Eliminate commentary during actual skating

And for my 1000 post I offer this!!! Hyperinflation-this ones for you!!

http://youtu.be/vQhqikWnQCU

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lol thanks boo

coincidentally the same amount of insight into figure skating in this video as tara lipinski offers

Oh my... there are some commentators I like more than others... and I've heard some seriously distracting Italian and Russian commentary (incessant and very intrusive). But still - I think I prefer bad commentary to no commentary at all.

Luckily, I get British Eurosport, and their commentators (especially Simon Reed) add a lot to the procedings - some technical, some entertainment, some pure comedy. I don't find them intrusive, and they are often largely silent during a great performance. They generally sound positive - even when decribing how disastrous a skater's performance was, it still sounds upbeat or sympathetic somehow, and doesn't sound mean or unpleasant. By the way, I have no trouble telling them apart, given there are only three to choose from normally.

Not too keen on the lady (forgot her name) they tried out this season though - some "peculiar" comments, sometimes a slightly "negative vibe" that I find at odds with the usual Eurosport style, but worst of all her long... drawn... out... sentences... that take... an... interminable... age... to complete

The BBC's coverage of the Olympics was also pretty good, although it felt a little "cold" or "harsh" at times, compared to the Eurosport team. In spite of being less "diplomatic" with his assessments, I came to appreciate Robin Cousins' insightful technical observations a lot... I'd love it if he joined the Eurosport team :-D

YesWay said:

The BBC's coverage of the Olympics was also pretty good, although it felt a little "cold" or "harsh" at times, compared to the Eurosport team. I came to appreciate Robin Cousins' insightful technical observations a lot... I'd love it if he joined the Eurosport team :-D

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True, BBC sounds cold somehow, even when the skater did really good. But well... At least they only talk when needed, unlike NBC commentators.

thats exactly how China does their commentary on figure skating, not a single word during the performance, only before and after. (Chen Lu was the commentator during sochi olympics)
the CCTV version of Mao's LP was posted on niconico(japanese version of youtube), judging by the comments posted on the video, the japanese actually liked this form of broadcasting.

looks said:

thats exactly how China does their commentary on figure skating, not a single word during the performance, only before and after. (Chen Lu was the commentator during sochi olympics)
the CCTV version of Mao's LP was posted on niconico(japanese version of youtube), judging by the comments posted on the video, the japanese actually liked this form of broadcasting.

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So unlike Japanese commentators, they talk all the time I wanna cry.

Meoima said:

True, BBC sounds cold somehow, even when the skater did really good. But well... At least they only talk when needed, unlike NBC commentators.

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Robin Cousins is a very soft spoken type. Some people might like commentator to be more energetics. But I like Cousins the most, his insightful is a plus. Especially during Tessa/Scott programs, he was a bit more excited. He is clearly and utterly in love with them.

I had his BBC podcast from a while back. He talked about his career and his music. I highly recommend for anyone who interested.

YesWay said:

Oh my... there are some commentators I like more than others... and I've heard some seriously distracting Italian and Russian commentary (incessant and very intrusive). But still - I think I prefer bad commentary to no commentary at all.

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The Italian and Russian commentators were exactly who I was thinking about when writing my comment, but I was trying to be diplomatic by not mentioning them, especially since I don't know their names!

YesWay said:

Not too keen on the lady (forgot her name) they tried out this season though - some "peculiar" comments, sometimes a slightly "negative vibe" that I find at odds with the usual Eurosport style, but worst of all her long... drawn... out... sentences... that take... an... interminable... age... to complete

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Joanne Conway, 6 times British Ladies Champion. For me, she was alright for her first and second sessions in the commentary box, but then started talking too much (and too critically) after that.

YesWay said:

The BBC's coverage of the Olympics was also pretty good, although it felt a little "cold" or "harsh" at times, compared to the Eurosport team. In spite of being less "diplomatic" with his assessments, I came to appreciate Robin Cousins' insightful technical observations a lot... I'd love it if he joined the Eurosport team :-D

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I have long made clear that I am not keen on the BBC commentary team, but have never been able to put into words what it is that I don't like. But you have just summed it up perfectly - it is "cold".

Robin is an aquired taste, and I have not acquired it yet. I admit, Robin did grow on me a bit during the Olympics. But not enough to want him to join the warm, cuddily, and fair Eurosport team.

Sam-Skwantch said:

And for my 1000 post I offer this!!! Hyperinflation-this ones for you!!

http://youtu.be/vQhqikWnQCU

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Not sure if I want to admit this to an international audience, but this guy lives less than 10 miles from me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gamFGxJWNUs

Sam-Skwantch said:

I know that's a lot of posts for such a short time but let's consider how many events since December. I've also been on the couch for three straight weeks with a torn MCL. I'm not ashamed!!

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Congratulations on reaching this milestone, Sam-Skwantch!

You may not have been here for very long, but in that short time you have become somebody that I really like and respect.

And good luck with your recovery from your injury.

CaroLiza_fan

speaking of harsh commentators, the lady doing the commentary on the official olympic youtube videos is so grouchy lol. she sounds like she's thinking, 'i cant believe someone dragged me out of bed for this crap' the whole time

Somebody PLEASE tell Nicky Slater this. He never shuts up

Eliminate vacuous commentary as in:

"She skates with such emotion!"
"She feels every note of this music."
"She skates with such maturity!"

Dur.

Too often, the commentary rather than making skating accessible to the general public, leaves them scratching their collective heads and they switch channels. I doubt skating will ever be a sport that draws in the general public.

GF2445 said:

You need commentary. To elimiate commentary during the actual skating is to make skating basically inacessible to the general public. There has to be a good balance.
We need commentary to engage the tv audience- figure skating is a sport and not 100% about the art...

