A proposal for ISU | Page 2 | Golden Skate

A proposal for ISU

jaylee

Medalist
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
No, the fans don't decide the official winners, just fans' choices from the top finishers participating the Gala/Free Skate programs.

Oh, okay. Inspired by your idea, instead of there being another "competition" in the gala (which could then perhaps have controversial results), perhaps allow the fans to vote in a skater into the gala who didn't qualify for it automatically. I am thinking of Johnny Weir, who didn't finish high enough to skate in the 2010 Olympics exhibitions, but fans tried to petition to have him included in the exhibition. That would be a nice way to allow fan interaction and have their contribution mean something.

Not necessarily. I think jaylee's example of the 2005 Marshall's Challenge is instructive. Even I, as a Michelle Kwan fan, cannot deny that Sasha Cohen not only skated better than Michelle Kwan at that particular event, but that Sasha arguably had better programs (hate, hate, hate Totentanz). But that certainly did not stop Michelle from crushing the competition in both rounds of voting.

I feel pretty much the same way about that, as a Michelle Kwan fan. Sigh...

Fans' choices should be respected too for what they are. If more people like what an expert or a sophisticate doesn't like, so be it. What's the harm? Could it hurt more than the current bitter disagreements over the official results? I see people still arguing over results from years or decades back.

What's the harm? Well, I found the results of NBC Olympic's "You be the Judge" app on their website for the 2010 Olympics insightful. The users were American, and they used the app to score the Olympic programs. NBC averaged the scores and posted the results.

NBC has since taken it down, but I remember being amused by what the fans had done (and hadn't). In the men's, Evan Lysacek's score went up astronomically, Plushenko finished off the podium, and Johnny Weir was on the podium (Takahashi remained, but I don't remember if he got silver or bronze). In the ladies, Yu-Na and Mao remained gold and silver medalists, but Mirai "won" the bronze. In ice dance, I think Davis/White moved ahead of Virtue/Moir, while Belbin/Agosto were in third. I think pairs was the only podium that remained unaltered by the fans (not coincidentally, pairs is the weakest discipline for the US). :p

I'm sure the choices of fans would have been very different had the equivalent of this app been run in Russia and Japan.
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Rather than having the audience judge the gala, have them judge an audience favourite long program and an audience favourite short program. The original results by the judges will still be the ones on the books. However, a trophy can be presented for the audience favourite. I understand it would be like a film festival of sorts, but then like a film festival, the audience can also vote NOT to award an audience favourite for that competition, so that skaters will know their programs weren't at all captivating.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
^ That would work, for me. Not sure if it would have any impact but it would be fun. Maybe if it had some cash attached.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Sure. One audience favorite for each discipline?

With the gala, there are so few in each discipline and there are no discipline-specific rules, it might make more sense just to have one winner.
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
So far, including my original proposal, suggested events to vote on are:

- Vote on one winner per discipline in the Gala/Free Skate or

- Vote inter-disciplinary medalists in the Gala.

- Vote for one audience' choice in each discipline or even each program, and

- Have audience choice in each discipline participate in the Gala regardless of placement and be eligible to be the overall chosen winner.

- Vote for one winner in the Gala.


Voting only from the Gala as the Free Skate event requires competitors to qualify. On the opposite end, voting from competition programs gives a favorite recognization as well as a redeeming opportunity even if this skater performs poorly in the competition. It is about the extent of the popularity contest to include. Either way, I can see additional celebrations. Happy and involved audiences are very good to have indeed.
 

Art&Sport

Medalist
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
No audience participation in the voting for sanctioned comps. I don't see that ever happening. Exhibitions or special events is a different story where involving audiences may increase interest and ticket sales.

Above all, figure skating is not Skating with the Stars. ISU-sanctioned competitions would never think of going that route. They would endanger their status with the IOC. In any case, audiences voting would just add another complicated and unnecessary aspect to the current mess, IMO.

More realistic is advocating for repairing the current scoring system mess, which will take a very long time. I think fans who love being involved with the numbers, reading protocols, and sharing online debates with other fans re the numbers and the rules is as involved and entertaining as it will get. We can predict who we would like to win and debate about who we think should have won, but none of us will ever have any say in an actual sanctioned competition, unless some of become ISU judges. There was the fantasy skating teams pastime that was made available some years ago. I don't know if that is still going strong.

Regarding audience favorites, I think that is what the Michelle Kwan Trophy is about (awarded for the season, of course). Perhaps having audiences vote for their favorite in certain events and competitions is viable -- but I don't think it will ever be accepted as something of official standing for competitions particularly, because it might be seen as showing up the judges.
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
I am not proposing fans' voting to have any official standing. It's more of the organizer's marketing tool and experience enchancer for the audience. Additional fun and emotional satisfaction. Even any resulting controversies or fans' competitions will be good for raising the profile of figure skating, which is a lot less ugly than whacking a skater.
 

Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Skate Canada has a "Fan's Choice" award which is voted by the fans in the arena and presented at the Athlete's dinner. Last year, Grant Hockstein won. Don't know who won this year.

I don't want fans voting for who gets medals though. All too often the most popular skater/hometown favourite would win regardless of how they skated.
 

ILoveFigures

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
OTOH, don't underestimate fans' knowledge and tastes. We may be surprised.

When I read the comments posted on each event, I don't think most fans have the knowledge that is good enough, and if anyone is being biased, it's the fans!

We must remember that this is sports, not theater! The foundation of sports are technique.

Your idea can be good on paper, but practically and logistically it would be almost impossible. What I do think could be a good idea is during the days of competitions, the audience/fans can vote on who was their best skater during the championship/competition. Then afterwards, at the end of the gala, the "winner" can get a special prize, like earnings or a gift. In gymnastics they have something called Longines Prize of Elegance. Maybe something similar is possible to do in skating. =)
 

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Fan voting to determine the results of a competition? It's been done before -- 2005 Marshall's Challenge. And they had an "expert" panel, Peggy Fleming, Peter Carruthers and Dick Button, giving comments and offering their votes publicly.

Based on that experience, I would say it is not a good idea.

ITA. The Marshall's Challenge was sanctioned by the ISU, so in essence it already tried this popular vote idea. It did not succeed beyond a couple of events. Let the gala be what it is intended to be - a show.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Fan voting to determine the results of a competition? It's been done before -- 2005 Marshall's Challenge. And they had an "expert" panel, Peggy Fleming, Peter Carruthers and Dick Button, giving comments and offering their votes publicly.

Based on that experience, I would say it is not a good idea.

Poor Michelle. She was so crippled up she could hardly walk, much less skate. All three judges gave their votes to Sasha. The best they could say about Michelle was, "We have enjoyed your skating in the past."

Didn't matter.

Matt Savoie also clobbered the competition in the first round, wining all three first place votes from the judges. But Johnny Weir and Michael Weiss advanced to the finals by the votes of the audience. I voted on-line for Savoie twenty times (you had to clear your cookies between each vote :) ), but it wasn't enough.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
^^^^ How was the TV rating for this carnival?

I don't have any figures, but my recollection is that it was so-so for the times.

In the early 2000s there were three annual cheesefests on U.S. television, one in early October before the official start of the season, one around Christmas, and one after the season was over. These were quite successful in terms of both the television audience and the live gate. Cash prizes included $50,000 for the winner, which was the same amount a skater could earn by winning the World Championship (plus the big draws got extra money under the table).

But by 2005 interest in figure skating generally had declined to the point where USFSA/ABC TV began grasping at straws to attract a robust audience and corporate sponsorship. This show was kind of a last gasp for this kind of competition-plus-carnival.
 
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