ASCII Art, ANSI Art Text Art Blog by Roy of Superior Art Creations: April 2009

The SAC – Superior Art Creations All-Time Member List Project Update

I am trying for a while now to create an all time Superior Art Creations member list. This is unfortunately no easy task, because the information in the SAC.NFO files of the SAC Pack releases were not always as well maintained as they should have been. I don’t want to point and blame anybody, but its is pretty tough to get a clear picture of who is who and who was in when as what, with the amount of information that can be extracted from the releases of the group itself.

Here is what I came up with so for. The stuff that is high lighted with an orange background is where I would be happy, if anybody has an answer to my question or the missing information, whatever the case might be.

Also, the whole last section with “Non-Contributing Temp Members” is open for input. Listed there are names that were mentioned that they are members of SAC, but I could not find any contribution of those guys in any of the SAC art packs. Maybe they did something under the name of SAC, but nothing that found its way into an art pack. If that is the case, then I want of course give the credits where credits are due and remove that person from the “non-contributing” section.

If you know any of the folks where questions are still in the room or if you have any tip how or where I could find out more about them etc. Please let me know. The comments section of this blog post would do just fine.

I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

#	Handles / Aliases	File Prefix(es)	Country	PPE	PRG	VGA	MFX	ANS	ASC	ADM	Notes/Comments
Contributing Members (Included in Art Packs)
1	2Fast	2F	Germany						X
2	Acen	AC	Germany				X
3	Allanon	ALN	Sweden						X
4	Antibody	ANTI / AB	Denmark			X		X	X
5	Argon Factor	AR	Germany				X
6	Arlequin	ARL / AR	Argentina					X	X
7	Asphyx	ASX	France			X		X	X
8	Axess	AXS	Germany			X	X
9	Barium	B5	n/a			X		X	X
10	Bazilla	BAZ	Germany			X
11	Brane	BNE	Sweden						X
12	Cokine	COK	Sweden			X
13	Comrade	COM	Canada		X
14	Creator	CRE	Australia			X
15	Creature of Hell	COH / CH	USA			X	X	X
16	Crome	CROME / CRM	Germany				X
17	cRu / Maverick	CRU	Germany					X	X
18	Crusader	CDR	Sweden						X
19	D0n	DN	n/a						X
20	DAC	DAC	Germany				X
21	Dalezy / The Unconsciousness / Animal	DLZ / TU / AN	Germany				X
22	Dark Star / Puschel	DS / PL	Germany			X		X	X
23	Davek	DKNY	USA					X	X
24	Desolation Angel	DA	USA			X
25	Dipswitch	DIP	Germany						X
26	Don Rapello	DON	Finland						X
27	Dream Design	DD	Germany		X	X		X
28	DW0	DW0	n/a					X			What's the full name?
29	Eboy	EB	Finland			X		X	X
30	Edge	ED	USA			X
31	Ex0	EX0	Australia					X	X
32	F0st	FST / FS	France			X			X
33	Ferrex	FRX / FX	Germany		X	X		X	X
34	Flames	FLAMES	Germany			X			X
35	Fourth	4TH	n/a						X
36	Geareo	MYD	n/a						X
37	Giovanni	GIO	Germany				X
38	Grap	GP	Germany		X
39	GrymmJack	GJ	USA						X
40	GTI	GTI	Canada			X		X	X
41	Helix	HLX	USA						X
42	Hetero	HT	Germany		X	X		X	X
43	HKultra	HKU	n/a			X
44	IxLover Buddha	IX	n/a			X			X
45	[K]	K	Germany		X	X
46	Kaethe	KT	Germany					X	X
47	Kenet	K	France			X
48	KMX	KMX	Poland		X						What does KMX stand for?
49	Maktone	MT / M1	Sweden				X
50	Markgoh	MG	Canada						X
51	Marky	MY / M	Germany			X			X
52	Matador	MTD	Russia		X				X
53	Mattey	MATTEY	n/a			X
54	McBarn	MB	Sweden				X
55	Midfit	MF	Germany		X
56	Moolok	MOO	Germany			X		X
57	Mr.Death	MRDEATH / MRD	Sweden				X
58	Mr.Jezus	MRJEZUS	Finland			X
59	Mydknight	MID	Canada						X
60	Myth	MYTH	Germany		X
61	Neophyte	NP	Germany		X
62	Nerv	NERV / NR	France			X		X	X
63	Nova	N	Australia			X
64	Pasha	P	Germany			X			X
65	PDZ	PDZ	n/a						X		PDZ = Podzi?
66	Poldi	PD	Germany			X		X	X
67	Quasar	QS	Sweden						X
68	Rainer	RN	Germany				X
69	Raiser	RS	Germany					X	X
70	Rave	RV	Germany			X		X	X
71	Rez	REZ	Netherlands		X		X				Is Rez an abbreviation?
72	Roodolph	ROO	Poland						X
73	Roy	ROY	Germany/USA	X	X	X		X	X
74	RZ	RZ	n/a						X		RZ = Rahzel? Uses }8]a or }8] as sig in pics
75	S!	S!	n/a						X		S! = Stylez or S! = Serges or somebody else?
76	Scour	SCR	USA						X
77	Senser	SNS	France			X		X	X
78	Sergeon Cuts	SERGEON	USA			X
79	Stonehedge	SH	Germany				X
80	Shaq	SQ	Russia						X
81	Shot	ST	Germany					X
82	Silent	SiL	n/a			X
83	sOul	SOUL	Germany				X
84	Spectrum	SPC	Germany		X
85	Spoon	SPN	Germany				X
86	Sprocket	SPROCKET	Norway			X
87	Squizzy	SQZ	Netherlands						X
88	Strike Light	SL	Canada					X	X
89	Svenzzon	SVENZZON / SVEN / SV	n/a				X		X
90	Synec	SY	Germany		X
91	Techbit	TB	Canada			X
92	Teepak	TPK	Germany			X		X	X
93	Toxic Trancer	TOX	Germany				X
94	v0uck	VK	n/a						X
95	W.O.T.W.	WOTW	Germany				X
96	Webpige0	W0	n/a			X		X	X
SAC PPE Coders (Had no file prefix)
97	Cyz		Germany	X
98	Monster		Germany	X
99	Fox		Germany	X
100	Cyber Brain		Germany	X
Administrative Members
Internet Coordinators, except for Idiana who did Group Management and Organization
101	Hoziris		Israel							X
102	Cercyon		Germany							X
103	Corex		Germany							X
104	Idiana		Germany							X
Guest Contributors
Included in one or more SAC Pack releases, but never had status of SAC member
n/a	Z80	Z80	Germany		1
Non Contributing Temp Members
This list may includes members where I could not match them up confidentially with a file prefix from the pack.
It could also be that one person is listed with multiple nick names or real name.
If you know of any contributions to the group and it to the comments please.
	Ripper		Germany
	Prosthesis		Finland
	Paledeth		Sweden
	White Zombie	TWZ	Denmark
	Darkheart		Sweden
	Felix		Germany
	Timelord		Italy
	Necrotoad		Canada
	Nitrifik		Sweden
	Spinsane	SP	n/a
	Xeek	XK	n/a
	PODZI		n/a								Podzi = PDZ
	Stylez		Germany								Styles = S!?
	Serges		n/a								Serges = S!?
	Sick Doctor		n/a								Serges = Sick Doctor?
	Rahzel		n/a								Rahzel = RZ?
	Shady		Germany								Shady = S!?

Explanation of Columns
PPE = PCBoard BBS Tools Programmer (using PPL-PCBoard Programming Language, which are compiled to PPE’s)
PRG = Programmer/Coder of Intros, tools etc. such as the SACtros for SAC artpack releases.
VGA = Pixel Art Graphician and later also hi-res art via Photoshop etc.
MFX = Musician, mainly old-school tracker MOD modules (or FastTracker, ScreamTracker etc.)
ANS = ANSI text artist (like the image below)
ASC = ASCII text artist, 7-Bit and/or “high ASCII” (Block ASCII)
ADM = Administrative work, Internet Coordinator, Bot-Master (IRC) and those sorts of things)

I am feeling that we come slowly but surely closer to the goal of having a complete and correct all-time Superior Art Creations member list that I can post on the SAC section of the site as I promised to do so already two or some more years ago.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Labels: 7BIT, ANSI, Artscene, ASCII, history, Oldskool, Pixel Art, SAC, text art

De-Dupe Files Script Tool for Windows 32bit V2.0beta

I know, it’s less than a month that I introduced the De-Dupe script Version 1.1. See my original blog post where I introduced the script here. I used the script myself quite a lot and implemented improvements and additional features to it as a consequence of it.

I won’t post the whole source code in this post this time though, because it got significantly bigger and would cause problems with loading the post in your web browser. Well, the code is still included in the install package of the script/tool and 42KB zipped is not very much to download, isn’t it.

Download De-Dupe V2.0 Beta (

Roy-DeDupeScript20b.zip)

The background story and general file structure remained the same, but I made a lot other changes, especially “under the hood”. The most important improvement is the PERFORMANCE. Where V1.1 was taking several minutes to process, V2.0 only takes seconds instead. De-Duping folders with thousands and not just hundreds of files is now NOT A PROBLEM for this script anymore. Here are the details:

Name of the Software: DeDupe Files Script Tool
Author: Carsten Cumbrowski
Version 2.0 beta
License: Freeware
Date: April 2009

Visit http://www.cumbrowski.com/ for resources to web and database development and internet marketing. There you can also find the contact page with various means to get in touch with the author of this tool.

The script detects duplicate files within a directory.

Duplicate files are files that have the same MD5 Check Sum value.
Two DIFFERENT/NON IDENTICAL files having the same MD5 Check Sum is not impossible, but highly unlikely.
This allows the script to detect duplicate files regardless of their file name or other characteristics, such as "date created" or "date modified".

The tool scans all files within a directory. It does not include files in sub directories of the processed folder.

Multi-Threading

The Script now supports Multi-Threading for the MD5 Checksum determination. That was the bottle-neck of the previous version of the script. The default is set to 50 threads, but it can be changed in the settings or on the fly via the command line switch /threads:NN where NN should be a number greater than or equal 1. I don't know the maximum value here, because it depends on the machine where the script runs on.

Be careful and only increase it in small steps to increase performance even more. The thread count starts actually with 0, which means, that if you set /threads:49 (default) then you actually get 50 threads.

Dupe Actions

There are 5 different Actions you can choose from to tell the script what to do, if it finds a duplicate file

rename dupe to aFile1_EXT_bFile2[DEDUPED].EXT where aFile1 is the original file followed by "_" and its EXT(ension), "_" bFile2 is the original base file name of the Dupe followed by [DEDUPED] and the dupe files original .EXT(ension)
Rename dupes as in 1, but MOVE to a new sub folder "[Deduped]" of the path being processed
(DEFAULT ACTION) Don't rename dupes, just MOVE to a new sub folder "[Deduped]"
delete dupes (gone for good, unless you enabled "Recycled Bin" to be able to recover deleted files
Create sub folder at specified location (/cdb:BACKUPPATH) with name "yyyy-mm-dd_hh-mm-ss_FolderName", create index file !Index.txt with archive location and name and original locations of files, separated by "|"

The Default DeDupe Action can be overwritten via the command line option
/action:[1...5] , e.g. /action:3 for the default Action

Examples:

Dupe Actions

Dupe Action (1)
If a duplicate file is found, it will be renamed by by appending the original file name as prefix with an '_' as separator, which is also used to replace the "." that indicates the file extension of the original file name (other "." in the file name itself remain). At the end of the file name is the string [DEDUPED] added.

For Example aFile1.EXT and bFile2.EXT are identical. After the script was executed, one of the two files will remain as it is and the other one is being renamed. Which file will be considered the "original" is determined by which file was found first. The script sorts the files by name first, before it dedupes them.

In this example bFile1.EXT would be considered the original and bFile2.EXT will be renamed to aFile1_EXT_bFile2[DEDUPED].EXT. This makes dupes appear right after the original, if you sort the directory by file name. To be able to filter the dupes to copy/move them away or to delete them, use the copy, move or del command in MS DOS. For example "DEL *[DEDUPED].*" would delete all duplicate files found and renamed by the script.

Dupe Action (2)
If you want the dupes renamed as in Action 1, but would like to have them moved away from the source directory, choose Dupe Action 2. Dupes are still being renamed as in (1), but the script moves the dupes to a sub directory called "[DeDuped]" within the processed folder.

Dupe Action (3)
If you just want the dupes moved away from the source folder, but keep the original file names, use this Dupe Action (which is the default action btw) You will find the duplicate files all in the subfolder "[DeDuped]" in the processed folder.

Dupe Action (4)
If you simply want to get rid of the dupes and delete them, use this Action

Dupe Action (5)
A variation of Action 3. The Difference is that the dupes are not moved to a sub folder below the processed file folder, but to a central dupe archive folder, where a new sub directory is being created with the date and time of the DeDupe processing and the Folder Name that was DeDuped.

The default location for that centralized backup folder is "C:\[DEDUPE_BACKUP]", but that can be changed. Either via the registry settings or on the fly via command line option:

/cdb:BACKUPPATH

Log Files

The script creates one file by default and the second one optional in the processed directory:

"!DeDupe-FileList.txt" - (optional feature) a list of all files in the directory and their MD5 Check Sum Values (tab separated)

"!DeDupeLog.txt" - (enabled by default) a processing logfile where you can find the list of dupes that were detected, their old & new file name and the corresponding original file

If you do not want any of the files to be created, change the options for "WriteFileList" and "WriteDeDupeLog" to "0" in the beginning of the code of "DedupeFilesInFolder2.vbs" ; alternatively use the command line options /log:[0/1] and /list:[0/1] to turn the creation of the list and/or log on/off. You can also specify a different file name for the file list and the DeDupe log, but you cannot change the path.

/list:0 or /list:1
/listfile:FileListName.Ext

/log:0 or /log:1
/logfile:LogFileName.Exe

You can also suppress all dialogs via the command line option /quite:[0/1]. /quite:1 would disable the progress dialog, results message and all error messages.

/quite:0 or /quite:1

Note, the script returns error levels for batch processing regardless of the "quiet" settings.
The ErrorLevel codes are:

0 = Script Ran Successful
1 = Script Ran, but there were no files to process
2 = The script was aborted (only relevant if progress dialog is on)
4 = Script Error (md5sum.exe not or processing path not found)

Important. Version 2 of the Script enforces execution with CSCRIPT.EXE it re-launches itself, if it is executed with WSCRIPT.EXE. It is doing exactly that on purpose, if executed via the Shell Extension. If you are using the Quiet option and want to get the correct ErrorLevel back, you must execute the script with CSCRIPT.EXE from your application!

Installation/De-Installation

Use the provided Batch Scripts "DeDupeInstall.bat" and "DeDupeUnInstall.bat" to install or un-install the De-Dupe Shell Extension.

Installation

Double click on the Batch Script File "DeDupeInstall.bat"
That's it.

Notes:
The install batch file copies md5sum.exe and DedupeFilesInFolder2.vbs into your System32 directory under your windows installation directory and Imports the registry file "DedupeInstall.reg" into your systems registry database. It creates entries under the Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\

Non of the files in the installation directory will be needed anymore to run the script itself. You will need them only to uninstall the tool or to re-install it again, if necessary.

Uninstallation

Double click on the Batch Script File "DeDupeUnInstall.bat"
That's it.

Notes:
The Un-Install batch file deletes the two files from your System32 directory and utilizes the registry file DedupeUnInstall.reg to remove the entries for the script from your systems registry database. If you want to continue to use the tool md5sum.exe and only want to disable the shell extension, either simply double click on the file DedupeUnInstall.reg without executing the uninstall batch file (the script DedupeFilesInFolder2.vbs
will remain in your System32 folder though) or you can copy the tool back into your system folder manually after you ran the uninstall batch file.

Script Settings in the System Registry

The Install Script automatically creates the default settings for the the script execution in the Windows Registry.
If you did not use the install script and run the DeDupe script for the first time, the script will create the missing registry entries based on the default values specified in the script code itself. Those settings are specifically of importance for the use of the DeDupe shell extension in Windows Explorer.

The settings in the registry are set for each Windows User separately.
To find and modify the settings, open the Registry Editor that comes with Windows. (Start / Run, enter: Regedit, press "enter")

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ DeDupe2 \ Parameters

Value Name               Type        Default Value          Command Line Param Equivalent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CentralDupeBackupFolder REG_SZ      C:\[DEDUPE_BACKUP]            /cdb:PATH
DeDupeLogFName           REG_SZ      !DeDupeLog.txt                /logfile:FILENAME
DupeAction               REG_DWORD   3                             /action:N
FileListFName            REG_SZ      !DeDupe-FileList.txt          /listfile:FILENAME
MaxForks                 REG_DWORD   31 (HEX) or 49 (Decimal)      /threads:NN
Quiet                    REG_DWORD   0                             /quite:N
WriteDeDupeLog           REG_DWORD   1                             /log:N
WriteFileList            REG_DWORD   0                             /list:N

Upgrade from Previous DeDupe Versions

You might noticed that the main script has the name "DedupeFilesInFolder2.vbs". The previous version of the script has the name "DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs"

The install script also creates a different shell extension with the name "DeDupe2". If you installed version 1.x of the script and then use the install script for version 2, both scripts will be installed on your machine. You could continue to use them in parallel, if you want to, but I would not recommend it to the average user. I suggest to run the uninstall script of the previous version first and then the install script of the new version.

Note: If you run the uninstall script of the previous version AFTER you installed version 2 of the script, version 2 will no longer function properly because the uninstall script of the previous version also removes the 3rd party tool "md5sum.exe" from the System Directory. You either have to copy that tool back to the windows system directory manually or run the installation script for Version 2 once more. Doing that will overwrite any settings in the registry, which you might have changed already.

About the Software

The DeDupe Windows Explorer Shell Extension Script Tool is written in VBScript and is executed by the system tool WScript.exe. The DeDupe script (DedupeFilesInFolder2.vbs) uses a small support tool that it requires to work properly.

"md5sum.exe" is a small command line tool that return the MD5 Check Sum value for a file.
It can also validate MD5 check sums, which is a feature that is not used by the DeDupe script.
You can find out more information about it at http://etree.org/md5com.html
Md5Sum was written by bruce@gridpoint.com

Legal Stuff/Copyright and Disclaimer

The 3rd party tool that come with the DeDupe script is freeware and can be used and copied by anybody without the need of a license or to pay a fee. Since I did not write that tool, I cannot take any responsibility for any issues that they might cause by it, via my script or without out.

This DeDupe script is also freeware and can be used, copied and modified for free,

Important Disclaimer!

The author, of this software accepts no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of this product and
makes no warranty or representation, either express or implied, including but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This software is provided "AS IS", and you, its user, assume all risks when using it.

Change Log

V1.1

MD5Sum Determination Issue Resolved for file names with spaces in it
Sorting by File Name Issue Resolved, now the "original" is really the first one sorted by name
Progress dialog implemented to show status
Quiet option implemented to suppress all dialogs
Return of ErrorLevels implemented for batch scripts that call the script
Rename logic changed, [DEDUPED] added to the renamed file in addition to existing logic
touch.exe tool removed. It did not work reliable, period
File List output with file names and their MD5 checksums implemented
Log File output implemented
command line parameters introduced to suppress file list and log file creation as well as to enable/disable "quiet" mode
general code clean up

V2.0

MD5Sum Determination now separate Step using Multi-Threading for increased Performance
New DupeAction: 2, 3, 4 and 5 implemented
1. = Rename dupes as in 1, but MOVE to a new sub folder "[Deduped]" of the path being processed
2. = Don't rename dupes, just MOVE to a new sub folder "[Deduped]"
3. = delete dupes
4. = Create sub folder at specified location with name "yyyy-mm-dd_hh-mm-ss_FolderName", create index file "!Index.txt" with archive location and name and original locations of files, separated by "|"
Script now Enforces CSCRIPT.EXE (call from Shell Extension still uses WScript, because if I run it with Cscript from there a stupid DOS Shell Window is visible and open all the time)
Message Output changed to use IE because of CSCRIPT execution in batch mode (which suppresses Wscript.echo)
Settings now Saved in Registry, Manual overwrite via command line parameters is still possible. Use of Defaults in Code vs. Registry is also an option.

I hope that you will find this script useful. Please let me know your opinion, suggestions, feedback and recommendations for improvements via the comments section down below.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Labels: Tools

Some Google Tools & Services and Other Annoyances

You know how it is… the small annoyances are the ones that bother us the most, especially if you have to deal with the same thing all the time on an almost daily basis. I am going to show you a few of those annoyances that drive me nuts at the moment.

List of Annoyances Covered by this Post

Annoyance #1 – Google YouTube Tag Subscriptions
Annoyance #2 – Google YouTube Comments Notification
Annoyance #3 – Google YouTube Friend Invites Processing
Annoyance #4 – Google Chrome Pop-Up Blocker
Annoyance #5 - 4CC Codec Value Case Sensitivity by VirtualDubMod

If you know me, then you know that I usually not simply complain about something, but also provide suggestions and recommendations for solutions to the problem. Maybe you had one or the other issue as well. In that case it would show you that you are not the only person with this issue. If you don’t, then you know about them now. I do this public so maybe we are lucky that somebody reads this, who is actually in the position to do something about one or more of the problems illustrated or somebody reads this who knows somebody who SHOULD read it, because that other person is one of the people who could solve one or more of those problems.

All but one are related to Google products or services and all but one of those related to Google are about their video sharing site YouTube, which I use pretty much daily … rather extensively (having four different accounts there myself, go figure).

