Mao News - Off-Season 2011!

What about the "Magic Flute"?
It's got the Queen of the Night, and that would make her daughter Pamina a princess. I'm not sure which part of the opera they're planning to use if Tat were to make an SP from the music though...I suppose the second Aria of the Queen of the Night (Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen) is one of the most famous parts, and it is definitely gorgeous and also flowery, but a bit fierce maybe?
But if it's this aria, Mao will surely have to skate as the queen, not the princess...

Other than this I can only think of Mendelssohn's ver of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" if Mao's going to skate as a queen, "Roman Holiday", "Turandot", Disney's "Aladdin" (A Whole New World), the main theme from "Goh~War Periods of the Princesses", or the main theme from "Atsuhime" (personally, I'd like her to do this one the most!) if she's going to skate as a princess.

Geez, I'm getting mixed up about all this speculating! I'd think it would be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty if only she didn't say it's not about a character...

Okami wrote:

The interviews are a bit confusing, but I think that it's Mao's program, not the music, that is about a character. In the previous article it was mentioned that the program is set to classical music, and I think that if it was ballet music, or opera music, or a soundtrack, Mao would said so. And personally I'm thinking that the confusion between princess/queen comes from the language barrier - I think TAT spoke to Mao mostly in Russian, and simply struggled to find the best word in Japanese to describe TAT's concept. Direct translation can be difficult sometimes - for example, in my language we actually have two terms for the word "princess" (one to describe a daughter of a king, and one to describe the daughter of a prince OR a lady who inherited the "princess" noble title. )

That is confusing. Does that mean that TAT is going to create her own "story" with a classical piece? Personally, I prefer they do an adaptation because some of TAT's "original" ideas are just a bit too much. IMO.

But what about Serenade in E Major composed by Antonin Dvorak? It's a delightful string composition and has this stately feeling that fits the description of a royal family member. I think the 1st and 3rd movements fits the "bright and flowery" feeling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L9EzAhK7ek (first movement)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxWb1ZYrDCg&feature=related (third movement)

aoi88 wrote:

That is confusing. Does that mean that TAT is going to create her own "story" with a classical piece?

I have a feeling that this might be the case.

Quote :

Personally, I prefer they do an adaptation because some of TAT's "original" ideas are just a bit too much. IMO.

I think it varies - some of TAT's original ideas were quite good (Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Caprice, Ballade, even Mao's Masquerade SP), while some too literal adaptations ended up not working so well (Daisuke's Sabre Dance, Shizuka's R&J and Cats [though the craziest things about them were the costumes ]). Actually, I'm the most worried about the costume - there's just so many places it can go wrong. I can't help but remember Sasha, who prepared her Swan Lake costume in secrecy from TAT, and TAT ended up disliking it because there were "not enough feathers"...


I quite like Dvorak's Serenade.

Magic Flute is also nice, but some time ago I tried to find a vocal-less version and I wasn't able to find any. It's greatest charm lies in the vocals anyway, so I'm afraid it would fall pretty flat if the vocals were removed.
That said, I really like the top of the dress the singer is wearing in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ODfuMMyss (~1:16 to se clearly)
Very nice colors, it would look great as a figure skating dress.

I know this is off topic but could someone please tell what i have to do to stop this site from sending me every time a member has written anything to my email, because all important messages that I get drawn in all the post that are send to me from this forum how do I deactivate it???

ballerinamao wrote:

I know this is off topic but could someone please tell what i have to do to stop this site from sending me every time a member has written anything to my email, because all important messages that I get drawn in all the post that are send to me from this forum how do I deactivate it???

Check your profile for the following options:
Preferences -> Always notify me of replies
Preferences -> Notify me by e-mail if someone reports a post
Topic(s) being watched (Just to be sure)

Just uncheck anything you don't want to be sent to you and click "Save".

thaaanks for telling okami

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Anyway, I'm betting on the next 3 music for Mao's SP:

"C'est mon ami"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlxOr6qjaMM
Surprise! A cute little song composed by Antoinette herself. It seems to have a story in it since it has lyrics, but I don't understand her language. But the character in the story is not Antoinette herself. Still it was written by a young princess about to become queen of France later on. The melody isn't totally gorgeous, but with strings arranged it can surely become at least flowerly. So this music fits all the things Mao's been saying, and it's understandable that it was hard for her to give hints of it, considering it's background.

Haydn Symphony No 85 B flat major "La Reine (The Queen)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHY03kmNe8
Antoinette loved this piece so much she allowed it to be named after her. So even if it wasn't portraying Antoinette, it has kind of become her theme eventually. There are some gorgeous bits which can be arranged for an SP I think. So it's the princess/queen's song, but it's not her song at the same time. Pretty much fits Mao's hints she's given us. I just don't know if there's a story in it.

