Javier Fernandez

[eppen]

Another interview out just now: http://www.impassemag.com/2017/05/javier-fernandez/

And more hints on the programs - I'm pretty sure that he will end up revealing all very soon!

But it seems that they have the SP in the bag - if you take a piece from 5 years ago, does that mean I love Paris? Or something from the Verdi?

Nothing really on the content of the FS, but it has not been done yet... The plan is to do it July in Spain...

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[tureis]

Ahhh I loved Takeshi! Such a shame he couldn't hang on to a medal in SLC.

The Minkus ballet would definitely be an unconventional choice for Javi, but for me at least it doesn't lend itself that well to the sort of character interpretation that Javi does in so many of his programs. And I assume that's what they are going for based on how Javi spoke about it.

In any case, Hielo Espanol posted about this on FB with these words: "Javier Fernández skater nos adelanta algunas pinceladas de sus nuevos programas para la temporada olímpica. Para el largo llevará música española, pero no en el sentido tradicional. Será un montaje basado en un personaje español conocido a nivel mundial. Para el corto utilizará parte de una música utilizada anteriormente, pero con un enfoque distinto."

 

[Jaana]

I think Don Juan and Don Quijote are the most likely persons, but we will see. I found this from youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6_Kez8rlY "Don Juan - La Comédie musicale" which of course is French, but there seems to be some Spanish, too. Maybe it has been played in Spain, too?

 

[tureis]

I've found a nice compromise between Spanish flamenco and Rock/Pop and tried to match it with Javi's skating. What do you think about it?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZuL-AuUw6k

Ahhhhh Innuendo is one of my favorite Queen songs! I don't know whether it would work for a FS though. Maybe it's more a SP type of music, works better for figure skating when it's shorter?

 

[tureis]

I think Don Juan and Don Quijote are the most likely persons, but we will see. I found this from youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6_Kez8rlY "Don Juan - La Comédie musicale" which of course is French, but there seems to be some Spanish, too. Maybe it has been played in Spain, too?

Thank you Jaana! I've never heard of this musical before. It doesn't seem to have been played much outside of Canada and France, but it was actually performed in South Korea. Hmm, interesting...

 

[Henni147]

Ahhhhh Innuendo is one of my favorite Queen songs! I don't know whether it would work for a FS though. Maybe it's more a SP type of music, works better for figure skating when it's shorter?

Yupp, I had it as a short program music on my mind as well! My version lasts only 2:15 minutes, but it would be no problem to extend it by another 35 seconds. I like this song because of its power and the fitting mix of serious rock and spirited flamenco in between (that electric guitar sounds simply awesome.) I love Freddie's voice, but in terms of figure skating I prefer the instrumental version of Innuendo

 

[DelRetiro]

IM: Ahora que acaba la temporada, ¿se puede desconectar totalmente de los patines? ¿Qué pretende abordar en estos meses antes de una temporada importante?
JF: La temporada ha concluido. Sigo patinando pero hasta mediados de agosto no volveré a Toronto para empezar los entrenamientos más específicos. Ahora empiezo una serie de exhibiciones por todo el mundo. De hecho, voy a estar un mes en Japón realizando varios espectáculos. Aquí también hay varias citas, como un campamento de verano, por ejemplo. En julio queremos montar la coreografía del programa largo porque ya tenemos lista la del programa corto. Y queremos hacerlo en España. Traeremos a mi coreógrafo desde Canadá e intentaremos acabar esa coreografía en julio. A partir de agosto, como digo, entrenamientos más específicos y más duros para empezar a competir a partir de octubre.
IM: Ya que surge el tema de las coreografías y sabiendo que su idea es cambiar absolutamente todo, no sé si existe la posibilidad de añadir esos nuevos sonidos con los que combina su patinaje en exhibiciones a lo programas que incluye en su repertorio.
JF: Las coreografías y las músicas las tendremos preparadas antes de agosto, y sólo tendremos que trabajar en los nuevos trajes. Cambiaremos los programas de competición y las músicas. Como dices, lo cambiaremos absolutamente todo. Es una temporada especial. Es una temporada olímpica y queremos visitar algún programa que ya hayamos hecho. No nos gusta repetir pero sí podemos hacer recordar a los aficionados. Por ejemplo, podemos buscar algún programa de hace cinco años y ofrecerlo a los aficionados con un rediseño mejorado con mejores elementos.

Because the Impasse Magazine article is rather long, I don't want to translate the whole piece. But since these two questions discuss specifically Javi's plans for his new SP and FS, I thought I'd translate just these two questions. Please note that I took a lot of liberties with the translation of the second question and answer. Because a straight-up translation just didn't sound right, I went with an English paraphrase of the Spanish text.

