Can Evgeni Plushenko win the 2014 Olympic title? | Page 31 | Golden Skate

Can Evgeni Plushenko win the 2014 Olympic title?

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
That was back in Yagudin vs. Plushenko days when Tarasova said it. Maybe Plushenko had that under rotation problems back then before and after 2002. Maybe under rotation has caused him a fall in SP in 2002 Olympics?

So please tell me, Plushyfan, who is more credible? Tarasova or Mishin?:biggrin:

I think both of them :)

Tarasova is a very smart woman, for me, the best choreographer. But she always knows what to say...
The fall in SP 2002 isn't good example, :disapp: because that was a totally wrong jump...
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
I think both of them :)

Still, you cannot prove your genius claim. Tarasova didn't mention anything about it. And she didn't talk about Yagudin there either. Plushenko is many things. But geniusness is not one of them.:p

When people say genius, I'd relate this term to Kurt Brownings, John Curry, Dick Button, and the like who are truly outstanding.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
Still, you cannot prove your genius claim. Tarasova didn't mention anything about it. And she didn't talk about Yagudin there either. Plushenko is many things. But geniusness is not one of them.:p

When people say genius, I'd relate this term to Kurt Brownings, John Curry, Dick Button, and the like.:)

Of course..:p for me, not. I love Kurt, but...nothing special, because the North-American skaters are a little bit similar for me...Dick he competed so long time ago, I don't care of him, sorry. John probably was very special, but I barely remember him, and he wasn't diverse..

Plushy is a genius.:agree:
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Of course..:p for me, not. I love Kurt, but...nothing special, because the North-American skaters are a little bit similar for me...Dick he competed so long time ago, I don't care of him, sorry. John probably was very special, but I barely remember him, and he wasn't diverse..

Plushy is a genius.:agree:

It gaves an impression that you have bias against North-American skaters. You have made the word "genius" down to a personal taste level rather than keep it on a general accomplishment and talent level. Well, whatever you think. It's your choice. I've seen that there is no reason for me to discuss this "geniusness" of your #1 favorite skater anymore. Only some, but not all, Plushy ubers think so. The rest of the people are more level headed on this.;)

The fall in SP 2002 isn't good example, :disapp: because that was a totally wrong jump...

Why is it not a good example? Because it was too painful for plushy ubers? Or because it has just proved what Tarasova said was right? Maybe Plushenko 2002 SP's fall was not an coincident.:p
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
No, because it was a bad jump, totally..I think Tarasova didn't say about it.. Yes, that was painful for every Plushy's fan, I can't deny.:laugh:

I'm not bias against N-A skaters, much more like you against Plushy. :confused: Your list is also personal opinion, right?
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Your list is also personal opinion, right?

Not really. I think these three were universally hailed as genius. If I go further down the list, it might mix my personal opinions.:) So I won't. I could list, just on top of my head, that the skaters who were crowned "genius" at the time (not by me): Yagudin, Lambiel, Stojko, Hamilton, Abbott, Takahashi, Boitano, Cranston... and of course, your favorite skater Plushenko and your most disgusted skater Chan.:laugh:

Every elite skater is genius in a sense. Plushenko is no more genius than other elite skaters except that he has an ironman's body and ironman's will. I have no doubt that Yagudin has the same ironman's will but his body has failed him.:cry:
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
No, because it was a bad jump, totally..I think Tarasova didn't say about it.. Yes, that was painful for every Plushy's fan, I can't deny.:laugh:

I'm not bias against N-A skaters, much more like you against Plushy. :confused: Your list is also personal opinion, right?

I agree with you that that particular quad isn't a good example of his capability to do quads, particularly when he landed two excellent ones in the FS. It's rare for him to under-rotate quads, let alone fall on them. That being said, it was a real botch up, because if there's ever a time you shouldn't fall on a quad, it's the SP at the Olympics.

