I love that the live senior ISU competitions are on YouTube, and was very happy with no commentary for the GP events - commentating well is hard, and better none than bad commentary. But for Europeans and 4C, we've got a commentator. Who is it? (I'm not a fan...)
ISU video commentator?
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The British chap who reels off statistics but knows zero about actual skating? Ghastly. Really ruins it for me. I ended up missing most of the Ice Dance from Graz because I couldn't cope with the "commentary".
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His commentary was like a special form of torture designed to torment figure skating fans.
I have never heard anyone say so much with absolutely zero purpose in the most lifeless tone.
Make it stop please!!!!!!
I have never heard anyone say so much with absolutely zero purpose in the most lifeless tone.
Make it stop please!!!!!!
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If it makes you feel better he wasn’t there during the RD.
I don’t care if people disagree with me, I miss Chris!
I have no idea why he's not used. I do know that after the Youth Olympics he was being denounced as biased and racist.
Most the people who didn't like Chris don't understand the true purpose of announcing... which is beyond actually being informative and correct is to heighten interest in the program. He does a good job at that. If he provides a wrong detail from time to time, gives an opinion you disagree with, or mispronounce a name then get over it.
This whole situation just shows off bad aspects of both internet fandom and the ISU's uneven professionalism.
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Since nobody has actually answered your question yet, and I seemed to be the one answering every time somebody asked this question during Europeans, I may as well do it again.
His name is Paul Alster. But, he's better known on here as "SBS Man", because he normally does the commentary on that channel in Australia.
Although he commentates in Australia, he's actually British.
Mishaminion has mentioned a few times that "he's a horse racing commentator and it shows". (Which came as a big surprise to anonymoose_au, who is used to listening to him commentating on figure skating). But, I have no interest whatsoever in horse racing, so I don't know if he is any better at talking about it.
Personally, I prefer the British Eurosport guys (not just Chris - all of them!) to Paul. But, although he is not my favourite of the commentators the ISU have utilised on their streams, Paul is definitely better than that American guy that was commentating on the EYOF and some other events on the Olympic Channel a few years ago. He was completely clueless on everything!
CaroLiza_fan
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Personally, I prefer the British Eurosport guys (not just Chris - all of them!) to Paul. But, although he is not my favourite of the commentators the ISU have utilised on their streams, Paul is definitely better than that American guy that was commentating on the EYOF and some other events on the Olympic Channel a few years ago. He was completely clueless on everything!
CaroLiza_fan
That was Steve Schlanger, he's normally an alpine skiing commentator.
OTOH, I couldn't also stand Andrea Joyce when she was in the booth butchering skaters names and everything. Also, I wish they would ditch Tara on NBC, I can deal with Johnny.
Thanks everyone, it helps to have a name and context. I think he is awful. Most of the Eurosport people, especially Chris and Nicky, were so natural - and Chris was good just on his own - and it felt a valuable addition. (Though some of the guest skaters they've tried have been wooden, Mark Hanretty got much better as he practiced). This current guy, I fast forward to try to avoid him. Thanks for the heads up that he's not in the rhythm dance - hurrah!
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That name doesn't ring a bell. Are you by any chance thinking of the 2019 EYOF? Because it was the 2017 EYOF that I am thinking of (I was watching a video of a particular skater at the 2017 EYOF a few days ago, which is why the commentator is fresh in my head).
I just watched a couple of videos of Steve, and it doesn't sound like the same guy. Here is the guy I am talking about:
Zagitova within 2017 EYOF Ladies FS archived livestream video
I did find out who he was during another event he commentated on, and posted it in the competition thread on here. But, I can't remember what the event was!
I haven't heard any of them commentating, so can't pass comment on what they are like. But, I have heard plenty of other people sharing their opinions on Johnny and Tara!