Annoyance #1 – Google YouTube Tag Subscriptions

Let me start light with something that I only encountered recently. I never had that issue in the past that it would have been an annoyance, but as you see, things can change over time.

You have the ability in YouTube to subscribe to video updates of other YouTube accounts/channels (I have 4 of those, CirqueDuSoleilGuru would be the most popular one I guess, SACReleases is the second most popular and the remaining two are TurnbeutelvergesserB and CumbrowskiCom) . You also have the ability to subscribe to a certain keyword phrase or word, to get notified, if somebody uploads a video to the site and uses this phrase or word to tag the video. This can be a very effective way to discover video content about things you are interested in and may be not would have found out about yourself otherwise… by coincidence maybe, if you are lucky.

It works well, as long as the keyword or phrase is unique and highly descriptive of what you are looking for. If the phrase is ambiguous to begin with, it’s already a problem from the get go, but it also happens that previously unique keywords get “poisoned”. Such poisoning happened to the phrase “Circus” to which I subscribed to.

Everything was alright until Britney Spears decided that she had to release a new single with the title “Circus”. Guess what kind of videos I get now for the term “Circus”… right.., Britney Spears videos “ohne Ende”, but that’s not what I am caring about. I am interested in the ancient performing arts involving breathtaking acrobatics and maybe some mindboggling magic and/or amusing clowns.

It would be nice, if I could at least remove the unwanted videos rather quickly. There is no option today. In order to get rid of them in my Subscription/Alert “Inbox” I have to start watching each video first.. one by one. That is really annoying. In addition to a way to remove videos that I can identify as “not interested in” without watching quickly from the video listing, would it be helpful to be able to configure negative keywords or stop words and/or using advanced search query parameters like AND & OR & NOT to filter results and/or exclude known ambiguous versions of the same keyword phrase,

YouTube-TagSubscriptions-Circus&Britney042009

Annoyance #2 – Google YouTube Comments Notification

Getting a notification about any comment posted to any of your uploaded videos is great, especially if you open up and let people comment and publish those comments without moderating them first (YouTube’s Spam detection routines are actually doing a great job).

Notifications are not only available at your YouTube account, but you also can enable email notification to your primary email address as well.

The problem with this notifications is that you cannot really do much with them as you would probably want to in the one or other case. You can select the notifications and delete them from your inbox (which does not do anything to the actual comment itself). The link to “see all comments” takes you to the same page where the comment that you are looking at can actually be found, if you are lucky. It won’t take you to the comment though and often to a page where this particular comment can nowhere be found. Getting to the actual comment for options usually involves the use of the on-page keyword search (CTRL-F) and clicking of one or more links to get to the page with the comment at all.

There you will finally find all the things that you might want to do with the comment, such as reply to it, mark as spam, remove it all together and maybe even block the whole user, if he frequently posts comments that you manually delete for some reason time and again.

Would it be so hard to make those things already available from the notification message in your inbox? Is it? C’mon, you must be kidding me! :)

YouTube-Comments-042009

Annoyance #3 – Google YouTube Friend Invites Processing

Especially one of my YouTube accounts gets friend invites all the time. Hey, who doesn’t want to be popular and befriended by everybody, right? Well, yeah, but only if that other person really means it and not just tries to befriend you for pure selfish reasons (aka Spam and Attention Whoring).

It takes more time than it should to find out what the real intentions of that other user are, because you don’t have much information about any person who decides to click the “Add to Friends” button on your channel home page. Information that would help with pre-processing the majority of the requests right from the friend invites list screen.

Is the other user a subscriber to your channel? If he is, chances are much better that this person actually cares about what I am doing on YouTube. Did the person add any of my videos to his favorites or any other playlist?

Did the user ever comment on any of my videos, send a video response or personal message? Just a simple YES/NO would be enough. Counts would be even better, but I don’t want to get too demanding here.

Also helpful is the info how many friends that user already has and where he is from. Yes, you can get those two information if you click on the name and visit his channel homepage, but that takes time too and if you do that and press the back button, you won’t get back were you left off, not even to the same section, which makes things twice as bad and even more time consuming.

In my example below you can see how it could look like, if those suggestions would be implemented. Guess which friend request I’d ignore right from that screen without even checking further? Right, the fourth one. Not a subscriber, never fav’ed or bookmarked any of my stuff, never posted a comment or contacted me, but has more friends than I know real people. That user does not care about me and only wants to promote himself. He clicked on “Add as Friend” to as many people he could, maybe even in an automated fashion via a spam tool or script.

YouTubeFriendRequests042009

Enough of YouTube. There is certainly more than those things that I pointed out, but those are the things that I hate to deal with on a nearly day to day basis. It’s getting old and not necessary really.

Annoyance #4 – Google Chrome Pop-Up Blocker

It is already sad enough that tools like AI Roboform and others do not (cannot?) support the somewhat new Google Chrome web browser. It’s fast, I can attest to that. Yeah, faster than IE (dough) and also faster than FireFox (especially of fully loaded with plug-ins). Google added some tools and features themselves to the browser, such as the Pop-Up blocker, but the bad thing is that this feature fell victim to the wide spread Google syndrome of “smart” (or not) automation with little to no ways for humans to interfere and control the behavior of the feature.

Google’s engineers are often too self-confident that they are able to create a model or algorithm that is capable of predicting the users intentions, needs and goals in every case and at every time, under any possible real life condition and situation. I don’t want to downplay the intelligence of any Google engineer or something like that, but sorry, they should have learned by now that this is simply impossible to do. You can make a good guess and be right most of the time, but you will never be able to get it 100% right every single time.

If you combine this with the disability to manually overwrite unwanted and miss-guessed behavior, you got yourself a classic example of an annoyance on your hands. If you had to use a site that generates legitimate pop-ups that are needed to use that web site properly and each and every one of those pop-ups gets blocked by the browser, requiring additional steps to get to the pop-up window and worse, have close to that action also the option to block all pop-ups entirely and irreversible without the ability to manually get it back, than you will understand what I am so annoyed about.

I hope that my little illustration below shows what I am mean by that. I also added my suggestions to solve those problems to that illustration as well. The simple and short answer is: WHITE LIST option please! Thanks.

GoogleCromeAnoyance

Annoyance #5 - 4CC Codec Value Case Sensitivity by VirtualDubMod

Update: I found a solution for this annoyance, but I am not really happy about it. Anyway, the problem goes away, if you install FFDSHOW, an open source video decoding/codecs/filters package/utility(ies). You can download the latest version of FFDSHOW at AfterDawn.com. I wish I would understand what FFDSHOW does to make it work to be able to fix this problem without the need to install the whole FFDSHOW package. :(

Okay, Google is now of the hook for the time being. Others create annoyances as well. It’s not an exclusive right that Google has bunked for their products and services. VirtualDub is a nice little (and entirely free) tool for the manipulation and conversation of video files. It has many filters and plug-ins to be able to read various video source formats and to enhance or manipulate those videos. At the end you always get out an AVI file, but you have can have a wide variety of AUDIO and VIDEO encoder options that you can use. AVI is only a very broad and widely supported container, unlike some other video formats, such as Adobe Flash (FLV) or Apple Quick Time (MOV) that are limited in which video and/or audio encoding algorithm can be used.

A popular video codec that I prefer to use for my AVI files is XVID, which is a freeware Mpeg-4 based video codec, like the popular commercial codec Div/X, but IMO better (compression). The codec that was used for the audio and video in an AVI file is noted in the header section of the file that other tools, such as video players like Windows Media Player are able to open that video file and to use the proper decoders to render the video and audio data on to your screen. I use more than one video converter in addition to VirtualDub, such as MP4Converter by 4Media for most video sources and Moyea FLV Converter for Flash Video (FLV) to AVI conversions only. I wrote a special post about the subject of video tools and converters last year, if you are interested in this subject and would like to learn more about it.

Those converters are capable of generating AVI files using the XVID video codec. For whatever reason, those tools write the name (4CC Code) of the codec in lower-case letters into the AVI file header.

For another unknown reason, VirtualDub is case-sensitive when it comes to codec settings in the video file, although “xvid”, “XVID” or “XVid” or “Xvid” always mean the same thing… The 4CC specifications are not case-sensitive. “xvid” and “XVID” therefore cannot be two different video codec variations that could be meant.

VirtualDub does not care. If the codec name in the AVI is “xvid” instead of “XVID”, VirtualDub plays stupid and claims that it does not support the used codec. BS. Of course it does. If I use another free tool to manually change/set the 4CC codec name in the AVI header and change “xvid” to “XVID”, VirtualDub reads and processes that video file without any problems. The video data themselves remained unchanged, only the info in the header was changed. This is a pain in the butt, especially if I want to do batch processing, because I have not found a tool yet that lets me change the 4CC value in an AVI file in a batch process, e.g. via command line options or something like that. I also don’t know how to get the other tools to write XVID in upper-case instead of lower-case into the AVI file headers that they produce.

I did manage somehow on my previous system (before I re-installed everything from scratch) to convince VirtualDub that it can read XVID and also xvid files to then generate new AVI files with XVID used in the header.

I cannot remember how I did that. I tried a number of things with no success so far. If you happen to know the answer to this, please let me know in the comments below. I’d really appreciate it. Until then, why this BS to begin with? Is it so hard for the folks from the VirtualDub open source project to make the tool non-case sensitive when it comes to the 4CC value in the headers of AVI video files? Gee!

VirtualDub-xvid-XVID-Annoyance042009

Enough Annoyances! I don’t think that anybody in his right mind would have read this whole post, but as I said at the beginning of this post, I felt like having to do this, in the secret hope that somebody will read it, who is in the position to remedy one or more of the mentioned annoyances.

If you had similar or the same problems I had, feel free to tell me and anybody else who reads this post about it. You and me are not alone. Trust me on this one!

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Labels: Personal, Tools

Jason Scott from Textfiles.com Text-urized

I wrote a while back already a post about the online Image to Text (ASCII) converter tool at Photo2Text.com.

Back then I used Matt Cutts from Google as my Guinea-Pig to illustrate it’s capabilities. This is not the purpose of this blog post though. Shortly after I did my post, I played around with it a bit more. I experimented with a photograph of Jason Scott Sadofsky from Textfiles.com (who also did the DVD documentary “BBS – The Documentary”, which I highly recommend, if you are interested in the subject of Bulletin Board Systems)

I tweaked the source photo of him to get better results and saved them on my hard drive and then forgot about them until now. I stumbled across them by accident and thought that I should not hide them, or at least make them accessible for Jason himself.

I took the results from the converter and tweaked them a bit more in Photoshop, adding some color and stuff like that. You can see below the stages of my changes. Click on the thumbnail images for the larger original sized version of it.


Original 7-Bit ASCII as Image. Download the original text ASCII file	Colors added	Final picture with background added and name tag

This is the final piece and I hope that Jason (and you too) will like it.

JasonScott-7bit-ascii-color-ccu

I also created an ANSI version of the photograph with the tool. It is only using the number characters 0-9, but a very small font. The result is good, but it looks to little like an ASCII to me, because of the font size.

This ANSI was actually created as a HTML document. You can see the original HTML/Text version here.

If you are interested in the subject of image to ASCII art conversion, I also suggest to check out my post where I reviewed a number of online and desktop image to text converter tools.

I also wrote a post about video to text conversion via the vlan video player with special conversion plug-in.

If the subject of ASCII and ANSI text art is new to you and you would like to learn more about this old school art form that actually pre-dates the computer, check out my ASCII Art Academy for more resources and information.

Semi-related: Did you see my post about ASCII/RTTY art nudes versus their original Centerfold Photographs?
I still need help with matching up more of the ASCIIs with their source photographs. You can help.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Labels: ANSI, ASCII, text art, Tools

New Cirque du Soleil Show Ovo

The name for the new Cirque du Soleil touring show that will premiere on April 23, 2009 in Montreal, Canada was unveiled. The name is: “OVO”.

The theme of the show are insects. Yes, you read this right, insects. This also explains the name choice, because here is what Cirque du Soleil themselves stated about it:

The name OVO means "egg" in Portuguese. This timeless symbol of the life cycle and birth of numerous insects represents the underlying thread of the show. Graphically, OVO hides an insect in its name: The two letter "Os" represent the eyes while the letter "V" forms the nose.

The Cirque’s web site was also updated (it used to show simply “Cirque 2009”, which was the working title of the show). There are not much video images of the show available. The official trailer for the show is a just 16 seconds in length with less than half of that being images from the show itself.

Backup Link to Video on YouTube.com
Download this video in AVI format from my Mediafire.com account.

There are a few more photographs though, which I made available on my Flickr.com account. I created a new set for the “Ovo” show under my existing Cirque du Soleil photo collection.

This is Cirque’s 25th show production in 25 years. Yes, 2009 also marks the 25th anniversary of the Cirque. Congratulations. They were busy over the past few years. More than half of their 25 shows were created within the past 10 years. Last year 3 shows were launched in a single year in 3 different countries on 2 continents.

What is interesting about OVO is the fact that almost every important person among the creators of the show didn’t play a major role in the creation of any of the previous Cirque productions. Except from the usual mention of Guy among the creators of every Cirque du Soleil show, Jonathan Deans who did the Sound Design for Ovo, is the only person who worked on other shows. Jonathan did the sound design for the Cirque du Soleil touring shows Saltimbanco and Kooza and helped with the lighting design for Corteo.

Deborah Colker wrote and directed the new show and also did the choreography. Director of Creation is Chantal Tremblay, who is not exactly a newbie to Cirque du Soleil. She was Associate Producer for the resident show “The Beatles LOVE” at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She actually started out as a dancer in Cirque, then became an assistant to choreographer Debra Brown, then Artistic Coordinator and then Artistic Director.

The composer of the music for the show is Berna Ceppas. The music by the early Cirque shows was composed René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras and then later also by Violaine Corradi. That changed over the past years and many new composers were introduced to the Cirque family, including: Jean-François Côté (Kooza), Philippe Leduc (Corteo), Simon Carpentier (Zumanity), Éric Serra (Believe). René Dupéré was busy with the music for Zed and Violaine Corradi for the show Zaia. I don’t know what happened to to Benoît Jutras. Maybe he is busy with one of the other Cirque projects that are currently in production. I am not familiar with Berna Ceppas and his music. I know that he is from Brazil and learned that he has a MySpace page where you can listen to some of his earlier work to get an idea about how the music for Ovo might sound like. The short trailer was unfortunately not long enough to get it from there.

Additional show credits: Set Design and Props: Gringo Cardia, Costume Design: Liz Vandal, Lighting Design: Éric Champoux, Make up: Julie Bégin, Rigging: Fred Gérard, Acrobatics Act Designer: Philippe Aubertin, Artistic Guides: Gilles Ste-Croix & Guy Laliberté.

Cirque du Soleil also launched a Facebook page for Ovo.

Another YouTube user from Germany with I am in touch will be in Montreal for the premiere. I won’t be able to make it myself, but he promised me to let me know about his impressions from the show.

Like the previous touring shows of Cirque du Soleil, Ovo will start its multiple years long journey across Canada, the United States and then the rest of the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

I hope to have some new video material from the show available soon to post it on my YouTube channel and share it with you. I have already over 350 videos about Cirque du Soleil and related subjects up online. You might want to check it out. Also do not forget my Cirque du Soleil Primer article for facts and information about your favorite Circus, the Cirque du Soleil.

Labels: Cirque Du Soleil, Cirque-Videos

Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)

This post is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Article Series

Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows

Touring shows are the traditional Circus style like shows that are performed within a big circus tent (called the "Big Top"), which gets wrapped up every few months to be rebuild and made ready in another City somewhere around the world to stay there for a few weeks , perform the show and then move on to the next city.

The first Cirque du Soleil show on tour in 19984 was limited to within Canada and the United States only. It was not until "Saltimbanco" that Cirque shows would be touring internationally and virtually to every continent on this planet (excluding Antarctica for now hehe)

	LeGrand Tour du Cirque du Soleil (1984-85, 16.June 1984, Gaspe, 14.May 1985, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Hélène Dubé Lighting: Jean Leduc Trainer/Choreographer: Zygmunt Biegaj This show was more like classic circus. I am not aware of any recordings of it. Created to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's (1491-1557) arrival in Gaspe/Canada, it was so well received by audiences that Cirque decided to go on tour with the program within Canada afterwards. The second tour of the show in 1985 is also sometimes referred to as "Le Cirque du Soleil".
	La Magie Continue/The Magic Continues (1986, 20.April 1986/18.May 1986, Sherebrook) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Jean-Yves Cadieux Lighting: Luc LaFortune Buy Show DVD La Magie Continue is French and translates to “The Magic Continues”
	Le Cirque Réinventé /We Reinvent the Circus (1987-1990, 07.May 1987, La Salle) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Michel Crête Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack La Cirque Réinventé is French and translates to English "Circus Reinvented", which was modified to "We Reinvent the Circus" Spelling of the name La Cirque Réinventé (the first and last "e" in "Reinvente" are the Latin lower case letter "e" with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é)
	Nouvelle Expérience/A New Experience (1990-93, 8.May 1990, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragone Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD or here Buy official Soundtrack Nouvelle Expérience is French and translates to English “A New Experience” Spelling of the name: Nouvelle Expérience (the first “e” in “Experience” is the Latin lower case letter “e” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é)

	Saltimbanco (1992-2006, 23.April 1992, Montreal/10.December 2006, Rio de Janeiro) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 2:21 min promo video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Saltimbanco is about urban life in the city, about the high rise skyscrapers of downtown and the myriad kinds of people who are living, hustle and bustle in a modern day city. Saltimbanco is derived from the Italian phrase “saltare in banco”, which translates to English “to jump on a bench”.
	Fascination (1992, 22.May 1992, Tokyo) Director: Roger Parent Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Trainer/Choreographer: Catherine Archambault, Allison Brierly, Wayne Hronek Only toured in Japan. Acts were a mix of Le Cirque Réinventé and Nouvelle Expérience, but all new costumes and arranged by a new director. It ran 118 times between May and September of 1992 and no video recording was ever published publicly.
	Alegría (1994-2009, 21.April 1994, Montreal, 5.April 2009, Dubai) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 5:41 min promo video (A different perspective) Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The provided link is for the DVD that was filmed live in Sydney in 2001. There is a second DVD recording (which I would like to buy myself, if I'd know where), filmed in Japan in 2004 and called "Alegría 2 Evolution". Alegría Is about a Kingdom without a King where everybody wants the power. The Red Man, who was the fool of the king, he thinks that he has the power. All the nostalgic beautiful birds who want the power; then you have the young and energetic and vigilant fast trackers. The flyers high up in the lights, the beautiful nymphs and contortionists all struggle for the power in this leaderless kingdom. The word “Alegria” is the Spanish word for Joy, elation and jubilation. Spelling the name: Alegría (the “I” is a Latin lower case letter “I” with acute, Unicode: 0x00ED (237), in HTML í or í)
	Quidam (1996-..., 23.April 1996, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 57 seconds show DVD trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Quidam is a nameless by-passer, a solitary person who lingers in the shadows ignored by normal people who rush past him without being noticed. Quidam represents nobody and everybody and the deep inner feelings and fears that are part of all of us. The young girl “Zoe” finds herself in a world of Quidam, full of anger and pain, trying to escape from it. Quidam is Classical Latin and means "a certain; pl., some" or "anonymous passerby”.
	Dralion (1999-..., 22.April 1999, Montreal) Director: Guy Caron Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: François Barbeau Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Julie Lachance watch 37 seconds video trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Dralion is the fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil. The show's name is drawn from its two main symbols: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature.
	Varekai (2002-..., 24.April 2002, Montreal) Director: Dominic Champagne Director of Creation: Andrew Watson Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Eiko Ishioka Lighting: Nol Van Genuchten Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Michael Montanaro, Bill Shannon, Cal McCrystal, André Simard watch 6 min video: Ikarian Games Act Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Premium OST - Get Show Tickets Varekai is about the ancient Greek myth of Ikarus, who attempted to fly with wings he made out of wax and reach the sun, which melted the wings and caused Ikarus to fall from the sky as a result of it. The story of Varekai begins at the end of the ancient story with Ikarus falling from the sky into a group of forest people, which have established a stable society within the magic forest that is made of survivors, just like the circus artists themselves. Varekai means “wherever” in the Romanian language spoken by the Gypsies, the people without a home who wander from place to place in order to survive, which is very much like circus life is.
	Corteo (2005-..., 21.April 2005, Montreal) Director: Danielle Finzi Pasca Director of Creation: Line Tremblay Music Composer: Philippe Leduc, Maria Bonzanigo Set: Jean Rabasse Costumes/Props: Jean Rabasse Lighting: Martin Labrecque, Jonathan Deans watch 1 min trailer video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Ltd.Ed. OST - Get Show Tickets Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us.
	KOOZÅ (2007- ..., 19.April 2007, Montreal) Director: David Shiner Director of Creation: Serge Roy Music Composer: Jean-François Côté Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt/Rogé Francoeur Lighting: Martin Labrecqu Sound: Jonathan Deans, Leon Rothenberg Trainer/Choreographer: Clarence Ford, André Simard watch 7 Min Special Video - 5 min video 20 min press conference Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets Kooza Is about getting back to the traditions of the Circus. It follows the centuries old structure of a circus performance, including the use of the massive door with curtains where performance appear from and disappear to between each act. Spelling of the name: Koozá (the “a” is a Latin lower case letter “a” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E1 (225), in HTML á or á) It can also be spelled in all upper-case letters like KOOZÅ (the “A” is a Latin capital letter “A” with a ring above, Unicode 0x00C5 (197), in HTML Å or Å)
	Ovo (23.April.2009 Montreal – ...) Director/Writer/Choreographer: Deborah Colker Director of Creation: Chantal Tremblay Music Composer: Berna Ceppas Set/Props: Gringo Cardia Costumes: Liz Vandal Lighting: Éric Champoux Sound: Jonathan Deans Make-up: Julie Bégin Rigging: Fred Gérard Acrobatics Designer: Philippe Aubertin The 25th Cirque du Soleil show in 25 years, since the company was created in 1984. Ovo is a foray into the insect world, a link that is essential to the balance of the planet's ecosystem. watch mini trailer - 1:35 min video Get Show Tickets The name OVO means "egg" in Portuguese. This timeless symbol of the life cycle and birth of numerous insects represents the underlying thread of the show. Graphically, OVO hides an insect in its name: The two letter "Os" represent the eyes while the letter "V" forms the nose.

