I did the translation of the Quotiden show :
They show their medals, "all colours, from worlds and olympics".
Yann (host) says to the guy next to Gabi that she has Greek origins and that’s why they put them together (because the guy is famous French presenter with Greek origins too called Nikos Aliagas)
Yann : Gabi and Guillaume’s 3rd world title and Vanessa and Morgan 1st world podium, congratulations. So you were not in competition with each other. Here is ice dance and here is pairs skating. What’s the difference for those who don’t know skating much?
Guillaume : It’s always difficult to explain, and us (dancers) it kinda always makes us look like crap because they jump, do super impressive stuffs and us we dance.
Yann : Yes but you jump too right?
Gabi: no not really, maybe very small jumps (she shows like 20cm with her hands)
Morgan : the big difference is that we do throw jumps and lifts above the head, it’s more acrobatic
Guillaume : for us it’s really what’s danced, step sequences, really technical things but that don’t look it. It doesn’t look very hard. It’s difficult to explain for the people who don’t know the sport
Yann : nothing to do with us, but let’s say it, you are not couples
Everyone : no
Yann : Why do we always think that? That people that skate together are together in real life?
Guillaume : because we pretend!
Yann : Good answer. You are actors in fact.
Morgan : It happens though for some pairs. We are super close, every day, we train together, we hold hands, sometimes it can lead to something, but there is an actor game in all of that too. But some are couples.
Yann : Gabriella and Guillaume you skate together since you are 9 and 10 years old. We have some footage from regional tv from 2008.
The footage says Gabi and Guillaume might have found the right match winning the French nationals for 14-17yo category while being 13 (lol). Small Gabi says they both have to be energetic otherwise it doesn’t work and small Guillaume says he wants to go to international high level competitions.
They are both so embarrassed by the footage. Yann makes fun of Guillaume small growing moustache.
Yann : Vanessa you began skating at 8 or 9 which is really old for skating.
Vanessa: yes it’s very late, but it’s a good thing for me because like that I didn’t get bored of it.
Yann : no of course! You two how did you end up skating together?
Morgan : I was a single skater in the French national team in juniors, and she did Olympic games in pairs with her former partner Yannick Bonheur, we met like that and we started joking together on social media, talking to each other and we decided “why not try” after her split with the former partner, “we can try skating together, could be fun and we could do good things together”.
Yann : what are the things that make it work between two people that dance or skate together?
Gabriella : For us, we grew up together, we have known each other since we are kids, we met when we were 7 and 8 and we really evolved one next to the other and one for the other too and we have temperaments that… (match)
Yann : like brother and sister?
Guillaume: a bit yes
Yann : but do you see each other all the times, weekends and all or not?
Guillaume : well we are kinda like twins, when we speak we say the same things…
Yann : you know how each other move in fact
Gabi : yes
Guillaume : we are used to do all the same things all the time together, we can finish each other’s sentences, that kind of connection.
Aliagas : do you go on holidays together?
Gabi : this no.
Yann : Are there pairs that hate each other?
Morgan : yes there have been
Yann : we want names
Guillaume : Marina and Gwendal, they were not really… close
Gabi : they were known to have some problems between them
Guillaume : bad tempered but well…
Yann : and you can’t see it on the ice?!
Morgan : well it’s the theatrical side that we must play sometimes, but
Guillaume : but it also created a connection
Gabriella : yes like a small fire
Guillaume: like tension
Yann : and in a few words, what physical qualities do you need to be a figure skating champion? Legs…
Gabi : legs, arms,
Someone : balance
Morgan : a bit of everything I think
Guillaume : you need to be flexible
Morgan: NO
Yann : you are not flexible?
Morgan: no I’m not.
Guillaume : well compared to people that don’t skate a little a least
Morgan : well for a sportsman I’m not really
Yann : and what kind of psychology you need?
Morgan : you have to like to put on a show a minimum. Because we are the only actors during the moment in front of a big audience, it’s not a team, you are alone in the middle of the ice, it’s like an artist.
Yann : you should like to show off?
Morgan : yes show off.
Yann : but you seem shy…
Vanessa : me, I’m shy
Yann : yes!
Vanessa : I have a mental coach that’s helping me a lot
Yann : what I have around my neck was won by them 4 at worlds and Olympics. Nikos, did you follow Pyeongchang?
Aliagas : from far, I saw also what happened to you…
Yann : well yes, that was my question… do we speak about it or not?
Gabi : I imagine you prepared the subject?
Yann : no no no no. It’s too expensive to buy the images. (joke) You ok? Not too traumatized?
Gabi : no that’s fine. Well it happened.
Yann : yes the dress, pschhht, something
Gabi : yes we are not gonna make it taboo for 10 years.
Yann: a staple incident with the dress…
Gabi : yes.
Yann : it’s said it’s a very expensive sport that asks for a lot of sacrifices. Is it true?
Morgan: that’s mostly true I think. A lot of sacrifice that’s for sure. Expensive, a bit at first because we are not really helped, there are not many sponsors, it’s difficult to find ice time etc. at the beginning but I think it is more expensive in other countries like USA for example.
