View Full Version : U.S. Stars on Ice tour April/May 2010: articles, fan reports & more!
Frau Muller
04-09-2010, 04:14 PM
If a skater is in a "pro show" and collects a salary, he or she must learn to think about the audience and keep the smile on the face. We the audience who pay for the ticket$ do not have to see pouty-pouts feeling sorry for themselves for having fallen. Mirai should have put the two falls behind her and sold the rest of the routine. She did not. In fact, she was still pouting two hours later when she joined the final group number at the very end!
Not very professional attitude, Mirai Nagasu.
p.s. Mirai is a huge favorite of mine in amateur competitions...but her lack of professionalism is palpable.
We would NEVER have written this sort of thing about anyone in the old SOI years. SOI has become a hybrid of the 'old SOI' -- all 100% pros -- and 'old COI' which blended pros and amateurs.
acraven
04-09-2010, 04:21 PM
Mirai tweeted on April 7 that she'd been busy for 3 days doing Figure Skating in Harlem and media and had been unable to practice. I guess there's a potential for things to be a lot rougher than usual in an Olympic year when skaters are likely to have overlapping commitments.
Mirai should have put the two falls behind her and sold the rest of the routine. She did not.
While I agree, I remember she's only 16...I wouldn't really expect her to have a full grasp of "professionalism" at that age. It'll come with time.
In fact, she was still pouting two hours later when she joined the final group number at the very end!
Oh really? I didn't even notice :lol:
One thing: the show seemed a bit shorter this year than in the past...
Wyliefan
04-09-2010, 04:30 PM
Oh really? I didn't even notice :lol:
Neither did I.
Frau Muller
04-09-2010, 04:33 PM
Neither did I.
Perhaps you did not have on-ice seats as we did.
My point is: Does figure skating want to be "professional" or "amateur"? Or does it want a half-baked hybrid? It has a half-baked hybrid now. I liked the pre-1994 era best, when pros were pros and amateurs were amateurs.
"Professional" - regardless of a skater's age - should mean "no excuses."
milanessa
04-09-2010, 04:47 PM
Mirai tweeted on April 7 that she'd been busy for 3 days doing Figure Skating in Harlem and media and had been unable to practice. I guess there's a potential for things to be a lot rougher than usual in an Olympic year when skaters are likely to have overlapping commitments.
And then you (I) wonder if they're spreading themselves too thin. An age old question - do you do less really, really well or do you do more really, really half-assed?
Wyliefan
04-09-2010, 04:52 PM
Perhaps you did not have on-ice seats as we did.
No, but I was close enough to see her come sailing down the ice with a smile on her face.
But maybe she pouted after that. :)
kirkbiggestfan
04-09-2010, 05:05 PM
I forgot that in America, professionalism means putting the big fake and insincere Tom Cruise Hollywood smile 24/7. I would much rather see a show with skaters trying lutzes or 3A, than double jumps galore. Going for your hardest jumps in a show program is a sign of respect for the public. It is ok if they fall on a jump; it is not disney on ice!
I am a COI nostalgic I guess. I would much rather see a variety of 30 skaters than the same 40yo pro doing 3 routines filled with 2T.
Pretty Vegas
04-09-2010, 05:06 PM
Mirai tweeted on April 7 that she'd been busy for 3 days doing Figure Skating in Harlem and media and had been unable to practice. I guess there's a potential for things to be a lot rougher than usual in an Olympic year when skaters are likely to have overlapping commitments.
Yeah, she actually tweeted that to me! I felt badly when she had a rough skate last night because all I could think of was that tweet! I enjoyed the show though - D/W, Jeremy, Yuka, B/A and Evan were my favorites. :) I don't know why they didn't save Evan for the second act though, if that's the only skate he's going to do other than the finale. He definitely got the most cheers. I wish the ice dancers had gotten two numbers though.
milanessa
04-09-2010, 05:12 PM
I forgot that in America, professionalism means putting the big fake and insincere Tom Cruise Hollywood smile 24/7.
No one said that.
Frau Muller
04-09-2010, 05:41 PM
No, but I was close enough to see her come sailing down the ice with a smile on her face.
But maybe she pouted after that. :)
She had a smile before the 2nd fall. Pouted after that, except for a half-baked smile during her bow.
love skating
04-09-2010, 05:43 PM
Sad to hear Mirai had a poor skate. She did say last week that she is skating on new skates.
Do D&W and B&A switch partners in their quartet? Just curious.
I'm happy my show will be one of the later ones as the skaters will hopefully by that time be seasoned and the show will have time to gel. Usually our show is one of the early ones so it's an interesting change this time around, but it's hard to wait!
reckless
04-09-2010, 05:49 PM
Regarding Carmen's question about choreographers, as I understand it, the show's choreographers did all the choreo for the group numbers in advance and the skaters learned it in Florida during the rehearsals. (I don't know if they choreographed the B/A/D/W number.) Some of the choreo is the same for the US and Canadian shows, which is why both casts rehearsed together. I suspect one reason the group numbers may seem a little rough right now is that so many of the skaters were at Worlds so had only a few days of rehearsal, and Evan was also training for DWTS.
Wyliefan
04-09-2010, 05:50 PM
She had a smile before the 2nd fall. Pouted after that, except for a half-baked smile during her bow.
No, I'm talking about when she came out for the finale.
I've posted the best of my shots on Flickr (let me know if you can see them, it's my first time using Flickr).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8440248@N08/sets/72157623815961014/
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