CBC's comments on Alina Zagitova

madison · Dec 12, 2017

Mango said:
Kurt Browning jealous of Alina because of Osmond? We've seen Osmond miss podiums in spectacular fashion, come 11th at a GP, and have some of her best skating - and that's all in the past 3 seasons. There has been little reason to be jealous of anyone because she's had her own battles and her own struggles...regardless of what's been going on with anyone else. In her latest ISU interview she even mentions she got sick of sucking and missing out on a trip to 2016 Worlds so she tried to clean up her act. That motivation didn't come from a backloading Eteri student - that came from Alaine & Gabby. At the end of the day nothing Kurt can say or do will help Osmond skate clean. And nothing he says will change what Alina does and earns.

If David had a bone to pick with Russian skating he would not be skating with Ekaterina Gordeeva these days. But maybe the less people know about David the better.

He's not jelous, he's biased and trying to hard to promote Osmond while trashing her competitors.

andromache · Dec 12, 2017

cell said:
I have to say I find Evgenia's Anna Karenina program rather juniorish as well in expression. Not as juniorish as Alina's, but still... I think there is a lack of maturity in interpreting the music. Evegnia's short program is better.

I think Evgenia's Anna Karenina is, expression-wise, a work in progress. It's her first program that is about being a mature, grown-up woman, which I think is a great challenge for her, and I'm excited to see how it has developed when we see her compete again.

About Alina: Sandra Bezic commented that we aren't seeing her true self - she's being buried underneath all this "stuff" (the glitzy tutus, specifically). I don't recall the exact quote offhand, but I thought it was insightful.

Alina's posture isn't amazing. She does tend to skate bent over a lot, and the tutu highlights this problem. (Honestly, no skater should be wearing a tutu unless you're Oksana Baiul - the only one to pull it off.)

I think a major cause of the bad posture is that she is bent over to gain speed to get through all of her difficult transitions as quickly as possible.

I don't think there's anything sexy about Alina or her packaging (though her EX costume is questionable). Like, at all.

Mango · Dec 12, 2017

madison said:
He's not jelous, he's biased and trying to hard to promote Osmond while trashing her competitors.

Well then you can watch the GPF commentary because none of that happened. Carol Lane mentioned Kaetlyn's jumping direction while Satoko was skating but that was to wonder if maybe Satoko doesn't get the same height and power in her jumps because she was forced to change directions. The judges got Satoko for URs which is why this came up.

Alex D · Dec 12, 2017

andromache said:
I think Evgenia's Anna Karenina is, expression-wise, a work in progress. It's her first program that is about being a mature, grown-up woman, which I think is a great challenge for her, and I'm excited to see how it has developed when we see her compete again.

About Alina: Sandra Bezic commented that we aren't seeing her true self - she's being buried underneath all this "stuff" (the glitzy tutus, specifically). I don't recall the exact quote offhand, but I thought it was insightful.

Alina's posture isn't amazing. She does tend to skate bent over a lot, and the tutu highlights this problem. (Honestly, no skater should be wearing a tutu unless you're Oksana Baiul - the only one to pull it off.)

I think a major cause of the bad posture is that she is bent over to gain speed to get through all of her difficult transitions as quickly as possible.

I don't think there's anything sexy about Alina or her packaging (though her EX costume is questionable). Like, at all.

I actually like her Gala outfit a lot, it´s how I feel a nice lady can dress without being over the top.

It is interesting what you said about why she is "posing" with cleavage and stuff all the time. I did not consider this, so maybe it has a different reason than I first thought. I always had the impression, Eteri wanted to gain a few extra points, by giving her skater the order to bend over so much and wear these short "dresses".

Thanks for the insight!

andromache · Dec 12, 2017

Alex D said:
I actually like her Gala outfit a lot, it´s how I feel a nice lady can dress without being over the top. It is interesting what you said about why she is "posing" with cleavage and stuff all the time. I did not consider this, so maybe it has a different reason than I first thought. I always had the impression, Eteri wanted to gain a few extra points, by giving her skater the order to bend over so much and wear these short "dresses".

Thanks for the insight!

Oh my gosh that would never even occur to me! As much as people find reasons to criticize Eteri, I don't think she would stoop to that. (Though having Trusova skate to Big Spender is WEIRD.)

