News and updates à la Française, part quatre

Karen-W said:
FBCiz confirming they will compete until 2030 and their home Olympics.

x.com

Paul Peret (@paul_peret) on X

FYI : Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron just revealed on French Tv that they continue. The goal is to go on until 2030 Olympics, held in Lyon for the skating events.
x.com x.com
Click to expand...

And just like that ChoBat will sail into the sunset
 
Did they say on TV whether they'd be participating in GP's? They're guaranteed a pile of cash if they do compete, but will they?

Even if they don't, and only plan to do Masters, Euros, Worlds, WTT -- all of which in itself is a big pile of cash -- how many teams didn't know this/were hoping they'd take the year off, and will get GP assignments, only to back out of them? C/B are out for the year (officially), but didn't compete at Worlds for seeding/7-10, which leaves Gilles/Poirier, who are not only seeded, but get second choice of events, Reed/Ambrulevicius, who are not but guaranteed two, and would be seeded if Gilles/Poirier weren't on the list, and Guignard/Fabbri, who didn't compete at Worlds, but would get two anyway in all likelihood.

Given that the deadline for putting skaters on the selection list is past, I'm not sure whether any skaters/teams can be shifted to seeds or 7-10, and that includes Lajoie/Lagha's spot.
 
Based upon the fact that they said they only discussed their season plans with the FFSG in the past week, I'd bet hard cash they told the FFSG "yes" to the GP and believe they have plenty of time to get some programs together & win GPdF and a 2nd GP in a cakewalk.

I also am presuming that GilPoir are done since Piper's taken the coaching job with Carol Lane; same with ReedAmbru.
 
Plenty of skaters coach while skating, but that made me think Gilles/Poirier would, at least, take this season off. There's been a bunch of back-and-forth with R/A: if they're not on GP, maybe that will be the soft launch of retirement.
 
They were not invited to a lot of shows. The French fed did not have the usual tour. The best way to make money is to compete and go to the Japan shows invite. Under different times, a Quebec Olympic Gold medalist would have gone to stars on ice Canada or USA. They will get major sponsorship endorsement with the upcoming home Olympics. Probably with LVMH.

Not dumping Soerensen cost them money, and made them the new villains. They are aware of the backlash and it’s not going away even if the judicial system is not doing its job here.
 
kirkbiggestfan said:
They were not invited to a lot of shows. The French fed did not have the usual tour. The best way to make money is to compete and go to the Japan shows invite. Under different times, a Quebec Olympic Gold medalist would have gone to stars on ice Canada or USA. They will get major sponsorship endorsement with the upcoming home Olympics. Probably with LVMH.
Click to expand...
Right. It's notable they were not invited/included in Miura/Kihara's new pairs & dance-centric show next month (ChoBat & GilPoir were both invited). I sincerely doubt they'll ever get an invitation to tour with SOI (at least not CAN or USA & probably not JPN as long as ChoBat & GilPoir are still interested & willing to do shows).
kirkbiggestfan said:
Not dumping Soerensen cost them money, and made them the new villains. They are aware of the backlash and it’s not going away even if the judicial system is not doing its job here.
Click to expand...
The response to this announcement on X has been almost entirely negative - or maybe that's just my algorithm, lol.
 
PRlady said:
Well, I’ve got no algorithm on X anymore and what I see is pretty negative.
Click to expand...
Are they popular in France and getting endorsement deals there? Maybe that's all they care about. And they might not even be particularly concerned about that. The prize money (which the ISU apparently plans to increase) may be more than enough to make them happy.
 
PRlady said:
Least popular OGMs, at least among English speakers, since Besti/Bukin?
Click to expand...
Their Milano FD clips on Youtube have exceeded 4 million views , as we speak (for reference, P/C 2022 FD has around 2 million views, after four years), with favourable comments in many languages, including English. So I would say outside FSU and social media, they are rather popular.
 
cris said:
Their Milano FD clips on Youtube have exceeded 4 million views , as we speak (for reference, P/C 2022 FD has around 2 million views, after four years), with favourable comments in many languages, including English. So I would say outside FSU and social media, they are rather popular.
Click to expand...
Outside of North American fandom, they are extremely favored. My Olympic free dance video of them has 185,000 views on Youtube, blowing away all the other teams. I've seen the reactions first-hand at both the Olympics and Worlds.

The poster who brought it up knows Twitter is full of social justice warrior fandom who are mad about EVERY.THING. See the comments about Smart and Dieck continuing to 2030 and how they are abusing the residency/citizenship system. Tomorrow it'll be the end of the world about something else.
 
tony said:
Outside of North American fandom, they are extremely favored. My Olympic free dance video of them has 185,000 views on Youtube, blowing away all the other teams. I've seen the reactions first-hand at both the Olympics and Worlds.

The poster who brought it up knows Twitter is full of social justice warrior fandom who are mad about EVERY.THING. See the comments about Smart and Dieck continuing to 2030 and how they are abusing the residency/citizenship system. Tomorrow it'll be the end of the world about something else.
Click to expand...
Sure. A couple of days ago, most of them were celebrating ChoBat taking the season off. And the chatter about SmaDie and Spain's easy citizenship process pales in comparison to any of the anti-FBCiz or anti-ChoBat dialogue. FSTW isn't representative of anything, but it is a barometer of some degree.

