From Russia With Love [#37]: Summer 2020

[Ananas Astra]

Alina Ustimkina (19) and Nodari Maisuradze (32) just got married today. So congratulations (?) to a teenager marrying a man she met when he was on her coaching team! I admit they are cute together on Instagram, but my in inner old hag is concerned. This is his first marriage as well so I'll give him at least a few brownie points that he isn't Morozoving this girl.

My dad is also 13 years older than my mom...and here they are: happily married with 3 children for 42 years so far.
So sometimes it does work out I suppose.

 

[Ananas Astra]

Long emotional interview with Elena Berezhnaya:

Елена Бережная. Судьба человека с Борисом Корчевниковым @Россия 1

Елена Бережная. Судьба человека с Борисом Корчевниковым ►Подпишись на канал Россия 1: https://www.youtube.com/c/tvrussia1?sub_confirmation=1 ►Все выпуски под...

youtu.be

Watching it now.
My highlight so far was Sikharulidze's interview about how he heard about Elena's accident with her former partner: "My first reaction was: I want to kill Oleg!"
Gotta love Anton. That dude doesn't mince his words.

 

[Bigbird]

Watching it now.
My highlight so far was Sikharulidze's interview about how he heard about Elena's accident with her former partner: "My first reaction was: I want to kill Oleg!"
Gotta love Anton. That dude doesn't mince his words.

Pity it did not work out between Anton and Elena he seems much more responsible and reliable.

 

[Ananas Astra]

Pity it did not work out between Anton and Elena he seems much more responsible and reliable.

I agree. I watched the entire show and can break it down to this:

• Elena and Anton had a relationship, but over the time it had developed into more of a friendship, or even bromance
• Anton immediately told Elena that Steven Cousins is unreliable and that he himself (Anton) would have to feed Elena's children one day
• when Elena was asked about the break-up and the divorce with Cousins, she only said that one day he told her that he was unhappy, so she packed her bags and went to St. Pete's. That's all she said. Oh yeah, and that one time, he couldn't come to his daughter's birthday and she just doesn't understand how someone could be that way.

In general, she didn't say much about the break-up with Cousins, but her tears showed that there is more behind that than what she said. I also think she regrets not getting married to Sikharulidze, since they still are "bros" and he is her most loyal friend nowadays.

This show has shown me once again that Anton Sikharulidze really is the greatest guy in figure skating ever (Sorry, Sergei Grinkov) because he really cared for Elena and protected her from everything, even after their personal relationship was done, and he still is her best friend and supports her wherever he can. Anton Sikharulidze is a true man of honor and the true Prince who overcomes all the obstacles to rescue his princess.

 

[Amy L]

The beginning of that relationship was a little bit iffy. Steven was still married to Kristina Lenko when they first got together. According to Elena, Kristina's family was very religious and blamed everything negative that ever happened on God's retribution for their sins. She claimed that Steven's family even thanked her for coming into his life because he was so miserable with Kristina. I don't think Kristina has ever really spoken about that relationship, so I don't know what her side of the story was.

When Steven got a DUI several years ago, the police report was something like he was upset and drinking because his wife had left for Russia and took their children with her (against his will). So who knows? It seems like a very messy breakup at the very least. I hope they could work something out for their kids' sakes.

Elena and Anton have both said at different times that they should have gotten married as teenagers but never skated together. Maybe Anton would think differently now that he has his own family, but it's saying something that with all their competitive successes they regret how their personal lives turned out.

 

[Cherub721]

• Anton immediately told Elena that Steven Cousins is unreliable and that he himself (Anton) would have to feed Elena's children one day

but also

He's still everything that my teenage self wanted him to be.

 

[Sylvia]

I've started a separate thread for the Elena B. interview: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/elena-berezhnaya-interview.107380/

Cute photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCa2JHVlPre/

 

[Tinami Amori]

Alina Zagitova has made 2 more commercials in the meantime (while still training full speed ahead for the upcoming season. Jonathan G. verified it himself in his interview from Novogorsk, posted 2 pages ago.)

