All-Star Cnn Cea Youtbe Link

[fiercerthanthenext]

I definitely liked this piece. Did I love it? No.
CNN most likely made this piece about one person because it was much easier to follow for the audience. (I'm assuming)
Maddie is such a talented and well rounded individual and she does not put herself first before anyone else on the team (or so it seems.) Meanwhile, CNN put the "I" in team and made it all about her. NOTHING AGAINST HER, but she is not the only person on Senior Elite and I kind of feel bad for the people who drive 2 hours to practice and are barely given recognition at all.
I think CNN did a good job with the piece, but it could have been better.

 

[NJ Coach]

I just watched the piece. I have not read (and do not know) any of the drama surrounding the piece. I thought CNN did an amazing job conveying exactly what this sport means to so many of us. We've all had injuries we've had to work through, all given up things for practice, and all know the agony of defeat. They chose to show all these things through the eyes of one person. But that one person's view is meant to represent all of us. This was finally what we've all been asking for. Someone did a show on the sport we love, and didn't tear us up or rip us apart. They called us a sport and showed our passion, dedication and hard work.

If you stop looking at it as the "Maddie Show" and look at it as a view of what we do through the eyes of one of us, it's really a very special piece. The thing I got from everything, is something I've always known. We are no different from any other sport. Our athletes are just like every other athlete. Passionate, driven and full of heart.

 

[Cheeranamo]

I thought the piece was nicely done. It showcased one person on SE mainly but in the end it had a solid purpose, which was to showcase a previous worlds gold medal team and the journey to keep that gold. I was happy to see that their was a lot of emotion in the piece, they did not dance around Maddie's stunt mishap. I felt it was honest and not a bunch of fluff. My only complaint on the more positive end of the spectrum is that I wish it was longer, I felt it was rushed and the piecing together was a little choppy. Other than that I have chosen to take the positives out of it and everyone should, remember we are still dealing with a young 18 year old girl who is human and has feelings.

 

[StarshipTrooper]

When the narration was added, I assume at the end of the process, the narrator always uses first person possesive terms. Maddie's team, not SE. Maddie's stunt. Maddie never uses these terms, but I cringed when they did that. It gives the impression of "I instead of we" and when added to the answers given in one on one interviews I can see how other cheerleaders would react negatively. It is just how CNN put it together. We would have preferred "Senior Elite" instead of "Maddie's team" but nobody asked us our opinion. We saw it for the first time with everyone else. Just an unfortunate consequence of those important words someone else noted. Hate to beat a dead horse here and I think the thread has been very good, but on some level, she is getting criticised for something she had no input or control over. Especially by other athletes.

 

[kaylalalaxo]

I, for one, am glad that CNN chose to show allstar cheerleading in the light that they did, they didn't focus on the makeup, dance moves, and tiny uniforms. They focused on the athleticism, dedication, teamwork, and pride that all goes together in a team. As for Maddie, I think she did a wonderful job on the interviews, especially talking about her fall to CNN just about right after it happened, I could tell that was a hard topic to talk about, but she handled it very well. And for everyone saying (on facebook and twitter mostly) that she thinks the world revolves around her for using "I" so much, the interviewer is asking HER a question, not the whole team, she did it right and I do think that people are getting over sensitive about CNN following her! We, in the cheer world, did put her in the immediate spotlight after worlds 2010, and she became one of the most-follwed cheerlebrities out there, and has been that way for about a year now. I also agree on what some others have said on here about making it easier to follow one direct person on the show. She did not (I assume) have any say on what the interviewer asked her, and she had NO control over what got put in the show and what did not. I loved the CNN piece, and wish it were longer than 20 mniutes, so all in all I think it was a job well done!

 

[EnglishRose]

I liked it. I thought it was a good representation of allstar cheer, that didn't focus for one minute on the negatives, and the bits we hate it when people focus on. I heard NO mention of pom poms, uniforms, bows, makeup, inappropriate moves, jumping up and down for footballers...and that makes me very happy.

I understand people's point about the 'team' focus, but I think you can see the team effort - you see everyone practicing, and you see them all together. You'd have to be mad to NOT see how every member of the team is important. I wish it'd shown other members of SE - maybe something on the graduating girls, but in a limited time slot, I can see how they'd need to focus on one story, otherwise you'd never get a full picture of anyone. If it's aimed at the lay person, it would have kept the attention with the 'drama' of the story, and given them someone to focus on. Maybe they can do a follow up feature on other girls? Or other CEA athletes? Or other programmes? Please?

