Johnny Weir Announces His Return to Competitive Figure Skating

Update:  Please read Misfit Mimes' blog 'Unstoppable'!  Wonderful in it's simplicity and the beautiful photo of Johnny and Vitya!

Vote for Johnny Weir as 'Best Improv Ice Skater'! 

One vote per person per day.
Voting ends on January 31st, 2012.
The “Best Improv-Ice Skater” will be announced during Pandora Unforgettable Moments of Love on Ice on Saturday, February 4, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST on NBC.

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Ever since Johnny Weir announced in late 2010 he was taking a year off from competitive figure skating his fans have been wondering if he would return to competition.  The 2014 Olympics are set to take place in Sochi; a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the coast of the Black Sea.  Any fan of Johnny's knows how much he loves the Russian culture and the Russian people, and the feeling is mutual.  These factors would seem to influence his decision on whether to try and make the 2014 Olympic team or not.
There is also a sense of unfinished business where Johnny Weir and the Olympics are concerned. 

Weir, though he did not perform badly at Torino in 2006, faltered and failed to win the Olympic medal he so desired.  The next four years were up and down for Weir competitively, and he fell out of favor with the United States Figure Skating Association.  There was no love lost between the organization and Weir; however, he performed well enough at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Washington to qualify for the United States Olympic Team and competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Washington. 

Any fan of Weir's knows what happened next.  After performing a near perfect short program titled 'I Love You, I Hate You', Weir performed a stunningly beautiful long program he had named 'Fallen Angel'.  He had placed sixth after the short program, and he remained in sixth place after his Fallen Angel free skate.  While some believe the placings were fair, many figure skating fans were shocked at Johnny Weir placing sixth in Vancouver.  Without going too heavily into the politics of figure skating, the hurtful comments made about Weir and any other issues involved; Weir's sixth place finish was extremely difficult to understand for many figure skating fans. 

Since the Vancouver Olympics, Johnny Weir has absolutely thrived.  He has skated in numerous figure skating shows, appeared on talks shows and at events, written an autobiography and embarked on a book tour, designed a line of ladies dresses, released a single titled 'Dirty Love', been interviewed and photographed numerous times including for the JW Art Project, appeared at fashion shows and walked runways at New York Fashion Week, become the face of 'Glitter and Ice' for Mac Cosmetics, and filmed season two of his reality show 'Be Good Johnny Weir'.  And that list is only part of what he has been up to in the last two years!      

Oh yeah...  There was that little thing about getting married on New Year's Eve to the wonderful Victor Voronov!

But back to the unfinished business...

As a long time fan of Johnny Weir there are few things I would like more for him than for him to have the Olympic medal I feel he so richly deserves.  I'd love to see him compete and make the team in Sochi and just show everyone for the umpteenth time just how good he really is.  I do have concerns, however. He's never been a favorite of the figure skating establishment, and that is unlikely to change any time soon.  The current scoring system does not favor a skater with the artistic brilliance he possesses, though he can certainly hold his own technically.  And of course, he IS a three time United States champion.

He'll be twenty nine years old in Sochi; not old in human terms, but certainly not young in competitive figure skating terms. However, I'm a fan and I will support him in whatever he decides to do...  And as a friend of mine on Facebook said, figure skating desperately needs Johnny Weir.  At a time when the sport is in a slump, at least partly due to the convoluted judging system and the near robotic state skaters, especially male skaters, are forced into to score enough points to win; as I stated above, Weir is thriving.  He is enormously popular, possibly the single most popular skater around the world; and yes, competitive figure skating DOES need him.  However, as another friend stated, HE doesn't need IT.

Now that I've said those words...  Oh Wednesday,  January 18th, Johnny tweeted his fans these words:

"Coming to you guys tomorrow with some BIG news! Life is funny & it can change in a second. Cherish it all. The good & the bad."

This tweet caused an enormous amount of buzz amongst Johnny's fans, some of whom speculated for hours on Twitter and other sites about what Johnny could possibly mean by that.  Obviously it was something good, right?  But the tone of the rest of the tweet...the good the bad?  What on earth did THAT mean?

Well, we found out Thursday, January 19th 2012 when Johnny Weir announced his return to competitive figure skating! 

After releasing an official statement about his comeback, Johnny appeared at a press conference at which he announced his plans to return to competitive skating with an eye toward making the 2014 Olympic team and competing in Sochi.  He will retire for certain after the next Olympics.

