Iconic programs that you find ... overrated

mrrice · Feb 25, 2017

I'm going to get some crap for this but.....I thought Michelle's Tosca was a snooze. It was saved by the final straight line footwork sequence choreographed by Nikolai Morozov. I still crack up when Uncle Dick screams "Heart On her Sleeve" IMO, the program was a bit empty and if it were skated by anyone else, I think it would have fallen flat.

Imagine · Feb 25, 2017

Wow surprised at the responses regarding Yuna's Gershwin. Maybe it's cause she's had more iconic performances like Danse Macabre and Bond. Tbh, I find her post-Vancouver stuff to be more overrated...if anything. For me personally, Michelle Kwan's entire repertoire is the epitome of overrated.

keasus · Feb 25, 2017

I never understood the fuss about V/M's Carmen. Their performance was, of course, fine, but the choreography is just "meh."

Mathman · Feb 25, 2017

mrrice said:
I'm going to get some crap for this but.....I thought Michelle's Tosca was a snooze. It was saved by the final straight line footwork sequence choreographed by Nikolai Morozov. I still crack up when Uncle Dick screams "Heart On her Sleeve" IMO, the program was a bit empty and if it were skated by anyone else, I think it would have fallen flat.

I think the bolded part is the key. Michelle had the knack for taking a so-so program and Kwaning it. It's like saying, what's so great about Whitney Houston's Star Spangled Banner? It's just the same old rockets' red glare, right?

skateluvr · Feb 25, 2017

Thank God we have older posters with good memories. I liked Tosca- last program from her I liked. And if anyone here has not you tubed young healthy Whitney blowing away the SSB at the Super Bowl well you young kids have not heard the Voice as she was called in her heyday. Terribly sad still she is gone.

Silvia451 · Feb 25, 2017

(not iconic, but loved by many)
Ilinykh/Katsalapov-Swan lake

mrrice · Feb 25, 2017

Mathman said:
I think the bolded part is the key. Michelle had the knack for taking a so-so program and Kwaning it. It's like saying, what's so great about Whitney Houston's Star Spangled Banner? It's just the same old rockets' red glare, right?

Perfect Example!!! :bow:

:2thumbs: She did the same thing with Red Violin. Being a Maria B. Fan, I didn't "get" Michelle until Worlds in 2001. Even in the qualifying round Michelle was clearly the best skater in the event. I know she's a great skater but, I was not into Irina until 2002. I actually thought Sarah Hughes and Maria Butyrskaya skated better than Irina in 2001.

Jennifer Robinson was the prettiest.......I almost broke my neck staring at her.... :love:

Until Todd and Plushy took the ice..... :drama:

Mathman · Feb 25, 2017

VIETgrlTerifa said:
I don't find many of the programs listed here to be "iconic" so I guess I agree with some people's negative feelings about these programs.

Of the programs listed here, I would say only Torvill and Dean's Bolero rates this designation. Indeed, the performance itself does not completely stand the test of time. Still...iconic it is.

Others that may be looked back upon with fondness are Yuna Kim's Gershwin and Virtue and Moir's Mahler. I think that you could say they were iconic in the sense of being the centerpiece of the achievement of all-time greats of the sport (even though you might like other performances by these skaters even better).

What is Michelle's "iconic" performance? To me its a tie between Fields of Gold (2002 Olympic exhibition) and East of Eden (1998 World pro). But I suppose most people's choice would be Lyra Angelica as performed at 1998 U.S. Nationals.

Tonichelle · Feb 25, 2017

Mathman said:
What is Michelle's "iconic" performance? To me its a tie between Fields of Gold (2002 Olympic exhibition) and East of Eden (1998 World pro). But I suppose most people's choice would be Lyra Angelica as performed at 1998 U.S. Nationals.

All of which I find VERY OVERRATED... but then I've always found Kwan overrated. :laugh:

4everchan · Feb 25, 2017

oh i am going to get hated...

i never understood they hype on Katarina Witt's Carmen program.... :shrug:

but maybe i was just a young boy discovering that one day he was going to open a harem filled with male skaters

D/W : most of their FD as someone mentioned.

