S & Z enters Dance Competition on Chinese TV - Judges call for them to withdrawal

**os168** · 09-05-2011, 07:23 PM

Okay this is not skating but thought fans of the retired Olympic Champion pair might enjoy it.

S& Z recently 'competed' as contestant no.5 on a Chinese television Dancing competition called 舞林大会 (I guess similar to UK's Strictly Come Dancing?). They performed 'Love' - a contemporary dance program to live audiences and 3 critical dance judges. I have never seen this show myself but the news were featured on the Chinese Skating Forum China-Ice.org so I took a look

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/yeNA9SmYsLs/

Funny comments from the judges which I will pick a few to translate:

1st Judge (Cool sophisticated looking female) "I have never been soft spoken with people. S&Z, you guys should withdraw! (laughs)
Some show biz contestants came to compete, some came to perform, you belong to neither. What are you, did you come for a demonstration/protest to us three judges?!"

2nd judge (Artsy almost bold guy with crazy orange bow tie) "If we have a bit more time, I reckon you would have a real chance to win at Blackpool. Our suggestion... today's winner has already been decided. If you intend to take part in the final, our competition is pretty much done, so please do not compete, let's stop here."

3rd judge (Cute drag queen/transgender? Go China!) were able to find faults on Shen Xue (Ha of course he would!!), said the outfit didn't flatter her on the stationary stage even though it may look good fluttering in motion on ice, and that at one point she reacted too fast to the music, way before Zhao were able to cause the reaction as part of the choreography. "Maybe during skating judges can't see it, but on the stage I saw it."

2nd judge defended Xue saying actually he picked the outfit on the same day she arrived to the competition, so it is not her fault.

------

I have no idea if this is a publicity stunt, but certainly it worked since I am writing about it. It is really unusual to see Olympic champion pairs skaters perform without their skates (Yeah ok there's Lysacek, Yamaguchi but they are singles), and the pair's chemistry is simply unparalleled. (yeah pun intended

)

**A.H.Black** · 09-05-2011, 08:07 PM

It's definitely an adagio type dance - no particular rhythm and she is in bare feet rather than heels. There are some nice moves that some other dance couples might like to emulate(copy).

Before someone asks, the music is from "Jane Eyre". This one is a 70's movie with George C. Scott and Suzanna York (and several of my favorite British character actors) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065911/. The music is early John Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51svvkx9T3U. I always loved it and the movie is one of the better versions of the classic book

**BittyBug** · 09-05-2011, 08:21 PM

Shen just keeps getting more and more beautiful. Gorgeous couple.

**gkelly** · 09-05-2011, 08:36 PM

Thanks for the translations and the link.

Originally Posted by os168

1st Judge (Cool sophisticated looking female) "I have never been soft spoken with people. S&Z, you guys should withdraw! (laughs)
Some show biz contestants came to compete, some came to perform, you belong to neither. What are you, did you come for a demonstration/protest to us three judges?!"

What do you think she meant by this?

S&Z should withdraw because they're so good that no one else has a chance?

They must not have come to compete because their performance didn't meet the requirements or expectations for the competition? They didn't come to perform because . . . what? They didn't sell the performance well enough?

2nd judge (Artsy almost bold guy with crazy orange bow tie) "If we have a bit more time, I reckon you would have a real chance to win at Blackpool. Our suggestion... today's winner has already been decided. If you intend to take part in the final, our competition is pretty much done, so please do not compete, let's stop here."

Is he saying the same thing as the 1st judge -- they were so good that they're now guaranteed to win, so they should withdraw and give the other contestants a chance?

**os168** · 09-05-2011, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by gkelly

Thanks for the translations and the link.

What do you think she meant by this?

S&Z should withdraw because they're so good that no one else has a chance?

They must not have come to compete because their performance didn't meet the requirements or expectations for the competition? They didn't come to perform because . . . what? They didn't sell the performance well enough?

Is he saying the same thing as the 1st judge -- they were so good that they're now guaranteed to win, so they should withdraw and give the other contestants a chance?