Shiseido for Chinese/Hong-Kong/Taiwan markets:

Alina Zagitova SHISEIDO Ultimune Power Infusing

Alina Zagitova 2020.07.07 SHISEIDO Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate New Cool Promo Video 720p 25fps #ShiseidoZagitova #ZagitovaInterview #RedBallerina #Za...

www.youtube.com

Puma - new line with Alina Zagitova (3 photos)

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For the previous Shiseido commercial, Alina used one of the choreos from her dance class @ Krustalny, developed by Zheleznyakov.

company's clip with studio music.

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Alina's clip - different parts of the choreo to original music. Alina writes how much she enjoys these types of sessions.

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[Sylvia]

Interview with Elizaveta Nugumanova who will turn 18 in August:

Самая популярная российская фигуристка в Тик Токе Нугуманова: «У меня большие шансы прыгнуть четверной» - 9 июля 2020 - Sport24

Интервью о соцсетях, возрастном цензе и переходе Трусовой.

sport24.ru

 

[Tinami Amori]

Interview with Elizaveta Nugumanova who will turn 18 in August:

Thank you for posting this.

(but Nugumanova is a "C level" skater, hardly "the most popular skater in Russia" as this article states, there are not much news of real skating or skating related events or about top skaters, so the popular sports publications are "inventing" them... and trying to create sensations of out nothing, by letting lower level skaters feel important and to run their mouthes and to act like show offs... )

..... or this can be "an arranged article" for money, for barter of favors, or relativeship........ because NOBODY in Russia, or even among non-russian skating fans, in their right minds, would think that E.N. is the most popular skater in Russia.....

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ I expected that kind of response from you.

ETA that I've enjoyed Nugumanova's expressive skating since her JGP/junior days and I'm glad she's still skating.

 

[hanca]

Thank you for posting this.

(but Nugumanova is a "C level" skater, hardly "the most popular skater in Russia" as this article states, there are not much news of real skating or skating related events or about top skaters, so the popular sports publications are "inventing" them... and trying to create sensations of out nothing, by letting lower level skaters feel important and to run their mouthes and to act like show offs... )

..... or this can be "an arranged article" for money, for barter of favors, or relativeship........ because NOBODY in Russia, or even among non-russian skating fans, in their right minds, would think that E.N. is the most popular skater in Russia.....

I still can’t understand where it all went wrong. She was so much ahead of her peers before she was even junior eligible, then during her juniors seasons the others somehow caught up; there were quite a few Russian ladies at roughly the same and what one needed was consistency- there were no second chances if one didn’t deliver. It didn’t help her that she wasn’t superconsistent. And so she was dropping in the ranking and now she is not on the Russian team, not even in the reserve... The future looked so promising just a few years ago...

 

[Jeschke]

Nugu all the way
Nugu getting a CS medal was one of my highlights the last season! Such a long time since her succesful junior years.
She might only be RUS 2nd or 3rd armada, but who cares? She is so dedicated to her programs, has great skills and posture and could beat pretty much the rest of the euros girls, even with her carrots!
Slay Nugu!

 

[MacMadame]

I still can’t understand where it all went wrong. She was so much ahead of her peers before she was even junior eligible, then during her juniors seasons the others somehow caught up;

This is a common plight among prodigies. Just because you get something early, doesn't mean you are always going to be ahead of the pack. It doesn't even necessarily mean that you have super-talent in that area so not only will people catch up but they may even pass you.

 

[hanca]

This is a common plight among prodigies. Just because you get something early, doesn't mean you are always going to be ahead of the pack. It doesn't even necessarily mean that you have super-talent in that area so not only will people catch up but they may even pass you.

I understand it from the logical side, but it is like if my emotions are struggling to accept it. Nugumanova and Gubanova, so much talent wasted and lost. Such a shame! They shoud have switched countries.

 

[DobrinFan]

Alena Kostornaia fragment of FP

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Music: ItsAMoney "Lovely", Galpe "Lovely", "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Alena Kostornaia fragment of FP

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Music: ItsAMoney "Lovely", Galpe "Lovely", "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid

I hate it already. Every movement is rushed. As usual. Kostornaia is capable of so much more.

 

[starrynight]

Who the heck is Billie Eilish. It's been bothering me --- it's one of these things that makes me feel old. I was in H&M and all the teen clothes were covered with her name. Billie Eilish is like a symbol of me losing touch and it's a bit depressing as I've only just turned 30.

