So, we are here again? People don’t get ever tired to say always the same racist things? The last book that I’ve started is The Second Mark. Courage, Corruption, and the Battle for Olympic Gold, written by Joy Goodwin. Until now I’ve read only few pages, but a paragraph struck me.

The book was published in the 2004, not yesterday. We all remember the Salt Lake City scandal in the Pairs’ competition and the gold medal awarded at first to Yelena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze and after also to Jamie Salé/David Pelletier. But in Salt Lake City there were three strong pairs, not two. The third was a Chinese pair, and China in figure skating counted nothing. How much medal won China in the past? Two bronzes in the Ladies’ competition at the Olympic Games in 1994 and 1998, thanks to Chen Lu. Chen won also four medals (one gold) at the World Championship. She was the only Chinese skater on a Olympic or World podio before Shen Xue/Hongbo Zhao.

What did Shen/Zhao before the 2002 Olympic Games?

In red I’ve highlighted a Chinese music or choreographer, in green an Occidental music or Choreographer. Mulan is a music from an Occidental film, but based on a Chinese legend, so it’s both Cinese and Occidental (perhaps a Chinese can contest this, but in the Occidental mind the things are as this).

At page 11 Goodwin writes:

The Chinese skating federation made the surprising decision to hire Western choreographers three years ago, after several instances in which Shen and Zhao lost big competitions because they were said to be lacking in “artistry.” The truth was that they had their own artistry, but it was conceived in a traditional Chinese style. They performed to Chinese compositions (Yellow River Piano Concerto), drawing on traditional Chinese opera and Chinese ethnic dance for inspiration. Suffice to say Yellow River Piano Concerto looked nothing like Swan Lake. The judges, who tend to adore Swan Lake regardless od their nationalities, made it abundantly clear that this Chinese style was not going to count as good artistry. And because judges from non-Asian country absolutely dominate the sport, both in terms of sheer numbers and historical precedent, no one was powerful enough to persuade them otherwise. The Chinese were faced with a stark choice: Copy the West, or go on losing.

Nice. So at the start of our century an Asian skater can’t use his music because for the judges isn’t enough good. Now, after a lot of years, with a lot of strong skaters from China, Japan and Korea, this prejudice must have changed, no?

Probably not if Mr. Alexander Zhulin dare to say

In my opinion, he did not hit the free program. In the short program he was just a king, in the free program he looked mediocre. With Chen, the opposite is true. I think the reason is that not everyone will understand Japanese folklore.

So we can have English music, European music (at least French, German, Austrian, Spanish and Italian, I’m not sure for the other nations), Russian music, but not Asian Music? The problem is, the best quality of Zhulin are in his feet, he was a wonderful skater, but almost every time that he open his mouth, he makes me regret to have appreciated him years ago. But, worst, he isn’t the only one to think this. I remember that times ago Joe Inman, an influential judge, said that Hanyu was lucky to win the Olympic Games with SEIMEI, because the Japanese music is unintelligible for the Westerners. Try to widen his horizons is too much difficult, I suppose.

We can have Russian, or European, or American, that skate on Japanese music (more or less, if we can call Japanese the music chosen by them), and they are artistic or innovative, but if a Japanese do the same, his program can’t be understand. Moreover the choreography for Ten to Chi to was done by a Canadian, Shae-Lynn Bourne, not by a Japanese choreographer.

But they understand how much is little their brain? No, the privileged people rarely understand their privilege. They don’t want to understand and think to know all.

In 2015 I was enchanted by Chopin, but, as wonderful as it is, Chopin was a piece of classical music and, in the 25 years before, I’ve heard a lot of classical music. Hanyu’s interpretation was breathtaking, but it was only a breathtaking interpretation of something usual. The day after he was Seimei. He didn’t interpreted the music, he was the music, he was Abe no Seimei, even if I knew nothing about Abe no Seimei. I didn’t need to know who Seimei was to feel the dept of Hanyu’s interpretation. Only years after I made some research, but I absolutely loved the program with all my heart from the first moment. Hanyu is this, even if some people with an exaggerated idea of their importance can’t understand the truth. Hanyu is Uesugi Kenshin. Why he should not skate on the music of his country?

