In that case, I hope she skips the season. She doesn't owe anyone a damn thing.
How much interest can Alysa Liu revive in figure skating in the US?
- Thread starter el henry
- Start date
In that case, I hope she skips the season. She doesn't owe anyone a damn thing.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
I think that we can get a couple of things out of the way pretty quickly. Does Alysa owe us anything? No. Should people say mean things about her on the Internet? No.
There still remains the more general question of whether the star makes the sport or the sport makes the star. Am I being selfish if I hope that Alysa presents one program after another that matches the competitive intensity of MacArthur Park, winning a slew of titles and trophies along the way and keeping figure skating in the public eye in the U.S.?
Last edited:
The thread is about US. Disney was heavily used in figure skating in 1990s. Disney's cartoons were popular both in US and outside. Is MacArthur Park as popular? I've never heard of it until last season and I spent 8 years in the US. No-one in my social circle ever mentioned it in conversations on topics like movies, music and books. As an outsider, I might of course have missed many things that are never talked about because they are obvious to others. I wonder, is this program really so impactful? This song was written in 1967, it's 60 y.o. now, and it hardly means anything to most people in the rest of the world.
But I rewatched her programs from 2022, just for comparison. She skated to Gypsy dance from Don Quijote and Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. She couldn't keep up with the pace of the Gypsy dance, it's really fast, and the concerto looked laboured and generic. If you ask yourself, what has changed in her skating since then? Nothing really except her attitude towards it and her repertoire. Instead of acquiring skill to be able to skate to more complex music (which is admittedly challenging in her age), she now skates to simpler music. This tells me that she lowered the standards. Even if she consistently lands and rotates all her jumps (which nobody always does anyway) and doesn't get away with uncalled mistakes (which happens to every top skater), choreography standards are lowered. Correct me in I am wrong in thinking that more complex choreography requires more skill. A good move, smart, sounds healthy and good for her that it worked. But does one really think the public, whom she supposedly will attract to the seats, will not figure it out once they see some of the competitors' skating?
If we compare her skating with that of the 1990s when figure skating in US was very popular, there was Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski who combined youth, freshness and technical strength with maturity and refinement, Sarah Hughes with great spirals, classical repertoire, Sasha Kohen, Jenny Kirk, Angela Nikodinov, and there were some lesser know skaters. Even Kimmie Meissner showed technical prowess and choreographic refinement. Can Alysa offer any of this? What else can she offer? The story she translates is that she wanted to skate on her own terms rather than struggle, maybe this resonates. But this is not about skating, it's like one of those other needs Starbucks used to satisfy before it no longer did and became an overpriced coffee shop. While I think doing stuff on one's terms is genuinely the only way for a person to move through life, it might not be the best business strategy. You hear stories like this once, invest attention, research them, make mental notes and move on. Expectation that people will stay consistently interested in a success not backed up by a consistent growth contradicts most people's life experience. My opinion.
But I rewatched her programs from 2022, just for comparison. She skated to Gypsy dance from Don Quijote and Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. She couldn't keep up with the pace of the Gypsy dance, it's really fast, and the concerto looked laboured and generic. If you ask yourself, what has changed in her skating since then? Nothing really except her attitude towards it and her repertoire. Instead of acquiring skill to be able to skate to more complex music (which is admittedly challenging in her age), she now skates to simpler music. This tells me that she lowered the standards. Even if she consistently lands and rotates all her jumps (which nobody always does anyway) and doesn't get away with uncalled mistakes (which happens to every top skater), choreography standards are lowered. Correct me in I am wrong in thinking that more complex choreography requires more skill. A good move, smart, sounds healthy and good for her that it worked. But does one really think the public, whom she supposedly will attract to the seats, will not figure it out once they see some of the competitors' skating?
If we compare her skating with that of the 1990s when figure skating in US was very popular, there was Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski who combined youth, freshness and technical strength with maturity and refinement, Sarah Hughes with great spirals, classical repertoire, Sasha Kohen, Jenny Kirk, Angela Nikodinov, and there were some lesser know skaters. Even Kimmie Meissner showed technical prowess and choreographic refinement. Can Alysa offer any of this? What else can she offer? The story she translates is that she wanted to skate on her own terms rather than struggle, maybe this resonates. But this is not about skating, it's like one of those other needs Starbucks used to satisfy before it no longer did and became an overpriced coffee shop. While I think doing stuff on one's terms is genuinely the only way for a person to move through life, it might not be the best business strategy. You hear stories like this once, invest attention, research them, make mental notes and move on. Expectation that people will stay consistently interested in a success not backed up by a consistent growth contradicts most people's life experience. My opinion.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
I know what you mean. I had never heard of MacArthur Park either, although I later looked it up and learned that the Donna Summer disco version hit #1 on the Billboard charts in 1978 and the original by Jimmy Webb/Richard Harruis (1967) reached #2.
Anyway, for me it wasn't the music, it was the performance(s). Alysa was fully committed to her program, especially in competitions like the 2026 Olympics where her main rivals seemed somewhat tentative.
Last edited:
This is an excellent critique, and I'm glad someone else noticed it. Quite a lot of people were caught up in her performances after the Olympics - and yes she's an admirable person - but her skating was rather flawed and slow.
It does. This is the basis of ice dance - being able to vary the rhythm of your knees and ankles with the music in the background (and in fact one of the biggest reasons why Papadakis/Cizeron were criticized - they only did one style well).
It was even apparent at the Olympics IMO. Chiba and Nakai clearly did do better in some aspects that deserved to be scored higher, yet weren't.
I agree with most names here, outside Kirk and Meissner. I definitely think Alysa's a better skater than both.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2014
MacArthur Park was a very popular tune back in the day. Of course, Donna Summer was incredibly popular, enough to revive a 60s folk-y too long tune as a dance club staple. I can't say whether anyone has "heard" of it now, but more importantly, it is peppy. Dancy. Joyful. I never heard of the "I Wish" cover used by Yuma but it was great, for the same reasons.
Also, as someone who was around in those days,
Alysa Liu is absolutely as popular as Tara was (as a skater), maybe not as Michelle, but who was? She is more popular than any of the other pro circuit or amateur circuit skaters in the 90s.
Will it last? It has already died down somewhat, but that is the nature of popularity. It nothing to do with whether Alysa is the slowest skater, smallest jumper ever, worst technical skills of any skater who ever touched ice. We posters on a skating board care about that. General US public, not so much.
. Her story resonates a lot more. A lot.
Also, as someone who was around in those days,
Alysa Liu is absolutely as popular as Tara was (as a skater), maybe not as Michelle, but who was? She is more popular than any of the other pro circuit or amateur circuit skaters in the 90s.Will it last? It has already died down somewhat, but that is the nature of popularity. It nothing to do with whether Alysa is the slowest skater, smallest jumper ever, worst technical skills of any skater who ever touched ice. We posters on a skating board care about that. General US public, not so much.
. Her story resonates a lot more. A lot.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Kristi Yamaguchi was vey popular on the pro circuit (SOI, shows, competitions) for a decade. Of course that was before the internet taught us to measure popularity in terms or likes and reposts.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2014
Kristi Yamaguchi was vey popular on the pro circuit (SOI, shows, competitions) for a decade. Of course that was before the internet taught us to measure popularity in terms or likes and reposts.
Absolutely.
Even further back, not to mention Dorothy Hamill, also famous for hair. Women of a certain age will never forget Short n Sassy Shampoo, long after we've forgotten the Hamill Camel.
Similar threads