Several bits of it I loved. The part at practice before the competition where Courtney says go again, and the girls are lying on the floor, clearly exhausted, and then they get up, and run it again with huge smiles. Wow. Who hasn't been there going 'Full out? Again? REALLY? I'm dying here' after a long practice? But they didn't just RUN it again, they OWNED it again. I don't think I could have got up and given it my all like those girls did. That's what makes SE incredible, that determination.

2 bits made me cry like a baby - firstly when the girls learn they're in 3rd place after Day 1, and a few are in tears. When Courtney goes 'hey hey hey..' all sympathetic, right before her pep talk, my heart just goes out. I just want them to all feel happy again...and secondly Maddie's interview after Worlds, where you can hear her voice crackle and see how she just wants to run away and cry.

I DO like SE, and I DO think they are incredible. I'm not in the USA, so I'm not really involved in the crazy fan side (although if I ever met one of SE/WCSS/F5 I'd probably go crazy with excitement). From an outside view, Maddie makes my heart melt because she's human, she comes across very sweet, and you can see her working so hard. How truly brave a girl Maddie is, for sitting and doing that interview right after Worlds, talking about the moment which clearly broke her heart. How poised she sounded, despite everything. THAT is why she's a star. Let's not lie, the ball up 360 tick tock is insane, but it's her spirit and her bravery and her sweetness that came across in that for me. When Courtney said she'll be fine, she's going to be something fantastic, you know that's true.

 

[HeatUniqueJ]

I personally think that it is quite understandable why CNN chose to do the segment about Maddie. First of all, she is probably the one who is most know out of all the CEA ''Cheerlebrities'', she did that Magazine Cover thing etc
She is a very eloquent person, can express herself very well and also ''sell herself'' very well
Secondly, people who are watching Documentaries usually find it more interesting if it focuses on one interesting person, follows this person around and gives an insight into this one persons life. That's just what people like and that's not very different from the all those ''Reality Shows'' you can see on TV 24/7
And of course they did not know this before, but Maddie gave them the perfect material! She hurt her knee, just before worlds (dramatic) and she fell at worlds which caused Sr Elite to come in third (dramatic aswell)
What more can you ask for as a TV producer?
I know this was not known to happen before they filmed the segment but it definitly helped the producers to make the whole thing more interesting.
I'm not a fan of focusing on one single person of a team, may it be on TV or at a camp or wherever. This usually just leads to envy and bad blood (as Maddies case stated once again) Teenage Girls can be mean, and all of them want attention...
I hope the Girls can get themselves together and act like grown ups and stop bashing Maddie.
Last but not least i liked the segment and i can't wait to see the next ones

 

[mollymags]

I didn't get a chance to watch it before everyone blew up, but once I did watch it, I didn't understand the drama. The focus of the story was all-star cheerleading and Maddie. If she answered the questions with "we" or "us" instead of "I", it would have sounded silly.

I'm very, very happy with this piece and ecstatic that something so positive ended up on prime time television. Whether you're a member of the "teal army" or not, you have to admit that Maddie is an incredible ambassador for what we do. That's not to say that there aren't other girls or boys out there who could have been a great focus as well, but I'm very thankful that someone well rounded, intelligent, and with such poise was chosen as the focal point of the story. She made us all look good.

 

[cheerfor2]

I thought it was great. I love the sport so I am interested in the topic no matter how it is presented, but from the feedback I have gotten (friends and family who are not involved in cheer), they made it interesting to people who know little or nothing about it, well done.
Jealousy always makes the hater look worse than the hated...some people might want to think about that before they speak or tweet.

Does anyone else think that if she had answered the questions directed to her with a "we" people would be saying she shouldn't be speaking for them?

 

[Weezy]

I havent personally watched the piece and hopefully can soon. Anyhow, I am also VERY disappointed at the personal attacks on Maddie....and from whom they are coming. I think she is an excellent representative of allstar cheerleading and no I am not a member of the "Teal Army".

Nelson is being alot kinder than I would if someone took those shots at my daughter.

