master final

The trophy at stake, the 2018 Silver Master, represented far more than an evening prize. It opened the way to the grand Gold Master final in 2019, where the winners of previous editions were due to face off in a competition of the very highest level. This multi-stage structure is what gives Masters de Feu its particular intensity: each edition builds the next, each winner earns the right to return and defend their place against the best.

For the public jury, this added weight to the vote. The decision did not merely crown the most appealing show of the night; it helped shape the competition’s trajectory. Choosing a winner meant selecting the pyrotechnician who would carry their edition’s colors into the next, higher-level event. This gives scoring a special flavor, somewhere between spectator pleasure and the responsibility of selection.

Prizes to extend the experience beyond the evening

The spectators drawn at random also received an attractive prize package: two seats in the Carré d’Or for the 2019 grand final of the Gold Master, as well as two passes to Parc Astérix. The competition thus combined the rare experience of sitting on the jury with the promise of returning to enjoy the event in privileged conditions. A way to extend the bond between Masters de Feu and those who bring its atmosphere to life: the audience.

Because the success of a pyrotechnic evening also depends on this collective excitement. In Compiègne, spectators are not merely witnesses: their reactions accompany the drama of the shows, their silence signals attention, their applause salutes boldness, beauty or surprise. By inviting five of them to take a seat on the jury, Masters de Feu fully acknowledged this audience intelligence.

An evening designed as a major popular and artistic event

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, the Compiègne racecourse was due to open its doors at 6:00 pm, before the competition began at 8:30 pm. The evening promised several highlights, with an opening show out of competition, the three international creations in the running, and then a finale entrusted to ArtEventia. This broad, well-paced format allowed the event to build gradually before giving way to the competition itself.

For those taking part in the draw, that meant arriving early, signing up on site and being ready to experience the evening differently. In just a few minutes, one could move from spectator to juror. But once seated, the role demanded concentration, curiosity and sensitivity: look to the sky, listen to the music, understand the intention, then assign a score. A rare experience, at the heart of an international competition where pyrotechnics is judged as much with the eyes as with the heart.