Ted Barton interviews Eteri Tutberidze

lappo · Dec 19, 2018

Great interview by Ted, I'm glad he focused on the junior girls and it was very interesting to hear insights on how Eteri and her group develop the stories behind their programs.
Also, on Trusova Big Spender, I admit that when I heard the music choice I was a bit skeptical but upon seeing the program I always found it playful and funny in an age appropriate way, despite the clashing with the words (for comparison with two mature skaters and a different, more sensual interpretation see for example Giada Russo 2016 SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3opQbpysSDs and Sasha Cohen EX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW_zT7kkIuI).

neud · Dec 19, 2018

eaglehelang said:
Its not just in @freeman21 head. Its the origin of the song, what its about :

Tell us what Madama Butterfly or La traviata is about.

La Rhumba · Dec 19, 2018

el henry said:
I love Ted, but Ted doesn’t do controversy or hard edged. If we want to see Eteri’s answer as to whether she had actually seen the movie “Sweet Charity”, or as to what a coach in her 40s should say about a skater in her teens, Ted won’t be that interviewer.

Nothing wrong with a little hagiography now and then as long as folks know that’s what they’re getting

But would another, more critical interviewer, have got the emotional response? Kindness elicits feelings of relaxation and then the inner feelings and sadness of Eteri was able to be expressed. I'd say Ted was being himself, and that encouraged Eteri to be herself.

eaglehelang · Dec 19, 2018

neud said:
Tell us what Madama Butterfly or La traviata is about.

Madame Butterfly - the play, the opera or the film?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Butterfly
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Butterfly_(film)

La traviata
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_traviata
I'm not Italian, are there parts which are sensual in the movie version? If there are, they can choose other parts & not the sensual scenes.

A story abt a prostitute can have scenes where she was an innocent child, the time she was sold to the brothel/kidnapped & forced to be prostitute, tries to escape the brothel, someone buys her freedom, etc. 1st & last part happier scenes.
Though I dont agree with an underaged girl potraying such roles.

And how does that compare to a song abt a group of hostess trying very obviously to lure customers? And a 14 yr old potraying as those hostesses/GROs?

If there's a skate by an underaged skater trying to portray Brooke Shields character in bidding & deflower scenes of Pretty Baby I'll <facepalm> too. Brooke Shields was underaged, 12 I think, when she acted that movie

atsumiri · Dec 19, 2018

eaglehelang said:
And how does that compare to a song abt a group of hostess trying very obviously to lure customers? And a 14 yr old potraying as those hostesses/GROs?

because they're not. :sarcasm:

Tavi... · Dec 19, 2018

neud said:
Tell us what Madama Butterfly or La traviata is about.

What’s your point? Neither opera glorifies prostitution or sex or money; there’s no aria that’s the equivalent of Hey Big Spender; the whole “tragedy” for each character is that she is pure and noble but is forced to sell herself to survive.

Hey Big Spender has lyrics that paint a very specific picture rife with sexual connotation. If you’re going to use it, you can’t just make up an alternate story - say, that it’s about a little girl skipping rope - or say it’s okay bc most people won’t understand the English. The fact that Trusova - who at 13 looked like she was 10 - didn’t appear to have a clue what the song was about, almost makes it worse.

DSQ · Dec 19, 2018

el henry said:
I love Ted, but Ted doesn’t do controversy or hard edged. If we want to see Eteri’s answer as to whether she had actually seen the movie “Sweet Charity”, or as to what a coach in her 40s should say about a skater in her teens, Ted won’t be that interviewer.

Nothing wrong with a little hagiography now and then as long as folks know that’s what they’re getting

Very true. There a plenty of interviewers who can be hard hitting and I’d welcome them to interview Eteri but there’s only one Ted.

He’s so sweet.

NoNameFace · Dec 19, 2018

andromache said:
This is a fantastic interview. As someone who doesn't really like Eteri (I'll be honest), Ted did a great job humanizing her. His questions were great. I liked hearing about how she gets way too nervous to watch her daughter perform, and how her daughter tells her "You're my mom, you're not my coach" whenever Eteri tries to give her advice . Sounds like a fairly typical mother/daughter relationship. I think we all tend to forget that Eteri herself is a parent to a daughter, which probably helps her understand and communicate with her students. I wonder how she would react to her own daughter attempting quads if she was a singles skater? :think:

While I am not always a fan of her skaters' programs, I do appreciate that she and Daniil are genuinely trying to tell a story in those programs. Even if the story can be (IMO) a little too literal and overwrought, it's because they want to make sure the audience sees the story. I can appreciate that effort.

