The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog: "Be Happy"

Johnny during his performance to “Ave Maria Païen” at Medal Winners Open in Japan.
Video of his hauntingly beautiful program below.

Kayso we have a lot to cover, but I keep getting hung up on watching Johnny’s Ave Maria Païen from Medal Winners Open over and over so hold on just one second....

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And to tide us over until we can watch it again, here are some gorgeous screencaps...

Oh yay Johnny tweeted another version last night BRB....

Check out my performance from last week’s Medal Winner’s Open. I fell on triple axel, but was very proud! http://t.co/m3uFG90Y8g
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 20, 2015

(It’s OK. We’re way too spellbound every. single. time. to care about the fall.)

One more screencap, from the Kiss-n-Cry:

OK! If you need me, I’ll just be on YouTube the rest of the day. Here’s a bunch of other Johnny stuff for you to catch up on before joining me there....

US Nationals Are a Thing

and People Actually Seem to Care

Every skating fan owes a big thanks to @taralipinski & @JohnnyGWeir. Skating has waaay mover coverage thanks to their broadcasting success:)
— tina d (@tinadoy88) January 19, 2015

THIS. Their tremendous impact on figure skating coverage—in less than a year—warranted a fascinating front-page analysis piece over the weekend on Daily Kos:

Yes, DAILY KOS. Which is a pretty popular liberal political blog, not a skating fan forum.

An excerpt:

If you watch this year’s National Championships, you’ll see a piece of the cultural shift away from fear of teh ghey in the form of the aforementioned Johnny Weir. While Weir never came out during his competitive career, his closet door wasn’t closed quite as tightly as some in the sport might have liked, and, serving as a daytime commentator at the 2014 Olympics, he and co-commentator Tara Lipinski, the 1998 gold medalist ... changed the tone of American figure skating commentary. ...

To understand the shift, you have to understand what they’re replacing in 1984 gold medalist and longtime commentator Scott Hamilton. Where Hamilton did his best to anoint the skaters that best fit the image of figure skating he thought would be popular, Lipinski and Weir are less inclined to cheerlead. They make clear that as former skaters they are rooting for good skating, that they thrill to an excellent performance ... but they are also willing to call out empty or paint-by-numbers choreography, to analyze what went wrong technically, and debate the quality of the performance. Even if it’s an American. Even if it’s a photogenic American.
And—hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah—with Lipinski and Weir, we get to move past Hamilton’s strenuous efforts to paint his favored male skaters as the butchest avowed heterosexuals to ever lace up a pair of skates and his favored female skaters as dainty ethereal princesses. Weir and Lipinski’s commentating has drawn wide praise and very much opened the question of whether they can make figure skating feel more relevant even in the absence of Americans racking up big medal counts at international events.

The article goes on to offer a detailed look at a long list of Nats podium contenders in preparation for this weekend’s finals. On DAILY KOS. I mean: wow. That is some serious pop culture relevancy for this creaky-kneed sport. All thanks to Johnny and Tara.

And: for the first time that I can remember, we got not one but TWO hours of preview coverage this past weekend, with Johnny, Tara, and Uncle Terry giving us stats, fluff, and podium predictions for this weekend’s finals. NBC also debuted the second in a series of adorable Nats commercials featuring J&T:

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And ICYMI, here are BOTH preview shows, with enormous thanks, as always, to amazing video ninja Jenn Kittler!

Nats preview show 1: ice dance and ladies’ singles.
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And Nats preview show 2: pairs and men’s singles.
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Meanwhile, Back in Japan...

...Johnny filmed a thing while he was there for Medal Winners Open for a show called “Honoono Taiikukai TV” which IDEK but basically he went shopping in Harajuku with Miyu, the lovely young skater for whom he designed a costume last year, and also they skated, and the producers invited fans to come and watch and be a part of it, and the segment is being broadcast on Japan’s TBS on January 31 and hopefully it’ll land on YouTube shortly thereafter because if there is one thing I absolutely must see in this life, it is Johnny skating in Hello Kitty leggings with a Hello Kitty barrette in his hair.

Miyu and Johnny.

Via @fxxx35.

The barrette!

Via kanacci2.

Greeting fans.

Via @tima3.

Via @rin2755.

Special pics from Junko Meg Marumoto!

Thank you, Junko!

And via Johnny:

“So much fun shooting in Harajuku!”

Bonus Japan pics!!

Via @honey_holic:

“So beautiful photo ❤️ @johnnygweir”

Via @megumi_baba:

“Thank you for your nice smile‼︎”

UPDATE!! Via FAKETokyo.com.

Via FAKETokyo.com.

Via Johnny: “Bye Bye Japan!

I love you and your @funassyi! See you soon!”

Funassyi loves Johnny too!

(And I love Johnny’s hat.)

Snow King: St. Petersburg

Part 2

And finally, we have the last of our St. Petersburg picspam to enjoy today, plus amazing videos!

If you miss Johnny as much as I do, you'll probably enjoy watching a couple of poor quality videos that I took during his practice on the last day of Snow King shows. 👏❄️💎😍 #JohnnyWeir #ДжонниВейр
33 Likes, 2 Comments - Tatiana Edrenkina (@ler_che) on Instagram: "If you miss Johnny as much as I do, you'll probably enjoy watching a couple of poor quality videos..."

No jumps, just a few spins here. Please excuse my shaking hands:) #JohnnyWeir #ДжонниВейр ✨🌟✨
34 Likes, 2 Comments - Tatiana Edrenkina (@ler_che) on Instagram: "No jumps, just a few spins here. Please excuse my shaking hands:) #JohnnyWeir #ДжонниВейр ✨🌟✨"

Exclusive clips from Tatiana!
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Gerda and Kai in the Snow King’s Palace
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Finale 1.
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Finale 2.Video link.

Finale 3.Video link.

Finale 4.Video link.

Still more videos here and here!

All photos courtesy of Elena Vasileva and Tatiana Edrenkina, as noted. Please click any photo twice for the full-size image. Most are huge, and all of these are simply gorgeous. Thank you, Elena and Tatiana! ♥

For Part 1 of this series, please see this post.

We pick up the story in the Snow King’s palace,

where enchanted Kai is trapped. But Gerda has arrived

to confront the Snow King and save her beloved friend!

(Please especially click this one to savor

the full-size view. I love this photo so much.)

Gerda has brought a red rose with her

to try to break the spell. The rose symbolizes the enduring love

Kai and Gerda have for one another.

Gerda has defeated the Snow King! Kai is free

of the enchantment caused by the trolls’ magic mirror,

and everyone lives happily ever after.

Gerda and the Snow King have fallen in love,

and Kai is happy for them.

Curtain calls!

Johnny with amazing show producer Yana Rudkovskaya.

With flowers and a wreath from Russian fans.

The cast and crew take one last photo together

as the St. Petersburg leg of the tour comes to an end.

Behind-the-Scenes Photo Story:

A Russian Wreath

for Johnny

Fan Darya Volkova loved the Japanese fans’ tradition of presenting Johnny with a flower crown at the end of his performances. So she decided to create a Russian-style wreath for Johnny to give to him on the last day of the St. Petersburg performances.