Which discipline is the most popular? And why?

I find my personal interest in a field can ebb and flow and it depends on who I like in the field too. When I first became an uber in the early 2000s, ladies and men were about equal for me with ladies maybe being slightly above because I was a total Sasha Cohen die hard and I liked Plushy a lot but he never made me nervous like her so I was slightly less invested in him. And while I really liked Shen and Zhao, I wasn't a die hard until they made me cry at 2003 Worlds in DC and then pairs really came up for me. They'll forever be my sentimental favorites because of that (I can't tell you how giddy I was watching at them coaching by the boards at the GPF this weekend).

In 2010 the men was a bigger deal for me due to Daisuke (but probably second to pair because I was rooting or Shen and Zhao in Vancouver), but I wasn't following much for a couple years after that. Then I discovered Yuzu in 2013 and since then it's been far and away the men's field for me. With Sui/Han and only a handful of ladies I like, pairs and ladies were kind of equal through the PC Olys. Aljona and Bruno blew me away in PC so I was really interested in them going into Milan worlds. Now with them out I really like Vanessa and Morgan but not really anybody else in the field until Sui/Han returns. Ladies has been a pleasant surprise as I have been paying attention to the juniors which I used to never do. Kostornaia is weaving a spell and I'm trying hard not to uber her but I can't make any promises. And then Rika has been exciting, so ladies is really moving up for m again. Ice dance has never had me this interested and never will. Ice Dance was the only senior discipline I skipped at the GPF while I made sure to catch the junior ladies instead.

In terms of ticket luck and popularity, I spent almost an entire year trying to get good men's free skate seats for PC, whereas on the first day ladies tickets were readily available and often when they'd replenish so I always had a shot.

rachno2 said:

I wonder if the lack of controversy has something to do with it. You get so much drama in all the other disciplines, but pairs, largely due to the weaker field, isn't subject to as much suspicious judging or polarizing results, and thus produces less intense discussion and debate. Which is ironic considering it was pairs which gave us IJS. There are also fewer nationally-motivated flame wars, since Japan, US, and now Canada do not have horses in the race, and Russia doesn't have the fierce domestic competition in pairs that it does in ladies.

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Live chat was enabled for pairs when the JGP was streamed and the best comment I saw was from an early viewer: “Ted, leave the chat up. Nobody goes to war over pairs.” [emoji23] The generation of skating fans that doesn’t know of the pre-IJS era is in for a shock someday.

To layman viewers ice dance is obviously the least popular. JGPF had junior ice dance starting first both days. China and France GPs always start off with dance. NHK places dance on the last day before exhibition. Dance is only interesting to serious fans who follow all the personal narrative. If one event were to be eliminated it's surely going to be dance, not pairs.

Actually, all the figure skating movies... I mean the Cutting Edge movies DDD are about pairs, so does this make pairs more popular? Sure it's more visually engrossing for a movie to have jumps and Pamchenkos than a level 4 on the TR

Perhaps in the era of 6.0 or maybe before V/M ice dance was not generally taken that seriously so pairs was the romantic tension discipline.

Mathman said:

If you missed this from the Grand Prix Final SP, you owe yourself a treat. :yes:

https://youtu.be/uZ4BRcPr2FE

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Wow did she blow a kiss to the judges?

Arbitrary said:

I stopped watching pairs totally when heavy crashes, blade to head hits and other heavy injures become so frequent and even common.

Actually last time I watched pairs competition life was long ago when Dmitriev the Senior dropped Kazakova from a lift head first and she continued to skate till the very end despite her apparent brain concussion.
It was enough.

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Finally found someone I'm in the same boat with.
I don't like sports where an athlete A's life is at a not so low risk due to another athlete B's failure about which there's pretty much nothing A can do to protect herself.

While the dance discipline is very different and put a lot of scoring doubts on the viewers, the pairs discipline may be perceived as a secondary one for the single skaters. Overall, aside some federations like China, there's way more younger ice dancers, than pair teams, and because of that there's more excellent dance teams, than pair's one.

