Did NBC ever interview Arakawa after her win? | Golden Skate

Did NBC ever interview Arakawa after her win?

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Did I miss it...or did NBC (or USA) not show a normal post-award interview of Shizuka Arakawa? Was Shizuka not invited to the TODAY Show...or the NBC set...or to Olympic Ice? [or was she invited & didn't want to go? I doubt that.]

Why was Shizuka's well deserved victory not honored with an interview by NBC & its affiliates?

Her weak English is no excuse...she could be interviewed in Japanese with an interpreter.

p.s. - The three words that Shizuka uttered to Andrea Joyce, who caught her in the passageway out of the ice, don't count! OI showed the tiny clip of Shizuka with Andrea Joyce...but that's not a proper interview.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Just to add -

Even Irina showed up on the TODAY Show on Friday, along with Sasha, Emily & Kimmie. Irina & Kimmie also went to the OI for their final show.

Where was Shizuka???

What does this portend for Shizuka's post-Oly marketing power?
 

hrmsk8ngnutt

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
I wondered about this as well. Then again, maybe the Japanese media has been all over her. She's the only Japanese athlete to win a medal at these games - and she won the 'glamour' event of the games!!!! So, maybe that's why there hasn't been much US media coverage of Shizuka.

OT, I saw a TV ad this morning for COI. They prominently had Michelle, Sasha, and Irina.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
hrmsk8ngnutt said:
OT, I saw a TV ad this morning for COI. They prominently had Michelle, Sasha, and Irina.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)

And where is Shizuka, the gold medalist? I can't help but think that the North Am. skating establishment (COI and SOI) are in a tizzy because of the outcome of the women's event. ha-ha! I love it when the establishment's 'plans' don't go quite their way!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 

FreeKatie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Frau Muller said:
And where is Shizuka, the gold medalist? I can't help but think that the North Am. skating establishment (COI and SOI) are in a tizzy because of the outcome of the women's event. ha-ha! I love it when the establishment's 'plans' don't go quite their way!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I'm thinking maybe Shizuka declined - all of Japan was likely after her for interviews, I don't think the Today show was at the top of her list.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Language never stopped the US networks from interviewing Oksana Baiul many times after her 1994 win. At that time, Oksana spoke probably less English than does Shizuka...who, by the way, has been living in the US for a while (first in Detroit with Callaghan, then in Simsbury with Tarasova & currently with Morozov).
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
I am so mad they haven't done interviews with her! She IS the Gold-medal winner and earned it all the way. I am sure they could find translators.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
It's a sad state of affairs but being Japanese and being a figure skater, unfortunately do not add up to American mainstream interest. Special interest, however, would go to a European skater. JMO

Joe
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree with you Joe on the European skater thing. I mean, Irina was the bronze medallist and they still had her on the Today show.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I remember, didn't ESPN interview Mao Asada through a translator? So Shiz could definitely have been interviewed, even if it was for a short while.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Joe - If you are correct, then I don't see many interviews with gold medal winners coming in the years ahead. Between Mao Asada for the women & Nobunari Oda for the men -- not to mention other possible World Champs in either gender -- I can see many years without interviews of the winners.

Conceivably, NBC may be interviewing only the ice dance winners of the 2010 Vancouver games, because there is a very real possibility that the three other gold medals will go to Asians:

Ladies - Mao Asada (or other Japanese or Korean lady...and we know who they are)

Men - Nobunari Oda (or Takahashi or other Japanese man)

Pairs - pick your pick from several Chinese teams, including those too young to have skated in Torino
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Four years is a long- I repeat, LONG- time. No one knows who's going to dominate when, or at all.

I remember in 02 there were some predictions that really fell flat.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
According to CBC commentary during her exhibition -- can't remember if it was Mark Lee, Underhill, or Martini who said this -- Arakawa was up all night with the Japanese media and got only one hour of sleep before she skated in the gala.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Red Dog said:
Four years is a long- I repeat, LONG- time. No one knows who's going to dominate when, or at all.

I remember in 02 there were some predictions that really fell flat.

Yeah - Who were we predicting after the Salt Lake games?

Ladies - COHEN first and foremost. Suguri perhaps. Arakawa wasn't even at the '02 games. Not everyone felt that Irina (or Michele) would still be around. So we were right on Cohen & Suguri being in the top four at the next Olys.

Men - PLUSHENKO...we all knew that one, clear as day, four years ago. Silver medalist at one Olympics becomes gold medalist at the next - easy! 'Quad King' Goebel was to have been his big rival. We were right on Plush but not on Tim, alas. I don't think that anyone had any idea about Lambiel.

Pairs - SHEN/ZHAO & TOT/MAR (3rd & 4th in Salt Lake) were easy predictions & they made the podium. The Zhangs were already beign considered serious threats back in Salt Lake..they made many peoples shortlist of 'who to watch for 2006.'.

Dance - Here are the big surprises, vis-a-vis our post-Salt Lake knowledge. I assumed Lobacheva/Averbuck and Chait/Sakhnovsky through to 2006....L/A retired after '03 (as did B/K...who I didn't think would continue after '02) C/S took a nosedive in the standings aftr the infamous '02 Worlds bronze. I knew that Navka/Kostomarov would be on the podium but I assumed they'd be the #2 Russians through Torino. I *never* imagined Belbin/Agosto being in the picture just because 'newbie' Americans teams usually have to pay their dues with very slow climbs up the ladder. Thankfully, that was not the case here.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
hockeyfan228 said:
According to CBC .....Arakawa was up all night with the Japanese media and got only one hour of sleep before she skated in the gala.

Poor thing; that explains a lot. Thanks for enlightening us! I just couldn't imagine that NBC wouldn't somehow TRY to interview Shizuka. They probably did try, many times over, without success.
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
I also think it possible that Arakawa might have turned down NBC, and/or be less willing to skate in the US, than the Russians. After all, there is only one tour for Russia (and that is very recent), so I doubt it is able to pay the skaters the money they could make in the US. I have also heard that Russians don't go in for using skaters in advertisements. The Japanese, however, have well established ice shows, and, the opportunity for endorsements.
 

flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
I was just thinking about this. I forgot Shizuka has been living in the US for years. She should have been able to speak some English. How is she communicating with her coach. I know she is not speaking Russian. If a translator was a problem, they could have asked Fumie to translate. She was speaking good english to the camera after her skate. I find it hard to believe she declined an interview with the US.
 

curious

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
Red Dog said:
I agree with you Joe on the European skater thing. I mean, Irina was the bronze medallist and they still had her on the Today show.





Irina has been at the top of the sport longer than Arakawa speaks better english. She also has been touring with COI for years and was the fave to win gold with Sasha. They are more familiar with her.:biggrin:
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
American audiences were hardly familiar with a little Ukrainean girl named Oksana Baiul, when she won Olympic Gold, yet she was all over the place.

Maybe Arakawa simply needs to be a bit tinier, younger and blonder to make 'Sally and Joe Front-Porch' (in Uncle Dick's term) embrace her?

That's what it's all about - selling the box of Wheaties. Shiz can sell rice in Osaka but no Wheaties to 'Sally and Joe Front-Porch' in Oklahoma.

If KATY TAYLOR ever becomes an Olympic champ, Sally & Joe Front-Porch will buy whatever product she advertises (Hummers?) in droves. You can bet on that!
 
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