The Las Vegas Review-Journal gets a sneak peek at the preps going on at the The Venetian’s Sands Expo and Convention Center (which had been home to the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo) for tomorrow night’s GOP debate.
Normally, it takes six days to build the CNN debate set, which has been used in two previous debates co-sponsored by the network in New Hampshire in June and in Florida in September. For the Las Vegas event, CNN had just three days to build the 45,000-square-foot set, including a couple of huge monitors, a chandelier of stars and seating for 1,500 audience members.
AdvertisementIn the end, the debates are as much show business as politics.
Michelle Brooke Poley, the lighting designer for the CNN production, said the editorial content — how the candidates do in deflecting attacks or scoring points against a foe — is important. But she and other members of the CNN crew also know their job is to entertain millions of TV viewers.
“Our goal is to produce a really beautiful TV show,” she said.
(Photo: Bill Hughes, Las Vegas Review-Journal / story via ICN)