Anyway, at the last worlds championship, the highlight of the competition was the Savchenko/Massot free program, with a great standing ovation.

gold12345 said:

If that's boring to people, perhaps sports are not for them and they'd find variety shows like America's Got Talent (or whichever country you live) more appealing. ..

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But I can't decide which should be more popular, ventriloquist acts or plate-spinning.

I also think it can be hard to watch pairs after the supreme perfection of Saw/Mass. For some, not me though.

Pair skating is my number one since my pre-teens and teens - the times of Meno - Sand, Wirtzs, Shen - Zhao, Abitbol - Bernadis, Zagorska - Siudek, Berankova - Dlabola and many more. And pair skating is still my number one.

Why is it less popular... Maybe as someone wrote earlier in this thread - because of nearly no controverse. Pair skating has a great variety of elements, much greater that any of other disciplines, much more difficulty, much more extreme and so on. Thus - less room for subjective judging. That's great and should rise the interest.

But... look what we see now? The pair skating is less controversive - almost no judging or rivaling controversion, "conspiracy theories" and so on. And all media are now wanting the catchy "clickbait" headlines, "sensations" and "rivaling" stories that can be continued as much as they can raise ratings of that media. Seems that media now aren't interested in sport itself.... That's how it is in my country Ukraine, maybe in other countries situation is not the same.... But what we have now that pairs are less controversive less subjective, less... Thus - less interesting to media. Thus - less covered for wide audience. Thus - lesser knowng and popular acrross wide audience. Those are just my personal thoughts....

But for me - the lesser scandals, controversies and other such kind of things - the better. As a sports journalist myself I hate "clickbait", provocative stuff, artificial scandal swelling and such stuff... And pair skating only wins from being the less controversive

and so on...

By the way. I can't say that american pairs now are weak. I like Knierims, I like Ashley & Tim, Deanna & Nate, Calalang - Johnson, Feng - Nyman... I thing that Chelsea Liu - Ian Meyh have bright future. And canadian couples are interesting to watch. So don't bury North-American pair skating

Here in Europe we also have Vanessa & Morgan, nice german pairs, Nicole & Matteo, spaniards Laura & Aritz... This season I discovered a nice italian junior couple Vivienne Contarino - Marco Pauletti. They are this season's rookies and Vivienne last year performed at italian Nationals as single skater an then switched to pairs. So she's complete rookie in pairs. But they are going quite good...

LuvIce said:

A contributing factor to pairs not being fully appreciated often lies in the hands of commentary by those that do not do their research enough or are so ignorant in their knowledge that they do not point out what was so good about what a pair has done.

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This! I'm super grateful whenever I manage to stumble on pair videos with John Coughlin or David Pelletier commentary. With them talking, I feel like I can learn and appreciate the artistry and elements more. Meagan Duhamel commentated JGPF Vancouver with Ted Barton recently, and I learned so much from her like ice coverage during lifts, the technical role of a female in pair elements, etc. Aside from discovering promising junior pairs like Mishina/Galiamov & Kostiukovich/Ialin, it turned out to be a really educational hour and a half too!

In regards to why pairs is the least popular discipline, I honestly think it's just nervewracking to watch (especially for casual viewers/new FS fans). Like what other people have already said, top teams that aren't in say, the top 20 internationally, might have wonky throw landings, muscled lifts, etc. that can easily mar a viewer's enjoyment of the whole program. However, when the competition is really on like last season's pool of talent, it is exhilirating. For me, truly good pairs performances have the best rewatchability factor too. S/Z's Turandot, S/M's La terre vue du ciel , S/H's Spanish Romance, G/G's The Man I Love.... ugh, so good!

NymphyNymphy said:

Is there a discipline that generally dominates in popularity? Or does it depend on the era. Which disciplines do you watch on a regular basis and why?

