Well... the voting is done by Laureus World Sports Academy Members. I don't think that social media activity will influence their decision. Just look at the members list:
https://www.laureus.com/academy/members#&slider1=3 But maybe he can get some discretionary award.
Great balance by the way
11 members - football,
9 - athletics,
6 - cricket,
6 - american football + rugby,
4 - tennis.
3 - gymnastics, golf, skiing
2 - motor cycling, fomula one, swimming, boxing.
ONE figure skater
Katarina Witt will probably vote for Yuzuru
Here is my long response to the whole Laureus award thing (it's gonna be quite long, so beware)
I looked at their website and a few other things.
They are heavily affiliated with Mercedes Benz. The official Mercedes Benz Youtube channel uploads HD videos of Laureus Awards. And the guests also arrive in Benz flashy sports cars to the red carpet. The award itself looks very similar to the Mercedes Benz logo, and also the red carpet back drop has heavy Benz marketing all over. Laureus is also sponsored by a luxurious Swiss Watch company called IWC Schaffhausen, a luxury brand not many can afford so easily.
What I am trying to say; Laureus Awards seem to be a very prestigious award, but also a very commercial award show in many senses. To invite A Class Hollywood stars such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Grant as hosts of the Award Show must cost a fortune. Plus the award show look very flashy, expensive.
So I am guessing a commercial, somewhat high class society based award show must be drawn to expanding its commercial appeal even further to the general public. I think the whole fish baiting they are doing recently on Twitter kind of shows that; they are drawn towards crowd appeal. This does not mean that they will pick Yuzu as the award recipient based on his social media presence, but I do think they will have recognized that if Yuzu attends the show in person, it will draw heaps of social media interest and public interest.
I hope this motivates them to give out a strong invitation to Yuzu, make a stronger reach out to him to invite him to the show.
I really don't mind if he doesn't win. I just hope that Laureus invite him, and he makes himself more known to the academy members the first time round, and keep getting nominated in the future. If he wins, great. History will be made. He will become the first Japanese, the first figure skater to receive a Laureus award. It will draw in heaps of media attention not just from Japan and the figure skating world, but from other sports media too, because if you are the first pioneer in any record, it draws in lots of attention.
The thing that I'm wondering about is;
Who pays for the whole flight and accommodation to the award show? I know Yuzu can afford a one night trip to Monaco if he goes, but I heard Monaco is a very expensive place to visit. I wonder if Laureus sponsors the whole flight fees to the nominees? If Mercedes is their sponsor, it's possible right?
(Oh wait.. maybe ANA will pay).
Anyway, I'm super excited for future announcements. I love films and I stan film stars, so I get excited about the thought of Yuzu wearing really expensive high designer brand tuxedos this time; the ones that Hollywood stars wear to oscars; gucci, prada tuxedos. I love his Japanese sports award suits, they look really clean and smart, but I found them a bit simple.
If he goes, I'm not asking for red or blue tuxedos, but just the tuxedos that shine and really scream "Oscar 007 Tuxedos" lol
...buuuut..... it's not supposed to be a popularity contest. To be perfectly honest, I think Mark or Bibian (?) would be the favourites due to the sheer magnitude of their injuries and how far they had to climb up. OTOH, Yuzu's comeback did reach the highest possible pinnacle of his sport, not just the Oly gold, but the back to back which his perfectly fit predecessors couldn't manage.
:hap93:
