Chapter 55 2012 Rushing to the Second Stop
◎I am afraid of you, so I want to stop you◎
"Wooooooooooooo sweet candy!"
"Sweetheart, you guys are awesome!"
"Sister Tiantian! Brother Yi! Go!"
The Chinese audience in the auditorium kept clapping and cheering loudly, and some of the emotional ones even cried violently.
It is difficult to describe what it feels like to see ice dancing with Chinese style on the ice.
But there is always someone who can feel it, there is always someone who can feel it, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi are doing their best to do something that no one has ever done before.
They grope forward in the fog, trying to make their voices heard and to let the world hear them.
Time flies, but Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi have never changed. Although they have won many medals and created many miracles in ice dance, they are not proud and have not stopped exploring.
They are still as sincere as they were when they first showed their prowess in 2010, working hard to pave a broader path for the future of Chinese ice dance.
"Ji Tiantian! Tang Yi! Don't be afraid! We are always here!" The Chinese audience shouted with all their might.
On the ice, Ji Tiantian still maintained her kneeling position, her chest rising and falling violently. She was still immersed in the role and it was difficult for her to come out of it.
She could fully understand why Clara and the other choreographers chose the story of Princess Taiping as the theme of their free dance.
This really suits her. She can easily empathize with Taiping when her efforts are not responded to. Every time she performs on the ice, it is like a display, but also like dissecting herself. It is painful, but also happy.
After Tang Yi got up, he lowered his eyes and looked at Ji Tiantian, knowing that she was still immersed in the role.
"It's all over." He half-knelt on the ice, hugged Ji Tiantian gently, and rested his chin on her head. "Everything will be fine."
"Yeah, everything will be fine..." Ji Tiantian sniffed, slowly came back to her senses, and let Tang Yi pull her up.
Amidst the cheers, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi raised their hands high, smiled brightly, and saluted the audience.
For the audience, the free dance performed by the contestants for the first time in the new season is like a blind box. Before seeing it with your own eyes, you don’t know what is inside.
For ice dancers, the first battle of the new season is also a blind box.
Before actually presenting the performance, the contestants have no idea what kind of reward they will get for their day and night practice and the time they have spent working with all the choreographers.
Maybe it will fail, or maybe it will become a classic that will be passed down for a long time. Before actually stepping onto the battlefield, everything is unknown.
But this, perhaps, is the charm of ice dancing.
Being expected and motivated, every season is like a brand new world.
Listening to the audience's cheers, Ji Tiantian smiled brightly.
"I can see that Ji Tang's free dance has many Chinese classical dance moves, and also incorporates a lot of their own ideas." In the audience, a foreign audience wiped tears with a tissue while talking, "I used to think that they had no advantage over the passionate Katerin group. But now I don't think so. Ji and Tang look young and immature, calm and unperturbed, but they have waves hidden in their bodies. The way they express emotions is very Asian, restrained and deep, but still full of tension."
"Yes, if Katerin's expressions are as fiery and broad as the desert, then Ji Tang is like a dormant volcano, hiding energy deep underground, and it will erupt at the climax of the show."
"Yeah, Ji Tang's dance helped me understand them better, and also helped me understand China better! If it weren't for this dance, I'm afraid I would never be able to understand Ji Tang's performance style!"
"Really, it's very layered. Every time I watch their free dance, I have to savor it for a long time!"
"Wow, I've been looking forward to a combination like this for a long time. I just realized that I like Asian style so much!"
In the audience, foreign audiences were also excited about this masterpiece.
Amidst cheers and applause, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi finished their ceremony and came to the waiting area.
Their scores came out soon: technical score 38.34, program content score 41.21, and free dance score 79.55.
Including the short dance score of 55.77, the total score was 135.32, ranking behind the Spanish group with a total score of 135.77.
Ji Tang was the last group to perform. After they finished the free dance, it meant that this race was completely over.
Ji Tang won the silver medal in the first race of the season. The team that came second in the Grand Prix will receive a bonus of $2,250.
Ji Tiantian received 3,000 RMB.
Ji Tiantian still remembers that in last season's World Youth Championship, their free dance score was close to 90 points. This time, it was nearly 10 points short.
