France - The investiture of the new French President, Francois Hollande, on 15 May, was a long and solemn affair according to tradition and protocol. The official handover of power from former President Nicholas Sarkozy took place at the presidential palace of the Elysée, where President-elect Hollande was formally sworn in as head of state.
Then, as French republican tradition demands, M. Hollande made his way to the Hôtel de Ville city hall, the seat of the Mairie of Paris for his first official state visit, where he was received with all the honour and ceremony accorded to any visiting head of state. At the heart of all the audio management and distribution was the Eclipse digital mixing console from Innovason, purchased by the Mairie of Paris last year for just such an occasion.
M. Hollande was received by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, in front of the magnificent Hôtel de Ville where they were greeted by thousands of well-wishers. From there, the new President of the Republic and the Mayor went inside to the famous and equally spectacular 'Salle des Fetes' where M. Hollande was introduced to all of the elected officials, ambassadors, corporate representatives and parliamentarians of Paris. M. Delanoë then made a speech of welcome, to which the new President replied.
Technical director for the Hôtel de Ville, Dominique Dunesme, explained that the Eclipse handled all the sound for the speeches in the 'Salle des Fetes' which was then broadcast outside the building for the spectators gathered in front, and then clean feeds distributed to 52 different media organizations for broadcast to radio and television stations around the world.
"The desk performed absolutely perfectly and the sound was impeccable," said Dunesme. "I was convinced that I'd made a good choice a year ago, and all the events we have handled to date have proved it. This, however, was by far the most important, but as usual, the Eclipse proved its calibre - easy to configure, easy to operate, easy to network and flawless results every time. What more could you want."
