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jennaria...because last night they were pushing the RIVALRY OF THE RUSSIANS so hard on NBC, and I just did not care. They're both coached, and choreographed, by the same person! I'm not going to hate on Alina because her program is crap (which her short program definitely is - all jumps in the second half leads to a 'skate skate skate jump' format which isn't even a little artistic, and also makes it super obvious when she's raising her arms to get more presentation points): I'm going to hate on her coach/choreographer for playing the system against itself, and setting up a 15-year-old for early onset arthritis.
But! Rather than stay up until all hours to watch bullshit rivalry that I do not care about, Wife and I sat and watched the earlier skaters. Sometimes, this was a little painful - one skater fell, like, twice trying for her jump, and was So Visibly Relieved when she finally landed one - but sometimes it was, like, here is the only skater from Country You Never Realized Did Figure Skating! Mostly, it was just the people who don't get shown during prime-time: the people who aren't a US skater and not part of The Storyline. It's the people who are there for the love of it, who are trying for nothing more than saying they skated at the Olympics, and maybe a season's best. It's what I love about the Olympics, more than The Storyline.
But! Rather than stay up until all hours to watch bullshit rivalry that I do not care about, Wife and I sat and watched the earlier skaters. Sometimes, this was a little painful - one skater fell, like, twice trying for her jump, and was So Visibly Relieved when she finally landed one - but sometimes it was, like, here is the only skater from Country You Never Realized Did Figure Skating! Mostly, it was just the people who don't get shown during prime-time: the people who aren't a US skater and not part of The Storyline. It's the people who are there for the love of it, who are trying for nothing more than saying they skated at the Olympics, and maybe a season's best. It's what I love about the Olympics, more than The Storyline.
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Date: 2018-02-23 11:17 pm (UTC)... for someone who only watches skating here and there, I have A Lot Of Feelings about it. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-24 03:50 pm (UTC)What it comes down to is: yes yes, jumps and elements are all very well and good, but there needs to be something tying them together, an emotion, a storyline. Having watched the long programs in question, I think that Yevgenia skated a better program in part because she was telling a story, not just 'here is a bunch of elements on ice,' which is all Alina gave us. Alina may have skated in time to the music, but all she had was a min/maxed set of elements. Yevgenia gave us more.
I liked Kaetlyn (? - the Canadian skater who got bronze), because she also sold her story of the Black Swan. And surprisingly to me, I liked Bradie's free skate: yeah, Cinderella is utterly predictable, but it was still better than Generic Feminine, which seemed to be all too many of the other skaters had to offer.
I feel like...I saw something on Tumblr the other day, about how dance (and its associated disciplines, e.g. gymnastics and figure skating) tends to have that not-particular-sub text of 'dance through the pain!,' not caring what you do to yourself in the meantime. Ironically, I feel like the men's side of things has a slight edge here, in the sense that because they're being more explicit with the athletic, pursuit-of-a-quad thing, they're also being better about 'do not try this on a sprained ankle' thing. But I also don't have research to back that up, just vague impressions and NBC talking about Yuzuru Hanyu's coach not letting him on the ice until two weeks before the Olympics to try jumping again because he'd hurt himself.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-24 06:07 pm (UTC)I don't know if the men are actually being any better or not. Certainly Johnny spent a lot more time being a catty ass at them for "leaving points on the table" when guys *didn't* go for the harder jump. e_e BUT I noticed the commentary got less and less over the course of the Games, as if maaaaybe NBC had been fielding too many complaints and ordered them to dial it back a bit, soooo. I suspect Hanyu's situation had more to do with his coach and his being a modern national treasure than anything more general to the sport, though.
I get it that it's difficult because the short programs are SO scripted (must fit x number of jumps, y number of step sequences, z number of spins, all in 2 minutes), but that's also the challenge, dammit, and if there isn't an emotional story, then no, they shouldn't get a huge score just because they were doing harder elements well. Too often it felt like the artistry score was just a set of check marks with no real variance from one program to the next. I also think ice dancers who are supposed to be doing a Latin short sequence and then DON'T use LATIN MUSIC should lose artistry points, even if their music DOES have the right beats per minute cuz COME THE FUCK ON. I mean I could almost give a pass to "Hotel California" but "Sympathy for the Devil"? Really?? e_e
All three commentators were so up Alina's butt that by the time of her long skate, I was praying for her to fall on her ass JUST TO SHUT THEM UP (I know, I'm a horrible person). And was amused that even as they were just finishing saying how all her jumps were timed to the music zomg (um, isn't that the point of the music?) ... she mis-timed a jump. :p I know, I know, I'm terrible. XD