The ultimatum: love or hate

[~tibia venifica~]

I wonder if the Administrators will forgive me the high emotions I'd like to raise. It's not that figure skating is a peaceful, sugared and easy come - easy go entertainment, is it? That's why I started to love that sport Obviouslly, there are skaters who are bland and - in a way - stereotypical. And skaters who it's hard not to love, like Michelle Kwan. But know let's think of the inconvenient skaters. The skaters that are unique, with strange charisma that does NOT appeal to everybody. The ones that are geniouses/pretentious snobs/great personalities/ irritating "arteests"/skating only for themselves, WHATEVER! I mean, the skaters that can be loved or hated ONLY.

As I said, I'm kinda new. I would like to tease your imagination a little bit. Please, don't just give me names like you often do. Go figure!

[nubka]

Pasha
Surya Bonaly
Michael Wiess

[~tibia venifica~]

OK, I should have given some examples first. ITA with your propositions, nubka. I didn't see Surya in her days, but she seems to be, er... original. And it's propably hard to call her sublime. I remember Pasha a little bit and that's how I do it - with the color of her hair and clothing - sort of deadly. But artist is what she was.
And as for Michael Weiss - love to do that I didn't even notice his cometitive programs last year, but when it came to exhibition... LOL Mike did the Rolling Stones Medley but it looked like "Right said Fred" rather to me. Bare chest an those table-dancing movements. I thought "God, this is p a t h e t i c . What is he thinking? Is that all that America can show?". This year I thought "One more tmention about his special skates and I'll explode". Now I know hardly anyone thinks of him as a playboy. And I started to "kind of" like him. Could be skating the same without the Pike?

[SusanBeth]

I know what you mean by skaters that can only be loved or hated. I'm just drawing a bit of a blank. Skating is so complex. Just as there are no elite skaters that don't have faults, there are no elite skaters without strengths. I can generally find something I like about all of them. While I don't hate any skater, here is my wishy washy best-
Skaters who never skated an eligible performance that I saw and enjoyed.

Bonaly- I didn't like much of her skating as an eligible. Ok, I HATED many things about it. I considered her an acrobat with blades. I was suprised to find her professional skating entertaining.

Laetitia Hubert- I sometimes wondered what planet she was from. She made some bizarre choices. That whole ''Prostitute on Drugs'' performance was awful. However, I give her credit for originality. Also, after seeing her 92 OLP, I give her credit for having guts. I can't imagine what it took to come back from that disaster. The fact that it was the last skate at the Olympics in her own country was salt in the wound. I could have cried for her.

I could go on forever in this way. Going back to Rodnina and Zaitsev- I don't recall liking any of their performances, but they were unmatched for speed and power. They were unbelievably consistent, much more so than Kwan. They reminded me of robots.

[Ptichka]

SusanBeth, in Leningrad, where they didn't really like Rodnina because she took the medals "away" from the Protopopovs, her nickname was "flying stool".

[tvcats]

Hmm. Well, I think this falls in the category of everyone likes something different. I don't care for a number of skaters that others just rave about. And I do like some skaters that most just "don't get" (to go back to an old thread).

[pairsfan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ~tibia venifica~
The skaters that are unique, with strange charisma that does NOT appeal to everybody. The ones that are geniouses/pretentious snobs/great personalities/ irritating "arteests"/skating only for themselves, WHATEVER! I mean, the skaters that can be loved or hated ONLY./QUOTE]

You must be talking about Toller Cranston. Gary Beacom fits some of that but he's not as much of a snob as Toller is. On the other hand, I love Toller's books. He's very funny.

[sarahmistral]

Originally posted by SusanBeth
Laetitia Hubert- I sometimes wondered what planet she was from. She made some bizarre choices. That whole ''Prostitute on Drugs'' performance was awful. However, I give her credit for originality. Also, after seeing her 92 OLP, I give her credit for having guts. I can't imagine what it took to come back from that disaster. The fact that it was the last skate at the Olympics in her own country was salt in the wound. I could have cried for her.

Hey SusanBeth,

Didn't Laetitia Hubert go to Nagano? Or am I just hallucinating? Wasn't that whole program based on Dead can Dance to the score of the piece, done at Nagano? I found some things original about it, but totally concur that this category seems to have been MADE for her, among others. Maybe Urmanov? Fashion-Don't on blades or fearlessly lyrical skating god who doesn't care how ridiculous some find his costume choices?

