Programs that reference gold/winning

[sarama]

I'm sure the skaters don't find it painful to skate to these songs as exhibitions, otherwise they would skate to something else (they always have more than one exh ready).... So if that doesn't bother them I don't think it should bother us.
As for Mirai's choice I believe she really connects with it (plus I love the song), so I'm happy she'll skate to it

 

[Koralai]

Either it was meant to be prepared for, "Here this was my time and I won! which is not what the song is about and so felt tone deaf

This is a good point. On second thought, I'm not sure if it's even the "counting your chickens" aspect of these programs that gets to me. I said in my original post that Gracie's EX worked when she won at Nationals, but when I'm more honest with myself about how I was feeling right after Nationals, that's not how I took it at all. I'm a Polina fan, and I personally think that Gracie should have won the free skate at Nationals but not the entire competition, given her short program. So when Gracie came out as the national champion, when she was already receiving so much adulation, and then did an exhibition skate all about how she was such a big winner (which, as you mention, is not really what the song is about, anyway)... Well, to me it seemed like maybe not the greatest sportsmanship. I'm not saying skaters can't celebrate their victory, but I do think they show a lot more integrity when they use the exhibition as a place to perform a new, beautiful or fun program that transcends the ups and downs of the competition (as Medvedeva did at Worlds), rather than rehearsing the fact that they won and everyone else lost -- which no one in the audience needs to be reminded of, anyway.

Samm22, thanks for posting those articles about Mirai. Ice Network has been doing some great coverage of the US ladies! If the song motivates her through the season, then I guess that's the most important thing. What concerns me is that I'm not sure how directly the song will seem to relate to whatever competition she is skating in. Will those lines, "the winner takes it all," "the loser has to fall," and "the judges will decide" come across as an accusation of the judges or of whoever ends up winning the competition (or, let's be honest, of Wagner, who took her Olympic spot), or will they just contribute to a more general emotion? I guess that's something you can't really know until competition starts.

 

[dreamsk8]

Programs that reference gold/winning in my opinion are the kiss of death and never work. Even when the skater wins, it makes them look a little full of themselves and when they lose just silly
:shame:

 

[desertskates]

Programs that reference gold/winning in my opinion are the kiss of death and never work. Even when the skater wins, it makes them look a little full of themselves and when they lose just silly
:shame:

With the exception of Michele's Fields of Gold, I have to agree. Gracie's Worlds exhibition just drove that point home this year. Like almost everyone here, I found it just truly and utterly hard to watch.
You're just tempting fate when you choose a triumphant song. I would keep it all totally neutral so it works whenever, wherever.

 

[Mathman]

To me that is still the most emotional skate I have ever seen to date. It was originally supposed to be Michelle Kwan's valedictory skate, her final skate in the Olympics after winning a gold medal, to cap off her career. Instead it became an aspirational skate, one showing what she could achieve, yet that the gold medal was still out of reach.

Not just you. Michelle's Olympic and Gracie's Worlds exhibitions were painful. I don't know why any coach or choreographer would encourage those musical choices. They were hard on audiences and fans, and I can't imagine what it must have been like for the skaters. But on the other hand, maybe doing those programs in those moments helped them work through their feelings? I don't know.

Michelle's Fields of Gold certainly had added poignancy because of the circumstances. This is not a "Hooray for me, I won!" song. Michelle chose it not just for the music but for the memory of singer Eva Cassidy, who had died of melanoma some years earlier and had just been re-discovered in Britain posthumously. (In fact, Michelle was responsible in part for bringing her music to the attention of a new American audience.)

In retrospect, the words are prophetic: "You'll remember me, when the west wind blows..."

Does anyone remember the old Hallmark Card commercial, where a little girl is preparing to compete in her first figure skating contest? Her mother, backstage, gives her two cards and says, "Open this one if you win. And open this one if you don't.

So as soon as the mother leaves, the girl opens both cards. The first says,

"Do you know how special you are?

"I do."

The second says,

"Do you know how special you are?

"I do."

