How could I forget, Maia and Alex Shibutani made me love not only them with their "O" exhibition, but this is the program that made me follow ice dance in general.
As for Zhenya at Eurovision, I liked the novelty of it at the time. But re-watching it there now, I was embarrassed for him. Yes, having three grown men in that small area meant there was no space for him to do what we know he was capable of. But, all the arm waving and smiling that he had to resort to was cringeworthy.
Was it the IceTalk one? That was a particularly good interview. And in person he is the sweetest, loveliest human being ever.
I usually start liking skaters gradually and it takes me 1-2 seasons to become a fan, but there were 3 eye-opening "insta-love" moments for me, and that was:
- the first time I saw Ilinykh/Katsalapov "Swan lake" (at TEB I think). They did nothing for me until that moment. Too bad that partnership ended the same season.
- the first time I saw Hanyu's "Seimei" (Skate Canada). Until that program I'd been too distracted by the bling and ruffles to notice what a fantastic skater he is.
- the first time I saw Davis/White "Fledermaus" (Skate America, and I still love that version the best). That was actually the most curious instance of the three, because I hadn't liked D/W before that much, and was rooting for Virtue/Moir. But the first Fledemaus was enough to make me do a 180° turn.
Patrick Chan, live 4cc 2012 that was THE REVELATION, When you go from hate to love , and you have trouble accepting those new feelings :noshake: : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBHURTrTNxE
It's the moment I learn about their off ice personality and backgrounds. Several important factors must exist: their religious faith, humility, discipline, approach to family and traditional social order. This is why I tend to like Eastern European and Russian skaters more and try to stay away from the US camp.
Those negative comments towards you were quite awful!!