Agree. I think that there is too much preposition and misconception grown over this evil/strict 'Tutberidze persona' and infusing it all over her work. We could not agree with all/some of her methods, approach towards skaters, but I think it is important to see interview like that and see a 'Tutberidze PERSON/HUMAN' behind all of this, her work with skaters. Everyone shows emotions differently, their attachment and relationship to the people, how it infuses their work and this interview illustrates it really well I feel - I command Ted and his skills, insightfulness, thoughtfulness over this interview, how respectful it was conducted towards Eteri, her work, her profession, with no 'scolding'/'schooling', moralization attitude towards her methods, how she works as a coach, more like interest in getting to know her mentality and personality in all of this.

cathlen · Dec 19, 2018

What a wonderful interview! :luv17: Ted should have done more of them!

DenissVFan · Dec 19, 2018

cathlen said:
What a wonderful interview! :luv17: Ted should have done more of them!

During the JGPF livestream he said he did one with Eteri and one with Brian O., so the latter is upcoming I guess.

ice coverage · Dec 19, 2018

DenissVFan said:
During the JGPF livestream he said he did one with Eteri and one with Brian O., so the latter is upcoming I guess.

Yes, Ted tweeted yesterday that his Orser interview will be coming next. "Not sure exactly when though."

ETA (on Dec 21):

Orser interview is coming in January, per quick mention in today's Happy Holidays message from Ted.

If(?) I heard Ted correctly, he said (I'm paraphrasing) that release of Orser interview will be pegged to Canadian Nationals.

Glad that Ted is conducting "longer"-form feature interviews. :popcorn:

In the Eteri interview, it showed (in a positive way :bow:

) that he had spent time preparing -- thinking carefully about what questions he wanted to ask and in what order.
But he also was a good listener, and reacted in the moment to Eteri's responses.

Good job, Ted. :thank:

JustRozy · Dec 19, 2018

Oh Wow, such a great interview (as expected, from Ted!). So happy to see this! Eteri has been a complex enigma to this skating fan--I'm sure there are more facets to her personality than are shown here, but I am deeply respectful of this glimpse.

Giltedge · Dec 19, 2018

People will see, hear, read what they want into things. For who knows what reason.

Just as "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", so is sleaze.

:scratch2:

w.r.t the off-topic discussion above about Alexandra's last season's SP

solani · Dec 20, 2018

starlight97 said:
Anyone else thinks language makes a big difference in the way a person expresses herself and their personality appears?

Although for being Russian, coming from a language that's so far from English, she speaks very well, I just feel like the limited range of expressiveness really influences the answers and how they sound a.k.a how her personality appears to be.

Looking for words and saying "you know" and "like" a lot also really 'humanizes'. In the russian interviews I've seen, as she's way more precise and has more hard/cut sentences she sounds harsher.

This is actually true, the personality changes with the language. There are studies on that and I've experienced it myself. I'm actually more outgoing when I speak English, probably because I don't always catch the fine nuances of the language and the people. :popcorn:

So I think we saw the English speaking Eteri, not the Russian speaking Eteri. But that's interesting in itself and this interview was nice, but not very informative because Ted avoided controversial subjects, as I would expect him to do. So no real surprises here. But I liked that Eteri said that her main goal is to achieve results, that was very honest, I absolutely believe that and she's doing an incredible job at that, no doubt about that. I can understand all the skaters that want to join her group, they want results as well. And I never doubted that she cares, that her skaters are important to her.

