Here is the exact performance on the very 1st day of the competition at World Cup Portimao 2009.
I was there for this competition as the choreographer of coarse and was able to watch everyone! What is important is that "mrs. Thing" was not there and the "new" person selected for the "throne" is from Poland - which kind of explaines the high scores for Poland! No?
The Spanish team did an awesome job on the first day with 5 hoops and I was so proud of them, because we changed the choreography only 5 days before that and it is a VERY difficult choreography to begin with! Although Spain had Originality in both routines and they were described, submitted and shown to the panel of judges the day before the competition... it was all REJECTED by the panel as Original elements!!!
So the competition started... Russia had bad drops...Japan was pushing to be on the podium , but with Belarussia doing some big drops, Spain was looking good! ...Until - The 0.750 deduction was given to Spain after the first 5 hoops performance! Why?? "They said" the music was bad! The choreography was not in synch with the music "they said"!!! The connection at 1:21 where the music changes with THAT awesome collaboration - was not a strong enough accent and the choreography didn't match the music ..."they said"!!! When I heard the score and the reason for the deduction ... I LOST MY FUCKING MIND!! What was even worse, is that nobody filed a "contestatzia" to fight this deduction! I was angry and I felt like
someone lit a fire under my ass!! I was told by "some people" that even Kanaeva has changed her music and left the same choreography. "They" told us to change the music!!! Guess what I said?? No , No and No!! I picked the music, I edited the music myself, and it is perfectly matched and in synch as it is! I give credit to Efrossina Angelova for sticking with the decision to keep it, because she was pressured for months after to change it!
What I said at the time was this:
What is hated now will be in style tomorrow! We are all conditioned to like what we know, give them time and they will come around! And ... this choreography is a Diamond and it will be looked at as such for years to come! Mark my words.
I was there for this competition as the choreographer of coarse and was able to watch everyone! What is important is that "mrs. Thing" was not there and the "new" person selected for the "throne" is from Poland - which kind of explaines the high scores for Poland! No?
The Spanish team did an awesome job on the first day with 5 hoops and I was so proud of them, because we changed the choreography only 5 days before that and it is a VERY difficult choreography to begin with! Although Spain had Originality in both routines and they were described, submitted and shown to the panel of judges the day before the competition... it was all REJECTED by the panel as Original elements!!!
So the competition started... Russia had bad drops...Japan was pushing to be on the podium , but with Belarussia doing some big drops, Spain was looking good! ...Until - The 0.750 deduction was given to Spain after the first 5 hoops performance! Why?? "They said" the music was bad! The choreography was not in synch with the music "they said"!!! The connection at 1:21 where the music changes with THAT awesome collaboration - was not a strong enough accent and the choreography didn't match the music ..."they said"!!! When I heard the score and the reason for the deduction ... I LOST MY FUCKING MIND!! What was even worse, is that nobody filed a "contestatzia" to fight this deduction! I was angry and I felt like
someone lit a fire under my ass!! I was told by "some people" that even Kanaeva has changed her music and left the same choreography. "They" told us to change the music!!! Guess what I said?? No , No and No!! I picked the music, I edited the music myself, and it is perfectly matched and in synch as it is! I give credit to Efrossina Angelova for sticking with the decision to keep it, because she was pressured for months after to change it!
What I said at the time was this:
What is hated now will be in style tomorrow! We are all conditioned to like what we know, give them time and they will come around! And ... this choreography is a Diamond and it will be looked at as such for years to come! Mark my words.
Comments
It´s an amazing piece of music...
everybody is on defensive with everybody. Going to competitions is like going to war. Spain need Judges who'll fight for the team and play the "game"!! To this moment ... Spain is better than most on the carpet, but Spain has no "game" outside the carpet!!! We need multi-lingual, all knowing, bad ass judges to get in with the "wolfs" and give us a hand!! And that is the truth.
well there you go!
The fact of the matter is, that there are judges in there who never deal with computers , but are in there doing it the old fashioned way!
Ok, this is the situation, but it´s sad that have to be like this. Before, in the 80´s and 90´s used something similar happen, but as the judges were much more stringent ... there was less room for cheating.
The question is ... Is there another way? Can, the things, be changed to avoid problems with the scores? Only with your own judges?
Thank you, great job with this blog.
P.D.Sorry if the questions aro too direct.
I like direct questions, because i give direct answers.
Spain needs to pick a judge who will be consistent with the Spanish Group team. A team can't go to competition with different judge every time, because the other judges like to "work" with someone they know, they trust and have worked with before! That judge needs to make a name for her self in that circle and create "friends". That judge needs to be able to communicate with EVERYONE on any language necessary! Establishing working relationships happens during the year prior to big competitions such as Europe,World or Olympics. That is why is important to go to international competition!! It is where and when the "negotiations" start! That's right, I said "negotiations". That same judge needs to be a "bad ass" and be able to "play well" with others, so if the team of Spain gives a clean performance, that judge's job is to secure the score the team is asking for ... so Spain can get the placing they deserve! Let's hope that happens sooner than later because 2012 is right around the corner!
My opinion is that RG is not a subjective sport if judged properly by all. If the judges were to judge by the rules, and not by who has "bigger cohones" , we would see completely different teams on the stand every time! Depending on how they competed. It is all about perfect execution of all collaborations,difficulty - both body and equipment. Plus you add points for originality and choreo ... etc., etc., This sport is totally capable of being judged fairly if allowed!
We, or they, have allowed a single person so much power over the years that it will take that much time to get it back into our own hands...if ever possible. So, can one person or one country make a huge change like that? NO! But, what if a group of countries pull together and refuse to compete under these conditions? There will be no World championship if 20 countries boycott this regime! Is it possible for this to happen any time soon? I don't think so, but it would be great if it did, because it will take the power away from a single person that has been in control of this sport for way too long! We can all dream... can't we?