What exactly was Sotnikova's theme in her long program?

[sk8in]

This:

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/jaag...+Figure+Skating/QeY0rsSvLeM/Adelina+Sotnikova

was Adelina's original costume. The gloves indicate that it is supposed to be a ball gown. Since the music is titled Rondo Capriccioso, I would imagine that originally, the concept was to have Adelina portray a capricious young woman in the full bloom of her beauty at a ball---i.e., a debutante.

I don't know why they then decided to have her wear dark colors and chains. Made no sense.

hahaha oh god. that's almost as bad as her exhibition outfit.

 

[skatingpunk]

I read somewhere that she was supposed to be a puppet come to life. That would explain the opening 5 seconds where she clearly looks wooden. I think the rest of the program is her emoting how excited she is to be alive--kind of like how Olivia Newton John became alive in that scene from Xanadu.

 

[observe]

There's always a story to music: the player has to find the right one for herself to play one. Then Adelina didn't have one since in her case, the good music turned into a tasteless cajoling stitched midway through, an injustice to Saint-Saens. For the first seconds of the choreography, it seemed as if she was handling a ball like a rhythmic gymnast.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

There's always a story to music: the player has to find the right one for herself to play one. Then Adelina didn't have one since in her case, the good music turned into a tasteless cajoling stitched midway through, an injustice to Saint-Saens. For the first seconds of the choreography, it seemed as if she was handling a ball like a rhythmic gymnast.

And some could compare Yuna's skate to a eulogy. Even though they say such ridiculous things tell me this....does that make it true? Of course not. So why do you feel the right to tear down someone's hard work. How would you suggest her to skate and what music would make you satisfied. Please enlighten me with your kind words.

 

[Lucky Star]

For those who are interested about the story in Sotnikovas program, some summary of her, her coach and TAT interviews about it:
that's more about two different choreography styles, classic and modern, and Adelina can't make her choice which is closer for her. She makes some classic moves, but her body wants to do modern and she is confused, but by the end of the program she finds the balance and realise she can do both

 

[usethis2]

I feel badly for adelina with how much people are criticizing her. She did her job and was marked. I feel like this for all winners that aren't the popular choice. I hope she or any medalist that gets bashed don't read these boards..

Well, but that's what we do here. We know that most skaters do their best, or at least try to do their best, in Olympics. That never meant that their performances were immune to criticism.

I feel bad for Adelina as well - I said in this forum a couple times prior to the Olympics that Adelina is the one that I most look forward to, post-Yuna/Mao. (against Yulia "Ubers") I can no longer say that thanks to the fantastic display of judging corruption in Sochi. I would have enjoyed her programs and looked for future potentials, but now I see more of her defects and mistakes. The judging scandal ruined her for me.

I do not remember her FS (and frankly the SP as well) and that's telling the truth. I only remember a few meaningless snippets and her half-open mouth throughout her routines. (it's unattractive, to be blunt) Other than those, I have no impression or memory left from her programs. In contrast, I've got so much emotion out of, say, Yuna's SP and Mao's FS. Heck, I remember Edmonds' SP and Tanako's LP! And dare I say, learning Adelina's ridiculous FS score ruined Yuna's FS for me - with the full knowledge that the result was rigged before the event.

It seems like I am not the only one.

 

[observe]

And some could compare Yuna's skate to a eulogy. Even though they say such ridiculous things tell me this....does that make it true? Of course not. So why do you feel the right to tear down someone's hard work. How would you suggest her to skate and what music would make you satisfied. Please enlighten me with your kind words.

You can since the nature of Adios Nonino itself is such, or am I getting the meaning of your sentence wrong? Anyhow, I am saying that Adelina's choice of music, regardless of the obvious hard work she would've had done as an athlete, is a tasteless arrangement/editing for her to find a story in such a crap. Then I should've mentioned I hate cheesy electronic arrangement of classical themes where drums do the beating of the audience's heart and not the violinist's dramatic cadenza. If you've liked the music, then our taste differ too much to come to an understanding.

 

[Anna K.]

