General Yuzuru Chat

[OonsieHui]

21 minutes ago, jinxxoo said:

Yuzu has definitely been in the same shows as Mao, Daisuke and Shoma. 

Well yeah but those have been like FaOI or other Japan ice shows, not so much as a guest of their personal ice shows right?

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, Moria Polonius said:

 

Patrick Chan?  

 

Perhaps established stars such as Mao or Yuna? Daisuke Takahashi? Contemporary skaters who are aspiring to establish themselves as headliners, such as Shoma or Nathan? Has Yuzu ever been in a show with Shoma or Nathan?

 

I think younger skaters such as Junhwan, Vincent, Deniss, Russian or Japanese girls would see it as opportunity but older big names and rivals, not necessarily.

No, I disagree. I think even PChan would see the benefit in doing a show with Yuzu, and I can't for the life of me imagine why Mao or Yuna, who are massive stars already, would have an issue sharing the ice with him just purely on a skating basis.   

 

I just don't get the impression that egos are all that big in the skating world. I know Shoma and Yuzu do different shows in Japan, but I always put that down to their respective contracts. I don't know who Yuzu's agency is but I know Shoma has one that is associated with the shows he does. I can't picture either of them not wanting to work together, they're always supportive and respectful of each other in interviews. And I do believe Nathan was already in Heroes&Future with Yuzu this past summer.

 

In fact, the only one who might (but probably wouldn't) refuse is Daisuke, and I base that assessment on old news stories that may no longer be relevant. 

 

Also, personal ice shows probably have a harder time all around because they don't have a big organization like IMG behind them doing marketing and stuff. I imagine the headliner star of a show like that would want to get all the star power they could muster to sell tickets.

[Sombreuil]

How many of these shows are personal vehicles?  Javier's possibly as he’s the only one likely to pull in the Spanish audience so RoI probably is. Plushy's in Russia?   As I understand it, the Japanese shows are sponsored and feature the skaters the sponsors back - ex Fantasy on Ice =P&G = Yuzuru currently but in the past Takahashi, a back up to their ad campaigns.  No idea about NA shows which seem to only involve their own skaters or the arty European ones that use the likes of Arakawa, Lambiel etc.

 

Continues with wings was a new thing - a present from his sponsors to Yuzuru, and a good commercial bet on the back of a 2 nd OGM.

[kaeryth]

25 minutes ago, OonsieHui said:

Well yeah but those have been like FaOI or other Japan ice shows, not so much as a guest of their personal ice shows right?

 

It might be more due to scheduling and the fact that he's usually injured / recovering post Worlds and doesn't have the time to do a lot of ice shows during the off-season. (Remember how amazed everyone was that he was doing all FaOI shows + Heroes & Future?) Also, his training base is in Canada. He does FaOI because it's sponsored by P&G and usually happens at the start of the off season so he has time to fly to Canada after to concentrate on training before the season starts. In terms of personal ice shows - Dai doesn't have one, Mao had The Ice and Shizuka has Friends on Ice but both those shows start in the middle to late off season .

[rockstaryuzu]

9 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

How many of these shows are personal vehicles?  Javier's possibly as he’s the only one likely to pull in the Spanish audience so RoI probably is. Plushy's in Russia?   As I understand it, the Japanese shows are sponsored and feature the skaters the sponsors back - ex Fantasy on Ice =P&G = Yuzuru currently but in the past Takahashi, a back up to their ad campaigns.  No idea about NA shows which seem to only involve their own skaters or the arty European ones that use the likes of Arakawa, Lambiel etc.

 

Continues with wings was a new thing - a present from his sponsors to Yuzuru, and a good commercial bet on the back of a 2 nd OGM.

The main North American show these days is Stars On Ice, which is run by IMG Entertainment, who is also the talent agency for a lot of top name American skaters. But there's usually not one main headliner: it's a collective.  (And in Canada, at least, how would you choose? The last edition of SOI Canada featured 9 World Champions, all Canadians except for Javi!)

 

There used to be Ice Capades, but I think they've gone belly-up. And the currently running Thank You Canada Tour was Tessa and Scott's idea, backed by Canadian Tire, who are the main sponsor of the Canadian national team anyway. Elvis Stojko had his own show for a while, and he always invited skaters who were just as big names as himself. And he's the last one I know of from here.