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I will watch certain pairs teams, but as a discipline, I find pairs extremely uncomfortable to watch due to the fact that certain elements carry a level of danger beyond the already horrifying “standard” skating falls. (And in terms of spine injuries: my family is heartbreakingly familiar with those. My grandmother was inside a friend’s RV at a highway rest stop when the exhausted driver of an eighteen-wheeler slammed into the vehicle at full velocity, leaving her in critical condition and a quadriplegic for the rest of her relatively short life. An incident like the recent one with Cain and Le-Duc hits me in a visceral way that goes beyond sheer squeamishness; it becomes a sort of obsessive mental sandpit that I have to actively shift my consciousness away from, and I’m grateful I wasn’t watching GS and didn’t see the actual accident. I only knew “wheelchair” grandma, not the vivacious socialite grandma who — true story — lost her husband at an incredibly young age, had no degree but four kids, and not only put herself through nursing school but all four of those kids through university and post-graduate studies. And my great grandmother was still alive to bury her own child. Which is one of my “fond” childhood memories. Good freaking times.) So, yeah, my threshold for “oh god this looks scary” is complicated by growing up in the aftermath of a devastating spinal injury in the family, and my own personal fears regarding head injury — people refer to less than ideal lifts as “scary,” but I’m closer to genuine fright.

The elements of pairs that I most enjoy — SBS jumps, spins, and footwork — are less emphasized these days relative to IJS-standard lifts (which force teams to add features that are frankly unnecessary and create more danger), throws, and twists. I know a lot of people love a good twist, and I admit that an exceptional one is definitely a show-stopper, but I wouldn’t cry if the twist was scrapped as an element, as after watching a series of mediocre to “meh” twists, you begin to wonder why we’re doing this, and, hmm, isn’t somebody going to get hurt? Lifts are the greater pain point for me, as they inspire fear more than awe and always have. Some of the old-school, “basic” lifts — you know, the ones that look almost reasonable with two hands! — are still my preference, as watching the lady audition for Cirque du Soleil while the man rotated across the ice at velocity and then OH GOD NO don’t grab your skate with your hand how are you not going to fall just... creates a tension that I don’t think teams are necessarily aiming for in those big moments.

And, finally, I really dislike seeing partners seemingly man-handle each other, or lifts turning into what I’ve taken to calling: Man running through an airport, only one shoe halfway on after making it through a TSA screening, his luggage flying around him as he rushes to the gate, screaming, BUT I MUST CHECK MY BAGGAGE. (Note to ice dancers: stop doing this. Ladies, train your core.) This is less of an issue with the very top teams, of course, but the nature of the acrobatics of pairs means someone is (literally) going to end up tossed around — it’s a required element. (I love how Peng and Jin interact. There’s no visible strain or hint of fingers leaving bruises on someone’s hip; every time they join for a throw or a lift, there’s so much trust and respect in how they get into and out of those elements.)

tl;dr the things about pairs that have always made me queasy are the most pronounced elements now, with less focus (and less success) on the elements that I felt made pairs truly shine, and the difference between a team with “solid” elements and the first flight at Worlds is potential brain damage. Ice dance is hilariously opaque and almost entirely a matter of taste, but at least I’m much less worried about someone losing an ear, an eye, a lifespan, etc. (Though if we do the Despicato Challenge again, I am so out.)

I'll say ladies as well...female figure skaters has always been the most known and talked about worldwide...maybe not recently since the Americans don't really have a contender right now, but historically, it's probably been ladies...

silverfoxes said:

As for ice dance, maybe I'd be into it if there were more diversity of programs. I'm so bored with the "sensitive artiste," faux-romantic style...make ice dance weird again!

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To those of you complaining about ice dance being boring right now, well, I'll be honest... the rhythm dance this season gets boring quickly as people pick very similar tango pieces so they all sound the same. With some of my favorite ice dances teams having recently retired / not currently competing, I've struggled a bit to find new teams that I'm really passionate about, and thankfully I've found them in the Juniors! A lot of diversity in styles, music, and expression that goes far beyond "romantic/lyrical" ice dance (even though I enjoy that as well). Juniors are on fire right now in ice dance, I feel! :luv17:

...but I agree with making ice dance weird again, can't hurt to spice things up. I miss the days of uber-dramatic Russian dance...

bunnybarista said:

To those of you complaining about ice dance being boring right now, well, I'll be honest... the rhythm dance this season gets boring quickly as people pick very similar tango pieces so they all sound the same.