Almost immediately skating fans, especially Johnny's fans, were abuzz with talk of his competitive return.  Within a very short period of time a number of articles had already been written, many of them from major journalistic entities such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, ESPN and the New York Times.  More are certain to follow.

All I can say at this point is, GO JOHNNY GO!

VIDEO of his twenty minute press conference may be found here and here!  (I can't figure out how to embed it, so leave me alone about it, okay?)

I have also posted sixteen photographs from his press conference. He looks great, doesn't he?  Beautiful smile and I love the hair!

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 19: Figure skater Johnny Weir announces his competitive figure skating comeback at a press conference at West Bank Cafe on January 19, 2012 in New York City. (Photos by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)   

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Read my friend Misfit Mimes blog 'The Official Johnny Weir Blog'!  She rocks!

Johnny Weir on Twitter

Johnny Weir's Official Website

Read my friend Nancy Knisley's blog 'The Quotable Johnny Weir'

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@JohnnyGWeir tweet:

The moment I tweeted you all from my press conference about my comeback as captured by @andrewwerner http://yfrog.com/ob15469868j

11 hours ago

The Tweet in question:

And one more Tweet for the road:

Along with my response:

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Johnny Weir talks Gay Pride in Los Angeles

Updated June 12, 2011 with two links and two photos!  Also, this information is a bit late (it is also available in the included links to the LA Pride Website and parade), but the parade can be watched live in two places: via West Hollywood Channel Ten or via the live webcast at this link!

Twitpic provided by Eric Altomare of he, Johnny and Tara Modlin's parade outfits:

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Johnny Weir has attached his name to a Gay Pride celebration for the first time.  L.A. Pride 2011 is actually a three day event beginning Friday June 10th and continuing through Saturday and Sunday with a two day festival and parade.  Sunday June 12th Johnny will ride a float down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood as Grand Marshal of Christopher Street West's 41st annual Pride parade.

Johnny Weir on being honored in Sunday's pride parade (Article includes the video below)
Johnny Weir talks gay pride parade (Video)


Saturday June 11 tweet from Johnny Weir:

Purple Party Event Friday June 10, 2011

 Festival Main Stage Saturday June 11, 2011

L.A. Pride Official Website

Photo Gallery: LA PRIDE 2011 Opening Night Purple Party

Johnny Weir: The Grandest Marshal of Them All

Pride, Music, Fun and Madame Tussauds

400,000 people expected at LA Pride parade on Sunday in West Hollywood


Read my friend MisfitMimes Blogs:

Proud
Next Stop: LA PRIDE!

LA Confidential: PRIDE Preview Petit Picspam!

If It's Wednesday, This Must Be Miami ... No, Wait, Philly ... No, Crap, It's Thursday

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Johnny Weir Teams With Tadashi Shoji for Japanese Earthquake Relief

Update April 4, 2011

After the announcement was made of the Johnny Weir/Tadashi Shoji project the news was picked up by numerous news outlets and sources. 

Here are a few of them: 

Cause Celeb Fashion Gives Back: Josh Duhamel, Johnny Weir and Gap for Japan (InStyle.com)

Fashion Gives Back to Japan: Find Out More  (InStyle.com)

Johnny Weir & Tadashi Shoji Design For Relief (CoCo Perez Site)

Johnny Weir and Tadashi Shoji Design T-Shirt for Japan Earthquake Relief (StyleBistro.com)
Tadashi Shoji & Johnny Weir Create T-Shirt for Japan Earthquake Relief  (EdgeNewYork.com)
Tadashi Shoji & Johnny Weir Create T-Shirt for Japan Earthquake Relief (Topix.com)
Tadashi Shoji & Johnny Weir Create T-Shirt for Japan Earthquake Relief (EdgePhiladelphia.com)
Tadashi Shoji and Johnny Weir (Tadashi Collection Weblog)
Tadashi Shoji x Johnny Weir Japan Earthquake Relief Tee (SickaThanAverage.com)
Tadashi Shoji & Johnny Weir Create T-Shirt for Japan Relief (TheCWDC.com)

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Just Added:

Please see also my friend Misfit Mimes Blog Ganbatte! (Please order a T-shirt and #HelpJapan!)

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Johnny Weir has teamed up with designer Tadashi Shoji to design a tee shirt in support of Japanese earthquake relief efforts.  All proceeds from sales of the tee shirts will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society. 