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CaroLiza_fan said:

Well said GF2445!

You have just hit the nail on the head. I agree with everything in that post...

It is all about finding the right balance between talking and letting us enjoy the music.

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Basically this. To me it is obvious that skating is VERY different than a music competition. it is a sport, and like all sports (perhaps moreso) needs/benefits from commentary IMO. The problem is in fact that most commentators are awful, especially but not limited to the USA. I am looking at you, Scott Hamilton.

Commentary, if done correctly, would be a huge boon to skating. It should enable the casual viewer to understand what is going on, and should also (ideally but less importantly) help people who a more knowledgeable see nuances they might otherwise have missed. Skating will never gain more fans if people continue to struggle to understand what is going on, both generally and vis a vis the scoring. The casual fan or the person who stumbles into a competition on TV is NOT going to go google and read the 100s of pages of COP rules. It is up to the commentators to bridge that gap. The fact that they don't do so doesn't mean commentating is awful, it means the commentators that are currently employed are awful.

Good commentators also know when to talk and when to shut up. This is not something I'm sure can really be learned. Either people have this sense or they don't. Far too often, the current commentators don't.

That said, if you are a die hard fan and feel you will never gain anything from commentary, then there are options for you. If you have the $ and time, go see competitions live or if you don't, very deliberately seek out youtube vids with no commentary (they do exist but can take real work to find) or listen to commentary not at all in a language you understand where they also don't talk much.

I myself don't feel I usually benefit much from commentary now, but when I was first getting REALLY into skating 10 ish years ago, the Eurosport British and french commentators were quite useful to me, and when I was little, even Scott Hamilton was marginally useful to me but only because I could sort of connect some dots on my own... ah well c'est la vie.

Icey said:

Too often, the commentary rather than making skating accessible to the general public, leaves them scratching their collective heads and they switch channels. I doubt skating will ever be a sport that draws in the general public.

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Yes, this I agree with, but again, to me this is an argument for better commentators or better commentating- not an argument to eliminate it.

hyperinflation said:

i like the eurosport guys too but i swear to god, they all have exactly the same voices, i can never tell them apart. once i thought all three of them were commentating at a gala, but nope, it turns out it was just one guy

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But they all come in different languages and thus different ways of giving different blow by blow accounts. I am not French but I enjoyed the French Eurosports commentators, especially when they were calling YuNa's FS at last World's. It's rather funny actually; they were all quiet during the performance and then when it was ending it was like they realized they hadn't spoken and the performance was down to the final spin, and they had nothing to add but the usual superlatives.... Then again YuNa's skating often had that effect on many announcers of all persuasion where they just let HER skating do the talking.

To me, much of what the British Eurosport guys say is "convincing to the general public" because of the manner in which they deliver their remarks - breathy enthusiasm and assertiveness. Too many times, however, they have such limitations in their knowledge base (as if their fact checkers or researchers have very limited understanding of the athletes or the current rules) though, that it is actually irritating.

GGoldberg said:

To me, much of what the British Eurosport guys say is "convincing to the general public" because of the manner in which they deliver their remarks - breathy enthusiasm and assertiveness. Too many times, however, they have such limitations in their knowledge base (as if their fact checkers or researchers have very limited understanding of the athletes or the current rules) though, that it is actually irritating.

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yeah, one of them says 'i don't have the technical expertise' all the time..... or maybe all three of them say it, i can't tell them apart

i find that commentators generally cycle through the same platitudes when discussing a program - someone mentioned a few of them before eg. 'she skates with such maturity/she feels every note in the music' which the british eurosport guys don't tend to do. they're very articulate and very descriptive and evocative in a way a lot of other commentators aren't

British Eurosport also tend to be very positive, which I like.

While I agree there needs to be ~some~ commentary, the US commentators are inevitably too much.

karne said:

British Eurosport also tend to be very positive, which I like.

While I agree there needs to be ~some~ commentary, the US commentators are inevitably too much.

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:agree:

sgsmozart said:

When I attend a performance of the San Francisco Ballet, there is no announcer on stage telling me about the action. "My wasn't that a beautiful lift"! or "Did you notice the corps de ballet was not in unison on that entrance". The same is true for the symphony."The trombones were late in that last passage". "The first flute was out of tune"....etc.

Skating is a combination of athleticism and an aesthetic performance. The artist (skater) is communicating something to those watching. Having an announcer constantly talking, destroys the experience. I want to form MY OWN opinion of the event. I don't need someone to tell me what to think.



If you want to see the 2014 Worlds with no commentary, check out the CBC website:


Here is my proposal: Have the announcers introduce the event and the skater. Tell us a little about him or her and something about the music that will be performed. Then, when the music starts......SHUT UP. During the replay, make the necessary comments about style, mistakes,and on the elements that were performed beautifully.

I would thoroughly enjoy this approach!

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http://www.cbc.ca/player/Sports/Figure+Skating/Full+Shows/ID/2445341038/

It is nice to see the skaters just perform without the commentary, but one does not know what the skater had planned in his/her program when they make a mistake and commentators can offer some of the insights to what the skater is going through on a personal level when skaters are struggling with their program. Also commentators can explain what the judges are looking for in the skater's particular discipline. As already pointed out the average person at home (non-figure skater) does not understand the judging and also the different jumps and spins and field moves. Ice dance in particular needs coverage as most people don't understand it. Check out the CBC!

CBC's commentary has been great imo. They remain silent for most of the program, they just chime in when a mistake is made, or when they're particularly impressed.

I really love Kurt Browning's commentary. So knowledgeable. They also go out of their way to explain just how scoring works, usually before they start showing the programs. Explaining GOEs, etc.

I love the Eurosport guys... I want them to comment on my everyday life... they made everything sound so excited...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIbFk1IE8rQ