Dussek OP.23 "The Sufferings of The Queen of France"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48lFAEFJUQ0
The title sounds gloomy but this does have some gorgeous exciting parts bit by bit I guess. The music is totally about Anoinette, but I think it was written after she died. There's certainly a story behind the princess/queen's suffering, so I guess this can be a candidate too.

Btw, I'm kind of suspecting "Scheherazade" as well. Mao's not usually so secretive about her pros, but if it were this, I'm sure they thought it was a better idea to keep it hidden until the last moment. Mao and Yuna's fans will start arguing about whether Mao can manage the music like Yuna did and expectations will rise too high, otherwise. But I think "Scheherazade" fits Mao's hints she's given us so far too. It has a story, and actually not just one but about a thousand or so I guess, and lots of it should include princesses. Scheherazade herself was a queen, so the seemingly mix up of princesses and queens make sense, too. I've never listened to the whole score, so maybe there might be a part which is gorgeous and flowery abling Mao to skate like a princess whom Scheherazade is telling a story of to her king.

ETA:Fumie used a ball in her exhibition pro, so I think they still don't allow props in competitions.

I didn't know there were any songs about Marie Antoinette. Good research! I would kind of doubt Scheherazade since Yuna used it - and a slew of other skaters. It's one of the most overused pieces in figure skating. And it's not really bright, and flowery sounding at all. It does sound grand, and epic, but not really royal. Not in the traditional sense anyway. And that big, epic type of music is something we've never seen Mao do (Cept for maybe Bells, which could be considered big, and a bit epic I guess). I would like to see her try something like that sometime, but I don't think see her doing anything like that anytime soon. I've never heard the whole score either, so I guess if there's something suitable in there, that could be a possibility, since Scheherazade is a Queen in some versions, and a princess in others, like you said.

Did Fumie really use the ball in an EX? Am I going crazy? Cause I could have sworn it was one her competitive programs!

aoi88 wrote:

I really hope it's not Scheherezade! Like Turnadot, it's so overused. I also doubt it's Marie Antoinette because I don't really associate her story with being "bright", unless TAT is thinking of adding a hint of macabre. (I guess it's possible). If we're talking about historical figures, a more likely candidate is Anastasia. The film soundtrack (live-action one) could be a possible source. As for Mao not releasing her music, it could just be how Sato handles things now. Ever since he became her coach, I've noticed that news about Mao are kept to a minimum before competitions. I guess they don't want too much media influence to affect her training. It could also be that Mao is deciding to reveal her program at her ice show.

Another possible choice is "The Fairy Queen" by Henry Purcell. The overture has a very bright and flowery feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipCpNvnkQQw&feature=related

Also, many people including TAT calls Mao a "fairy" so it's a quite a suitable piece for her.

I thought about Anastasia too. I've never seen the live action movie, so I don't have any idea what that music is like. I have seen the cartoon though, and I love the song, "Once Upon a December". Wouldn't mind seeing Mao skate to that, but I'm sure that's not what it's going to be since it's NOT classical, or even classical sounding, and certainly not bright, flowery, or royal.

Fairy Queen is definitely a good guess.

well I just can't imagine mao doing sheherezade when yuna has already skated to it, and I think it's much more possible ad likely that that tat well chose some music tat that hasn't been used very often... butt I have to say it's really a puzzle to me since it could basically be anything but looking at tat previous choice off music it always was something that you wouldn't have guessed yourself that's why i hope that tat has bee creative enough to try something completely new that hasn't bee used before or atleast one where only few who have tried it.

but I really can't get used to the little news that we get about Mao lately, it's nothing compared to last year. and it's really irritating since there are soo many things that I would like to know, I mean we don't even know how mao's training is going and all the changes that sato wanted to make i the off season heck I don't even know when we will see mao's new programms again.

but I have to say that I am delighted that mao has gotten rid off that person who was responsible for her health sice he/she totally ruined at the most important moment, so i really look forward to the gp circuit...

Star85 wrote:

Did Fumie really use the ball in an EX? Am I going crazy? Cause I could have sworn it was one her competitive programs!

The only time I can remember Fumie skaring with a ball was in her "Cirque de Soleil" EX:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4HW1AvwMyI
As Pochi said, props aren't allowed in competetive skating. The only exception to the rule was the folk Original Dance some time ago, when the ice dancers were allowed to use props as long as they reflected the characters of the music the skaters had chosen.

ballerinamao wrote:

but I really can't get used to the little news that we get about Mao lately, it's nothing compared to last year.

