Skating Commentating: What "should" or "should not" be said? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Skating Commentating: What "should" or "should not" be said?

adamanna

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
I desperately wish to know the commentating styles of Russian broadcasters. From youtube videos they often appear to be talking a lot and I wonder what they are saying.

The Russian commentators are really horrible. When I read complains about Scott & Sara, I always think - oh, you should watch Russian broadcasts!
I'll try to be brief.

1. Soooooo biased, soooo pro-Russian - just no matter what a Russian skater skates!
Also, they love Johnny Weir.

2. The only figure skating elements that manage to win Russian commentators' attention are quad and sometimes trixel in mens competitions, and triple-triple combination - in ladies. The rest seems to be a blur for the commentators. Quad talks after each male skater performance are actually quite annoying. The best example of this is a commentary of Weir's FS at 2006 Olys. During his performance the commentators were dead silent, and after Weir finished, the first thing they talked about was quad as if the absence of it was OBVIOUSLY the biggest and only problem of that skate.
And of course they NEVER talk about choreography, transitions, edges or artistry. It seems to me that they don't even understand what they are and WHY they are in figure skating at all.

3. They comment not as judges, but as fans, as audience. Again - Olys 2006, Irina's FS. "Go Ira go!!! Oh, oh, triple lutz - yes!!!! Everything is going just fine, go Ira go!!!!! Oh, oh, triple flip - YES!! Ira we are here with you" and so on. When the marks came - "Oh, behind Sacha, that's RIDICULOUS!!!" and other crap like that.

4. A lot of chip-chat that has no connection whatsoever with what's going on on the ice.

5. They are lazy to check information about skaters, competitions, titles and so on.

6. They still think 6.0 even when they show their knowledge of the most recent rules. Again - they just do not pay attention to spins, transitions, choreography... They just don't understand IJS.

7. Tatiana Tarasova is a mess as a commentator. She's looking at skaters from the inside, so to speak, as a coach, not from the outside as a judge or commentator. Also she is slow-talking and highly uninformative.
I like Irina Rodnina. She gives the less biased and most knowledgeable comments.

(I myself am a native Russian speaker, but I'm from Ukraine actually. The Ukrainian commentators are slightly better btw. Usually we have a pair of commentators, a former skater and a judge. They give good comments, especially judges, and unbiased, since we hardly have any figure skating in Ukraine to be biased about. But usually we have only Russian broadcasts, especially during GP)
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
adamanna, Welcome to Golden Skate! What a great first post! Thank you!

In the USA, we often think our NBC commentators are the very worst, and it's nice to know that they have competition for that spot :laugh:
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
In the USA, we often think our NBC commentators are the very worst, and it's nice to know that they have competition for that spot :laugh:

Yeah, adamanna made me feel that I should appreciate more for what we have.:laugh: Welcome here, adamanna! And thanks for the info which we rarely get!
 

StellaCampo

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Adamanna,
Thank you for answering my question. I am really surprised about the quality of commentators/what they say. I expected Russians, with their great tradition of ballet, figure skating and classical music, to be capable of high quality commentary.
 

kosjenka

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
B/S were the better team, no doubt in my eyes. But they made several mistakes here and there and that effected their overall performance. After they skated, S/P had to skate perfectly in order to beat them. The problem is that S/P were actually perfect in their delivery of the program that night and still lost. That was anticlimatic at best. IMHO S/P deserved the gold based on their flawless performance under such pression. That doesn't mean they were the better team. But they performed better that night.

in SLC - thos commentators were on their very worse in my opinion.
I was so disappointed in such. I agree WITH one of the previous posters - as educated commentators are, they are not the panel. I dont thin k they should be "blank canvas".
As for the performances - S&P recycled a 3 year old program that had no difficulty (not even what they could deliver - like their T$I from previous season) and were not capable of synchronized side by side take off and landing.

Funny how on Worlds there was a clip on US tv about the scandal with most of the judged explaining their marks in SLC. Only the Ukrainian judge actually gave a valid reason for his marks. All the judges who gave gold to S&P said "i like them more". And is perfectly acceptable. No controversy in that at all.

I have to admit i love Dick Button for nicknames he gives - like Cupcake for Elena Sokolova and for that he never gave in another stunt back in 1998 - when some NA commentators and journalists claimed that Anissina&Peizerat will be given bronze over Bourne&Kraatz in a trade off.
Anissina&Peizerat had a very strong OD and their Free dance to R&J was a masterpiece. I am so glad Dick stood u for them.

But I admit I hate when he talks during the performance. Italian commentators are the worse in my opinion. Once Barbara Fusar Poli was commenting on an exibition and she was talking during every performance.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I thought Tara Lipinski was awful commentating for Cup of Russia. She wouldn't shut up. I think that's my biggest gripe. I want to hear the music not somebody babbling about their past.
 

Butterscotch17

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Of all the U.S. commentators, Tara Lipinski is the worst, IMO. She is so negative! I mean, I know she was the Olympic gold medalist at fifteen, so she has high standards, but she seems impossible to impress. And like noskates said, it bothered me how she kept talking about herself and her career over and over...

I usually think Michael Weiss's commentary is pretty good. I like Terry Gannon very much as far as the non-experts go. That Craig Hummer guy who was on Universal Sports, I'd never heard him before, but he was pretty bad. He asked Peter some pretty unintelligent questions, in my opinion. Some I don't think Peter bothered to answer.