[EisElle]

8 hours ago, OonsieHui said:

Something just occured to me. There's a possible unfortunate side effect to Yuzu's stardom. He will always be the star of any ice show he is in. Which is great for us, but does mean that if it's another skaters ice show (rather than a general ice show, if that makes sense) he might inevitably pull the spotlight away from the "main skater", which in itself would be unfortunate, but that risk may also mean there are some skaters who might avoid inviting him for that very reason....

 

 

I think a lot depends on the country...I'm not sure if for the occasional viewers in Italy, for example, Yuzuru's name would be more advertised than Caro's or Plushenko's (who's starred afaik in like A LOT of the ice shows they do here, and always presented as the biggest star along with Caro, when Caro is there too)... I mean, I'm sure if Yuzu went to Verona or Florence (please do, Zuzu, I'd die of happiness...but not before having grabbed first row tickets for all the shows! and then of course I'd resurrect to attend the show and be killed again by your skating)  the hoards of fanyus would descend upon the organizers, but the audience who goes to a show but isn't that involved in figure skating might not be that hyped about watching Zuzu skating... or maybe I'm just willfully trying to reassure myself that if, one day, Zuzu goes to Florence or Verona the tickets won't be sold out the moment sales are opened...because having Zuzu so close but not having a ticket would really be the end of me must be what poor japanese fanyus experience when they fail the lottery...so hard

If Yuzuru took part in one of Plushy's ice shows in Russia, I suspect Plushy would still be the biggest star... and I'd be very curious to see how he'd be received in Canada or US SOI... tho of course it's possible hoards of foreigner fanyus would rush to grab any available ticket, expecially if there is no lottery hell to overcome...

 

2 hours ago, Moria Polonius said:

 

Patrick Chan?  

 

Perhaps established stars such as Mao or Yuna? Daisuke Takahashi? Contemporary skaters who are aspiring to establish themselves as headliners, such as Shoma or Nathan? Has Yuzu ever been in a show with Shoma or Nathan?

 

I think younger skaters such as Junhwan, Vincent, Deniss, Russian or Japanese girls would see it as opportunity but older big names and rivals, not necessarily.

Yuzuru has skated in the Ice (which basically was Mao's show) whan he was younger but iirc last time was 2012, and for sure he's shared some ice-shows with Dai too (last time iirc in 2014 after Sochi, they were probably co-headlining, one as the freshly minted OGM, the other as the veteran who'd written many pages of Jpn men skating and was retiring). Yuzuru and Shoma were in FaOI several seasons, too, but my feeling now is that after Shoma's OSM they (organizers? sponsors? JSF?)are kinda trying to keep them separated because both are skaters with big selling power and it makes sense to "share the wealth" instead of owercrowding a single ice-show with all the big names (as there's a cap at how many tickets a single show can sell, while if multiple shows sell well it's good for all jpn skating economy...H&F was the exception because Nagano celebration). So e.g. now that Mao's retired, it looks like the Ice, where she used to be the main star, is becoming Shoma's show, while of course Yuzuru has been headlining FaOI for several seasons now...

 

For other shows there is also the issue of who organizes them, e.g. IMG does SOI so they'd be willing to pick their own skaters... tbh I've always thought it's a huge waste that Yuzuru hasn't taken part in any ice show outside Japan (the only one I can think of is the one where he skated PW, the first year he was in Canada) but I don't know if it's Yuzuru who isn't willing to go abroad for shows (tho he's hinted that he'd like to travel around the world), or he's not invited 'cause no IMG or such, or it's merely an issue of scheduling: a lot of tours are too early or too late, when Yuzuru usually is back in Toronto to do some serious training (or recovering from injuries and painfully getting back his jumps). I think he doesn't like to have his training schedule interrupted, with the exception of events that hold a particular meaning, like when he did that skating class for children or some of his H24 collabs... even then, he usually organizes his schedule to fit in as many committments so he can go back to his Toronto cave to play with Nessie)

tho tbh I've always been a bit jealous at Javi doing the canandian SOI while Zuzu hasn't

 

 

ETA: sharing some tweets in the dead of the night 'cause why not

I wonder when (if) other commentators (BEsp especially) will finally admit that Japanes fans are not the only ones willing to fly across the globe to throw plushies at the GOAT I know, I know, people going crazy for someone from a different country, how inconceivable!

