The future of Stars on Ice? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

The future of Stars on Ice?

Flying Feijoa

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Country
New-Zealand
I find it interesting that a beautiful artistic sport like skating is failing in the US and Spokane, yet bring in Shen Yun, and you have to fight for good seats...any seats.........and not only in Spokane but all around the world....

Shen Yun is organised by Falun Gong (a mostly harmless lifestyle/religious group that nevertheless has a strong political presence and a penchant for self-promotion).
If USFSA had the same zeal (and if promoting figure skating was deemed similarly favourable to American foreign policy) I reckon FS audiences would be a lot larger.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Maybe it’s just me, but here is the reason I never bother to go to SOI in my city: I’m completely not attracted to the same old US cast. They have nothing to offer to me. I saw Meryl and Charlie live at least three times already and that’s enough. As to the rest they present no value to me. Why would I pay money to see Czisny, Abott or Browning? Do they even still skate at all? As long as SOI is limited entirely to the US cast and some old retired Canadians, they will never see me there.
I want to see top fresh skaters: Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Europeans. Why can Japan invite Russians to the tour, but here in the US we are stuck forever with the same old tired names? Why did Italians invite Liza and Aliona, but here in the US my only choice is Bradley? Bradley who?
So here is your answer: those empty seats were mine.
 

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
I want to see top fresh skaters: Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Europeans. Why can Japan invite Russians to the tour, but here in the US we are stuck forever with the same old tired names? Why did Italians invite Liza and Aliona, but here is the US my only choice is Bradley? Bradley who?
The low returns mean there's not much incentive for major overseas skaters to fly halfway around the world to participate in the US tour anymore.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Well, I'm sure those who left the empty seats would probably be a downer anyway.:sarcasm:

People who really enjoy being entertained will buy the seats. Nothing off their backs.:slink:
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
funny you mention josée and emmanuel... because if it is a fact that both of them underperformed incompetition, except for each other's respective medals at GPF... however, if I had to name skaters without world medals maxing on pro careers, these two would be on top of my list... Josée did very well in pro competitions, especially since her money jump (the 3lutz) was a highlight while other ladies had already toned down their program... Her charming interpretations and her flair did her very well... Talk about a skater whose post-amateur skating life was much much more than her competitive life... Sandhu's life took him in so many directions, lately in Russia working with PLushenko...

I'd add to this list Lucinda Ruh who never won medals of any importance but was such a highlight in shows and tours... i would have loved to see her skate... one of a kind skater....

and well.. Elladj is already drawing crowds. Medals can get you opportunities for sure but they are not the only way to succeed... it's like school... some people can be at the top of their class but never land the big jobs....

so please, let's not belittle skaters like Jeremy or Nam or anyone on tour.. if they are there, it's because they earned it.

Some of my most favorite SOI skaters (we've been attending the tour since 1993) don't necessarily have Olympic medals - Kurt, Todd, Yuka, Ina & Zimmerman, The Kerrs ...

I do miss the international flavor of the show that was the case for years, so I am grateful that the Reading, PA show was a USA/Canada cast (though saddened that there are so few dates in the USA). I wish skaters like Javi & Evgenia would be included in the American SOI shows. Furthermore, if we lived closer to the Canadian border (within a reasonable driving distance), we would attend a CSOI show in a heartbeat (we :love: so many of the Canadian skaters).
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
It is sad to see that shows don't interest the great public in many places. I kind of understand that to a certain extent - I would not watch galas at competitions if some of my big faves were not doing sth in them. The quality of the non-competition routines is usually not great and watching a series of numbers not in any way connected with each other can be mind-numbingly boring. For me, the problem is mostly the lack of interesting content in the choreographies.

There are different approaches, such as Art on Ice who started using live music and adding also dancers and acrobats and what not into their shows. They have been able to go on for a remarkable 25 years. I have not followed their ticket sales that much but the fact they still are able to go on and do a two-three week long tour in a tiny country - the shows are attended by people from all the surrounding countries and elsewhere as well which partly explains the success. They did try to go abroad - I saw them in Finland two times - but that ended after a couple of years.

As a huge Javi fan, I have followed the development of Revolution on Ice closely and have even been to the two previous tours. The main thing I guess is that they have a national skating star who has managed to become a bit of a celebrity in his country despite being from a sport that hardly anyone had heard of before. They have also worked hard to get where they are now. The first show was a single one in Madrid in 2016 and Javi has revealed that it was a great gamble involving his and his managers and their families' life savings and that they managed to get a big sponsor last minute to make it all happen... The tour that followed in 2018 was probably already easier to make happen. He was a much bigger star than in 2016 with the Olympics success, with much more visibility. They managed to get a huge international sponsorship for the show as well as national sponsors which made the costs easier to cover. The cast was international and pretty good level (yeah, Yuna Kim and Kurt Browning...). They also had national artists for live music and acrobatics a la Art on Ice. The novelty could also be a thing for the Spanish audiences, but this year there were already signs that people would return. Their problem is maybe getting the schedule working so that they can get the same artists and skaters for the whole tour - the current set up of two parts works not so well. The timing around the holidays works for the audiences, but for the competitive skaters there are still competitions going. Not to mention the big Russian and many smaller shows in many places going on at the same time.