Sorry it wasn't made clear in the translation, but the judges were pretty much in awe of them, and they don't think it is fair to have them in the competition because S&Z would pretty much won and there won't be a program or a competition. They recognized their talent and skill are on a totally different level with other contestants and they didn't even bother give them the usual Star (which is like a Yes/No for the contestants till the next round)

In this clip, all the judges and the audience gave them a standing ovation at the end of their performance, and the 2nd judge mention it is a sign of respect.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/CteAPYjYPA8/

That is why I am not sure if it is a publicity stunt, why bother invite them if they are just going to be that amazing and not going through to the next round? I have no idea of other contestant's level, may be a native Chinese viewer can make better explanation of this.

**kia_4EverOnIce** · 09-05-2011, 09:03 PM

thanks for the clarification!!!

I had the same question of gkelly and I was like "why are they saying that's not good? I love them!"

**kittyjake5** · 09-06-2011, 12:55 AM

WOW! That was beautiful! Thank you.

**yaoyao** · 09-06-2011, 04:12 AM

Vids&Pics
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzAxNDE0ODYw.html
http://v.qq.com/cover/i/iz1f64b0g2b0...=88QL8j658S2_3
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1194910066

enjoy~

**jjane45** · 09-06-2011, 04:38 AM

Oh that's funny, thank you for sharing. Regarding "unfair advantage" over other competitors, Zhao commented that they are ice skaters, it feels very "unstable" dancing on the floor without the ice skates, ROTFLOL.

**skatesindreams** · 09-06-2011, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by kittyjake5

WOW! That was beautiful! Thank you.

Amen to that.!
What a joy to it is to watch them.

I too, have always loved that score.
S and Z interpret it magnificently.

**lavenderblue** · 09-06-2011, 05:15 PM

Beautiful! It's fascinating to watch skaters transfer their abilities of movement to the floor.

**Matryeshka** · 09-06-2011, 05:35 PM

Their dance had such a timeless, almost ethereal quality to it.

It had just enough floor-rolling to be considered more modern

but they still managed to point their feet, and they danced together.

DWTS should have them do a guest spot!

**rfisher** · 09-06-2011, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by Matryeshka

Their dance had such a timeless, almost ethereal quality to it.

It had just enough floor-rolling to be considered more modern

but they still managed to point their feet, and they danced together.

DWTS should have them do a guest spot!

That was some

floor rolling. They make me smile.

**GarrAarghHrumph** · 09-06-2011, 05:40 PM

I remember Evan L. saying that one of the hardest things he had to learn for ballroom was to point his toes. It's done in skating, but not to that same extent due to the limitations of the boot. And I'd imagine with Zhao's achilles injury, pointing and flexing that foot may have some limitations for him as well.

**os168** · 09-06-2011, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by yaoyao

Vids&Pics
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzAxNDE0ODYw.html
http://v.qq.com/cover/i/iz1f64b0g2b0...=88QL8j658S2_3
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1194910066

enjoy~

Thanks for the wonderful links ... the Youku link has the whole thing where they performed twice!

(I have uploaded on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9GTP8dsWrs)

It is interesting after the 3rd judge comment on the costume being unflattering, the 2nd judge stood up and defend her (Shen did mention it is longer than she's used to during the interviews). So he declared he will invite them back to the finals just guest star performing, and he will invite some famous Italian designer to design an outfit exclusively just for her for the occasion.

I wonder how much it is all scripted, but how awesome it would be if it is all genuine? Either way it is cool because we will likely to get another dance performance from the pair for the final show. Wonder what they will come up with next.

**yaoyao** · 09-07-2011, 08:02 AM

Updates: Shen&Zhao attend Beijing Dance Academy (a very famous dance university in China) to engage in advanced studies for the modern dance choreographer.

**skateboy** · 09-07-2011, 08:32 AM

Really beautiful.

**Loves_Shizuka** · 09-07-2011, 12:43 PM

WOW. That was beautiful and she is beautiful.

**miki88** · 09-07-2011, 01:23 PM

Oh, I know this show! It's a dancing competition for people in the entertainment business. The contestants usually have limited dancing experience and many of them have to take professional dance lessons before the competition. It's similar to 'Dancing with the Stars.' So Shen and Zhao are totally on another level compared to the other contestants. But it was great seeing this dance routine. It's really lovely.

**Frau Muller** · 09-07-2011, 01:28 PM

Gorgeous! Thanks for the clip, os168.

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