Alex D · Dec 12, 2017

andromache said:
Oh my gosh that would never even occur to me! As much as people find reasons to criticize Eteri, I don't think she would stoop to that. (Though having Trusova skate to Big Spender is WEIRD.)

Hehe, I did never criticize Eteri for anything before, I felt she did a fabolous job with all her skaters, they just had that very special thing, that nobody else had. And exactly this is why I don´t fully get behind Alinas programs. Why did they choose that style for her? Her Gala proves, that she can skate more mature and with more story elements. Why not make use of that in competition too? It surely is a matter of taste, but a style similar to Yulia would had been better in my opinion. That being said, Yulia seemed to be further at the same age, so this might play a role too or Alina has great fun with the current, who knows.

Hopefully, next season Alina picks up a different direction than in the past 2 years. I would love to see that.

madison · Dec 12, 2017

Alex D said:
Hehe, I did never criticize Eteri for anything before, I felt she did a fabolous job with all her skaters, they just had that very special thing, that nobody else had. And exactly this is why I don´t fully get behind Alinas programs. Why did they choose that style for her? Her Gala proves, that she can skate more mature and with more story elements. Why not make use of that in competition too? It surely is a matter of taste, but a style similar to Yulia would had been better in my opinion. That being said, Yulia seemed to be further at the same age, so this might play a role too or Alina has great fun with the current, who knows.

Hopefully, next season Alina picks up a different direction than in the past 2 years. I would love to see that.

I think it's a matter of taste... I also don't like her EX costume, for example.
But I like her competitive programs. I think the free program suits her very well. It expresses her cheerfulness and youthful exuberance.
Also, the short has grown on me, the steps look better now. At the beginning I considered that an avant-garde dress, no tutu, would be more appropriate for this kind of program, dark and turbulent, but with the shorter tutu even the costume looks better.
Of course, she has many things to improve (skating skills, artistry) and also next season more than sure she'll take another direction with her programs, but I like her cause she's really expressive, charming, and eye catching.

beachmouse · Dec 12, 2017

Alex D said:
This happens more often than you might think. Not just in TV, but also at live sports events. Given, I am not perfect either, when I worked at the radio or hosted shows, I did not have a clue either about names, but that´s why you research and ask in advance.

The biggest victims of false pronounciations are East European Athletes, but also the French. I do understand the Americans though, I believe they find it difficult to pronounce slavic names. Some letters have a different spelling, even if written the same.

Pogo is so often pronounced wrong, it´s not an O but an A!

That is why an event or team at a high level should provide a media guide that includes pronunciation instructions. Some entities are good about that, others less so. My high school was majority Polish-American, and it was always interesting to go to sports away games or meets and see which announcers made an honest effort with the Szczy.... sounds and which didn't.

andromache · Dec 12, 2017

I'd like to see Alina do something jazzy. Something upbeat and fun but that doesn't require the sophistication and faux-ballerina impression of Don Quixote. Gosh, even something cliche like Riverdance I think would suit her on-ice personality.

It's one thing to use ballet music, which so many skaters do who aren't balletic at all, and aren't trying to be - but if you're a senior lady out there in a tutu, you better be able to deliver real diva ballerina attitude from head to toe - and Alina doesn't. It'd be better without the tutu.

Manitou · Dec 12, 2017

Alex D said:
This happens more often than you might think. Not just in TV, but also at live sports events. Given, I am not perfect either, when I worked at the radio or hosted shows, I did not have a clue either about names, but that´s why you research and ask in advance.

The biggest victims of false pronounciations are East European Athletes, but also the French. I do understand the Americans though, I believe they find it difficult to pronounce slavic names. Some letters have a different spelling, even if written the same.

Pogo is so often pronounced wrong, it´s not an O but an A!

I understand it's difficult, but it doesn't matter. They are professional commentators and this is their job to learn. They know in advance who is performing and they should do some homework before the event. They are paid for that homework and they are not doing what they are paid for.
It really frustrates me when they are completely brutalizing Medvedeva's, Zagitova's and other last names. If they cannot correctly pronounce those worldwide known names then please find a different job.

