Davis & White #15: The Polka Connection

[circuscandy]

Yes, I like him very much too. Always look out for his and another man's commentating on british espn and on this YT account. Does anyone know who they are?

I think it was Chris Howarth commentating for ice dance at 4CCs. Usually they also have Nicky Slater (who... has some hilarious taste and opinions from time to time) and Simon Reed. Simon and Chris both commentated for the SD. I can't remember if we got any of Nicky this time. I'll have to listen again.

[Bournekraatzfan]

Thanks for the links, everyone. shan, the photo you posted is one of my favourites because you can really feel the emotional commitment from both Meryl and Charlie. And the energy almost jumps off the page.

I am really disappointed in PJ's choice of analogy in comparing the FDs. Quite honestly, I found it to be rude. I think objectivity is a myth and that we each only have partial, situated knowledges, so I am cool with her being explicit about her preference, as long as she is not dismissive toward other skaters. In this case, she was. I think she has a valid point about the scoring of the choreography (and transitions) with respect to not only V&M but also P&B, and she could easily have made this point without being insulting. How unfortunate.

Anyways, I am happy that Meryl and Charlie Have good people around them. I do fear, however, that Charlie's mother may stumble across this

[nuge]

I think it was Chris Howarth commentating for ice dance at 4CCs. Usually they also have Nicky Slater (who... has some hilarious taste and opinions from time to time) and Simon Reed. Simon and Chris both commentated for the SD. I can't remember if we got any of Nicky this time. I'll have to listen again.

It was Chris Howarth .
Nicky wasn't there as he has personal family issues at the moment .I wish him all the best and hope he will be commentating at worlds.

[circuscandy]

Anyways, I am happy that Meryl and Charlie Have good people around them. I do fear, however, that Charlie's mother may stumble across this

She didn't comment anywhere, did she?

[DORISPULASKI]

She knows who a number of D&W's fans are, and clearly has read both FSU and Golden Skate from time to time. If she had commented, it could have been under a screenname that didn't reveal who she is.

[sap5]

Yes! I would expect more disparaging remarks against D/W as we get closer to worlds. Skate Canada is on high alert leaving no communication and marketing stone unturned to make sure people are aware of V/M's qualities and D/W's weaknesses. It's actually a compliment- they wouldn't be on the attack as much if they didn't feel that D/W were a major threat.

I sometimes wish that USFSA would put more concerted support behind publicizing D/W before major competitions- not that they don't put Meryl and Charlie on the cover of Skating magazine and tweet about them but the TV and newspaper reporters aren't all in a cohesive unit in their messaging and support of Meryl and Charlie in US media- partly because NBC hired Tracy Wilson as the main ice dance commentator. And while Tracy doesn't do any overt bashing of D/W on American TV she isn't always as whole-hearted in her praise as she is with V/M on Canadian TV coverage. It's understandable but I wish USFSA and American media outlets were a bit more savvy about their support and advocacy strategy for their main contenders.

They'll probably replace Tracy with Tanith Belbin once Tracy's contract is up.

If they go with Tanith, I hope they also bring Terry Gannon back. He did a great job of trying to keep biased members of the panel on task and from turning things into a media circus a la Scott Hamilton. Figure skating today is so difficult to understand for the casual viewer that having a biased commentator will confuse watchers if the results don't turn the way the commentator says they should. Tracy does her best to keep Rod Black in line, although if he were gagged, it would be even better.

[SidelineSkater]

Wow...just wow. Someone's living in a fantasy world.

If she doesn't like Notre Dame, fine, but they've received standing ovations in every competition they've been to this season, no matter what country it was in. Obviously EVERYONE is wrong.

I think PJ must have been watching the same 4CC's performance that some of the VM fans saw. Probably a special edit for, because they too were talking about how DW didn't get a standing O, just a few flowers, but the crowd went wild for VM. Sometimes you only see what you want to see, which is a sad case of reality blurred.

It's a perfect example of scare tactics often used in politics. Make something seem scary or bad to drum up support, instead of having a valid arguement. Let's just get back to the awesome skating/dancing and then everyone wins. Do the talking on the ice!

[Holley Calmes]

Lol, yeah I doubt they're reading these forums and waiting for our opinion to choose their Olympic FD music. The 1980's version also has some nice pieces, but I can't find the music separate from the movie.

I always loved the 1980's version of P&P as well. Thing about all three P&P more recent productions is that the music is very much like Beethoven, especially his quartets and trios, which could work nicely. Then you kill 2 birds with 1 stone-Charlie gets a Beethoven association. Charlie is like the anti-Beethoven however,with his sweetness and sunniness, but the Colin connection works great. (I know we were only talking about beethoven because of the "Kings Speech" tie in....) I still think P&P is a winner for them, but of course they don't get their ideas from these boards...but I would bet some of their support people/families/friends read them and know pretty much what's going on. I wouldn't doubt it.

Or if we're looking for another story line with a Colin Firth association, how about "Valmont?" It's the "Dangerous Liasons" story made by the man who created "Amadeus" and way over the top, but Colin was gorgeous in it, and it certainly had drama, story, etc. Colin's hair was waist length in the movie-think Charlie could wear some extensions? haha...I am of course being silly and kidding about all of this, but it's fun to speculate.

[PinkFeathers]

I think PJ must have been watching the same 4CC's performance that some of the VM fans saw. Probably a special edit for, because they too were talking about how DW didn't get a standing O, just a few flowers, but the crowd went wild for VM. Sometimes you only see what you want to see, which is a sad case of reality blurred.

