HMB World Championship “Battle of the Nations” is a huge event and it is great that everybody can visit it to support the fighters. However, the live stream is an important part of it, and the commentator is king and god here. Gavin Stewart was this year’s commentator and everybody can agree that he did a good job.
HMBIA News had a brief conversation with him and now we can tell you all the details. According to Gavin Stewart there were a number of things to consider before starting – a minimal knowledge of the teams and what to expect. That helps to make sure there are no unwanted pauses in the commentary during the fights.
Gavin Stewart: “However, the more time went on, the more difficult it became. In fact my commentary for the “1vs1″ categories on the last day showed a few gaps and pauses. The “5vs5″ category was a different story – it’s exciting, gripping, all the action is right in front of you and you can read the fights, meaning the public gets more engaging commentary. Definitely my favourite category throughout”.
Gavin also told us that the “21vs21″ was difficult for him. Even seeing what was happening was difficult;
Gavin Stewart: “Bear in mind that I was behind a monitor the whole time so my vision was limited to what the cameras showed. Imagine that: I saw every single fight…but not one from the grandstand!”
But Gavin gained new skills while commenting the stream. Was it useful? Of course!
Gavin Stewart: “Possibly the worst part was in the tech area when food arrived. All the tech team could stop and eat when all I could do was continue commentating while my food got cold! Still, I learned to eat an entire portion of pasta and meat sauce in under 90 seconds so that’s something I suppose”.
Commentators have to be neutral, and Gavin told us that it wasn`t hard for him. The audience watching the live stream comes from all over the world so commenter has to show the same enthusiasm for each country – both the fighters and the public deserve that respect.
Gavin Stewart: “I’ve lived in the UK, Australia, Italy and Lithuania so I don’t have such a deep sense of nationalism. I will admit that I wasn’t indifferent to the UK and Australian teams doing as well as they did; they both had fantastic tournaments and I was really happy for them. And as for Italy 3 in the “5vs5″! Amazing. I know some of them so I was also really happy to see them do so well”.
Gavin Stewart also told us a secret detail, but it’s so picturesque!
Gavin Stewart: “There was one embarrassing moment during the event – I was getting a beer and all of a sudden two teams were called to the list so I had to rush back. I told the barman to give the beer to whoever seemed the friendliest, turned around, ran back to the tech room and tripped, ending up face down in the grass. I was wearing my kilt throughout and as you know, traditionally we don’t wear underwear with kilts, so when I was on the ground the kilt flew up and some poor family got a “full view”. My sincere apologies to them…”
Thanks to such clever, talented and funny guys as Gavin, the HMB World Championship “Battle of the Nations” is closer to everyone and HMB-sport more understanding and tough. Thank you Gavin!
