rockstaryuzu

I'm of the impression that he makes it a point to do these things as a sort of rebuttal to his detractors, as well as being well brought up.

Okay, I understand your concern a bit better, but I don't share it. I think the media in general are much less influential in the figure skating world than we think, and the ones that are influential, are also former skaters themselves, who all know perfectly well what it's like to have overjoyed fans cheering or singing or whatever. I also don't put much credence in media comments during competitions in general; all journalism has a 'here today, gone tomorrow' aspect and this is particularly true for sports, and even more so for live commentary during an event. Most of the time, the commentators are saying any old thing to try and fill airspace, so I can't take their comments seriously at all and I don't think anyone else should, either. Unlike Yuzuru's incredible performances, which are everlasting gems of beauty, the commentary is, to my mind, disposable and mostly to be ignored. Anyway, since no one is actually planning to sing during the competition but instead at the end of practice, it should be moot. Moving on...

I personally haven't spent much time in Vancouver so I can't say much, but the city has whole suburbs that are Asian (particularly Chinese) so a Vancouverite might assume that, rather than being a tourist, you're from Richmond, B.C. or one of the other Asian suburbs and therefore know English...but that doesn't excuse rudeness at all.

Not just a foreign accent, but very little English at all (at least when he first came). On the other hand, Toronto is a city where more than half the residents come from somewhere else and more than 150 languages are spoken. There's just as high a chance they'd walk into a shop and be served by someone who also doesn't speak English, or Japanese, but is from some other part of the globe entirely.

I think at this point we've all agreed that during the competition would be a bad idea.

My point exactly. Also, and ironically: we're (i.e. satellites) only one segment of the crowd that's going to be at GPF. we can debate whether or not to sing and when or not it will be appropriate to do so until the cows come home, and it still won't have the slightest effect on what some other group of fans might decide to do. So all this debate, and some other yob we don't know might still go ahead and belt out HPB during K&C anyway. In other words, it's impossible to control other people's behaviour. We can only govern our own personal selves.

But why does it matter? They're media, they'll do what they like, and they're not the ones that count under-rotations for the scoring anyway. Please explain what role you think 'commentators' play in the competition, that it matters so much. In my world, commentators = broadcast journalists or former skaters whose job it is to say completely irrelevant things while the video of the skaters plays, that most people ignore. Nothing that they say about URs or anything else actually matters in terms of the scores the skaters get. The judges and the technical panel matter, because they are looking for URs and all the other things that go into producing a score. I'm very confused by what you're saying.

This. Maybe it's a North American thing, but I too have learned to not make assumptions like "someone's Japanese, so they must be X or like Y" and it drives me daft when someone does it to me in reverse.

Do you mean the technical panel? or the judges? because what the commentators - i.e. the media - do during the replay isn't going to have any effect on the outcome of the competition and and so it does not matter.

If I may interject with some information: https://jpninfo.com/22766 and https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-birthday/ (this one talks mainly about birthdays between couples, but still has some basic info and https://www.tokyofamilies.net/2013/09/the-birthday-tradition/ (this appears to be more of a guide for Japanese people to the birthday customs of the rest of the world, still interesting tho.) and https://unseenjapan.com/japan-birthday-traditions/

yes I agree on that one.

Now that's the one thing I don't get. This argument that the singing will interfere with the commentator's analysis during the replay makes no sense to me at all. First of all, no one in the arena gets any analysis. All of the stuff that you hear on TV over the replay is stuff that gets broadcast via direct feed from the network's broadcast booth to the TV audience - it does NOT get announced to the arena. Furthermore, no crowd noise is ever recorded or broadcast during the analysis because every TV network has ways to pick and choose what sound is going out over the air, and they always use just their commentator's voices and maybe the skater's music, turned down low. The noise going on in the arena during that time has no bearing whatsoever on what a TV audience receives at home, and what a TV audience sees and hears at home has got no relation whatsoever to what people sitting in the rink hear and see at that time. In fact, most people in the arena aren't even watching the replay. So that particular argument is nonsensical.

Yes, and I find this very interesting indeed. To move the topic away from Yuzu a little bit, I think in the next 20 years Japan itself is going to undergo a huge but subtle cultural shift because of things like this.

They're from the same culture as him, so the information they provide is useful sometimes. But it's impossible for every single foreign fan of Yuzu's to regulate their actions based on what the Japanese fans might or might not think is appropriate. In most cases it's impossible for foreign fans to even know what a Japanese fan might consider appropriate. And most people in the Japanese fandom haven't met Yuzu personally anymore than the rest of us have, so they are also guessing what he might like or not like based on publicly available information and shared culture. The best argument I've heard against singing Happy Birthday for Yuzu is the public vs private one ; i.e. that he might consider his birthday a private matter that doesn't really have any place in his figure skating competitive life. But as @Geo1 has said, we can't know that unless we ask Yuzu directly, which none of us have any way to do. You all realize this argument may end up being completely moot, given that Yuzu has plenty of friends and acquaintances among the skaters themselves who'd be more than willing to sing Happy Birthday to him or otherwise celebrate. And most of those folks don't have the benefit of reading the fan discussions so will go ahead and do whatever they want to. Anyway, as I've said before, my personal opinion is that a banner or group of people holding up the letters spelling 'Happy Birthday' is probably far more appropriate and far less likely to cause trouble, but as I'm not going to GPF my opinion counts for little.

Ok, whoa. It's one thing to worry about whether Yuzu will like it. It's completely another kettle of fish to worry about whether the Japanese fans will like it. They're not the only fans Yuzu has.

Just to point out something here: throwing gifts on the ice has been not allowed at ACI in any year, the only reason it happened in 2018 is because when one fan did it for another skater (not Yuzu), the organizers didn't say anything, so it looked like it would be okay to do it for other skaters too, with predictable results. But yes, it would be bad if any fan action caused problems for Yuzu, hence why I suggested people consider their actions carefully during a competition.

I'm pretty sure that if it was FaOI his birthday fell on, no one would object to singing Happy Birthday for him, but that's because FaOI is a show - all the skaters are in the same boat, no one's career is going to be affected if the audience decides to do something over the top. GPF is a competition, and a pretty serious one at that. Not only medals but money is at stake for the participants. It's incumbent upon everyone attending to act accordingly. I think that this is a case where 'timing is everything'. If you're going to sing for him, pick wisely as to when you do it.

No one's saying you shouldn't cheer. But there's a difference between cheering and singing 'Happy Birthday' , so pick your time wisely. I also think the end of practice might be the best time. It'll give him a little lift for the rest of the day while he prepares for the competition.

I agree with you that it might not be appropriate if another skater is on the ice. Just in terms of time, it'd work. IMO a banner is a better solution - like if a whole series of people used big letters to spell out "Happy Birthday" or something...or if you sang it right as he finishes, while he's taking his bows before leaving the ice. Anyway, since I'm not going to Torino unless I miraculously acquire at least $5000 extra dollars this week, I really shouldn't say anything.

If you did it while they're waiting for the scores to be tabulated, you could probably get away with it.

I want to be there the day he decides he doesn't have to be diplomatic any more and comes right out and says this.

Bottom line: we fans could never be disappointed in Yuzu's skating performance. He has exceeded all that anyone could reasonably expect of him in that regard, and we know it, and we love him for it. Now, the judges and their scoring, on the other hand...

So the fan reaction to the judges underscoring him gave him the impression that they (the fans) were disappointed in him? Oh that's so sad!!!

He looks so adult here....but what's that hair! It doesn't suit him. His tie is almost the same colour as Origin 2.0

Well, why wouldn't he? We are witty and entertaining, after all.