Johnny Weir as commentator at US Nationals

[Subway]

I am sorry, but

1. I don't care about the "good use of purple in his costume"
2. I don't care about the "hairdo"
3. I don't care about the eyebrows.....


What he's teaching is that "the look" is just as important as the skate (And if that were ACTUALLY true and his view counted he would have that Gold Medal!)


Until he quits acting like a "fashion commentator" in addition to a skating commentator BOO!

We've got so many lousy figure skating commentators though - who know nothing. Rod Black makes me cringe. Tom Hammond knows horses better than figure skating. Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic ought to know more about figure skating but often don't act like it, talking about non-judged stuff and making people think it's judging criteria. At least Weir is entertaining and does the job well, especially if you want to grade on a curve. I think so.

[cruisin]

did he have a bitter fallout with priscilla?

No, he did not. They parted amicably.

Not exactly. It was more along the lines of the skater left Priscilla and the move seemed to be working out for him and congratulations on a well-skated SP. I didn't get an insult to Priscilla out of that.

I agree, Johnny would never insult Pricilla.

As far as his commentary, I didn't get to hear it. Wish I had. But, isn't this his first time? A learning experience, he'll grow into it and get better with time. Tanith sounded like a 12 year old when she first started, now she sounds good.

[aliceanne]

No, he did not. They parted amicably.



I agree, Johnny would never insult Pricilla.

As far as his commentary, I didn't get to hear it. Wish I had. But, isn't this his first time? A learning experience, he'll grow into it and get better with time. Tanith sounded like a 12 year old when she first started, now she sounds good.

He did commentary on 2010 Worlds Ladies and Men's events for Universal Sports.

[Cheylana]

^^ Well, that was just general comments at the end of each segment of competition. I think this was his first time doing play-by-play commentary. I thought he did a very good job. He talked a bit too much, maybe tried too hard to be funny in the beginning with the constant hair critiques, but he settled in quite nicely and gave a lot of constructive criticism on spins, jumps and steps, interpretation, etc.

Methinks a Tara-Johnny pairing would be my dream team!

[Subway]

^^ Well, that was just general comments at the end of each segment of competition. I think this was his first time doing play-by-play commentary. I thought he did a very good job. He talked a bit too much, maybe tried too hard to be funny in the beginning with the constant hair critiques, but he settled in quite nicely and gave a lot of constructive criticism on spins, jumps and steps, interpretation, etc.

Methinks a Tara-Johnny pairing would be my dream team!

Well now you've just spoiled it.

[kittyjake5]

Unfortunately I did not get to see Johnny commentating, but reading this thread I am cracking up at some of Johnny's comments. He sounds like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and bland field of current commentators, but of course I am biased because I love Johnny...off to search you tube to see if I can find a video clip.

[nerdycool]

I'm the kind of person who wants to watch my figure skating commentary-free. But if we HAVE to have a commentator, I prefer Johnny. Some of the fashion/hair talk was a little OTT, but when he did talk about the actual skating, it was informative even for those of us who are knowledgeable skating fans. Most other commentators dumb everything down, even on IN, where it's assumed that the only people subscribing are more than just casual fans.

[reckless]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg this is where Johnny got the honey badger quote from

I think the honey badger is used in a current commercial too. It is supposed to be synonymous with 'fearless.' Where do you get anything else? Nevermind, don't answer that... you have taken us off-topic and are clearly reading too much into Johnny's commentating.

He got honey badger from college football. It was the nickname given this year to LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, because he is small, but very aggressive. It's actually not very original.

[kwanette]

I thought that Johnny was terrific. When I first heard that he was commentating, I was a little nervous, this from a long-time fan of Johnny th e person and Johnny the skater. But, he was articulate, complimentary, not a snark, he infused wit , he did his homework. Let IN know, I did.

[Sparks]

I thought that Johnny was terrific. When I first heard that he was commentating, I was a little nervous, this from a long-time fan of Johnny th e person and Johnny the skater. But, he was articulate, complimentary, not a snark, he infused wit , he did his homework. Let IN know, I did.

