Best commentators/commentaries?

Commentators and commentaries are important during a competitions, what they say and how they say can affect our mood of watching the performance. I have always enjoyed the British commentators for their commenting styles, and the Spanish and the Italians for their enthusiasm. And of course Kurt is a very knowledgeable commentator as well. But I think no one ever beats the golden pair, Peggy and Dick.

I like it when they shout "I can't believe it!!/Unbelievable!!/Madre mia!!!/FANTASTICO!! etc.. I remember the British gentlemen said the judge who ranked Shen&Zhao second should be carried out and spanked, and of course their prophecy of Yuzu winning the Olympics remains the best.

Which commentary do you like/dislike/think is the best/find funny?

Ted Barton.

ALWAYS.

i like the commentators of teledeporte and rai tv. their commentaries are so inspiring.

I like Ben Agosto and Mark Hanretty (commented with Nick Slater during Boston) but I'm an ice dance fan. Otherwise, as mentioned already, I love the spanish for their enthusiasm.

"Uncle" Dickie - so many quotable gems!

Dick Button he told it like it really was!!
Very refreshing

Kurt Browning, Dick Button (even though he sometimes talked too much and got tunnel-visioned, his insights and vernacular and enthusiasm were essential), Tracy Wilson, Chris Howarth, and sometimes Simon Reed (he's good at gushing and being outraged at the judging). Sandra Bezic had some good aspects too.

I dislike what the British ice dancer guys have been doing. Nicky Slater is okay, sometimes, but the other one talks way too much and does not have a good voice/tone for commentating. Together they are annoying.

Tara and Johnny are a NO. Terry Gannon has always had a good voice for announcing skaters and saying a line or two after the performance is over but otherwise he is totally pointless and needs to not talk.

Well, I couldn't stand Uncle Dick. He was so opinionated, so out-of-touch, so out-of-date......"a spiral is better than a triple jump anyday!" Peggy, toward the end of her tenure had nothing concrete to say about anything. Dick irritated me so much during one of the Olympics that I wrote a letter to the network begging them to replace him.

On the other hand, while I barely tolerate Tara Lipinski, I think Johnny is the most interesting. His technical ability and his way of describing why or how a jump works or doesn't work, his knowledge of the point system - is refreshing. His clothes, etc. I could care less about. He does know what he's talking about which puts him head and shoulders above many of the commentators. And before anyone says he's prejudicial in his comments - who isn't?

Peter Carruthers is pretty awful. He really doesn't understand the new point system, leaves sentences just hanging, and basically doesn't know what's going on. Watching Universal when he commentated was pure awful. Since he wasn't on this season I'm hoping they retired him.

Ryan Bradley know what he's talking about but talks incessantly.

Tracy Wilson is great. And Kurt Browning - when I've heard him - is really fun to listen to. Tanith Belbin is very good for dance - not so much anything else.

Kurt Browning and Tracy Wilson are probably my favourites, they're good for beginners, especially Tracy who I love as a person. I also like the British Eurosport guys like Simon, Nicky and Chris, not so much Mark Hanretty, he seems nice but I still prefer the others.

Tara and Johnny are pretty awful, I can't stand watching them, really they need to Tanith Belbin to come in and commentate for ice dance because Tara and Johnny aren't helpful at all. Ben Agosto seems okay too but I only watched some of his commentary.

I like commentators that are:

- knowledgeable (NO to the male Universal commentator at SA or that women who once commentated at BESP)
- don't hesitate to point of unfair judging (NBC sometimes being too d'accord with everything, though I occationally like Jonny's commentary, but Tara is a NO for me
- but still always find something nice to say especially for skaters not ranked in the top10, but not overdoing the compliments
- don't have an annyoing voice
- have a good talk/keep silent ratio

1. place: BESP
Therefore out of all languages I understand, I like the BESP guys best, though I agree that I couldn't stand that new British ice dancer guy from Worlds 16

2. CBC
good commentating, similar to the BESP guys, but sometimes I miss them shouting or pouting in enthuisiasm

3. German ARD
I think the commentator's name is Michael something but I can't remember. He's the embodyment of enthuisiams, while keeping the commentary down during the skate. A joy to listen! He also does his homework, though does not have the insight like e.g. Tracy who's watching the top skaters every day at the rink.