If you look at his quad in the past year or so, it's been landed, but hasn't been as clean or with as much speed/height as he has in the past -- it's kind of miraculous that he's still able to do them with his age/injuries. And coming back from injury now I really don't see how he'll be able to execute two clean quads in Sochi. His axel should be fine, as his technique has been good and even when he's off axis or something's wrong, he can save the jump moreso than he can with the quad. But two quads in an LP in 2014 which has harder choreography/spins/footwork will be a mountain of a task for him compared to two quads in 2002.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
OMG! I read on this page, that Plushy has the best jump technic, and what a surprised! "he often underrotated his jumps".:laugh:...

Tarasova is a fan of Plush today ;) she always praises him.
"I am astonished with the work of Evgeni Plushenko! I asked him to come on his practice. He told me that I can. And whole the training I stood - and cried. He surprised me. He shook me. They choose that kind of music, which he can reveal, which can raise him even higher. Zhenya is in terrific shape, exactly, physical shape. He spent a great job of examining every muscle of his body. And he has a great coach, who is engaged with him. I thank to Alexei Mishin for this titanic labor, which he continues. This is not an easy job. But Mishin made a good team. Invited wonderful choreographer. And not one. You know, it's like we are reading different books, becoming deeper and more interesting, so and Plushenko. In him is focused a lot of interesting knowledge. Plus, his grand talent. Although I think that in our figure skating has several singles that could reach him...":biggrin:

She was invited to Plushy's birthday party..but I have no doubt, she will work so hard- politically- against Plushy, because of Kovtun...

Politics for kovtun may work against menshov and gachinski but kovtun is very bad. Worlds and wtt and also Russian nationals but also euros too shows kovtun can't compete against real talent like plushenko. Kovtun was last good at Junior grand prix final!! Double axels for triple at euros and 4 combos in a fs and a ridiculous 3t-1t combo in the worlds sp and a post halfway point collapase for the record books at worlds and a wtt performance that was bad in every way that can be seen in figure skating! Sorry but politics is not going to work for kovtun against plushenko! But maybe it will because kovtun shouldn't have gone anywhere after Russian nationals but amazingly and astonishingly has gone to euros worlds wtt just because tarasova is his coach and not because he has shown any capacity for skating in seniors. None.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Politics for kovtun may work against menshov and gachinski but kovtun is very bad. Worlds and wtt and also Russian nationals but also euros too shows kovtun can't compete against real talent like plushenko. Kovtun was last good a. Junior grand prix final!! Double axels for triple at euros and 4 combos in a fs and a ridiculous 3t-1t combo in the worlds sp and a post halfway point collapase for the record books at worlds and a wtt performance that was bad in every way that can be seen in figure skating! Sorry but politics is nit going to work for kovtun against plushenko! But maybe it will because kovtun shouldn't have gone anywhere after Russian nationals but amazingly and astonishingly has gone to euros worlds wtt just because tarasova is his coach and not because he has shown any capacity for skating in seniors. None.

I don't think it's fair to call Kovtun "very bad". He's a junior skater coming up (almost forced) into the senior ranks. At Euros he thoroughly outjumped Plushenko in the SP -- not even Plushenko in the past year has done a 4T-3T in the SP. Still he's unrefined and Plushenko is more talented, but that's like saying a young Plushenko in 1997/98 was less talented than Russians like Urmanov before he ended up developing more and surpassing/winning. Give him time.

Politics won't work against Plushenko, but performance might... I can totally picture Kovtun having an excellent set of programs (including a FS with two quads) at the next Russian nationals and edging out Plushenko (if Plushenko makes enough mistakes). To me, Kovtun has the potential to be a better overall skater (if you consider the total package, not just jumps) than even Plushenko.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Kovtun did do a quad triple in the short in euros but then did a double axel. Plushenko did a 3/3 and then fell on a triple axel. Both are totally mediocre in different ways. Kovtun in seniors has shown no Ability at doing good short programs and good free skates together. I wouldn't say that he can be better then plushenko as he is showing no potential for that now in either jumping or artistry. He doesn't have the jumps nor the artistry right now in any way that can be combined for success in any senior competition. He should never have been sent to euros or worlds or wtt. Nothing about his skating indicates he can beat plushenko or that medaling at Russian nationals is assured as he placed 5th in 2013 because as in every senior competition he has been in he bombed severely.
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Is there a chance that Plushenko comes back next year but being denied for going into Olympics? I can't imagine that. Seems to me it's impossible.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Yeah plushenko could compete and not wind up going to Sochi. He Had a surgery that is rare and Russian federation could decide it is just too risky to send him and have him withdrawing in the middle of team which means no Russian man in team and no Russian man in singles. Even if plushenko wins russian nationals it would depend on how he won it and if he doesn't win I think it would show he's too physically weak for the Olympics and sending him just because of who he is and not thinking about if he can actually compete would be wrong. It was up to kovtun to get two spots and tarasova convinced everyone that by worlds kovtun was a 100% guarantee for two spots for men. If Russia had two spots it could have sent plushenko without a second thought. But the man must do team and must do singles.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
I agree with you that that particular quad isn't a good example of his capability to do quads, particularly when he landed two excellent ones in the FS. It's rare for him to under-rotate quads, let alone fall on them. That being said, it was a real botch up, because if there's ever a time you shouldn't fall on a quad, it's the SP at the Olympics.