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

Labels: Cirque Du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Resident Shows of Cirque du Soleil

Resident shows are in contradiction to the Cirque du Soleil touring show, performed at one specific location/venue throughout it's run. A resident show does not come to visit people around the world, you have to pay it a visit yourself and travel to the location of the resident show, if you want to see it live. The venue is usually specially constructed and build from scratch for the Cirque du Soleil show and only that show is performed at that venue location.

This allows Cirque to do things that are impossible with a touring show on the road that need to be packed up and moved to another city every couple months. Good examples of resident shows that take special advantage of their fix location are "O" with the big swimming pool as the stage and "KA" with the stage that is vertical and capable of rotating 360 degrees.

	Mystère (1993-..., 25.December 1994, Las Vegas) Location: Treasure Island hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 20+ min teaser video Buy official Soundtrack - Buy Live Album Get Show Tickets Mystère is French and means "Mystery" Spelling of the name: Mystère (the first “e” is a Latin lower case letter “e” with grave, Unicode: 0x00E8 (232), in HTML è or è)
	"O" (1998-..., 19.October 1998, Las Vegas) Location: Bellagio hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans, François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 3 min video - 22 min video Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets “O” is inspired by the concept of infinity and the elegance of water's pure form. The name “O” also represents the expression “Oh” that humans use when they are struck with awe, excitement, surprise or pleasure.
	La Nouba (1998-..., 23.December 1998/28.January 1999, Orlando) Location: Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans, François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 4:26 min teaser video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The show name La Nouba originates from the French phrase “faire la nouba,” which means to party, to live it up. It is a world where dreams and reality intertwine as the urban and circus worlds meet on stage. Blending acrobatics, dazzling choreography, whimsical characters and live music, La Nouba stimulates our imagination from beginning to end.
	Zumanity (2003-..., 31.July 2003/20.September 2003, Las Vegas) Location: New York, New York hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Directors: Dominic Champagne & René Richard Cyr Director of Creation: Andrew Watson Music Composer(s): Simon Carpentier, Anna Liani Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Thierry Mugler/Normand Blais Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown, Marguerite Derricks, Cal McCrystal watch 9 min teaser video - 8 min promo Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Zumanity explores the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil and is the first and only Cirque du Soleil show that is designed for mature audiences only. It is provocative, sexual, esthetic, beautiful, lustful and emotional, touching every aspect of human sexuality that each of us wants to experience, but often does not, due to social codes that do not allow the free expression of your inner feelings and desires. Zumanity deals with this conflict in a cabaret-like way and lets people forget about the codes, at least for the duration of the show itself.
	KÀ (2004-..., 26.November 2004/03.February 2005, Las Vegas) Location: MGM Grand hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Robert Lepage Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Mark Fisher Costumes/Props: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Jacques Heim, Michael Curry (Puppets), André Simard watch 57 min Promo Video - 30 sec trailer - 90 min show 9 min videos 1 and 2 Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets KA is the story of two imperial twins who lost their parents, discover life and love on their journey to regain back their kingdom from the evil counselor and his son who invented a magic super weapon. They used this magic weapon to assume power of the people who helped them to take control over the kingdom of the twins. It is about the duality of KA, the power that has the ability to destroy and to create, war, love and the struggle in life itself. KA stands for “Life Force” in Egyptian mythology and is one of the five parts that make up a human soul. The other four parts are LB = heart, Sheut = Shadow, REN = Name and BA = Personality. KA is also the word for "Sun" or "King" in Sanskrit (Indian mythology), which is the title of Brahma (Hinduism). Spelling the name: KÀ (the “a” is a Latin capital letter “A” with grave, Unicode: 0x00C0 (192), in HTML À or À)
	LOVE (2006-..., 02.June 2006/30.June 2006, Las Vegas) Location: The Mirage hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Dominic Champagne Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix, Chantal Tremblay (Assoc.) Music Composer: The Beatles, Sir George Martin, Giles Martin, Neil Aspinall Set: Jean Rabasse Costumes/Props: Philippe Guillotel/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Yves Aucoin Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Hansel Cereza, Dave St-Pierre, Geneviève Dorion-Coupal, Daniel Ezralow, Margie Gillis, Michael Curry (Puppets), Daniel Cola/André Simard watch 10 min gala - watch 50 min preview Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets The Beatles “Love” starts with the last live performance of The Beatles on the roof at the Apple Studios in London on January 30, 1969. The Beatles songs itself inspired the acts of the Cirque performances, particularly their lyrics and their historic backgrounds or meanings to the individual members of the band. The title “Love” is derived from The Beatles single “All you need is Love”, which is also the song for the shows final and closing.
	WINTUK (2007-..., 01.November 2007, New York City) Location: WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY (Seasonal Show, only performed during the Winter, Nov-Feb) Director: Robert Lepage Director of Creation: Fernand Rainville Music Composer: Simon Carpentier, Jim Corcoran Set: Patricia Ruel Costumes/Props: François Barbeau/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Yves Aucoin Sound: Jonathan Deans, Leon Rothenberg Trainer/Choreographer: Daniel Cola warch 9 Minutes Teaser Video Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets Wintuk is a whirlwind winter adventure about a boy—Jamie—and his quest to find snow. Jamie lives in an imaginary city where the arrival of winter has brought intense cold, but no snow! He interacts with a cast of high-energy urban street characters, including acrobats, dancers and talking lampposts. Jamie embarks on a journey to an imaginary North called Wintuk. He is joined by three companions—a female Shaman with magical powers, the girl he has fallen head over heels for and a timid young man called Wimpy, destined to discover his own courage. Jamie's goal: bring the snow back to where it belongs.
	Zaia (2008-...,26.July./28.August.2008 Macao) Location: Venetian hotel and Casino in Macao, China Working titles "Cosmos" or "Macao I". Resident show at the COTAI ARENA® at the Sands Venetian Macao Hotel and Casino Resort at THE COTAI STRIP® in Macao, China Director: Gilles Maheu Director of Creation: Neilson Vignola Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Guillaume Lord Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Axel Morgenthaler Sound: Steve Dubuc Trainer/Choreographer: Martino Müller, Leonid Leykin, Jeff Hall, Rob Bollinger watch 9 Minutes Teaser Video - watch 2:56 min Promo Get Show Tickets ZAIA is the dream of a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth. The title of the show, “ZAIA”, comes from a Greek name meaning “life”. It also sounds close to “Gaia”, which is the name of the living and self-aware, spirit of the earth.
	Zed (2008-...,01.October.2008 Tokyo) Location: Cirque du Soleil Theatre @ Disney Tokyo Resort in Tokyo, Japan Director: François Girard Director of Creation: Line Tremblay Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: François Séguin Costumes/Props: Renée April Lighting: David Finn Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown, Jean-Jacques Pillet, Serge Lamothe (Playwright), Florence Pot watch 4:20 Minutes Snippet - watch 2:52 min of Premiere Get Show Tickets The name ZED is the name of the lead character of the show, the white fool called Zed. The inspiration for the show comes from the world of Tao, symbols, elements and also various characters, such as Zed.
	Believe (2008-..., 10.October. 2008 Las Vegas) Location: The Luxor hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Serge Denoncourt, Criss Angel (Illusions) Director of Creation: Pierre Phaneuf, Christiane Barette (Assoc.) Music Composer: Éric Serra Set: Ray Winkler Costumes/Props: Mérédith Caron/Michael Curry Lighting: Jeanette Farmer Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Wade Robson, André Simard watch 7 min Video - watch 2:47 min trailer Get Show Tickets Believe is the dark and gothic style magic show of Criss Angel in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil that is not like a traditional magic show that people are used to. It is also not like a traditional Cirque du Soleil show either. It is also not like Criss Angel’s TV show “Mindfreak”. “Believe” is the secret word that the legendary magician and escape artist Harry Houdini was giving to his wife at his death-bed before he died in 1926 to enable her to expose charlatans claiming to be able to communicate with the people in the afterlife. Only he and she knew the code word and the self proclaimed mediums did not.
	2009 – Banana Shpeel aka VAUDEVILLE in Chicago (19.November.2009 Chicago) Location: The Chicago Theater in Chicago, Illinois probably also New York City, New York (date still unknown) Cirque du Soleil is putting a contemporary twist on Vaudeville by infusing this classic form of theatre with a modern flair. This brand new type of Cirque du Soleil production will feature comedy, dance and song. Get ready for an exciting fusion of genres, directed by David Shiner – accomplished comedic actor, Broadway creator and director of KOOZA from Cirque du Soleil. Writer & Director: David Shiner watch 90 sec teaser Get Show Tickets From the official Cirque du Soleil web site: Banana Shpeel is a roller-coaster mix of styles that blends comedy with tap, hip hop, eccentric dance and slapstick, all linked by a hilarious narrative that ignites a succession of wacky adventures. This is not circus, or a musical or a variety show, or even vaudeville. It is Banana Shpeel! The Name of the show The meaning of the show name “Banana Shpeel” “Banana *peel”– from Banana Peel, a symbol of traditional slapstick comedy and the Yiddish word “Shtick”, meaning a comic theme or gimmick, derived from the German word “Stück” (Stueck), which translates to “piece” or “thing”. Visit the official home page of the show or the "Creation Journal", which provides weekly updates on the shows production progress, including behind the scenes videos.

Shows in Finalization Stage

2009-... Viva ELVIS (December.18, 2009 Las Vegas)
Location: The Aria City Center Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada

Viva ELVIS is a new Cirque du Soleil resident show for the ARIA Resort & Casino at CityCenter in Las Vegas. Preview performances are behind shown between December 18, 2009 and January 28, 2010. Tickets for the preview performances are already on sale for Cirque Club members and will go on sale for the general public on December 15, 2009. The shows theme is the life and the music of the "King of Rock & Roll", Elvis Presley. The initial contract term for this new show is from 2009 to 2015.

Viva ELVIS, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music, is a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley. Nostalgia, modernity and raw emotion provide the backdrop for his immortal voice and the exhilaration and beauty of his music.
Created in the image of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll – powerful, sexy, whimsical, truly unique and larger than life – the show highlights an American icon who transformed popular music and whose image embodies the freedom, excitement and turbulence of his era.
Significant moments in his life – intimate, playful and grandiose – blend with the timeless songs that remain as relevant today as when they first hit the top of the charts. Viva ELVIS focuses on the essential humanity of the one superstar whose name will forever be linked with the history of Las Vegas and the entire world of entertainment: Elvis Presley.

Director: Vincent Paterson
Director of Creation: Armand Thomas
Set: Mark Fisher
Costumes/Props: Stefano Canulli
Lighting: Marc Brickman
Sound: Jonathan Deans
Trainer/Choreographer: Daniel Cola

Visit the official home page of the show at the Cirque du Soleil web site at CirqueDuSoleil.com.

watch a 5 min documentary Video

Future/Planned Resident Shows of Cirque du Soleil

	2010 - A movie theme show at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California is currently being created. The new show is planned to run for 10 years
	2010 - A second resident show on Macao's Cotai Strip at a yet-to-be constructed hotel will premiere. I heard that the new show will be directed by René Simard, a famous Quebec artist (from such works as Elvis Story and Génération Motown, both produced in Quebec). Serge Roy will b the show’s Director of Creation and Robert Lemoyne the Production Manager. Director: René Simard Director of Creation: Serge Roy Music Composer: Michel Cusson Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Alan Hranitelj Lighting: Alain Lortie Sound: Steve Dubuc
	Rumored! Not Officially Acknowledged Yet! 2010 - A show is planned for the capital of China, Beijing in 2010. Details are still unknown. Project might gets canceled. It is also only a rumor at this time and not confirmed yet.
	2011 - Dubai World - Nakheel and Cirque du Soleil agreed in May 2008 to build a theater at one of the hotels at The Palm, Jumeira, a large island housing development Nakheel is building in the Persian Gulf. The 1,800 seat venue is expected to house a permanent Cirque du Soleil show starting in summer 2011. Nakheel is one of Dubai's biggest developers and owns together with the investment company Istithmar World Capital a 20 percent share of the Montreal, Canada based Circus troupe. The acquisition happened in August 2008. The initial deal is 15 years and the creators assigned to this Cirque project are by Guy Caron (Dralion) and Micheal Curry. Nakheel and Istithmar World Capital are both part of "Dubai World", a holding that is owned by the government of Dubai. Director: Guy Caron, Michael Curry Director of Creation: Fernand Rainville

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Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles series.

Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows

Arena shows are touring shows, but without the Big-Top. They are performed in existing venues, just like rock concerts and similar events.

	Delirium (2006-2008) Directors: Michel Lemieux, Victor Pilon Directors of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix, Carmen Ruest Music Composer: Francis Collard (Musical Director), Ian Tremblay (Producer) Costumes/Props: Michel Robidas/Anne-Séguin Poirier Lighting: Alain Lortie Sound: Yves Savoie Trainer/Choreographer: Mia Michaels The Cirque du Soleil Music Concert and Arena Show. It is not touring anymore and can be watched on the big screen today and hopefully soon on DVD as well. watch 28 min Video Buy official Soundtrack - Buy Solarium/Delirium CD Buy Tapis Rouge Solarium CD Delirium is more like a music concert. Most of the music in the show are remixed versions of traditional and well known tracks of previous Cirque du Soleil shows. Also the acts that are performed to these remixed songs often are similar in look and feel as the act of the original show. Delirium is a urban tale about an ordinary man (Bill) who experiences the issues of a words who is increasingly getting out of sync, believing to be just a dream. He sees reality from inside his own bubble and how it tries to find the balance between the virtualization of life that isolates people and the quest for love and harmony outside the virtual computer worlds.
	Saltimbanco (2007-...) Director: Franco Dragone Director of Creation: Carmen Ruest Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Desjardins Trainer/Choreographer: Hélène Lemay, René Bazinet watch 5 min Video and watch 2 min Video Get Show Tickets - Buy official Soundtrack
	Quidam (2008- ...) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 57 seconds show DVD trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The big-top version of the 1996 show Quidam was adapted for arenas and similar concert venues to be able to reach more places and without the need to bring along its own venue with it. Quidam "Arena" is currently touring Europe. Quidam is a nameless by-passer, a solitary person who lingers in the shadows ignored by normal people who rush past him without being noticed. Quidam represents nobody and everybody and the deep inner feelings and fears that are part of all of us. The young girl “Zoe” finds herself in a world of Quidam, full of anger and pain, trying to escape from it. Quidam is Classical Latin and means "a certain; pl., some" or "anonymous passerby”.
	Alegría (2009-…, 27.May 2009, Halifax) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 5:41 min promo video (A different perspective) Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Alegria is the second touring show of the Cirque that was converted from a big top version to the arena show format. See more information about this show in the paragraph about the original touring show version.

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Cirque du Soleil TV and IMAX Releases

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX

TV Schedule for Cirque shows and Documentaries on public television around the world.

	Journey of Man (IMAX) - Release Year: 1999-2000 - Rated: G - 39 minutes Released by Sony Pictures Classic in 1999 for IMAX theaters Director: Keith Melton Producers: Peter Wagg, Andre Picard, Antoine Compin, Charis Horton Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Projections/Photography: Reed Smoot Journey of Man follows the stages of human development from birth to maturity, with each stage introduced by a Cirque du Soleil act. Included acts: Taiko Synchronized Swimming Bungee Cube Act Statue Act (Hand to Hand) Banquine watch 5 1/2 min Video Buy it on DVD -Buy official Soundtrack
	Alegria Le Film - Release Year: 1999 (filmed in 1998), 94 minutes An Enchanting Fable (Movie/Motion Picture) Tag line: If you have no voice: Scream. If you have no legs: Run. If you have no hope: Invent. What if anything were possible? Director: Franco Dragone Written by: Rudy Barichello Producers: Rudy Barichello, Hans De Weers, Stéphane Reichel, Alexandre Heylen Executive Producers: Peter Wagg, Hélène Dufresne Music Composer: Benoît Jutras Editing: Jean-François Bergeron Production Design: Michel Crête, Ben van Os Costumes: Dominique Lemieux, Trixi Rittenhouse Art Direction: Johnny Boivin Cinematography: Pierre Mignot watch trailer - watch extended cube act - extended Hoops Video Buy it on DVD -Buy official Soundtrack
	Fire Within - Release Year: 2002 Emmy Award Winning Reality TV Show and Documentary about the making of the Cirque du Soleil touring show Varekai from the perspective of several performers from start to premiere. The 3 discs DVD set includes all 13 episodes (each 23 minutes in length) of the show and several bonus features. The artists featured in the show are: Andrew & Kevin Atherton (Aerial Straps Act) Ashley Beaver (Spotter) Gareth Hopkins (Lizard) Raquel Karro Oliveira (Aerial Triple-Trapeze) Oleg Ouchakov (Acrobatique Pas de Deux) Olga Pikhienko (Contortion/Hand-balancing on Canes) Stella Umeh (Aerial Triple-Trapeze) watch 45 seconds DVD trailer Buy it on DVD (3 DVDs) The DVD also includes a bonus episode about the reunion of the people that were part of this reality TV-show/documentary and interviews with the cast members about their experiences with the show and its impact on their life during the shoot and after its release and broad cast. Also includes is an interview with the creator and director of Fire With, Lewis Cohen
	Solstrom Release Year: 2003 TV Series with 13 episodes, 45 minutes each) Writers and Screenplay: Edmond Bensimon, Pascal Elbé Producers: Martin Bolduc, Yolande Riccioli Colin Gee playing Alberto (clown in Cirque du Soleil show recordings on DVD of Varekai and Quidam). Solstrom features over 250 artists in over 130 different acts from Cirque du Soleil's own touring and resident shows as well as acts that are not or in some cases were not part of a Cirque du Soleil production yet. Some of the featured acts made it into shows of Cirque that were created after the show was produced. It also provides the opportunity to see acts from many Las Vegas productions where there is no DVD release of the show available yet, such as Mystère and "O". Not from shows like KA, Love, Zumanity or Believe, because those were created at a later time. watch DVD trailer 1 - watch DVD trailer 2 Buy it on DVD (5 DVDs)

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Cirque du Soleil Special Events and Performances

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Other Performances of the Cirque