4. German Eurosport guys
It took some time for me to get into their commentary, since they're both a little grumpy. But once I got them, they are hilarious! Their commentary is full of deadpan humor (is that the right word?) without ever being too much or boring. They're also very fair to everyone and tell it as it is, sometimes saying: 'Nope, that wasn't it. ' after a bad skate.
I would have ranked them 2nd if sometimes they were a little bit more up to date. There have been times when they didn't know some skater had an injury and thus talked about why said skater had a bad skate.

5. place
Surprisingly for even myself, I like the 'official' chinese commentator (a women). She VERY knowledgeable, like REALLY knowledgeable. Never heard someone comementating figure skating that knowledgable, not even BESP guys. - EDIT: apparently it's not clear whether the commentary I once heard was actually from her, since there were two women talking.
Plus points for the official chinese commentator is that she usually keeps silent during the skate (with occasional annoying exceptions) and gets her facts straight. She usually gives a good summary on who the skater is, what their main mistakes were in that skate, past achievements, up to date injuries etc.
Minus points for her are: Sometimes she talks too much and she's very biased to chinese competitiors, though fair on all other skaters. She does critized chinese skaters when they make mistakes, but is overly thrilled when they do well.
There's also a guy commentating sometimes, but I don't like him. If he's commentating, I would rank the commentary on 7th or 8th place.

6. NBC
Jonny's commentary is a 50/50 for me, but I don't like Tara. But I love Terry! They're also not as kind to everyone as the BESP guys and I don't feel like they're equally critical of everyone.
On the plus side, I like the fluffs NBC makes! Also Jonny's commentary is easy to understand, he has a clear opinion and knows his stuff.

7. Russian commentators
I admit, I don't understand a word and love how quick their videos are showing up on youtube, but they are talking nonstop. For me, it ruins the mood of the music. For live commenting or first-time watching I don't like them. But I can imagine that I could find TAT's or Trankov's commentary intresting if I watched the programm for the 2nd or 3d time and could actually understand what they're saying.

8. Universal
I like them even less than the russian commentators, just because they're not getting their facts straight + too much talking + please say something relevant. They're like two Tara's commentating. I try to avoid them as much as possible, though if I have to choose between a youtube video of universal or russian tv, I'd choose universal, since I at least understand what they're saying.
I may add, I have only watched a few universal commentaries this season, therefore it's possible that I just had bad luck and they're better than I believe them to be ..

Commentary I wish I could understand:
Japanese and the RAI commentators, both seem very enthuisiastic and they're probably also very knowledgeable ..

I like Scott Hamilton, he is really energetic when he talks. There are a couple of guys on Eurosport, I don't know their names, but they are really good, generally always positive and I can't remember them being overly chatty during performances.

I don't like Tara/Johnny, they both (Johnny more than Tara) have good moments but a) they both tend to get negative when commentating to the point you want ask if the skater ran over their dog or something b) sometimes it feels like it's more about them than it is the skaters, if they are on the Today show or something doing an interview it's one thing but when I tune into a figure skating competition I care about the skaters on the ice not the mouths that are in the booth.

The Best

British Eurosport commentators, especially Simon. Technically knowledgeable, appreciative and they they don't ruin my watching with constant babbling.

Polish Eurosport: Jacek Tascher is awesome. He also does not feel that need to inform about everything, describes the elements. He knows lots of stuff about skaters, their coaching and he gives such insight but only in between the performances. He is also not afraid to tell what he likes or what not or whether he is surprised with given result. Great sense of humour too.

The Worst

Americans - they can't stop talking and describing everything (often bringing up some trivialities), it ruins my entertainment and get on my nerves. I dislike that they keep on announcing what is next all the time (mostly jumps). Verbal diarrhea. They are also biased, tend to ignore their own skaters' shortcomings tofether with overpraising them while in some cases bringing up any flaws and regularly belittling non-US skaters There are times when they are fine but very often they are not (there are some like Tara which are alternately annoying and interesting). Scott Hamilton is usually annoying for all the reasons written down hy me already. Johnny Weir is OK but not excellent like ES commentators.

Other Commentary.

I love Italians for their enthusiasm (I don't understand Italian though). Japanese are so cute! I am amused that they call toe-loop - toe-roop, I know that there is no L consonant in Japanese, huh. I am baffled that there is no Japanese term for spins, they throw in English ones instead.

noskates said:

Well, I couldn't stand Uncle Dick. He was so opinionated, so out-of-touch, so out-of-date......"a spiral is better than a triple jump anyday!"