 

[skylark]

This is a good point. On second thought, I'm not sure if it's even the "counting your chickens" aspect of these programs that gets to me. I said in my original post that Gracie's EX worked when she won at Nationals, but when I'm more honest with myself about how I was feeling right after Nationals, that's not how I took it at all. I'm a Polina fan, and I personally think that Gracie should have won the free skate at Nationals but not the entire competition, given her short program. So when Gracie came out as the national champion, when she was already receiving so much adulation, and then did an exhibition skate all about how she was such a big winner (which, as you mention, is not really what the song is about, anyway)... Well, to me it seemed like maybe not the greatest sportsmanship. I'm not saying skaters can't celebrate their victory, but I do think they show a lot more integrity when they use the exhibition as a place to perform a new, beautiful or fun program that transcends the ups and downs of the competition (as Medvedeva did at Worlds), rather than rehearsing the fact that they won and everyone else lost -- which no one in the audience needs to be reminded of, anyway.

:agree: This is exactly the other thing that was niggling at the back of my brain. When Gracie won, the program didn't reflect the best sportsmanship either. The announcers nearly always say the EX is for the skaters to celebrate "the pure joy of skating." It can be a time to highlight that skating isn't all about winning/losing/placement.

Samm22, thanks for posting those articles about Mirai. Ice Network has been doing some great coverage of the US ladies! If the song motivates her through the season, then I guess that's the most important thing. What concerns me is that I'm not sure how directly the song will seem to relate to whatever competition she is skating in. Will those lines, "the winner takes it all," "the loser has to fall," and "the judges will decide" come across as an accusation of the judges or of whoever ends up winning the competition (or, let's be honest, of Wagner, who took her Olympic spot), or will they just contribute to a more general emotion? I guess that's something you can't really know until competition starts.

Wagner didn't take anyone's Olympic spot. Ashley earned the trip to Sochi, under the USFSA rules of selection, taking into consideration each skater's recent international competition record as well as their placement at the most recent Nationals.

Mirai fans continue to define Mirai's experience the way you said, so I'm not taking issue with you personally. I don't know how Mirai really frames her experience, but I think she'd do well to take a page from Ashley's book: use it to fuel her desire, and move forward.

IMO, the musical choice encourages looking back at Mirai's history instead.

 

[moriel]

With the exception of Michele's Fields of Gold, I have to agree. Gracie's Worlds exhibition just drove that point home this year. Like almost everyone here, I found it just truly and utterly hard to watch.
You're just tempting fate when you choose a triumphant song. I Would keep it all totally neutral so it works whenever, wherever.

Also agree... And imho, Michele's Fields of Gold are rather different. All it has really is the world gold and her golden dress, but its not related to winning etc, such as other examples in here.

 

[skylark]

"Do you know how special you are?

"I do."

The second says,

"Do you know how special you are?

"I do."

Awwwww. :luv17: :luv17: :luv17:

I enjoyed reading all the background of the song. Thanks for posting it. I guess for me, it also points out how the skater may have a view opposite to how audiences may interpret the program in the moment.

 

[Koralai]

Wagner didn't take anyone's Olympic spot. Ashley earned the trip to Sochi, under the USFSA rules of selection, taking into consideration each skater's recent international competition record as well as their placement at the most recent Nationals.

Mirai fans continue to define Mirai's experience the way you said, so I'm not taking issue with you personally. I don't know how Mirai really frames her experience, but I think she'd do well to take a page from Ashley's book: use it to fuel her desire, and move forward.

IMO, the musical choice encourages looking back at Mirai's history instead.

Sorry, didn't phrase that in the best way -- yes, I completely agree: Wagner didn't take her spot, but many perceive it that way. I do hope you're right and that the focus will be on Mirai's history in general; I think that would allow for the best possible reception for this song.

 

[iluvtodd]

Well, here's another song that references winning. Both Paul Wylie & Todd Eldredge skated to "This is the Moment" from "Jekyll & Hyde" Paul skated to it @ some point after he won the silver medal @ the 1992 Winter Olympics, & Todd skated to it after winning 1996 Worlds.

Has any skater ever skated to Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time?"

 

[skylark]

I'll have to check. In the movie "Pony Boy" reads the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" which I think is from Frost. Here's the information I found regarding the writers of the song.

