General Yuzuru Chat

[rockstaryuzu]

59 minutes ago, quadaxelwin said:

Not during live competition broadcast hours. 

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. 

 

[SparkleSalad]

Italy is not Japan and Yuzu’s fans aren’t all Japanese so expecting them to behave just as Japanese fans do and in their own home is a lot. 

 

Yuzu has spent a third of his life living outside Japan and worked with people from many different countries so I think he has a thick enough skin and enough understanding of the outside world to be able to endure a happy birthday, for crying out loud. As if top athletes are so mentally fragile that a 10 second birthday song would make or break them.

 

All I’ve seen is people wanting to sing after practice and going out of their way to make sure other skaters aren’t disturbed (and running a poll in the first place to make sure they find the best solution, too) so I find this whole thing frankly completely ridiculous.

[SparkleSalad]

Someone just ask Tracy for an okay so we can move onto more pressing issues like how he is being treated by ISU, JSF, and the media, please. 

[WinForPooh]

13 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

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. 

 

 

No that argument makes no sense but there will be the next competitor on the ice warming up at that time and it would be a stretch to imagine Yuzu would be happy with a birthday song right then. They'd be expecting cheers and Poohs and stuff, but hearing something they're unprepared for might throw them off, who knows. Athletes' preparation for skates can be their own and strange.

 

But I absolutely do not get the objection to singing after his practice group. Nobody's seriously practicing then, at the most there will be some cooldown. Everybody's rt will be over. He will be preparing to leave. It will not make headlines because it's not part of the big TV broadcast.

 

@quadaxelwin I don't think this is comparable to the Instagram fiasco specifically because that time, we had communication from Yuzu's team in the form of the photo being taken down. Nobody was trying to figure out what he wanted, his team showed what they wanted. If we got any communication from him or his team, then all of this would be moot.

 

Honestly this whole thing sounds like 'this is not how we want things done, so nobody do it' and that is really some fandom policing that's not okay. Nobody's said anything that makes it clear that this would be disrespectful to anybody in any way at all, it's just all 'we know he'd be uncomfortable', plus some unfortunate misinformation twisting the plane congrats announcement that Yuzu turned down to mean a birthday wish. This appears to be a matter of fans' preferences, not Yuzu's.

[rockstaryuzu]

3 minutes ago, WinForPooh said:

there will be the next competitor on the ice warming up at that time and it would be a stretch to imagine Yuzu would be happy with a birthday song right then. They'd be expecting cheers and Poohs and stuff, but hearing something they're unprepared for might throw them off, who knows. Athletes' preparation for skates can be their own and strange.

yes I agree on that one. 

[WinForPooh]

1 minute ago, rockstaryuzu said:

yes I agree on that one. 

 

We'd be pretty annoyed if when Yuzu was on the ice and warming up, knowing he's got a strict routine for warming up, suddenly a band started up for whatever reason. The birthday song isn't a band but still...

 

But we should check if anybody else at GPF has a birthday then or close by, right? And sing for them, too. Why not? It'd be sweet.

[quadaxelwin]

25 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Now that's the one thing I don't get. This argument (that I think I saw on Twitter) 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. 

 

 

 

I said the crowd singing will disrupt the commentators analyzing under rotations during the replay. Not the broadcast.

 

If you read my previous post, I said commentators have to count Under rotations during the replay so they need to be focused. I said don't sing during the broadcast, because I don't want the commentators being distracted. I never mentioned what sound would be broadcasted. Plus, just the whole singing during competition is a big "meiwaku" to other skaters. 

 

[shanshani]

2 hours ago, Geo1 said:

 Regarding the birthday song issue, I think it's a tempest in a teapot, but the best thing is to ask Yuzu what he thinks.

 

Relying on cultural generalizations and the assumed opinion of Japanese fandom does not mean that Yuzu feels the same way. He is one-of-a-kind, after all.

 

Edit:

 

Speaking of Japanese cultural generalizations, there is that well-known phrase that you don't want to be the nail that sticks out, otherwise you get smacked. Well, Yuzu sticks out a mile especially with that long neck of his.

 

As a another generalization, Japanese people tend to conform and avoid being the centre of attention. Well, being the centre of attention was the very reason why Yuzu loved figure skating.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm4RusESNU

 

 

Maybe it's my inherent Americanness showing, but I am also really uncomfortable with making assumptions about people's preferences based on their cultural background. You might think that because I was raised in America, I would like having Happy Birthday sung to me, but in fact I don't because I don't like being the center of attention. But Yuzu has mentioned he does like being the center of attention, so that doesn't seem like an issue that arises here. People are individuals, not distillations of their culture of birth. I agree the best policy would be if someone could ask him.

 

Also, as someone who has lived on multiple continents and in multiple cultures, I personally really hate it when people make assumptions about me this way. When I'm in Asia, it's "you're American, so you must x" and when I'm in America, it's "you're Asian so you must y." Those assumptions are very often wrong.