Read the Fashionetc.com article Johnny Weir and Tadashi Shoji Design T-shirt for Japan Relief.  View Johnny's thirty second promo spot here: 

Gay Video & Lesbian Movies - Logo: Fierce TV

Read the article 'We Believe In You' Japan Relief Tee Shirt at Johnny's website!  The article also includes a link to the above video, photos and instructions on how to order the shirt.

Tadashi tweet one:

Tadashi tweet two:

Johnny Weir tweet:

Tadashi Shoji twitpic of the new tee shirt design:

There are a number of legitimate organizations with honest and forthright intentions to help the victims of the recent earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis that have hit Japan, New Zealand, Tonga, Myanmar, Burma and other places (as well as other recent disasters in several locations).  (Tsunamis also hit areas of the United States such as parts of Hawaii, Oregon and California, though the damage and loss of life was nowhere near that of Japan.) 

There are also a lot of scammers out there.  Whatever you can do to help, whatever amount you can afford, whether it is to purchase one of these tee shirts or something else, please do whatever you can.  Anything helps, and if you can not contribute money there are also organizations who may be able to take goods that you can provide or even that you have on hand and are not using.  Simply be sensible and careful, and if you are not familiar with the organization there are many ways they can be checked out prior to a donation being made.  If you have any doubts about any appeal for help or donations send your contribution to another organization you feel you can trust.  If you are suspicious of any links you are presented with simply type the organization's URL into your browser yourself. 

The American Institute of Philanthropy is one organization that compiles a list of top rated charities; and I have included several lists of agencies below, plus direct links to several donation sites. 

Thank you for your assistance!

Fashion Bands Together For Japan Relief

Australian Red Cross NZ Earthquake Appeal 2011 (New Zealand was struck by a devastating earthquake February 22nd.)

New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal

International Committee of the Red Cross

American Red Cross

International Disaster Relief Agencies

List of Relief Organizations

Disaster Relief Agencies

2011 Significant Earthquake and News Headlines Archive compiled by the United States Geological Survey

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Fans may now order the DVD of Pop Star On Ice from their website at this link!

Watch Johnny Weir's 'Talk Stoop' Interview with Cat Greenleaf here:

Update from Itoi Shigesato Includes FOI Behind the Scenes

September 17 update:

Check out my friend Misfit Mimes (with invaluable assistance from Akiko Nakata) special Blog with a complete translation of 'News summary from “Hobonichi” today 100915' from Itoi Shigesato's website.  He talks about his impressions of his first ice show in Fukui, and his reunion backstage with Johnny Weir.


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Update from Itoi Shigesato Includes FOI Behind the Scenes - Windows Live

The above link is to my Blog about a new entry fom Itoi Shigesato on his website.  Mr. Shigesato wrote an entry on Sunday (Kyoo no Daarin or 'Today's Darling') in which he talked about his impressions of figure skating after he and some of his 'crew' attended Fantasy On Ice in Fukui, Japan.  It was written in Japanese; however my friend Misfit Mimes with the help of wonderful Japanese fan Akiko Nakata, has provided a partial translation in her Blog "Today's Darling".  On September 15 Mr. Shigesato posted another entry about his trip to the Fukui ice show, and included a conversation he had with Johnny Weir backstage as well as several new photographs taken backstage at the ice show.  A small portion of this part of the Blog is written in both Japanese and English, but most of it is written in Japanese. 

Please visit 100915 News to see several more photos like this one (including a gallery of nine small photos near the end of the entry you can click on to bring up larger images):

A Follow Up to Some Recent Blogs…

I am writing this Blog to post some responses to subjects I have recently written about.  Rather than create an entire Blog I am just going to post links with (brief) summaries.

In relation to my recent Blogs I’m Glad Someone Finally Said Something About the NY Mag Piece!, Some Wonderful Johnny Weir Outtake Photos!, and NY Mag Comments:  Week of August 30, 2010, all related to the NY Mag article The Johnny Weir Spectacular and it's aftermath; Outsports.com has published the article Some Johnny Weir Fans Angry at NY Magazine. The article was published August 24, 2010 and is written by Cyd Zeigler Jr..  This article focuses on the response to the NY Mag article, and mentions the NY Daily News mention of Johnny's response, as well as a long but very well written letter by Lynn V. Ingogly that details point by point what was wrong with the article. Ms Ingogly is a free-lance writer who has also written the Blogs Guuuuuurrrrrrlll... and #YoureACar about this very subject. This article also contains links at the bottom to other pieces of interest about
Johnny Weir. There are also numerous reader responses to this article following the article itself.