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To an extent, maybe, but I think the bigger problem is that most teams can’t average more than a L2 for both halves, and the TR is an amazing pattern when skated well... and when it’s not, we just have boring tango cuts and sloppy footwork. Sometimes, it’s honestly best not to know: take away the damnable Box so we don’t know we’re being served a freaking Basic pattern and the TR would be marginally more enjoyable. But, no, this is the year of the masochism tango: watching everyone miss their levels must qualify as masochism, yes?

...but I agree with making ice dance weird again, can't hurt to spice things up. I miss the days of uber-dramatic Russian dance...

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I really wish ISU would get over itself and allow for same-sex couples, because there are a number of men in dance who would be better off partnering with each other than staying in their current teams, but ID isn’t about showcasing the man. We may also be running out of unique interpretations of such unique themes as You’re Hot And I Want You (But You’re Also Trouble), We Broke Up And Now I’m Sad to Cirque du Soleil, Heterosexual Courting for Dummies, and the Complete Collection of Kama Sutra Illustrations (H/D only). Just expanding the boundaries of what’s possible might deliver some new programmes, maybe ones that are — gasp — more rooted in dance and performance than how well you can serve sexyface to your ex-lover who’s dating a member of a team you’re currently competing against. (And those are the details that keep ice dance from being boring for me.)

Re Ice Dance: I started to be interest in that discipline with the Shibsibs, they have great technique and a breather of the same over-dramatic-loveydovey programs, without them this season...yeah

I don't really enjoy pairs cause idk it seems weird, like when they jump the chemistry they were building is gone. idk I just idk

so for team disciplines I prefer Ice Dance.

Ladies is the most popular than men cause GP cant take a man having the same artistry than a lady, weak masculinity but I enjoy more the men field

Popularity ranking by Wiki page views from 11/21/17 – 12/11/18 (Olympic gold + silver + US champ):

1. Dance: V/M 3,382,127 + P/C 497,417 + S/S 1,530,669 = 5,410,022
2. Men: Hanyu 1,149,565 + Uno 278,992 + Chen 1,156,528 = 2,585,085
3. Ladies: Zagitova 731,299 + Medvedeva 947,417 + Tennell 399,567 = 2,078,283
4. Pairs: S/M 793,562 + S/H 98,163 + S-K/K 485,545 = 1,377,270

Wiki page views indicate that people are interested enough to take the trouble to google and check out the skaters’ pages. Olympic medalists may reflect global popularity and US champs may reflect US popularity. Rippon is the most popular US skater at 1,405,759 page views, probably due, in additional to skating, to his gay and anti-Trump angles.

gkelly said:

In 2018 there were 15 senior pairs at US Nationals. That's not a record -- 19 in 2009 seems to have been the peak, certainly in this century -- but it was the highest number since 2010. Most of the intervening years had 12 senior pairs.

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http://2019uschampionships.com/cont...U.S.-Figure-Skating-Championship-Schedule.pdf

Looks like there are 18 senior pairs expected at 2019 US Nationals.

Evidence that participation is not declining.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's all the senior teams that exist in the US. But that's nothing new.

Ok but lets be real,outside the top 2 american pairs (on a good day) are hard to watch. Pairs fields usually are the least deep talent wise. Watching struggling pairs teams are worse than nails on chalkboards lol. Same in Canada now with all the retirements and breakups, outside ths top 2, might be dicey to watch. Russia really is the only nation with a number of competative teams

jersey1302 said:

Ok but lets be real,outside the top 2 american pairs (on a good day) are hard to watch. Pairs fields usually are the least deep talent wise. Watching struggling pairs teams are worse than nails on chalkboards lol. Same in Canada now with all the retirements and breakups, outside ths top 2, might be dicey to watch. Russia really is the only nation with a number of competative teams

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Being very real, I find Alexa & Chris, Tarah & Danny, Ashley & Tim, and Deanna & Nate very easy to watch. Fluke accidents excluded of course. Just to mention the top four US teams off of the top of my head. Your mileage may vary.

But the popularity of pairs, or not, has nothing to do with whether they are "competitive". At least in the US of A. Otherwise, and I repeat myself from a few screens ago, Americans would be flocking to see their extraordinarily "competitive" ice dancers. And they are not.