On Sunday, the website of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) published a comment by Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, in which she spoke about her number at the show programs tournament, and also inflicted an injection on journalists who pay excessive attention to her performances and personal life. The Sport correspondent tells why Zagitova in the image of Marilyn Monroe «didn't fit» him and why, at the same time, he fully supports any experiments of the athlete.
I'll start with a private one, namely with the final number at the show program tournament, which Zagitova had to perform according to the draw. And I'll start from afar. As you know, for this tournament, Channel One began «warming up» long before the date of its holding. And all last week in the morning show on the First invited the most eminent participants of the «Russian Challenge», as the organizers dubbed these competitions. Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova, Evgenia Medvedeva — they all visited the hosts of Good Morning.
I visited the studio and Zagitova, and right on the eve of the event. At that moment, it was already known that the Olympic champion Pyeongchang would enter the ice under the last starting number. Naturally, she was asked questions on this topic («are you experiencing any special excitement»), and asked to open the veil of secrecy regarding the program.
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«Closing competitions and shows is nervous, so what — there will be a share of responsibility,» Zagitova answered.
Regarding the number, she said that there would be a complex costume, which the skater got used to for a long time. «I opened the curtain for you,» the athlete added, either jokingly or making a reservation.
But the essence of this introduction is that the special impatience with which they were waiting for Zagitova's program is completely understandable. And it was obvious that neither the audience nor the critics (yes, there is such a concept, and this is not a curse word) will tolerate anything other than the “wow effect”. And this, by the way, is a consequence of nothing else, but the love that they all still have for Alina, and also a feeling of regret that they managed to watch too few programs performed by this magnificent skater when she competed.
After all, Tatyana Tarasova said several years ago that the “three programs” that the Olympic champion showed during her sports career were not enough for her, adding that she did not believe in her return. The team of Eteri Tutberidze then answered the honored coach of the USSR with a sharp rebuke, but Tatyana Anatolyevna turned out to be right. Firstly, Zagitova really did not return (and now, probably, not a single person in the world admits that she will return, although the Olympic champion did not officially end her career). And secondly, they really miss her and want to see her in new roles on the ice.
Alas, the role of Marilyn Monroe did not cause a “wow effect” either among the judges — great people from the world of art, or, I would venture to guess, the majority of those who saw this program. And the point here is not that Zagitova performed badly. On the contrary, it’s very good — the skater played all the antics that the American actress is known for, there are no complaints about her costume and make-up nuances that helped Alina transform into a frivolous blonde, and the embarrassment with the fan at the end of the number, which obviously overdid it and lifted her dress taller than expected, turned out to be very cute.
But the fact is that over the more than fifty years that have passed since the name of Marilyn Monroe began to rattle around the world, everything that Zagitova demonstrated has been demonstrated a huge number of times. Alina did not surprise with anything at all — and in this production, by definition, she could not do it. Perhaps she would have succeeded if Eteri Tutberidze and Daniil Gleikhengauz remembered that Monroe played not only the roles of narrow-minded blondes and, by the way, said many times that she did not like those images that brought her fame. In other words, Marilyn is not only “boop-boop-pee-dup” and a dress that has taken off. But in order to find something unusual in her image, one had to get really confused, as they say.
Zagitova, in this case, the last starting number, which could help her put the brightest point of the evening, only got in the way. I think if she had performed somewhere at the beginning of the second part, the marks would have been higher. It is far from certain that the Olympic champion would have won the tournament, but at least she would have been closer to the top three, or even ended up in it.
Now about how the Olympic champion reacted to the criticism of her number. More precisely, she did not react, but was simply offended — otherwise, the tone of her comment in the video on the social network, which was later partially used in a lengthy statement on the FFKKR website, is difficult to interpret. “About the fact that the presented number does not suit me … Well, hello to all well-wishers! Especially to critics and some journalists whom I do not leave without work. They discuss my performances and my life with such zeal in detail that it’s scary to think what would these people do without me,» Zagitova said.
The figure skater also drew attention to the shortcomings of the tournament regulations, noting that it would be better to formulate more clearly what is more important when staging a number — «the plot of the program itself, the relevance or importance of the topic, performance or exact match, resemblance to the selected character.
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“After all, this is not just a show, but a tournament with the participation of the strongest skaters, for each of whom, be that as it may, it is important to be the first,” said Zagitova (or the one who helped write this voluminous text to her).
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Here you can not argue. Many people have already written about what was judged based on the criteria «like» and «dislike».But an injection against critics and the media cannot be accepted. Still, Alina, as a person who studies at the university as a journalist, should know that her future colleagues use an informational occasion as a writing material. The Olympic champion performed her show number not at her training rink behind closed doors, but at the tournament, which was expected all season. And it would be strange if Zagitova's performance was watched and forgotten. Naturally, the expectation of her entering the ice in a new role caused all the reaction that probably stunned the skater. Yes, the reaction turned out to be not quite with a plus sign — well, experiments are not always successful.
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«I think that it was unusual for many to look at me like that, but you need to try something new , move on,» Zagitova said.
br>Prior to that, in a commentary to the host of the show, Dmitry Khrustalev, immediately after the performance, she generally said that «in life you need to try almost everything.» And Alina can only be supported in this. The wording «practically everything», I think, the skater used (not for the first time) is not accidental — she warms up her interest. After all, this is «practically everything» for everyone — and it is very curious how it will turn out for Zagitova.But only, Alina — I am addressing you directly as a journalist who has been a living witness to almost all of your performances in big-time sports, asked you questions more than once after the most important victories, including the Olympic one, and interviewed you. No need to be offended that your experiments cause such an ambiguous reaction. After all, you are experimenting not in the kitchen, but in front of a huge audience. You put on a blonde wig not at your friend's birthday, but at the main tournament of the season. Eat not at a karaoke bar with friends, but at a show that is broadcast all over the country. You are not running a line at a neighboring school, but a television project that is shown on TV in prime time. Of course, everyone will discuss you, someone will condemn you, shamelessly ridicule every slip of the tongue. You have to be ready for this.
However, most of us know one very important thing, and here I will recall one incident about 20 years ago from a press conference in which the now famous choreographer and director, and then still active skater Ilya Averbukh, took part. He was asked a question, answering which he made a funny mistake — either he put the stress in the wrong place, or something else. The journalist automatically corrected him, to which Ilya said with dignity: «I'm sorry. When you were studying, we were training.» And the one who made the remark felt ashamed. If he knew what heights Averbukh would conquer in what he had not yet done close to, it would be doubly ashamed.
So, Alina, all those who are distinguished by adequacy remember — when we had time to study and experiment, you plowed on the ice every day and almost without days off — and won. She also won for us, bringing us joy and pride that we have such athletes. Therefore — of course, try new things, experiment, master your «practically everything». In the end, we are really interested in what it will be like for you!