Prague Worlds - the Aftermath

I was able to tune out the presenters and didn't notice the LED boards except for once near the end of the event. The Peacock feed did cut out several times in the middle of programs and I consider that inexcusable, but it wasn't unwatchable.
I don't think it was NBC/Peacock's fault. Every time the feed cut out it was remarked upon by our Canadian friends watching on CBC Gem also. It seemed very much like it was an on-site issue happening in Prague.

It was still inexcusable, though, I agree.
 
Same, but I think Mark especially is usually good, so I might put it down to exhaustion after a very long season. I'm confiscating the word "showcased", though.
For me it's "mesmeric". Mark said the word so much it no longer has any meaning.

I like Mark during the Grand Prix events but during 2024 Worlds and now here he was actually kind of annoying. I get being emotionally invested but for commentary it's better to dial it back a bit. Kurt, Brenda Irving and Carol were actually pretty good at that during the Olympics even with Carol being significantly invested in Piper and Paul.
 
I was wondering, whether the ISU changed guidelines on camerawork for events. The Olys had a lot bad camera work. And now here, again: missing jumps (on jumping passes), odd angles on lifts like DavSmo curve lift, shots of upper body when foot work was important, shots were one skater was missing in the picture.
A lot of times the camera hadn't enough distance, so we couldn't see if the skater was crawling or had good speed.
Yeah, Minerva’s sbs jump in the LP not being on camera was a lowlight.
I don't think it was NBC/Peacock's fault. Every time the feed cut out it was remarked upon by our Canadian friends watching on CBC Gem also. It seemed very much like it was an on-site issue happening in Prague.

It was still inexcusable, though, I agree.
Yeah, the feed was also lost on Eurosport. The commentator at least said that the cause was in Prague.
 
The 2010 Olympics, at least, required two back-ups in case of outages. There is no way that ISU Worlds coverage is going to be anywhere near that service level. $$$$$$, plus no one to extort it from, like they did from BC Hydro and Bell.

I have no idea what the technology was, but in 2010 in Tallinn, when I was there for Euros, after the competition, I went to my friend's mom's house. When I got there, the ad in the bus stop wall still had the ad for Euros 2010, and when I got back after dinner, there was a different ad. It was not paper pasted to the shelter, either.
 
I really went into this Worlds being exhausted with the season and not even really counting down the days until leaving. I’ve been doing some other work-progression stuff and it just wasn’t much on my mind. I got to Prague the first night after a long day of travel and thought to myself (as I always do on day one) ‘why the hell did I come?!’

But this event was so insanely magical. I thought the energy in the arena for Worlds last year couldn’t be beaten, but this did it x100. Stands almost sold out even on day one and completely sold out on the final few events if not the final two days. The arena DJ was amazing, the hyping of the skaters and crowd was amazing (well not so much Ashley but whatever), the arena was so modern and cool with little flourishes like these panels on the ceiling moving around and even matching the country flag of the skater being announced. Everyone was friendly, happy to see the skating and REALLY supportive of all skaters. Quick to cheer loudly if things started to go wrong, all of that.

I’m on my way to the airport now, it’s 3:30AM and I am traveling all day but I’m of course once again happy I came. But also very happy the season is over :-P
 
The 2010 Olympics, at least, required two back-ups in case of outages. There is no way that ISU Worlds coverage is going to be anywhere near that service level.
I just want them to stop having outages every competition. For a GP, okay. But for Worlds, there should be more backup. And people stop pushing the wrong buttons (like when we get some sound from two sources at once, as also happens a lot during the GP).
 
I know Ashley doesn`t get a lot of love around here. But as the days progressed she got better as a host. She was comfortable in the role. She spoke clearly and many times had little interesting things to say to the skaters. They seemed happy be welcomed by her and Tomas Verner - great skaters themselves.
 
I know Ashley doesn`t get a lot of love around here. But as the days progressed she got better as a host. She was comfortable in the role. She spoke clearly and many times had little interesting things to say to the skaters. They seemed happy be welcomed by her and Tomas Verner - great skaters themselves.
It’s not that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. It’s that her voice isn’t made to shout and all she does is shout.

Verner asked a few really stupid questions, starting with asking Egadze if the fall hurt as much as it looked like it did. Who wants to answer that kind of thing?
 
If the ISU is going to continue these post-skate interviews, I hope they invest in translators and in training their hosts to ask better questions.