I think it's to be expected, considering the earthquake in Japan, the relocation of the Worlds and the shortened off-season. Hopefully we'll get to see some fluffs before/during The Ice broadcast.

We are talking a lot about the SP, but what about the LP? Mao mentioned that there will be some minor changes in the choreography. What would you like to see?

Personally, I loved the 4CC choreo. The only things that I would like to see is polishing the step sequence (and maybe bring the arabesque during the SlSt) and change the spiral sequence a little. Instead of forward arabesque (which is lovely but there's not enough time to get some decent speed and it ends up looking rushed) I would like to see back arabesque, into charlotte such as Mao used to do in her Habanera EX:

I think it would go better with the music.

Okami wrote:

Personally, I loved the 4CC choreo. The only things that I would like to see is polishing the step sequence (and maybe bring the arabesque during the SlSt) and change the spiral sequence a little. Instead of forward arabesque (which is lovely but there's not enough time to get some decent speed and it ends up looking rushed) I would like to see back arabesque, into charlotte such as Mao used to do in her Habanera EX:

I think it would go better with the music.

Exactly what I thought. A back one like the opening arabesque in Ballade.

News today ~ looks like a "marketing article" but it's better than nothing

http://www.nikkei.com/sports/column/article/g=96958A88889DE1E3E6E1E0E4E7E2E2E3E2E5E0E2E3E3E2E2E2E2E2E2;p=9694E3E0E2EAE0E2E3E2E1E6E6E4

Basically, it's a story about why Mao still got new sponsor even she didn't do well this season.
When Mao left Japan to Taiwan for 4CC, the journalist noticed that she wrote something on the back of her hand, then they asked her what she wrote. She said " I wrote that to remind myself to prevent forgetting my mattress." so everyone noticed that she used Airweave product. The company saw that too then decided to sign the contract with her.

shikure wrote:

News today ~ looks like a "marketing article" but it's better than nothing

http://www.nikkei.com/sports/column/article/g=96958A88889DE1E3E6E1E0E4E7E2E2E3E2E5E0E2E3E3E2E2E2E2E2E2;p=9694E3E0E2EAE0E2E3E2E1E6E6E4

Basically, it's a story about why Mao still got new sponsor even she didn't do well this season.
When Mao left Japan to Taiwan for 4CC, the journalist noticed that she wrote something on the back of her hand, then they asked her what she wrote. She said " I wrote that to remind myself to prevent forgetting my mattress." so everyone noticed that she used Airweave product. The company saw that too then decided to sign the contract with her.

Will someone translate?

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Will someone translate?

It's a very short article, shikure basically said it all.

Okami wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Will someone translate?

It's a very short article, shikure basically said it all.

Oh! I thought it was longer and I just didn't click a button that made it longer. Lol! Thanks!

Okami wrote:

Star85 wrote:

Did Fumie really use the ball in an EX? Am I going crazy? Cause I could have sworn it was one her competitive programs!

The only time I can remember Fumie skaring with a ball was in her "Cirque de Soleil" EX:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4HW1AvwMyI
As Pochi said, props aren't allowed in competetive skating. The only exception to the rule was the folk Original Dance some time ago, when the ice dancers were allowed to use props as long as they reflected the characters of the music the skaters had chosen.

Well I always though props weren't allowed in competitive skating. But for some reason I could have sworn Fumei used a ball in one of her competitive programs, so I've been confused on this for years. lol.

Anyway, what did Mao mean by forgetting her mattress?

Star85 wrote:

Anyway, what did Mao mean by forgetting her mattress?

The Airweave mattress can be easily rolled and carried.

News update ~No photo

http://weblog.ctv.co.jp/theice/tFaWDIc
http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/general/news/20110707k0000m050041000c.html
http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/2011/07/06/0004245318.shtml
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011070600571
http://www.47news.jp/news/2011/07/post_20110706185815.html

There will be an additional charity show as of July 27, 2011 and for free.
The show will be only for east-north japan ppl who impact by the tragedy or live in shelters only.

WayCon wrote:

Star85 wrote:

Anyway, what did Mao mean by forgetting her mattress?

The Airweave mattress can be easily rolled and carried.

I vaguely recall users posting that Mao is uncomfortable using other mattresses!
So - just to avoid forgetting it - She wrote a rem on her hand -
Which became good publicity...
I often saw vids of her stretching on it before the competition.

MaoChan756 wrote:

WayCon wrote:

Star85 wrote:

Anyway, what did Mao mean by forgetting her mattress?

The Airweave mattress can be easily rolled and carried.

