The 2018 Olympics and the sporting confrontation between Medvedeva and Zagitova are behind us, but life is such that the girls’ paths constantly cross. Coincidentally or not, the figure skaters’ post-sporting careers seem to run in parallel: ice shows, work as presenters, development in the world of show business, and now, trying themselves as producers of their own ice projects.
In early July, Zhenya and Alina announced almost simultaneously the preparation of their own shows: and although the projects are essentially different, this did not prevent conversations from arising that were repeated one after another. Moreover, the girls themselves are warming them up.
So what will happen between Medvedeva and Zagitova in 2024 and how are preparations going for their shows, which promise to be unique?
The tension level is rising!
What did Zagitova and Medvedev not share in 2024? It seems that one is repeating the other.
Zagitova creates a unique story about Tatarstan, but her show is in low demand
Olympic champion Pyeongchang was the first to announce the creation of her own show. On July 1, Zagitova posted on her Telegram channel a poster of a project called “Keepers of Time”, the premiere of which is scheduled for August 29. The director of the show, Svetlana Krayushkina, said that this story was invented by order of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. The show will be shown on the eve of Republic Day and, obviously, will be dedicated to him.
“It’s about family values, traditions and the history of Tatarstan. It will be divided into three parts: about antiquity, the present and a little about the future. That is, everyone will be interested. Both our grandparents and our children, of course. There will be cool effects. I don’t want to reveal all the nuances, but I can say with confidence that we will set a record in Russia,” Alina said.
The figure skater has repeatedly noted that she is preparing a unique project that has no analogues in the world. Zagitova herself controls all the processes involved in the creation of the show – from music and costumes to, of course, production. The girl regularly shares vlogs about the preparation of the show and puts a lot of effort into promotion. However, so far there has been no enthusiasm around Zagitova’s project and there are obvious problems with sales. Initially, three shows were planned at the Tatneft Arena on August 29-31, but then their number was reduced to two and they will be held only on August 29. Despite reasonable prices (from 1,000 to 4,500), tickets have not been sold very actively since August 8 – so far, the occupancy rate for both shows is about 10%, there are seats available in all boxes and in all price categories. The efforts of the Olympic champion do not help – demand remains low.
Perhaps the point is that the show will be held in Kazan – this is not the most convenient point for fans from other cities, especially since the event is scheduled for a weekday – Thursday. Or Alina alone is not enough for figure skating fans – so far she is the only announced star athlete. Olympic champion Dmitry Solovyov also appeared in the promotional photo of the show, but there is no information about other famous participants. Although Zagitova is a big star of Russian figure skating, gathering the entire hall thanks to her name alone is a very ambitious task that so far only Yuzuru Hanyu has managed.
Perhaps Alina saved her main tricks for last, and the closer the show gets, the more fans will be interested in it. But so far things are going hard for the skater. And recently, the reputation of Zagitova’s show also took a hit from Yana Rudkovskaya, who hinted that Alina was inspired by the teaser for Evgeni Plushenko’s show “The Nutcracker”.
Medvedev prepares anniversary show, but fears ideas will be stolen
Zagitova is also suspected of stealing other people’s ideas by her sworn friend Evgenia Medvedeva. The PyeongChang silver medalist announced the creation of her show a few days after Alina, but her preparation began much earlier, as Zhenya hinted on her social media. Just before the announcement of “Keepers of Time,” Medvedeva posted a behind-the-scenes look at a photo shoot for her show, where she posed in old competition dresses. The concept of Zhenya’s project will be completely different: the figure skater will dedicate the show to her 25th anniversary, show iconic performances, and in addition to her, famous skaters and artists will appear on the arena.
What exactly awaits the public remains a mystery. Medvedeva openly admits that she fears the theft of ideas, and it is not necessary to be able to read between the lines to understand who she is referring to.
“I am in a position where I cannot mess things up. You know, someone always tries to do something before me and pass off my ideas as their own. So without it for now. I will just say that I will try to surprise. Of course, I will not put any receipts so that everyone will be surprised, but we really have some unique ideas for figure skating, which require a lot of money and very good specialists,” Medvedeva told Sport24.
Whether Zhenya is telling the truth or using PR tools, we can only guess. But the fact that two jury friends are preparing their own ice shows at the same time is a curious coincidence. Medvedeva is in a more advantageous position here: her show will take place on November 15, two and a half months after Zagitova’s show. The skater will be able to see how her competitor’s debut went and take into account some of the nuances when preparing her own debut.
True, Zhenya’s business is already doing better, at least in terms of sales. Despite the fact that Medvedeva’s show will take place later, tickets are more expensive (from 2,500 to 7,000 rubles), and participants, like Zagitova’s, have not yet been announced, most of the tickets at the CSKA Arena have already been sold out. But it should be noted that the conditions of departure for skaters are slightly different: Zhenya’s show will take place one day in the capital, and also on Friday evening.
While Zagitova has almost everything ready for the premiere, Medvedeva’s work is in full swing.
“We announced quite early on that there would be an ice show. The list of participants is currently being confirmed. Of course, it will include famous figure skaters, but also artists and musicians.
“I plan to go out on the ice several times during the night. For this I will need serious physical training. I have many iconic programs that I would like to skate again in my life in front of an audience. So there will be a lot of me, whether good or bad, I don’t know. I go out on the ice often,” Medvedeva shared.
What do you need to know about Evgenia’s program?
Medvedeva launches her own show after Zagitova! What did she say about it?
Both Olympic stars of 2018 did not hesitate to say big words when talking about their own shows, so the audience’s expectations will be very high. The skaters will really have to surprise, otherwise there is a high risk of receiving a lot of criticism. And the release of the show almost at the same time, plus Medvedeva’s hints, will inevitably lead to comparisons of both projects. So Alina and Zhenya made their task more difficult: even here they created a new round of confrontation.
