Programs with vocals by the opposite sex | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Programs with vocals by the opposite sex

hanyuufan5

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May 19, 2018
Wow, I never noticed this. Very strange, especially considering how many songs use "you" instead of "he" or "she". An opposite gender singer could simply be expressing the skater's character's thoughts, or the skater could be the person the song is about.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Wow, I never noticed this. Very strange, especially considering how many songs use "you" instead of "he" or "she". An opposite gender singer could simply be expressing the skater's character's thoughts, or the skater could be the person the song is about.

True. If the song says, "I love you," is the skater "I" or "you."

Now if the song is "You're so vain -- you probably think this song is about you" -- I guess that could go either way, too. :laugh:

Edit: Come to think of it, that Carly Simon song sung by a woman would be cool for a man to skate to. He could strut around acting all full of himself, throwing in show-off quads, etc. :yes:
 
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elektra blue

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True. If the song says, "I love you," is the skater "I" or "you."

Now if the song is "You're so vain -- you probably think this song is about you" -- I guess that could go either way, too. :laugh:

Edit: Come to think of it, that Carly Simon song sung by a woman would be cool for a man to skate to. He could strut around acting all full of himself, throwing in show-off quads, etc. :yes:

this could work with Joan Jett songs too :biggrin: think of the same performance but on "I Hate Myself for Loving You". Generally speaking many rock songs are genderless, Stairway to Heaven, to name one, could be skated by both men and ladies
 

sheetz

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Jan 10, 2015
Men skating to female vocals is rare but I've seen plenty of females skating to the Beatles or Michael Jackson.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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One of the great U.S. show skaters of all time. He tells the audience, "Just put yourself in my hands -- everything is all right."

All of his medals say he was a great US competitor as well.
 

Ice Dance

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Jan 26, 2014
Misha Ge's SP in 2014-15 to Ave Maria. Which I think was one of the most powerful & successful programs he ever competed. I also think it is proof that the "common sense" advice about sticking to a performer of the same sex is flawed. Misha inhabited that program. He told that story. And the performer who sang it did exactly the same thing. That was the connection.

I've seen it happen in acting all the time. Watching tryouts and realizing clear as day that the best performer to inhabit Hamlet or Macbeth out of this particular group of actors happens to be a girl. (And that the same actress would not be at all right for Ophelia or Lady Macbeth). Sometimes the best vocalist to tell your story or the story you are trying to portray is the one that hits the right emotion or expression or inhabits the part to the deepest or fullest extent.

I don't think skaters should choose a vocal just because it happens to be the most famous or most popular. But I likewise don't think they should disregard one solely based on the sex of the performer. Putting yourself in a box based on others' limited vision is never, IMO, a good idea.
 

Ice Dance

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Jan 26, 2014
Another wildly successful program that I think actually helps make this argument is Virtue & Moir's Prince. It was a fairly common joke during the season that Tessa was the one playing Prince. Except, IMO, there was some real truth behind it. I always thought she was the one who connected the best to that music.
 

mermaidfestavol3

On the Ice
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Feb 20, 2017
Just here to mention Kanako Murakami’s 2015-16 SP: Tango de Roxanne, as seen here: https://youtu.be/niIYp0KpSLo

This is a really interesting topic; the more I thought about it, the harder it was to find examples!

Mini edit: If you weren’t already going to watch, you should watch for the save on the 2A at the very least.
 

MGstyle

Crawling around on the ice after chestnuts
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Sep 1, 2015
They are much harder to be found among the competition programs. What jumped out in my mind was Adam's Let me think about it.
 

rabidline

Final Flight
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Aug 16, 2018
They are much harder to be found among the competition programs. What jumped out in my mind was Adam's Let me think about it.

On this, many posters have also pointed out that there are plenty more examples found in EX programs compared to competitive programs, especially in the singles discipline.

Is it possible that there may be a general sense of the judges not responding favorably to male skaters skating to female vocals, and vice versa? This is because I remember from rewatching Shoma's Loco FS that a lot of commentators mentioned several times that they dislike or can't stand his music, but then again Milva's voice was more special than the usual female vocals, so maybe his FS was a special case :laugh:
 

theharleyquinn

Medalist
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Yeah, I think there are at least a few things at play.

1. Vocals haven't been permitted in programs for that long. It makes sense that skaters would act conservatively before people start to branch out.

2. This is still a conservative sport with aggressive gender norms projected onto almost everything.

3. Coaches/choreographers may feel that a male skater with music sung by a woman may add another layer of critique on the artistry (as in: what if the judges don't feel like the skater is embodying the music as it's sung by a woman?). Vice versa for female skaters. This perception could be holding skaters back.
 

Wilwarin

On the Ice
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Mar 29, 2017
And maybe in competition, the judge may take extra time to identify who the skater is portraying. Would an unrecognized match result in lower Presentation marks?

It would be interesting though, if everybody suddenly start to act as the object of song:dance2:
 

Ic3Rabbit

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I thought of a good one. A female skater could skate to Johnny Cash, "(I fell into) a burning ring of fire." She would be the fire.

That way, she could recycle her "Firebird" costume.

Let me introduce you to 2 Time US Gold Medalist and US Open Champ Ashley Clark. She skates some to "Ring of Fire" in her program from last year she does at Sun Valley on Ice. IDK for sure if she skated this at the US OPEN last year or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oq42lzLDh8

ETA: She skates to many male sung pieces in this program.

NOTE TO SKATERS: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Let me introduce you to 2 Time US Gold Medalist and US Open Champ Ashley Clark. She skates some to "Ring of Fire" in her program from last year she does at Sun Valley on Ice. IDK for sure if she skated this at the US OPEN last year or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oq42lzLDh8

NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:

(She knew that all that baton she took as a cheerleader in high school would pay off one day! :) )

Long live Sun Valley! :love:
 
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