...though the tracksuit you run in the morning I suppose is more appropriate in this case. Let's dress up like our winner.
#1
Show number “Chernyi Bumer” (Translated from the language of bratva: “Black BMW car”)
Presented at the April show of Eteri Tutberidze's team (for 11 shows).
Choreographers: Eteri Tutberidze, Daniel Gleichengauz
Music:
Seryoga - Chernyi Bumer
Image: a comedic little hooligan from the 2000s driving his car in search of adventure and new girlfriends.
Oh. I never thought this day would come, but here I am, presenting an award to the show number, taking it away from the competition programs. It's incredible.
Well, let me explain.
How was this program created? Well, Eteri Tutberidze woke up one day and decided that it was time for Andrei to leave his comfort zone and try on the most unusual image possible. And she immediately decided that Andrei would be given two show programs for the April show: one lyrical and heartfelt, and the other hooligan and fun. The two of them with Daniel Gleichengauz staged the program in a few hours, while having maximum fun, rehearsed and did not expect anything special from it, except for the conditional approval of the audience.
And the program caused a furor and became a kind of event in the world of Russian FS. Why? Well, there are several reasons.
First of all, the effect of surprise worked. Nobody at all expected them to do something like this. As journalist Konstantin Lesik says, “they were able to combine the gopnik (gopnik is a colloquial name for local hooligans, street criminals in Russia) and the aesthetics of figure skating - two things that are as far apart as possible.” And as it turned out in the end, this was something that figure skating in Russia (and not only here) was sorely lacking. After the video clips hit the TikTok, the audience was blown away by how “Russian” this image turned out to be, how close and understandable it was, how much we all lacked something... like that on the ice. This “stereotypical Russian” turned into a archetypical Russian, cheerful, able to laugh at himself. Andrei in this image is compared to Yuri Plisetsky (Russian figure skater, a character in the manga and anime “Yuri on Ice”), that is, to the collective image of the Russian figure skater in general. For many, he has become the embodiment of Russian FS in general. Take the stereotypical image of a skater and the stereotypical image of a Russian and combine them - and you get the image shown by Andrei.
This video has 1.33 million views, which isn't small even for TikTok
The second reason behind the popularity of the number in Russia is nostalgia. The song to which Andrei skates was very popular in those years when he just started skating on the children's ice. Its simple humor and soulfulness makes the audience remember their youth or childhood and loudly sing along and clap their hands. Of course, warm nostalgic feelings ensured the popularity of the program.
The third reason... Hell yeah, it's an unabashedly cool show program, very relatable to the show, exactly what we expect from such programs. It's funny, it's nostalgic, it's full of good humor and subtle irony. It is entertaining, at the same time interesting and witty and does not cross a certain line, beyond which begins tastelessness, vulgarity and clowning (as many humorous show numbers in Russian FS). In addition, they have kept the boundaries and avoided the danger of crossing the line and showing the character too convex and realistic, with the grasp of a criminal from the criminal environment. Andrei's gopnik is light, cheerful, carnival, boyish, mischievous, kind and sympathetic, a ladies' man, his closeness to the criminal environment is shown very conditionally, in a few characteristic gestures. This is not a thieves' romance and romanticization of crime, it is a romanticization of the reckless fun youth, when you can drive around the city all day in search of new friends and honk at beautiful girls.
Let's say it out loud: we lack fun programs (at least in Russian figure skating for sure). We have a lot of cool lyrical programs, dramatic programs, heroic programs, whatever, for any taste. Figure skating evokes a lot of emotions, but not fun. And when there is a really fun program that everybody likes, that makes everybody happy, it becomes a kind of event.
The situation is the same as the 2022-2023 season. Andrei got some gorgeous lyrical programs, but all everyone remembered was his provocative show number that got millions of views on social media.
Well, you will say, but in the season 2022-2023 “Perfumer” in my rating still got silver, losing the championship to “Red Hand”, despite the fact that it was the show program that made Andrei popular.
Why does this program get the gold medal, beating the competition programs?
Well, first of all, “Red Hand” is still a masterpiece (I consider it Andrei's best program to date), and this year's competition programs are just good. They can be moved. And secondly, “Perfumer” didn't really help to reveal Andrei in new ways. This program did.
Let's be honest, when we said out loud or thought to ourselves that we wanted to see a new Andrei, that we wanted to watch him reveal himself in something new and unusual, we thought of something like this. We want him to dance, to have fun, to hooliganize, to try on daring images. Maybe not so daring, and for a competition program it would be too much. But for a show program it is a hundred percent hit. Andrey really stepped out of his comfort zone and showed how funny, light and silly he can be, having thrown off the weight of eternal midlife crisis and philosophical reflections.
It is also important that all of Andrei's virtues as a skater were not forgotten in this program. They managed to fit his smooth rolling movements, his gorgeous spread-eagles and spirals into the rather fast rhythm of the music. Even the choreography was intact. If you look closely, you can see how clearly Andrei maintains classical ballet positions in his goofy, sloppy, and actually extremely well thought out dance. As commentator Lina Fedorova said, “Andrei is the only one who presents a gopnik on the ice and yet carefully pulls the toes of his feet.”
In this program, Andrei was able to appear new and keep himself, his style. Moreover, after creating this program, Eteri Tutberidze decided that Andrei needed a short program in the same fun dance style - and he got a short program to “Everbody” by Backstreet Boys. So they continue to take Andrei out of his comfort zone, continue to take him in new directions, which I really like. And it's all thanks to the fact that they did it well in “Bumer.”
It's awesome. And it's without a doubt number one on my program rankings.
#3 
#2 
#1 
