"Up Close and Personal" TV bios | Golden Skate

"Up Close and Personal" TV bios

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SkateFan4Life

Guest
In my opinion, the television stations that broadcast the major figure skating competitions would be doing themselves - and especially the fans - by reducing the number of those lengthy
"up close and personal" bio pieces so that more competitive performances can be aired.

I'm not bashing Michael Weiss, but if I see another one of those syrupy, cutesy bios of him, his wife, and kids, and have to listen to Michael again explain how he's going to focus on his training and have a successful season - I'm turning off the television set.
Enough is enough, already.

Honestly, is anybody out there really so interested in every little detail of the skater's personal lives? Sure, it's nice to see small bios, but all of the major figure skating magazines carry in-dept interviews that go far beyond the bios presented by television, as far as detailed information is concerned. When it comes to the competitions, I want to see as many skaters perform as possible!
Let's see more than the medal contenders for a change. Let's at least see a few of the skaters from the second to last flight.

With all due respect to Michelle, Sasha, Timothy, etc - and I wish them all the best - unless the "up close and personal bios" are limited strictly to figure skating AND are kept to a minimun lenth -
I'm simply going to turn on the "mute" button and do something else while those featured are aired. They are a waste of time, in my opinion.

Just my two cents, of course.
:eek:
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
SkateFan4Life:

I totally agree. A few minutes talking to the skater is okay, but we don't need to know their entire life history or what did you do this summer type of interview. ABC is the worst offender especially during the Olympics. It's almost as if the other skaters who are not as well known or have not made it yet are not important enough to broadcast. CTV is much better, they usually spend a few minutes with a skater like Elivs or Jennifer before the televised event and talk to them after their performance - good or bad, but the focus is on the competition.
 

Pookie

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I agree. I could do without the Up Close and Personals too. Sometimes, like during the Olympics, they may show the same ones on the same atheletes during the different nights of competitions. Talk about a waste of TV time. One of the networks said one time about all their athlete bios that they want to make it about the athlete not just about results. :rolleye: That's good to a certain extent but I think most people tune in to watch the competition, not bios and commercials interrupted by a little bit of competition.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
BLAH BLAH BLAH

If I see one more UCAP (Up Close And Personal) where Michelle is sitting under a tree or walking along the beach looking PENSIVE while her own voiceover plays in the background ("What skating means to me... blah blah blah") I am going to HURL! :rolleye: :\
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
ITA. At fitst, I thought it was interesting; in fact, having say a 3 minute bio is often fun. But it's almost like there is more bio than actual skating!!! Also, the media has ad some favorite stories over the years: Elena Berezhnaya's head injury; Oksana's soap story; Surya's adopted mom. In each of those cases, I just felt like "ENOUGH ALREADY!!!"
 

Verbalgirl77

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree, but I have liked certain featurettes that have been done (Kristi's Making of Malaguena from 92, the Making of Nancy's LP Dress in 94). Some of them are interesting, but most of the other stuff is so cheesy and a waste of time that could be used to show other skaters.
 

astimegoesby

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
I don't mind "fluff pieces" every once in awhile, but if they contain nothing about a skater that we don't already know (ie. all the fluff pieces about Michael Weiss and his family) or if important portions of a competition have to be chacked in order to make room for them, I could very well do without them!

But the worst, IMO, is when networks broadcast the exact same fluff piece more than once during two entirely different events. I definitely remember seeing a fluff piece with Michelle Kwan on the beach (around the time she first started going to UCLA) and another with her standing underneath a lightbulb in a fluffy sweater more than once. I'm sure there are probably more "repeated" fluff pieces, but those are the two that first came to my mind!
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Amazing -- we're all in agreement on this topic! As much as I admire Michelle Kwan, if ABC or any other network airs another UCAP segment of her sitting on the beach trying to explain her thought processes concerning whether or not she remains eligible, etc. - I'm going to throw something at my television set.

I think the networks must consider us a bunch of twits - folks who live vicariously through these skaters and who just ooze affection and glee at these bio pieces. Honestly, ABC, NBC, and the rest - while a very small bio segment or two is nice (when it's not repeated, ad nausem, as in the Michael Weiss pieces) that's what I want to see - not the family relationships enjoyed or not enjoyed by the skaters.

And, while not wanting to sound critical, some of the skaters are hardly what I would call articulate. Their opinions just aren't that interesting. I can recall one, at least, who I won't name, who used to hem and haw whenever interviewed. Yuk.

STICK WITH THE SKATING!!! :D
 

NanSinger2

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Verbalgirl77 said:
I agree, but I have liked certain featurettes that have been done (Kristi's Making of Malaguena from 92, the Making of Nancy's LP Dress in 94). Some of them are interesting, but most of the other stuff is so cheesy and a waste of time that could be used to show other skaters.