I agree as well with someone mentioned about V/T's program... for me despite their superiority, now that they are gone, I don't remember any of their programs... however, I do have memories of many teams from the same era.

Now, this is going to be controversial. I really like P/C... I thought their Mozart was a fabulous program.... perhaps even a masterpiece.... BUT, to me, it wasn't enough to mean what it ended up meaning for them... since then, they have the label of having changed the sport etc... wait a minute... I don't think that the FD itself was that bold, different and iconic... they are special... the program was beautiful... but are they changing the sport the way the Duschesnays did? Or are they pushing boundaries like Bourne and Kraatz? Nope.....

Philippe Candeloro : d'artagnan, godfather, you name it... Philippe was a great performer... his programs to me... MEH

ALexei Urmanov 1994 LP.... Rossini... oh my....

I think i should stop

YMMV

musicfan80 · Feb 25, 2017

Add me to the list of people who care for Davis/White Scheherazade. I thought it was one of the most boring OGM winning performances EVER.

Which is strange, because Meryl said it was the music that she and Charlie had been DYING to skate to, remember? :scratch2:

rain said:
I really, really hated Brown's Riverdance. I thought it was total cheese in a stupid way.

I overall really like Jason's skating - but I will admit - I think the main reason why Riverdance worked at as well as it did at 2014 Nationals was because he executed it perfectly. I felt like Jason was definitely improving at a skater, but he needed to have programs that made him look "coming of age" more. Keep in mind that Jason was already 20 years old at the time.

Then I felt like it got worse the next season with how he was styled for both the Juke SP and the Tristan & Iseult LP. Especially with those God-awful pants. It was pretty glaring how it all made him look when you put it side-by-side with what Yuruzu and Joshua were doing (I'm comparing him with those two because they are all almost the exact same age).

mrrice said:
I'm going to get some crap for this but.....I thought Michelle's Tosca was a snooze. It was saved by the final straight line footwork sequence choreographed by Nikolai Morozov. I still crack up when Uncle Dick screams "Heart On her Sleeve" IMO, the program was a bit empty and if it were skated by anyone else, I think it would have fallen flat.

Didn't you know? The choreography was in her facial expressions in all those crossovers!

Khoai said:
Torvill and Dean's bolero. I can never get it.

I totally got it - once they actually started ice dancing. I can't believe they got away with not skating for the first ~40 seconds. This is a 4 minute program, right? I think they were definitely the best in the world at the time, but no way should that have received that many 6.0s.

I think I've said enough in this post to make a lot of people mad. I'm ready for the wrath on here now. :laugh:

Ares · Feb 25, 2017

VIETgrlTerifa said:
I don't find many of the programs listed here to be "iconic" so I guess I agree with some people's negative feelings about these programs.

We have to keep in mind that people here are much more critical & choosy than layman fans of Figure Skating or those that only follow / watch it irregularly like let's say my mum. That or other board is not everything and likely does not represent average spectator. :laugh:

Those random people can see some random program and think and claim that this is the best thing they've ever seen (but there wasn't that much of it to begin with), we underestimate those people, their power and their number as we are all geeks. :laugh:

Mathman · Feb 25, 2017

keasus said:
I never understood the fuss about V/M's Carmen. Their performance was, of course, fine, but the choreography is just "meh."

I think what was appreciated about Carmen was that it was such a departure (a) from Virtue and Moir's previous work and (b) from the countless other Carmen's that have been presented by other skaters.

Ares · Feb 25, 2017

musicfan80 said:
Add me to the list of people who care for Davis/White Scheherazade. I thought it was one of the most boring OGM winning performances EVER.

Which is strange, because Meryl said it was the music that she and Charlie had been DYING to skate to, remember?

