2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating | Page 53 | Golden Skate

2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

madison

Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2015
The question isn't about Phantom per se, it is a general one.

Why must we withhold judgement on any program's music* until we watch that program?

*The amount of songs is irrelevant, one might like all of them, or like none of them.

Because the whole package matters when judging a program: the music, the music cuts, the costume, the choreo, the performance. You can like a music and dislike a program and vice versa.
 

Shayuki

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
I tend to like the warhorses(assuming no lyrics). Usually the reason they are so popular tends to be that they have plenty in them to interpret. There are a lot of musical cues and these are the pieces of music that really tend to show the difference in a skater's musicality / choreo. Poor interpreting of a mess of a song that you don't really know how it should be interpreted in the first place can, in my eyes, be much easier to "get away with".

That also is why I consider this a brave choice for Alina, actually. And it would imply that they have plenty of faith in her interpretation abilities. It also is in a different style.
 

Spirals for Miles

Anna Shcherbakova is my World Champion
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
World standings are updated and Anna is no longer top 24 = no GP guaranteed if she comes back this season
 

moriel

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
The question isn't about Phantom per se, it is a general one.

Why must we withhold judgement on any program's music* until we watch that program?

*The amount of songs is irrelevant, one might like all of them, or like none of them.

Because we don't know which song exactly is.
So of course you can judge as in "100% of POTO is awful, I hate POTO". But you cannot judge it as in "aaaaaa its a warhorse", because not all of the POTO tracks are actually overused.
 

andromache

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
I don't think Alina could have worse SP music or theming. (And I really doubt she will be skating to the more "unknown" pieces from POTO.) If they want to continue packaging her as a classical warhorse queen in order to differentiate her from Evgenia, I get it, but I don't see POTO working for her. Then again, if she can project some vulnerability in her performance, that would be something different for her.
 

zounger

Medalist
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
This Alina Phantom of the Opera comments reminds me a Greek saying which goes something like "We didn't see it yet (the unborn babe), we called it John".
(It comes from the old days when there were no technical means to know the gender before the birth)

Which is used when we are rushing to label, characterize something prematurely before it's time.

Let's wait a bit...
 

millie

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
This Alina Phantom of the Opera comments reminds me a Greek saying which goes something like "We didn't see it yet (the unborn babe), we called it John".
(It comes from the old days when there were no technical means to know the gender before the birth)

Which is used when we are rushing to label, characterize something prematurely before it's time.
Let's wait a bit...







There is a lot of beautiful music from Phantom of the Opera.. “All I ask of You” is a beautiful piece of music. I think that Alina would skate beautifully to this. Also “Think of Me” and “Angel of Music” and “ Wondering Child”. “Music of the Night” not so much.
 

Ded Moroz

LADIES QUAD CLUB
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Country
United-Nations
Because the whole package matters when judging a program: the music, the music cuts, the costume, the choreo, the performance. You can like a music and dislike a program and vice versa.

I guess you're not understanding my question (post #1037). Again, I'm asking why we must wait for the program to be performed (~August) before we can judge the "choice of music" (Phantom in this case)?
Nobody, including myself, is doing that anyway, we are doing it now.

I'm sure the program will be top notch when it is all put together, but where is the sense in delaying our judgement of the music choice until then? My opinion of Phantom won't change, so why should I wait a few months to say I'm disappointed in the selection of this old warhorse?
 

Ded Moroz

LADIES QUAD CLUB
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Country
United-Nations
Because we don't know which song exactly is.
So of course you can judge as in "100% of POTO is awful, I hate POTO". But you cannot judge it as in "aaaaaa its a warhorse", because not all of the POTO tracks are actually overused.


I agree with you, it can't be said that all of POTO's tracks are warhorses.
For me, POTO itself is the warhorse!

Don't misunderstand me, I think this could be, almost certainly will be, a beautiful program, especially if they choose the right song.

That being said, I think Andrew Lloyd Weber is overrated, and I can not think of a single piece of his that I like. So when I hear POTO, especially from a choreographer who I like to think is progressive (and who should almost avoid warhorses on principle), I become disappointed. I'll get over it.

I think that's about all I have to say on that.
 

madison

Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2015
I guess you're not understanding my question (post #1037). Again, I'm asking why we must wait for the program to be performed (~August) before we can judge the "choice of music" (Phantom in this case)?
Nobody, including myself, is doing that anyway, we are doing it now.

I'm sure the program will be top notch when it is all put together, but where is the sense in delaying our judgement of the music choice until then? My opinion of Phantom won't change, so why should I wait a few months to say I'm disappointed in the selection of this old warhorse?

You can express any opinion at any time, of course. But for me this "judgement" is irrelevant. It is as you see a girl and don't like her hair color, to discover after some months that you like her entirely.
 

moriel

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
I agree with you, it can't be said that all of POTO's tracks are warhorses.
For me, POTO itself is the warhorse!

Don't misunderstand me, I think this could be, almost certainly will be, a beautiful program, especially if they choose the right song.

That being said, I think Andrew Lloyd Weber is overrated, and I can not think of a single piece of his that I like. So when I hear POTO, especially from a choreographer who I like to think is progressive (and who should almost avoid warhorses on principle), I become disappointed. I'll get over it.

I think that's about all I have to say on that.

yep, anyways, all i meant is that we cannot judge her music before we actually learn what exactly is she going to use.
As for me, I love POTO, and even my love for FS didnt ruin it for me.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2018
That being said, I think Andrew Lloyd Weber is overrated, and I can not think of a single piece of his that I like. So when I hear POTO, especially from a choreographer who I like to think is progressive (and who should almost avoid warhorses on principle), I become disappointed. I'll get over it.

He has his ups and downs, Andrew. I'd love someone to make a free skate to Jesus Christ Superstar - would all kinds of controversial but hella fun.

My favorite song from that musical is "This Jesus Must Die", but I'm not sure how populist a choice it would be. Barnstorning though - would be unique
 

colormyworld240

Medalist
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Eeep, I love the POTO musical. The pieces from it are also all very beautiful imo. But I don't think it fits Alina. I'm not a fan of dramatic characters for her; really didn't like her Samson & Delilah. I do hope she's able to prove me wrong though. I also don't think she has the speed to carry the music, especially if they choreograph it to be as busy as Black Swan was. Maybe if they're smart with choreo, we can see her skating as fast as she did earlier in her career, but that speed hasn't been present for a while. I would have loved for her to have a tango SP, something with intensity but not portraying a big character like Delilah or Christine. And I guess not many people agree with this, but I loved her as a ballet dancer, particularly Kitri, it suited her. Maybe it'll be good for her to have something out of her comfort zone (and age range...) but I'm not too optimistic :slink:
 
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