ISU Skating Awards To Debut At 2020 Worlds

[misskarne]

What could possibly go wrong having a popularity contest with silly categories that the fans vote on?

I mean, I know the ISU is mostly old folks but don't they have anyone conversant in social media and fandom who could have told them exactly how toxic, terrible and disastrous this will be?

 

[crzesk8dad]

The "Speedies"

 

[manhn]

Smart and Diaz for Best Costume!

 

[Rukia]

If they're going to give an award for best costume, there's a very small but loyal group of FSU posters that should be on a committee allowed to choose this. You know who you are.

 

[coppertop1]

Cue moaning about "Participation Trophies".

Seriously, what was wrong with the gala? I liked when skaters could relax and celebrate after the competition.

 

[manhn]

I don’t have a problem revamping the gala. There is a reason I generally skip it.

 

[MsZem]

Seriously, what was wrong with the gala? I liked when skaters could relax and celebrate after the competition.

I'm not sure how relaxing it is to get up early for rehearsal after partying the night before. But the awards sound more appropriate for an event like the WTT, where it actually makes sense to select an MVP.

 

[overedge]

I liked when skaters could relax and celebrate after the competition.

My coaches say that when they were competing, they absolutely hated skating in the gala. It was anything but relaxing. They felt almost as nervous as they did in the actual competition, because if they fell down or screwed up their program in the gala, the audience would think, wow, that skater is terrible, why did they win a medal?

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

We should have simultaneous FSU awards, I nominate myself for Russian Skating's Biggest American Stan.

Maybe we should petition the ISU to have an award for the Porny Skater Of The Year?

 

[miffy]

The article does say it will involve all the medalists. So they won’t be left out, the show must leave a gap in its preparations for the individual performances. We probably just won’t have 4th-5th place anymore.

 

[TAHbKA]

So Zakarian's idea came through. He was talking about it in length for some years by now, I kept hoping it will not happen.
However, it seems such an event can only take place in NA - I can't imagine all the `celebrities' issuing a visa to Russia or willingly travelling to Budapest...

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

The article does say it will involve all the medalists. So they won’t be left out, the show must leave a gap in its preparations for the individual performances. We probably just won’t have 4th-5th place anymore.

A shame, if that happens. Some of the most entertaining routines I've seen often come from skaters who didn't make the podium, or are representatives from the host country.

 

[starrynight]

I really enjoyed the red carpet and the gala dinner as part of Team Challenge Cup and thought something like that would be fun to have more often.

A lot of sports do have these events.

Yes it's going to be insanely political. But there might well be some opportunity for attention to be given to areas often overlooked. Particularly the decisions about choreography, most entertaining program, best costume etc.

Skating is currently a technical arms race (jump jump jump) , so these things could add back a bit of colour. It sure will be interesting to actually get a confirmed idea of what the powers that be like.

I'm going to be optimistic about this.

It sure will be far more interesting than some of those skaters who just turn up to the gala in black practice clothes and do their SP to different music.

EDIT: Wait a sec, it's an online vote for fans???? I expect that certain fan clubs will immediately figure out how to Rick Roll the vote then and greatly boost the votes of their faves.

 

[Meoima]

This is such a waste of resources. I think so.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I really enjoyed the red carpet and the gala dinner as part of World Team Trophy and thought something like that would be fun to have more often.

A lot of sports do have these events.

Yes it's going to be insanely political. But there might well be some opportunity for attention to be given to areas often overlooked. Particularly the decisions about choreography, most entertaining program, best costume etc.

Skating is currently a technical arms race (jump jump jump) , so these things could add back a bit of colour. It sure will be interesting to actually get a confirmed idea of what the powers that be like.

I'm going to be optimistic about this.

It sure will be far more interesting than some of those skaters who just turn up to the gala in black practice clothes and do their SP to different music.

EDIT: Wait a sec, it's an online vote for fans???? I expect that certain fan clubs will immediately figure out how to Rick Roll the vote then and greatly boost the votes of their faves.

I'm having flashbacks to that late 1990s competition called The Great Skate Debate.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

There was a running joke at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama.

It was suggested that the novelty-sized dune buggies used to resurface the ice, could be in a sudden death round for the top five place getters after the free skate. Have the skaters race around the ice for a few laps, then the first three skaters/teams to cross the finish line were declared the overall winners.

 

[TAHbKA]

EDIT: Wait a sec, it's an online vote for fans???? I expect that certain fan clubs will immediately figure out how to Rick Roll the vote then and greatly boost the votes of their faves.

If the system will be written by the ISU I wouldn't worry much - their accreditation system was obviously written by someone's 7y.o nephew. Am sure the voting system will be the same and will crash once 2 Russians and 3 Koreans write 4 scripts that vote for their favourites...

 

[skatesindreams]

I really enjoyed the red carpet and the gala dinner as part of World Team Trophy and thought something like that would be fun to have more often.

Such celebrations often followed competitions in the past.

 

[starrynight]

Such celebrations often followed competitions in the past.

Did they? What were they like?

And I just remembered I meant the 'Team Challenge Cup'. I really enjoyed that event. I liked how all the competitors were presented at the dinner before and I enjoyed Christopher Dean being the leader of Team Europe a lot. He was in his element.