Osmond4gold · Dec 12, 2017

Manitou said:
I understand it's difficult, but it doesn't matter. They are professional commentators and this is their job to learn. They know in advance who is performing and they should do some homework before the event. They are paid for that homework and they are not doing what they are paid for.
It really frustrates me when they are completely brutalizing Medvedeva's, Zagitova's and other last names. If they cannot correctly pronounce those worldwide known names then please find a different job.

Hey Manitou, it works both ways. Ever time I hear Katleeeen Auustmann, my eyes rolls. :disapp: But accents being what they are...

anyanka · Dec 12, 2017

Manitou said:
I understand it's difficult, but it doesn't matter. They are professional commentators and this is their job to learn. They know in advance who is performing and they should do some homework before the event. They are paid for that homework and they are not doing what they are paid for.
It really frustrates me when they are completely brutalizing Medvedeva's, Zagitova's and other last names. If they cannot correctly pronounce those worldwide known names then please find a different job.

By the same token, virtually no commentator outside of Chinese-speaking territories have managed to pronounce Sui Wenjing's name correctly. Technically it's spelled "Sui" but the character itself is pronounced more like the word "sway", albeit with a shorter vowel sound on the "a". Nobody has bothered to learn it properly so far. Curiously, the only commentator who pronounces it accurately among the Anglophile commentators is Dave Lease of The Skating Lesson, who a lot of people may loathe, but he is the only one to get it right, and that's because when he covered SA 2015, he interviewed her and she corrected his pronunciation.

I know we're getting off-side here, but just something to consider ... and no one is calling them out in the blogosphere for butchering a lovely Chinese name. (At least, not in English, I haven't checked any Chinese figure skating fan sites yet!)

Spirals for Miles · Dec 12, 2017

When on earth does that happen, Osmond4Gold?
Once, maybe twice? The amount of times that happens for the Russian ladies is insane. Not everything is about the Canadians!

Zora · Dec 12, 2017

I think the costumes are perfect for Alina and a clever choice. She always stands out among the other skaters and looks like a stunning ballerina, everything you would want for your first senior season and especially an Olympic season. And despite having the same coach as Evgenia, she has a completely different look that way.

Manitou · Dec 12, 2017

Osmond4gold said:
Hey Manitou, it works both ways. Ever time I hear Katleeeen Auustmann, my eyes rolls. :disapp:

Not only Russian, but it applies to French, Chinese, German, etc. They have six names to learn for an evening and that is not a rocket science. Make some cheat sheets, read them aloud several times before the event and keep them during the event. It's just six names. Nobody asks them to learn fluent Russian or Chinese, just learn those six names.

anyanka · Dec 12, 2017

I know! Let's ALL send commentators Rosetta Stone language sets for Christmas! I mean, what else is there to talk about from a dry thread other than picking on pronunciation?????

Guys: we're done on this. Let's go onto other threads instead and talk about how "Katleeeeeen Osmon" or "Yevzhenya Medjedeeeeeva" are going to work on this?

Manitou · Dec 12, 2017

anyanka said:
Guys: we're done on this. Let's go onto other threads instead and talk about how "Katleeeeeen Osmon" o...

Is it kate-lin or kat-leeen ?

anyanka · Dec 12, 2017

Manitou said:
Is it kate-lin or kat-leeen ?

"K8-lin"

It is, to be fair, a very weird spelling. But I wonder if the same commentators had problems with Kaitlyn Weaver, whose name is pronounced the same way?

Manitou · Dec 12, 2017

anyanka said:
"K8-lin"

It is, to be fair, a very weird spelling. But I wonder if the same commentators had problems with Kaitlyn Weaver, whose name is pronounced the same way?

So it's Myed-yed-yeva. Za-gee-to-va. Po-go-ree-la-ya.

anyanka · Dec 12, 2017

Manitou said:
So it's Myed-yed-yeva. Za-gee-to-va. Po-go-ree-la-ya.

Where is the emphasis / stress? Is it on the second syllable? or second-to-last, like in most Spanish words?

CBC's comments on Alina Zagitova

madison

andromache

Mango

Royal Chinet 👑🍽️

Alex D

andromache

Alex D

madison

beachmouse

andromache

Manitou

Osmond4gold

anyanka

Spirals for Miles

Anna Shcherbakova is my World Champion

Zora

Manitou

anyanka

Manitou

anyanka

Manitou

anyanka

Similar threads

Connect with us