CaroLiza_fan
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Just to tie up the loose end, I finally found the conversation about the commentator that I was talking about who did the 2017 EYOF. It was in the 2017 Asian Games thread, and it was actually Winnie_20 that posted his name:
And my part of the process was doing a search for his name to see if I could find out anything more about him:
So, I hope this clears things up
CaroLiza_fan
And my part of the process was doing a search for his name to see if I could find out anything more about him:
So, I hope this clears things up
CaroLiza_fan
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In my opinion Charlie/Tanith are so much better.
Yeah i'm not a huge fan of his commentary either, you can't tell he's not used to do commentary for figure skating events as he basically repeats what you can already read in the tech box adding very little.
What i look forward in a good commentary, are some tidbits on the little details, things that skaters did particularly well or could have been better, possible mistakes like underrotations or edge issues, spin/stsq levels and even a reaction for an unexpected fall or an element particularly well executed. There's always an opportunity to inform the audience but without interrumpting the performance.
What i look forward in a good commentary, are some tidbits on the little details, things that skaters did particularly well or could have been better, possible mistakes like underrotations or edge issues, spin/stsq levels and even a reaction for an unexpected fall or an element particularly well executed. There's always an opportunity to inform the audience but without interrumpting the performance.
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Racist? :O Wow. I have only watched a few competitions he commented on but he never came across as racist! I must have missed these moments in the competitions I watched then.
Biased? - I can kinda live with that. Everyone has their favorite. He didn't seem to be super biased, apart from the fact that he was in awe regarding the Russian lady trio, but honestly, no matter how harsh we discuss their quads, critize bloated scores etc, they still are a level beyond 95% of the skaters so I don't think it would be super biased. But maybe he seems to be biased towards someone else additionally?
Regardless, Paul Alster was a pain to listen to and clearly he did not use his brain when commenting on Eva Lotta Kiibus and Anita Ostlund. How can you mess up so badly...
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Biased and racist? Chris? I hadn't heard that one before, and although he was completely wrong about Kagiyama (he was surprised with the come-back after the short programme, and tended to favour Mozalev and Samsonov), the word 'racist' did not come to my mind. Biased, maybe, favouring some skaters, maybe, but not in a derogatory way. At least that's not what I heard - but I might be biased myself! I actually thought he tried to hold up all skaters, and was supportive. Just lacking in knowledge about Japanese skating, and especially Kagiyama. I miss Chris too!
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+1, exactly my thoughts. He has a soft and empathic way of commenting on skater's fails and falls, an ability that I very much appreciate because it shows the respect he has even for the ones that are on the last place. I think it's easy to forget that any skater we watch on these high competitive levels has invested a tremendous amount of time, sweat and tears into getting there. I like having a commentator who knows that.
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I'm unsure if it makes it better or worse to reveal that SBSman has actually improved.
He started doing commentary for SBS in late 2015/2016 and when he started he was absolutely hopeless and clearly had no clue what he was talking about. He's mildly better now. Only mildly, mind.
He started doing commentary for SBS in late 2015/2016 and when he started he was absolutely hopeless and clearly had no clue what he was talking about. He's mildly better now. Only mildly, mind.
Oh wow! I saw your post and my first reaction was “Hey, I didn’t write that, must be a quote from someone else!”
...
And then I noticed the year, 2017.
I have zero memory of this!
But glad I could help out solving the mystery!
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When even Jackie Wong has something to say about the commentator, you know he's getting under people's skin
@rockerskating: I really have no idea how we went from a no-commentary world feed for years to having a solo commentator who is benign but doesn't particular contribute much
That's my biggest issue with the guy - the constant, pointless "Captain Obvious" observations. "Some gifts coming out onto the ice..." I also get creeped out when he is always talking about how lovely so-and-so is, or how pretty their dress is. Just way too much superficial fluff.
@rockerskating: I really have no idea how we went from a no-commentary world feed for years to having a solo commentator who is benign but doesn't particular contribute much
That's my biggest issue with the guy - the constant, pointless "Captain Obvious" observations. "Some gifts coming out onto the ice..." I also get creeped out when he is always talking about how lovely so-and-so is, or how pretty their dress is. Just way too much superficial fluff.
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