Meagan Duhamel Interview

GGFan · Feb 18, 2018

I do not usually post interviews before I've listened to them, but I had to stop in the middle to recommend this one.

Meagan Duhamel is on TSL's Olympic Pairs recap. She's giving all the behind the scenes tea as only Meagan can! :coffee:

From her thoughts on her lutz, to Moser (yes she calls her Elton John as well :biggrin:

), to her friendship Xiaoyu! :love:

Oh Meagan was seriously considering competing in singles (she could have stolen Larkyn's spot

), and also thinks it's unfair that only 16 pairs get to compete in the free.

All of that to say, this is a must listen! :popcorn:

pearly · Feb 18, 2018

It was so good. I had so many ideas and questions while listening to it, sadly I did not write them down to discuss here.

But one thing that crossed my mind - if Nina Mozer (EJ

) really thinks that music was the best FS of the competition, there's no way those two will get decent programs if they stay in Russia.

GGFan · Feb 18, 2018

pearly said:
It was so good. I had so many ideas and questions while listening to it, sadly I did not write them down to discuss here.

But one thing that crossed my mind - if Nina Mozer (EJ ) really thinks that music was the best FS of the competition, there's no way those two will get decent programs if they stay in Russia.

Exactly! Someone will have to step in. But if the teams are being rewarded nothing will happen.

I'm still not done and this interview just keeps getting better because Meagan is so self aware and honest. And not in a rude way at all. For Meagan to straight up stay about T/M that they are the best in every category but packaging is just :eeking:

Again, this is required viewing.

GGFan · Feb 18, 2018

I finally finished and I learned so many things that there's just too much for me to process :rofl:

I'll just leave this quote from Meagan here so you can understand the spirit of the interview: “I’m so settled and content. And I feel like nobody can tell me I can’t say anything anymore because I’m not competing anymore so I can say what I want.” :popcorn:

gmyers · Feb 18, 2018

She says she is not surprised by Stolbova ban because of rumors. But what about fact that rodchenkov said he doped no figure skaters?

moonvine · Feb 18, 2018

That is so long..I'm sure it's great..have it bookmarked to watch after the Olympics.

Osmond4gold · Feb 18, 2018

So many insights from Meagan here, ...I love her honesty and respect for many skaters. I did not realize who that fist pump was for, and had to laugh at her take of M&T's program, "they are an amazing team, but who thought to put them in polka dots and skate to Candyman?" So true. And 'Elton' thought that music was the best of all 16 Teams. :rofl:

bekalc · Feb 18, 2018

Osmond4gold said:
So many insights form Meagan here, ...I love her honesty and respect for so many skaters. I did not realize who that fist pump was for, and had to laugh at her take of M&T's program, "they are an amazing team, but who thought to put them in polka dots and skate to Candyman?" So true. And 'Elton' thought that music was the best of all 16 Teams.

A part of me wonders if the Russians understand the lyrics. But still. Get them to Moskvina.

gmyers · Feb 18, 2018

bekalc said:
A part of me wonders if the Russians understand the lyrics. But still. Get them to Moskvina.

Of course they do. The bleeped potential problem words. Why wouldn’t they know the lyrics. They know English.

NoNameFace · Feb 18, 2018

gmyers said:
Of course they do. The bleeped potential problem words. Why wouldn’t they know the lyrics. They know English.

...but apparently not French

, bleeping all cherries and panties, but leaving 'voulez-vous coucher...', ofc all should be now taken with a hint of joke and grain of salt.

Definitely a must-watch, but I have to go to sleep in about an hour to wake up at 2am to see all 'Despacitos' and co. :drama:

VenusHalley · Feb 18, 2018

gmyers said:
Of course they do. The bleeped potential problem words. Why wouldn’t they know the lyrics. They know English.

They may know the words, but not the slang and the metaphors.

Tavi... · Feb 18, 2018

Love this interview so much! Long, but so worth listening to.

blackey · Feb 18, 2018

It was soooooooo good. For one second I almost felt like as long as tsl could keeping doing things like this I'd tolerate anything they say. I literally stayed up until 6am this morning for watching that interview lol.

el henry · Feb 18, 2018

I have been critical of TSL and Dave, but this, this, this is what TSL should do.:agree:

Of course, I always liked Meagan for being funny and feisty. But what great, honest commentary. And what a student of pairs skating! Just for example, explaining that she and Eric would study the three best twists in the world, according to them....Aljona & Bruno, Tarasova/Morosov and *Alexa & Chris*:luv17: ... for their technique. And throwing off facts "Did you know Chris Knierim was doing twists with his junior partner", Dave going, well I wasn't really paying attention, and Meagan ignoring Dave's comment and launching into a description. :love:

Have I watched all two hours? No. But I will in parts.