Although she knew that the referees were stricter at the beginning of the season, the score difference still made Ji Tiantian feel disappointed.
After coming out of the waiting area and waiting for the awards, Ji Tiantian went to get the score sheet for the free dance.
First look at the score of each technical action in the technical area.
She and Tang Yi's joint rotation, twist and lift were all rated at the highest level 4, and they received the highest basic score and a relatively objective GOE execution score. However, the two sets of transition steps were only rated at level 2. Last season, their free dance transition steps were generally rated at level 3.
Unlike the short dance, which focuses more on the basic skills of social dance, the free dance has more freedom in the transition steps, which is easier to perform. In addition, her partner is very skilled, so it is not difficult for Ji Tiantian to get the free dance transition step level 3.
However, in order to gain more international recognition, she put a lot of energy into the free dance and controlling her upper body to do Chinese classical dance postures, trying to lower the threshold of understanding this program as much as possible. She was temporarily unable to take care of the use of the blade in the transition steps.
Especially in this free dance, there are two sets of steps, one of which is arranged to the background music "Drum Change", and she has to slide to the fine drum beats. She has to pay attention to performance, role interpretation, interaction with Tang Yi, blade use, and rhythm, which is really not easy for her.
Mistakes in the step sequence seem inevitable. I need to pay more attention in the future. Ji Tiantian will watch the program content next.
The Spanish team won first place in the station by leading Ji Tang by more than two points based on the free dance program content.
The program content score consists of five scoring items: SS skating, TR connection, PE performance, CO choreography, and IN music interpretation. The last three items are closely related to the free dance theme. The presentation of the theme plays a very important role in the overall program content score.
In other words, the judges felt that the Spanish group's theme performance was better than theirs.
As expected, the Chinese theme is a bit difficult. Ji Tiantian looked at the score sheet and couldn't help but frowned.
"It's understandable that we got a low score in the first leg. We're not far behind the Spanish team. We'll definitely get better results if we work hard to improve some details." Xu Chi couldn't help but smile when he saw Ji Tiantian's worried look on her face. "This is your first time using a Chinese theme to interpret a Chinese story. It's great to get such a result."
"Really?" Ji Tiantian clenched the score sheet and pursed her lips. "Can everyone really... accept our style?"
"If we don't accept your style, the score will definitely be lower. I just paid special attention and saw that several judges were moved by your performance. Their eyes were red." Xu Chi paused and continued, "Foreigners may not know the story of Taiping and Xue Shao, but human emotions are interlinked. They can understand the joy, anger, relief and reconciliation you expressed. You are doing this sincerely, and you will always get a response."
"Yes, Tiantian, don't be impatient." Jiang Lin also said, "You have already shouted your voices, and now let the bullets fly for a while. In the future, more people will definitely hear and understand your voices."
"Yeah." Ji Tiantian nodded, quickly breaking free from the disappointment brought by the score.
That's right, she should have been prepared for the unsatisfactory results in the first stop.
What's more, this result is not particularly bad.
They were only a little bit away from the gold medal, a gap that was hard to imagine when they first participated in the Grand Prix last season.
No matter how far you walk, never forget the direction you came from.
Compared to last season's fourth place start, this is a very good start. Moreover, the theme of this time also involves some risks.
Runner-up is really good.
Ji Tiantian cheered up and stepped onto the podium as runner-up with Tang Yi.
The third place went to a new American duo, and the champion was naturally a Spanish duo.
"Tiantian, your free dance is great. Through your dance, I can see the mysterious and prosperous ancient China." Anna, a female partner of the Spanish group, warmly hugged Ji Tiantian, "You must work hard to go further!"
"Thank you, you don't know how much your encouragement means to me." Ji Tiantian said sincerely, "I also like your Edward Scissorhands."
"Ah, compared to yours, I feel that our free dance doesn't have much meaning, and it doesn't express our country." Anna showed a disappointed expression, "Suddenly I feel that winning the gold medal doesn't seem so exciting."
"Let's get excited." Lei Luo said, "We won't have many chances to defeat Ji Tang in the future."
