Johnny Weir Journal Entry April, 2008

[all that]

American Ballet Theatre.

 

[mmscfdcsu]

That was Barishnikov when he was at ABT. That whole movie was made by ABT dancers except for the guest stars.

You could see the increase in difficulty from Nureyev to Barishnikov..

It's incredible to watch these guys do 8 revolutions in pirouettes without ice .

Would like to see Johnny and Mischer come up with a great program.

Joe

Didn't Debi Thomas work with Barishnikov?

 

[Dodhiyel]

Thanks for the thread alert, mmscfdcsu. I just read Johnny's journal entry, and I love it. I'm very proud of him, and I'm glad he's proud of himself.

 

[efreedman]

That was Barishnikov when he was at ABT. That whole movie was made by ABT dancers except for the guest stars.

You could see the increase in difficulty from Nureyev to Barishnikov..

It's incredible to watch these guys do 8 revolutions in pirouettes without ice .

Would like to see Johnny and Mischer come up with a great program.

Joe

And, perfectly centered and not moving off a dime!

 

[Medusa]

Maybe Johnny is finally growing up. It has taken him much longer than the average Joe, but hopefully his new mature attitude will follow him into next season.

I envy you for knowing so many mature 20-something-year-olds. You must know absolutely amazing and perfect people if most of them are all grown-up and mature in their early twens. I am 23 myself and therefore know lots of people who are also in their early to mid twenties - and I would never say that I am in any way more mature than Johnny appears to be in public - or that many of my friends or fellow students are more mature than Johnny appears to be.

When I read the journal entry on Johnny's page, I found it all sunny, fluffy and gentle and thought right away: Nobody can pick on this, there is nothing to criticise here! But apparently it's possible to pay Johnny a compliment for this entry and at the same time insult him on a large scale. I find that astonishing.


I am so happy for Johnny that he had such a great season and seems to be happy with the season himself. And of course I am looking forward to his programs next season, I hope he finds great music for his programs and creative challenging choreography.

 

[jennylovskt]

Do you think he would be better off to blow off the quad altogether, and try to win on the quality of his elements? All of his jumps except one got positive GOEs at Cup of China -- more than enough to make up for the lack of a quad, in comparison to Worlds.

Not unless that he sets up his goal for just keeping himself in the top 5, not higher. Who knows when will be the next time that almost all the top skaters falter? He was so nervous at the Worlds because he didn't want to end up his season like last a couple years. Now he has gotten a World medal. It has taken some of these burdens off his shoulder. Next year, I think he could be at ease more and perform better.


I really appreciate Johnny that he keeps us informed. This journal entry is more thoughtful and checked his words. It's a welcome sign of maturity. I like it.

I do think that Johnny should find time to train in Russia more often if it can give him so much inspiration and positive impact on his skating. Why not?

 

[jennylovskt]

Didn't want to start a new thread for it, but I have just noticed that Johnny has updated his profile page on April 9 on his official website. and stated:

"Bright Future

Only time will tell what the future holds for Johnny Weir. His long term goals include being an Olympic and World Champion, and someday being a coach. Johnny is a very intense and focused young man. He truly knows what he wants to do with his life, and knows what he has to do to achieve those goals.
"

It's new at least to me that he didn't list his long term goal as a fashion designer but as a figure skating coach. Is that the influence of his new coaching team? And he stated his training towns are Wayne, N.J. and Moscow, Russia.

 

[Medusa]

He also changed some of his favourite athletes

Male Athletes
Evgeny Plushenko, Aleksey Yagudin, Tomas Verner, Sergey Voronov, Aleksandr Uspenskiy, Ilya Kulik, Alexei Nemov

Female Athletes
Irina Slutskaya, Elene Gedevanishvilli, Arina Martinova, Elena Sokolova, Oksana Baiul, Yu-na Kim, Mirai Nagasu, Maria Sharapova, Alina Kabaeva, Svetlana Khorkina

Verner is new, I do think that Voronov is new too. He also added Yu-Na Kim and Nagasu. Apparently Kim also cites him as one of her favourite male skaters - don't know if it's true.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Is Verner a Czech or a Slovak? His male list are all Slavs.

and so what? He's Johnny, it's ok.

Joe

 

[clannadss]

He also added Yu-Na Kim and Nagasu. Apparently Kim also cites him as one of her favourite male skaters - don't know if it's true.

I think it is. I read it somewhere (possibly her fan forum) that in her Korean blog Yu-Na post a lot of pictures from the Worlds banquet. And right below the photo with her and Johnny Weir together, she says she is so happy that he medalled this time and says he is the number one favorite skater in her heart. She goes on to say that Stephane Lambiel comes second, and Jeff is the third (with a "Sorry, Jeff" in a parenthesis and a cute emoticon showing "how sorry she is" ). She is a darling.
Yeah, I think she said it in a half joking tone, but it should be safe to assume that Johnny is one of her favorite skaters

 

[Jaana]

Who knows when will be the next time that almost all the top skaters falter? He was so nervous at the Worlds because he didn't want to end up his season like last a couple years. Now he has gotten a World medal. It has taken some of these burdens off his shoulder. Next year, I think he could be at ease more and perform better.

