in-the-round seating for Bush's Thursday night acceptance speech. Amid a sea of delegates from across the United States, Bush will speak from a small podium carpeted with the presidential seal. Organizers expect to drop 120,000 red, white and blue balloons to create a festive scene as Bush completes his address. Democrats suffered an embarrassing gaffe at their convention when the balloon drop after Kerry's speech malfunctioned. Along with balloons, Republican delegates will be showered with 400 pounds of colourful confetti, some of it bearing tiny pictures of Bush, Cheney and White House dog Barney, featured in a comedic film clip shown to the convention on Wednesday night. --More 0133 Local Time 2233 GMT
