It was last weekend that the World Cup in cross-country skiing started. As usual, the location was Ruka in northern Finland.
For Sweden, the premiere weekend ended with success. Close to a million Swedish television viewers followed the competitions every day with several Swedish victories in Viaplay’s broadcasts.
The sound?
Very good.
Even for the pictures taken far out in the forest, the crunch of the skis in the cold could be clearly heard – and also crowd noise.
But now it turns out that it wasn’t always about authentic sound. Finska Yle revealed after the competitions that the sound had been partially manipulated.
Finnish secret revealed
In a room during the competitions, a man named Jyrki Ihalainen sat with a synthesizer loaded with pre-recorded sounds in front of him.
Pole sound on a key on the left, sound of skis on a key on the right, at the bottom of the synth a button with audience sound – and on one key even the sound of a barking dog.
Ihalainen, who will retire next year, followed the races and timed the television images with the sounds he saw fit.
In this way, the broadcasts received a full sound image even when the riders were on the parts of the track where the normal microphones did not pick up sound.
According to Yle, this has been going on since the 80s in the Finnish broadcasts – but everything has been kept secret until now.
The shock: “I didn’t think it was true”
Reactions after the disclosure have been strong in Finland. And even in Sweden, eyebrows are raised.
Viaplay’s commentator Per Forsberg has reported sports on live television for several decades. He is shocked when he hears about the Finnish trick.
– I didn’t think it was true. It sounds completely unreal to my ears. Why do they do that?
Forsberg emphasizes that Finland is good at producing sports television, but at the same time admits that this was completely new information for him.
– Now I really feel cheated. He’s damn good, he’s got to give him that.
Even the national team skier Edvin Anger is stunned when he hears about the Finnish audio cheating.
– Huh? Are you kidding?…
Nix. It is absolutely true.
– Damn, that’s crazy.
When Expressen plays a clip from the broadcasts from the premiere, Anger listens carefully. And then he laughs.
– It sounds like there are tens of thousands in the audience out there in the forest.
You didn’t notice, did you?
– Well, I didn’t hear any bells (laugh).
Then Edvin Anger smiles and shakes his head:
– But what a job he has, that old man.
Ebba Andersson is also surprised by the information.
– It was new information. You can really say that it tries to beautify our sport.
What do you think about it?
– It sounds nice as it is, doesn’t it? Question mark on that!
Andersson continues:
– It is honesty and genuineness that the viewers want to see. That is what cross-country skiing stands for.
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2023-12-03 17:52:49
#shock #Finnish #cheating #Damn #sick