"That's true." Anna nodded. "I should cherish what I have now." After saying that, she laughed with Lei Luo.
Amidst laughter and cheers, the two groups put on their medals, and then watched the national flag slowly rise together with all the spectators present.
The first stop of the new season has come to an end.
Afterwards, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi went to the mixed interview area for an interview. Before they even got close, they saw a large group of reporters from all over the world gathered there.
Seeing Ji Tang coming, the reporters immediately rushed over, pointing their cameras and microphones at the two young contestants.
The mixed interview area was staffed and guarded by rails to protect the players from being squeezed by enthusiastic reporters. But there were too many reporters at the moment, and these protective measures seemed useless at the moment.
Xu Chi and Jiang Lin were quickly pushed away and then pulled by several enthusiastic reporters to ask questions. The reporters who interviewed the coach were mainly from Asian countries, and they were very curious about how to train excellent ice dancers.
"Are you surprised to see this scene?" A reporter from French Sports TV handed the microphone to Ji Tiantian, who looked confused, and asked in English, "Actually, I am also surprised. I have been doing live interviews at Grand Prix for many years, and this is the first time I have seen such a scene at a youth group race. Generally speaking, only the finals will be like this."
"Yes, yes." Ji Tiantian was indeed a little confused.
Compared with other figure skating events, ice dancing results come out relatively late. The star players are basically concentrated in the adult group, and few reporters flock to interview the youth group players, which is still a single race.
"But I think this situation is understandable. In the past two years, not only did the Russian and Canadian youth groups perform well, but you and the Spanish group also performed very well. It is precisely because so many outstanding players have emerged in the youth group that many ice fans have turned their attention to the youth group. I believe that you will receive more and more attention in the future."
The French reporter looked at Ji Tiantian, then at Tang Yi standing next to her, and then asked: "Whether it was the original Long Live Life, last season's Little Prince or this season's Chinese-style free dance, your performances were very moving. You have unknowingly gained fans from all over the world. We also have many fans of yours in our country. What do you want to say to your fans?"
Ji Tiantian looked at Tang Yi, and Tang Yi also looked at her, signaling with his eyes that she should be the spokesperson for their group.
"Thank you very much for your support. I hope our performance every season will not disappoint you." Ji Tiantian said sincerely, "We will keep working hard."
"I want to thank you for your comments on behalf of your fans. Um... I just watched your free dance. If I understand correctly, it should be a sad love story? I am still deeply immersed in that story and can't quite come back to my senses."
At this time, many microphones came over, and reporters from many countries were looking forward to Ji Tiantian's answer.
"The free dance mainly expresses the story of a princess who is just beginning to fall in love and her husband."
So, amidst the flashing lights, Ji Tiantian explained the encounter at the Lantern Festival, the conflicts in the marriage, and the final death of the prince consort presented in their show.
Several emotional reporters silently shed tears as they listened to Ji Tiantian's calm narration.
"My partner, coach and choreographer and I all believe that emotions have no borders. Although the story we want to express may not be understood by everyone, the emotions we want to convey are common to all mankind." Ji Tiantian smiled peacefully at the camera, "We believe that as long as we express it with our heart and respect ice dance, our voices can be heard by everyone."
"Of course, you will definitely hear it." The French reporter was a little excited. She couldn't think of what to ask next, so she was immediately pushed away by a strong Finnish reporter.
"I...I want to know, are you two in a relationship in real life?" The Finnish reporter asked Ji Tiantian stutteringly, not knowing whether he was nervous or had a slight social phobia, "You and Tang, aren't you just partners?"
"We are just partners." Ji Tiantian replied with a smile.
She thought silently in her heart, ah, I knew I would encounter such a problem sooner or later, it's not surprising at all.
"Are you really just partners?" The Finnish reporter was not discouraged. "The love story you performed on the ice was really touching! The inspiration for you to perform such a story must have come from reality, right?"
"No." Ji Tiantian smiled, looking at the Finnish reporter with a deep sense of loss gradually revealed in his eyes.
"Tang, what do you think of your dance partner? What qualities in her do you think are most attractive to you?" A smart Italian reporter raised the microphone in front of Tang Yi.