The song "Stay Gold" was Written by: Carmine Coppola, Stevie Wonder

Yes, you're right. I was thinking of a different Langston Hughes poem and a different movie. :whack:

 

[skylark]

Well, here's another song that references winning. Both Paul Wylie & Todd Eldredge skated to "This is the Moment" from "Jekyll & Hyde" Paul skated to it @ some point after he won the silver medal @ the 1992 Winter Olympics, & Todd skated to it after winning 1996 Worlds.

Has any skater ever skated to Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time?"

I don't know, but without listening to all the lyrics it seems (cautiously) like a good one for an EX.

 

[Layback11]

It's like skating to a song with "falling" or "fallen" in the title. I feel like it's tempting fate, especially in an exhibition-because, as we saw with Gracie, what if you DON'T win? (Not so much falling-that's more of a fate-tempter in competition.)

Case in point: I am rather concerned for Castelli/Tran because their 2016-17 SP song is entitled "Fallin'"!

 

[skylark]

It's like skating to a song with "falling" or "fallen" in the title. I feel like it's tempting fate, especially in an exhibition-because, as we saw with Gracie, what if you DON'T win? (Not so much falling-that's more of a fate-tempter in competition.)

Case in point: I am rather concerned for Castelli/Tran because their 2016-17 SP song is entitled "Fallin'"!

Another case: Adam Rippon's music initially used Yesterday in the middle of his Beatles program. He said he decided to change it (to Blackbird, thank the Lord! :luv17: ) after one of the early competitions when he fell on the 3A and right after that Paul sang, "all my troubles seemed to fall away." Not! :laugh15:

ETA: that little mistake was so appropriate on my part! But actually the lyrics are "all my troubles seemed so far away."

 

[mrrice]

Well, here's another song that references winning. Both Paul Wylie & Todd Eldredge skated to "This is the Moment" from "Jekyll & Hyde" Paul skated to it @ some point after he won the silver medal @ the 1992 Winter Olympics, & Todd skated to it after winning 1996 Worlds.

Has any skater ever skated to Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time?"

I don't know if anyone has used that song but, they should. It's a thousand times better than "I will Always Love You"

 

[Koralai]

It's like skating to a song with "falling" or "fallen" in the title. I feel like it's tempting fate, especially in an exhibition-because, as we saw with Gracie, what if you DON'T win? (Not so much falling-that's more of a fate-tempter in competition.)

Case in point: I am rather concerned for Castelli/Tran because their 2016-17 SP song is entitled "Fallin'"!

Oh, that's a good point. I was so happy to see someone was doing an Alicia Keys program that I didn't even think about that. It's such a powerful song, but yeah, those lyrics at a skating competition... I really hope it doesn't mess them up!

 

[Mathman]

What about Kelly Clarkson's "(Some people wait a lifetime for) a moment like this!"

As for songs with "gold" in the title, a skater who is retiring could always do "Silver threads among the gold." (Or "The old grey mare she ain't what she used to be." )

 

[desertskates]

What about Kelly Clarkson's "(Some people wait a lifetime for) a moment like this!"

Now, THAT is a tune that just needs to die a quiet death!

 

[yuki]

I sat through Gracie's ex at Worlds listening to the words of the song and after seeing her self-flagellating interview, and it was almost painful. "Everybody loves a winner...that's why nobody loves me." (Particularly after I had also sat through the ladies' programs with a pair of teen girls behind me who were brutally nasty about Gracie the whole time for no actual reason that I could discern.)

As for Mirai's music, the only thing I could think when I saw the title of the song was "Great, this is gonna be just great when the URs start racking up, the TES starts dropping, and she gets that baffled look on her face."

The irony...
Not to mention that The Winner Takes it All is about losing ("The loser's standing small" etc.)

 

[Mathman]

Yes, you're right. I was thinking of a different Langston Hughes poem and a different movie. :whack:

"What happens to a dream deferred?" It is made into "A Raisin in the sun."

I don't know if anyone has used that song but, they should. It's a thousand times better than "I will Always Love You"

Whitney Houston's take is a triumph of vocal virtuosity, if not, perhaps, substance. Dolly Parton (songwriter) must have raked in millions off it in royalties.

Someone should prepare a routine to Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey), with gestures. This would be used in the case where the skater feels like he should have won, but he wuz robbed by the judges.