	June 15 to June 17, 1995 - 21th G7 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1995 Cirque du Soleil did a special performance at the request of the Canadian Government.
	1997 - Royal Variety Performances, including the December 1997 edition in conjunction with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip's Golden Wedding Anniversary. watch video (10 min) of the Royal Variety Performance
	March 24, 2002 - Cirque du Soleil performs at the awards show for the 74th Academy Awards (Oscars) at the old Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (Los Angeles, California)(2002-03-24) watch full video (5 min)
	June 16, 2004 - Cirque du Soleil set a new record for the Guinness Book of World Records when they gathered 544 employees in the Montreal Headquarters and had them stilts walking at the same place, at the same time. watch the video about this
	July 11, 2004 - Soleil de Minuit/Midnight Sun (2004-07-11). Cirque du Soleil celebrates its 20th birthday with the people of Montreal in the streets of their hometown and location of their corporate headquarters. Buy the DVD Soleil du Minuit is French and translates to English “Midnight Sun”. Although it was not exactly midnight when Cirque du Soleil performed their one-time special 20^th anniversary show in the streets of Montreal where Cirque has its head quarters; but it was already dark when the show reached its climax. The “Sun” represents the Cirque itself, the Cirque du Soleil or the Circus of the Sun.
	28. October, 2004 - Zink Magazine November, 2004 Issue Celebration With Artists From the Cirque Du Soleil show Zumanity (10/28/2004) watch 4:11 min video excerpt
	November 10, 2004 - Cirque du Soleil & the Pope - the troupe of Saltimbanco visited the Vatican and Pope John-Paul II. Special performance in front of over 6,000 spectators.
	June 15, 2005 - "Reflections in Blue" (Réflexions de bleu), a unique one-night water show as part of the opening ceremonies for the XI. World Aquatics Championships (FINA) in Montreal, Canada (2005-07-16). watch video (10 min) (not the whole show)
	December 2005 - A Taste of Cirque du Soleil - a 30 minutes long performance, featuring three acrobatic performances and characters from Cirque du Soleil, was presented twice per cruise on Celebrity's cruise ships "Constellation" and "Summit" in the Celebrity Theatre. Discontinued for unknown reason. Date of last performance: unknown. watch 21 seconds video (that is all that I got :()
	May 2006 - 2006 TV Week Logie Awards - Cirque du Soleil at the 2006 Logies in Australia performed a selection of highlights from their past visits, including Saltimbanco, Alegría and Quidam, plus a sneak preview of their (at the time) upcoming Australian tour of Varekai. watch video (4:02 min)
	May 19, 2006 - World Food Programme - The cast of the Cirque show "Alegria" performed on Friday, May 19, 2006 a special performance for the WFP - World Food Program's launch of their campaign "Fight Hunger: Walk the World" at the Tempio di Venere, which is located near the Roman Coliseum in Rome, Italy.
	July 29, 2006 - World Out-games 2006 - Cirque du Soleil performs the Hand in Hand Act. The opening ceremonies for the 1st World Out-games with 30,000 spectators was held in Montreal's Olympic stadium on Saturday night July 29, 2006. The Out-games, also known as the Gay Olympics were held between July 29 and August 5, 2006 and are not exclusive to gays though. Some 12,000 participants from over 100 countries took part in 35 athletic events. (07/29/2006). watch full video (9 min)
	September 1, 2006 IFA 2006 Opening Gala - Cirque du Soleil as the new the marketing partner of IFA 2006 (Internationale Funk Ausstellung) presents exclusive show acts of the Special Event Department Montreal at the IFA Opening Gala in Berlin, Germany (09/01/2006) The event organizers told me that no cameras were allowed for the gala and that no official video recordings were done either. This means that chances are slim that any video material of this performance exists at all. There are only a few photographs, which are available at my Flickr collection with Cirque du Soleil photographs.
	February 4, 2007 - Pre-Game Show at Super Bowl XLI (41.), the American football game to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2006 season at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts (16-4) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears (15-4), 29-17. This performance was produced by David Saltz (2007-02-04) watch full video (9 min)
	February 2007 - NBA All-Stars 2007 Half-time show by some members of the cast of Cirque du Soleil's "KA" in Las Vegas, Nevada. watch full video
	May 12, 2007 - The rock band Apocalyptica gave a special performance for the Eurovision song contest on May 12, 2007 in in Helsinki, Finland. The show included some elaborate circus performances as well. Involved were Antti Suniala and other circus artists, such as the finnish circus Sirkus Sorin. I was also pretty sure that I recognized Oleg Ouchakov & Tatiana Gousarova from Cirque du Soleil in the video (Banquine Act, Quidam, Varekai, Fire Within, Journey of Man), but are not 100% sure anymore. watch full video (8:21 min)
	August 4th, 2007 - CHU Sainte-Justine Centennial Feast 2007 - The CHU Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital Center of the University of Montreal, Quebec (Canada) celebrated in 2007 their 100th Anniversary. Part of the festivities was the Great Centennial Fair on August 4th, 2007 at the Jean-de-Brébeuf Collège. (08/04/2007). watch video (7:37 min) (Hoops and Aerial Straps segments only)
	August 28, 2007 - Surprise Cirque du Soleil performance for the the Grand Opening show of the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel in Macau, China by the Las Vegas Sands corporation (Sheldon Adelson) (2007-08-28). watch 1 min video excerpt
	September 25, 2007 - Cirque du Soleil's contortionists, Natasha Patterson, 10, born in San Francisco, Julie Bergez, 14, from France and Dasha Sovik, 15, from Russia, who perform in KOOZA, set a new Guinness World Record™ for the Highest Circus Act ever performed at the top of Toronto's CN Tower, the World's Tallest Freestanding Tower. This feat was performed in the Glass Floor observation deck, 342 meters (1,122 feet) above the ground and as high up on Toronto's CN Tower. more ... Watch full video of this performance.
	29 January, 2008 - UMW Re-Brands, Unveils New Identity - United Motor Works (UMW Holdings Berhad), a Malaysian Business in Automotive, Equipment, Manufacturing & Engineering and Oil & Gas unveiled their new identity in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The show included an extensive performance by the performers of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria touring show (01/29/2008). watch full video (26 min)
	February 10th, 2008 - Cirque du Soleil's tribute to The Beatles ”A Day In The Life” and Carol Woods & Timmy Mitchums (from "Across the Universe") performance of "Let It Be" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California (2008-02-10). The performance featured acts from the Cirque show “The Beatles – Love”, which is performed at the “Mirage” hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. watch full video (7:45 min)
	Summer 2008 - Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain - Cirque du Soleil performed during the day-parade, called "Awakening of the Serpent", for the "Water" Expo 2008 in public at the city of Zaragoza in Spain, Europe. Videos of the performance (multiple parts) Part 1a (2:38 min)Part 1b (6:01 min)Part 2 (3:07 min) Part 3 (3:06 min)Part 4 (2:41 min)Part 5 (2:45 min)
	September 24, 2008 - In celebration of Zumanity's 5th anniversary. Chelsea Handler from The Chelsea Lately interviews one of the stars from the hit Vegas Cirque Du Soleil Show Zumanity, Alan Silva. He does some hanging acrobatic aerial silk work and gives a great interview! watch Video of Performance & Interview (6:11 min)
	October 17-19, 2008 - 400th Anniversary of Québec, Canada - Cirque du Soleil created a special show for this anniversary, which was performed 5 times on three days at the Colisée Pepsi in Québec City. Watch excerpts of the performance 8 min video
	November 7, 9 & 16, 2008 - A Choreographers' Showcase - The Nevada Ballet Theatre and Cirque du Soleil joint venture project - A Project Designed to Stimulate and Encourage Artistic Growth, Debut in 2007, Performances at the Mystère™ Theatre at Treasure Island, Las Vegas, Nevada, Friday, November 7th, 2008; Sunday, November 9th and 16th, 2008 watch 3:09 minutes Video (excerpt only)
	November 7-9, Festival of the Masters at WDW (Walt Disney World) in Orlando, FL - Live Entertainment by performers from Cirque du Soleil La Nouba.
	November 12, 2008, Wednesday Night Affair: An Evening au Cirque, 5–7 p.m. - The Mandalay Bay ballroom - A special performance for the SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists) conference by artists from Cirque du Soleil's Mystère show. Las Vegas: November 11-16, 2008 (Set)
	December 5, 2008 - "La Notte Bianca" - festival and street performances in Lecce, Italy. An almost 1 hour long special one-time performance by Cirque du Soleil during this ancient and annually celebrated event, in Italy, Europe. watch 28 minutes Video (excerpt with redone audio)
	2008-09 - The Fox Network New Year's Eve special was broadcast on Wednesday, December 31st at 11:00 P.M. - 12:30 A.M. ET live from Las Vegas and presented segments with special interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at three of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas shows; "Zumanity, The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil", "The Beatles LOVE" and "CRISS ANGEL Believe".
	December 31, 2008 - Special New Years Eve performance by Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba for WDW New Years Party
	2009-05-15 - A special performance by Cirque du Soleil on May 15, 2009 for the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest (the largest contest of this kind in Europe) Second Semi-Finals Gala show in Moscow, Russia. watch 6 minutes Video -watch entire 2 hours program
	2009-06-13 - The cast of Cirque du Soleil's Macao show Zaia performs at the opening ceremony of the 10th International Indian Film Awards, IIFA (dubbed “Bollywood Awards”) on June 13, 2009 (broadcast on July 5, 2009) in Macao, China (Green Carpet Special) watch 3:32 min video
	June 16, 2009 - Cirque du Soleil is determined to re-capture their Guinness Book world record from 2004 that was taken away from them and beat the current record of 625 people stilt walking at the same time and place. more ... watch 1:34 min video -watch 0:34 min video
	June 19, 2009 - Cirque du Soleil's "O" was featured in the Discovery Channel TV show "Time Warp" with hosts MIT's Jeff Lieberman & Matt Kearney. The episode is called "Las Vegas Warped" and featured next to Cirque's show "O" some juggling by Penn Teller. "Time Warp" basically captures things in "slow motion", which is very interesting in many cases, especially if the events are typically fast paste in real-life. watch 6:34 min video
	June 29, 2009 - Cirque du Soleil participated with some performers from their touring show "Ovo" at the Gay Pride Parade 2009 in Toronto Canada. watch 1:11 min video
	2009-2013 - Cirque du Soleil - Les Chemins Invisibles (The Invisible Paths) a 70 minutes long special show on multiple stages in parallel to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the circus. Performed in Quebec City for 5 years, between 2009 and 2013. In 2009 was shown Wednesday to Sunday between June 24 and September 7, 2009. Next to the main stage are performances happening on the "Tribue des Brumes", "Tribue des Brasiers", "Tribue des Sables" and "Tribue des Embarrassants".
	October 9th, 2009 at 20:00 EDT in Montreal. "Moving Stars and Earth for Water Event" demonstrating their commitment to water and pay tribute to this vitally important natural resource. This event was part of Cirque du Soleil's "Poetic Social Mission" for the One Drop Foundation, which tries to raise awareness about the fresh water problems on this planet. More information about this initiative can be found at OneDrop.org watch part 1 - 4:34 min video watch part 2 - 7:46 min video watch part 3 - 3:28 min video watch part 4 - 3:32 min video
	2010 - Cirque will co-create the Canada Pavilion in association with the Government of Canada at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China

Note: The Cirque did more special performances than I listed here. I learn about other performances every now and then and update my list. Nobody else seems to keep a record of this, including the Cirque itself.

Las Vegas has the lion share of resident shows and that will not change in the future. Two more shows who will call "Sin City" their home are in the making and add to the FIVE resident shows Las Vegas has already today. The Cirque will also continue to create smaller scale one-time events in the years to come. Okay, here are the details for what is known today already.

TV Promotions

Ongoing - TV Appearances - Acts of Cirque du Soleil shows appear frequently on television all over the world to promote their resident and touring shows. Here are some examples.

Le Best of Cirque du Soleil Promo on ABC Good Morning America on 10/8/2005
Zumanity @ Jay Leno (video was taken down by NBC)
Zumanity @ Jay Leno again (video was taken down by NBC)
Alegria Hoola Hoops at TV5 Quebec, Canada (4:47 min)
KA on CSI, Zumaity once more at Jay Leno (7:47 min)
KA invades Seattle KOMA NWA in 2008 (5:45 min)
"Believe" @ "So You Think You Can Dance" in August 2008 in LA
Alegria Taiwan 2009 Promo (2:04 min)
Alegria on Brazillian TV in 2009 (5:13 min)
Varekai Promo in Madrid Spain 2009 (3:11 min)
“O” at KNTV Las Vegas on August, 28 2009 (3:58 min)
“Kooza” at the Ellen DeGeneres Show on December,3 2009 (3:22 min)

Bonus

Franco Dragone's "LE REVE" TV appearance 2008 (3:36 min)

Cirque in Commercials

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Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil Documentaries

Unfortunately are several of them not available anymore, because they are out of print. Documentaries are listed in chronological order.

	Quel Cirque (1991) A look into the creation of Nouvelle Experiénce.
	Saltimbanco's Diary (1992) The making of the award winning Cirque du Soleil show "Saltimbanco".
	A Baroque Odyssey (1994) - Buy the DVD A 56 minutes long documentary about the early beginnings of Cirque du Soleil between 1984 and 1994.
	The Truth of Illusion (1994) A 22 minutes long documentary about the production of the show Alegria which was released on VHS only.
	The Alegria DVD (2001/2003) Buy the DVD contains in addition to the 1:30 h long show recording with multi-camera angle feature, also includes 14 short "Meet the Artists" introductions and interviews, the 44 minutes long behind the scenes documentary: A Journey to Alegria: A Special with host Jamie Durie, the 14 minutes long documentary featurette: Filming Alegria and the 5:45 minutes long special A Different Perspective. All-in-all about 1 1/2 hours of bonus material.
	Full Circle (1996) The Making of Quidam. A 22 minutes long short behind the scene documentary about the creation of the Cirque show Quidam which was released on VHS only.
	Inside La Nouba (2000) From Conception to Perception, a 45 minutes long "making of" documentary for the Orlando show La Nouba, playing at Disney World Resort, Florida. The DVD also contains as a Bonus feature the 24 minutes long documentary about the making of the Cirque du Soleil touring show Dralion by director Guy Charon that is called “In the Heart of Dralion” La Nouba DVD (2003) Buy the DVD The special 2 discs DVD with the show recording of "La Nouba" also includes a behind the scenes special (15 minutes) and 9 interviews with artists and creators of the show (total 30 minutes).
	Varekai Anywhere (2002) The Making of an Angel, a 45 minutes documentary about the making of the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai. The documentary is part of the Varekai show recording DVD on 2 discs. The Varekai DVD (2 discs) (2002) Buy the DVD The 2 DVD's set includes in addition to the documentary "Varekai Anywhere" also 16 short "Meet the Cast" interviews and introductions, 7 longer artist interviews and a 20 minutes special for the TV mini-series "Fire Within", which follows some of the performers for the show from their arrival at the Cirque, nine months before the show, until the premier under the big-top. The entire mini-series "Fire Within" is also available on a 3 discs DVD set. Whatever 'Stie (2003) A Parody of Varekai show acted by the technical crew only for the actual artists
	Run Before you Fly (2004) - A Portrait of Cirque du Soleil A documentary program about the Cirque which ran on Sunday, November 21, 2004 4:12pm on ABC Television.
	KÀ Extreme (2005) - Buy the DVD A 47 minutes long look behind the scenes of the epic Cirque du Soleil show "KA", it's challenges and accomplishments. KA is running at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Vegas. Content: - KA Extreme (main documentary) - The Creators of KA - KA Music Excerpts - Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (Ads) - Cirque du Soleil Promos (Ads)
	Through the Curtain - An In-Depth Look at Corteo (2005) is a 45 minutes "behind the scene/making of" documentary of the Cirque du Soleil touring show Corteo, which is part of the special features on the Corteo show recording DVD. "A Day in the Life of Corteo Artisits" is a 10 minutes long featurette from the Corteo show DVD release. "Filming Corteo" is a 7:38 minutes long featurette from the Corteo show DVD that shows how the live show was captured on film. Buy Show DVD A shortened 24:31 min version of the documentary was released on Cirque du Soleil's - Corteo official soundtrack double disc special edition (1 audio CD and 1 DVD) Buy Ltd.Ed. OST
	Cirque du Soleil - 20 Years Under the Sun (2005) 60 minutes BBC/WGBH Documentary from 2005 about the history of the Cirque, a year after its 20th anniversary. Couldn't find a place where it can be purchased. I downloaded a copy off the Internet.
	Imagine the Beatles in Love (2006) - Buy the DVD A 51 min long documentary that was produced by the BBC in Great Britain about the creation of the Cirque show "The Beatles - Love", which is running at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
	Lovesick (2006) - Buy the DVD A 99 minutes long documentary DVD about the artists and the creation of the Cirque show "Zumanity", which is still performed over 10 times per week at the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Content: - Lovesick (main documentary) - Lovesick in the Making - Aural Pleasures (Slide show) - Zumanity Preview
	FLOW (2007) - Buy the DVD Sub titled: "A Tribute to the Artists of 'O'" is a 80 minutes long documentary DVD about the popular Cirque du Soleil show "O", shown at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Content: - Flow (main documentary) - Steps below the Surface - Water in the Desert - Russian Swing - Ads for the Las Vegas shows: Mystère, KA, Love, O and Zumanity
	The Mystery of Mystère (2007) - Buy the DVD A 80 minutes long film about the idea behind the subject of the show, featuring great intellectual and scientific minds of this century and the artists of Mystère, the oldest permanent Cirque du Soleil show and still running at the Treasure Island hotel and casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Content: - Mystery of Mystère (main documentary) - Franco Dragonè meets the Scientists - Food for Thought - Impressions and Interrogations - Flow DVD Ad - Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (Ads)
	A Thrilling Ride through KOOZA (2007) - Buy the DVD A short 47 minutes long documentary DVD without bonus features about the creation of Cirque du Soleil's touring show "Kooza", which debuted in Spring 2007. Note: The entire documentary is also part of the bonus features on disk 2 of the show DVD that was released in 2008.
	KA - Backstage (2007) A 90 minutes long behind the scenes documentary produced in 2007 for the French Language TV channel Arte in corporation with the German TV Station ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen). The documentation is not available on DVD as far as I know, but you can watch the entire program on the Internet via windows media video live-stream in 480x270 pixels resolution (only for Windows Media Player, sorry). The documentary is only available in German and French language. 15 Minutes Intro to the Documentary Language Versions: German - French KA - Backstage (Main Part) Language Versions: German - French
	All Together Now (2008) - Buy the DVD A 84 minutes long documentary about the Cirque du Soleil show "The Beatles - Love", released on DVD on October 20, 2008. Additional bonus features include the 22 minutes special "Changing The Music", the 9 minutes special "Music In The Theatre" and the 10 minutes special "Making 'LOVE'" - A backstage pass to explore the design of "LOVE".
	Cirque du Soleil LOVE (2008) An unofficial & fan-made promotional documentary by Carsten Cumbrowski (55 minutes long) watch full documentary
	Cirque du Soleil KA (2009) An unofficial & fan-made promotional documentary by Carsten Cumbrowski about Cirque du Soleil's show KA, performed at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada (57 minutes long) watch full documentary

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Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil on DVD

Many of the Cirque's shows are available on DVD, especially the older touring shows. They also created some stuff for television and for IMAX theaters, which is also available on DVD today.

The DVDs are not a substitute for a real life show experience, but some folks did not have the opportunity to see the Cirque at all and the DVDs do a good job to give you an idea of what to expect.

I added links to online stores next to each show or special performance if there are DVD recordings, soundtracks on Compact Disc (CD) and/or tickets to the live show available. Some of those links are affiliate links, which means that I will earn a few cents if you use my link to purchase the item. If you like my content and want to show your appreciation, just use the links provided here, if you decide to buy anything that I mentioned.

I also included links to online videos on video sharing web sites, such as YouTube and Google Video, especially for the shows and special one-time performances where no DVD recording exists.

Watch the video trailer for the Cirque du Soleil DVDs. Very short and nicely edited (by myself hehe). If you are not familiar with the Cirque at all, I promise that you will enjoy the videos. Cheers!

Backup link to video at Vimeo.

#	Title	Type	Year		Filming Location
1	La Magie Continue	show	1986		Toronto
2	Cirque Reinvente	show	1989		Montreal
3	Nouvelle Experience	show	1991		Toronto
4	A Baroque Odyssey	documentary	1994		Montreal
5	Saltimbanco	show	1994		Atlanta
6	Alegria An Enchanting Fable	movie	1999	release
7	Quidam	show	1999		Amsterdam
8	Journey of Man	movie	2000	release
9	Inside La Nouba - From Conception to Perception	documentary	2000	release
10	Dralion	show	2000		San Francisco
11	Alegria	show	2001		Sydney
12	Varekai	show	2002		Toronto
13	La Nouba	show	2003		Orlando
14	Fire Within	tv series/docu	2002		Montreal
15	Solstrom	tv series	2003		Montreal
16	Midnight Sun	special event	2004		Montreal
17	KA Extreme	documentary	2005	release	Las Vegas
18	Corteo	show	2005		Toronto
19	Imagine the Beatles in Love	documentary	2005	bootleg
20	Lovesick	documentary	2006	release	Las Vegas
21	The Mystery of Mystere	documentary	2007	release	Las Vegas
22	Flow - A Tribute to the Artists of "O"	documentary	2007	release	Las Vegas
23	A Thrilling Ride Through Kooza	documentary	2007	release	Montreal
24	Kooza	show	2007		Toronto
25	All Together Now	documentary	2008	release

Cirque Du Soleil - Anniversary Collection, 1984-2005

Almost the entire Cirque du Soleil show collection in one set for a price of just a bit over $10 per DVD, that's less than half the price of what you would pay for the included DVDs, if you would purchase each of them individually. A great gift for a friend and a perfect starter kit for your own Cirque collection.

12 DVDs, Region Code 1 (USA and Canada), Note: some of the DVDs are RCE encoded, which means that they do not work with region code free DVD players.

Included in this package are the following Cirque du Soleil shows, special performances and documentaries: La Magie Continue (1986); Cirque Reinvente (1989); Nouvelle Experience (1991); Saltimbanco (1994), the 1994 documentary retrospective A Baroque Odyssey; the Amsterdam-set Quidam (1999); Allegria (1999), the live Sydney show; the Chinese-influenced Dralion (2000), in its standard, non-Superbit release; the relatively short IMAX film Journey of Man (2002); Varekai (2002), from Toronto; La Nouba (2003), from Walt Disney World; and Midnight Sun, strikingly staged outdoors at the 2004 Montreal International Jazz Festival.

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Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series. Make sure that you also check out the primer article and the other related articles of the series about the most famous Circus in the World.

Cirque du Soleil Music Releases

This article covers primarily the music releases by Cirque du Soleil on Compact Disc and not so much the earlier releases on Vinyl (with exception of the newer "Collectors Edition" vinyl releases) and also not the Audio Tape versions. At least for the albums were Tape Cassette versions always released in parallel with the old school plastic vinyl records as well as with the modern day digital audio CDs.

Covered are not just the soundtrack releases for their resident and touring shows, but also other music releases, such as the soundtracks of the motion pictures/IMAX movies that Cirque du Soleil produced, as well as special remix albums and "Best Of" collections and samplers. Some of the releases are already out of print, but I tried to link to places where you can buy the release where ever possible, even if it meant to refer to secondary market places, like the Amazon.com Market Place, where you still can buy it either used and sometimes even new, from old inventories of specialty music stores etc.

Song Lyrics and Translations

The lyrics of many Cirque du Soleil song are not a real language and entirely made up. The reason for this is that Cirque wants its shows to appeal to a world wide audience and avoid language barriers. However, there are a number of songs that do have lyrics, some in English, Spanish, Italian or some other language. You can fond the lyrics including an English translation for a number of songs at the CirqueTribune.com Wiki.

