Your favorite and least favorite figure skating commentators

[jenaj]

It's a hard choice between Tara and Johnny, but if I have to choose, I'll go with Tara. She does comment on artistry when she sees it but lets face it, there's not a lot of artistry out there. She is a big fan of Nathan Chen and is generally supportive of US skaters. Johnny, on the other hand, never misses a chance to point out that the US can't compete with the Russian ladies, which everyone already knows. His attempts to use correct Russian pronunciation of names are annoying, too. Not that correct pronunciation is bad, it just come off a little show-offy. He also seems lukewarm on Nathan, which I find odd. In fact, he doesn't have much good to say about any men's skater.
ETA: Also, both Tara and Johnny do a poor job of explaining the scoring system. They talk about GOE without explaining what it is and never really comment on the two aspects of the final score. I like the way PCS is shown in some of the Russian videos, with the average score for each component broken out. That way the viewer can readily see if the scores are mostly 8s or 9s or whatever, which is a lot more meaningful than just the total PCS score. Another annoying thing NBC does is skip the Kiss and Cry for some skaters in place of a commercial and then just give the total score (TES and PCS), which is not meaningful even to fans who are knowledgeable about the IJS.

 

[4everchan]

my life is devoid of Tara and Johnny there are other ways to watch figure skating... just saying

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I have a better solution here, let's replace both T&J and get NBC Skating commentators that aren't annoying, who don't only care about their own skating from 20+ years ago and never shut up.

 

[Joe Mendoza]

Like: Tanith White, Terry Gannon, Michael Weiss, Charlie White

 

[labgoat]

I always learn from Debbi Wilkes (pairs) and Tracy Wilson (dance and expert on skating overall). Both ladies are incredibly polite and are usually quite fair.

 

[streams4dreams]

I always learn from Debbi Wilkes (pairs) and Tracy Wilson (dance and expert on skating overall). Both ladies are incredibly polite and are usually quite fair.

Tell us more! Where can we listen to them?

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Tell us more! Where can we listen to them?

Canada.

 

[icybear]

Never liked Tara after she said Boyang pcs was too high in the olympic fs. The only reason she said it was because he beat Chen out of the top place

 

[labgoat]

Tell us more! Where can we listen to them?

Tracy Wilson can be found here (2003 Skate Canada dance)
Debbi Wilkes can be found here (2003 Skate Canada pairs)

 

[MiraiFan]

I have a better solution here, let's replace both T&J and get NBC Skating commentators that aren't annoying, who don't only care about their own skating from 20+ years ago and never shut up.

THIS^^^ 1000x this!!!

 

[noskates]

I think the absolute worst commentator was Peter Carruthers. His skating knowledge was so far outdated, he didn't do his homework, and he would lose his thought process smack in the middle of a sentence. I also cannot stand listening to Tara. She talks a lot and has little to say that's contributory to what's going on.

I do like Kurt Browning and while I may sometimes be in the minority, I think Johnny Weir is one of the best. He explains the technology of skating - why a jump fails, etc. that I find lacking in a lot of other commentators. I also think Tanith White is the best commentator for Ice Dancing and she does pretty well with the other disciplines, too.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Like: Tracy wilson
Don't like: Ted Barton for seniors (unpopular opinion IK)

 

[gold12345]

I don't mind Tara & Johnny as much as many others do. I'm fine with commentators speaking during programs, as long as they're not talking over music with lyrics (which they do). What drives me crazy is that NBC has Tara & Johnny commentating for the pairs discipline, when it's obvious they don't know what any of the levels mean or why the GOE is the way it is and don't comment much on the intricacies of the discipline. They'll talk about the elements they understand (jumps), and are silent for a lot of the rest. Tara will call just about every pairs' throws "big", because sure, all throws are technically bigger than a solo jump-- but not all teams have big throws, and that's one way to differentiate between pairs, and it would be helpful to actually explain that to the audience. They just don't have a deep understanding of pairs in the way they do with singles, but it's easiest for NBC to let them commentate anyway. It's like when they have Nastia Liukin commentate rhythmic gymnastics during the summer Olympics when she doesn't know the rules and spends half the time comparing it to artistic gymnastics.

 

[readernick]

Like: Tanith White, Terry Gannon, Michael Weiss, Charlie White

My favorite commentator is actually Tanith's old partner Ben Agosto. He is so polite but extremely knowledgeable.

 

[labgoat]

My favorite commentator is actually Tanith's old partner Ben Agosto. He is so polite but extremely knowledgeable.

I agree Ben is wonderful, informative and very respectful. Fun fact, one of his teachers was the also wonderful and fun skater and commentator Susie Wynne.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I didn't mind Peter Carruthers commentating for the pairs event. He knows the discipline and I enjoyed his commentary.. as for the other disciplines well I do like other commentators more. Terry Gannon is super and I like him so much I can put up with the silliness of Johnny Weir and Tara as I put up with the banter of Peggy Fleming and Dick Button (who is an icon to me.)
I try to tune out those announcers I don't like anyway and keep my attention on the skaters.

 

[noskates]

My issue with Dick Button was he hadn't kept up with the changes in the technical aspect of figure skating. I remember him saying : "a spiral is more important than a triple jump any day!" In what universe I wonder! While I appreciated his comments about the presentation side of a program, he was woefully outdated. I do think he made a significant contribution to figure skating, however, so don't lambast me please.

p.s. I hate the color orange as well.

 

[Carolla5501]

I don’t know that I can pick a favorite but I can tell you who is the bottom feeding all commentators anywhere in the world in my book in any sport - Johnny and Tara!!!!!



The best thing about going to US nationals and you don’t have to listen to them. And this year will be really good! did you know the Nashville Was where Tara won her first national championship. Just in case you didn’t you will probably be reminded at least once an hour


Back in the days of skate radio Ben Agusto once did the skate radio commentary for a dance event. You could tell in the arena who was listening to him because we would just bust out laughing randomly at things he said and our neighbors would look at us like we were crazy. But he was funny and he was self-deprecating. When I have heard him commentate on television he’s toned that down but I have a feeling in person he is just a riot

 

[MiraiFan]

Like: Tracy wilson
Don't like: Ted Barton for seniors (unpopular opinion IK)

His bias toward TT skaters is obnoxious. His comment about skating skills just about killed me.

 

[MiraiFan]

did you know the Nashville Was where Tara won her first national championship. Just in case you didn’t you will probably be reminded at least once an hour

Oh dear god!