If you look at his quad in the past year or so, it's been landed, but hasn't been as clean or with as much speed/height as he has in the past -- it's kind of miraculous that he's still able to do them with his age/injuries. And coming back from injury now I really don't see how he'll be able to execute two clean quads in Sochi. His axel should be fine, as his technique has been good and even when he's off axis or something's wrong, he can save the jump moreso than he can with the quad. But two quads in an LP in 2014 which has harder choreography/spins/footwork will be a mountain of a task for him compared to two quads in 2002.

We can't deny he will be 31 year old. I only hope he will able to compete and win on Rus Nat with the two good and strong programs. Honestly, I can't imagine how his body will be able to do it. What I know I will support him all the way, and i hope I will see him at Euros 2014. I haven't see him on competition live, only on show.


I don't think it's fair to call Kovtun "very bad". He's a junior skater coming up (almost forced) into the senior ranks. At Euros he thoroughly outjumped Plushenko in the SP -- not even Plushenko in the past year has done a 4T-3T in the SP. Still he's unrefined and Plushenko is more talented, but that's like saying a young Plushenko in 1997/98 was less talented than Russians like Urmanov before he ended up developing more and surpassing/winning. Give him time.
Kovtun is almost 18. (18.07.1995) Plushy was Junior WCH at 14, he was World bronz and silver medalist, European Champion, and two times European silver medalist when he was younger than Kovtun. He beat Urmanov at 15 y.o.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
Is there a chance that Plushenko comes back next year but being denied for going into Olympics? I can't imagine that. Seems to me it's impossible.
That isn't impossible.

Yeah plushenko could compete and not wind up going to Sochi. He Had a surgery that is rare and Russian federation could decide it is just too risky to send him and have him withdrawing in the middle of team which means no Russian man in team and no Russian man in singles. Even if plushenko wins russian nationals it would depend on how he won it and if he doesn't win I think it would show he's too physically weak for the Olympics and sending him just because of who he is and not thinking about if he can actually compete would be wrong. It was up to kovtun to get two spots and tarasova convinced everyone that by worlds kovtun was a 100% guarantee for two spots for men. If Russia had two spots it could have sent plushenko without a second thought. But the man must do team and must do singles.

:thumbsup: I don't like the Rus Fed. But I don't want to see a weak Plushenko. He can't do it, because of his name. I hope he will go to Sochi, if he deserves it. He will participate on the gala. :)
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
When people say genius, I'd relate this term to Kurt Brownings, John Curry, Dick Button, and the like who are truly outstanding.

In the case of Browning and Curry, I think their claims to "genius" are based on their careers as professional performing artists, rather than to their competitive careers. Kurt Browning was the Gene Kelly of figure skating and John Curry the Mikhail Baryshnikov. :)

I would take the word genius to refer to those prophetic and insightful souls that see farther than their contemporaries with regard to the potential of what blades can do on ice. Dick Button, as the leading skater of his time, felt a personal obligation to the sport to push its boundaries in a new way with each competition. At the 1948 Olympics he landed the first double Axel and debuted the first flying camel spin. At the 1949 world championships he became the first skater to land a double loop / double loop combination. At 1950 worlds he he introduced the first three double jump combo, a 2Lo+2Lo+2Lo. At 1951 worlds he did the first 2A+2Lo combination and also the first 2A+2A sequence. All of this was leading up to the 1952 Olympics, where he did the first triple jump, a triple loop.