Anyway. It's going to be a hard season for a lot of skaters. Training in isolation, events being cancelled etc etc If the skater likes the music, and it makes them happy to to do run throughs, then why not?

If Kostornaya likes Billie Eilish (whoever that is) then I think it's a good idea to let her skate to what she likes this season.

As for the movements... well we've come to expect that from this choreographer?

 

[hanca]

I hate it already. Every movement is rushed. As usual. Kostornaia is capable of so much more.

Of course it is rushed. It is a new step sequence, so it probably feel quite hard and not yet comfortable. It is full of hard turns. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be getting L4.

 

[Bigbird]

I understand it from the logical side, but it is like if my emotions are struggling to accept it. Nugumanova and Gubanova, so much talent wasted and lost. Such a shame! They shoud have switched countries.

Mishin (sp) decided to bury the former and the latter didn't think a medal was worth having an eating disorder. She is just not a waif. I really love their style and their belief in themselves. I could not care less if they never win another major medal and not withstanding it doesn't mean they cannot have a valid point of view.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Of course it is rushed. It is a new step sequence, so it probably feel quite hard and not yet comfortable. It is full of hard turns. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be getting L4.

I know. Still hate it.

 

[Bigbird]

I know. Still hate it.

I love it. I just like these type of programs.

 

[mjb52]

I think it looks cool too and I like that they seem to be giving Kostornaya autonomy with her music b/c it seems like the kind of thing a teenage girl would want to skate to and consistent with her personality.

 

[Immortelle]

I think it looks cool too and I like that they seem to be giving Kostornaya autonomy with her music b/c it seems like the kind of thing a teenage girl would want to skate to and consistent with her personality.

And it’s not Big Spender, El Tango de Roxanne or Burlesque which is a refreshing change from a lot of the programs skated by teens!

 

[Bellanca]

I think it looks cool too and I like that they seem to be giving Kostornaya autonomy with her music b/c it seems like the kind of thing a teenage girl would want to skate to and consistent with her personality.

I like it. I think it's a good fit for her. Even in the early stages of the choreography, Kos appears to embrace it and looks pretty confident.

 

[hanca]

I think it is far too early for me to say whether I will like the program or not. The step sequence seems fine to me, in fact, she skated it quite well, considering that it is a new program and the season will not start for another at least 3 months. But it doesn’t show the whole program, which might be brilliant, or it might be boring. Without seeing it, who knows.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Who the heck is Billie Eilish. It's been bothering me --- it's one of these things that makes me feel old. I was in H&M and all the teen clothes were covered with her name. Billie Eilish is like a symbol of me losing touch and it's a bit depressing as I've only just turned 30.

Oh, I know this one! According to the radio station I regularly listen to (one of the ones for middle aged people surprised to find music from their era is now considered 'classic') Billie Eilish is a very young musician who used the noise from Sydney pedestrian lights (the sound to let blind people know when to cross the road) in her most popular song. She also sings the theme for the upcoming James Bond film.

The familiar Sydney sound spliced into Billie Eilish's Bad Guy

Artist revealed last year that the chorus of her Grammy award winning song, which also topped the Triple J listener poll, used a sample of Sydney traffic light sounds

www.theguardian.com

 

[tony]

At some of these responses. Billie Eilish basically swept the Grammy Awards, winning best new artist, best song, best album, best record, and best pop vocal album. She and her brother write songs together in their simple little family house. She's also turned out hit after hit and was filling up the Billboard charts consistently all last year.

For the people complaining about how skating is losing fans - think about how skating to something the ENTIRE younger generation knows can potentially help.

ETA- just checked. 18 songs in the Billboard top 100 in 2019. While she was 17 years old.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Well, I was out of touch even when I was a teenager. The radio in our house was always tuned to the classical music station and I didn't watch music video shows on TV.

 

[Skibean]

Are we sure it’s the girls that listen to Billie Eilish and not Danil? I remember the controversy with Alina’s exhibition, and she seemed to have very little connection to that music or song. I always wondered if that was his idea. Kos, of course, can sell any program. She really is a very special skater and definitely the most talented Eteri and crew have ever had. No doubt she will make this work.