The Making of the 2024 CinOmatic Pool Party

5 July 2024 /

Veebs Sabharwal

The Making of the 2024 CinOmatic Pool Party

We host daily events but Fridays are a little bit extra special because we throw what’s undoubtedly the island’s biggest and best pool party with our signature event—aptly titled ‘Pool Party’.

Over the years, Pool Party has contributed to putting us on the map with its larger-than-life entertainment and themes including ‘Circus’, ‘Under the Sea’ (read more about that here), ‘Dreamland’ (read more about that here), ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Time Machine’.

Our Brand Director Gemma Charters is behind the magic, and following our last guide to the making of pool party shows, the Marketing team managed to grab five minutes from her busy schedule to uncover a little bit about the making of the 2024 CinOmatic Pool Party!

Read the guide

How did O Beach Ibiza’s Friday Pool Party become the icOnic event brand that it is?

Pool Party was the first in-house event we created that really brought our shows to life. When we were coming up with the concept, highly creative content was non-negotiable. We wanted a new theme every year that offered an immersive experience everyone could feel a part of… And we’ve done it. Shows in the Ibiza sky provide the element of surprise, entertainers uplift the dance floor with choreographed routines, aerialists cool down the crowd with Co2, performers make it rain confetti across the beach club and acrobats swing above heads on sway poles, above heads on sway poles, momentarily take guests’ phones to shoot high-speed aerial footage. Fridays at O Beach Ibiza are super high- energy and full of fun and I think everyone loves coming to the pool parties because you feel part of the experience wherever you are in the beach club. Our resident DJs always deliver pure feel-good music, track after track. That, teamed with the Mediterranean sunshine, a 600m2 swimming pool and a cocktail in hand, is there really a better way to start the weekend!?

What is the theme for this year, what’s the story behind it, and how did it develop?

This year’s theme came from a head office team brainstorm where we were discussing #iconic ideas to help us market our 2024 bed bookings. We looked at all things iconic across fashion, entertainment, film, pop culture, music and art and realised how infiltrated the world has become with augmented reality, CGI and AI. Although we love all of the creativity behind these elements, a big part of what we pride ourselves on is creating real-life moments for people with a fun twist! This thinking developed into the CinOmatic theme: a world where artificial moments and 3D glasses aren’t needed because guests get to experience 5D versions of some of the most iconic movies of all time. They’ll meet characters and experience musical moments but not all will be as it seems because, as always, we like to put our own spin on things and keep everyone guessing about what’s coming next!

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Inspiration comes from so many places. Sometimes I’m inspired just walking down the street (on the days I remember to look around me instead of being in my own head)!

I love finding inspiration from runway shows, couture fashion, photography, music videos, live performances across the years, store window displays, contemporary and iconic art, the animal kingdom, pop culture, artistic designs… Anything really. Pinterest is my best friend during moodboard sessions—I just find myself falling down Pinterest rabbit holes and always finding new inspo.

How has the wonderful world of film influenced the day club over the years?

I would say the theatrics of film have influenced O Beach Ibiza shows. Our shows are made up of slick choreography, incredible bespoke costumes (brought to life by talented fashion designers), props that dazzle in the sunshine, plus a carefully curated mix of music to tie everything together and help build crescendo moments that send the crowd into a frenzy! We also add a splash of humour to the mix for extra entertainment!

How did you reimagine iconic movie scenes and characters and what O Beach Ibiza twists did you give them?

There are so many incredible movies so it was hard to choose which ones to run with. I’ve always loved the idea of doing something with Alice in Wonderland but I didn’t want to go down the traditional route as that theme’s been used by so many times before. Instead, we honed in on the Queen of Hearts, reimagined her character as a contemporary, streetwise Queen and created the first show around that version of her. We refer to her as the ‘Original Gangster’ because, well, she kind of was. We brought her new identity to life by removing her regal aesthetic and styling her with a huge heart-shaped bomber jacket, coiffured pink hair and blingy chains. Naturally, our OG has to make an entrance so she rides to the dance floor in her pussy wagon car: a ‘ride-or-die’ cabriolet that pays homage to the Cheshire cat.