I think this fits the bill. Button saw the potential of the sport beyond the vision of his peers. :yes:
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
In the case of Browning and Curry, I think their claims to "genius" are based on their careers as professional performing artists, rather than to their competitive careers. Kurt Browning was the Gene Kelly of figure skating and John Curry the Mikhail Baryshnikov. :)

I would take the word genius to refer to those prophetic and insightful souls that see farther than their contemporaries with regard to the potential of what blades can do on ice. Dick Button, as the leading skater of his time, felt a personal obligation to the sport to push its boundaries in a new way with each competition. At the 1948 Olympics he landed the first double Axel and debuted the first flying camel spin. At the 1949 world championships he became the first skater to land a double loop / double loop combination. At 1950 worlds he he introduced the first three double jump combo, a 2Lo+2Lo+2Lo. At 1951 worlds he did the first 2A+2Lo combination and also the first 2A+2A sequence. All of this was leading up to the 1952 Olympics, where he did the first triple jump, a triple loop.

I think this fits the bill. Button saw the potential of the sport beyond the vision of his peers. :yes:
OK. I accept Button.
Plush:
"Plushenko is one of a few male skaters to perform the Biellmann spin. He was the first skater in the world to perform a 4T–3T–2Lo combination in competition, at the 1999 NHK Trophy (he has since landed the combination 26 times so far). He is the first skater to have landed a 4T–3T–3Lo combination in competition, at the Cup of Russia 2002 (he has since landed that combination four times so far). Plushenko is also the first skater to land a 3T–3T–3Lo–2Lo combination, doing so at the 2001 ARD Gala. At the European Championships, he landed a six jump combination (3–3–2–2–2–2) in his exhibition program. He landed a 4T–3T–2Lo–2Lo at the 2001 World Championships. Plushenko has landed a consistent 4T in competition, and landed a 4S in Samara, Russia at the second stage of the 2004 Russian Cup series. It is estimated that he has landed a total of about 100 quads in competition.

At the age of 16, Plushenko was the youngest male skater to ever receive a perfect score of 6.0. He received a total of seventy five 6.0s before the new Code of Points judging system was introduced.

Plushenko is the only male figure skater in the modern history of the sport to have won three Olympic medals in singles (Gillis Grafström won four in the early years of the sport, from 1920–1932)." These are nothing? ;)


I read on his donut spin "Plushenko ring", Bielmann spin, and his spiral were really unique.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Plushenko is the only male figure skater in the modern history of the sport to have won three Olympic medals in singles (Gillis Grafström won four in the early years of the sport, from 1920–1932)." These are nothing? ;)

If he is able to skate, Plushenko will get at least a bronze in the team competition at Sochi, so he will catch up to Grafstrom in total medals even if he doesn't win the singles. :rock:

To tell the truth, when you see Plushenko skate live, it doesn't matter how many awards he has won. It is his presence and command that sweeps all before him. It's like he is saying to his competitors, "I'm Plushenko -- who are you again?" :laugh:
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I was asked many times: "You have such bright students as Urmanov, Yagudin, Plushenko. What is the difference between them?" I think Urmanov was perhaps the most elegant skater. Yagudin was the strongest physically and may be most emotional. ( If I right remember, this was your opinion, too) But I think there hasn't been yet a figure skater in the world, who has such a wide diapason of creativity as Evgeni. That’s what makes him absolutely unique in modern figure skating.
Mishin is right. :agree:
What exactly is your definition of creativity? I have a feeling that our definitions are very, very different. There are *many* skaters that I would rate as more creative than Plushenko.
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
This is a Russian post-Olympic article from 2010: http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/bladerunner/68632.html

I am re-posting the translation below (I hope it's okay). Quite a wordy article but I thought it was a fascinating read and I agree with many of the view points that the author held regarding the path that Plushenko has chosen as a performer. He's a charismatic athlete and performer, but he's not an artist IMO because his skating lacks vision and thoughtfulness. I also think it's a shame that a skater as naturally talented (at least with the upper body; I don't think he's as gifted with the blades but that's another discussion) as Plushenko refused to utilize his own country's long and gloried history of dance and music. He could've been so much more of a skater with his raw talent had he been exposed to or gained a real appreciation or understanding of a wider range of music (real music).

