Euphoria 2008 did not live up to its name, attracting a fraction of the patrons of previous years.

However, organisers have vowed to learn from this year's mistakes.

"We can take the positive points and see how we can improve on the negative. We learned that we have to be on the ball with certain things. These things become learning experiences [and] we have already been strategising as to how we can make Euphoria 2009 better than any of the Euphorias we have ever done before" said one of the show's organisers, Peter Boyce.

In an exclusive with the Nation, Boyce offered a measured assessment of the event.

"All things considered, I think the event went well considering the stiff competition that we had. We targeted a certain demographic, and that demographic came out . . . All in all, Euphoria 2008 was a good effort and contines to prove that the brand can be lucrative."

The show was plagued with problems over the past week, including a question of whether the show would in fact come off and a surprise media blitz from MADD Entertainment disassociating itself from Euphoria Inc., and in the end did not go off smoothly

An hour and a half lull between the first and second acts left a bad taste with many who attended and by the end of the show, which went on way past its 2:30 a.m. deadline, the crowd had dwindled from about 2000 to an estimated 500.

"The lull broke the momentum of the show . . . that impacted on the evening," said Boyce on the question of the poor turn-out.

Citing technical problems and a non-appearance by a deejay as some of the reasons for the long break, he added:

"Many of our artists were at Cohobblopot, so that would also have resulted in a break for a longer period than we would have wanted."

While the break affected the momentum, all scheduled artistes performed to a sometimes lack-luster reception by the audience.