ISU Skating Awards To Debut At 2020 Worlds

[marbri]

I never watch the galas so this might be interesting in a car crash sort of way.

 

[manhn]

Imagine if they accidentally announce Eteri as Coach of the year, then realizing it was suppose to be Orser.

 

[alchemy void]

I'm not surprised the vast majority of fans seem to be vehemently opposed to this concept, both here and on twitter. If there's one thing I've learned on FSU over the years, it's that figure skating fans are always extremely resistant to any kind of change.

Why not give this a shot? The medalists still skate, and you have to admit, the execution of the gala/exhibition has gotten stale.

I know I'll definitely watch, and I haven't watched exhibitions in forever.

 

[oleada]

I'm not surprised the vast majority of fans seem to be vehemently opposed to this concept, both here and on twitter. If there's one thing I've learned on FSU over the years, it's that figure skating fans are always extremely resistant to any kind of change.

Why not give this a shot? The medalists still skate, and you have to admit, the execution of the gala/exhibition has gotten stale.

I know I'll definitely watch, and I haven't watched exhibitions in forever.

I completely agree. I mean, we still have fans longing for 6.0 and whining about the team event.....
I'm intrigued and I can't remember the last time I watched a gala.

 

[mjb52]

Imagine if they accidentally announce Eteri as Coach of the year, then realizing it was suppose to be Orser.

Even more dramatic if it goes the other way around.

I don’t mind the idea as much after giving it some thought, it’s mostly the fan voting part I don’t like. But with say a panel of judges from the figure skating world there would likely be just as much drama so I guess there’s no way to avoid that part.

 

[maatTheViking]

I love EX when skaters have good EX. As many times as I saw Sav/Sol Leningrad it was a great program, with a story and a purpose.

Mao Asada always had great EXes, it was a privilege to watch them.

but some of the men just seem to skate around to rock music sort or randomly, showing off some moves. That bores me.

I skip the exhibition if it means going back a day later (I’m in the airport, my flight home leaves at 3pm) as it’s usually not worth an extra hotel night + vacation day.

Im not sure if this will have more people watch the gala. Maybe? Maybe not?

maybe it is more interesting to casual fans, watching it televised? I doubt thus will change ticket holders plans.

Maybe it will be a fantastic renewal. Maybe it will be boring. Maybe it will be a hilarious shit show? Maybe it will be ok?

time will tell.

Also, I’m thinking Eteri and Marie-France will be attending battle of the coaches.

 

[overedge]

@maatTheViking said some of what I was thinking. If the exhibition numbers are going to be the same old same old guys skating aimlessly to rock songs, or ladies making pained O faces while they glide around to GFBs, then adding acrobats and trapeze artists is not going to make that any more interesting.

The awards categories are also Most Valuable Skater? What the hell does that even mean? The skater that earns the most points or the most money? The skater that kisses up to the ISU the most? Plus the combination of votes from fans,.sponsors, etc. is just asking for trouble.

And add on top of that the "red carpet" idea, trying to make this into some kind of glamorous Hello! magazine type event

I don't know. I'm certainly not a fan of the current gala format, except for the occasional unexpected surprise from the 4th or 5th place skaters. So I'm totally in support of trying something new. But this plan has way too many parts that could be disastrous on their own , so putting them all together is just asking for a train wreck IMO.

 

[starrynight]

I kind of think that participating in the gala should be more about who actually has a decent exhibition rather than who podiums. That would be the key to making it a good show.

Some of the best gala performances also tend to come from the skaters who didn't medal and are out to prove a point.

I agree that the format is stale. I like the idea of changing it - but I'd go further and make it so it's not just podium skaters - rather who has a crowd pleasing exhibition.

What gala was it where 3 teams/skaters in a row performed to 'I put a Spell on You?' ha ha.

 

[Spun Silver]

@maatTheViking said some of what I was thinking. If the exhibition numbers are going to be the same old same old guys skating aimlessly to rock songs, or ladies making pained O faces while they glide around to GFBs, then adding acrobats and trapeze artists is not going to make that any more interesting.