In the case of the show "Love", where the music is based on original Beatles songs, check out the track list for the show sound track CD below and then see this article of mine with a list of all Beatles songs and links to the lyrics and online video (for some of them).

Sound Tracks / Full Albums

Fanfafonie 45
Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 1/1/1985
Publisher: Naga Productions

Track Listing

Vinyl Record #01 (7:07 min)
01. Le Cirque du Soleil (3:22)
02. Le Funambule (3:45)

This is actually a vinyl record release and not a CD. Only about 1,000 records were pressed.
If you happen to own one of the few records and could provide some album art for it, I’d appreciate it.

Cirque Réinventé (Vol 1) / Cirque du Soleil

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 11/1/1987
Publisher: Naga Productions

Track Listing

CD #01 (39:00 min)
01. Overture (1:45)
02. Personnages (3:12)
03. Chaise Musicale / Musical Chair (4:21)
04. Bicycles (4:00)

05. Masha (5:12)
06. Les Pingouins / The Penguin Step (4:20)
07. Tango (5:52)
08. Trapeze (6:02)
09. Charivari (4:01)

Semi-official soundtrack CD for the old & discontinued touring show "Cirque Reinventé" (We reinvent the Circus) between 1987 and 1990. This album and also volume 2 could be seen as the OST for the mentioned "Cirque Reinventé" show, but also for the two shows before that, "La Magie Continue" and "Le Grand Tour". In the early days of the Cirque there were no multiple shows touring and performing at the same time like they do today.

Back then the shows came one after another, borrowing acts and music from each other, or a sequel or progression so to speak. The concept of creating a show, sending it on the road and running and running and then simply create another show and send that one on the road as well, and so on and so forth, did not establish itself until the creation of their touring show "Saltimbanco", which still tours the world today and was created while the previous Cirque show "Nouvelle Expérience" was still running.

Les Penguins 45 (Pengoins)
Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 11/1988
Publisher: Naga Productions

Same story for this CD as for the very first one in this list. If you happen to own a copy of it, please contact me. Thank you.

Cirque Réinventé (Vol 2) / Cirque du Soleil

Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 7/1990 / 11/8/1994
Publisher: Naga Productions / RCA/Victor

Track Listing

CD #01 (52:15 min)
01. Overture (2:27)
02. Bulgares (5:03)
03. Boule 4 (1:06)
04. Tango (5:10)
05. Trapeze (5:58)
06. Cadres (4:27)

07. Fil de Fer (4:18)
08. Bicylettes (3:51)
09. Boules 1 A (6:12)
10. Les Chaises (3:22)
11. Entracte (6:05)
12. Pingouins (3:25)

Saltimbanco (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 10/9/1992
Publisher: RCA/Victor

Track Listing

CD #01 (60:23 min)
01. Kumbalawé (5:34)
02. Barock (4:20)
03. Kazé (5:07)
04. Amazonia (7:58)
05. Norweg (6:08)

06. Urgence (5:32)
07. Pokinoï (5:08)
08. Saltimbanco (5:19)
09. Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)
10. Horéré Ukundé (6:47)
11. Rideau (3:07)

Nouvelle Experience (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 3/23/1993
Publisher: RCA Victor

Track List

CD #01 (67:41 min)
01. Fanfare (0:48)
02. Meandres (6:54)
03. Bolero (4:17)
04. Bascule (4:42)
05. Fixe (4:13)
06. Ballant (5:27)
07. Baleines (3:42)

08. Havi Vahila (4:38)
09. Suite Chinoise (10:23)
10. Eclipse (4:19)
11. L'oiseau (4:50)
12. Azimut (5:41)
13. Sanza (4:50)
14. Grosse Femme (2:57)

Alegría (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 9/27/1994 CA, 10/11/1994 US
Publisher: RCA Victor

Re-Release Date: 7/20/2004
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (61:28 min)
01. Alegría (5:47)
02. Vai Vedrai (4:33)
03. Kalandéro (5:16)
04. Querer (4:34)
05. Irna (4:46)
06. Taruka (5:32)

07. Jeux d'Enfants 4:40)
08. Mirko (5:03)
09. Icare (7:25)
10. Ibis (6:20)
11. Valsapena (4:06)
12. Nocturne (3:08)

Mystère (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 3/29/1994 CA, 11/8/1994 US
Publisher: RCA/Victor

Track List

CD #01 (55:23 min)
01. Égypte (4:25)
02. Rumeurs (10:08)
03. Birimbau (6:10)
04. Kunya Sobé (5:19)

05. En Ville (4:57)
06. Ulysse (6:23)
07. Rondo (6:05)
08. Caravena (5:12)
09. Kalimando (6:28)

The tracks of this soundtrack CD were all produced in the studio and are slightly different from the original songs used in the show. They sound nice, but if authenticity is important to you, this CD is not for you.

Alegría Live at Fairfax
Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 12/1995 in Canada only
Publisher: Cirque in-House (Special Limited Employee Edition)

Track List

CD #01 (57:23 min)
01. Milonga (3:13)
02. Ouverture (1:16)
03. Mirko (2:47)
04. Prelude to Vai Vedrai (0:28)
05. Vai Vedrai (5:37)
06. Jeux d'Enfants 1 (1:31)
07. Jeux d'Enfants 2 (1:40)
08. Fast Track 1 (2:04)
09. Fast Track 2 (2:04)
10. Fast Track 3 (1:18)
11. Fast Track 4 (0:48)
12. Oiseaux sur la Corde (3:30)
13. La Perche 1 (4:51)
14. La Perche 2 (0:21)
15. Homme Fort (11:56)
16. Hoola Hoops (6:30)
17. La Tempête (1:13)
18. Le Feu (6:10)

CD #02 (43:45 min)
01. Le Bal (3:28)
02. The Letter (1:12)
03. Prelude to Le Cube (0:51)
04. Le Cube (6:47)
05. Barres Russes (5:39)
06. Bardak 1 (1:49)
07. Bardak 2 (0:46)
08. Prelude to Contorsion (2:17)
09. Contorsion (7:23)
10. Montage du Filet (2:50)
11. Prelude to Grans Volants (1:22)
12. Grands Volants (6:00)
13. Alegría (3:21)

Mystère Live

Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 8/14/1996 CA, 11/12/1996 US
Publisher: RCA/Victor

Re-Release Date: 8/16/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (52:27 min)
01. Ouverture / Ramsani (4:13)
02. Misha (5:38)
03. Égypte (3:13)
04. Rondo / Double Face (5:10)
05. Ulysse (5:36)
06. Dôme (2:45)

07. Kalimando (4:12)
08. Kunya Sobé (3:16)
09. En Ville / Frisco (5:12)
10. Gambade (1:18)
11. High Bar (7:16)
12. Taïko (3:50)
13. Finale (2:48)

Quidam (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 1996
Publisher: RCA Victor

Re-Release Date: 6/14/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track Listing

CD #01 (46:29 min)
01. Atmadja (3:21)
02. Incantation (5:22)
03. Marelle (1:27)
04. Rivage (5:24)
05. Zydeko (1:17)
06. Let Me Fall (4:46)

07. Innocence (1:55)
08. Carrousel (3:05)
09. Steel Dream (5:13)
10. Séisouso (5:23)
11. Réveil (3:21)
12. Quidam (5:37)

Saltimbanco Live in Amsterdam
Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 12/1996 in Canada only
Publisher: Cirque in-House (Special Limited Employee Edition)

Track Listing

CD #01 (44:12 min)
01. Cloche et Présentation (0:58)
02. Rideau (2:47)
03. Kumbalawé (3:27)
04. Adagio (5:42)
05. Saltimbanco (5:26)
06. Clown (0:13)
07. Kazé / Norweg (9:16)
08. Rêve (1:09)
09. Arlequin (7:26)
10. Rave Out (7:51)

CD #02 (49:06 min)
01. Tap Dance (1:56)
02. Barock (7:21)
03. Cantus-Mélopée (8:39)
04. Amazonia (9:05)
05. Démontage Trapèze (0:34)
06. La Mort (1:44)
07. Urgence (8:25)
08. Il Sogno di Volare (7:48)
09. Transfert (1:44)
10. Horéré Ukundé (1:53)

Cirque du Soleil: Collection

Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 10/28/1997
Publisher: RCA/Victor

Track Listing

CD #01 (53:58 min)
01. Ouverture (2:26)
02. Égypte (4:25)
03. Kumbalawé (5:32)
04. Suite chinoise (10:26)
05. Querer (4:33)

06. Entracte (6:06)
07. Pokionoï (5:07)
08. Alegría (5:48)
09. Kalimando (6:22)
10. Grosse Femme (2:57)

The Cirque du Soleil Collection is the first "Best of" type CD release by Cirque. It includes popular tracks from the very early shows that don't run anymore, such as Nouvelle Experience, which finished it's touring life at the Mirage in Las Vegas (next to the Treasure Island, the venue of Mystère), but also tracks from older Cirque shows that are still performed and touring the world, like Saltimbanco & Alegría or Cirques first resident show in Las Vegas, Mystère.

Alegria: Le Film (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 3/23/1999
Publisher: BMG Quebec/RCA

Track Listing

CD #01 (55:07 min)
01. Alegría (4:20)
02. Frac's Room (1:33)
      Frac and Train (1:21)
      Frac and Giulietta (1:36)
03. Love Leaves Someone Behind (4:03)
04   Opera (2:19)
      Fleur's Trailer (0:37)
05. Mirko (1:14)
      Vai Vedrai (4:33)
06. Love Leaves Someone Behind (1:22)
     Chase (1:04)
     Factory (1:32)

07. Hervé (2:06)
08. Child in his Eyes (4:25)
09. Wedding (1:40)
10. Irna (2:52)
11. Hervé (1:16)
     Giulietta and Fleur (2:43)
12. Filet (1:01)
     Make-Up (0:56)
     Let Love Live (instrumental) (1:15)
13. Mountain of Clothes (4:34)
14. Let Love Live (Instrumental) (2:07)
15. Let Love Live (4:05)

La Nouba (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 6/22/1999 CA, 6/29/1999 US

Re-Release Date: 8/16/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (53:45 min)
01. Once Upon a Time (6:45)
02. A Tale (4:18)
03. Porte (2:53)
04. La Nouba (2:56)
05. Distorted (6:35)
06. Liama (4:23)

07. Queens (6:57)
08. À la lune (6:11)
09. Rêve Rouge (2:48)
10. Urban (4:54)
11. Propel (1:17)
12. Jardin Chinois (3:37)

Dralion (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 10/26/1999 CA, 11/9/1999 US

Re-Release Date: 7/12/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (50:32 min)
01. Stella Errans (4:36)
02. Ombra (5:56)
03. Spiritual Spiral (4:14)
04. Miracula Aeternitatis (5:18)
05. Bamboo (1:26)

06. Ballare (5:41)
07. Ravendhi (4:41)
08. Ninkou Latora (5:14)
09. Aborigenes Jam (3:08)
10. Hinkò (5:47)
11. Kamandé (4:28)

Journey of Man (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 5/2/2000
Publisher: Sony Music Soundtrax

Track Listing

CD #01 (46:23 min)
01. Journey of Man (3:46)
02. Overture (1:01)
03. Taiko (1:41)
04. Birth (4:14)
05. The Forest (3:41)
06. In the Beginning (5:03)

07. Youth (4:50)
08. Flying (1:41)
09. Réveil (7:19)
10. Banquine (5:05)
11. Journey of Man (Instrumental) (5:02)
12. Trip Hop (2:59)

Quidam Extended (dubbed EXTENDED)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 2/19/2002
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada

Track Listing

CD #01 (58:21 min)
01. Atmadja (3:21)
02. Incantation (5:22)
03. Marelle (1:27)
04. Rivage (5:24)
05. Zydeko (1:17)
06. Let Me Fall (4:46)
07. Innocence (1:55)

08. Carrousel (3:05)
09. Steel Dream (5:13)
10. Séisouso (5:23)
11. Réveil (3:21)
12. Quidam (5:37)
13. Misère (Banquine) (5:34)
14. Enfants d'Acier (Diabolos) (6:36)

The tracks 13 "Misère (Banquine)" and 14 "Enfants d'Acier (Diabolos)" were not included in the 1996 release of the Quidam soundtrack. The two additional tracks were recorded live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1999, when the show was filmed for the DVD release. The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.

Saltimbanco Extended (dubbed EXTENDED)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 3/19/2002
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada

Track List

CD #01 (73:36 min)
01. Kumbalawé (5:34)
02. Barock (4:20)
03. Kazé (5:07)
04. Amazonia (7:58)
05. Norweg (6:08)
06. Urgence (5:32)

07. Pokinoï (5:08)
08. Saltimbanco (5:19)
09. Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)
10. Horéré Ukundé (6:47)
11. Rideau (3:07)
12. Adagio (Adagio) (5:47)
13. Arlequin (Juggling) (7:36)

Tracks 12 and 13 were not included in the 1992 release of the Saltimbanco soundtrack. The two additional tracks are live recordings that were recorded for the Cirque internal CD release of the show soundtrack in 1996 (Live in Amsterdam). The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.

Varekai (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 11/5/2002 CA, 1/7/2003 US
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique

Track List

CD #01 (69:26 min)
01. Rain One (4:54)
02. Le Rêveur (7:06)
03. Vocea (5:00)
04. Moon Licht (6:21)
05. Patzivota (9:18)
06. El Péndulo (4:53)

07. Gitans (3:41)
08. Kèro Hiréyo (7:06)
09. Lubia Dobarstan (6:12)
10. Emballa (5:08)
11. Oscillum (4:35)
12. Funambul (2:43)
13. Resolution (2:24)

Alegría Extended (dubbed EXTENDED)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 6/11/2002
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada

Track List

CD #01 (69:26 min)
01. Alegría (5:47)
02. Vai Vedrai (4:33)
03. Kalandéro (5:16)
04. Querer (4:34)
05. Irna (4:46)
06. Taruka (5:32)
07. Jeux d'Enfants (4:40)

08. Mirko (5:03)
09. Icare (7:25)
10. Ibis (6:20)
11. Valsapena (4:06)
12. Nocturne (3:08)
13. Cerceaux (Manipulation) (4:00)
14. Malioumba (Flying man) (4:16)

Tracks 13 and 14 were not included in the 1994 release of the Alegría soundtrack. The two additional tracks are supposedly live recordings from a 2001 performance in Sydney, Australia, when the show was filmed for the DVD release. I always assumed that tracks came from the Cirque internal CD release of the show soundtrack in 1998 (Live in Fairfax), as in the case of the Saltimbanco “Extended" version, but I don’t own the Cirque internal 1998 soundtrack to start arguing. The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.

Tapis Rouge Solarium

Composer: various
Release Date: 9/1/2003 / 10/19/2004
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique

Track Listing

CD #01 (57:42 min)
01. Ombra - Ibizarre Remix (7:47)
02. Alegría - A Man Called Adam's Magical Mix (6:06)
03. A Tale - Chilluminati Mix (6:14)
04. El Péndulo - Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix" (4:32)
05. Africa - Cottonbelly Remix (4:45)
06. Nocturne - Christophe Goze Remix (5:54)
07. Le Rêveur - Thievery Corporation Remix (5:08)
08. Gamelan - Cantoma Remix (6:00)
09. Ombra - Afterlife Mix (5:02)
10. Africa - Banzai Republic "Equator Bound Mix" (6:14)

Not a soundtrack CD, but a collection of Remixes of known and not so known songs from previous popular Cirque du Soleil show productions. All tracks are slow and relaxing, ideal for a break and chilling out.

Varekai Special Edition (2 CD, 1 DVD)

Composer: Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 10/1/2003
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique

Track List

CD #01 (69:28 min)
01. Aureus (1:16)
02. Rain One (3:37)
03. Le Rêveur (7:06)
04. Vocea (5:00)
05. Moon Licht (6:21)
06. Rubeus (1:28)
07. Patzivota (7:50)
08. El Péndulo (4:53)
09. Gitans (3:41)
10. Kèro Hiréyo (7:06)
11. Infinitus (1:32)
12. Lubia Dobarstan (4:40)
13. Emballa (5:08)
14. Oscillum (4:35)
15. Funambul (2:43)
16. Resolution (2:24)

CD #02 (40:12 min)
01. Célébration de l'Errance (1:30)
02. Trasperenza (5:28)
03. Euphoria (7:02)
04. Sun Drum Fun (5:30)
05. Mutationis (7:13)
06. Movimento 4:41)
07. El Péndulo (4:33)
08. Emballa (5:47)

The tracks from bonus CD#2 were recorded live in Toronto in 2002.

5.1 Surround Sound Bonus Remixes:

01. El Péndulo - Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix" (4:33)
This remix was taken from the Cirque du Soleil Remix CD release "Tapis Rouge Solarium"

02. Emballa - Llorca Remix (5:47)
remixed exclusively for the special edition soundtrack CD release.

DVD #03 (24:20 min)
Two special music videos (created by Yeast Visuals), presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and some promotional trailers and video excerpts are the content of this special bonus DVD for the special editions soundtrack CD of Varekai.

01. Rubeus – Patzivota & Moon Licht (14:08)
02. The Making of an Angel - documentary excerpt (6:34)
The full 45 min long documentary is part of the Varekai show DVD bonus features.
03. Varekai the Show Ad (1:00)
04. Varekai the DVD Ad (1:38)
05. Cirque du Soleil Music Ad (1:00)

Varekai (2)

Composer: Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 7/20/2004 CA, 7/27/2004 US
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (69:28 min)
01. Aureus (1:16)
02. Rain One (3:37)
03. Le Rêveur (7:06)
04. Vocea (5:00)
05. Moon Licht (6:21)
06. Rubeus (1:28)
07. Patzivota (7:50)
08. El Péndulo (4:53)

09. Gitans (3:41)
10. Kèro Hiréyo (7:06)
11. Infinitus (1:32)
12. Lubia Dobarstan (4:40)
13. Emballa (5:08)
14. Oscillum (4:35)
15. Funambul (2:43)
16. Resolution (2:24)

Like the previous version of the soundtrack of Varekai from 2002/2003 are non of the tracks actual live recordings from the show. They were studio produced and sound often different from the same songs used in the show. The special edition soundtrack CD set contains a few tracks with actual audio footage recorded from a Varekai live show.

Cirque du Soleil: Le Best Of

Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras & Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 9/21/2004
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (57:04 min)
01. Egypte (4:29)
02. Alegria (5:43)
03. Pokinoi (4:43)
04. Querer (4:35)
05. Kumbalawe (4:40)
06. Ombra (5:42)

07. Reveil (3:23)
08. Nostalgie (4:07)
09. Vocea (5:00)
10. Stella Errans (4:34)
11. Gamelan (5:43)
12. Liama (4:25)

This second "Best Of" album by Cirque du Soleil has the "Best of" already in the title to be more clear and straight forward. "Cirque du Soleil Collection", the previous "Best of" release was a bit more ambiguous with the choice of it's title.

This album features only tracks from Cirque shows that are still performed and/or touring, including Alegría, Saltimbanco, Mystère, Quidam, Dralion, Varekai, La Nouba and "O".

Saltimbanco (2005)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 2/17/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (60:!3 min)
01. Kumbalawé (4:39)
02. Saltimbanco (4:32)
03. Cantus-Mélopée (6:42)
04. Norweg (4:31)
05. Kazé (4:35)
06. Barock (4:01)

07. Adagio (5:07)
08. Amazonia (7:28)
09. Pokinoï (4:45)
10. Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)
11. Horéré Ukundé (5:28)
12. Rideau (3:11)

To make the confusion complete, Cirque released a third (forth actually) version of the soundtrack in 2005. This version has 12 tracks. It misses the tracks “Arlequin (Juggling)” from the EXTENDED version in 2002 and “Urgence” from the 1992 & Extended version of the soundtrack, but includes a newly recorded track titled “Cantus Mélopée”, which is neither on the 1992 version nor the 2002 version of the soundtrack. Got it? :)

Zumanity (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Simon Carpenter
Release Date: 3/22/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Tracks

CD #01 (63:31 min)
01. Mio Bello Bello Amore (2:58)
02. Entrée (0:31)
03. En Zum (1:30)
04. Wind (3:24)
05. Another Man (4:39)
06. First Taste (0:31)
07. Do It Again (4:42)
08. Water Bowl (Awakening) (5:24)
09. The Good Thing (4:37)

10. Tickle Tango (2:29)
11. Into Me (4:34)
12. Fugare (1:44)
13. Meditation (1:20)
14. Piece of Heaven (4:52)
15. Zum Astra (4:12)
16. Mangora En Zum (4:51)
17. Per Sempre (6:21)
18. Bello Amore (4:52)

If you expect to find much songs from the show on this “soundtrack”, then you will be in for a not so pleasant surprise. The soundtrack was produced and recorded in a studio, many songs from the show are modified beyond recognition, I have seen the show live TWICE and do not recall some of the tracks on the album, however, I do miss A LOT of tracks that I DO remember from the show on this CD. The music isn’t bad, but if you specifically liked the music from the show and want to get the CD for that reason, beware!

