2013 was a great year for Arabian Punch Front. "Did you ever think you'd get to interview the athlete that was your icon?" No. Not in a million years. I've come a long way :)
*For those with 2 parts, I used the pageviews of part 1.
1. May 14, 2013 - Sabrina Vega: Don't Settle for Less Part 1 ; Part 2
We learned about her gym change to train with Al Fong at GAGE and her plans for the future
2. May 26, 2013 - Brittany Rogers: Keep the Dream Alive Part 1 ; Part 2
Brittany Rogers told us about her experience at the Olympics and how she adjusted to the world of college gymnastics.
3. March 5, 2013 - Interview with Talia Chiarelli (CAN)
With the interview, we learned what it was that caused Talia to abruptly withdraw from the 2012 Olympic Trials for Team Canada.
4. November 19, 2013 - Mykayla Skinner: Sights Set on Rio here
Skinner tells us which upgrades she's hoping to compete in 2013.
5. Sep 27, 2013 - Dominic Zito: Something Different Part 1 ; Part 2
Dominic Zito gave this great interview that gives insight into the world of choreography from the man who choreographed Kyla Ross' routine and helped her on her way to the Prize for Elegance.
Hope to bring more interviews in the future!
The "Why Was Youtube Hiding You From Me?" Award goes to elite gymnastics montages.
EGM/@lauren_stevens2 has had her account for over a year but I only found it 3 or 4 months ago. She has some great montages, a few that have over 20,000 views. I think my favorite is this Katelyn Ohashi montage. It has mostly American Cup footage and does a great job reminding us how she had an excellent senior debut. Now, we'll wait to see what her next step is as she returns from injury.
Video That Took the Gymternet By Storm
Last year, we had a few fun montages that took the gymternet by storm. This year, we've only had one, but so many gymnasts shared it which made it pretty remarkable. Gymnasts from Alison Taylor to Parkettes to Talia Chiarelli to both Jordyn Wieber and her mother have shared Anna Burnsy/@AnnaBurns's montage. My favorite moments, "He who says he can and he who says he cannot are both usually right" cue Anastasia Grishina at the Olympics. My favorite part is at 2:15 and includes my favorite quote, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." I also liked this quote: "Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours of beating on your craft." The last minute is amazing. This montage definitely deserves it's almost 200,000 views!
Elite Gymnastics- Why do we fall?
Montages of 2013
Effects
Meet Recap
Requests and Most Improved
Made By Me
I made 2 requests for montages throughout the whole year and the montages that were made were perfect, so thank you!!
Aliya and Nabs || Let me be your Ruler
SuperGymmie/@SuperGymmie
I'm pretty sure I tagged SG in this request because Royals by Lorde seemed like the kind of song she would like - sultry but something about that song makes you feel invincible. It was in the lead up to Worlds when I first fell in love with the song and thought that Aliya Mustafina and Tatiana Nabieva would be the perfect two athletes to be featured. They're a dynamic duo that really couldn't care less what you're up to or what you think of them. Unfortunately, Nabs was injured so we didn't get as much footage to make a post Worlds montage.
The Fierce Five - MADE IN AMERICA
EmmsDream/@EmmsDream
The song is by a group called Cimorelli. They're 6 sisters that started singing covers on youtube and recording videos against a wall in their house. They've moved on now to a full record contract, VEVO and all, and original songs. This is one of their songs and I thought it would be perfect for some sort of Team USA montage. EmmsDream was able to make it into a video for the Fierce Five and it's perfect. All of this was made using iMovie which I find really impressive (had no idea you could do the letter overlay in iMovie).
Looking back on 2013 and the montages, I think it's appropriate that we do a recap of the meets. We started off with the American Cup with Katelyn Ohashi, Simone Biles, Victoria Moors finishing 1-2-3 respectively. Then, we went on to the Individual European Championships where the Mustafina vs Iordache rivalry escalated and Roxana Popa and Giulia Steingruber began to steal our hearts. Florida won the NCAA championships in April and we were lucky to have great live footage of the EYOF and Universiade. Then, the US elite season started to pick up and selections were made for World Championships. Quite a year! SuperGymmie made a recap of the entire year including other meets like Massilia and British Espoir Championships.
American Cup Gymnastics 2013-Alive
2013 Euros AA Montage - I Still Have a Soul
For those of you that loved the Beauty of Gymnastics montage, this is a montage for you. Lots of the slow motion clips from the European Championships are used here and as the music picks up, so does the intensity of the gymnastics that we watch.
Florida Gators Gymnastics - War of Inches
Chris Saccullo made a great edit to Al Pacino's Inch by Inch speech from the movie Any Given Sunday. Full quote can be found here. Coach Rhonda Faehn and the Gator gymnasts loved the montage so much, they played it at their banquet.
"You find out that life is just a game of inches. Because in the game of
life, the margin for error is so small.
European Youth Olympic Festival | Apparatus Finals Men & Women
We saw the showdown of the future stars of Romania vs. Russia but we also got a preview of what Great Britain will bring to the table, not only in WAG but also in MAG. Sports2Visuals, the same group that produces The Hard Way to Success documentaries, was there with some high definition footage and some great montages too.