You can since the nature of Adios Nonino itself is such, or am I getting the meaning of your sentence wrong? Anyhow, I am saying that Adelina's choice of music, regardless of the obvious hard work she would've had done as an athlete, is a tasteless arrangement/editing for her to find a story in such a crap. Then I should've mentioned I hate cheesy electronic arrangement of classical themes where drums do the beating of the audience's heart and not the violinist's dramatic cadenza. If you've liked the music, then our taste differ too much to come to an understanding.

Me too!! It's like skaters try to do two different musical styles but in fact they make a mess out of the both. (Having said this, I hate much more the skating music where classics in the first part is mixed with electronics in the second. It totally ruins the mood.) However, Adelina is neither first nor the only one guilty in this. Arrangements of this type seem to plague figure skating since Daisuke's Electro Swan Lake - a piece of music I didn't like and, as I learned later, neither did Daisuke!

 

[leafygreens]

No, she was taking inspiration from Aliya Mustafina, another teenage brunette Russian Olympian who was expected to get overshadowed by her younger, blonder teammate. Her wave was a gesture to her haters. The meaning was, "Is that a hater I see? Bye hater!"

She was waving to Alla, Yuri and Olga. In response to the wave, Alla, Yuri and Olga gave her extra points for "feeling" and "creating a moment."

 

[usethis2]

She was waving to Alla, Yuri and Olga. In response to the wave, Alla, Yuri and Olga gave her extra points for "feeling" and "creating a moment."

Plus perhaps to an imaginary imagery of Mr. President.

 

[gkelly]

What exactly was Urmanov's theme in his long program?

I never understood whether there was a coherent point to this program, though I love much about it anyway.

By the following year his programs got much more coherent.

 

[anyanka]

Wasn't it jazz hands and a tug-of-war at certain points?

Seriously though, it's not her fault that there wasn't a really unifying theme. This music has been so wonderfully interpreted in the past by so many, notably Kozuka and Kavaguti/Smirnov (I remember their 2007 worlds SP to it, it was their "coming out" ball of sorts). It didn't play to her strengths at all, and it's an old program from her junior world title. It's a sign she hasn't grown artistically.

What they need is radically different music that will continue to take advantage of her athleticism, but she'll need something more distinctive like her Carmen SP (which was excellent) to make her mark as a performer. I see something more powerful, although I did enjoy her Liebestraum from 2011/12.

 

[wootie]

Her LP really just seems like a disjointed mess of simplistic transitions and circular skating in between a few big jumps. I remember it mainly for being emotionally vacant, flat-footed and, worst of all, just plain BORING. I did enjoy a few of her jumps (even though her lutz is so obviously a flutz, her 3T in combination was under-rotated and she stepped out of her 2L in a terribly ugly, hilarious way)...however, the jumps never redeemed how ugly the program was overall. Also, I was talking with some coworkers today, and they all agreed that the whole "well, her program was harder so she deserved to win" argument is total BS. If getting a gold medal depends on how many jumps you do and not at all on how you actually perform, why not just get a bunch of skaters on a rink and have them skate back and forth across the ice and do triple jumps and see who lands the most cleanly in 4 minutes? That seems to be the crux of the pro-Adelina group of people. Honestly, her program was basically that...a bunch of circular skating into jumps with ridiculously bad choreography thrown into the mix.

 

[usethis2]

She will need to work hard to improve her stamina if she wants to keep this "athleticism" tag attached to her all of a sudden. In the past she often ran out of steam past 2.5 mins or so in the FS. (which is why she is usually better in SP than in FS)

 

[jehan215]

Her LP really just seems like a disjointed mess of simplistic transitions and circular skating in between a few big jumps. I remember it mainly for being emotionally vacant, flat-footed and, worst of all, just plain BORING. I did enjoy a few of her jumps (even though her lutz is so obviously a flutz, her 3T in combination was under-rotated and she stepped out of her 2L in a terribly ugly, hilarious way)...however, the jumps never redeemed how ugly the program was overall. Also, I was talking with some coworkers today, and they all agreed that the whole "well, her program was harder so she deserved to win" argument is total BS. If getting a gold medal depends on how many jumps you do and not at all on how you actually perform, why not just get a bunch of skaters on a rink and have them skate back and forth across the ice and do triple jumps and see who lands the most cleanly in 4 minutes? That seems to be the crux of the pro-Adelina group of people. Honestly, her program was basically that...a bunch of circular skating into jumps with ridiculously bad choreography thrown into the mix.