Ji Tiantian couldn't give the answer they wanted, so the reporter decided to start with Tang Yi. He didn't ask directly about the relationship between the two, but tried to find a way around it. If Tang Yi answered him, it would mean that the relationship between the two was not as simple as a partnership.
Ji Tiantian was secretly shocked. Why do the sports reporters who interview young people ask the same questions as those in the entertainment industry?
But she thought about it again. Tang Yi was also an ice dancer in his previous life, so he must have encountered many interviews. He must be able to perfectly avoid such questions with ulterior motives and not be led into a trap by reporters. Don't panic.
"My dance partner..." Tang Yi lowered his black eyelashes, and after a moment's silence, he said, "She has many characteristics..."
"Tang is a very gentlemanly dance partner." Ji Tiantian interrupted Tang Yi with a smile, "Tang usually gives in to me. It's my honor to be his partner."
After saying that, Ji Tiantian quietly gave Tang Yi a warning look, and then continued to smile at the reporters.
In her previous life, she had watched many interviews with various celebrity contestants, and she knew that when she encountered a question she didn't want to answer, she could just say something that sounded right but was actually completely irrelevant. As long as she acted like "I think what I said makes sense", the reporters couldn't do anything to her.
The Italian reporter looked at Ji Tiantian silently, with deep admiration in his brown eyes.
Some reporters who were unwilling to give up surrounded Tang Yi and continued to question him about his relationship with Ji Tiantian. At this moment, an American reporter handed the microphone to Ji Tiantian.
"I noticed that your group's scores have been surprisingly high since last season." The American reporter said bluntly, "May I ask how you did it?"
"My partner and I have been training very hard and taking every game seriously," Ji Tiantian replied seriously.
"Is that really the case?" the American reporter continued to ask. "I noticed that there was a Chinese referee at today's race, the World Youth Championships, and the Winter Youth Olympics. As far as I know, the scores she gave you have always been very high. Do you have anything to say about this?"
Ji Tiantian was stunned. The referee team of the competition is generally composed of a chief referee, two technical experts, a technical assistant, and nine referees from all over the world. The chief referee is responsible for the overall coordination, the technical experts are responsible for the difficulty level of the movements, and the nine referees are responsible for scoring the execution of each movement and the five sub-items under the program content. After the nine referees score, they will automatically remove the highest and lowest scores, and the average score is the actual score of the contestant.
Ji Tiantian never cared about how many points the Chinese referee gave to their group, and she was not familiar with the referee herself.
Moreover, even if the referee always gives high scores, those will be removed as the highest scores and will not affect their total scores.
Ji Tiantian frowned and did not answer immediately. She had no idea what the reporter in front of her wanted to do.
"In my opinion, your strength does not seem to be enough to achieve the results you have now." The American reporter continued, "The first two seasons were barely acceptable, but the content of your free dance this season is something that I and many viewers cannot understand."
There was a small commotion among the reporters, and some people spoke out to refute the American reporter's words. Tang Yi, who was standing nearby, stopped his interview and turned his head to pay attention to Ji Tiantian.
"Please don't mind me. I'm just curious. Are you and your country's judges really not friends?" The American reporter gave Ji Tiantian a puzzled smile. "If you don't feel that you have a certain degree of security, then what gives you the courage to perform such a confusing free dance?"
"We don't know the referee and have never had any private contact." Ji Tiantian replied immediately, "As for why I have the courage... Of course it's because I'm a contestant from China!"
She couldn't help but raise her voice, and the reporters' emotions began to escalate.
"Please don't ask the contestants such questions! Don't disturb the contestants' mentality!" The French reporter who supported Ji Tang wanted to push the American reporter away, but the American reporter refused to leave and wanted to continue asking questions.
He insisted on extending the microphone towards Ji Tiantian, and in the chaos the microphone poked Ji Tiantian's jaw hard.
At this time, Tang Yi, who was standing nearby, saw it. He immediately reacted and snatched the microphone from the American reporter.
"Please don't make such slander without any evidence." Tang Yi stopped talking nonsense with the American reporter.