I overall really like Jason's skating - but I will admit - I think the main reason why Riverdance worked at as well as it did at 2014 Nationals was because he executed it perfectly. I felt like Jason was definitely improving at a skater, but he needed to have programs that made him look "coming of age" more. Keep in mind that Jason was already 20 years old at the time.

Then I felt like it got worse the next season with how he was styled for both the Juke SP and the Tristan & Iseult LP. Especially with those God-awful pants. It was pretty glaring how it all made him look when you put it side-by-side with what Yuruzu and Joshua were doing (I'm comparing him with those two because they are all almost the exact same age).

Didn't you know? The choreography was in her facial expressions in all those crossovers!

I totally got it - once they actually started ice dancing. I can't believe they got away with not skating for the first ~40 seconds. This is a 4 minute program, right? I think they were definitely the best in the world at the time, but no way should that have received that many 6.0s.

I think I've said enough in this post to make a lot of people mad. I'm ready for the wrath on here now.

I think that this program was longer (about 4:30) and that intro without skating was there because of that rule that made skating count ... from the moment of actual skating and not when exactly music began. If I recall correctly that was because Christopher Dean was against music cuts that would have to be realized otherwise, they wanted coherent programs without them so they used loophole :biggrin:

.

starts at 1:11, ends on 5:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcCj0xfO3H8

Mathman · Feb 25, 2017

Tonichelle said:
All of which I find VERY OVERRATED... but then I've always found Kwan overrated.

Oh boo. I had to give you a thumbsup because I couldn't figure out how to give your post a thumsdown.

Breathes there a fan with soul so dead
Who never to himself has said,
This is my own, iconic Kwan?

To such a fan, I say "G'wan"!

Tonichelle · Feb 25, 2017

Mathman said:
Oh boo. I had to give you a thumbsup because I couldn't figure out how to give your post a thumsdown.

Breathes there a fan with soul so dead
Who never to himself has said,
This is my own, iconic Kwan?

To such a fan, I say "G'wan"!

Love you, too, Dr. Watson

Mathman · Feb 25, 2017

Imagine said:
Wow surprised at the responses regarding Yuna's Gershwin. Maybe it's cause she's had more iconic performances like Danse Macabre and Bond. Tbh, I find her post-Vancouver stuff to be more overrated...if anything...

Thank you for mentioning Bond! Yes, I think this is the one that will be remember from Yuna Kim's repertoire and revered as iconic, in the sense of "This was Yuna Kim, folks!"

Although after Vancouver I personally have a fondness for Les Miz. :love:

Khoai · Feb 25, 2017

I think iconic programs are what happened at Olympic.
For example Miss Witt's Carmen is iconic. Technique wise I don't think it's iconic but presentation wise it is.
I don't recall what V/M's programs at Olympic look like. It was boring.
But Torvill and Dean's Bolero has been so hyped up I couldn't understand why they're that much loved.
I agree with Miss Kim's LP at Olympic. It was boring.

nolangoh · Feb 25, 2017

4everchan said:
ALexei Urmanov 1994 LP.... Rossini... oh my....

Oh my indeed. The opening knee action still haunts me...

And I would like to add one more: Tara Lipinski's "Rainbow", the one she used to win in Nagano. Technically awesome, but I just hate the music. It sounds juvenile.

Virtue/Moir's Mahler was undoubtedly the winning program that night. But after I watched it I just dont feel like to go back and watch it again (unlike their SD this season which I have watched like a thousand times already). And that music doesn't work for me too, it sounds misty. I prefer music with a CLEAR melody and vision.

One more underrated program: Akiko Suzuki's Phantom.

KwanIsALegend · Feb 25, 2017

Yulia Lipnitskaya's Schindler's List program.

Iconic programs that you find ... overrated

mrrice

Imagine

keasus

Mathman

skateluvr

Silvia451

mrrice

Mathman

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

4everchan

musicfan80

Ares

Mathman

Ares

Mathman

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

Mathman

Khoai

Match Penalty

nolangoh

Steps and Spirals enthusiast

KwanIsALegend

Fly On

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