With "Gift", Hanyu Yuzuru going where no figure skater has gone before
No figure skater has ever performed solo at the Tokyo Dome. A sellout crowd at the 55,000-seater and a worldwide audience await for Sunday. It is supposed to be Hanyu’s token of appreciation to the fans.
Hanyu Yuzuru is about to go where no figure skater has gone before. Literally.
On Sunday (26 February), the two-time Olympic champion will become the first figure skater in history to perform on his own at the Tokyo Dome with “Gift”, his latest solo act.
The Dome is usually home to baseball’s Yomiuri Giants, Japan’s most popular sports team, and is reserved for the world’s biggest entertainers who pit-stop through Japan. It seats 55,000.
Gift - with tickets going for around US$ 200 on average - has completely sold out.
While the show - expected to run for two-and-a-half hours from 17:00 JST for one day only - will not be televised, it is being live streamed globally on an unprecedented scale for a figure skating event.
For “Prologue”, his first performances as a professional skater held in November and December, Hanyu’s faithful overseas did not have an opportunity to watch it live. But now they will for Gift, not only live but over and over again.
It’s far from uncommon practice for a figure skater to hit the ice show circuit following his or her competitive career but Hanyu has taken it to a whole new level since retiring from competition back in July.
With Disney Plus streaming Gift to the Japanese audience, the show has been pushed like a new Marvel flick. Walk around Tokyo’s Shibuya and Ginza districts and one will have noticed the ads plastered everywhere.
As always, Hanyu has not given away much. He’s let people know who’s directing or who’s in charge of the music but how Gift will unfold largely remains a mystery.
It is supposed to be Hanyu’s token of appreciation to the fans for all he achieved over an unparalled career. Yet other than that, we know very little.
The fact that he is performing at the Tokyo Dome only adds to the intrigue. This is where the likes of Michael Jackson and Beyonce perform, or where Mike Tyson was floored by Buster Douglas. Tokyo Dome and figure skating generally do not belong in the same sentence.
Say what you will about him and however Gift turns out to be, Hanyu has people clinging - again. Just like the way he had the world glued on his attempt at the quadruple Axel in Beijing. He came up short but still had everyone talking.
Following Prologue, Gift is the first main chapter of Hanyu's professional career. Stay tuned when he turns the page on Sunday.
- Hanyu to rock Tokyo Dome
- Prologue - A new chapter ot Hanyu's illustrious career
- No quadruple Axel but Hanyu still walks away a winner