The first show program tournament in the history of Russian figure skating, which received the loud name «Russian Challenge» «, took place on Saturday in Moscow. How the referees coped with the challenge, who had to evaluate the inestimable, and what winning formula the champion found — in the material Sport.
It has long been known that the show program tournament will be the culmination of the season. And so it was scary for him. There is nothing worse than a blurred ending — and not only because, as the rule deduced by Stirlitz (about him a little later) says, the last one is remembered. The fact is that this very tournament, which took place just a few days before the start of the World Figure Skating Championships, was supposed to deal a crushing blow in the stomach to all those who so wanted to get rid of Russian skaters on the international arena. Show them who they have lost — and at the same time remind them of the historical, and not just the momentary greatness of our figure skating.
And for this purpose, the show program tournament was the best fit, since it provided an opportunity for skaters who had already finished — or interrupted their careers for an indefinite time, as they say, to remember their youth and throw down the gauntlet to those who are now in the clip. But how to judge such competitions? If it was just an ice show — no questions asked, put the points you want. But here, after all, there is the main prize of five million rubles, and rather solid secondary prizes — that is, the arbitrators, whether you like it or not, were given the task of evaluating what, in general, is impossible to evaluate.
I think those who did not read the regulations hardly understood why the judges gave two marks — after all, they were not going to take into account the technique from the very beginning. In fact, the rules noted that they would be judged according to the criteria «composition» and «performance». The first was deciphered as «the originality of the idea and the quality of the musical and choreographic design.» The second criterion was formulated as «the artistry and quality of the presentation and performance of the program by the participant.» Each paragraph contained several subparagraphs, but we will not give them here so as not to load you with unnecessary words. Precisely because there are too many of these words, and there was a premonition that they would be judged solely by the characteristics of «like» or «dislike».
In addition to fear for the objectivity of refereeing, it was also fearful due to the fact that the tournament could turn into someone else's still ardently loved, but someone already pretty tired of the «Ice Age». Especially after it became known that the lion's share of the numbers for the participants is put by the ideological inspirer of the Glacier, Ilya Averbukh. And after the composition of the judging panel was announced — People's Artists of Russia Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Evgeny Mironov, Boris Eifman, People's Artist of Russia Valentin Yudashkin, Honored Artist of Russia Alla Sigalova — there was a strong feeling that we were really on a new version of the TV project, but only without participation non-skating show business stars. People, of course, very respected, but not from figure skating — and the tournament is still among figure skaters.On the other hand, I did not want to see standard demonstration performances, which usually close major competitions — only with points. Still, show programs, I think, should imply the presence of such details that cannot be used in classic gala numbers. But nothing of the kind was spelled out in the regulations — except that the absence of restrictions on costumes and props was emphasized. So, everything depended on how much the participant, in simple terms, would «get confused».Surprisingly, the future winner of the tournament, Alexei Yagudin, became the only participant who not only performed on his birthday, but also went on ice with a show program at two different venues in a few hours. Even in the afternoon, shortly before the start of the «Russian Challenge» in «Megasport», he pleased the young skaters and their parents at the fifth stage of the Moscow Sports Cup. In fairness, we note that the Olympic champion did not violate the regulations, the numbers were different, although they were similar in mood. But between the first and second, he talked to the press and, in particular, expressed his expectations from the tournament.
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«I don't care at all, even if I take 24th place. I performed at Pro-Am tournaments when we performed technical and artistic programs. Today there will be an artistic program. I'm trying to perform on artistry, on some ideas. figure skaters — they jump quads, well, I thought they would do another indicative number. No, they are steaming up. Someone plays football, someone has rain, someone has a throne, «said Yagudin, who had already participated in the general rehearsals.
However, already the first section showed that not all of them were «worn out», quoting Yagudin. It is clear that each viewer has their own preferences, so everything that happens next is solely the author's point of view, for which, if someone does not like it, I apologize. But the main disappointment for me was those who saddled their favorite skate. Yes, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva succeeds in numbers with an emphasis on sexuality — but the tango staged by Ilya Averbukh has become just another such program from a long list. And Elena Radionova, who returned to the competitive ice three years later, danced incendiary to Shakira — but she did something similar many times before.
Nevertheless, of all the numbers shown in the first part, the judges rated these two numbers quite highly — while the main hit, apparently, did not hook them. We are talking about the program of Matvey Vetlugin — which finally secured him the unofficial title of the most charismatic young figure skater in Russia. So only a mega-talented ice artist could play a parody of four cult programs — Don Quixote by Alina Zagitova, Toxic by Tuktamysheva, Sex Bomb by Evgeni Plushenko and Winter by Yagudin. Vetlugin not only copied the costumes, but also adopted the smallest details from the originals — which caused the audience to roar with delight. But the jury, most likely, simply did not understand the skater's idea — and limited himself to an extremely low rating. .jpg» /Sex sells («sex is on sale») — the well-known formula of success. Skaters, it's not a secret, they use it. But still, even before the release of the main favorites of the Russian Challenge, it became clear that on this day it would not work. With a light and airy number, the very young «daughter of the moon» Sofya Akat'eva went on a break as a leader, and then those who tried to play not on instincts, but on a Russian soul ready to understand everything, began to receive higher and higher scores. To depict the confusion of feelings on the ice and make you empathize — that's what Mikhail Kolyada, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov managed to do — and, finally, Anna Shcherbakova to the brilliant music from «17 Moments of Spring». I had to read the opinions of experts that the scene of Stirlitz's meeting with his wife is one of the most poignant in world cinema. It is hard to disagree with them — as well as with the fact that the Olympic champion managed to brilliantly convey all the emotions of the heroine.But best of all, of course, it turned out to take Yagudin by the soul. Yes, they will gossip for a long time about the fact that the Olympic champion was given a gift on his birthday. Of course, those people who gave marks that evening know Yagudin better than anyone else — at least as the host of that same «Ice Age», where they also visit so often. But it is indisputable that Yagudin, with his Ne me quitte pas, brought the hall to catharsis and raised it — for which he received the maximum 20 points, which it was already impossible to surpass.
Of course, you can easily name those numbers that were underestimated at the tournament. From the point of view of both the idea and the execution, Kamila Valieva was absolutely incomparable — the program in which she went on the ice as a shaman and made it rain, once again confirmed the absolutely limitless artistic abilities of this figure skater. A very strong philosophical program was presented by Evgenia Medvedeva — and the beginning in the form of shots about the events of the Olympics in Pyeongchang showed that she still had a feeling of resentment for the result of five years ago. Finally, the football number of Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov was both staged and performed so talentedly that it certainly deserved higher scores.
But Yagudin won — whose experience unmistakably helped to find the winning formula. In addition to him, this evening, perhaps, only one person could receive the main prize — his eternal rival Evgeni Plushenko. Alas, he is known to have overcharged for his participation. It's a pity — few people manage to take for the soul the way these two have. Well, this is a reason to look forward to next year — maybe Plushenko will be more accommodating. And the applause that was awarded to the participants of the Russian Challenge, packed almost to capacity at Megasport, is one hundred percent confirmation that the show program tournament was a success — and the hope that it will be traditional.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.