Getting through with the shows has happened differently in each year. Last year they started PR very early and had also ads in the streets, I don't know if they TV ads, but I doubt it because I have not seen any... This year, much of the earlier PR concentrated on the cities outside Madrid and involved also meetings with city authorities etc. Then there was a more intense period for promotion starting at the beginning of November, just before the first show. And Javi was truly working hard as the face of the tour - there was something almost every day for those two months! But they did get through and the attendance was very good - slightly down from last year (60 000 to 55 000), but still very good considering that it is Spain. The 16 000 audience at Madrid was a bit of an exaggeration, not sold out definetly and I think the 13 500 that I saw from someone inside the organisation is more realistic...

What is perhaps different with ROI compared to many other countries, is that even though it is clearly a commercial enterprise, many of the national sports entities support it and promote it also on their own channels. LaLigaSports maintained by football in Spain and supporting other sports in the country is also among them. They also have a charity organisation involved. Promoting skating through Javi and shows is pretty unique and could be a factor thinking about the show's continuation. We'll see what happens in the future, if they will be able to maintain the success.

One thing I wanted to comment upon from the previous discussion is the linguistic problems mentioned by someone. ROI is organised in Spain by a Spanish production company, the choreographers are Canadians (Sandra Bezic and David Wilson), the cast included this year Spaniards, Canadians, Germans, French, Italians, Russians. Different levels of English are probably the most common language spoken among them, but language does not seem to be a problem in casting the show. This also applies to the Japanese shows most of which feature an international cast (there are also strictly Japanese ones but these are perhaps not the biggest of them). The Russian shows tend to be more focused on national skaters, but then again, they can pick and choose, I guess. The other Canadian tour with Tessa and Scott in the lead had last year an international cast as well (Thank you Canada was of course another story). Nationality and language is not really a problem.

E
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Then how come someone from skating circles did not know about a show, only heard about it afterwards...? Or some have heard about the shows only here?

Yes, let me just start listing the ways people miss things in their daily, busy lives.
 

b-man

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
I don't know where the tour visited up to now, but the website shows 14 cities remaining. There are mostly Canadian skaters, which is appropriate as 12 of the 14 cities are in Canada.
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
^ So far, Reading, PA & Lake Placid, NY. The tour picks up after Worlds.
 

Ducky

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Shen Yun is organised by Falun Gong (a mostly harmless lifestyle/religious group that nevertheless has a strong political presence and a penchant for self-promotion).
If USFSA had the same zeal (and if promoting figure skating was deemed similarly favourable to American foreign policy) I reckon FS audiences would be a lot larger.

If by promoting you mean littering store front windows with flyers in a way that it's mostly a joke to everyone, that might not be the best way. (Like glitter those ads somehow get EVERYWHERE).
 

Honey20

Rinkside
Joined
May 7, 2020
Country
Canada
If you could choose the cast for a future Stars On Ice, who would make your list?
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
I'd just like to get past COVID-19 and still have tours like SOI actually exist. It would be great if they went back to their tour all over the US and Canada with an international cast format like they did in the 90s with actual different entertaining choreographed group numbers each tour, but I guess I can't wish for too much.
 

Jeanie19

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Country
United-States
I'd just like to get past COVID-19 and still have tours like SOI actually exist. It would be great if they went back to their tour all over the US and Canada with an international cast format like they did in the 90s with actual different entertaining choreographed group numbers each tour, but I guess I can't wish for too much.

You can always wish for this. I'd like it, too.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I did not miss a year of SOI for many, many, MANY years. I had favorite cast members, some that were just "ho hum - them again" and they were usually skaters that didn't appeal to me when they were competing anyway. But I loved the fresh choreography, the current music, and there were always many more skaters that I looked forward to than not. Then in San Jose they started scheduling SOI on MOTHERS DAY at 4:00 in the afternoon. Really? Again I went for a few years until my family expressed their displeasure with me being gone from them to see a skating show. I realize that's maybe when the ice was available but I saw the crowds dwindle with each year. There was also a lack of promotion leading up to the show and unless you had been at the one before, had your email on a list from SAP Center or were on a message board where the schedule was discussed....it would be easy to miss it. Promotion takes money - lots of money. Add to that the continual upward swing of ticket costs, parking was another $20, it just became more and more of a challenge to justify. I do think the decline of patronage was commensurate with the decline of interest in the US. The other factor was fewer international skaters were coming to the US to participate in the show. More and more shows were cropping up in Europe and Japan and Korea.
 
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