Solarium/Delirium

Composer: various
Release Date: 5/17/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track Listing

CD #01 (Solarium) (55:01 min)
01. OMBRA (Ibizarre Remix) (7:43)
02. ALEGRIA (A Man called Adam's Magical Mix) (5:20)
03. A TALE (Chilluminati Mix) Listen (6:09)
04. EL PENDULO (Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix") (4:30)
05. AFRICA (Cottonbelly Remix) (4:35)
06. NOCTURNE (Christophe Goze Remix) (5:41)
07. LE REVEUR (Thievery Corporation Remix) (4:18)
08. GAMELAN (Cantoma Remix) (5:33)
09. OMBRA (Afterlife Mix) (4:56)
10. AFRICA (Banzai Republic "Equator Bound Mix") (6:08)

CD #02 (Delirium) (62:11 min)
01. EMBALLA (Louie Vega featuring Jaffa "Album Mix") (6:22)
02. QUERER (Julien Jabre Remix) (6:05)
03. KUMBALAWE (Roger Sanchez Release Mix) (7:51)
04. ABORIGENES JAM (Frangois K / Eric Kupper "Vocal Mix") (6:42)
05. POKINOI (Sasha Remix) (6:41)
06. AFRICA (Quicksound / Alain Vinet Remix) (8:48)
07. TERRE ARIDE (Jori Hulkkonen Remix) (6:10)
08. SPIRITUAL SPIRAL (Carmen Rizzo Remix) (6:44)
09. MER NOIRE (Tiksto Remix) (6:44)

The second release of Cirque du Soleil Remixes on compact disc. This time even a double Whopper of two packed and juicy silver discs of almost two hours in length. Okay, they cheated, because the first disc, dubbed "Solarium" is the same as the previously released "Tapis Rouge Solarium" CD. The second (and longer) disc, dubbed "Delirium" (not to confuse with the Cirque show of the same title) is all new material though.

The 2nd disc "Delirium" is much faster than the 1st disc Solarium, which falls more like under the category "Easy Listening". I believe that this was done on purpose, to symbolize the duality of life, or Ying and Yang or whatever you want to call it.

"O" (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 8/16/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track Listing

CD #01 (63:13 min)
01. Jeux d'Eau (4:20)
02. Mer Noire (5:30)
03. Tzelma (3:00)
04. Africa (2:24)
05. Remous (7:15)
06. Svecounia (6:20)

07. Nostalgie (4:08)
08. Simcha (5:40)
09. Gamelan (5:57)
10. Ephra (4:55)
11. Désert (7:18)
12. Terre Aride (4:25)
13. O (2:36)

KA (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: 10/18/2005
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (57:43)
01. O Makundé (3:06)
02. Pageant (2:44)
03. Koudamare (3:49)
04. Storm (4:15)
05. Deep (2:30)
06. Shadowplay (3:46)
07. Pursuit (5:55)
08. Forest (4:16)

09. Flight (2:24)
10. Threat (3:59)
11. Love Dance (3:34)
12. Battlefield (4:12)
13. Aftermath (2:17)
14. If I Could Reach Your Heart (3:33)
15. We've Been Waiting So Long (3:28)
16. Reach for Me Now (3:48)

Delirium (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Francis Collard (Producer)
Release Date: 7/25/2006
Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique

Track List

CD #01 (63:13 min)
01. Cold Flame [Oscillum from VAREKAI] (3:45)
02. Slipping Away [Ombra from DRALION] (3:46)
03. Someone [Patzivota from VAREKAI] (3:26)
04. Too High [Spiritual Spiral from DRALION] (3:30)
05. Walk on Water [A Tale from LA NOUBA] (5:12)
06. Alone [Querer from ALEGRIA] (4:28)
07. Climb [Le Rêveur from VAREKAI] (6:29)
08. La Nova Alegría [Alegría from ALEGRIA] (4:05)
09. Lifeline [El Péndulo from VAREKAI] (3:51)
10. Bridge of Sorrow [Nostalgie from "O"] (4:00)
11. One Love [Pokinoï from SALTIMBANCO] (3:18)
12. Let Me Fall [from QUIDAM] (5:07)
13. Time to Go [Mountain of Clothes from Alegria Le Film] (4:09)
14. Time Flies [Mer Noire from "O"] (5:16)
15. Sans Toi [Querer from ALEGRIA] (3:42)

Several of the tracks are remixes of famous Cirque du Soleil songs from other shows. This is not an accident. The acts where those remixes were used were depicting the original acts as well, at least to the extend that you would recognize them, if you are familiar with those original shows. Basically not only the music is a remix, but the act performed was as well.

Corteo (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Philippe Leduc & Maria Bonzanigo
Release Date: 10/3/2006
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (56:03 min)
01. Funerale (0:53)
02. Ritornare (4:03)
03. Rêve d'un Pantin (4:57)
04. Les Chevaux à Bottes (0:56)
05. Nos Dejó (4:23)
06. Klezmer Moment (4:11)
07. Prendersi per Mano (5:08)
08. Anneaux (5:42)

09. El Cielo Sabrá (5:18)
10. Fugue (0:35)
11. Volo Volando (4:34)
12. Un Tierno y Dulce Chao (0:48)
13. Balade au Bout d'une Échelle (4:07)
14. Garda Lassù (0:48)
15. Triangle Tango (4:40)
16. Che Finalone (5:00)

Corteo Limited Edition (1 CD, 1 DVD)

Composer: Philippe Leduc & Maria Bonzanigo
Release Date: 10/3/2006
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (56:03 min)
01. Funerale (0:53)
02. Ritornare (4:03)
03. Rêve d'un Pantin (4:57)
04. Les Chevaux à Bottes (0:56)
05. Nos Dejó (4:23)
06. Klezmer Moment (4:11)
07. Prendersi per Mano (5:08)
08. Anneaux (5:42)
09. El Cielo Sabrá (5:18)
10. Fugue (0:35)
11. Volo Volando (4:34)
12. Un Tierno y Dulce Chao (0:48)
13. Balade au Bout d'une Échelle (4:07)
14. Garda Lassù (0:48)
15. Triangle Tango (4:40)
16. Che Finalone (5:00)

DVD #02 (24:31 min)
Through the Curtain – An In-depth Look at Corteo video documentary (short version).

This is only an abbreviated version of the 45 minutes long documentary feature with the same name, which is part of the bonus features of the Corteo show DVD recording.

The Beatles - LOVE (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: The Beatles, remixed by George Martin & Giles Martin
Release Date: 11/20/2006
Publisher: Capitol/Apple

Track List

CD #01 (78:38 min)
01. Because (2:44)
02. Get Back (2:05)
03. Glass Onion (1:20)
04. Eleanor Rigby / Julia (transition) (3:05)
05. I Am the Walrus (4:28)
06. I Want to Hold Your Hand (1:22)
07. Drive my Car / The Word / What You're Doing (1:54)
08. Gnik Nus (0:55)
09. Something / Blue Jay Way (transition) (3:29)
10. Being for the Benefit of Mr.Kite!, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Helter Skelter (3:22)
11. Help! (2:18)
12. Blackbird / Yesterday (2:31)
13. Strawberry Fields Forever (4:31)
14. Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows (3:07)
15. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (4:10)
16. Octopus's Garden (3:18)
17. Lady Madonna (2:56)
18. Here Comes the Sun / The Inner Light (transition) (4:18)
19. Come Together / Dear Prudence / Cry Baby Cry (transition) (4:45)
20. Revolution (2:14)
21. Back in the U.S.S.R. (1:53)
22. While my Guitar Gently Weeps (3:46)
23. A Day in the Life (5:08)
24. Hey Jude (3:58)
25. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) (1:22)
26. All You Need is Love (3:39)

The Beatles - LOVE Special Edition (CD & DVD)

Composer: The Beatles, remixed by George Martin & Giles Martin
Release Date: 11/20/2006
Publisher: Capitol/Apple

Track List(s)
Same as regular album. The 5.1 Dolby Surround DVD version also features some nice animations and other music video like visions (instead of showing a black screen while you are listening to the music via your 5.1 (or better) entertainment system.

Wintuk (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Simon Carpentier
Release Date: 11/1/2007
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List'

CD #01 (47:26 min)
01. Something's Missing (3:38)
02. Shadows (3:31)
03. Beyond the Clouds (3:31)
04. Dogs will be Dogs! (2:12)
05. He's Scared of His Shadow (0:57)
06. Norah Knows (4:01)
07. Heading North (2:31)
08. Back Where We Belong (2:12)

09. Northern Folk (3:51)
10. Elena (3:51)
11. Ice Giants (3:36)
12. Dolce Luce (1:56)
13. Tundra Ballet (3:26)
14. We Want to See it Snow (0:46)
15. Nothing's Missing (3:01)
16. Snowstorm (4:26)

Kooza (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Jean-Francois Cote
Release Date: 5/8/2008 CA, 6/24/2008 US
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Track List

CD #01 (68:26 min)
01. KOOZA Dance (3:28)
02. Superstar I (2:27)
03. L’Innocent (5:50)
04. Royaume (3:40)
05. Junoon (5:31)
06. Alambre Alto (4:59)
07. 16- Papillon (5:08)
08. Pearl (4:07)
09 Cabaret Satã (3:12)

10. Aankh Micholi (4:28)
11. Diables (3:36)
12. El Péndulo de la Muerte (3:02)
13. Petit-Jaune (1:43)
14. Superstar II (3:23)
15. Imposteur (1:21)
16. Prarthana (4:50)
17. Don’t Be Afraid (3:46)
18. Hum Jaisa Na Dekha (3:53)

Alegría-Remastered (25th Anniversary Edition) CDS-Alegria25th-CD-Disk
Composer: Rene Dupéré
Release Date: June, 2009
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

The FORTH-time release of the Alegria soundtrack on compact disc. I suggest reading my Review for this CD. Short summary: Not recommended, buy any of the previous releases instead. Sound quality is not better than the 2001 or 1994 Re-Release versions.

Track List

CD #01 (61:10 min)
01. Alegría (5:51)
02. Vai Vedrai (4:34)
03. Kalandéro (5:19)
04. Querer (4:34)
05. Irna (4:46)
06. Taruka (5:34)

07. Jeux d'Enfants 4:41)
08. Mirko (5:07)
09. Icare (7:24)
10. Ibis (6:27)
11. Valsapena (4:00)
12. Nocturne (3:09)

CDS-Zaia-MusicCD-disc500x500 Zaia (Official Sound Track/OST)
Composer: Violaine Corradi
Release Date: 5/26/2009
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

track list

CD #1 (74:30 min)
01. Noi (4:52)
02. Aestus Calor (1:58)
03. Ignis (3:32)
04. Hatahkinn (4:51)
05. Aquilex (2:26)
06. Comissatio (3:39)
07. Blue Ales (3:02)
08. Adrideo (3:00)

09. Ardor Oris (4:00)
10. Aequor Oris (4:48)
11. Caelestis (6:54)
12. Undae (5:59)
13. Temperatio (5:47)
14. Ellâm Onru (8:35)
15. Gaudiumni (4:00)
16. Utinam (7:07)

Cirque du Soleil 25th Anniversary Collection (2 CDs) CDS-25-CD1-Disk
Composer: Various
Release Date: June, 2009
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique
CDS-25-CD2-Disk
To mark Cirque’s 25 years in music, a double CD containing 25 tracks compiled from the entire show catalogue was released by Cirque du Soleil in June 2009. Read my Review.

track list

CD #1 "Poetique" (55:19 min)

01. Ouverture (Cirque Reinvente) 1:44
02. Le Funambule (La Magie Continue) 3:37
03. Meandres (Fascination) 6:55
04. Havi Vahlia (Nouvelle Experience) 4:40
05. Vai Vedrai (Alegria) 4:33
06. A Tale (La Nouba) 4:19
07. Piece of Heaven (Zumanity) 4:58
08. Volo Volando (Corteo) 4:31
09. Beyond the Clouds (Wintuk) 3:27
10. Sexy Pet (Believe) 2:48
11. The Worlds Meet (Zed) 6:36
12. Banquete (Ovo) 2:47
13. Alegria (Alegria, le film) 4:20

CD #2 "Dynamique" (54:50 min)

01. Le Cirque du Soleil (Cirque du Soleil) 3:22
02. Les Pingouins (Cirque du Soleil) 3:25
03. Barock (Saltimbanco) 3:59
04. Rivage (Quidam) 4:10
05. Birimbau (Mystere) 6:10
06. Svecounia ("O") 5:00
07. Ravendhi (Dralion) 4:39
08. Lubia Dobarstan (Varekai) 4:29
09. Pursuit (KA) 5:53
10. One Love (Delirium) 3:11
11. Hum Jaisa Na Dekha (Kooza) 3:45
12. Utinam (Zaia) 6:46

Zed (Official Sound Track/OST)
Composer: Benoit Jutras Zed_CD_Disc
Release Date: October,13 2009
Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique

Unlike most show sound tracks, this one includes the recording of the real singers of the show, making it an authentic sound track for the show.

track list

CD #1 (55:50 min)
01. First Incantation 2:14
02. Birth of the Sky 5:37
03. Reaching Up 4:59
04. Blue Silk 4:37
05. High Temptation 4:55
06. Vaneyou Mile 4:34

07. Zed in Love 4:49
08. Kernoon's Fire 4:30
09. Mirror of the two Worlds 4:35
10. The Worlds Meet 6:36
11. Fiesta 4:50
12. Hymn of the Worlds 3:23

Singles (exclusively released in Europe)

It is hard for me now to keep track of those. I am originally from Germany, but moved almost a decade ago to the United States. So if you see that I missed any "Single" release by Cirque, please let me know about it, that I can update my list here. Thanks. Why they only released Single CDs in Europe and not in the United States or Canada is not known to me. Your guess is as good as mine.

	Irna & Alegria (Alegria) Composer: Rene Duperé Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Gamelan (O) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Love Leaves Someone Behind (Alegria Le Film) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???
	Querer & Jeux dEnfants (Quidam) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1997 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Quidam Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1996 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Quidam (2) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1999 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Stella Errans (Dralion) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???
	Let Me Fall (Quidam) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Child in His Eyes (Alegria Le Film) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Kumbalawe (Saltimbanco) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Tzelma (O) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???

Tapis Rouge Vinyl Mixes

Special collectors editions of remixes in old school vinyl format (Vinyl 12", White Label, 33 1/2 RPM), which were all previously released on either the Tapis Rouge Solarium CD or later the Solarium/Delirium double CD already. All of them were released on 10 Nov 2003, 2004 and May 16, 2006 by Cirque du Soleil Musique and sold to fans (and DJ's I guess) in Canada and the United States.

	Africa (Tapis Rouge Vol 1) Style: Downtempo Track List A1 - Africa (Cottonbelly Remix) A2 - A Tale (Chilluminati Mix) B1 - Le Reveur (Thievery Corporation Remix) B2 - Emballa (Llorca Remix)
	Ombra (Tapis Rouge Vol 2) Style: Dub, Downtempo Track List A1 - Ombra (Afterlife Remix) A2 - Gamelan (Cantoma Remix) B1 - Africa (Banzai Republic Equator Bound Mix) B2 - El Péndulo (Fenomenon Northern Comfort Mix)
	Aborigenes Jam (Tapis Rouge Vol 3) Style: Progressive House, Deep House, Tribal House Track List A - Aborigenes Jam (FK-EK Vocal Mix) B - Aborigenes Jam (FK-EK Dub Mix)
	Emballa (Tapis Rouge Vol 4) (Louie Vega Remixes) Style: House Track List A - Emballa (Album Mix) (6:23) B1 - Emballa (Ritual Mix) (6:23) B2 - Emballa (Sun Dub) (5:54)
	Kumbalawe (Tapis Rogue Vol 5) (Roger Sanchez Remixes) Style: Progressive House, House, Tribal Track List A - Kumbalawé (Roger Sanchez Release Mix) (8:33) B - Kumbalawé (Roger Sanchez Release The Dub) (7:47)
	Mer Noir/Africa (Tapis Rogue Vol 6) Style: Trance, Downtempo Track List A - Mer Noire (Tiësto Remix) (9:05) B - Africa (Quicksound Remix) (8:58)
	Tapis Rouge Remixed (Limited to 100 copies) Style: Abstract, Downtempo, Ambient Track List A1 - A Tale (Chilluminati Remix) A2 - Rumeurs (John Beltran Remix) B1 - Gamelan (Cantoma Remix) B2 - Africa (Banzai Republic Remix)

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Bonus Album (Almost Cirque du Soleil)

Le Rêve (Official Sound Track/OST)

Composer: Benoit Jutras
Release Date: 2005
Publisher: Productions du Dragon

Track List

CD #01 (62:56 min)
01. Overture (3:38)
02. Between the Lines (3:57)
03. The Tree (2:48)
04. Chapel (6:25)
05. Against the Moon (3:38)
06. Tension (1:38)
07. Eden (3:50)
08. Filet (4:32)

09. Samurai (3:44)
10. Beam of Light (4:30)
11. Red Man (3:29)
12. Last Dreams (1:34)
13. Splash (5:27)
14. Vampire (3:03)
15. Planets (5:28)
16. Dreaming (5:00)

Yes, Le Rêve is not an official Cirque du Soleil show, but the show that is currently performed at the Wynn Las Vegas was created by probably the greatest directors of Cirque du Soleil, Franco Dragonè, the creative mind behind Cirque shows like Alegria, Saltimbanco, Mystère, La Nouba and "O". He started his own production company and created this fantastic show. The music for the show is fantastic as well and was composed by no other than Benoit Jutras, who composed many of the scores for other Cirque du Soleil productions. In my opinion is the soundtrack to Le Rêve his best composition to date.

The soundtrack is not easy to come buy and another reason why I posted it here. You can get the CD at the gift show at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and that's about it. I saw some folks selling the CD on auction sites, but completely overpriced. You cannot buy the album on the Internet, at least not officially. The Wynn gift show does not have a web site to this day, but you can order it over the phone from them and they will ship it to you for a normal price.
Their phone number is +1 (702) 770-3541.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

Labels: Cirque Du Soleil

De-Dupe Files Script Tool for Windows 32bit

You can skip the background story about the why, when and how I decided to write this little File De-Duping script, if you are not interested in it and jump right the section about how the script works, what it does, where to download it, how to install and de-install it and the source code of it as well. The tool is Freeware, but any donation (money or goods) and/or simply a “Thank You” (e.g. via the comments section at the end of this post) are appreciated nevertheless.

Important Node: I updated the script and this post, because of some bugs that I found and issues with the 3rd party tool “touch.exe”. I had to remove it and come up with another solution for the problem that it solved. I also added some nice stuff, so it was more than just bug fixing :).

The Background Story

Who did not have the problem yet to have hundreds of any type of files, text files, documents, spread sheets, images, videos and others in one directory with the a high chance that you have duplicates, identical files that only have a different file name. I often have to deal with duplicate images that I downloaded from the internet.

I cannot always remember, if I downloaded a particular image already or not and go by the slogan, archive / save / back up first, sort later, because there will be nothing to sort, if you don’t save a copy and go back to the place where you found them at a later time, to learn that the stuff isn’t there anymore for any reason. Maybe even the whole web site is gone the way of the Dodo.

The original file names are often useless, either to generic, like image1.jpg, logo.gif or simply 1.jpg, 2.jpg etc. or they are long and cryptic without any meaning, like: 3104458219_cc0dfd3980_o_d.jpg or something like that. So you end up giving the files your own name and thus make it highly likely that you download the same file at a different time again and give it a different file name than you did the first time around. Voila, duplicate.

I looked at a number of tools and options and found some that were decent, but all of them had always something (or didn’t have something) to make things that should be semi automatic to a manual time consuming ordeal. What I wanted is something that finds duplicates, does not delete them straight out or have me right then go over each dupe found to make a decision about it right away. I also wanted to be able to verify that the dupes found are really identical so it must be easy to know quickly which file is a duplicate of another file.

Non of the solutions that I tried delivered on all those aspects so de-duping of files was painstaking and time consuming, if I did it or I simply would not do it at all and carry a bunch of dupe garbage around .

The idea for this simple script of mine came when I did the sorting and inventory of the SAC art pack releases back in December last year and January this year. I uploaded files, like MODs that I converted to Mpeg-1 Audio Layer 3, short MP3, and other files to my file sharing account at Mediafire.com. I learned that Mediafire.com has a de-duper function build into their system that prevents user from uploading the same file twice to their account. You can upload it a second time, but you will get the message that the file already exists and that your new upload was being deleted. I got that message and first thought that it was an error on Mediafire’s part.

What dupes? There were no dupes, I thought. Yeah, there were some SID Adlib music files that had the same size and all, but there where like a dozen of them, all with a different name and even different prefix, indicating that the files were created by different musicians. Also the dates were different. Being close to send an email to Mediafire customer support, I decided to listen to the songs that could be potential duplicates to the file that was rejected (Mediafire didn’t tell me the file name or shared URL of the original file). And there it was, the same tune with a different file name and different file dates by the same artist.

I was curious about how Mediafire noticed that the files are identical and did some research. They are using the MD5 Check Sum value of a file. Chances are astronomical that two files that are not byte by byte identical will have the same MD5 check sum value. That’s a smart, fast and easy way to find dupes and the idea of writing a de-dupe script that does exactly what I want it to do was born.

This is enough of a background story I believe. Let’s get busy with the Script itself.

How the Script Works

The script detects duplicate files within a directory. Duplicate files are files that have the same MD5 Check Sum value. Two DIFFERENT/NON IDENTICAL files having the same MD5 Check Sum is not impossible, but highly unlikely. This allows the script to detect duplicate files regardless of their file name or other characteristics, such as "date created" or "date modified".

The tool scans all files within a directory. It does not include files in sub directories of the processed folder.

If a duplicate file is found, it will be renamed by by appending the original file name as prefix with an _ as separator, which is also used to replace the "." that indicates the file extension of the original file name (other "." in the file name itself remain). At the end of the file name is the string [DEDUPED] added.