He pulled Ji Tiantian and quickly squeezed out of the mixed interview area, and threw the microphone to the staff member who was pushed aside by the reporters.
Tang Yi led Ji Tiantian to a place with few people, then held her face and looked at her chin carefully. There seemed to be a storm brewing in the depths of his eyes.
"Tang Yi, I'm fine." Ji Tiantian was restrained by Tang Yi and spoke stiffly.
"Yeah." Tang Yi checked it carefully again before letting Ji Tiantian go.
"What happened just now?" Xu Chi and Jiang Lin came over and asked. So Ji Tang briefly explained what happened just now.
"Fortunately nothing happened." Xu Chi nodded, "Let's go back first."
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi said goodbye to Ni Chuan and returned to the ice dance school to start training and improve the moves that did not perform well in the first station.
At this time, the Canadian giants had already set off for the venue of their sub-race, so they did not meet Ji Tang.
A few days later, a video on the Internet suddenly became popular. It was a video of an American reporter interviewing Ji Tang in the mixed interview area.
"I'm just curious, are you really not friends with the judges from your country?" In the video, an American reporter asked Ji Tiantian, "If you didn't feel that you had a certain degree of security, then what gave you the courage to perform such a confusing free dance?"
Then the scene changed and Tang Yi snatched the microphone from the reporter.
This is a video that has been edited with the beginning and the end cut off. It has ulterior motives, but it has become popular inexplicably and has received a lot of clicks.
Many netizens who do not know the truth have been misled.
"Ah, isn't this a bit rude of the Chinese ice dance duo to do this?"
"From the video, it's obvious that he's guilty! Is he really being protected by a referee from his country?"
"I heard that their scores were ridiculously high from the beginning. It seems like there must be something fishy going on."
"This Asian group has been very popular recently. I went to see their Little Prince and thought they were pretty good. I didn't expect they were like this under the ice... Oh, I'm disappointed. I'm no longer a fan."
"It's so disgusting, they are protected on the court, but so brutal off the court, the Asian group should leave ice dance!"
…
Many people did not even watch Ji Tang's free dance, and did not even bother to understand the truth before joining in the comments.
There are constant stream of extreme comments posted under misleading videos.
Ji Tiantian looked at the comments silently. She didn't know the original intention of the American reporter asking the question. Maybe he just wanted to find a gimmick to increase the attention of the interview, or he had other intentions.
I don't know who filmed the interview and edited it to be deliberately misleading.
Many of the fanatical fans of the American group Nancy Johnson, who have been upset about their idol apologizing for plagiarism under pressure, also joined the misleading video comment area and said that Ji Tang was protected by the referee and that was why he kept getting such high scores.
Although there was no real evidence to support the accusation, it attracted the attention of many passers-by. As a result, more people joined the comments and began to accuse Tang Yi of inappropriate behavior.
"If you say the referee is covering up for someone, you must first produce evidence! Secondly, figure skating competitions are scored by removing the highest score. Even if a referee wants to cover up for someone, he can't succeed!" A rational foreign fan of Ji Tang explained in the comment section of the video, but rational voices are always easily drowned out by the comments of extreme fans who release their emotions.
Tang Yi found a complete interview video and posted it on all the popular video websites. In this video, it can be seen that the American reporter made unreasonable assumptions first, and Tang Yi's snatching of the microphone was just an instinctive reaction in a critical moment. However, this video is quite long, and few people are willing to watch it to the end, so it didn't gain popularity for a while.
This wave of online commotion has also affected reality.
"The leader of the Sports Bureau asked me to return to China as soon as possible." Xu Chi said to Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi, "But you and Jiang Lin will not be affected. So it's okay, just follow your steps and train under the instructions of Coach Jiang Lin. You must also prepare carefully for the second stop."
"You want to return to China, is it because of the public opinion on the Internet?" Ji Tiantian was a little surprised, "The leader must be unaware of the video and deliberately framed us, right?"