I´m very glad for Weir´s World bronze medal, but I don´t think that it has taken any burden off his shoulder. At least not, if he is able to see the matter realistically. It was a very lucky bronze medal, because with the exception of Joubert the other top skaters faltered. Buttle had a great freeskate he can be really proud of, but Weir did not, in my opinion. Just this once Weir happens to get a bronze medal for it, but will the same circumstances ever repeat?

 

[Medusa]

I´m very glad for Weir´s World bronze medal, but I don´t think that it has taken any burden off his shoulder. At least not, if he is able to see the matter realistically. It was a very lucky bronze medal, because with the exception of Joubert the other top skaters faltered. Buttle had a great freeskate he can be really proud of, but Weir did not, in my opinion. Just this once Weir happens to get a bronze medal for it, but will the same circumstances ever repeat?

I don't think it's fair to play the what-if-game here. Of course you can play it, but then acknowledge that you can say "he just had luck" about lots of other skaters. I am not just talking about Lysacek in 2005 (that was one lucky bronze medal, too - the entire podium was lucky, it was a really bad competition in 2005), but also about Joubert's win last year (where most of the top skaters faltered in the short program - otherwise Joubert wouldn't have won the title) - about Plushenko's Olympic title (because just a few weeks later Joubert and Lambiel were in top-shape at Worlds, if they had skated like that at the Olympics and not just handed the Gold to Plushenko...), about Buttle's Bronze at the Olympics...

No, it wasn't Johnny's best skate. But out off the four very nervous skaters who were in medal contention (Verner, Lambiel, Takahashi and himself) - he was the most consistent, stayed on his feet, completed his program without major errors except for the Quad. Was he lucky that the others didn't bring their A-game that night? Sure! But so were lots of other skaters who won medals.

And I think that this Worlds, the Bronze medal and the entire season are possibly very important to Johnny. He was very consistent throughout the season (just two falls, just two downgrades...), he fought at Worlds through a long program despite being (and looking) horribly nervous, he was very focussed and didn't allow himself to be distracted by the strange Nationals result or confusing NYT-articles... It truly was a great season for him, that ended with a deserved Bronze medal.

Now I just hope for better music and a bit different choreography for next season...Though I really enjoyed his short program more and more throughout the season. Well, I am looking forward to next season.

 

[Brandi_DeLain]

Great post, Medusa! I agree with everything you said. :agree:

I´m very glad for Weir´s World bronze medal, but I don´t think that it has taken any burden off his shoulder.

I think this entire season has taken a lot of burden off of Johnny. His two GP gold medals made him a top qualifier for the GPF (along with Takahashi). He wasn't 100% at the GPF (that's where both of his falls happened) but he fought through and finished the competition. He again had to skate right after Evan in the LP at US Nats, and he turned in a gorgeous, passionate skate proving to himself and his critics that he could deliver under pressure. He admitted to being so nervous during his Worlds LP that his entire body was shaking. He said that a year or so ago, he would have definitely melted down, but not this year. This year he fought for every landing and stayed on his feet. Now next year when he is in that same situation, he won't be saying to himself "you can do this" he will be saying "you have done this, and you can do it again."

 

[momjudi]

This year was about restoring his confidence and love of skating. Johnny accomplished both. The medals he won were the icing on top of the cake.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Johnny fans have united. He beat out Takahashi, Lambiel and Verner, all of whom did not even reach their own capabilities. Had any one or all of them skated their best, would Johnny have ascended to the bronze step of the podium?

His goal is the Olys gold, as he has said before. He's made a move towards that goal. There is one more in LA. Will he reach gold in 2010?

Joe

 

[Buttercup]

I'm not sure I see the point of "what if"s. Medusa is right - you can play that game with almost any event. What if everyone had skated clean this year? What if Buttle had fallen three times? The big thing, as Medusa and Brandi wrote, is that Johnny went out there and fought. He wasn't perfect, but he didn't give up, he didn't fall to pieces, and now he knows he's got it in him. I hope he continues to skate well and get good results.

 

[DragonPhoenix]

I´m very glad for Weir´s World bronze medal, but I don´t think

If you are really glad for Weir, why do you always add the words but or however or if...........then, bringing up something you think is negative about him.

My impression from your posts is you are not really glad about anything when it comes to Johnny Weir.

 

[Snowgirl]

What if Takahash did his best, what if Lambiel did his best... and what if Weir skated like he did at Nats or better? That "if" works both ways, but doesn't make sense either way. Johnny got his medal not because he was lucky, but because he was better that very evening. And no way he thinks that kind of performance will be enough to win in future. He saw all the drawback of his performance perfectly well and I'm sure he will improve next season.

It's hard to describe, but it was a huge weight off my shoulders to see the season through, and not stop fighting until the end.

I'm sure that the quote shows well enough that this medal really was a relief for Johnny

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

No one is talking about the ifs in the way they are talking about strong arsenals. No one is saying Johnny should not be the bronze medalist. No one has said that Daisuke should have been third.

It's very difficult to discuss Johnny with his legion of fans ready to pounce:disapp:

Joe

 

[jennylovskt]

Joe, I know that you are trying to be fair. You seemed to be annoyed that more than one person responded on the same subject. It just happened that several people are having similar opinions. Shouldn't they express them? :scratch:

I think their opinions were thoughtful and fair. It's unfair to crown "legion of Johnny fans" to deemphasize their opinions whenever someone say something for Johnny. JMO.