JOHNNY'S POST-ANNOUNCEMENT INTERVIEW WITH VF DAILY
Figure Skater Johnny Weir Just Called Us From Japan to Discuss Why He Wants to Reinvent Himself Like Madonna Did
by Jessica Flint July 8, 2010, 10:23 PM
Earlier today, two-time Olympian Johnny Weir, 26, announced that he is taking a break from competing in the 2010-2011 skating season. “The main reason for my decision is to have more time to reinvent my skating,” he wrote in a press release. “I want to create a new skating image for myself so that when I return to competitive skating, I can perform in a way that is both unique and inspiring.” Considering that one could argue that Weir is one of the most unique skaters out there-who can forget his glove Camille, spelled with two Ls?-VF Daily had Johnny give us a call from Japan, where he’s performing in a show and then headed to Tokyo to work on a special photo book project, to explain what exactly “reinventing himself” means.
VF Daily: So tell us a little bit more about your big announcement.
Johnny Weir: You know, I find press releases very impersonal, I have a big reputational for being blunt and open with everyone, and from the bottom of my heart, I have to thank everyone who is supporting me through this situation. When you are an athlete, it’s difficult to take time off and say you want to come back without everyone judging you and attacking you. There’s been very little of that. Everyone has been supporting me with my decisions. I really do hope to be back on the ice competing again, and I look forward to Sochi in 2014. Just for this year, I feel like I need to rest, mentally and physically. And I’m starting to get old.
Not that old! Look at Brett Favre. He’s still throwing the football at age 40.
If you look at the girls [figure skaters], they are maxing out at age 17, 18; for guys, it’s 24, 25, 26. I’m right around those golden years. I still have so much passion to perform … That’s who Johnny Weir is: I’m a figure skater, I’m an athlete. I want to have fun and enjoy it.
The time away from performing will be great to revamp my skating style. In sports, you get very little time to reinvent yourself-like in the style of Madonna and Lady Gaga. You need to constantly evolve and fix your flaws. A lot of people get by saying, I have no flaws to fix. It’s about enhancing the things I do well while changing the things I don’t. Figure skating is all very cookie-cutter and nuts-and-bolts. People always do the same thing. No one does anything fresh and new. I want to come out with a new style of skating.
What do you plan to do while you’re not competing? I know you are working on a book, have a new single …
I’m still busy every day. From now until October I have five days off. There’s no rest, but I don’t have a performance schedule. I can go into the ice rink at midnight and skate and be free.
What have you been up to since the Vancouver Olympics?
I can’t even tell you really what I even did last week. I’ve walked lots of red carpets and done so many fabulous things. I got a book deal, I’ve recorded a song. My T.V. show had its big finale on June 27. It’s been a real roller-coaster. I think I’ve gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it’s really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am.
When we met up in Vancouver, I remember you saying you wanted to get into the fashion industry. Any plans to do so?
I was very interested in going to F.I.T., but going through the schedule of the school, it was like I would be skating again. I’d have to be in class at a certain time … At 26-years-old, it seemed really daunting and frightening. I still want to take classes. I still want to work on my own skills as a creator as fashion. So many people have come out of the woodwork to help me produce a line, and I think we are going to get down to business with that in the fall-there just hasn’t been time with the song, and the show that I want to have at the beginning of the new year.
You also told me that you planned to go to Mongolia so you could ride a yak. Did you?
I was on the George Lopez show-I was on two times in one week. George Lopez is a great friend to me, and he found someone in California who had a yak, and I rode it. But I haven’t had time to go on vacation, let alone go to Mongolia. There’s just not time. I had big plans to go to Mongolia and the Cayman Islands, but with the oil spill … Maybe I’ll just go to the South of France. To be honest, I just want to go somewhere where I can wear a white Speedo.
(source)
JOHNNY!!! TAKE YOUR VACATION >:C Also, encourage your Japanese stans to upload their photos, please.
by Jessica Flint July 8, 2010, 10:23 PM
Earlier today, two-time Olympian Johnny Weir, 26, announced that he is taking a break from competing in the 2010-2011 skating season. “The main reason for my decision is to have more time to reinvent my skating,” he wrote in a press release. “I want to create a new skating image for myself so that when I return to competitive skating, I can perform in a way that is both unique and inspiring.” Considering that one could argue that Weir is one of the most unique skaters out there-who can forget his glove Camille, spelled with two Ls?-VF Daily had Johnny give us a call from Japan, where he’s performing in a show and then headed to Tokyo to work on a special photo book project, to explain what exactly “reinventing himself” means.
VF Daily: So tell us a little bit more about your big announcement.
Johnny Weir: You know, I find press releases very impersonal, I have a big reputational for being blunt and open with everyone, and from the bottom of my heart, I have to thank everyone who is supporting me through this situation. When you are an athlete, it’s difficult to take time off and say you want to come back without everyone judging you and attacking you. There’s been very little of that. Everyone has been supporting me with my decisions. I really do hope to be back on the ice competing again, and I look forward to Sochi in 2014. Just for this year, I feel like I need to rest, mentally and physically. And I’m starting to get old.
Not that old! Look at Brett Favre. He’s still throwing the football at age 40.
If you look at the girls [figure skaters], they are maxing out at age 17, 18; for guys, it’s 24, 25, 26. I’m right around those golden years. I still have so much passion to perform … That’s who Johnny Weir is: I’m a figure skater, I’m an athlete. I want to have fun and enjoy it.
The time away from performing will be great to revamp my skating style. In sports, you get very little time to reinvent yourself-like in the style of Madonna and Lady Gaga. You need to constantly evolve and fix your flaws. A lot of people get by saying, I have no flaws to fix. It’s about enhancing the things I do well while changing the things I don’t. Figure skating is all very cookie-cutter and nuts-and-bolts. People always do the same thing. No one does anything fresh and new. I want to come out with a new style of skating.
What do you plan to do while you’re not competing? I know you are working on a book, have a new single …
I’m still busy every day. From now until October I have five days off. There’s no rest, but I don’t have a performance schedule. I can go into the ice rink at midnight and skate and be free.
What have you been up to since the Vancouver Olympics?
I can’t even tell you really what I even did last week. I’ve walked lots of red carpets and done so many fabulous things. I got a book deal, I’ve recorded a song. My T.V. show had its big finale on June 27. It’s been a real roller-coaster. I think I’ve gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it’s really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am.
When we met up in Vancouver, I remember you saying you wanted to get into the fashion industry. Any plans to do so?
I was very interested in going to F.I.T., but going through the schedule of the school, it was like I would be skating again. I’d have to be in class at a certain time … At 26-years-old, it seemed really daunting and frightening. I still want to take classes. I still want to work on my own skills as a creator as fashion. So many people have come out of the woodwork to help me produce a line, and I think we are going to get down to business with that in the fall-there just hasn’t been time with the song, and the show that I want to have at the beginning of the new year.
You also told me that you planned to go to Mongolia so you could ride a yak. Did you?
I was on the George Lopez show-I was on two times in one week. George Lopez is a great friend to me, and he found someone in California who had a yak, and I rode it. But I haven’t had time to go on vacation, let alone go to Mongolia. There’s just not time. I had big plans to go to Mongolia and the Cayman Islands, but with the oil spill … Maybe I’ll just go to the South of France. To be honest, I just want to go somewhere where I can wear a white Speedo.
(source)
JOHNNY!!! TAKE YOUR VACATION >:C Also, encourage your Japanese stans to upload their photos, please.