The awards categories are also Most Valuable Skater? What the hell does that even mean? The skater that earns the most points or the most money? The skater that kisses up to the ISU the most? Plus the combination of votes from fans,.sponsors, etc. is just asking for trouble.

And add on top of that the "red carpet" idea, trying to make this into some kind of glamorous Hello! magazine type event

I don't know. I'm certainly not a fan of the current gala format, except for the occasional unexpected surprise from the 4th or 5th place skaters. So I'm totally in support of trying something new. But this plan has way too many parts that could be disastrous on their own , so putting them all together is just asking for a train wreck IMO.

I had that reaction to the Valuable Skater Award too but figured they were probably basing it on baseball's MVP. They should just call it MVP, it doesn't work spelled out.

 

[Coco]

Maybe they should go all out, and do the awards at the banquet, turning the banquet into a red carpet type of event.

 

[BaileyCatts]

The only way these "awards" will have any legitimacy is if there is NO fan voting. Voting should only done by specialists, coaches, skaters and people involved directly within the sport. Otherwise it just boils down to whose fans have enough time to sit and just continuously doing nothing but vote vote vote vote vote vote vote over and over again for their favorite skater. I predict Yuzu will win every category. Even Best Coach. Afterall, he provides help to those who train in his rink so therefore, he is the Best Coach.

 

[oleada]

LOL, but then people will complain about SEKRET voting and POLITIK!!!

 

[mollymgr]

They said that some skaters would be invited to skate as well other than the top 3. These could be the ones with the better exhibition programs. I don't think a lot is changing other than the format and maybe a better way to showcase the exhibition to generate interest. What is there to lose? Most people don't attend the exhibition anyway so how can one miss something that they don't utilize? other than to be stubborn. It will also be a chance to see retired skaters. If they invite Mao, Yuna, Daisuke, Javi etc or for one last time Canada's sweethearts V/M, there will be several people lining up to see this. This is just for one event out of the year. The rest of the events are not changing and everyone will get their unwanted exhibitions.

 

[ballettmaus]

I'm not surprised the vast majority of fans seem to be vehemently opposed to this concept, both here and on twitter. If there's one thing I've learned on FSU over the years, it's that figure skating fans are always extremely resistant to any kind of change.

Why not give this a shot?

I'm feeling rather indifferent towards it all, if they want to do it, let them. But as far as I know, one thing that turns the casual viewer away is the subjectivity of the sport and the difficulty to understand why skater A gets these marks and skater B these. I don't think an already subjective sport needs even more subjectivity or will attract new viewers with awards based on fandoms/subjectivity.

 

[mollymgr]

The awards categories are also Most Valuable Skater? What the hell does that even mean? The skater that earns the most points or the most money? The skater that kisses up to the ISU the most? Plus the combination of votes from fans,.sponsors, etc. is just asking for trouble.

This is their definition.
Most Valuable Skater: Honors the Single Skater or Pair or Ice Dance Couple who best managed to increase the level of popularity of Figure Skating related to the fan base involvement, media attention and sponsors appreciation

 

[kwanfan1818]

Will the red carpet couture outdoors on a red carpet in Montreal in March be from the Uniqlo, Patagonia, or REI collections?

 

[oleada]

Will the red carpet couture outdoors on a red carpet in Montreal in March be from the Uniqlo, Patagonia, or REI collections?

Please. It’s skating. The fur coats are going to be massive

 

[starrynight]

A lot of the skaters get so dressed up for the banquet it’s always been a shame that there has never even been official photos from the event.

Like last year Kaitlyn Weaver spent hours having her hair and makeup professionally done and being dressed in a kimono. It would have been nice to get more photos of that.

 

[Vash01]

I usually don’t care for galas, but I would take them over this awards show any day.

I think the skaters enjoy performing in the gala. It is sad that they won't have the opportunity because of this stupid idea.

 

[overedge]

This is their definition.
Most Valuable Skater: Honors the Single Skater or Pair or Ice Dance Couple who best managed to increase the level of popularity of Figure Skating related to the fan base involvement, media attention and sponsors appreciation

My speculative criteria were more understandable than this word salad. (Not dissing on you @mollymgr but on whoever wrote this.)