In relation to my recent Blog Unfortunately It’s All About Hate and Ignorance…, which focused partly on the ordeal of umpire Billy Van Raaphorst, I am posting a link to an article that appeared in Outsports.com.  This article details the outpouring of support Van Raaphorst has received since the incident in a game on July 31st.  The article Gay Umpire Overwhelmed By Positive Response appeared in the August 18, 2010 issue and was written by Jim Buzinski.

Some Wonderful Johnny Weir Outtake Photos!

Even though the article 'The Johnny Weir Spectacular' contained a number of factual errors (some of which have since been corrected, at least in the online version of the article); there were some wonderful photographs taken by Cass Bird that went along with it.  It's hard to describe what was wrong with this article other than the writer did not do a good job of describing the completely unique personality that is Johnny Weir, and focused instead on a piecemeal approach that did not appear to have been properly edited, fact checked or written; and did not even approach doing justice to Johnny Weir.  Sadly, like so many articles and interviews in the past about Weir, this one focused far too much on the non-issue of Weir's sexuality. 

The NY Daily News ‘Gatecrasher’ Gossip Page with Frank Digiacomo describes the reaction of Weir's mother to how he was portrayed in the article, as well as his unhappiness with how his friends were portrayed; as does this Blog I wrote a few days ago;
Wheres My Koppy's Blog 'I’m Glad Someone Finally Said Something About the NY Mag Piece'.

The following two Blogs by my friend Misfit Mimes do an excellent job of describing what is wrong with this article:

MisfitMimes Blog 'Guuuuuurrrrrrlll'

MisfitMimes Blog '#Youre A Car'

However, despite the issues with the article itself, some of the photographs of Weir alone, especially in the print version, are worth the price of the magazine. 

Enjoy looking!

These four photographs accompanied the article itself:

This gorgeous head shot appeared on the first page of the article.

Page Two of the article gives us this wonderful photo!

Page Three gives us this 'Babushka' photograph.

Page Four gives us this uh, 'interesting' photo!

The following seven photos appeared on the NY Magazine website a few days after the article as a slideshow of outtakes:

The beauty of Outtake Number Four  is hard to even describe!

Outtake Number One evokes 1970s era Bruce Springsteen.

Outtake Number Two could be a rock album cover photograph!

Outtake Number Five

Outtake Number Six is just...beautiful!

Outtake Number Seven

Outtake Number Three

Update September 28th 2010:  Photograph of Johnny with photographer Cass Bird!

I'm Glad Someone Finally Said Something About The NYMag Piece!

I am SO glad someone other than skating forums and Blogs and Johnny Weir's fans is addressing this article! And in a reputable source like the New York Daily News on top of it!  You tell them Johnny and Patti Weir!  We love you both!

About halfway down the page on this New York Daily News gossip page you will find this three paragraph item:

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Johnny Weir can take a few insults, but don't upset his mom. The Olympic skater tells us he wasn't thrilled with how New York Magazine portrayed him in its current issue, but what really cheeses him off is that his mother "was offended" by the feature.


"She said it seemed I wasn't serious and I was just another New York-area person just going to parties," Weir says, before explaining: "Yes, I was getting ready for red-carpet events, but I was going to them to work and network." Weir also grouses that the feature "attacked my people. ... I can be told to be subjected to a gender test, I can have my clothes attacked, but when you attack my people, my army, that's when I get pissed off!"

A spokeswoman for New York magazine responds: "We love Johnny Weir - as Amy [Larocca] writes in the piece, he's ‘talented and clever and beautiful,' and we think that comes through in the profile and photos."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/08/19/2010-08-19_cops_pull_guns_on_piranha_3d_stars_kelly_brook_jessica_szohr_en_route_to_las_veg.html#ixzz0x2s2X05q

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Obviously they have not read their own piece, because though it's true that Johnny Weir IS talented, clever and beautiful, the piece as written does not portray that very well at all.  My friend Misfit Mimes did a wonderful job of describing what was wrong with this article in her brilliant Blogs Guuuuuurrrrrrlll and #YoureACar.