Parading through the venue alongside her are the Heartbreaker Crew, who dance to the beat of the hearts around them and steal hearts wherever they go.

See the crew in action

Up above, a pimped-up poodle soars through the sky. She’s our ‘Bad B*tch’—a playful addition to the whimsical characters you’d find down the rabbit hole. This is all accompanied by a pre-planned track selection including Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (the A Trax remix)—the lyrics include the original Queen of Hearts’ favourite line “Off with their heads!”

Next in the show sequence comes inspiration from Jurassic Park, reinterpreted with glamour to avoid theme park vibes. And so, we created ‘Glamo-saurus Rex’! She descends from the sky and shines in true disco-dino style thanks to the sparkly emerald and gold-coloured fabric she’s made from. Enter Glamo-saurus Rex in a skeletal version which comes to life through a combination of fossilised DNA and a little Ibiza magic.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the O Beach Ibiza dancers take on the identity of dinos wearing couture versions of dinosaur fossils. These characters join the pool party to the beat of Right Here Right Now from Fat Boy Slim (Camelphat remix), to complement the ‘evolution’ vibe, followed by We Are Your Friends (Justice) kicking in, which has a message about us all living in harmony were dinosaurs still around today.

For the grand finale, we finish the night by celebrating one of my favourite movies of all time: Moulin Rouge. The real Moulin Rouge was a provocative spectacle (look up the origins of the can-can dance) and as implied in the film, the Moulin Rouge was a place for courtesans who were in a class of their own.

Although I LOVE the Baz Luhrmann version, we decided to move forward with an O Beach Ibiza plot twist.

We wanted to add flair to the nighttime with a light show that nods to the Moulin Rouge’s seductive connotations so we looked at Soho in London, Amsterdam’s Red Light District, Crazy Horse in Paris and a little bit of Studio 54 for this. The show includes rouge-lit boxes, featuring seductive silhouettes inside to symbolise the mystery and sensuality that surrounded the Moulin Rouge. We haven’t made a prop like this before so seeing it in action is incredible, especially paired with venue’s atmospheric lighting. The soundtrack starts with Your Love by Frankie Knuckles, which feels like the sexy beats that filled the loved-up dance floors in the 80s and 90, then moves into I Like The Way You Move by the Bodyrockers. This adds an amazing build-up for our latex-clad dancers who all wear alluring black wigs. With our resident percussionist on the drums, amping up the rock’n’roll feel, Friday nights at Pool Party are pretty electric.

What do you do when you get a creative block?

Sometimes I have weird ideas about tracks I’d like to use so Grant Collins (our Musical Director) and I will start working with them but find they’re so obscure, they don’t actually work in harmony. So we’ll strip it back, research other options, look at different audio loops, ensure the timings complement the dance choreography and eventually piece together something that will work for the shows and help deliver a big musical drop to the crowd.

From Queen Kong to the She-Bots, why are strong female characters a recurring theme in Friday Pool Parties?

The world is full of strong, courageous, admirable and inspirational females so why not have them feature in our shows too?

From gender reveals to housewarmings to divorce parties, themed events are getting bigger and better each year. What advice would you give to anyone seeking creativity when planning their own event?

The guestlist is the most important—make sure it’s full of everyone you love. Don’t try to keep up with what’s all over Instagram or Tik Tok, take inspo but don’t feel like everything you do needs to be for the digital world. The most important thing is to make amazing memories with your friends and family. Maybe put somebody in charge of taking candid ‘in-action’ photos so you can see how much fun you were having at the time, rather than taking staged photos. They’re always the best to look back on and show future generations.

We didn’t invent the pool party, we just perfected it

Come and look back on iconic motion picture through our Pool Party lens and transport to O-llywood every Friday. This is our most popular event so book your Pool Party dance floor tickets and beds early to avoid disappointment.