Yann : and did you not suffer too much from the maybe a bit caricatural image of figure skating? When you were small?
Guillaume : a little bit of course. It’s not the thing to do that’s super cool. When people ask what you do in life and you say you are a figure skater… it’s not…
Gabi (points at their photo as juniors with ridiculous costumes) : yes that’s what we do!
Yann : yes! Did you suffer from it?
Guillaume : well more or less…
Yann : why are the costumes… are… a little bit special?
[Little parenthesis here, but I think when you say figure skating in France to people who don’t follow the sport, people will automatically think of costumes like Alexei Urmanov’s Olympic shirt, or like Johnnie Weir style of costumes… It has an image of being really old fashioned and uncool]
Gabi: form-fitting?
Yann : well not only form-fitting but very colourful…
Guillaume : well… I don’t know. But that said, we try to be a bit more fashionable. Lately…
Yann : well yes nowadays, at least in Milan, we saw that you tried to renew that
Gabi : we try!
Guillaume : well 1st the thing is you have to use material that stretches. And except from the lycra, there are not too many. Jeans… it’s complicated lol! I don’t know, it’s in the culture of the sport. We try… yes… we try not to add sparkle if you don’t need them but in a latin dance like this year you need them so… but yeah we try to avoid the old-fashion side of it.
Yann : Ha! I didn’t use the word old-fashioned! So do you think the image has changed then? That it looks a lot more modern… thanks to you too.
Guillaume : well you have to ask the audience I think.
Yann : I think so
Gabi : We hope, we try. We try to make it like it follows exterior trends, that it keeps up with our real tastes, tastes from our generation,
Guillaume : even for music, we try to use a maximum.. well you’ll tell me Beethoven is not super modern, but when we can, we try to choose music that the audience can like, because it’s a show and it’s important for us to have that positive feedback from the audience.
Yann : And Nikos, do you watch sometimes for example.
Aliagas : I watch when we have champions that make the sport get exposure/be talked about. They also became ambassadors for the kids that watch them. And I’m touched when they say they don’t have the financial support at the beginning, it’s true I imagine there is not a Mexican army with plenty of sponsors and all but maybe you will make them come. Maybe you’ll make things move with your talent.
Morgan : we try. Now we will do the French team tour that starts Thursday. We skate in rinks around France, we have a nice show. And yeah we will try to make people talk about our sport to bring young kids and audience etc. And I think it’s important because it’s a sport that stays very pleasant to watch. It was one of the favourite sports from the Olympics for the French people to watch on TV.
Yann : so let’s go!
Music segment:
Music they listen to in a loop at the moment:
Nikos : Maitre Gims et Vianney – La même
G&G : Brandi Carlile – The joke
V/M : Maitre Gims and Lil Wayne – Corazón
Perfect song to dance :
Nikos : Claude François – cette année là
G&G : Ed Sheeran – Shape of you
Yann : so you danced that?
Gabi : yes! It’s perfect!
Yann : how did you do?
Guillaume : latin dance, in samba
Yann : what do you mean?
Guillaume : well meaning rolling your butt
V/M : Drake – One dance
Best song to make love :
Nikos : Bronski Beat – I feel love (they all find it’s a very odd choice, Guillaume says, with a little bit of drugs that must help)
G&G : Jeremih – Birthday sex (someone in the audience is like “yes I admit it’s good”)
V/M : the weeknd – earned it
Gabi : I need to precise that they skated to this.
Morgan : don’t say that, they didn’t know.
Yann: you skated on that?
Vanessa : yes last year
Yann : what was the result?
Vanessa : very good! lol
Most beautiful song to be depressed:
Nikos : Léo Ferré – avec le temps
G&G : Léo Ferré – avec le temps (they chose the same)
V/M : Jacques Brel – ne me quitte pas
The crappy song that you like for reasons you can’t explain:
Nikos : Papa tango Charly – Mort Shuman
G&G : Dany Brillant – Quand je vois tes yeux
Yann : you could do it on the ice
Guillaume : yes as a samba!
V/M : Francky Vincent – Fruit de la passion
Yann : We were listening to the commentators in weight-lifting (in another segment), the best commentator for figure skating, who is it?
Morgan and Gabi : Nelson… Nelson Montfort
Yann : he always asks the same questions no?
Guillaume : it’s often quite repetitive…
Gabi : Yes… but he is nice. We love Nelson.
Yann : Would you like to do it later, commentator?
Morgan : no.
Gabi : Commentating?
Guillaume : I can’t contain myself to commentate…
Gabi : I think it’s hard to say interesting things without being a little offensive. No that’s true, when you are in front of your tv at home, you make commentaries…
Guillaume : we criticize really easily. It’s a bit simple.
Yann : It’s a complicated job.
Gabi : yes complicated, very complicated.
Yann : Thank you for coming and in fact figure skating is COOL! We can go see your show and congrats on the medals.
I meant that I did not really know what Operetta was before hearing it a couple of days ago
So I generalized a bit.
. Sorry for that.i have to learn french....) did they tell something fun or new;;;