Example

For Example aFile1.EXT and bFile2.EXT are identical. After the script was executed, one of the two files will remain as it is and the other one is being renamed. Which file will be considered the "original" is determined by which file was found first. The script sorts the files by name first, before it de-dupes them.

In this example bFile1.EXT would be considered the original and bFile2.EXT will be renamed to aFile1_EXT_bFile2[DEDUPED].EXT. This makes dupes appear right after the original, if you sort the directory by file name. To be able to filter the dupes to copy/move them away or to delete them, use the copy, move or del command in MS DOS. For example "DEL *[DEDUPED].*" would delete all duplicate files found and renamed by the script.

More New Stuff

The script creates two files by default in the processed directory:

"!DeDupe-FileList.txt" - a list of all files in the directory and their MD5 Check Sum Values (tab separated)
"!DeDupeLog.txt" - a processing log file where you can find the list of dupes that were detected, their old & new file name and the corresponding original file

If you do not want any of the files to be created, change the options for "WriteFileList" and "WriteDeDupeLog" to "0" in the beginning of the code of "DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs". Alternatively use the command line options:
”/log:[0/1]“ and “/list:[0/1]“ to turn the creation of the list and/or log on/off.

You can also suppress all dialogs via the command line option “/quite:[0/1]”.
“/quite:1” would disable the progress dialog, results message and all error messages.

Note, the script returns error levels for batch processing regardless of the "quiet" settings.
The Error Level codes are:

0 = Script Ran Successful
1 = Script Ran, but there were no files to process
2 = The script was aborted (only relevant if progress dialog is on)
4 = Script Error (md5sum.exe not or processing path not found)

Also new, a nice progress dialog using MS Internet Explorer and an extended results message box. Here are some screen shots of the new and updated windows.

DeDupeScript-Progres DeDupeScript-Results

Installation/De-Installation - Download

Download this small 36 KB ZIP file with the name Roy-DeDupeScript11b.zip and extract the archive to a folder on your local hard drive. The ZIP archive contains the following EIGHT files:

DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs

DeDupeInstall.bat

DedupeInstall.reg

DeDupeUnInstall.bat

DedupeUnInstall.reg

file_id.diz

md5sum.exe

Readme.txt

File_ID.diz and Readme.txt are simply text files, md5sum.exe is a 3rd party command line utility that was developed by somebody else and is being needed for my script. The two .BAT files and two .REG are only needed for the installation and de-installation of the tool. The .VBS file is the main tool script written in Visual Basic Script (VBScript).

Use the provided Batch Scripts "DeDupeInstall.bat" and "DeDupeUnInstall.bat" to install or un-install the De-Dupe Shell Extension.

Installation

Double click on the Batch Script File "DeDupeInstall.bat"
Thats it.

Notes:
The install batch file copies md5sum.exe and DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs into your System32 directory under your windows installation directory and Imports the registry file "DedupeInstall.reg" into your systems registry database. It creates entries under the Registry Key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\

Non of the files in the installation directory will be needed anymore to run the script itself. You will need them only to uninstall the tool or to re-install it again, if necessary.

De-installation

Double click on the Batch Script File "DeDupeUnInstall.bat"
The Un-Install batch file deletes the three files from your System32 directory and utilizes the registry file DedupeUnInstall.reg to remove the entries for the script from your systems registry database. If you want to continue to use md5sum.exe and only want to disable the shell extension, either simply double click on the file DedupeUnInstall.reg without executing the uninstall batch file (the script DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs will remain in your System32 folder though) or you can copy the tool back into your system folder manually after you ran the uninstall batch file.

About the Software

The De-Dupe Windows Explorer Shell Extension Script Tool is written in VBScript and is executed by the system tool WScript.exe. The De-Dupe script (DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs) uses a small support tool that it requires to work properly.

"md5sum.exe" is a small command line tool that return the MD5 Check Sum value for a file.
It can also validate MD5 check sums, which is a feature that is not used by the De-Dupe script.
You can find out more information about it at http://etree.org/md5com.html
Md5Sum was written by bruce@gridpoint.com

Legal Stuff/Copyright and Disclaimer

The 3rd party tool that come with the De-Dupe script is freeware and can be used and copied by anybody without the need of a license or to pay a fee. Since I did not write that tool, I cannot take any responsibility for any issues that they might cause by it, via my script or without out.

This De-Dupe script is also freeware and can be used, copied and modified for free,

Important Disclaimer!

The author, of this software accepts no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of this product and
makes no warranty or representation, either express or implied, including but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This software is provided "AS IS", and you, its user, assume all risks when using it.

Depending if I have the time and the urge to extend on the script, new features might get added to this tool in the future. I could envision additional configuration options and alternative options for what to do with duplicate files that were found by the script. Since you are free to do modifications to the script yourself and improve on it, I would appreciate, if you would let me know and send me the enhanced version of yours, if you decide to take matters into your own hands. :)

Change Log

V1.1

MD5Sum Determination Issue Resolved for file names with spaces in it

Sorting by File Name Issue Resolved, now the "original" is really the first one sorted by name

Progress dialog implemented to show status

Quiet option implemented to suppress all dialogs

Return of Error Levels implemented for batch scripts that call the script

Rename logic changed, [DEDUPED] added to the renamed file in addition to existing logic

touch.exe tool removed. It did not work reliable, period

File List output with file names and their MD5 checksums implemented

Log File output implemented

command line parameters introduced to suppress file list and log file creation as well as to enable/disable "quiet" mode

general code clean up

Source Code

Here is the Source Code of the script. After that is also the code of the install and uninstall batch files and registry key values and settings.

Again, you can download the whole code and the 3rd part command line tool md5sum.exe in a single ZIP archive called Roy-DeDupeScript11b. You may need a ZIP extracting utility, although Windows XP and later should be able to open the file without the need to install additional software. However, if this does not work for any reasons, either download the commercial program WinZip at this web site or download and install the open source Zip and other archiver’s processing tool called PeaZip.

DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs Source Code

   1: =======================================================================

   2: Parameters you might want to change

   3: =======================================================================

   4: Specifies the action to take if dupes are found, used by DupeHandling

   5: Values other than 1 are not supported/implemented yet

   6: Dim DupeAction: DupeAction = 1

7:

   8: If you want to suppress the progress dialog, the results message popup

   9: and Error Messages set bQuiet = true

  10: Note, the script returns error levels for batch processing regardless

  11: of the bQuiet settings. The ErrorLevel codes are:

  12: 0 = Script Ran Successful

  13: 1 = Script Ran, but there were no files to process

  14: 2 = The script was aborted (only relevant if progress dialog is on)

  15: 4 = Script Error (md5sum.exe not or processing path not found)

  16: Dim bQuiet: bQuiet = false

17:

  18: LOGFILES

  19: Set to 1 to generate file list with name and md5 sum, set to 0 to disable

  20: Dim WriteFileList: WriteFileList = 1

  21: File name for the file list. File is saved in processing path folder

  22: Dim FileListFName: FileListFName = "!DeDupe-FileList.txt"

23:

  24: Write a log file with all dupes that were processed

  25: Dim WriteDeDupeLog: WriteDeDupeLog = 1

  26: File name for the file list. File is saved in processing path folder

  27: Dim DeDupeLogFName: DeDupeLogFName = "!DeDupeLog.txt"

28:

  29: =======================================================================

  30: Dont touch the stuff below this line, unless you know what

  31: you are doing.

  32: =======================================================================

  33: Dim oFso: set oFso = Wscript.createobject("scripting.fileSystemObject")

  34: Dim oFolder, oFiles, oFile, oLogFile

  35: Dim iCounter: iCounter = 0 File Counter

  36: Dim sFolderPath Work Folder Path (Current folder)

  37: Dim arguments: Set arguments = Wscript.arguments

  38: Dim md5sumPath,sErr, sMsg, sMD5CS

  39: Dim MyArray() Array with MD5 Checksum and File Names

  40: Dim iDupCnt: iDupCnt = 0  Counter for Dupes

  41: Dim iDupErr: iDupErr = 0  Error Count for Dupe Action

  42: Dim iMD5SumErr: iMD5SumErr = 0 Error Count for MD5 Check Sum Calc

  43: Dim iFilesCnt: iFilesCnt = 0 Number of files proc

  44: Dim iFilesProc:iFilesProc = 0 Number of files processed (iFilesCnt - iMD5SumErr)

  45: Dim iDupProc Dupe Processed Count (iDupCnt - iDupErr)

46:

  47: global const and vars for Statusbar

  48: Const conBarSpeed = 80

  49: Const conForcedTimeOut = 900000

  50: Dim objIE

  51: Dim objProgressBar

  52: Dim objTextLine1

  53: Dim objTextLine2

  54: Dim objQuitFlag

55:

  56: Dim bAbort: bAbort = false

57:

  58: System Constants

  59: Const SYSTEM_FOLDER = 1, TEMP_FOLDER = 2

  60: Const ForAppending = 8

  61: Const ForReading = 1

  62: Const ForWriting = 2

63:

  64: ========================================================================

  65: Initialization of Work Environment

66:

  67: if arguments.Named.Exists("quiet") then

68:

  69:   if arguments.Named.Item("quiet") = 1 then

  70:     bQuiet = true

  71:   end if

72:

  73:   if arguments.Named.Item("quiet") = 0 then

  74:     bQuiet = false

  75:   end if

76:

  77: end if

78:

  79: if arguments.Named.Exists("list") then

80:

  81:   if arguments.Named.Item("list") = 0 or arguments.Named.Item("list") = 1 then

  82:     WriteFileList = arguments.Named.Item("list")

  83:   end if

84:

  85: end if

86:

  87: if arguments.Named.Exists("log") then

88:

  89:   if arguments.Named.Item("log") = 0 or arguments.Named.Item("log") = 1 then

  90:     WriteDeDupeLog = arguments.Named.Item("log")

  91:   end if

92:

  93: end if

94:

  95: Check for command line paramater passed

96:

  97: if arguments.unnamed.count = 0 then

  98:   Set Path to Current Path

  99:   sFolderPath = ofso.GetAbsolutePathName(".")

 100: else

 101:   Set Path to folder that was passed as argument for the script call

 102:   sFolderPath = arguments.unnamed(0)

 103: end if

 104:

 105: Make sure that 3rd party tools md5sum.exe and touch.exe are either in

 106: the System32 directory or the current path (I dont check the whole Path Env)

 107: md5sumPath   = oFso.BuildPath(oFso.GetSpecialFolder(SYSTEM_FOLDER), "md5sum.exe")

 108:

 109: if not oFso.FileExists(md5sumPath) then

 110:   md5sumPath = oFso.BuildPath(oFso.GetAbsolutePathName("."), "md5sum.exe")

 111:

 112:   if not oFso.FileExists(md5sumPath) then

 113:     sErr     = sErr & "Md5sum.exe not found in " & oFso.GetSpecialFolder(SYSTEM_FOLDER) & _

 114:     " nor " & oFso.GetAbsolutePathName(".") & vbcrlf & vbcrlf

 115:   end if

 116:

 117: end if

 118:

 119: Make sure that the folder (especially the ones passed as Param) exists

 120:

 121: if not oFso.FolderExists(sFolderPath) then

 122:   sErr = sErr & "Processing Folder: " & sFolderPath & _

 123:   " does not exist." & vbcrlf & vbcrlf

 124: end if

 125:

 126: If something is not right, show error and abort the script

 127:

 128: if sErr <> "" then

 129:   if bQuiet = false then Wscript.echo sErr

 130:   CleanUpAndQuit 4

 131: end if

 132:

 133: Dim sLogOutput: sLogOutput = oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,DeDupeLogFName)

 134:

 135: Okay.. Lets get started

 136: ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 137:

 138: Set oFolder = oFso.GetFolder(sFolderPath)

 139: Set oFiles  = oFolder.Files

 140: iFilesCnt   = oFiles.count

 141:

 142: if iFilesCnt > 0 then

 143:   ReDim MyArray(oFiles.count,3)

 144:   Build 2 Dimensional Array with CheckSum of

 145:   Filename & File Name itself for all files in

 146:   current directory. Looking like this

 147:   (x = dimention 2 and y = dimention 1)

 148:   the 3rd column is MD5 +[]+ lower case file name for sorting purposes

 149:   43a52d14577de0299146aa9f8f0c062f, file1.ext, 43a52d14577de0299146aa9f8f0c062f[]file1.ext

 150:   0052d12577de56567546aa9f8f0c0af3, file2.ext, 0052d12577de56567546aa9f8f0c0af3[]file2.ext

 151:

 152:   if bQuiet = false then

 153:     Launch Status Bar

 154:     StartIE "De-Dupeing Files in " & sFolderPath

 155:     SetLine1 "Step 1/4: Reading Files and MD5 Check Sums. Path:" & sFolderPath

 156:   end if

 157:

 158:   For each oFile in oFiles

 159:     iCounter = iCounter + 1

 160:     sMD5CS   = GetMd5Sum(oFile.name)

 161:     MyArray(iCounter - 1,0) = sMD5CS

 162:     MyArray(iCounter - 1,1) = oFile.name

 163:     MyArray(iCounter - 1,2) = sMD5CS & "[]" & lcase(oFile.name)

 164:     Check if Abort Button was pressed

 165:

 166:     if bQuiet = false then

 167:

 168:       If IsQuit() = True Then

 169:         bAbort = true

 170:         Exit For

 171:       End If

 172:

 173:       Set Status Bar Value

 174:       SetLine2 "Files Processed: " & CStr(iCounter) & " of " & cstr(iFilesCnt)

 175:     end if

 176:

 177:   Next

 178:

 179: end if

 180:

 181: iCounter = iCounter - 1

 182:

 183: if bAbort = true and bQuiet = false then

 184:   Close Status Bar

 185:   CloseIE

 186: end if

 187:

 188: if iCounter >= 0 and bAbort = false then

 189:

 190:   if bAbort = false then

 191:

 192:     if bQuiet = false then

 193:       Set Status Bar Value

 194:       SetLine1 "Step 2/4: Sort Files"

 195:       SetLine2 "Processing " & cstr(iCounter - 1) & " Files"

 196:     end if

 197:

 198:     Sort the Array by File Name

 199:     Call QuickSort(MyArray,0,ubound(MyArray,1),2)

 200:

 201:     if bQuiet = false then

 202:       Check if Abort Button was pressed

 203:

 204:       If IsQuit() = True Then

 205:         bAbort = true

 206:       End If

 207:

 208:     end if

 209:

 210:   end if

 211:

 212:   if WriteFileList = 1 then

 213:     Write File List out into Text File

 214:

 215:     if bQuiet = false then

 216:       Set Status Bar Value

 217:       SetLine1 "Step 3/4: Writing File List"

 218:       SetLine2 oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FileListFName)

 219:     end if

 220:

 221:     Call WriteFile(MyArray)

 222:     Check if Abort Button was pressed

 223:

 224:     if bQuiet = false then

 225:

 226:       If IsQuit() = True Then

 227:         bAbort = true

 228:       End If

 229:

 230:     end if

 231:

 232:   end if

 233:

 234:   if bAbort = false then

 235:

 236:     if bQuiet = false then

 237:       Set Status Bar Value

 238:       SetLine1 "Step 4/4: Detect and Process Duplicates"

 239:       SetLine2 ""

 240:     end if

 241:

 242:     Detect Duplicates

 243:     Call FindDupes(MyArray)

 244:

 245:     Wrapping up

 246:     iDupProc = iDupCnt - iDupErr

 247:

 248:     if bQuiet = false then

 249:       Close Status Bar

 250:       CloseIE

 251:     end if

 252:

 253:     sMsg = "Number of Files Found: " & iFilesCnt & vbcrlf & _

 254:     "Number of MD5 Sum Errors: " & iMD5SumErr & vbcrlf & _

 255:     "Number of Files Processed: " & iFilesProc & vbcrlf & _

 256:     "------------------------------------" & vbcrlf & _

 257:     "Number of Dupes Found: " & iDupCnt & vbcrlf & _

 258:     "Number of Dupe Processing Errors: " & iDupErr & vbcrlf & _

 259:     "Number of Dupes Processed: " & iDupProc & vbcrlf

 260:

 261:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of Files Found: " & iFilesCnt

 262:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of MD5 Sum Errors: " & iMD5SumErr

 263:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of Files Processed: " & iFilesProc

 264:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of Dupes Found: " & iDupCnt

 265:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of Dupe Processing Errors: " & iDupErr

 266:     ErrorLogWrite "Number of Dupes Processed: " & iDupProc

 267:

 268:     if WriteFileList = 1 then

 269:       sMsg = sMsg & vbcrlf & "List of Files Generated at:" & vbcrlf & _

 270:       oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FileListFName) & vbcrlf

 271:       ErrorLogWrite "List of Files Generated at: " & _

 272:       oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FileListFName)

 273:     end if

 274:

 275:     if WriteDeDupeLog = 1 then

 276:       sMsg = sMsg & vbcrlf & "Log File Generated at: " & vbcrlf & sLogOutput

 277:     end if

 278:

 279:     if bQuiet = false then

 280:       WScript.echo sMSg

 281:     end if

 282:

 283:   else

 284:

 285:     if bQuiet = false then

 286:       Close Status Bar

 287:       CloseIE

 288:     end if

 289:

 290:   end if

 291:

 292: else

 293:

 294:   if bAbort = false then

 295:     No Files Found to dedupe

 296:

 297:     if bQuiet = false then

 298:       Wscript.echo "No Files to de-dupe found in " & sFolderPath

 299:     end if

 300:

 301:     CleanUpAndQuit 1

 302:   end if

 303:

 304: end if

 305:

 306: if bAbort = true then

 307:   Aborted Message

 308:

 309:   if bQuiet = false then

 310:     Wscript.echo "The De-Dupe Script Was abborted."

 311:   end if

 312:

 313:   CleanUpAndQuit 2

 314: end if

 315:

 316: CleanUpAndQuit 0

 317:

 318: ==============================================================================

 319: Function GetMd5Sum(ByVal strFile)

 320:    Declare the FileSystemObject object constants and variables.

 321:   Dim objTS, strTempFile, strCmdLine, objRE

 322:

 323:   With oFso

 324:      Construct a temporary filename.

 325:     Do

 326:     strTempFile = .BuildPath(.GetSpecialFolder(TEMP_FOLDER), "!" & .GetTempName)

 327:   Loop While .FileExists(strTempFile)

 328:

 329:   Use cmd.exe to construct a command that will execute md5sum.exe

 330:   strCmdLine = .BuildPath(.GetSpecialFolder(SYSTEM_FOLDER), "cmd.exe") _

 331:    & " /c " & md5sumPath & "  """ & strFile & """>" & strTempFile

 332:

 333: End With

 334:

 335:  Execute the command in a hidden window. Wait for the command

 336:  to complete before continuing.

 337: CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run strCmdLine, 0, True

 338:

 339:  Open the temporary file.

