- Joined
- Aug 1, 2011
Thank you for the cordial welcome. As I said, I have been lurking here for the past year and am VERY impressed with the comments posted. I'm strictly Amateur Hour--can't skate let alone ever competed--but I love the sport and am definitely an Avid Fan(atic).
IluvTodd--yes I believe that HP did use Penguin Cafe Orchetra's "Perpetuum Mobile" for a commercial. I didn't know that anyone had ever skated to it before (if you have a link for the program I'd love to see it). It is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, a quirky combination of classical and minimalism. Much of PCO's music is like that, and I think would work very well for programs. And frankly, as the target audience for FS, I'm beyond bored with most of the old warhorses.
But to be more true to the topic at hand, I think cheesy pop vocals can kill a wonderful program. Case in point: Sameulson and Bates' free dance set to a dreary Celine Dion number. What the hell were they thinking? I know they've gone their separate ways, but why didn't anyone clue them in to all the lovely--and little used--music of the 30s and 40s? They had such lovely lines and they waste them on a dreary pop ballad.
Again, why is so much of skating music either beyond ponderous or middlebrow crap? I realize that skating is desperate right now to attract a younger audience, but why pander? It's like the "rock" musicals of the 70s and 80s... Instead of "rock," you get Andrew Lloyd Webber pablum like "Jesus Christ Superstar." Hey--but that's both ponderous AND middlebrow. And most definitely crap.
And while I'm on a roll here (LOL!), the other thing that cracks me up are those ridiculous "stories" coaches and choreographers try to graft onto a program. Almost makes one want to tell them, Look, you're not Agnes DeMille and this isn't the original production of "Oklahoma." It's a four minute number. I don't need some elaborate "story" that never really comes across anyway. Lyrics or not.
Uhm, ok. Anyone else need this soapbox now? I promise I'm done with it for the time being.
IluvTodd--yes I believe that HP did use Penguin Cafe Orchetra's "Perpetuum Mobile" for a commercial. I didn't know that anyone had ever skated to it before (if you have a link for the program I'd love to see it). It is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, a quirky combination of classical and minimalism. Much of PCO's music is like that, and I think would work very well for programs. And frankly, as the target audience for FS, I'm beyond bored with most of the old warhorses.
But to be more true to the topic at hand, I think cheesy pop vocals can kill a wonderful program. Case in point: Sameulson and Bates' free dance set to a dreary Celine Dion number. What the hell were they thinking? I know they've gone their separate ways, but why didn't anyone clue them in to all the lovely--and little used--music of the 30s and 40s? They had such lovely lines and they waste them on a dreary pop ballad.
Again, why is so much of skating music either beyond ponderous or middlebrow crap? I realize that skating is desperate right now to attract a younger audience, but why pander? It's like the "rock" musicals of the 70s and 80s... Instead of "rock," you get Andrew Lloyd Webber pablum like "Jesus Christ Superstar." Hey--but that's both ponderous AND middlebrow. And most definitely crap.
And while I'm on a roll here (LOL!), the other thing that cracks me up are those ridiculous "stories" coaches and choreographers try to graft onto a program. Almost makes one want to tell them, Look, you're not Agnes DeMille and this isn't the original production of "Oklahoma." It's a four minute number. I don't need some elaborate "story" that never really comes across anyway. Lyrics or not.
Uhm, ok. Anyone else need this soapbox now? I promise I'm done with it for the time being.