I think my loverly Philippe might fall into this category, among people who don't appreciate the whole character-driven program approach, but of course I fall into the group of people who lve him!

Interesting thread; thanks ~tibia venifica~, and welcome aboard!

Sarah

[sarahmistral]

Angelika Krylova (& Oleg Ovsiannikov)

[~tibia venifica~]

Originally posted by tvcats
Hmm. Well, I think this falls in the category of everyone likes something different. I don't care for a number of skaters that others just rave about. And I do like some skaters that most just "don't get" (to go back to an old thread).

No, I don't want to bring that thread back to life. Most of posts were like "Everybody loves him and I don't". I mean - c'mon, its not compulsory to love any skater! What I'd really like you to do is give examples of skaters who have the feature, inclination to be loved or hated. Those who have "that something" that touches ones and seems apalling to others. Since I first went to a figure skating forum I've noticed that about some skaters people write many nasty things followed by declarations of love.

Gaud, my English must suck...

Cheers,
~flute~

[~tibia venifica~]

Sarah: I think my loverly Philippe might fall into this category, among people who don't appreciate the whole character-driven program approach, but of course I fall into the group of people who lve him!

How can one not love him? He was adorable as the Jungle George And as Napoleon he dared to shoot a judge
But seriously, I really used to dislike him. I remember him clearly from '98. My parents, grandparents - all praising HIM, not my red-cheeked darling, Ilia

-Interesting thread; thanks ~tibia venifica~, and welcome aboard!

Thank you!

Cheers,
~flute

[berthes ghost]

SusanBeth, in Leningrad, where they didn't really like Rodnina because she took the medals "away" from the Protopopovs, her nickname was "flying stool".

Finally, I can agree with someone's opinion of Rodnina&partner and not be called an anti-Russian basher! I just have to ask though, by "stool" do they mean backless chair (i.e. he might as well have been slinging a piece of furniture around for all the human expression she brought to the program) or do they mean poop (i.e. she's just a little tird for taking titles away from our great heros)?

As for Hubert: She skated in Albertville, missed Lillehammer, skted again in Nagano and SLC.

I still can't for the life of me understand how anyone puts Latitia and "way out" in the same sentence. When did she skate these prositute programs? The first time I saw her was 96 or 97 when she skated to big band music. "In the Mood"? Way out? Then she skted a rather tame program to Dead Can Dance in 98 and skated to "the Diamond Comerial song" in 2002. What's so "way out" about that?

[icenut84]

Maybe "hate" is a bit strong, but I think in a way Plushenko may fall into this category. When people make wish-lists or somehting, it does seem that the majority are either "Love him! The best!! GOLD!!!" or "Anyone but Plushenko..."

Me, I'm the former. Love him.

[RIskatingfan]

I'm not sure how many skaters we have in this strong "loved or hated" category. Toller Cranston for sure and I definitely agree with the poster who mentioned Pasha Grishuk. Particularly among die hard ice dance fans, she seems like the perfect example for "love or hate" skater.

In another scale, I think all popular skaters have their share of lovers and haters. I don't think it's really correct to say that it's easy to like Michelle Kwan. There are some who hate her with as much strength that those who like her. And the same will go to other skaters like Alexei Yagudin and Sale/Pelletier. More recently, these are the skaters that are sure to provoke the most controversial threads. Sasha Cohen is almost there too, but I think it's still soon LOL I would also include Evgeny Plushenko, Tara Lipinski, Katarina Witt of course, Tonya Harding. There are more, I'm sure.

I think skating fans for the most part are civilized and do recognize skaters' qualities, even those who they don't really "get".

[gkelly]

Originally posted by berthes ghost
As for Hubert: She skated in Albertville, missed Lillehammer, skted again in Nagano and SLC.

She did skate at Lillehammer and finished 17th. It was 1994 Worlds that she missed (although maybe she did go and didn't get out of quals? The only results lists I've seen only list the finalists).

I still can't for the life of me understand how anyone puts Latitia and "way out" in the same sentence. When did she skate these prositute programs? The first time I saw her was 96 or 97 when she skated to big band music. "In the Mood"? Way out? Then she skted a rather tame program to Dead Can Dance in 98 and skated to "the Diamond Comerial song" in 2002. What's so "way out" about that? [/B]

Well, the Dead Can Dance program wasn't all that tame. The prostitute one was from 1998-99, along with an Indian-themed short program.