General Yuzuru Chat

[quadaxelwin]

4 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

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.

 

 

 

I'm talking about the commentators. Regardless of the outcome, I still don't want them to miscalculate under rotations during the replays, if the singing disrupts that process. It just looks bad on the fans, if one of the commentators end up mentioning the disruption during or after the competition. 

 

As for the technical panel, that is a whole another topic which I don't want to get into in depth, because the discussion will be too long. 

[rockstaryuzu]

24 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.

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. 

 

 

 

 

[quadaxelwin]

21 minutes ago, shanshani said:

 

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!

 

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.

 

 

Then we misread each other in the wrong context. I apologize. As long as it's not during kiss and cry or during 6 min warmup, I say go ahead folks with the song. 

[rockstaryuzu]

6 minutes ago, quadaxelwin said:

I'm talking about the commentators. I still don't want them to miscalculate under rotations during the replays, if the singing disrupts that process.

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.

[WinForPooh]

4 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

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.

 

Also... Most commentators seem far more interested in going 'OoOOOooooooOOOOOooooohhhhhh PooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooohs' than actually analysing any elements. Maybe in other languages, they do? But they will be up in their broadcast rooms with feeds, where they will be relatively insulated from crowd's reactions and sounds. The reporters will be in the media section apart from the general audience but they don't do commentary.

 

 

[shanshani]

2 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

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.

I think tends to be especially true of those of us from immigrant backgrounds, who get it all the time, and then get it in reverse when we go to our country of origin. And, if I may mention it, Yuzu's not an immigrant but at the same time, his situation is not exactly dissimilar to our own. Like I said, it's best not to make assumptions about people based on their country of origin. Even people who have lived in one place all their lives may often surprise you.

[rockstaryuzu]

9 minutes ago, WinForPooh said:

 

Also... Most commentators seem far more interested in going 'OoOOOooooooOOOOOooooohhhhhh PooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooohs' than actually analysing any elements. Maybe in other languages, they do? But they will be up in their broadcast rooms with feeds, where they will be relatively insulated from crowd's reactions and sounds. The reporters will be in the media section apart from the general audience but they don't do commentary.

 

 

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. 

 

[holina]

2 hours ago, quadaxelwin said:

 

 

The issue of HPB song is not about standing out. It's about the possibility of distracting the next skater warming up during kiss and cry.

 

Yuzu wants to stand out but is equally sensitive to how the next skater feels. 

Their discomfort is the same as his discomfort. 

 

That's why he always makes gestures to the crowd to calm down for the next skater during kiss and cry. He did this for Nam at Skate Canada after his free skate. 

 

Agree 100 percent with this.

I won’t be there in person, but I hope people at least don’t sing the song when the next skater is already on the ice.  If Yuzu is the last skater then perhaps it’s okay, but then it would still depend on whether Yuzu has had a good skate or not.

 

Since this “argument” amongst fans are all over Twitter now, I think Yuzu may already be aware about all of this and it may be upsetting him already....I certainly hope that’s not the case but we all know that he lurks.

 

Maybe someone can DM a TCC member (Tracy?  Brian?  I think they have Instagram account?) and see if they can give us some insight into what Yuzu wants?  At least if we get an answer, then we can ensure that we won’t unintentionally make Yuzu upset or embarrassed or whatever.  I am not sure if asking them is feasible or appropriate, but just throwing this idea out there and see if people think it’s good idea or not.

 

We all just want what’s best for Yuzu.

[ICeleste]

everyone should read this entire thread of tweets. this person brings up really good points...

on another note, it makes me uncomfortable when people act like they know what's on Yuzuru's mind or what he thinks about these things. none of us do, but he's only expressed positive thoughts about his fans cheering for him.

[shanshani]

Now I'm imagining Yuzu (or his mom) dealing with all the issues that arise with being Asian (especially with a foreign accent) in North America and it's kind of pissing me off Like hearing a pair of old ladies just assuming I was a Chinese exchange student who didn't understand English very well and having a very audible conversation about me on the basis of this assumption, all because I was wearing a backpack on a bus headed in the direction of a university (this happened at GPF last year). No, I'm an American tourist who's here to see a figure skating competition, thank you very much. Or all the people who are rude or condescending to you for no reason--which tends to be even worse if you have a foreign accent, which is something that becomes really obvious once you see how people treat your foreign-accented parents.

 

anyway, off topic

[Lily*]

I think some people are making this issue more complicated than necessary. It's not about assuming someone's personality based on their nationality or culture. When you can't ask him directly, assumption is all we have. In this case, it's called consideration. And it's not just based on the culture but also on his past behaviors. The question is simple. When you have enough reasons to assume that he might not like it, are you still willing to risk it? And for what? I'm not against singing itself if it's not during the competition.

[rockstaryuzu]

7 minutes ago, Lily* said:

I think some people are making this issue more complicated than necessary. It's not about assuming someone's personality based on their nationality or culture. When you can't ask him directly, assumption is all we have. In this case, it's called consideration. And it's not just based on the culture but also on his past behaviors. The question is simple. When you have enough reasons to assume that he might not like it, are you still willing to risk it? And for what? I'm not against singing itself if it's not during the competition.

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

[holina]

2 minutes ago, Lily* said:

I'm not against singing itself if it's not during the competition.

Exactly!  This is what I was trying to get across.  After practice or gala or victory ceremony is fine, just not during competition because it may distract other skaters.  We have all seen Yuzu pointing to the next skater who has already stepped on the ice and gesturing to fans to stop cheering for himself.

 

This has nothing to do with culture, not allowing fans to show love for Yuzu (or fans “policing” other fans) or thinking that Yuzu can’t handle 10 seconds of birthday song.  It’s purely to be considerate to the next skater who may be trying to concentrate before starting his FS.

[rockstaryuzu]

26 minutes ago, shanshani said:

Now I'm imagining Yuzu (or his mom) dealing with all the issues that arise with being Asian (especially with a foreign accent) in North America

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. 

[shanshani]

12 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

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. 

That's true, I found Toronto to be pretty good in the short times I visited, although I did have an uber driver once try to get me to commiserate with him on the influx of Indian immigrants? Super awkward, my parents are immigrants, I'm an immigrant, I'm not going to join you in complaining about immigrants just because I speak English with a North American accent and they're not from my ethnic group, dude. (Let me stop before this veers to much into politics.) But overall, my experiences with Toronto have been good. Vancouver, on the other hand, I found to be full of people who were inexplicably rude, including doing things like assuming Japanese tourists were Chinese and expecting them to speak English even though they were just tourists...it's baffling, they're in the same country! Maybe I was just unlucky.

 

Anyway, hopefully Yuzu and his mom haven't had to deal much with that stuff.