Many times, the hosts would ask a long, complicated question to a skater who barely speaks English. If I were a skater and I needed to speak in, say, French or Spanish (where I suspect my comfort level is about the same as the Japanese skaters' with English), I'd have as much anxiety about these silly interviews as I would my performance. I'm not sure if the skaters felt the same way or if I'm projecting. If they did feel this way, I hope they feed back to the ISU.
 
These Worlds have been absolutely epic! :love: Amazing skating, arena and crowd. Had such a fantastic time. As always, far too little time to rest, eat, etc. but all worth it. I think I saw over 12 hours of skating on Saturday alone :swoon:

The audience here was something else, so supportive and appreciative of great skating. It must have felt amazing for the skaters, especially those in the earlier groups who have likely never competed in front of so many people. Great banners, too. I loved the arena lighting, the whole ceiling installation was really beautifully done. Having said that, I did have a constant headache but I think that just comes with the territory of being in such a bright and loud environment for hours on end. :lol:

Seating was pretty good all round too, we were in different sectors and saw pretty much every angle. For the men’s free we ended up in the rafters though, in one of the highest blocks which was a little too steep and dizzying, especially as the crowd started going mad. We couldn’t stay there and luckily managed to get different seats for groups 2-4. :drama:

I’ve not been to that many Worlds and while Moscow 2005 will always be a highlight for me for all sorts of reasons, this event completely trumped that. So many emotional moments from Kaori’s win to Kevin’s redemption and Kagiyama’s free skate. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when Kaori did her post ceremony lap, taking it all in. Sad for Adam that his season ended like this though:wuzrobbed
Also completely fell in love with Olivia and Tim, I’m really into their Dune programmes and am excited to see what they’ll do next. They’re lovely people off ice, too. C/FB were mesmerising and while I can’t bring myself to route for them, they’re incredible athletes.

Another highlight was attending the practices, seeing especially the men all on the ice at the same time with quads galore everywhere you look is insane. And of course just listening to the edges when the ice dancers warm up :swoon:

Spoke to Tomas about some of the questions he was asking the skaters and he said it’s difficult when they haven’t had a good skate. He didn’t want anyone with a tough skate to feel left out by not asking anything.

So sad it’s all over - here’s to next season!!
 
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If the ISU is going to continue these post-skate interviews, I hope they invest in translators and in training their hosts to ask better questions.

Many times, the hosts would ask a long, complicated question to a skater who barely speaks English. If I were a skater and I needed to speak in, say, French or Spanish (where I suspect my comfort level is about the same as the Japanese skaters' with English), I'd have as much anxiety about these silly interviews as I would my performance. I'm not sure if the skaters felt the same way or if I'm projecting. If they did feel this way, I hope they feed back to the ISU.
I sat next to the kiss and cry. One thing I noticed was that ALL the skaters were out of breath when they finished their program. Even some of the English speakers cold barely put two words togeather. One thing that helped is that the Polish, Slovakian and probably a couple others could understand Czech. But, yeah there needs to be a solution for those poor Asian skaters who were exhausted and embarassed at the end.
 
I had such a good time watching Worlds, I am seriously considering robbing a Waffle House to go to a live event next year. I am weirdly so ready for this season to be over but also ready for next to start.

As for ice dance, I'll still watch. I don't like that FB/C are the best and won but there's also denying they're the best and deserved it. Ice dance is definitely in the weirdest timeline--where else would an Igor routine feel FRESH?!! :rofl:

And come on, so much redemption for Kaori and Yuma. Even if everyone else sucked beyond anything that has sucked before, those two were worth the price of admission
 
I wholeheartedly agree that it was a magical event. The arena was, to quote Chris Howarth, "packed to the gunwales" ;). The LED boards didn't bother me as much as the screaming presenters and introducing skaters as if they were boxers preparing for the fight. Btw, does anyone know the name of the third presenter/announcer working with Ashley and Tomas?

It was an amazing feeling to be a part of the SO for Kaori, Yuma, Smart/Dieck, and the Brits :).

No complaints about food either, even though I won't touch chicken nuggets and fries for a long time ;). Btw, I find it hilarious that one could buy really good wine at nearly every stall, but it was barely possible to get a cup of tea.

Even though I was in Prague on Fri and Sat only, I couldn't have imagined a better debut at Worlds than this (I only attended Bratislava and Ostrava Euros before).

Btw, at some point, I saw @tony talking to Igor Lukanin :).
 