YT views doesn't get them booked for shows or tours. And it doesn't earn them any money since it isn't their content. And they're not exactly putting out any social media content themselves, so they're not bringing in much income from that path.
 
Karen-W said:
YT views doesn't get them booked for shows or tours. And it doesn't earn them any money since it isn't their content. And they're not exactly putting out any social media content themselves, so they're not bringing in much income from that path.
Click to expand...
I didn’t say anything about income and that’s not what the original post was discussing. However, Guillaume is still choreographing and I’m sure they have enough sponsorships now that they don’t need to try to go down the influencer paths.

It still stands that they are a whole lot more popular and well-received across the world than what FSU, Twitter, or any North American-heavy outlet would make anyone else think.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
Did they say on TV whether they'd be participating in GP's? They're guaranteed a pile of cash if they do compete, but will they?
Click to expand...
They 100% will. She will need to pay for her boyfriend’s legal fees somehow.

The survivor has recently started a couple of different ways to pursue justice (details on her IG account) and boyfriend will need to respond.
 
1st round voting was

Gwenaëlle Noury 38,62%
Philippe Candeloro 32,81%
Gérard Balthazard 25,81%
Maxime Combes 2,36%
Prosper Marie-Calixte 0,39%
Alain Martinet 0%
 
Noury was Didier’s puppet who was forced to publicly ditch him. A lot of us are dying to turn that page fully. She was completely unqualified but lasted longer than most expected.

Candeloro is a people person, charismatic, street smart and very experienced with show skating. He made so many sexist and homophobic comments over the years but paid the price and learnt from it. He’s someone with no high school degree. In this fastly changing world, he usually sounds like a boomer that doesn’t get technological and societal evolutions.

I’ll take someone with a genuine desire to make his sport thrive. Ice rinks are closing and are struggling. He’s the kind of personality that can convince politicians to invest in skating.
 
taz'smum said:
Could this be an improvement?
Click to expand...
Probably.

Candeloro is the popular face of figure skating in France. He even appeared in cartoons (as a prehistoric ski instructor who won the Neolithic Games in Nagano in Silex and the City, or as a skater who wants to save his rink in Miraculous LadyBug) long after his competitive figure skating career was over. Candeloro, president of the FFSG, it is quite logic.

Candeloro has wanted to be the head of the french fed for the last 12 years. Gailhaguet never let him aproach "his" federation post 1998 so Candeloro had to build a media-friendly career and a figure skating show career independently. He has been smart doing so for the last 28 years. Medias love him. His outspokenness (although a bit self-absorbed, and filled with politically incorrect jokes) is beloved (up to a point). And 12 years is a long time to think about what he wants to do.

Noury had no vision for the fed. She was instrumental :
  • at first for Gailhaguet to get the federation back under his control
  • then for the Sport Ministry to uproot Gailhaguet, establish a powerful DTN (Djamel Cheikh) that would be the Ministry's eyes and ears
  • getting the mangement of the federation back on track, while it was a black hole under Gailhaguet.

She has served her purpose but I can't imagine the clubs being happy about having a fed with such a short leash and no imagination for too long.

Candeloro could be a game changer for the relationship of the FFSG with the medias, with the sponsors, and with the show/touring side.
On the negative side, there is a risk of conflict of interests if he's not careful. Time will tell.
 
Last edited:
kwanfan1818 said:
As opposed to being on Gailhauguet's short leash and his great imagination?
Click to expand...
As Mrs Noury being on the Sport Ministry's short leash. The role of the DTN (the Ministry's agent) has been increased ten folds these past 3 years, established in the FFSG's rules. Djamel Cheikh has stayed 4 years, Gailhaguet was having a new DTN every 8 months. And Djamel Cheikh was the FFSG person talking to the press. Mrs Noury wouldn't. (I doubt it will be the same with Candeloro).

As opposed to Gailhaguet's desperate last try in january-march 2023, when he basically wanted Mrs Noury and the FFSG to lock themselves up with him, to cut off the ties with the Sport Ministry and to force the Ministry to besiege them (removing subsidies, removing the right to hold french championships, to send athletes in international competition). The FFSG would have imploded with him (while he was cheating the Ministry and the fed). That's when Noury decided otherwise.

The Ministry's ambition is to make sure Gailhaguet is out (and to remove some sports from its authority if clubs complain : the Ministry has taken speed skating away from the FFSG ; it may take short-track away in the coming days ; that's a huge intervention in the FFSG's life) and that the fed is working on its financial situation. It's not a governing body who can develop ambitions. It won't do the FFSG's job.

That's why I expect the Ministry to have an "understanding"/leash with the president of the FFSG. Mrs Noury didn't have the stature to do more than the basic demands of the Ministry and the leash was short. Candeloro does have the stature. He also had a competitive career when the fed was rich, had many projects, and the Ministry didn't have much of a say. If Candeloro can deliver, the Ministry will be more than happy to loosen if not take the leash away because that's an anomaly in a country where sports federations are autonomous and vocally proud of being so.
 
I'm still not sure what the difference is between being constrained by the Ministry and being constrained by Gailhauguet's demands. Is it purely to get outsiders off their back, so that they can be the pull toys of an insider?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)

Similar threads

Sylvia
2020-21 ISU Grand Prix selections announced
4 5 6
Replies
175
Views
50K
Vagabond
Vagabond
Sylvia
News and updates à la Française, part trois
20 21 22
Replies
646
Views
178K
Sylvia
Sylvia
Back
Top