I vaguely recall users posting that Mao is uncomfortable using other mattresses!
So - just to avoid forgetting it - She wrote a rem on her hand -
Which became good publicity...
I often saw vids of her stretching on it before the competition.

Ohhh. I see

shikure wrote:

When Mao left Japan to Taiwan for 4CC, the journalist noticed that she wrote something on the back of her hand, then they asked her what she wrote. She said " I wrote that to remind myself to prevent forgetting my mattress." so everyone noticed that she used Airweave product. The company saw that too then decided to sign the contract with her.

Typical cute Mao story!

Anyway, the lack of Mao news is pretty frustrating! I know this is part of Team Mao's strategy but unfortunately for me, I've never been much of a patient person!

Typical cute Mao story!

Anyway, the lack of Mao news is pretty frustrating! I know this is part of Team Mao's strategy but unfortunately for me, I've never been much of a patient person![/quote]

me too i really am not the most patient person either, and when one looks at how much they have reduced the the news and interviews including the practice clips that we usually get from mao it's quiet remarkable how little news we are getting, it really is beginning to be too much... since the only news we get once in a while are the same news we already know, i know that this is the best for mao but really there are soo many things that i would like to know which mao usuelly answers in the off season like:

1. what changes sato is making in the off season I'm especially thinking about the axel
2. if if they have continued to work on the speed
3. what changes they have made to liebestraum
4. is mao going to have one exhibition or two
5. what music mao has chosen for her ex
6. is mao still working on a 3-3 and is she going to iclude one in this years sp or fs

and i could continue with question i would like to know about mao, but well maybe mao might attend a show soon where they are going to ask her some of these question.. having to wait until the new season start to get these question answered is to frustruating to think so i will just have to hope!!

Cloviece wrote:

Even though there is very little info about Mao this season, I think it's a good thing. Usually we are spoiled with Mao practice clips, interviews, and random fluff, but it must be overwhelming to have constant cameras on all the time. Plus, THE ICE will be shown so that's something to look forward to.

Also, I seriously want one of those airweave mattresses (not just b/c of Mao, but the technology). Mao and her unintentional product endorsing, lol.

She's definitely signed with the airweave company, right? What do you mean by technology? Is it really THAT good? I was just thinking about it last night. I would love to have a carry on, amazing mattress with me during vacations.

P.S. I love how you said we were all "spoiled" with Mao news. Hahaha!

Here's an article I found with a mention of Mao.

Internationally winning athletes in demand for TV commercials
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107060320.html
Here are the Mao bits

"Other athletes with a large number of contracts are Major Leaguer Ichiro, 37, who plays for the Seattle Mariners, and Olympic silver medalist figure skater Mao Asada, 20, is a student at Chukyo University. Both compete internationally, and according to Nihon Monitor, each had contracts with seven sponsors".

"Ishikawa, Ichiro and Asada have another thing in common: likability".

"According to Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc., Ichiro topped the overall ranking in an athletes' image evaluation survey for 2010, followed by Ishikawa in second place and Asada in third. That's almost the same order as for their number of commercial contracts and frequency of appearances".

"According to Uegaki, "(Corporate sponsors look at) an athlete's name recognition, obviously, but also place high value on their personalities, such as Ishikawa's squeaky-clean image, Ichiro's virile personality and Asada's cuteness. These athletes have the strength to keep viewers glued to the TV during commercial breaks, even when they're about to get up (and walk away)."

Guy! Good news!
There will be a news clip about Mao this evening. According to TV schedule, an evening news program is going to broadcast a report on Mao saying "Athlete Mao starts up!?"

I first thought it'd be about Mao's practice for the new season. But, I read a tweet posted by a staff member of THE ICE. The tweet says "Mao and Taka have just started first practice of their pair program for THE ICE. They got in perfect harmony in a second! Wonderful!"

So, it may be that they allowed the media to come in and shoot the practice session for the show. However, I still hope it will be Mao's SP practice for the new season. I really, really want to know the music.

I'll also have to wait for the news clip posted on Youtube. I hope someone will kindly post it.

It's really frustrating to have no news about Mao. I don't know if it's because of Mr. Sato's policy or the earthquake and tsunami. As Cloviece say, I think it's good for Mao. I think she will be still inconsistent for a while because she's working on techniques. Sports fans know and understand everyone has his/her ups and downs. But the media doesn't care. They always hype and raise the expectation more than necessary and criticize athletes.

Regarding the mattress, the company used to manufacture fishing line production equipment. Then, they used their know how on the fish line production machines to weave plastic strings into mattress. Tangled fish lines gave them this idea they say. The products are loved by many Japanese athletes including football players.