I think you read my mind

Not that Sotnikova wasn't good, but I seriously can't remember a single moment from her LP where I felt an emotional connection with her skating. On that note, I read from somewhere that for the Interpretation score is measured by how well the skater connects to the music or the audience. Given the location of where the event is held, it's inevitable that the audience will connect with her regardless of how she skates - not so much that the quality of the performance brought the audience along with her. As for the choreography, it's not a matter of whether it's somebody's "cup of tea" or not. I just couldn't see how it matched the music - there wasn't a definite theme or style. If people are going to argue that Sotnikova's program was technically more challenging - btw her BV is only 4pts above Yuna's if she had executed the elements without mistake, which didn't happen - skaters might as well dump artistry down the drain and focus on their jumps to accumulate points. If that's what ISU is aiming for.

 

[Kinga]

I also would like to offer the following consolation to many members of this forum. Life will go on and so will figure skating even if you don't agree with the outcome of the recent Olympics. I can remember being overjoyed when Oksana beat Nancy and then feeling devastated when Tara beat Michelle (no offence to Tara who did great as a commentator) and disappointed again when Sarah beat Michelle. I was excited when Yuna beat Mao 4 years ago. I'm sure that in future Olympic games the question of who is better, the artist verses the athlete, will continue to play out. Some years the artist will win gold and some years the athlete will, most years the home country's athletes will be scored higher than they otherwise would (ex Sarah Hughes in SLC, Elizabeth Manley in Calgary, Rochette in Vancouver). Its the home field advantage, you have fans behind you and their excitement will always make programs seem better to the judges. This happens and will continue to happen and four years from now there will be new controversies but that is what keeps figure skating popular.

I like your post a lot
Though I agree that her LP was just bunch of random, easy unrefined movements to badly edited music.

 

[verysmuchso]

This:

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/jaag...+Figure+Skating/QeY0rsSvLeM/Adelina+Sotnikova

was Adelina's original costume. The gloves indicate that it is supposed to be a ball gown. Since the music is titled Rondo Capriccioso, I would imagine that originally, the concept was to have Adelina portray a capricious young woman in the full bloom of her beauty at a ball---i.e., a debutante.

I don't know why they then decided to have her wear dark colors and chains. Made no sense.

Flesh-colored gloves! I thought she had furry hands...or a scar.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Flesh-colored gloves! I thought she had furry hands...or a scar.

Not to add to the full-blown hatred of Sotnikova, but those gloves were HORRENDOUS. I'm assuming she uses them to grab her skate blades in her spins and keep her hands warm, but they're so distracting. If she wants to wear gloves she should stick to arms with sleeves, like how Julia does.

 

[wootie]

I wonder if Sotnikova could ever really become a graceful skater. While her LP this season was truly atrocious and should be banished forever to the netherworld of bad skating programs, it did seem like Sotnikova was comfortable skating that "style" of figure skating. As in she seems to excel at obviously thrusting herself forward and skating in a manic, absurd way across the ice, music be damned. I do appreciate the fact that she is well-proportioned in terms of her physique and has good extension on her spirals. However, something about her aura is deeply inelegant. I can't imagine her ever being lyrical or sophisticated. She's more akin to an 18-wheeler than anything else. Boy can she bulldoze her way across that ice! If she keeps upping her technical components, though, she may yet win a few more competitions since it seems like skating has turned into a jumping contest interspersed with freakish spins.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I wonder if Sotnikova could ever really become a graceful skater. While her LP this season was truly atrocious and should be banished forever to the netherworld of bad skating programs, it did seem like Sotnikova was comfortable skating that "style" of figure skating. As in she seems to excel at obviously thrusting herself forward and skating in a manic, absurd way across the ice, music be damned. I do appreciate the fact that she is well-proportioned in terms of her physique and has good extension on her spirals. However, something about her aura is deeply inelegant. I can't imagine her ever being lyrical or sophisticated. She's more akin to an 18-wheeler than anything else. If she keeps upping her technical components, though, she may yet win a few more competitions. We shall see.

Funny thing is most people really did think she could deliver a good short....which she did! The thing is no one expected her to deliver a good FS. At least that's the feeling I got going in.