IM: Now that the season is finished, can you disconnect totally from skating? What will you try to take on in these months prior to such an important season?
JF: The season has concluded. I'll keep skating but won't return to Toronto until the middle of August to start more specific training. Now I'm starting a series of exhibitions all around the world. In fact, I'll be in Japan for a month doing a few shows. Here there are also a few things scheduled, like a summer camp for example. In July we want to do the free skate choreography because the short program is already set. And we want to do it in Spain. We're going to bring my choreographer over from Canada and we'll try to finish the long program in July. Starting in August, like I said, more specific and tougher training sessions in order to start competing in October.

IM: On the subject of choreography, knowing that your thought process is to change absolutely everything, I wonder if it's possible to work some of your exhibition skating into your competition choreography.
Javier: We'll have the choreography and music set before August; the only thing we'll have to work on is new outfits. We'll change the competition programs and the music. Like you said, we will change absolutely everything. It's a special season. It's an Olympic season, and we want to revisit a program from the past. We don't want to do the same thing, but we do want to bring back something from the past for the fans. For example, we can take a program from five years ago and present it with an improved redesign and superior elements.

 

[DelRetiro]

Thanks for looking into these, DelRetiro!

I have to admit I've never heard of Lazarillo de Tormes. But as far as I could see, there haven't really been adaptations in any music genre. And the only one of El Cid would be the Charlton Heston film with music by Miklós Rózsa, but that sounds very unlikely.

I thought of Don Juan, but again, what music would it be? I would rule out any opera or ballet versions. Those would be terrible choices for Javi. The Johnny Depp movie with the Bryan Adams song?

Don Quijote is still the most likely, where again I would rule out any classical versions. This album by Mago the Oz is definitely not traditional, but maybe too out of the box for a figure skating program. Then there's the Coldplay song, but that doesn't lend itself to a figure skating program at all.

A good question is what Javi means by Spanish music. Written by a Spanish composer, performed in Spanish, or having a Spanish theme or feel? And what he means by "not traditional" is another question. It could simply mean not classical music. But of course it could mean modern, and something we're Don't not even aware of.

For the SP, I would rule out anything he did in the past three seasons. I could however imagine music from an earlier program edited with something else this time, like I Love Paris, or (God forbid) his Sochi programs. Or some of the gala programs.

Don't feel bad, tureis I had never heard of Lazarillo de Tormes either, until I went to study in Salamanca (through which runs the River Tormes, btw). As famous as the book & character are in Spain (the American equivalent would be Huckleberry Finn, a boy who sets out on a journey, goes through all sorts of adventures, and through it all becomes a man), it's not well-known outside of Spain, and even less so among English-speakers. As for El Cid, most people have at least heard of the historical figure, but in today's sensitive political climate, portraying a Spanish hero who went to war against the Muslims would be, uh, complicated.

Don Juan, the notorious womanizer? Considering that half (at the very least) of figure skating fans are female, I doubt that would go over well. Women on the judging panel probably wouldn't care for it much either

It's gotta be Don Quijote; the question is what music will Javi and his team go with. Neither the score of "Man of La Mancha" (opened on Broadway in 1965) nor the music from the ballet (1940 or 1965, depending on the version) fit the definition of "nontraditional" in my opinion. Who knows??

As for the SP, it could be anything: an old short program, free skate, or exhibition piece. Since I started following Javi's career only recently, I'm not familiar with his old programs. A question for all Javi fans: what's your favorite Javi program that you'd love to see him bring back?

 

[xibsuarz]

Lazarillo de Tormes would be interesting but yeah, definitely not that well known outside non-Spanish speaking countries (I learned about it on my junior high literature class). I also think it will be something among the lines of Don Quijote for the Free. If he was planning on doing it in Spain I wondered if Antonio Najarro would be the choreographer but it sounds like it will be DW again.
I would LOVE IT if he brought Black Betty back. But I don't think that will be the one he will do. Perhaps he might bring his El Zorro SP back? Because I don't think it will be one of the ones he did with Morozov.

 

[tureis]

There is one program that I would love to see reworked into a competition program: Touch of Evil. I can absolutely imagine I Love Paris/Petit Fleur with much improved choreography, but only if they really do use just part of the same music and otherwise mix it with other stuff. And that's pretty much it.