I love Javier Fernandez and I love Yuna Kim. In fact I love more Yuna than Javi. It’s a personal preference, anyone can think in a different way. I don’t argue with other people’s tastes. Kim was wonderful in El tango de Roxanne. The fist time I’ve ever seen her, was in her El tango de Roxanne at the 2007 World Championship. I remember my thought before her program: “a Korean skater with this music? How can she give a convincing interpretation?” After, I didn’t asked myself anything, I was totally in love with her. It was, by the way, her first World record. But if I must choose among her tango or Fernandez’s Malaguena, I’ll choose always the Malaguena, because Fernandez is Spanish and that music is his. There’s a deep truth in choosing a music rooted in our culture that can’t be in the other musics, however beautiful they are.

I didn’t knew the history of Seimei? So? I don’t know also the history of a lot of famous films or operas, so how about the skaters that choice one of them? I can’t like them? They can’t skate on the music that they love because of my limits?

No. If someone is interested, can always study something that before he didn’t knew. Until two years ago, I knew very little about Japan. Now I’ve read… I think almost 30 books about Japan or written by Japanese writers. It’s a small part of the books that I’ve read, I’m really a bookworm. I was hooked by a program, I feel the need to know more. If we are open, we can widen ours horizons, is our mind is little, we let us unload our ignorance on others. The way of ignorance is always the easier.

We’ve seen the easy way even with part of the press. After the short program, a journalist asked to Hanyu why he has chosen Let Me Entertain You, when he always skated on classical music. Eh? Has he ever heard of this program?

Perhaps he need a summary. The title is Parisienne Walkways, composed by the Northern Irish musician Gary Moore (1952-2011), so this don’t seem to me nor a classical music nor a Japanese music. And for the importance of the program, with this music Hanyu has fixed four World’s record. Four, non one. The last one was at the Olympic Games, the first time that with a program a skater was able to broke the 100 points wall in a short program. And this program was instrumental for his first Olympic gold medal. How can a serious journalist forget this program? And there’s also this.

This is Let’s Go Crazy, by Prince. Unfortunately there is no World’s record to testimony how good this program is. Neverthless, he has made history with this program too. It was in Let’s Go Crazy – not here, at the Autumn Classic International, with a white costume that don’t stand out in the photos – that he landed the first quadruple loop of figure skating, so also this program is really important. Classical music? Japanese music? Yes, for some programs, not for all. If he want to skate only on Japanese music from now until the rest of his career, counting also the show, he can do it. It’s him who skate, the choices are his, our personal tastes aren’t linked with the quality of what he has done and the judges should not be influenced by this.

Speaking of quality, have you seen Hana wa Saku? His gala program was, by far, the best thing that I’ve seen in the 2021 World Championship, and I’ve watched all the competitions, and not only for his huge triple Axel. This triple Axel was perfection, but all his movements are sheer poetry.

So if someone linked Hanyu only to Japanese music, or to classical music, he don’t know a lot about figure skating, or isn’t interested in the truth.

I’ve read some journalists according to whom he receives low marks because he always skate on the same music, because he don’t try anything innovative or modern, and this is a lie. Also with Let Me Entertain You he has received marks lower than he deserved. If he was judged fairly, he would have won a silver, not a bronze.
Zhulin’s words are worrying not because I’m interested in him, but because his prejudice is the same that a lot of judges has, and the judges can give lower marks because of their prejudices.

Ten to Chi to – I would always prefer the original name to the English name, even if for a better understanding of non-Asian he chose to add the English title Heaven and Earth – is an incredible program. Perhaps his interpretation at the National Championship in December is the best free program ever skated by every skater. I’m not sure, there’s always Hope and Legacy to consider, and if we watch the short program there’s Chopin. He competed only with himself, even if for doing so he must partecipate in competitions and sometime the things didn’t go as he wants. Surely with the scores it’s several years that there’s a huge problems, with his interpretation… he’s human, sometimes he do what he want to do, sometimes not.

If the judges can’t go beyond their prejudices, aren’t capable to open their heart to something different from their culture, we have a big problem, and not only in figure skating.