Great Skating with Ultra-Political Editing
The Olympics are the premier event in figure skating, and although I recorded all of the '02 Olympic figure skating events live on my VCR, I purchased this offering because I desired to have the best possible picture quality for the best skates. This tape includes Olympic exhibition performances by: Todd Eldredge (USA) [highlights only], Sasha Cohen (USA), Timothy Goebel (USA), Michelle Kwan (USA), Jamie Sale and David Pelletier (CAN), Evgeni Plushenko (RUS), Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh (RUS), Irina Slutskaya (RUS), Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Siharulidze (RUS), Alexei Yagudin (RUS), Sarah Hughes (USA), and Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat (FRA). While I very much enjoyed the performances by the skaters, I found NBC's live coverage of the exhibition to be lacking in production values. For instance, NBC does not routinely provide the name of the music used by the skaters. This tape has been edited from the live broadcast. The edits don't provide much lead-in before a routine, and they don't let you stay in the moment when it finishes. There are some portions of this tape that were scripted after the live performance and edited into this final product, and they are of dubious value. The most noteworthy thing to warn prospective customers about this tape is skating politics: favoritism and nationalism, as well as reading between the lines. For instance, one would think that the Ladies Gold Medalist, Sarah Hughes, would have received the most amount of fanfare for her convincing victory. Not so. Michelle Kwan, despite finishing third, receives the most accolades throughout. I always thought that when you win the Olympics that you are considered to be the best--but apparently I was wrong. Here's the segue to Kwan's exhibition skate after Timothy Goebel's: "While winning bronze was a somewhat unexpected thrill for Goebel, it was a completely unexpected disappointment for Michelle Kwan. Kwan's figure skating accomplishments ranked her among the best to ever lace up a pair of skates: four time world champion, six time US national champion, and 1998 Olympic silver medalist. Michelle was as close to unbeatable as the sport of figure skating had ever known. But when she fell in the long program, her gold medal dreams were dashed. Displaying dignity in defeat, Michelle showed the class and grace of a champion that she'll always be remembered as." When Kwan finished her "Fields of Gold" routine, Scott Hamilton remarked: "We watch with a heavy heart. So many people wanted her to have that medal, but she won the bronze. She's been on the Olympic podium twice, and that shows great longevity and wonderful integrity. What a champion." It's true that there was a time when Michelle Kwan was considered unbeatable. Think back to the day when President Bush was inaugurated. On that January evening in 2001, the US Nationals Ladies free skate was broadcast on ABC. In the hour time slot immediately preceding it, ABC showed a taped skating special called "Michelle Kwan: Princess on Ice," where Kwan appeared with a number of Olympic gold medalists, including Ilia Kulik, Dorothy Hamill and Katarina Witt. The special ended with Kwan talking about her prospects for Olympic gold at Salt Lake. Apparently it was a foregone conclusion that Kwan would win at Nationals over Sarah and the other US ladies, or they would have found a different time slot to air Kwan's special in. If Hughes competitive desires weren't already intense enough, then I should think that this insult would have been sufficient for her to make a pact with herself to do whatever it takes to make sure that people take her a little more seriously at future competitions. Later in 2001, Kwan participated in the "Champions on Ice" tour, performing to "This Time Around" by Linda Eder. The words are most interesting, including these phrases, "This time around--no second places; I'm showing aces--I'll win." Sarah participated in the tour as well, and I can only imagine what she thought of the bravado of Kwan's routine. Kwan became increasingly inconsistent during the fall of 2001. Sarah beat Kwan at Skate Canada. Irina Slutskaya beat Kwan many times leading up to the Olympics, including the last major event they faced each at beforehand. By this time, Michelle Kwan was far from "unbeatable," as NBC claims. Sarah skated two exhibition routines, both of which are included here. The first is a broadway medley, and the second is a tribute to the victims of the 9-11 attack. At the end of the tribute number during the live performance, commentator Sandra Bezic remarked, "I'm sure that when she first choeographed this number several months ago as a New Yorker, she didn't imagine that she would be performing it as Olympic champion." Scott Hamilton replied, "What an unexpected gift she was to this Olympic games. Olympic champion, Olympic gold medalist: Sarah Hughes." After NBC's editing process was completed, the routine ended up with Hamilton simply stating, "What an unexpected gift she was to this Olympic games." After stating what a champion Kwan was after earning the bronze medal, I find it rather unusual that NBC proceeded to edit out Bezic's comments entirely, along with Hamilton's final phrase "Olympic champion, Olympic gold medalst: Sarah Hughes." Is this tape political? You bet. Does NBC show favoritism? You bet. Do you want to buy this tape? Only you can answer that. I enjoy the skating routines on it, but I do not value the spin and slant that NBC has put on things.
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