2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

The Russians chalked up another gold when Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov won the ice dancing competition. But Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, of the United States, brought home a silver, the first ice dancing medal for the United States since 1976, and only the second ice dancing medal ever. It is also, thus far, America’s only figure skating medal. Tanith, it may be recalled, was granted U.S. citizenship by the passage of a special law, in order to allow her to compete in this Olympics.

The bronze medal went to Yelena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine.

The Kerrs, who skated to the music of the Porridge Men, finished 10th.

After the compulsory dance, the top skaters are separated by a very small margin. 2002 bronze medal winners Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, of Italy, are in the lead. Two-time world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, of Russia, are in second. Tatiana has an injured hand that she hurt while skating in the European championships last month. Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria were third.

Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are less than 2 points out of first, but they are currently ranked 6th. There are two more dances in the competition. Tonight is the original dance, which means the teams choose their own music and chorography, but it must conform to a certain rhythm— in this case Latin combination. That means dances will be a combination of cha-cha, rumba, samba, mambo, merengue and salsa. So, that should be a bit more exciting than everyone dancing the waltz to the same music.

Tonight is ice dancing’s compulsory dance. What does that mean, you might ask. Basically, it means everyone will be skating the same type of dance to the same music. Each pair will be skating a Ravensburger Waltz. So, tune in to see where Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto stand going into the original dance and free dance segments. Or, if the idea of watching hours of waltzing is unappealing, just check back here, and I’ll let you know

The Porridge Men, whose music will be featured by ice dancers Sinead and John Kerr later this week, were kind enough to answer a few questions we had. Here is the interview with band member Murray Fergusson.

For those who don’t know, how are the Porridge Men associated with the 2006 Turin Olympics?

Sinead and John Kerr, the current British Champions who come from Edinburgh, Scotland, decided to use music from our album “Planet Porridge” for their Free Dance routine. They wanted something Scottish sounding but a reflection of the vibrancy of modern Scotland, as opposed to something stereotyped or cheesy. Apparently, they heard our music playing on a street in Edinburgh and took it, along with music from Gladiator and some other pieces, to their coach and trainer for discussion about which music to use. Their coach and trainer both agreed on our music instantly. Apparently, they had never agreed on a music choice before that moment…..ever!

Were you fans of ice dancing before?

As a kid I can remember sitting in my pajamas watching Torvill and Dean perform their amazing `Bolero` routine at the Sarajevo Games in 1984. It`s a memory that`s firmly engrained in the British consciousness and the resurgence of ice skating as a popular event because of the likes of the Kerrs kind of stirs memories of that night in everyone who remembers it.

Although the Kerrs have said they are really aiming for the medal position in 4 years time rather than this year, it`s still a daring and inspiring and unusual routine that has the potential to engrave itself on the minds of this generation.

Did you know Sinead and John Kerr before they chose to use your music?

We had never met or spoken. When I saw that they were using our music on their website, I mailed them and we met for lunch at this local pub that was founded in the 1700s. It`s one of those kind of ancient Scottish pubs that has a low ceiling and photos of the village 100 years ago and memorable historical events on its walls- very atmospheric. We had lunch and sat by the log fire and talked for several hours. It was the appropriate beginning to a genuine friendship and connection between the Kerrs and The Porridge
Men.

Which Porridge Men songs are they skating to?

They are using 3 tracks from the album Planet Porridge. “Gulravage”, “Coronach” and “Planet Porridge”, tracks 1,9 and 10 respectively.

Who came up with the arrangement of the different songs? Did you have any input?

No, we didn`t know anything about it until we first heard it and it was very strange at first. What we realised was that the music was accompanying the dancing and in the context of a visually driven performance, it made perfect sense.

How did you go about writing the album? I understand there was an interesting process involved.

The writing process was a slightly odd one. Basically Donald (piper) and myself would get together and we would spend several hours looking through tunes that had that `unusual feel` that we were looking for. Donald would play them and I would try out endless possible harmonies underneath the tunes. We would both instinctively know when we had the `right` ones. We were always looking for a subtle and unorthodox effect and the influences behind these arrangements came from a very wide range of musical sources, including ambient, dance, classical and dub music.

There are some original tunes on the album too. We are working on another album right now and it will almost certainly have a much greater number of original compositions on it.

What effect has having your music in the Olympics had on your band?

There has been a much increased awareness of the album, mostly through press and media coverage and Sinead and John have been amazing in helping spread the word about our music.We also updated our website considerably: www.porridgemen.com There`s a lot of info on there now, including a track by track guide to the album and various articles of interest about the band and the Kerrs. We are aware that we really owe this new interest all to them choosing our music so there`s a fair amount about them on there too.

The album, Planet Porridge, is something we are all very proud of, as it was recorded in only 3 days, mixed in 2 days and we all recorded individually. We really like the way it turned out and believe in it. At worst, a few more people round the world will hear our music and hopefully like it enough to buy it. We don`t have any expectations really, but if something comes of it then that will be great. We have talked with the Kerrs about doing a live performance together and these events have speeded up the process of writing a new album, which may include a video track of a new Kerrs routine set to original music written by ourselves. We are currently unsigned to a record company but open to approaches so to some extent these plans depend on attracting interest from the right people.

Ultimately, the band`s hopes are for success for Sinead and John Kerr at these Games and in the future. They are outstanding people and athletes and performers and really deserve it.

And, finally, what are your favorite winter Olympic sports?

Well, I had never actually seen figure skating in real life until I went to see the Kerrs perform their routine in Scotland recently and it really blew my mind. It was truly a beautiful and awe inspiring thing.

I always loved the ski jumping. It`s the closest human beings come to flying, I think, because they start on the ground rather than `cheat` by jumping out of a plane!! It`s always a good one to watch. For adrenalin,the
bobsled runs are always entertaining. There`s always that sneaky guilt at the back of your mind that you might see them fly off up into the air…

Until recently, I thought ice dancing was a slower, less exciting version of pairs skating. I mean—no lifts, no jumps, no death-defying throws. Where’s the fun in that?

In truth, ice dancing is extremely rigorous. Ice dancing competitions consist of three parts–compulsory dance, the most like the original ballroom dances that inspired ice dancing; an original set pattern dance, , with rhythms designated by the International Skating Union; and a free dance, which allows the greatest freedom of expression. Since 1998, dancers have been required to include certain elements in their free dances, including step sequences, lifts, dance spins, and multi-rotation turns called twizzles.

Originally, dancers never skated apart from another. This restriction has been relaxed in recent years.

For a good FAQ on ice dancing, or if you just have more questions, visit Care to Ice Dance.

In all my Olympics readings, I keep seeing articles about a Scottish band, the Porridge Men. “Porridge Men,” I say to myself, “What does that have to do with the Olympics?” So, after a bit of research I can tell you what the Porridge Men and the 2006 Turin Olympics have in common.

Sinead and John Kerr, British ice dancers, have chosen to use a song called Planet Porridge by the Porridge Men for their ice dancing routine which they will perform in Turin. I’m not sure why this is so newsworthy, but since I keep seeing it come up, I must conclude that there is cultural significance to Scottish ice dancers choosing to skate to music from a Scottish Celtic band at the Olympics.

Ice dancer Tanith Belbin was sworn in this morning as a U.S. citizen. This clears her to skate for the United States in February’s Olympics in Turin, Italy. She and Ben Agosto are favorites to win the United States’ first ice dance medal since 1986.

The United States Congress passed a bill to expedite her citizenship. The bill was signed by President Bush on Friday.

The Olympic team will be chosen at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, which begin Jan. 10.