"Maybe he knows, but he still thinks I am responsible." Xu Chi smiled. "In the first stop of last season, Tang Yi was injured and didn't go to the National Championships. And in the first stop of this season, this kind of thing happened again... Hey, the leader should also want to find someone to take the blame to deal with other people's questions. It's okay, you have already prepared in advance. Don't be affected. I will try my best to come back to you."
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi fell silent. No one knew whether Xu Chi could continue to be their coach after being suddenly called back to China.
"Tang Yi, do you think your approach in this matter is correct?" Xu Chi looked at Tang Yi and asked.
"I have to do that." Tang Yi looked at Xu Chi and spoke in a low voice.
"Good answer. If you feel this way, don't be affected by other voices and don't waver. In the future, you must protect Tiantian." Xu Chi patted Tang Yi's neck gently, then looked at Ji Tiantian, "I think the person who posted the misleading video and the American reporter are afraid of you, so they want to interfere with you. They are afraid that you will make your own voices heard and that our ice dance will become truly powerful. This road is destined to be difficult, but precisely because it is difficult, it proves that we must go on it. You must not be affected."
"Okay." Ji Tiantian bit her lip and nodded vigorously.
"Old Xu, we will do our best." Tang Yi said to Xu Chi, "You don't have to worry about anything."
Xu Chi smiled, nodded, and looked at Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi with relief in his eyes.
After Xu Chi and Ji Tang finished their communication, they hurriedly flew back to China that day.
Although she had long anticipated that Xu Chi might leave them because of punishment from his superiors, she did not expect that this day would come so suddenly.
On the day Xu Chi left, Ji Tiantian trained as usual, but she felt empty inside. Tang Yi comforted her, but it didn't have much effect.
As night fell, Ji Tiantian hid under the quilt and read the posts on the figure skating forum.
Recently, whenever she has free time, she pays attention to comments on videos on the Internet and has no time to pay attention to domestic developments.
Sure enough, there were many posts about the misleading video in the forum. Ji Tiantian's post received the most replies.
322L: Ahhh, I’m so angry! Tiantang would never grab the microphone casually. Do those foreigners have the brains to be led by the rhythm casually?
323L: Yes, if you pay attention to Tiantang's score, you will know whether it is covered up! They have always relied on technology to get to where they are today! It was so difficult to get the P score! Tianmei was performing with her life, and the little prince's score went up a little at the end! The American group has always given a lot of P points, right?
324L: Ahhh, I am so angry! Wasn't my five-week twist good? Wasn't the combined lift good? Wasn't the performance moving enough? How can you say that so carelessly!
325L: Dear sisters, at this moment, we need to stay calm and united! We should just do our best to support the complete interview video! The truth will be revealed sooner or later!
326L: Yes, yes, yes, I support the full video! Let more people see the truth! I will publish another text analysis to sort out Tiantang's scores since 2010! It was obviously the American reporter who made malicious speculations and almost hurt Tianmei Tangge, so he tried to grab the microphone!
327L: Everyone must unite, don’t fight with others or lead others in a fight! Let’s spread the truth video together!
Ji Tiantian silently read the replies, then logged into her Weibo account to post a new Weibo post:
"Thank you for your continued support. In fact, before the start of this season, we have already thought that we will encounter various difficulties in making our voice heard. But we will not stop moving forward and will not let everyone down. Thank you again! See you at the next arena!"
Not long after the post was published, comments began to appear in the comment section.
"Come on, Tiantang! Face the challenges head on!"
"The free dance was amazing! Don't listen to them! Many of my foreign friends said it was good!"
"I heard from the ice dance school that Coach Xu went back to China first? Don't worry! We will petition the Sports Bureau together! Coach Xu will be fine!"
"Just focus on the game and don't think about anything else! Leave the relevant commentary and truth videos to us!"
"We will always support you!"
Looking at these comments, Ji Tiantian couldn't help but shed tears, and cried alone in the silent night.
After crying, she felt full of energy. Although Xu Chi was not there, she forced herself to concentrate more on training.
She wants to run forward harder with everyone's support.
The competition is like a battle, and the situation on the battlefield is confusing.
But fortunately, she is not fighting alone.
In late September, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi, accompanied by Jiang Lin, rushed to their second station - Turkey with full of fighting spirit.
-over-
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