But, according to adamanna, I should be thankful I don't have to hear Russian commentary. :p
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Uhh.. sorry to interrupt but Eurosport has nothing to do with the BBC. They are 2 different channels, one is on the national waves (we pay £200 annual TV License for), one is on cable (which we pay additional £xxx sum to get, but is a free air channel) although both employees British commentators. Nowadays BBC mostly have Robin Cousin as the commentator who's fantastic (and Sue Baker, who's employed for her blond hair, fake tan and doing little else), who's respectful and very knowledgeable. Europe sport, you have Nick and Chris, who are my fav pair, who are more on the ball than not, and they always make entertaining banter that I appreciate..

True, and thanks for pointing that out. I meant to say B. Eurosport, but clearly got my wires crossed. I love Robin Cousins and generally appreciate the Nick and Chris duo.
 

owlskater

Spectator
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I agree with you about Tara being negative. As soon as someone makes a slight error, she writes them off. The other day she said one of the top ladies was "falling apart" I think it was Gracie, who took silver! That is not falling apart. Then, she never says anything good about the skaters, does not point out what they are doing well and talks incessantly. In the past I thought it was her inexperience, but now she has no excuse. I am another fan watching with the sound off.
 

adamanna

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Thanks everybody for a warm welcome!
StellaCampo, unfortunately there's no great tradition of good entertaining TV in Russia:(
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I agree with you about Tara being negative. As soon as someone makes a slight error, she writes them off. The other day she said one of the top ladies was "falling apart" I think it was Gracie, who took silver! That is not falling apart. Then, she never says anything good about the skaters, does not point out what they are doing well and talks incessantly. In the past I thought it was her inexperience, but now she has no excuse. I am another fan watching with the sound off.

Yeah that comment made absolutely no sense; she made it when Gracie had a doubled a 3L with a crashed landing. I'd hardly call that falling apart! Gracie made a few errors, but she did not fall and managed to score 112.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I find it quite amusing - in an annoying way :) - when commentators who talk incessantly during a routine, then end by saying "I felt no connection to the program", and I can't help but think: "Well, if you shut up for five seconds straight, you might... "

Oh, and hello everyone! apropos "shutting up" - I only registered to be able to view the board, I've been lurking for some time, enjoying reading the conversations - and didn't anticipate that the first thing I'd do after registering, was reply to the first thread I read... But such is life. :)
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I find it quite amusing - in an annoying way :) - when commentators who talk incessantly during a routine, then end by saying "I felt no connection to the program", and I can't help but think: "Well, if you shut up for five seconds straight, you might... "

Oh, and hello everyone! apropos "shutting up" - I only registered to be able to view the board, I've been lurking for some time, enjoying reading the conversations - and didn't anticipate that the first thing I'd do after registering, was reply to the first thread I read... But such is life. :)

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your time here. :)
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
I find it quite amusing - in an annoying way :) - when commentators who talk incessantly during a routine, then end by saying "I felt no connection to the program", and I can't help but think: "Well, if you shut up for five seconds straight, you might... "

Oh, and hello everyone! apropos "shutting up" - I only registered to be able to view the board, I've been lurking for some time, enjoying reading the conversations - and didn't anticipate that the first thing I'd do after registering, was reply to the first thread I read... But such is life. :)
LRK, I think I've seen your comments on skating blogs - could this be the case? Nice to have you on board, either way :)
 

mikiandorocks

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
The portuguese eurosport commentators never talk during the performances. Whatever they have to say they say it in the end of it while the slo-mo is being shown and during the knc moments. I like that.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
@ Mrs P & Buttercup - Oh, thank you! This does seem like a very welcoming forum, and I'm feeling quite a glow of pleasure at your kind words. :) And Buttercup, yes, indeed, it might be so. :) (LRK are my initials - I've no imagination when it comes to usernames. :) )
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I agree with you about Tara being negative. As soon as someone makes a slight error, she writes them off. The other day she said one of the top ladies was "falling apart" I think it was Gracie, who took silver! That is not falling apart. Then, she never says anything good about the skaters, does not point out what they are doing well and talks incessantly. In the past I thought it was her inexperience, but now she has no excuse. I am another fan watching with the sound off.

Yes, it was Gracie. Definitely, winning a silver in your second GP is not falling apart :)
Welcome, owlskater!

I find it quite amusing - in an annoying way :) - when commentators who talk incessantly during a routine, then end by saying "I felt no connection to the program", and I can't help but think: "Well, if you shut up for five seconds straight, you might... "

Oh, and hello everyone! apropos "shutting up" - I only registered to be able to view the board, I've been lurking for some time, enjoying reading the conversations - and didn't anticipate that the first thing I'd do after registering, was reply to the first thread I read... But such is life. :)

Welcome to Golden Skate! Please return and post often! (I am not very creative with my username either :slink: but at least I find it easy to remember :) )
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Thank you! And that's a very good point; especially for someone like me, who, let's face it, has a memory like a sieve - and that's on a good day! :)

Oh, and since my resolution to register and continue to lurk lasted for all of about two minutes, I think it's safe to say that I'll post again. ;)
 
Top