Same, but I think Mark especially is usually good, so I might put it down to exhaustion after a very long season. I'm confiscating the word "showcased", though.
Years ago in Australia during the 2000 Olympics we had HG and Roy who did a comedy series called "The Dream" which was shown late at night on TV here. It was hilarious. But they definitely talked about the use of the word Showcase a lot.

I agree about Mark this time. He has great technical knowledge but particularly during the ice dance I would prefer to watch the programs without commentary and then they can go to town during the replays. And I found the electronic barriers a bit annoying.

The one thing I will give the ISU, whilst I think early on we were mocking the new branding (why are they doing it?), it actually works. It is modern, identifiable and easy to incorporate into animations and social media. I think in terms of social media engagement and making skating exciting they have really upped the game and improved how it comes across. Using Danny O'Shea to talk to the skaters and engage with them - that was great. If anything they got it right at the Olympics and were able to bring that Worlds. Also the way they introduce the skaters and make them the stars is incredibly important.

As for the skaters, I haven't enjoyed a season as much as I have enjoyed this one for a while. There were so many good programs both technically and artistically. And the skill level of the athletes from the skating skills to the elements was excellent. Lots of drama but the level of sportsmanship amongst the skaters is fantastic. These people are role models and when we see that it only shows to young skaters and the audience what a positive experience that is. And I also think for the first time in quite a while we have actual stars like Alyssa and Ilia who will bring fans to the sport.

It has been easy in the past to criticise the ISU but I definitely think they are getting it right these days.
 
Is it true the commentators have to talk during the program for Intellectual Property/ licensing reasons?

I feel like I read that on this board recently, but wasn't sure.
 
Is it true the commentators have to talk during the program for Intellectual Property/ licensing reasons?

I feel like I read that on this board recently, but wasn't sure.
I think it might be only in the US. CBC uses the world feed with Mark and Tonia and during some of the dances they didn't talk at all but waited until it was over. Could have done with more of that, esp for ID, but at least for some of the higher level dances Mark was silent. Sometimes Tonia was, and sometimes she didn't get the memo.
 
And you didn’t peep in? :drama:

BRB becoming a judge for 🇦🇿

The shy side of shah won ;). And I didn't want to interrupt a conversation, Igor seemed quite determined to catch you :).

Can Prague organise big events more regularly, please? The fact that it's a beautiful city and that it's just 8 hours by bus from my hometown is a bonus :P! I've already given up on hoping that Poland would organise an ISU event bigger than the Warsaw Cup challenger...
 
Is it true the commentators have to talk during the program for Intellectual Property/ licensing reasons?
I believe that the some broadcasters do not have any such requirement and that the reason for having commentary during the programs is simply because casual viewers and even many full-on fans won't understand what is going on very well without it. This is particularly true for commercial broadcasters that show advertising while the official feed is showing a replay of portions of the program.
 
I think they want it to sound like a "real" sport, ie, where the announcers never shut up. And I don't mean describing the plays for a radio audience.
 
I normally like Mark, but he was too talkative this time. Maybe he was just punch drunk from all the hours of commentary. ;)
Yeah, his chattiness increased as the week wore on and by the FD, I was noticing that he wasn't editing his post-skate remarks as concisely as he had earlier in the week.
 
It was great to see the arena all sold out (no empty VIP block behind the judges!), the arena was very easy to get to, the audience was happy clappy for everyone and the organizing was mostly excellent.

The biggest gripe I have was that entering the arena took 30 minutes (although it did speed up as the days went by). The metal detectors were very sensitive and kept going off for almost everyone, slowing things down a lot. The security guards I encountered at entry spoke none or very little English, which didn't help matters and was a bit odd, since absolutely everyone else spoke fluent English.

Not a fan of the drone, if you have pro cameras, just use those, not the dinky drone's shitty footage. Also not a fan of the mini interviews right after the skate. Hard for the athletes "I'm out of breath and I fell three times, no I don't want to name my favourite thing about Prague", and hard for the interviewers who definitely ran out of questions by the end of the event and did 20 variations on "isn't the crowd great?" (also, wtf do you say to the poor skater who just had a bad skate?). If they want to put some fluff in while waiting for the scores, perhaps it would be better to do mini interviews from back stage with skaters who skated a little earlier.
 
(also, wtf do you say to the poor skater who just had a bad skate?).
Some they stayed away from - Amber and Chan/Howe (I think) didn`t have to go through that. Also, some just opted out and didn`t go for the intereview. Sat in K&K during playback waiting for score.
 

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