I was waiting for someone to mention Candyman. It is definitely in the running for worst Olympic program of all time.
Any surprises? Any conclusions?
To those who would believe that choosing Moulin Rouge or Schindler's List (just to take warhorses) or a red coat would be likely to make a skater iconic, I would say that there's a conjunction of "hits" in these most successful programs, as we say in French, "the mayonnaise takes" (mayonnaise is made with a raw egg yolk and an oil, with a bit of acidity, all at room temperature, and one whisks the liquid mix until it "takes"; that is, its texture thickens and becomes a cream that holds on the spoon; the image is so "speaking" that I don't know how to translate it).Coming late to the party as I have been very busy elsewhere in RL but...
I do agree that an "Olympic programme" is either (a) any programme skated at the Olympics, or (b) the one that becomes truly iconic, drawing in the public, remembered and returned to for years, and constituting a true "business card" of the sport, its most precious exhibit, loved and admired, as Olympics is when FS gets most exposure from the general public perspective.
I also agree with TallyT that the Olympics site is the best resource for this, and this is one of these occasions when the public's choices should be given most consideration. Therefore, a perfect Olympic programme is the one that is presented at Olympics and wildly loved by the public.
So here is the list of Top 15 most viewed Olympic figure skating programmes from the Olympics site which seems to be a fair selection for the last 15 years (I understand older iconic programmes, like Bolero, Carmen or Kalinka-Malinka, do not get viewed that much as they mostly come from a pre-YouTube era,):
1. Yuzuru Hanyu - Seimei FS - Pyeongchang 2018 - 42.6 million (views)
2. Savchenko/Massot - La Terre Vue Du Ciel FS - Pyeongchang 2018 - 42 million
I agree the second one does not really get mentioned that much and may come as a surprise to some but.. here you go!
Now here's a huge gap from the top two followed by:
3. Virtue/Moir - Moulin Rouge FS - Pyeongchang 2018 - 25.4 mln
4. Yulia Lipnitskaya - Schindler's List FS - Sochi 2014 Team Event - 24.4 mln
5. Davis/ White - Indian Folk Dance FS - Vancouver 2010 - 18.5 mln
6. Yuzuru Hanyu - Parisienne Walkways SP - Sochi 2014 - 16.4 mln
7. Alina Zagitova - Don Quixote FS - Pyeongchang 2018 - 14.5 mln
8. Yuna Kim - Concerto in G by Gershwin FS - Vancouver 2010 - 12.5 mln
9. Volosozhar / Trankow - Jesus Christ Superstar FS - Sochi 2014 - 11.7 mln
10. Yuna Kim - Adios Nonino FS - Sochi 2014 - 10 mln
11. Suzaki/Kihara - Yuri on Ice SP - Pyeongchang 2018 - 8.9 mln
12. Yuzuru Hanyu - Chopin's Ballade No 1 SP - Pyeongchang 2018 - 8.3 mln
13. Virtue/Moir - Stay by Rihanna (exhibition!!!) - Sochi 2014 - 7.6 mln
14. Alina Zagitova - Black Swan SP - Pyeongchang 2018 - 7.2 mln
15. Yuna Kim - James Bond Medley SP - Vancouver 2010 - 7 mln
Now, this is what the current crop could be looking up to, and what they need to match if they want to break into the top of the tops
PS The quiet hero of this "most watched Olympic hits" list is ... Brian Orser. You can see him in 5 of these Top 15 videos as he's the coach behind 5 of those 15 iconic programmes!!! This makes for one third! Quite a result, too!!!
And here are the two winners!
www.youtube.com
Well, I just added a few "views" to the total.
Something Dick Button said about the latter, "it was simpler* but it conveyed more." (*because he was injured, of course). Which is why I don't think we'll know which skaters (even if none of them look promising at this stage) have Olympic-with-a-capital-O programs this year... until the Olympics. To go right back to @moonvine's original question, Keegan Messing, if he gets there, will have an olympic program, but whether it'll be his very own
Pyeongchang, Korea in 2018 (not SochiWell, I just added a few "views" to the total.
My biggest takeaway is that the famous Olympic programs are not always the skaters' most exquisite programs and/or not always their greatest performance of the program. To me, Virtue and Moir's Mahler Symphony was superior to Moulin Rouge, Torvill and Dean's Mack and Mabel was a marvel of choreography ahead of Bolero, Davis and White's Giselle beats Bollywood, and although Seimei was Yuzuru Hanyu's crowning glory, the particular performance at Sochi wasn't his very best performance of this iconic masterpiece.
) might not have been the best in terms of TES and might not have been perfect as Yuzuru was coming off the injury but stil it it is the most loved, even more than the perfect performances beating world records week after week on the GP cycle earlier. Exactly because he was coming off the injury and no one knew if he could do it including himself - he had never skated a full runthrough in preparations not to aggravate his still weak ankle, and went back to jumping quads just a week before performing at the Olys after months away from the ice. And the stakes were so high, not just OGM but the first back to back OGM in 66 years, and the tension, the excitement, the emotions are engraved in every second, every move, every moment of this performance to finally explode in the triumphant joyful finale that is so memorable. You can see he is not just performing, just acting - his real joy that he made it is hitting through the roof, the momentary smile, the energy with which he is skating, you can sense this happiness even through the TV screen. and then his own happiness merging with the happiness and excitement of the crowd! And I think it is one of the reasons why this very performance is soooo loved.
This one didn't make it to the podium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz9o9nDlQuYWell, I just added a few "views" to the total.
My biggest takeaway is that the famous Olympic programs are not always the skaters' most exquisite programs and/or not always their greatest performance of the program. To me, Virtue and Moir's Mahler Symphony was superior to Moulin Rouge, Torvill and Dean's Mack and Mabel was a marvel of choreography ahead of Bolero, Davis and White's Giselle beats Bollywood, and although Seimei was Yuzuru Hanyu's crowning glory, the particular performance at Sochi wasn't his very best performance of this iconic masterpiece.
I remember that at least with Men, Beijing Olympics Figure Skating videos have long been geoblocked by the channel, so the Youtube numbers may not be as significant as they are for the previous Games of the "Youtube era".
TBH though I have, of course, been rewatching mostly Yuzuru's SP and FS, and countless times, I happily admit I also rewatched the whole final group from Pyeongchang quite a few times, too. It really was a fine competition, great programs, great guys, great spirit and atmosphere, the dream podium of Yuzuru, Shoma and Javier, and the happy loving crowd! Everything that makes for a great Olympic finale, the one to be remembered forever.
I have done so for Sochi too, there were also such great skates and skaters!TBH though I have, of course, been rewatching mostly Yuzuru's SP and FS, and countless times, I happily admit I also rewatched the whole final group from Pyeongchang quite a few times, too. It really was a fine competition, great programs, great guys, great spirit and atmosphere, the dream podium of Yuzuru, Shoma and Javier, and the happy loving crowd! Everything that makes for a great Olympic finale, the one to be remembered forever.
And Yuzuru standing up to congratulate Nathan before he left Kiss and Cry to make place for the podium winners. Such a great role model indeed!
So you can say that no one was really perfect there but all together they created a perfect OIympic experience for the public
And the one really appreciated by this public, it seems, to this day
That was Shoma's as well, yes.
www.youtube.com
That's right! Stands true for Sochi, too!!
