Ice-skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov did a rendition of Nagada Sang Dhol [clip] in their ice-skating routine (which, apparently, won them a gold medal) that made me want to watch Devdas on Ice~~~ or specifically Dola Re Dola on Ice because I’m like that!
As you know~ Russia is big on the ice-skating events, even more so than the Koreans (who had the reality Kim Yu-na’s Kiss & Cry[1]), the Japanese who broadcast ice-skating competitions quite regularly throughout the year, and the Americans (the other day I caught a broadcast of Musselman’s Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute on ESPN).
I’ve just published a list of 100 songs in Chinese (mostly Mandarin, but also Cantonese… and maybe Hokkien… can’t be sure of that) that’s a great cheat sheet for anyone wanting to show off their knowledge of the scene. There’s definitely a wide variety of artists, so you’re sure to find something you enjoy.
ESPN has been re-broadcasting the best bits of the Sochi Olympics, and in true Winter Olympics nature, la creme de la creme of winter sports is usually women’s skating. It’s hard to pin-point what the most popular event at the Summer Olympics is (is it football? volleyball?), but the women who skate are the queens of the gala.
This year, there was a rather nasty controversy between eventual Gold-medalist Adelina Sotnikova (back then only 17) and eventual Silver-medalist and retiring Kim Yuna. The name-calling online got ugly and tiring, proving once again that -as a general rule- fans can suck so much. I can imagine what a cesspool YouTube commenting would be like if it didn’t require Gmail account linkups.
As far as the skating goes, I was dazzled when Kim Yuna won Gold at the Vancouver Olympics, where she skate for her life with such delicacy and grace. In Sochi, though, as much as she could have been pitch perfect in technique (we all do admit skating looks effortlessly when she does it), I was a bit bored. Then again, I’m just a fan who’s never picked up a pair of ice-skates in her life. I’ve never seen a frozen lake or ever stepped on an ice rink before. I’m just mostly disappointed of her fans.
Sotnikova’s choreography, however, surprised me the first time I saw it, and still manages to thrill me to no end. During my second time watching, I thought I might have been influenced by the ESPN Latino commentator who was pretty darn excited with her program, so I decided to look it up-
If FIFA’s World Cup is making me choose between Pitbull and Ricky Martin. Okay, I’ll take this~
NHK got Shiina Ringo to make a song for their coverage of the event, and that’s all we need to know. I’m not sure what’s the coverage is gonna be like down here (cable or networks), but I’m sure we’re stuck with Pitbull.
I just knew songs were gonna suck when they started announcing the social media contests to “create the song” for the World Cup. Cheap music will always be cheap.
Some very beautiful images came from the broadcast of the Sochi 2014 Opening, besides the snowflake glitch, but massive prettyful posts seem hard to find. I also couldn’t find any information on the budget for the show.
My TV signal is not working :( though I doubt the local channel is broadcasting the whole event, being famous for cutting the lightning of the cauldron at the London Olympics to continue with their regular programming [1][2], so I had to wait over 12hrs for *cough* ahem- watch it. My Sochi search on Twitter revealed two spoilers~~~ the spoiled snowflake that didn’t turn into the fifth Olympic ring that’s already been spoofed online, and Chulpan Khamatova.
I didn’t get to read when she’d be appearing — during a skit? during the show? waving? carrying the torch? — I just saw the comment of “Chulpan Khamatova!!!” multiple exclamation points and all. I was already giddy. And she didn’t disappoint.
In all honesty, I had a lot of Spice Girls fun when it happened, but the best part of the whole thing will ALWAYS be this animated GIF. Thank you forever and always, Lainey. Continue Reading…
It’s all about money, of course. The International Olympic Committee wants to retain all the control of its brand — who can blame them? — and to retain its control online, it took the social media control from the London Olympic committee, unlike what happened back at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
To Olympics lovers’ surprise, the Vancouver Olympic Committee was allowed free social media range, which they put to good use with online apps, tweeting athletes interacting with fans, the whole shebang [1]. I don’t actually care about online apps (nor Vancouver’s nor London’s), and I don’t care if athletes tweet. My only interest in the Olympics is watching the games and finding photographs xD
I’m not sure if these are print — actually, they seem to be Nike wallpapers, but can’t find other sizes — they’ve been making their rounds, and they’re awesome. :) Thanks to Cfensi for the heads up as well as some of the translations~
Following the Find your Greatness campaign Nike has been doing, the Chinese branch of Nike released these wonderful ads, with the slogan of 活出伟大 (Huo Chu Wei Da) and some awesome copy-writing.
Note: The translation of the copy is courtesy of Cfensi. xD
“There’s no absolute fairness, but there is absolute Greatness.” – About Chen Yibing’s silver-medal performance.
“Your greatness will never retire.”
“Some people believe that more precious than gold and silver is iron.”
“Even the most sure Greatnesss was won through hard work.”
“Will you fight for that one in a hundred chance? Greatness will.”
“The opposite of Greatness is not failure, but not fighting.”
“Will you fight for Greatness for another four years?”
“Three second places represent the three times you’ve had the determination to win first.”
“Judges can decide your rankings, but not your Greatness.”
“Even if you’re not on the podium, you can still raise a flag for Greatness.”
“The moment you entered the battle, you were already a hero.”
“Greatness will never give up on you, unless you first give up pursuing it.”
“The most beautiful thing is your smile of pride for yourself.”
“Greatness doesn’t care about how many times you fell, only how many times you stood back up.”
“Who says the toughest opponent isn’t the best teammate.”
“They can question your scores, but no one can question your Greatness.”
“Greatness is having the World Record chase you.”
“There’s no absolute fairness, but there is absolute Greatness.”
