The analogy is limited because skaters are competitive athletes. The main reason for their performance is not to please the great public with fine nuances of the same program but to win medals.
Agreed, but somewhat irrelevant? - since 'new music and costume and step sequence' are not at all part of the criteria
to win medals. Under IJS rules, a skater could rework the same two pieces every single year for a decade and it
should not make a difference. (It may, of course, because judges are human. On the other hand, judges watch waaaaaay more programs than any of us sit through and probably don't rewatch as much on video so a repeated one may not affect them as much as a warhorse. They have handed out a
lot of world records to the same programs after all.)
My position is certainly that I would like "all new programs" every year... but where I agree with you is that skaters are the ones deciding... money can be a factor too.. . not just comfort or masterpiece level...
That - money - is an important point, yes. At the elite level new programs with everything they entail (choreography, costumes, practice, and oh god these days music) are not cheap and the vast majority of elite skaters do not have that much in the way of sponsorship, funding or show earnings. Gotta get the maximum bang for each program's buck.
Don't totally disagree with you Tally but the difference between a competitive figure skater and a musician performing in a concert is that the musician isn't being judged for medals. Skaters like Hanyu are in a class by themselves and really shouldn't enter into this discussion. But here's another way to look at it.......Jane Doe Anonymous skated to XYZ, the judges saw her probably multiple times between the Gran Prix series. local and international competitions. Perhaps why tempt fate and throw that at them again? Yes it isn't always the same judges but I would bet anything that judges see those programs whether they're in a judges chair or not.
I know, and I also know said above that the judges shouldn't let it affect them, and I also said they might. Again it's a juggling act. After all, ice dancers
have to come up with a new RD every year but I don't think anyone can claim that 'fresh' was on the ice menu this year (oh god if I heard BoneyM one. more. time...) And warhorses are warhorses for a reason (we will, I predict, see a lot of
them this year too).
People want to have it both ways, I guess. People want to call our sport
a sport first and foremost, but sport does involve doing the same thing over and over and over and over and.... yeah, just better, reaching for perfection. And the current technical demands have given rise to complaints that so many of the skaters, with all their different programs, are blurring into all looking the same.
I guess what I am saying is... I have no problem with watching repeated programs as long as the skater brings something new and fresh to it, or betters it in some way. I wouldn't mind seeing what say Jun and Rino (from my very small collection of saved this year, it was an unimpressive season all told) could do with those lovely ones. Kevin will always do something new with Bolero (and let's be honest, every performance so far has been unique!)
So we have judges that could tire of programs but not music? Honestly, I think it would make a great viral video if a judge jumped up from their chair, put their hands over their ears, shook their head left and right while shouting, "NO MORE BOLERO!"
But people - lots and lots of people -
like Bolero. And Phantom of the Opera. And Swan Lake. And....
Why does a great musician like Glenn Gould perform the same pieces over and over (and people like me and mine buy those performances over and over)? For those who are that great, there are always nuances of interpretation, shades of difference. For the not so great majority, there is the familiarity and feel that may make that fractional difference to their skates at the moment they really really need it.