I can list a lot more for programs I think they shouldn't do: anything from the past 2 seasons, Verdi (please no), Sochi programs (still hate both, but Javi apparently likes Peter Gunn, for the life of me I can't understand why, but it's a scary thought), Zorro (not with a Spanish FS)

Black Betty is somewhere in between. I adore that program, but it was so perfect the first time around, I can't imagine why they would want to rework it into something else. And while Javi could definitely do a much better Chaplin now than 5 years ago, which may be a temptation, I think it's too much of a signature piece for Javi to use part of that music in whatever shape and form.

Anyhow, Javi's music hints are usually to be taken quite literally, so if he talks about a program from 5 years ago, that pretty much narrows it down to his first two seasons at TCC: I Love Paris / Verdi; Zorro / Chaplin

 

[Jaana]

Literally 5 years ago would be 2012-13 season = Zorro and Chaplin. Personally my big favorite among Javi´s programs has been "Guys and Dolls", great music which really gave the possibility for fantastic footwork. I also like "Chaplin" freeskate, but the music does not allow any really great footwork, I think. Anyway that music has great feeling. Zorro is movie music, maybe some great sword scenes music would allow good footwork? Mostly I think that movie music is just background music and nothing exciting. A musical is on totally different level, because the music is most important there.

My least favorites have been so far Elvis, 2014 Olympic programs and Barber of Sevilla.

 

[Bellaxx]

Guys and Dolls is by far my favourite program of his ever. That style of music, skating and costume suited him perfectly I think. I'd love to see that program make a comeback, even if just as an exhibition program.

 

[beki]

I agree with tureis; I would like to see Touch of Evil in competition. Except I consider it so sophisticated I don't know what the judges would do with it

For me, Javi's top masterpieces are Black Betty and Malagueña (no need to repeat those). For the long, I like Guys and Dolls the best. It's funny, I think of Javier as a long program skater, but I usually don't love his long programs. Obviously he knows how high the stakes are this year and will try to bring stellar material. I wish he had experimented and gone out of his comfort zone this past year. I don't think Elvis advanced his skating further; unfortunately it was a bit of a retread.

 

[DelRetiro]

I agree with tureis; I would like to see Touch of Evil in competition. Except I consider it so sophisticated I don't know what the judges would do with it

For me, Javi's top masterpieces are Black Betty and Malagueña (no need to repeat those). For the long, I like Guys and Dolls the best. It's funny, I think of Javier as a long program skater, but I usually don't love his long programs. Obviously he knows how high the stakes are this year and will try to bring stellar material. I wish he had experimented and gone out of his comfort zone this past year. I don't think Elvis advanced his skating further; unfortunately it was a bit of a retread.

As much as I love Touch of Evil, I don't know if it could be converted into a competition SP. But between Kurt & Javi, they might be able to pull it off. I'd love to see what they can come up with.

Yeah, Elvis was a total retread. The choreography was so similar to Guys & Dolls, just set to Elvis instead of Frank. It's like he wanted to duplicate the success of his brilliant Boston 2016 performance without actually doing the same routine.

For the SP, I'm guessing he brings back Zorro, completely revamped, although I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Touch of Evil. For the free, it's gotta be Don Quijote, but the music remains a mystery.

 

[Jaana]

LOL, here is one Don Quijote (y Sancho Panza) from the eighties, which is not classical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww9J4ZjNl3k

 

[rosacotton]

My top 5 programs:
1. (tie) "Malagueña" and "Guys and Dolls"
3. "Black Betty"
4. "Barber of Seville"
5. "Charlie Chaplin"

Least favorite programs: "Elvis" and both 2014 Olympic programs.

Recently I've rediscovered Javi's "Mask of Zorro" SP and wouldn't mind seeing it brought back.

 

[rosacotton]

Did I hear the lady at the small medal ceremony right? Javier Fernandez from Japan? I don't know why I think this is so hilarious but I can't stop laughing. They really want to keep him over there, don't they.

That part was funny. He actually didn't hear it until Denis told him. Even funnier when he told Denis he is half Japanese. Yuzu then said he is from Spain with Javi said he is from Japan lol.

 

[tzazu]

Javi will be in FaOI:

http://www.fantasy-on-ice.com/

 

[Interspectator]

Javi will be in FaOI:

http://www.fantasy-on-ice.com/

All of the shows! wow. This is a LOT of skaters...really amazing cast!:thumbsup:

 

[xeyra]

LOL, here is one Don Quijote (y Sancho Panza) from the eighties, which is not classical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww9J4ZjNl3k

This is amazing! I think it would make a great SP. I mean, we've had a Nokia theme SP this past season, this wouldn't be much worse.