ITA, pieces like this are actually interesting. The rest are just time fillers.
 

John King

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
"Up Close and Personal" TV Bios

Well,to each their own.Oksana Baiul has had 4 hour-long bios on her life,Intimate Portrait,A&E Biography,Beyond the Glory and E! True Hollywood Story,I guess there is that much interest in the Lass.In Canada,Liz Manley,Brian Orser have had their own bios,as have B & E, U & M,and Barbara Anne Scott King.Tonya's:laugh: of a life is probably more titalating than K & O's story,but I am just not interested in her.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I guess I'm the only one who loves to see Michelle Kwan walking along the beach trying to explain her thought processes or looking pensive while sitting under a tree. *sigh*

Mathman:love: ;)
 

dewet

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
They are a waste of time, IMO. I wan't to see more programs. I watch skating for the skating, not some few minute bios that aren't even that informative.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
If I see one more UCAP (Up Close And Personal) where Michelle is sitting under a tree or walking along the beach looking PENSIVE while her own voiceover plays in the background ("What skating means to me... blah blah blah") I am going to HURL!
RealtorGal, :laugh:especially the hurling part :laugh: :laugh:

Dee
 

peachstatesk8er

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
I love the bios. And I'll take a piece on a skater I already know about over having to watch the boring lower ranked skaters any day. At a comp it's different, I don't mind watching the entire field, but on TV give me only the top 8 at the most.
 

sk8m8

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
and another thing....

In most sporting events, biographical info is done by the color team calling the event. One does not have to break out the sentimental music and "vasiline and gauze" lens on a camera to evoke some emotional appeal for skaters. It would also give the commentators so much more to say.

Talk about hurl, if I have to listen to Terry Gannon tell me for the squillianth time that " The top 3 have their destiny in their own hands. Whoever wins the freeskate takes the gold." Since this has been the case for nearly 15 years do we really need to be reminded of that fact.

It's like tuning in to a tennis match when they are serving and saying " any serve that hits the net when being served is a 'let' and must be played over again" Well duh! It feels like the commentary on figure skating treats its veiwers as if this were their very first time watching skating on TV.

I'm also of the opposite opinion from the above poster that only wants to see no more than 6 skaters. Sure it's painful to watch someone who isn't going to score higher than 12th pop jumps and fall down, but I think it helps illustrate just how difficult what the top 5 are doing in a competition. Also, when the competition is international, I really like to see the "up and comers" and find out who to "look out for." Perhaps with the advent of the Ice Channel we'll get to see that more, however, I'm afraid that the "biograph-o-thon" may just get worse.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Two things make me want to hurl: the stylized, homogeneous, pseudo-glam shots of skaters that litter the broadcasts and when the networks try to do "up close and personal" segments on non-US/Canadian skaters. You know, the one where Slutskaya/Plushenko/Yagudin, etc. walk along the banks of the Neva in dead winter (instead of the California beach), ruminating on the meaning of life and skating. Regardless of the skater's country, these spots are PR pandering all the way.
 

missflick

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I am one of those who could do without the UCAP shots. We could get to see more skaters that way. If I want to watch a good bio, however, I will tune in to CBC's "Life and Times" or A&E's "Biography".
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Some of the UCAP bios have been unnecessarily "personal" as well. I remember a segment on Nicole Bobek that aired about a decade ago. She was talking about how her father walked out on her mother and her when she was a toddler, and he's never bothered to keep in touch. Nicole said, to paraphrase, "I have this fantasy of my father someday showing up at my door when I'm famous, and I'll say - get lost. You weren't there for us when we needed you, and I don't need you now." Honestly - this was way, way, too personal!! I'm not sure if ABC wanted us all to flip out the hankies over this sob story, but whatever the case, I felt that it was the kind of personal item that was, quite frankly, none of our business. :eek:

Mabe I'll have to purchase a small pail and keep it handy by my television set, just in case I need to use it next season. :\
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
"Also, when the competition is international, I really like to see the "up and comers" and find out who to "look out for."

Whoever could you mean?

It seems to me that when someone new and good comes along (Kostner & Sasha being the latest 2 examples) they go straight to the top. The gals down in 15th and 16th usually stay there, year after year after year.
 

dewet

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Some, but some others don't. Fumie Suguri once placed 20th at Worlds , but now she's a 2 time bronze medalist. Shen/Zhao were once around 15th, and now they have 2 golds at Worlds. They are also some of my favorite skaters too. I enjoy watching not so often seen skaters, even if they have flaws.
 
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