I listened to Johnny's commentary via Skate Radio (in the arena) for the Men's Short Program.
I found it to be entertaining as well as informative.

[Cheylana]

I thought that Johnny was terrific. When I first heard that he was commentating, I was a little nervous, this from a long-time fan of Johnny th e person and Johnny the skater. But, he was articulate, complimentary, not a snark, he infused wit , he did his homework. Let IN know, I did.

That's a good idea; what e-mail address would I use if I wanted to offer feedback?

[vesperholly]

I really enjoyed Johnny's commentary last night. He seemed to understand that IN viewers are skating FANS and not casual viewers. I laughed out loud several times and that NEVER happens with Peter and Tonya!! However, he could have done less talking during the skates. I like to just enjoy the moments. I usually hate it when IN adds commentary to competitions but they can bring back Johnny anytime!

This! I was DYING laughing at his commentary, eyebrows and all. The comments about presentation were very insightful. I will take him any day of the week over Scott and Sandra, whose commentary made me

I'm tired of Tonia only telling us about the skater dropping a shoulder (especially on jumps where it's obvious that wasn't the problem). She's dry and boring, though to her credit she doensn't talk too much.

[soxxy]

What got me was Tonia would talk during the entire performance, then as soon as the skater stopped, she stopped talking. She waited a minute for them to get in the K&C to talk again.

[leigh466]

I just do not see how anyone could complain about Johnny or even poor Tonia after listening to Scott and Sandra. They are SOOOO awful; words could not possibly describe how pitiful they are. They say nothing informative. They do not ID the jumps. They do not understand the scoring system, so they cannot explain it. When Jeremy has just landed his quad and is about to give us a masterpiece, they keep blathering on and on about nothing rather than letting us enjoy the skating unfolding before our eyes. They jinx every skater by talking about a fall and then it happens (LOL, joking, but still, it is really annoying how that continually happens! lol) They are redundant in their idiocy, and just plain dumber than a sack of rocks!

Johnny was silly sometimes about hair or eyebrows or whatever, but 95% of the time he gave insightful commentary, praised each skater, knew for real what they had done wrong approaching a botched jump, understood the scoring system, could appreciate the difficulty of spin positions and tell us, etc. etc. If I kept thinking I could go on and on. The comparison is so glaring. johnny=knows what he is talking about. Scott and Sandra=Do Not Know What they are talking about, or do not care to act as if they do. Both should. Why they are so insipid is beyond me.

[Rob]

He got honey badger from college football. It was the nickname given this year to LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, because he is small, but very aggressive. It's actually not very original.

But didn't the LSU people get it from the Randall video?

[BittyBug]

But didn't the LSU people get it from the Randall video?

Not to mention the fact that I kind of doubt Johnny watches football, much less college football.

If you haven't listened to the 2nd half of the men that just went up on demand on IN, I think you'll find a very different Johnny. I don't know if they asked him to tone it down, or if he was just a little nervous during the short, but in this segment he is calm, restrained and very selective in his commentary, with nary a mention of fashion or hair. Still some funny quips, though, with a pointed reprise of his honey badger remark (I'm guessing he got a lot of comments on that one ).

And once again, Johnny found something positive to call out about every skater, even as he might have also been pointing out errors. I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts.

[IceAlisa]

Johnny is the only commentator who could yak through the entire program and I wouldn't care. Pink flowers and sparkles, eyebrows, honey badgers and insightful about the skating too... could listen to him all day!

Love him! Hope IN keeps him.

[jlai]

Just to add, I think I like Johnny's voice as a commentator. Not annoying like errr...Scott's

[nerdycool]

The honey badger reference also could have come from Glee last year.

[Michalle]

Y'all, if there was a honey badger reference other than the youtube video posted on this thread, then it was in itself a homage to the youtube video... the youtube video came first, became a big hit, and lots of pop culture references to the video came later.