Alexz · Dec 21, 2018

I almost fell off my chair at the "Brian Boitano" moment. This was a playful jab by Eteri, although such a precise delivery, a cold-blooded strike right into the heart. Is it bad if I say what I wholeheartedly laughed a bit? Gotta appreciate her pokerface wit. Part of me wanted to scream: "oh, thats so cold, c'mon, dont do that, this is a bloody murder!" and the other part of me actually surprisingly enjoined that. :popcorn:

Such an elegant trolling by her. +6 GOE, mos def.

vesperalvioletta · Dec 23, 2018

I allowed myself to get suckered into watching TSL's take on this interview in the latest episode of This and That, and [emoji849] I get that they don't like Ted Barton, but knowing how he is as a commentator, did they really expect him to hit Eteri with hardball questions? I don't understand why they feel the need to go after someone who's made the most well-known part of their career supporting junior skaters in a way that is constructive and encouraging. Its shallow and catty. Rant over.

Sam-Skwantch · Dec 23, 2018

vesperalvioletta said:
I allowed myself to get suckered into watching TSL's take on this interview in the latest episode of This and That, and [emoji849] I get that they don't like Ted Barton, but knowing how he is as a commentator, did they really expect him to hit Eteri with hardball questions? I don't understand why they feel the need to go after someone who's made the most well-known part of their career supporting junior skaters in a way that is constructive and encouraging. Its shallow and catty. Rant over.

Unlike Ted...TSL is focused on promoting their self interest. Ted is focused on bringing respect and honor to the sport and it’s athletes. Not himself. He respects the skaters and wants the focus to be on them and their performances. TSL is focused on using the athletes and their coaches to bring attention onto themselves by exploiting anything they can. I wish I could say I’m even a little surprised they would go after Ted of all people. :palmf:

I’m always surprised when people give them attention.

anonymoose_au · Dec 24, 2018

vesperalvioletta said:
I allowed myself to get suckered into watching TSL's take on this interview in the latest episode of This and That, and [emoji849] I get that they don't like Ted Barton, but knowing how he is as a commentator, did they really expect him to hit Eteri with hardball questions? I don't understand why they feel the need to go after someone who's made the most well-known part of their career supporting junior skaters in a way that is constructive and encouraging. Its shallow and catty. Rant over.

They don't like Ted?!! Is that even humanly possible?!

Note to self: Don't ever watch/listen to TSL. If they're anti-Ted, they're anti all that is good and lovely in the world.

pearly · Dec 24, 2018

anonymoose_au said:
They don't like Ted?!! Is that even humanly possible?!

Note to self: Don't ever watch/listen to TSL. If they're anti-Ted, they're anti all that is good and lovely in the world.

You really should, though. Yes, they're catty, but if you can get past that, they are down to the point about so many things. I do not agree with everything they say and someone on this board will remember I was also very much like you a year ago, but they say things other people who cover skating ignore or pretend are not happening.

solani · Dec 24, 2018

Alexz said:
I almost fell off my chair at the "Brian Boitano" moment. This was a playful jab by Eteri, although such a precise delivery, a cold-blooded strike right into the heart. Is it bad if I say what I wholeheartedly laughed a bit? Gotta appreciate her pokerface wit. Part of me wanted to scream: "oh, thats so cold, c'mon, dont do that, this is a bloody murder!" and the other part of me actually surprisingly enjoined that. Such an elegant trolling by her. +6 GOE, mos def.

I actually don't think she was trolling anyone when she said "Boitano". I believe that this was a honest answer.

Regarding the little TSL discussion - I would enjoy a TSL Eteri interview very much, I guess we all would, but we know that it won't happen ...
I listen to TSL from time to time, but I do enjoy to listen to different opinions, hearing my own believes repeated is boring. I don't agree with TSL's view on TUE's f.e.. Not everything one is allowed to take is morally acceptable imo. And decent journalists, no matter their own backround, should cover those topics critically in any case. But they are often fun, interesting and only sometimes a little mean on purpose, also to keep their programs interesting I guess.

Ted Barton interviews Eteri Tutberidze

lappo

neud

Match Penalty

La Rhumba

Supporting All British Skaters!

eaglehelang

atsumiri

Tavi...

DSQ

NoNameFace

GS given name - Beatrice

cathlen

Team Gorgeous Cacti!

DenissVFan

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605

JustRozy

Giltedge

solani

Alexz

vesperalvioletta

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

anonymoose_au

Insert weird opinion here

pearly

solani

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