 

 

I also wanted to share this, it made me laugh

 

 

[Ashley2162018]

8 hours ago, OonsieHui said:

Something just occured to me. There's a possible unfortunate side effect to Yuzu's stardom. He will always be the star of any ice show he is in. Which is great for us, but does mean that if it's another skaters ice show (rather than a general ice show, if that makes sense) he might inevitably pull the spotlight away from the "main skater", which in itself would be unfortunate, but that risk may also mean there are some skaters who might avoid inviting him for that very reason....

 

 

I think having Yuzu on your show will always draw a crowd and its a good opportunity.

I mean who doesn't want to skate with him?

[rockstaryuzu]

On 11/13/2018 at 6:32 PM, LadyLou said:

be very curious to see how he'd be received in Canada or US SOI... tho of course it's possible hoards of foreigner fanyus would rush to grab any available ticket, expecially if there is no lottery hell to overcome.

I suspect it would be much like ACI: busloads of miniskirted fanyu girls camped outside the arena waiting for him and bemused Canadians looking on whilst entering the venue and proceeding to their seats. At least in the bigger markets. In some of the smaller, harder to get to places, there might be no foreign audience members at all. 

 

And then there'd be me, trying to go to every show....😃

 

 

 

[liv]

Lol. *Bemused Canadians* that was so true at ACI. I thoroughly enjoyed watching everything transpiring there!!

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, LadyLou said:

tho tbh I've always been a bit jealous at Javi doing the canandian SOI while Zuzu hasn't

Well, in Javi's case, where else is he gonna go? The only ice show in Spain is the one he does anyway. Whereas Yuzu is spoiled for choice. 

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

8 minutes ago, liv said:

Lol. *Bemused Canadians* that was so true at ACI. I thoroughly enjoyed watching everything transpiring there!!

I know, right? I spotted a girl in gold sandals and full-on Chanel from top to toe. 😄 Very beautiful, and so not rink wear....and the old ladies in kimono. So interesting!

[kiches]

20 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

I suspect it would be much like ACI: busloads of miniskirted Japanese girls camped outside the arena waiting for him and bemused Canadians looking on whilst entering the venue and proceeding to their seats. At least in the bigger markets. In some of the smaller, harder to get to places, there might be no foreign audience members at all. 

 

And then there'd be me, trying to go to every show....😃

 

 

 

I’ve always had the impression that Yuzu’s Japanese fans, while they span the ages, the ones that travel to competitions seem to be predominately middle aged and older. Many of the younger fans I see at competitions that dress fashionably tend to be Chinese. I’m not sure if the Chinese fans usually do tour groups, but Japan definitely does and you can see their tour guides at the venues quite often. 

 

As an aside, I do wish the western commentators would stop lumping every Japanese flag carrying fan or Asian fan as Japanese. It shows their ignorance at recognizing different Asians and paints a very different narrative. I still remember how NBC was doing a fluff piece pointing out Yuzu’s Japanese fans at the Olympics while the group they were filming were clearly Chinese and speaking Mandarin. 

[rockstaryuzu]

2 minutes ago, kiches said:

I’ve always had the impression that Yuzu’s Japanese fans, while they span the ages, the ones that travel to competitions seem to be predominately middle aged and older. Many of the younger fans I see at competitions that dress fashionably tend to be Chinese. I’m not sure if the Chinese fans usually do tour groups, but Japan definitely does and you can see their tour guides at the venues quite often. 

 

As an aside, I do wish the western commentators would stop lumping every Japanese flag carrying fan or Asian fan as Japanese. It shows their ignorance at recognizing different Asians and paints a very different narrative. I still remember how NBC was doing a fluff piece pointing out Yuzu’s Japanese fans at the Olympics while the group they were filming were clearly Chinese and speaking Mandarin. 

I know the difference between Japanese and Chinese. There were Chinese fans there but the Chanel girl ( young woman, more like, in her 20's) spoke Japanese. As did the majority of the girls camped out in the line up.

[kaeryth]

Yuzu and Javi featured in Spain's embassy in Japan video celebrating 150 years of diplomatic ties.  (Google translate says there's a photo exhibit?)

 

 

ETA:

 

[Sammie]