[Frenchkiss70]

1 hour ago, SparkleSalad said:

“Two time OGM Yuzuru Hanyu spontaneously combusts during a 10 second rendition of Happy Birthday after practice.

 

“The strongest mind in sports history was no match for the lighthearted tradition of mild embarrassment that befalls each of us once a year.” 

Thank you!!!! I can’t believe I’m back to pages of bickering about a 10s HB singing. I wish we were more prompt to defend him against attacks than policing a show of affection from his fans. Those of us who are attending the event will sing after practice on the 7th. No one ever considered doing something that might disrupt the competition, it’s a moot point anyway.  
 

[quadaxelwin]

5 minutes ago, shanshani said:

Maybe it's my inherent Americanness showing, but I am also really uncomfortable with making assumptions about people's preferences based on their cultural background. You might think that because I was raised in America, I would like having Happy Birthday sung to me, but in fact I don't because I don't like being the center of attention. But Yuzu has mentioned he does like being the center of attention, so that doesn't seem like an issue that arises here. People are individuals, not distillations of their culture of birth. I agree the best policy would be if someone could ask him.

 

Also, as someone who has lived on multiple continents and in multiple cultures, I personally really hate it when people make assumptions about me this way. When I'm in Asia, it's "you're American, so you must x" and when I'm in America, it's "you're Asian so you must y." Those assumptions are very often wrong.

 

I said it's not about Yuzu liking attention. 
It's about what Yuzu thinks about how the next skater after him will feel uncomfortable with the singing whilst he is warming up. 

 

Can we please all just consider one more important thing?

This might not just be about only Yuzu. 

 

5 other skaters skating right after Yuzu may or may not like the crowd singing HPB whilst he is warming up after Yuzu

 

This whole thing came up in consideration of other skaters.

What if that skater comes up to Yuzu after the competition to tell his fans to stop doing that next time?

 

I only have 1 problem: Singing during Kiss and Cry, singing during 6 min warmup.

 

If yall want to sing during victory ceremony (only if Yuzu wins) or during gala after his performance or after open practice, that's fine. 

Just not during the live competition. 

[shanshani]

24 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

Italy is not Japan and Yuzu’s fans aren’t all Japanese so expecting them to behave just as Japanese fans do and in their own home is a lot. 

 

Yuzu has spent a third of his life living outside Japan and worked with people from many different countries so I think he has a thick enough skin and enough understanding of the outside world to be able to endure a happy birthday, for crying out loud. As if top athletes are so mentally fragile that a 10 second birthday song would make or break them.

 

All I’ve seen is people wanting to sing after practice and going out of their way to make sure other skaters aren’t disturbed (and running a poll in the first place to make sure they find the best solution, too) so I find this whole thing frankly completely ridiculous.

 

I also agree with this. Yuzu is an adult man with plenty of experience navigating multiple cultural contexts. He is not made of glass and does not need protection from some overenthusiastic fans singing him happy birthday. Give him a little credit!

 

5 minutes ago, quadaxelwin said:

 

I said it's not about Yuzu liking attention. 
It's about what Yuzu thinks how the next skater after him will feel uncomfortable with the singing whilst he is warming up. 

I wasn't addressing the conversation about the best time to sing him happy birthday, which you'll notice I previously said was probably not during competition due to a number of issues. I was addressing the conversation of whether it's okay to sing him Happy Birthday at all, which was making me uncomfortable because of my own experiences with people making assumptions about me based on my cultural background.

[Veveco]

15 minutes ago, WinForPooh said:

But we should check if anybody else at GPF has a birthday then or close by, right? And sing for them, too. Why not? It'd be sweet.

I just checked all 4 disciplines, there's no one else.

[rockstaryuzu]

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/

 

 

 

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

23 minutes ago, quadaxelwin said:

 

 

I said the crowd singing will disrupt the commentators analyzing under rotations during the replay. Not the broadcast.

 

If you read my previous post, I said commentators have to count Under rotations during the replay so they need to be focused. I said don't sing during the broadcast, because I don't want the commentators being distracted. I never mentioned what sound would be broadcasted. Plus, just the whole singing during competition is a big "meiwaku" to other skaters. 

 

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.

 

[WinForPooh]

15 minutes ago, Veveco said:

I just checked all 4 disciplines, there's no one else.

 

What a pity, it would've been perfectly adorable. The slight flattered embarrassment birthday people have when they get a cake and a song is one of my favourite things, even the shyest people become 'guys you really shouldn't have, it's so cute though, you guys really do like me huh, ohmygosh stop now please no second verse, no no no don't make up another embarrassing verse!!'

 

Now I really want to look up when Kevin's birthday is and hope he competes then because his awkwardness is perfectly adorable.