It's a perfect example of scare tactics often used in politics. Make something seem scary or bad to drum up support, instead of having a valid arguement. Let's just get back to the awesome skating/dancing and then everyone wins. Do the talking on the ice!

The hell? Did someone actually edit the 4CC performance this way? That's insulting to not only D/W, but V/M. I don't even know what to say to that. Wow.

[nlyoung]

The hell? Did someone actually edit the 4CC performance this way? That's insulting to not only D/W, but V/M. I don't even know what to say to that. Wow.

Don't panic. This is the kind of selective reading that starts wars here that most of us would rather do without... Everyone knows that D/W received a standing O in Japan and no one is insinuating that they didn't. One poster on the other thread happened to make a comment about V/M and the support they received in Japan after the difficult skate they had who forgot to make clear in her post that D/W had received both flowers and a standing O (she has apologized for the omission which was part of a long post). The post was not about D/W and was written to thank the supportive Japanese crowd.

[semogal]

IN has Part II of the DWTS critique of Ice Dancing. This one features V/M and C/L. A very interesting read.http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[TanithandBenFan]

More DJ love from Meryl

[Cachoo]

Thanks for the links, everyone. shan, the photo you posted is one of my favourites because you can really feel the emotional commitment from both Meryl and Charlie. And the energy almost jumps off the page.

I am really disappointed in PJ's choice of analogy in comparing the FDs. Quite honestly, I found it to be rude. I think objectivity is a myth and that we each only have partial, situated knowledges, so I am cool with her being explicit about her preference, as long as she is not dismissive toward other skaters. In this case, she was. I think she has a valid point about the scoring of the choreography (and transitions) with respect to not only V&M but also P&B, and she could easily have made this point without being insulting. How unfortunate.

Anyways, I am happy that Meryl and Charlie Have good people around them. I do fear, however, that Charlie's mother may stumble across this

I'm trying to turn negatives to positives today so What is PJ doing? She is worried the D/W might win and she is trying to find a way to isolate them to the rest of the community. One way to do that is to bring out their nationality in a negative way (hence American cheese.) You have mostly European judges so you suggest another team is more "European" and D/W are Yankee Doodle which is silly because they share the same coach. It is an ugly thing to do but as I said in the other uber thread it is a backhanded compliment. PJ would only go to this trouble for teams she thought might win (other than V/M.) And it goes both ways as there have been some complaints about the way V/M have been treated by some posters at GS. I think the Brits said it best: Keep Calm and Carry On.

[sk9tingfan]

I'm trying to turn negatives to positives today so What is PJ doing? She is worried the D/W might win and she is trying to find a way to isolate them to the rest of the community. One way to do that is to bring out their nationality in a negative way (hence American cheese.) I think the Brits said it best: Keep Calm and Carry On.

Also possibly Shakespeare: The Lady doth protest too much methinks. I think that D&W fans need to do what Meryl and Charlie have always done, and that is take the high road.

[missysays]

... it is a backhanded compliment. PJ would only go to this trouble for teams she thought might win (other than V/M.) And it goes both ways as there have been some complaints about the way V/M have been treated by some posters at GS. I think the Brits said it best: Keep Calm and Carry On.

The comment reminds me of another backhanded comment that Tracy Wilson made awhile back at another 4cc- I think it may have been 2009 (whatever year D/W had the Samson and Delilah FD). After they completed the program, she praised them but then said that the program should be extremely comfortable for them now since they had the whole season to practice it- she said it fit like an "old shoe." So even though she didn't criticize them she found a way in her wording choice to dim their performance a bit in comparison to V/M who had not had a full season with their SD and FD programs that year.

Subtle yet masterful...

Anyways I liked reading the DWTS dancer's critique of the various FD this season. I had to keep looking up all the various dance terms he was using to understand which moves he meant. I think whenever he's using "pirouette" it means spin or twizzle. Nice to hear from a pure dance perspective. I also like how he talked about both strengths and weaknesses of each couple's programs.

[~tapdancer~]

IN has Part II of the DWTS critique of Ice Dancing. This one features V/M and C/L. A very interesting read.http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

I love his honest straight forward evaluation. He certainly sees it the way I see it.

[Jessiebanana]

IN has Part II of the DWTS critique of Ice Dancing. This one features V/M and C/L. A very interesting read.http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

I think he hit the nail on the head. The thing for me with Carmen is, that though there are parts I like I don't feel like the program is ready. It's still feels very disjointed and like it's still where it was at the beginning of the season in terms of choreography, obviously they are performing it better. It's mind boggling to me since they have the same coaches. I haven't seen all the V/M competitions, so maybe I'm wrong.

[Whitneyskates]

We're not there yet, but I think when the time comes, we should use PJ's article as inspiration for the next thread title.

Davis And White#16 Their Cheese Doesn't Smell

[sap5]

We're not there yet, but I think when the time comes, we should use PJ's article as inspiration for the next thread title.

Davis And White#16 Their Cheese Doesn't Smell

Ugh. I'm hoping by the time this thread hits 1000, there'll be something more inspirational to write about.

[mollymgr]

We're not there yet, but I think when the time comes, we should use PJ's article as inspiration for the next thread title.

Davis And White#16 Their Cheese Doesn't Smell

I find the title suggestion funny but I really don't think she deserves that much of an honor. D/W supporters should be used to all the backhanded comments from Canadian commentators by now. I don't understand how anyone is surprised by this. This didn't just start yesterday. It has been going on for a while now. If you just noticed it, welcome to the club!