Igor Poroshin
21 February
Plushenko’s Problem
Translated M. Diffley

(It takes the author a while to get to the argument he makes that Plushenko’s problem is his artistic vision “Estrada”, but hold on and get to it. This is the analysis you will not get in Western press b/c they don’t know Estrada (Soviet/Russian “pop” music.)

When the marks for Plushenko were announced, I got scared. I immediately began to imagine what would happen in my homeland. I had worked at the Salt Lake City Games and remember the horrible feelings of a hot wave of collective interference coming upon you. In any case, I remember that a high-ranking official SERIOUSLY recommended that the entire Russian team walk out on the Olympics in connection with the unprecedented campaign to take out God-annointed Russian athletes with the poison American imperialism. The recommendation even with to the “Highest Authority” (trans. Really here he uses the term last hoop of bureaucratic hurdles). The HA turned out to be normal in the head, took the matches out of the hands of the dopes (trans. Who were trying to start a fire) and when they got back home pressed down on the ones who needed it.

True, all of the idiots kept their expensive briefcases (trans. I assume he means jobs.)

These past few days I have carefully studied the reaction to the Olympic results of the men’s event and came to a very comforting conclusion: in the past 8 years the emotional health of my compatriots has notably improved…….I note two wonderful examples of healthy thinking, the articles of Vasili Utkin and Mikhail Semin, commentators for Eurosports who are covering the Olympic Games.

Utkin looks at the situation with life-based common sense. Semin reviews it in the terms and categories of figure skating. The conclusion is the same – you can discuss and even condemn the current rules, but the judges followed these rules in their analysis of the skating. The rules were not violated.
On the whole, the discussion around the rule is a hot one, but in essence, a theoretical one of the rules themselves and not one of complaint against the judges’ decision….

….Some people were calling Lycasek’s skating “feminine”…. Actually Lycasek’s skating is prototypically masculine, even guy-like. I would say that Lycasek is showing the most masculine skating in skating today…. Plushenko with his wiggling hips is not the epitome of masculinity… But playing with the public was never part of the definition of masculinity. And since when did the number of [jump] rotations become a measure of masculinity? Then it’s going to be hard for us to watch the women’s event: shall we think that the more rotations they do, they less feminine they are? Then poor Mao Asada, who plans to do the triple axel, needs to be hand-cuffed and taken out to gender-control police.

But let’s leave the indecent discussions and return to the discussion of the Plushenko-Lycasek collision. Professor Mishin says that the quad is the “decoration” of figure skating and moves its development forward. Mishin doesn’t say that just because he coaches Plushenko, who still does these jumps better than anyone else in the world, but also because Mishin’s specialization is jumps. That it is what he teaches best. And perhaps he is better at teaching jumps than anyone else. It’s clear that Mishin can only be partially right, because progress in skating cannot be exclusively determined by the number of jump rotations.

“You of course are a super skater, Evan Lycasek, but that is not the material for a gold medal” [translated from Russian] – is the start of 3-time world champ Elvis Stojko’s blog. A Canadian, by the way. So what is “that” by the way? We always heard that Canadians and Americans are just the same [in the uneducated complaints]. So they are not all the same?

Actually, it’s completely clear why Lycasek upset Stojko. Each person experiences something personal in this Olympic drama. Stojko was one of the first people in figure skating who mastered the quad. Stojko was a grand jumper. He was the first to do the 4-2 and then the 4-3. Jumps – and only jumps, lifted him to the top. Stojko is experiencing the defeat of a brother who uses the same weapons as he. He does not understand or enjoy watching the direction figure skating has taken in the last few years. It is how Stojko thinks. But it is only the opinion of Stojko.

Lycasek’s coach Frank Carroll, also is unobjective, but why not listen to him as we do to Mishin. Caroll is no less than Mishin a Figure of figure skating: “Many of the guys competing today are super-talented, but not all of them can manage to keep the same high level for the entire program. Evan is a master of that.”