I still can't get over the junior high AV club quality video, but a small quibble.....

gmyers · Feb 18, 2018

NoNameFace said:
...but apparently not French, bleeping all cherries and panties, but leaving 'voulez-vous coucher...', ofc all should be now taken with a hint of joke and grain of salt.

Definitely a must-watch, but I have to go to sleep in about an hour to wake up at 2am to see all 'Despacitos' and co.

Joke and grain of salt is right to the whole program!

VenusHalley said:
They may know the words, but not the slang and the metaphors.

I don’t think that’s true. They wanted a fun program. They thought this worked. Instead it was a historic and catastrophic failure.

Procrastinator · Feb 18, 2018

VenusHalley said:
They may know the words, but not the slang and the metaphors.

Also, regardless of any language barrier, there are three really abrupt music changes with *no* transitions. It's so jarring and off-putting that it boggles the mind to think no one stepped in at any point to criticize the choice.

Also, something I've noticed not only here but also with Kolyada's skate: a lot of these russian skaters are trying to pull off 50s americana type routines, but don't understand the camp factor/nostalgic aspect and so they try to play them "straight" and it just doesn't work. They end up looking like ballet dancers who just happened to turn on an old jukebox.

Compare, by contrast, how David Wilson stylized Javi's elvis and guys and dolls free skates perfectly because *he* understood the cultural context and the suaveness/spunk required for them.

skylark · Feb 18, 2018

el henry said:
I have been critical of TSL and Dave, but this, this, this is what TSL should do.:agree:

Their interviews, especially the extensive ones with just one guest or one pair, have always been excellent. A little better, in my opinion, when Jenny was there, but Jonathan has some great comments and insights and comes up with good questions.

OT .... You might be interested, El ... either Jonathan or Dave said something interesting about Rohene's choreography recently. He thinks that for anyone who skates a Rohene program, it's important that Rohene be a constant presence in their practices, because he keeps refining and/or insisting that they not forget about small details. Actually, I've thought for awhile that every "school" ought to have a choreographer on site for that very reason.

Osmond4gold said:
So many insights form Meagan here, ...I love her honesty and respect for so many skaters. I did not realize who that fist pump was for, and had to laugh at her take of M&T's program, "they are an amazing team, but who thought to put them in polka dots and skate to Candyman?" So true. And 'Elton' thought that music was the best of all 16 Teams.

Might that be Mozer just vigorously defending her skaters and the team? I mean, she strikes me as a person who would do that. Recently I read an interview of Zabiako and Enbert. I think it was Alex who said that different coaches work with different teams ... but Nina is the one who's in charge of creating calm, encouragement, and a good mental attitude in her athletes, especially right before they compete.

I can understand all of them being defensive. Candy Man program was disapprovingly mentioned by many of the commentators I've heard. Not B.Esp, though, when I watched Europeans. I don't think they ever would (but someone may prove me wrong about that.

)

Kurt had my favorite comment, though: "If they skate well, the program and the music won't matter."

Ravyn Rant · Feb 18, 2018

That was a great interview! It made me want to sit and talk to Meagan Duhamel for 2 hours. Congrats to Dave and Jonathan for drawing her out and asking such good questions!

If Jonathan felt as bad as he looked, I hope he gets well soon.

GGFan · Feb 18, 2018

Ravyn Rant said:
If Jonathan felt as bad as he looked, I hope he gets well soon.

He had a recent death in the family, so no judgment from me. :ghug:

I'm just glad he was there :luv17:

MaiKatze · Feb 18, 2018

Wow, this is an interesting inside look into the current skating world, behind the scenes with Meagan Duhamel! I was fascinated by the doping controls. I never knew they were THAT intrusive. I mean, it does make sense so that there's no tampering with the samples, but woah.

Meagan Duhamel Interview

GGFan

pearly

GGFan

GGFan

gmyers

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie

Osmond4gold

bekalc

gmyers

NoNameFace

GS given name - Beatrice

VenusHalley

Tavi...

blackey

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.

gmyers

Procrastinator

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset

Ravyn Rant

Totally 80s Dance Party!

GGFan

MaiKatze

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