Click to expand...

It's not out-of-date to think a truly great spiral sequence is better than a triple jump! I suppose people wouldn't know anymore since we never see them.

Ted Barton is just.... he has his flaws like everyone, but he is positive and knowledgeable and SILENT while people skate so you can hear the music (Tara, Johnny ad Tanith please take notes)
This year I found out I really like John Coughlin I wish they would let him commentate on singles as well, I think he would do far better than other people (especially a certain lady obsessed with 'haircutters':dev3, and I'm also warming up to Charlie White.
I've always liked Carol and Kurt but sometimes I find them a bit biased, and too chatty... Anyway I found their JWC commentary absolutely exquisite!
I don't know a word of Russian but Tarasova is always extremely entertaining
Honourable mention: the Italian Eurosport guys. I'm sorry most of you can't understand them but they are just great, they don't know much about ice dance, but apart from that they try their best to be informative and unbiased, they don't talk too much, if they don't know something they just shut up and don't say random stupid things, and I love that most of the time during galas or replays/recaps, they do some analysis of the skaters' performances and of the entire segments/competition

British Eurosport for sure! (except for that absolute moron they had at Worlds. Hanretty I think. What an idiot!).

CBC is usually my second-favourite go-to.

After that I will listen to any other language. NBC videos are the absolute last resort. I would prefer to listen to the Japanese commentators happily chattering away with very little understanding of what they are saying than Weir's petty cattiness towards the US men.


Oh, I like some of the IceNetwork commentators too. John Coughlin and Charlie White were pretty great during Worlds. I don't much like Ryan Bradley or Michael Weiss but they're survivable.

Eclair said:

Commentary I wish I could understand:
Japanese and the RAI commentators, both seem very enthusiastic and they're probably also very knowledgeable ..

Click to expand...

Oh I wish I could understand Japanese as well... I love Akiko Suzuki's voice and I'm sure she is a great commentator (and I miss her skating so much)
Trust me though, you don't want to understand the RAI commentators. They are extremely biased towards Italians, and towards random skaters they develop a crush on, they say stupid things all the time, and rant about 'feelings' and 'emotions' while the guy is a friggin' ice dance tech specialist!!!!! I want to hear his opinion on the skating not how that performance made him forget it was even a competition and he felt all gooey inside..... but sometimes I force myself to watch them live because they get live input from the judges' computers so they know what gets UR/DG, the levels, and the PCS before they get announced... which is cool because they basically tell you the placement before the scores come out

nolangoh said:

Which commentary do you like/dislike/think is the best/find funny?

Click to expand...

Tatiana Tarasova, also known as TAT.

Because she's so free and pretty much says whatever she wants. I love that she recently spent the span of an entire group warm-up talking about Mao and disregarded all the other skaters.

ETA: I echo the love for Ted Barton for all the reasons already mentioned and also because he is creative. Notably, he referred aptly to Polina T as a Russian missile and crowned Wakaba a "princess warrior."

largeman said:

I love that she recently spent the span of an entire group warm-up talking about Mao and disregarded all the other skaters.

Click to expand...

Wow, that's disgusting and rude.

TAT's random shrieking never fails to make me jump at least once per program that she's commentating on. I'm not Russian, so of course I have no clue as to what she's actually saying, but her enthusiasm can be fun to listen to.

Ad for my favorites, I'd have to put CBC with Tracy and Kurt in first (I like Carol Lane as well, but not as much as the other two), followed by the BEsp guys.

I don't particularly mind Tara and Johnny. I think he's very knowledgeable. Tara I could do without, I definitely prefer Tanith over her.

Since I'm the infamous synchro girl around here, my favourite synchronized skating commentator is definitely Ryan T. Thornton from "On the Rocks" - the man truly knows what he's talking about (which is an unfortunate rarity in the world of televised synchro commentary), and he's hilarious to boot.

karne said:

Wow, that's disgusting and rude.

Click to expand...

Well, I guess the way I phrased it made it sound bad. To put things in context, it was during the group 1 warm-up at the free skate in Sochi. Mao wasn't even on the ice, but I think TAT had so many thoughts and feelings that she wanted to share about Mao's disastrous SP the day before, and this was her first chance. The Russian audience (and the world, for that matter) was probably interested to hear these views as well (given how dramatic it was that Mao had came in as the favorite and was now in 16th), more than one or two generic lines about each of the skaters on ice whom TAT didn't know well anyway.