This is also understandable. The discussion is ongoing at the highest levels and it is possible that one of the results will be upgrading the value of the quad on 1.5 to 2 points – the amount that Plushenko was short for victory. И это понятно. I don’t consider it possible to say something more about the problems that the most serious people with legitimate authority are discussing. Moreover, to me the technical matter of Plushenko’s defeat are secondary. I am far more absorbed by its symbolic meaning. I consider Plushenko’s second place in the context of what I have been calling for the last 8 years “Plushenko’s Problem”.

Let us remember again what makes figure skating unique, incomparable with any other Olympic sport. It is a sport that is always and directly connected with two arts – music and choreography.

Music and choreography actually are the two main instruments of figure skating…. Choreography can be good, formal (trans. Predictable/basic), bad – as is often the case In figure skating, and non-existent, especially in singles. But the absence of choreography is also choreography. There is always choreography. And music is always playing. Many coaches have a very formalistic relationship to the choice of music. They think it is the 10th most important thing. The music should be comfortable for the elements, they conclude pragmatically, after all the judges are assessing elements, not music.

This is a mistake, they are also judging the music. The choice of music and the choreographical language is always an announcement. Music and choreography are old arts. Music is as ancient as the world, therefore, each musical sound is a part of some tradition. Music – whether it is the most brilliant or worthless – is always confirming a values system. Even if nobody wanted to announce or confirm anything with the piece of music.

This is what I call PLUSHENKO’S PROBLEM – the values that are demonstrated in his programs. I have no doubt that Evgeny would be a three-time Olympic champion if these values were different.

In Salt Lake City, he lost because the
values suddenly disappeared. Mishin had just invented for young Plushenko a special genre – the banquet of a wunderkind. The number was composed of different musical bits. And its theme was Plushenko himself, a young god of figure skating. Plushenko showed all his abilities like tricks, unconnected with each other. The choreography was similar to a cabaret number, which in fact is what it literally was. The programs, as now, were done by David Avdish – a former staff employee of the restaurant “Troika” in Petersburg, where women demonstrated long legs and bare breasts to drunk Finns. Avdish also did choreography for [Filip] Kirkorov and Masha Rasputina.

[Trans. Filip Kirkorov is a Bulgarian singer, who has become a star performer/producer in Russian Estrada, and is extraordinarily flamboyant, over-the-top in costume, make-up, dance (for a singer), but uses fairly ordinary music with a “hook”. Rasputina is an Estrada singer, whom I would describe as more limited in vocal and dance talent, and perhaps even more extravagant in her bad taste (appearance, music, dance) than nearly anyone in Estrada. Kirkorov is liked/disliked, but recognized as a talent by nearly anyone I’ve talked to. I’ve never heard anyone I know – of any social group, say anything positive about Rasputina, she elicits shaking heads, judgment, and so on. With this two sentences, Poroshin has clearly informed the Russian-language audience that Avdish is a choreographer, who specializes in low-class vulgarity ]

The tricks of little Plushenko were so amazing, so self-sufficient, that it was possible to confidently go to Salt Lake City for gold with just them. But suddenly there was the significant comeback of Yagudin. The apparently vanquished enemy came back and started landing quads. Two months before the Olympics, Plushenko lost the Grand Prix Final to Yagudin. Mishin panicked and destroyed the free skate. In its place came a free program lpieces of “Carmen” sewed together like 2 pieces of rags on one’s knees. It looked like total slop against the background of Yagudin, who demonstrated the values of a Hollywood blockbuster, not a story about a god, of course, but there are some deep values that everyone can understand. It is not true that he wound up with the silver because he fell in the short program. He had the tricks in the free program, but lost that one too. On the second mark.