 

[blunchin]

cnn had 15 minutes to display a sport to the general public and had to make sure that people would stay tuned to watch the segment. you can't get to know 36 girls in 15 minutes but you can certainly relate to one girl in that time frame. no one has ever really been concerned about learning about the other members of the team prior to this segment so i don't know why we're all of a sudden fascinated with the other members. i know maddie's fab and all but i don't think cnn liked her so much to have her at the studio while they were editing the piece.

the girl is the star of the team period. she's one of many defending a world title, was chosen to highlight a pretty difficult solo stunt, injured her knee, and on top of it has an entire cnn feature about her. that's A LOT of pressure for anyone. cnn did a great job of keeping the segment interesting but also grounded and real. it talked about the dedication, the athleticism, teamwork, etc. nothing is ever perfect but don't ignore the positives.

 

[emkaayx]

i really liked the segment, and i've always been a fan of maddie, but some of the things that i saw on twitter were horrible. the tweets i saw made it seem like maddie was a horrible person, i watch the segment 2 times and she was so poised and humble and genuine! the people on twitter were horrible

 

[Mamarazzi]

Try not to look at this from a cheer fanatic's perspective - yes, it's hard to remove what you know and be 100% objective and non-opinionated. So, watch the piece with someone who knows nothing about all star cheerleading and ask their opinion about the sport, not their opinion about Maddie Gardner, based solely on what they saw in that piece. I think that will give you a very good idea of how the piece represented all star.

 

[Mamarazzi]

When the narration was added, I assume at the end of the process, the narrator always uses first person possesive terms. Maddie's team, not SE.

It's so much easier to do that. Simplify the information for the masses. The majority oif CNN viewers don't care which gym this was, and they certainly don't care that this isn't the only level 5 team from that gym. They don't care that there's a difference between a gym and an entire program, a lot of times. The average cheerleader watching that segment knows the nouns "Maddie Gardner," "Senior Elite," "Cheer Extreme All Stars," Erica, Courtney, Alexis, Juliet, levels, ball-up 360 and a million other terms they can whip out in a flash. The average Joe at home, who never even heard of all star cheer, just had to hear the terms Maddie, SE, CEA, Worlds, Courtney, all star cheer, ACL, 2:30, and keep it all straight? Not gonna happen. This show was not done for "us." It was done for "them" (the non-cheer world) and I'm pretty glad it came out the way it did.
They didn't talk once about skimpy outfits, yay-rah-sis-boom-bah, the NFL/NBA, or the fact that "George Bush used to be..." Thank goodness CNN gave "them" something different yet highly informative, based on their knowledge.

 

[cheeringfor3]

Let me first say I am, in general, NOT a fan of CEA. My opinion has NOTHING to do with the athletes, but rather the gym's overall philosophy...and by not being a fan, I mean it is not the atmosphere I would my daughters to cheer in. That being said, I can admire their talent and drive.

But, I really don't think anyone who is criticizing this piece is being fair. I think Maddie Gardner did a beautiful job portraying the life of an allstar cheerleader who cheers at the elite level. CNN was doing a "human interest" piece for the general public, so they needed to get the viewers invested in one person's story. So that a viewer who knows nothing about allstar cheer can sit back and learn about what it means to compete at that level, by following the life of a girl who eats, breathes and sleeps cheer.

Why Maddie? Because we, the cheer community, have made her a "cheerlebrity" and her name probably came up over and over again when CNN was doing their research. Why WOULDN'T they want to feature the point flyer? As has been said before, the non-cheer person is used to teams having a "name-brand" athlete that represents an entire team...Tom Brady, Payton Manning, etc. etc. Even non-fans of their teams generally know their names. So CNN was covering allstar cheer the way they would cover any other sport. Isn't that a GOOD thing, to be treated like any other sport?

As for her using the word "I'...isn't that the way that one answers a question that is directed solely at them?

And did anyone notice that, after her fall at Worlds, she was still saying "I"? "I didn't feel the way that I should". She was taking responsibility for not performing, in her mind, the way that she should. That takes guts.

Finally, I give her A LOT of credit for talking to the reporter so soon after their performance on Day 2. Goodness knows, her emotions must have been raw...to be that composed, and to be able to already start to think back as to what might have happened, that takes a lot of poise and maturity. Her parents and HER TEAM should be proud of her. I know her parents are, we have seen that here. Her coach seemed to be, in the interview they showed last night. But her team, well, the few that have been vocal have been disappointing IMO.