Next 2 interviews are taken during "Snow King 2" shows in Moscow - although they speak about the show, there are also some other issues...
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Brian Joubert: “Why do we have to put limits on the spins, the footwork?”:http://www.insideskating.net/2016/01/13 ... e-footworkTired as he was, during his “Snow King 2” marathon in Moscow and at the end of a masterclass with the main cast of the show, on December 27, Brian Joubert took the time in answering to some of Inside Skating’s questions – and he even attacked serious topics, such as the things to be corrected in the judging system: the level of the spins, the footwork, but, mostly, the way the Program Components are scored.
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With his skates on during this discussion, Brian says he really appreciates “Snow King” – “the quality of the show is really good, the costumes, music, decorations, everything”, not to mention he thoroughly enjoys the time spent with his former opponents: Evgeni Plushenko, Tomas Verner, Johnny Weir. As for coaching, he’ll take any good opportunity it might come his way.
Nadia Vasilyeva: This is your fourth visit in Russia for the “Snow King”, if I recall correctly: two times in St. Petersburg and two times in Moscow. How does it feel to come back in the show? Is it, in a way, like coming back home?
- Brian Joubert: You know, on the first year it was a little bit difficult because I didn’t know the team, but now, on the second year, it’s like family. We know each other, we have a good time together. And yes, it is like coming back to my home to see my friends, and I really enjoy it.
Do you actually have any free time to walk around Moscow, or is it just rehearsal-rehearsal-rehearsal?
- No, it’s just rehearsal. We wake up, we go on the ice, rehearsal, practice, shows, and then we go back to the hotel to sleep – that’s all.
This time you’re also going to spend New Year in Moscow. Is it difficult for you to be here, and not home, when we’re entering 2016?
- No, it’s gonna be good. Because, usually, when I am at home, I do nothing for New Year. I just have dinner and go to sleep, like on a normal day. So it’s gonna be different for me now, and very cool, I think.
So you’re going to celebrate altogether with the “Snow King” team?
- Yes, it’s going be a lot of people, a lot of fun.
I’m curious about one thing: does it feel different to skate in this kind of theatrical shows, like “Snow King”, rather than in the usual shows?
- Yes, it is different, but I really like it, because I think the quality of the show is really good, the costumes, music, decorations – everything. And I really like to take part in this kind of story, to do the Shaman, the Prince, to show different types of skating – all these are good for me.
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Now that you’re on the other side of the boards, do you have a new perspective on skating?
- You know, the level of figure skating is getting so high, especially technically. We can see a lot of quad jumps, two different ones in the short program, sometimes three or four in the free skate, and I think for the sport it’s amazing, it’s very good. But I don’t know [if my perspective on the discipline changed – Ed.]… I am on the other side of the boards, yes, but I’m still doing a lot of shows, so it’s difficult for me to have an opinion about figure skating now. I like to watch competitions sometimes. I will take some time later, to see if we can still improve the new judging system. Because I think there are still some mistakes [to be corrected – Ed.]…
For instance?
- I don’t know why we put limits on the spins, the footwork – when it comes to the level, I mean… Some skaters, they can do like level 5 or level 6. So it will be good for the audience to see that some skaters are really good at spins, for instance. But why do we have to put limits? That’s bad. And maybe add some combinations with four jumps, why not? And I think the main thing we have to change is the Components [Program Components Score – Ed.]. Because sometimes you can see that they are almost the same, like if you have 8 in Skating Skills you are going to have almost 8 in the Performance and Transitions. And it has to be different. You can have 9 in Performance and 3 in Transitions, it would be better this way.
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