After the Olympics, I decided to talk with Mishin. We had a very good relationship. I delicately hinted that the musical and choreographic ideas that Plushenko brought to life on the ice should be equal to his genius. There was no need to invent something. Because there is an understanding that Petersburg has a school of music and a school of choreography. The whole world understands this. And they should be followed. Aleksei Nikolaevich nodded his head. I introduced Mishin to a young choreographer from the Marininski (nee Kirovski) ballet. He went with Mishin and Plushenko to a training camp in Spain. They started to try Stravinsky’s “Firebird” (Lycasek’s short program music, by the way), but the material turned out to be stubborn and capricious for some reason. It did not win over Mishin and Plushenko, it did not find a way to conform to the jumps and elements. As a result in the new season Plushenko came out with Korneliuk’s “Banditski Peterburg”. For the city’s anniversary. “I really like this music,” Zhenya said at the press conferences. The rest you know.

After this Plushenko met the accessible and commercial pop violinist, Hungarian Edvin Marton, and began to order music from him for his programs. Plushenko began to move in the direction of Russian show-business, linking with it and finally marrying it – literally. [Trans. Reference to his marriage to the Russian celebrity/producer Yana Rukovodskaya.]

When instead of the Marinski theater and “Firebird”, I discovered Korneliuk’s “Banditski Petersburg”, it was like a tragedy for me. I still do not think my feelings were lying to me or exaggerating. I still am upset when I reminisce about it. In the case of any other skater, I would not have such feelings. I do not know with what to compare this failure to understand. You can only imaging the fantasy of Maya Plisetskaya on the stage dancing in Avdish’s cabaret or as one of the dancers in Kirkorov’s ensemble. We are talking about cosmic misalliance, an extraordinary absurdity: a world-famous genius preaching the values of the pitiable, unwashed, mute, unbelievable provincial Russian pop culture.

It is now that Plushenko has been reduced to the Master of the Quad for us. But the truth is that in his fluidity of body movement and musicality Plushenko was not less naturally gifted than Lambiel. “How he takes my breath away! It’s amazing,” says that Marininski choreographer [about Lambeil]. In Russian skating, there has not been anyone more talented than Plushenko. But there is an opinion also that there has never been a skater in the world of such unbelievable and varied talent.

… Plushenko is the first and last case when the values of Russian pop music – its language, rather its lack of language… was shown to the whole world maybe in contraband form, like hidden under a skirt. A genius young boy, who is a musician, can love potato chips. But the adults around him must remind him that he cannot sit at the piano with potato chips.

Plushenko’s Problem is that when Zhenya said “I like the music ‘Banditski Peterburg’, there was no adult nearby to politely tell him to put that music away as far as possible while skating. Plusehnko is for me one of the moments when I can get nostalgic about the Soviet era. During the Soviet era, especially toward the end, there was of course very little taste, but in the construction of the society there were certain rules that kept people from becoming uncivilized. Maybe it was cross-eyed and crooked, but there was an understanding about the balance between high art and low art, about it being wrong to feed people only that which they feel like having, otherwise people will destroy their health and their taste. Even if I am imagining everything about the Soviet Union, I am sure that in any case, some bureaucrat, would have scolded professor Mishin for the low quality of the idea of the programs’ content. “Nikolaevich, why are you skating to crap? Let’s see classic music there…our traditions, foreigners are watching after all.”

Plushenko got medals for Russia, but in his pograms without passion he told exactly and honestly about what happened in Russia during the past 2 decades – about the total defeat of culture on all fronts. About the collapse of a system of coordinates. About the disappearance of civility. About barbarianism. Plushenko is the nightingale of that barbarianism. I wonder if the old English noble person who recalled over lunch about his long-ago trip to Leningrad had been watching Plushenko when he practically made me fall out of my chair when he asked: “Is it true that spiritual values no longer have any meaning for Russian people?”
…...
Plushenko came back. It’s unbelievable, but he came back very strong. But not invincible, like when he could beat everyone even though he was carrying on his back the garage band quality of Russian show business. Plushenko versus Lycasek was an uneven fight. But Edvin Marton (Concerto Aranjuez destroyed by his violin and a computer; of course, of course –a symphonic orchestra is so boring!) against Rimski-Korsakov and Stravinski – is a fight far more mismatched. “Scheradze” (sp) won.

Thank you, Frank and Evan, for that reminder. We are very ashamed. Thank you to the judges for reminding us that figure skating is a debate about taste. Good taste won. Good Russian taste, to be specific.​
 
Top