It would be fun to have things where the retired skaters come back and are seen.

 

[mocha-ice]

It sounds like something your local figure skating club would do at their end of year show...

The press conference said that the top 3 skaters in each discipline would perform as well as invited skaters (special programs, special interest in the skaters). As well as group skaters and special skills skaters that will have been flown in.

Here’s a link to the press conference:

Press Conference | ISU Skating Awards 2020 Announcement

Visit https://isu.org/figure-skating/isu-skating-awards for more information. SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/SkatingISU?sub_confirmation=1...

youtu.be

 

[4rkidz]

I think its an interesting concept, I am one of those that always gives away my gala ticket. As i think those who do attend are looking to be entertained where as I prefer sports. But my friend who loves the exhibitions an skating shows loves this idea. So i will defer my judgement as not based on my needs.

 

[mollymgr]

I'm wondering if this event will be televised/streamed. I don't see it mentioned. I'm skeptical about these award things but I would still love to see it. I also noticed that Art on Ice is mentioned at the bottom of the article. If they are doing the production, I am confident that the entertainment part of the event will be very good. They always have amazing set-ups for their shows. At least the ISU is trying to do something new. Whether it succeeds or flops remains to be seen. It will only be at Worlds so people will still get to exhibitions for the rest of the events. It is always fun to watch skaters in formal attire. They always look so good.

 

[ballettmaus]

Is this replacing the Sunday gala, or in addition to it? I mean how long can it take to give out a few awards?

Have you watched the Oscars?

 

[mollymgr]

I'm watching this video that was previously geoblocked for some reason.

Press Conference | ISU Skating Awards 2020 Announcement

Visit https://isu.org/figure-skating/isu-skating-awards for more information. SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/SkatingISU?sub_confirmation=1...

www.youtube.com

There will be a red carpet event before the show. Total show time is two and a half hours. It seems like the top 3 from the championships will still skate in the show. Some skaters will be invited to the show from Canada. Some skaters will be flown in. The other acts for Canada will be from different circus acts and live music. They will also be inviting celebrities from the skating and non-skating world. It will be a live worldwide event so it should be available on TV/streaming.
I think Ari Zakarian had a valid point in the Q&A. He said that for most skaters the celebration was on Saturday and they would come in really unmotivated on Sunday. But this event will give the skaters a chance for that final celebration and keep their energy up to deliver a better performance for the show. In the process, the fans won't be disappointed either since they will be able to enjoy it more. He said he has heard so many complaints about exhibitions not living up to fan expectations and that's why this new idea.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

One way or another it's bound to be entertaining. But it sounds expensive for a sport that's always trying to cut costs - who's going to pay for it?

 

[mollymgr]

One way or another it's bound to be entertaining. But it sounds expensive for a sport that's always trying to cut costs - who's going to pay for it?

Ads... An Art On Ice production usually has good sponsors in Switzerland. Maybe they can come up with something here since they are the ones producing it. Leana also mentioned the local support for the World Championships.
I believe the broadcast of WC galas has always been inconsistent. This might also encourage more TV rights to show this internationally.

 

[reut]

Ari was indeed talking about it for years (and I was never a fan of this idea to tell the truth), he "almost did it" (based on what he says, so don't know how close it really was) in Helsinki. I guess without Oliver/AOI in his corner they didn't really trust him with the good organisation. AOI (or to be more precise Carré Event AG) are an excellent choice for making this event well-organised and chic and glamour, they have a huge experience in such things. Oh, and Oliver has a great taste, I'm glad that he will be the "concept developer" (and not Ari), at least I can be sure that the quality will be high. The price will be high too (you can probably expect some packages with dinner, VIP sits, photo ops, invitations to the banquet, etc).

From what Oliver said it looks like the "art" part of this show won't cost them much efforts as this is basically part of the "Art on Ice: Time to Time" show they had in January 2019. I can even pinpoint with quite high certainty which numbers exactly they will reproduce. Both "Momento" and "Cirque Éloize" were really great btw, loved them. "Group skaters" and "special skills" skaters are 10-12 skaters Ari has which usually perform in "Fantasy on Ice" and "Art on Ice".

Didn't like the "one third of the ice will be covered" thing.

Online fan voting most certainly will turn into a disaster, with crazy fans and bots and all that (and, yes, based on their other online systems expect bugs and crashes). But they already did it for Team Challenge Cup and probably thought it was fair and correct (was it? I doubt but I didn't really follow). And fans most definitely will get more topics to bitch about during the off season when their favourites won't win (I expect all awards to go to Eteri's team and Yuzuru).

 

[AnnM]

I'm not mad about it.

I usually skip the galas without any regret, so I'm interested in seeing if this would be any better or worse. I'm particularly interested in how they'll utilize the Art on Ice concepts, which I've always been interested in, but haven't been able to fly to Switzerland for.

 

[euterpe]

I have an all-event ticket but will be thrilled to miss this circus 'spectacular'.

 

[Hanna]

Personally, I hardly ever watch the gala anyway so I'm kinda excited for something different. Might as well see how it goes before declaring it a disaster?

I mean, it very well could be a disaster and hopefully in a and way. I hope they go completely OTT with it. Just imagining all the possibilities!