I mean, the skaters who recently had the most fan base involvement and media attention were probably Mariah Bell and Eunsoo Lim for Practice-gate

 

[aftershocks]

"This is an exciting day for figure skating society," says agent/show producer Ari Zakarian. "This event will open so many doors for people to be celebrated in this sport"

Skaters need more competitive opportunities where their talents can have a chance to grow and to be celebrated. As well, retired skaters need the option of a thriving pro circuit. Judges need to learn how to judge fairly, and the scoring system needs to be fixed, not to mention the overall competitive structure of the sport. But yeah, the ISU can keep on distracting from these pressing concerns with throwaway entertainments like WTT and now a promotional popularity contest that may appeal more to newbie younger fans than to older diehards, who btw are also dying out, or moving away from fs fandom.


ETA:
"Most Valuable Skater: Honors the Single Skater or Pair or Ice Dance Couple who best managed to increase the level of popularity of Figure Skating related to the fan base involvement, media attention and sponsors appreciation."

So now skaters are supposed to help promote the sport in their free time, while battling injuries, coming up with new program ideas, trying to support themselves financially in order to continue training, worrying about their costumes, their fitness, their diet, improving weaknesses, finding new music and landing a good choreographer, running their programs and training hard everyday, while also holding down part-time jobs to support their training in this impossible sport. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. If I was a skater, I wouldn't worry about even attempting to try and meet any of these new awards requirements. Skaters will surely win by random, and by popularity level through just being who they are and doing what they already do. Nathan Chen seems like the obvious winner in this category, without him even thinking about this.

 

[mollymgr]

A lot of the skaters get so dressed up for the banquet it’s always been a shame that there has never even been official photos from the event.

Like last year Kaitlyn Weaver spent hours having her hair and makeup professionally done and being dressed in a kimono. It would have been nice to get more photos of that.

Maybe we will get paparazzi who will come after the non-skating celebrities and the side effects will be skater photobombs. Joking aside, maybe they can get the whole red carpet thing on Getty Images or some other professional photographers. I think Art on Ice does that??

 

[Orm Irian]

Maybe we will get paparazzi who will come after the non-skating celebrities

OMG are we about to see the emergence of skater WAGs and BAHs too?

 

[Roux]

I'm all for best choreographer and costume (designer) awards, but I don't like the idea of skaters being pitted against each other from another angle. I'd love to see them vote amongst themselves for silly or sweet high school yearbook kind of awards, though [edit: yearbook awards, also called senior superlatives, i.e. "best..." or "most likely to..." Example: Most Likely to Trip on the Carpet at the Medal Ceremony]

 

[starrynight]

OMG are we about to see the emergence of skater WAGs and BAHs too?

Definitely the most interesting thing about award shows is who is whose date for the red carpet.

 

[skatingguy]

So now skaters are supposed to help promote the sport in their free time, . . .

Yes. What did you think all the social media posts are for?

 

[jmtfti]

As a refresher for anyone who missed it at the time or forgot, here's what was posted on the Team Challenge Cup voting site a couple of weeks into voting:

Voting will be temporarily suspended while the poll administrator addresses issues of automated voting that have been detected. The poll will be reopened as soon as the issues have been resolved and additional automated voting safeguards can be activated.

(would link directly but it's not on Wayback; however, this was discussed extensively elsewhere, where this quote was pasted)

So yeah, uber-optimistic!!!

 

[Marco]

If a stern coach starves his / her kids and forces them to practice and skate while injured, or forces them to train or jump more than they can handle, but those kids ultimately won the championships, does the coach then become best coach?

If a choreographer creates a bare boned program that allows the client to get consistent and ultimate wins the championships, does the choreographer then become best choreographer?

If a choreographer creates a masterpiece but the client or his / her coach takes away some TR or IN, or changes the music, or does the choreography beautifully but falls 5 times, then does the choreographer still win?

 

[lauravvv]

Nathan Chen seems like the obvious winner in this category, without him even thinking about this.

Are you really sure about this (insert thinking emoticon)?

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I want the best costume category to have a sub-division called the Ru-Veals (after Shcherbakova's dramatic outfit change mid-performance).

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