 340: s         = ""

 341: On Error Resume Next

 342: Set objTS = oFso.OpenTextFile(strTempFile, 1)

 343: s         = objTS.ReadAll

 344: On Error Goto 0

 345:

 346: check that it didnt fail and has the checksum

 347:

 348: if trim(s) <> "" and instr(s," *") > 0 then

 349:   GetMD5Sum  = left(s,instr(s," *") - 1)

 350:   iFilesProc = iFilesProc + 1

 351: else

 352:   Error... not good

 353:   iMD5SumErr = iMD5SumErr + 1

 354:   GetMD5Sum  = ""

 355: end if

 356:

 357: objTS.Close

 358: oFso.DeleteFile strTempFile

 359: End Function

 360:

 361: ==================================================================================

 362: Array Sort Functions

 363: Sub SwapRows(ary,row1,row2)

 364: == This proc swaps two rows of an array

 365: Dim x,tempvar

 366:

 367: For x = 0 to Ubound(ary,2)

 368:   tempvar     = ary(row1,x)

 369:   ary(row1,x) = ary(row2,x)

 370:   ary(row2,x) = tempvar

 371: Next

 372:

 373: End Sub  SwapRows

 374: Sub QuickSort(vec,loBound,hiBound,SortField)

 375: ==--------------------------------------------------------==

 376: == Sort a 2 dimensional array on SortField        ==

 377: ==                            ==

 378: == This procedure is adapted from the algorithm given in: ==

 379: ==  ~ Data Abstractions & Structures using C++ by ~   ==

 380: ==  ~ Mark Headington and David Riley, pg. 586  ~   ==

 381: == Quicksort is the fastest array sorting routine for   ==

 382: == unordered arrays.  Its big O is  n log n         ==

 383: ==                            ==

 384: == Parameters:                      ==

 385: == vec     - array to be sorted             ==

 386: == SortField - The field to sort on (2nd dimension value) ==

 387: == loBound and hiBound are simply the upper and lower   ==

 388: ==   bounds of the arrays 1st dimension.  Its probably  ==

 389: ==   easiest to use the LBound and UBound functions to  ==

 390: ==   set these.                       ==

 391: ==--------------------------------------------------------==

 392: Dim pivot(),loSwap,hiSwap,temp,counter

 393: Redim pivot (Ubound(vec,2))

 394:

 395: == Two items to sort

 396:

 397: if hiBound - loBound = 1 then

 398:

 399:   if vec(loBound,SortField) > vec(hiBound,SortField) _

 400:     then Call SwapRows(vec,hiBound,loBound)

 401:   End If

 402:

 403:   == Three or more items to sort

 404:

 405:   For counter = 0 to Ubound(vec,2)

 406:     pivot(counter)       = vec(int((loBound + hiBound) / 2),counter)

 407:     vec(int((loBound + hiBound) / 2),counter) = vec(loBound,counter)

 408:     vec(loBound,counter) = pivot(counter)

 409:   Next

 410:

 411:   loSwap = loBound + 1

 412:   hiSwap = hiBound

 413:

 414:   do

 415:   == Find the right loSwap

 416:   while loSwap < hiSwap and vec(loSwap,SortField) <= pivot(SortField)

 417:   loSwap = loSwap + 1

 418:   wend

 419:   == Find the right hiSwap

 420:   while vec(hiSwap,SortField) > pivot(SortField)

 421:   hiSwap = hiSwap - 1

 422:   wend

 423:   == Swap values if loSwap is less then hiSwap

 424:   if loSwap < hiSwap then Call SwapRows(vec,loSwap,hiSwap)

 425:

 426: loop while loSwap < hiSwap

 427:

 428: For counter = 0 to Ubound(vec,2)

 429:   vec(loBound,counter) = vec(hiSwap,counter)

 430:   vec(hiSwap,counter)  = pivot(counter)

 431: Next

 432:

 433: == Recursively call function .. the beauty of Quicksort

 434: == 2 or more items in first section

 435: if loBound < (hiSwap - 1) then Call QuickSort(vec,loBound,hiSwap - 1,SortField)

 436: == 2 or more items in second section

 437: if hiSwap + 1 < hibound then Call QuickSort(vec,hiSwap + 1,hiBound,SortField)

 438:

 439: End Sub  QuickSort

 440: Sub PrintArray(vec,lo,hi,mark)

 441: ==-----------------------------------------==

 442: == Print out an array from the lo bound  ==

 443: ==  to the hi bound.  Highlight the column ==

 444: ==  whose number matches parm mark     ==

 445: ==-----------------------------------------==

 446: Dim i,j

 447: sRes = ""

 448:

 449: For i = lo to hi

 450:

 451:   For j = 0 to Ubound(vec,2)

 452:     sRes = sRes & vec(i,j) & vbTab & vbTab

 453:   Next

 454:

 455:   sRes   = sRes & vbcrlf

 456: Next

 457:

 458: wscript.echo sRes

 459: End Sub

 460:

 461: ===================================================================================

 462: Actual De-Duper Functions

 463: Sub FindDupes(Arr)

 464: Dim a, b, s, iCnt, sOrg

 465: sKey = ""

 466: iCnt = Ubound(Arr,1)

 467:

 468: For a = 0 to iCnt

 469:

 470:   s = trim(Arr(a,0))

 471:

 472:   if s <> "" then

 473:

 474:     if sKey = "" then

 475:       First CheckSum Value in Array, Set Key, dont check further

 476:       sKey = s

 477:       sOrg = Arr(a,1)

 478:     else

 479:       CheckSum from previous file set, check if identical

 480:

 481:       if s = sKey then

 482:         Dupe

 483:         DupeHandling s,Key, Arr(a,1), sOrg

 484:       else

 485:         Set key to Checksum of new file, because it is different

 486:         sKey = s

 487:         sOrg = Arr(a,1)

 488:       end if

 489:

 490:     end if

 491:

 492:   end if

 493:

 494:   if bQuiet = false then

 495:     Set Status Bar Value

 496:     SetLine2 "Files Processed: " & CStr(a + 1) & " of " & cstr(iCnt + 1)

 497:

 498:     Check if Abort Button was pressed

 499:

 500:     If IsQuit() = True Then

 501:       Exit For

 502:       bAbort = true

 503:     End If

 504:

 505:   end if

 506:

 507: Next

 508:

 509: End Sub

 510:

 511: Sub DupeHandling(MD5dupe, MD5Org, FNameDupe, FNameOrg)

 512: Here is where You decide what to do with the found duplicate

 513: You could for example perform additional checks

 514: beyond the MD5 Checksum also

 515: Dim sSrc, sOrg, sOrgExt, sOrgBase, sDest, sDestName, sDestExt, sDestBase

 516: Increase Dupe Counter

 517: iDupCnt = iDupCnt + 1

 518:

 519: Determine the action to take

 520:

 521: Select Case DupeAction

 522:   Case 1

 523:     Rename Dupe by appending Original File name as prefix with

 524:     an _ as separator. Also the extension of the original file

 525:     Full Path of Dupe File

 526:     sSrc    = oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FNameDupe)

 527:     FUll Path of Org File

 528:     sOrg    = oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FNameOrg)

 529:     Get Extension of Org File

 530:     sOrgExt = oFso.GetExtensionName(sOrg)

 531:

 532:     Get Base File Name of Org File without Extension

 533:     sOrgBase = left(FNameOrg,    InStrRev(FNameOrg, "." & sOrgExt, - 1,1) - 1)

 534:

 535:     Build New File name/path for Dupe Path\OrgBase_OrgExt_DupeBase.DupeExt

 536:     sDestExt  = oFso.GetExtensionName(FNameDupe)

 537:     sDestBase = left(FNameDupe,    InStrRev(FNameDupe, "." & sDestExt, - 1,1) - 1)

 538:     sDestName = sOrgBase & "_" & sOrgExt & "_" & sDestBase & "[DEDUPED]" & "." & sDestExt

 539:     sDest     = oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath, sDestName)

 540:

 541:     Move

 542:

 543:     if oFso.FileExists(sDest) then

 544:       New File already exist, cannot rename dupe, Increase Dupe Processing Error Count

 545:       iDupErr = iDupErr + 1

 546:       ErrorLogWrite "Rename Failed! Org: " & FNameOrg & ", Dupe Src: , " & _

 547:       FNameDupe & ", Dest: " & sDestName

 548:     Else

 549:       oFso.MoveFile sSrc, sDest

 550:       ErrorLogWrite "Dupe Processed! Org: " & FNameOrg & ", Dupe Src: , " & _

 551:       FNameDupe & ", Dest: " & sDestName

 552:     End if

 553:

 554:   Case Else

 555:     Not implemented yet

 556: End Select

 557:

 558: End Sub

 559:

 560: ==============================================================

 561: Support Funtions

 562: Sub WriteFile(arr)

 563: Write List of Files with their MD5 Sums to a Text file

 564: Dim a loop count

 565:

 566: Dim f: f = oFso.BuildPath(sFolderPath,FileListFName)

 567: Check if an old Listings File Already Exists and Delete it

 568:

 569: if oFso.FileExists(f) then

 570:   oFso.DeleteFile f, true

 571: end if

 572:

 573: Dim oF: Set oF = oFso.OpenTextFile(f, ForAppending, true, - 2)

 574:

 575: File Name + TAB + MD5 Sum of File

 576:

 577: For a = 0 to Ubound(arr,1)

 578:   oF.writeline trim(arr(a,1)) & vbtab & trim(arr(a,0))

 579: Next

 580:

 581: oF.Close

 582: Set oF = Nothing

 583: End Sub

 584:

 585: Function ErrorLogWrite(sErrLogMsg)

 586:

 587: Dim bOpenLog: bOpenLog = false

 588: Dim sFullErrMsg

 589:

 590: if WriteDeDupeLog = 1 then

 591:

 592:   if not isObject(oLogfile) then

 593:     set oLogfile = nothing

 594:   end if

 595:

 596:   if not (oLogfile is nothing) then

 597:   else

 598:     bOpenLog = true

 599:   end if

 600:

 601:   if  bOpenLog = true then

 602:     Set oLogfile = oFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogOutput, ForWriting, True, - 2)

 603:     ErrorLogWrite("----------------------------------------------")

 604:     ErrorLogWrite("New DeDupe Batch Started")

 605:     ErrorLogWrite("Work Path: " & sFolderPath)

 606:     ErrorLogWrite("-----------------------------------------------")

 607:   end if

 608:

 609:   sFullErrMsg = LogDateFormat(now) & chr(9) & sErrLogMsg

 610:

 611:   oLogFile.Writeline sFullErrMsg

 612:

 613: end if

 614:

 615: end function

 616:

 617: function LogDateFormat(dSourceDate)

 618: Const sLogDtNumbers = "0000"

 619: Dim sLgDtYYYY, sLgDtMM, sLgDtDD, sLgDtHH, sLgDtNN, sLgDtSS

 620:

 621: sLgDtYYYY     = right(sLogDtNumbers & year(dSourceDate),4)

 622: sLgDtMM       = right(sLogDtNumbers & month(dSourceDate),2)

 623: sLgDtDD       = right(sLogDtNumbers & day(dSourceDate),2)

 624: sLgDtHH       = right(sLogDtNumbers & hour(dSourceDate),2)

 625: sLgDtNN       = right(sLogDtNumbers & minute(dSourceDate),2)

 626: sLgDtSS       = right(sLogDtNumbers & second(dSourceDate),2)

 627: LogDateFormat = sLgDtYYYY & "-" & sLgDtMM & "-" & sLgDtDD & _

 628: " " & sLgDtHH & ":" & sLgDtNN & ":" & sLgDtSS

 629: End Function

 630:

 631: =================================================================

 632: Progress Bar Code

 633:

 634: --------------------------------------------------------

 635:  Function   StartIE

 636:  Abstract   Launch IE Dialog Box and Progress bar

 637:  Parameters Titel of the box

 638: --------------------------------------------------------

 639:

 640: Private Sub StartIE(strTitel)

 641: Dim objDocument

 642: Dim objWshShell

 643:

 644: Set objIE        = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")

 645: objIE.height     = 230

 646: objIE.width      = 400

 647: objIE.menubar    = False

 648: objIE.toolbar    = false

 649: objIE.statusbar  = false

 650: objIE.addressbar = false

 651: objIE.resizable  = False

 652: objIE.navigate ("about:blank")

 653:

 654:  wait till ie is loaded

 655: While (objIE.busy)

 656: wend

 657:

 658: set objDocument = objIE.document

 659:  setup the dialog box

 660: WriteHtmlToDialog objDocument, strTitel

 661:

 662:  with ie/html loaded, define assorted objects...

 663: set objTextLine1       = objIE.document.all("txtMilestone")

 664: set objTextLine2       = objIE.document.all("txtRemarks")

 665: Set objProgressBar     = objIE.document.all("pbText")

 666: set objQuitFlag        = objIE.document.Secret.pubFlag

 667:

 668: objTextLine1.innerTEXT = ""

 669: objTextLine2.innerTEXT = ""

 670:

 671:  objIE.document.body.innerHTML = "Building Document..."

 672:  + "<br>load time= " + n

 673: objIE.visible = True

 674:

 675:  set focus to ie

 676: Set objWSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

 677: objWshShell.AppActivate("Microsoft Internet Explorer")

 678: End Sub

 679:

 680: --------------------------------------------------------

 681:  Function CloseIE

 682:  Abstract Close the IE Browser Windows

 683: --------------------------------------------------------

 684:

 685: Private Function CloseIE()

 686: On Error Resume Next

 687: objIE.quit

 688: End Function

 689:

 690: --------------------------------------------------------

 691:  Function   SetLine1

 692:  Abstract   Set Text Line in the Progress Bar Dialog Box

 693:  Parameters Progress Text

 694: --------------------------------------------------------

 695:

 696: Private sub SetLine1(sNewText)

 697: On Error Resume Next

 698: objTextLine1.innerTEXT = sNewText

 699: End Sub

 700:

 701: --------------------------------------------------------

 702:  Function   SetLine2

 703:  Abstract   Set Text Line in the Progress Bar Dialog Box

 704:  Parameters Progress Text

 705: --------------------------------------------------------

 706:

 707: Private sub SetLine2(sNewText)

 708: On Error Resume Next

 709: objTextLine2.innerTEXT = sNewText

 710: End Sub

 711:

 712: --------------------------------------------------------

 713:  Function   IsQuit

 714:  Abstract   Checks if the quit button was pressed

 715:  Parameters Progress Text

 716: --------------------------------------------------------

 717:

 718: Private function IsQuit()

 719: On Error Resume Next

 720: IsQuit   = False

 721:

 722: If objQuitFlag.Value = "quit" Then

 723:   IsQuit = True

 724: End If

 725:

 726: End function

 727:

 728: --------------------------------------------------------

 729:  Function   WriteHtmlToDialog

 730:  Abstract   Set HTML Text for the IE Dialog box

 731:  Parameters IE Document Object, Title Text

 732: --------------------------------------------------------

 733:

 734: Private Sub WriteHtmlToDialog(objDocument, strTitel)

 735: objDocument.Open

 736: objDocument.Writeln "<title>" & strTitel & "</title> "

 737: objDocument.Writeln "<style>"

 738: objDocument.Writeln " BODY {background: Silver} BODY { overflow:hidden }"

 739: objDocument.Writeln " P.txtStyle {color: Black; font-family: Arial; " _

 740:  & " font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 10px; " _

 741:  & " width: 340px } "

 742: objDocument.Writeln " input.pbStyle {color: Navy; font-family: Wingdings; " _

 743:  & " font-size: 10pt; background: Silver; height: 20px; " _

 744:  & " width: 340px } "

 745: objDocument.Writeln "</style>"

 746: objDocument.Writeln "<div id=""objProgress"" class=""Outer""></div>"

 747:  write out text lines...

 748: objDocument.Writeln "<P id=txtMilestone class=txtStyle style=margin-left: 10px> </P>"

 749: objDocument.Writeln "<P id=txtRemarks class=txtStyle style=margin-left: 10px ></P>"

 750: objDocument.Writeln "<CENTER>"

 751:  write progbar

 752: objDocument.Writeln "<input type=text id=pbText class=pbStyle value= >"

 753: objDocument.Writeln "<br><br>"  space down a little

 754:  write cancel button...

 755: objDocument.Writeln "<input type=button value=Cancel " _

 756:  & " onclick=SetReturnFlag(""quit"") >"

 757: objDocument.Writeln "</CENTER>"

 758:  write hidden object...

 759: objDocument.Writeln "<form name=secret >" _

 760:  & " <input type=hidden name=pubFlag value=run >" _

 761:  & "</form>"

 762: objDocument.Writeln "<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=VBScript >"

 763:  write "local script" to handle cmdCancel_Click event...

 764: objDocument.Writeln "Sub SetReturnFlag(sFlag)"

 765: objDocument.Writeln " secret.pubFlag.Value = sFlag"

 766: objDocument.Writeln " txtMileStone.style.color = ""Red"" "

 767: objDocument.Writeln " txtRemarks.style.color = ""Red"" "

 768: objDocument.Writeln "End Sub"

 769:  progress bar

 770: objDocument.Writeln "Function PctComplete(nPct)"

 771: objDocument.Writeln "pbText.Value = String(nPct,"" "") & String(4,""n"")"

 772: objDocument.Writeln "End Function"

 773:  calc progress bar and direction

 774: objDocument.Writeln "Sub UpdateProgress()"

 775: objDocument.Writeln "Dim intStep"

 776: objDocument.Writeln "Dim intDirection"

 777: objDocument.Writeln "If (IsNull(objProgress.getAttribute(""Step"")) = True) Then"

 778: objDocument.Writeln "intStep = 0"

 779: objDocument.Writeln "Else"

 780: objDocument.Writeln "intStep = objProgress.Step"

 781: objDocument.Writeln "End If"

 782: objDocument.Writeln "if (IsNull(objProgress.GetAttribute(""Direction""))=True) Then"

 783: objDocument.Writeln "intDirection = 0"

 784: objDocument.Writeln "Else"

 785: objDocument.Writeln "intDirection = objProgress.Direction"

 786: objDocument.Writeln "End If"

 787: objDocument.Writeln "if intDirection=0 then"

 788: objDocument.Writeln "intStep = intStep + 1"

 789: objDocument.Writeln "else"

 790: objDocument.Writeln "intStep = intStep - 1"

 791: objDocument.Writeln "end if"

 792: objDocument.Writeln "Call PctComplete(intStep)"

 793: objDocument.Writeln "if intStep>=23 then"

 794: objDocument.Writeln "intDirection=1"

 795: objDocument.Writeln "end if"

 796: objDocument.Writeln "if intStep<=0 then"

 797: objDocument.Writeln "intDirection=0"

 798: objDocument.Writeln "end if"

 799: objDocument.Writeln "objProgress.SetAttribute ""Step"", intStep"

 800: objDocument.Writeln "objProgress.SetAttribute ""Direction"", intDirection"

 801: objDocument.Writeln "Window.setTimeout GetRef(""UpdateProgress""), " & conBarSpeed

 802: objDocument.Writeln "End Sub"

 803:  timeout function

 804: objDocument.Writeln "Sub DialogHardTimeout()"

 805:   objDocument.Writeln "SetReturnFlag(""quit"")"

 806: objDocument.Writeln "End sub"

 807: objDocument.Writeln "Sub Window_OnLoad()"

 808: objDocument.Writeln "theleft = (screen.availWidth - document.body.clientWidth) / 2"

 809: objDocument.Writeln "thetop = (screen.availHeight - document.body.clientHeight) / 2"

 810: objDocument.Writeln "window.moveTo theleft,thetop"

 811: objDocument.Writeln "Window.setTimeout GetRef(""UpdateProgress""), " & conBarSpeed

 812: objDocument.Writeln "Window.setTimeout GetRef(""DialogHardTimeout""), " & conForcedTimeOut

 813: objDocument.Writeln "End Sub"

 814: objDocument.Writeln "</SCRIPT>"

 815: objDocument.Close

 816: End Sub

 817:

 818: Sub CleanUpAndQuit(RetCode)

 819: House Cleaning

 820:

 821: if not isObject(oLogfile) then

 822:   set oLogfile = nothing

 823: end if

 824:

 825: if not (oLogfile is nothing) then

 826: else

 827:   oLogFile.Close

 828:   set oLogfile = nothing

 829: end if

 830:

 831: Set oFso = Nothing

 832: WScript.Quit(RetCode)

 833:

 834: End Sub

DeDupeInstall.bat

   1: @echo off

   2: Cls

   3: echo.

   4: echo  Installing De-dupe Shell Extension and Its Support Tools

   5: echo =============================================================

   6: echo.

7:

   8: echo   1. Copy md5sum.exe to %SystemRoot%\system32\

   9: copy md5sum.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\md5sum.exe

  10: echo.

11:

  12: echo   2. Copy DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs to %SystemRoot%\system32\

  13: copy DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs %SystemRoot%\system32\DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs

  14: echo.

15:

  16: echo   3.Register "DeDupe" Directory Shell Extension

  17: regedit /s DedupeInstall.reg

  18: echo.

19:

  20: echo   4. done... DeDupe Shell Extension Installed Successfully

  21: echo.

  22: echo.

  23: pause

DeDupeInstall.reg

Note the default registry value in HEX. This was necessary to be able to add the value:
“wscript.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs” to the registry. Notice the %SystemRoot% environment variable? That needs to be expanded by windows, when you activate the shell extension. If you would create the value as Reg_SZ string, it would not work.

It needs to be an expandable string (because it will be expanded at runtime), REG_Expand_SZ. Expandable string values can only be created by the registry import, if you provide the value of a string in hexadecimal format. This tells Windows to create REG_EXPAND_SZ value instead of the basic REG_SZ.After each character follows the hex value 00 and at the end two more 00 are added as well. Why this is necessary, I have no idea, but this is how you have to do it.

   1: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

2:

   3: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\DeDupe]

   4: @="DeDupe"

5:

   6: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\DeDupe\command]

   7: @=hex(2):77,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2E,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,\

   8:   00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,52,00,6F,00,6F,00,74,00,25,00,\

   9:   5C,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,33,00,32,00,5C,00,44,00,65,00,64,\

  10:   00,75,00,70,00,65,00,46,00,69,00,6C,00,65,00,73,00,49,00,6E,00,46,00,6F,00,\

  11:   6C,00,64,00,65,00,72,00,2E,00,76,00,62,00,73,00,00,00

DeDupeUnInstall.bat

   1: @echo off

   2: CLS

   3: echo.

   4: echo  Un-Installing De-dupe Shell Extension and Its Support Tools

   5: echo =============================================================

   6: echo.

7:

   8: echo   1. Delete md5sum.exe from %SystemRoot%\system32\

   9: if EXIST %SystemRoot%\system32\md5sum.exe del /Q /F "%SystemRoot%\system32\md5sum.exe"

  10: echo.

11:

  12: echo   2. Delete DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs from %SystemRoot%\system32\

  13: if EXIST %SystemRoot%\system32\DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs del /Q /F

  14:          "%SystemRoot%\system32\DedupeFilesInFolder.vbs"

  15: echo.

16:

  17: echo   3. Unregister "DeDupe" Directory Shell Extension

  18: regedit /s DedupeUnInstall.reg

  19: echo.

20:

  21: echo   4. done... DeDupe was Uninstalled Successfully

  22: echo.

  23: echo.

  24: pause

DedupeUnInstall.reg

   1: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

2:

   3: [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\DeDupe]

   4: @="DeDupe"

This is another tool created by Carsten Cumbrowski aka Roy/SAC and I hope that you will find this one helpful as well. For comments, praise or complaints, please use the comments section of the blog below. Thanks.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Labels: Tools

Multi-Threading

Dupe Actions

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List of Annoyances Covered by this Post

Annoyance #1 – Google YouTube Tag Subscriptions

Annoyance #2 – Google YouTube Comments Notification

Annoyance #3 – Google YouTube Friend Invites Processing

Annoyance #4 – Google Chrome Pop-Up Blocker

Annoyance #5 - 4CC Codec Value Case Sensitivity by VirtualDubMod

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