Who's ready for a Minions happy dance?
Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté said Tuesday that he might skate his Minions-themed program at the Olympics after all. He shared on Instagram that Universal is allowing him to use music from its popular animated franchise for the “special occasion” and said he is working to overcome remaining obstacles.
“There are still a couple of things to tie up with the other 2 songs on the show, but we are very close to achieving it!” Guarino Sabaté wrote in his update thanking his followers. “I'm so happy to see that minions hitting the Olympic ice are getting real again!! I'll keep you posted!”
Guarino Sabaté, Spain's six-time national champion, said Monday that he had been informed on Friday, exactly a week before the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games, that the medley of “Minions” music to which he had skated, while wearing a blue jumpsuit and a yellow T-shirt, all season could not be used at the Olympics due to copyright issues. This meant that Guarino Sabaté, who was scheduled to make his Olympic debut with his Minions-themed short program on February 10, would have to change his plans at the last minute. What bananas.
The cheerful yellow creatures are a signature of Universal and Illumination's “Despicable Me” film franchise. NBCUniversal owns the US media rights to the Olympics.
“I found out about this… so close to the most important competition of my life, it was incredibly disappointing,” Guarino Sabaté wrote in his post sharing the initial news. “This season I competed with my Minions short program to bring joy and fun style to the ice while also ticking all the right boxes to prove that skating as a men's Olympic figure skater can be fun… However, I will face this challenge head-on and do my best to make the best of it.”
The Olympian said then that he had followed proper procedures and submitted his music through the rights clearance system recommended by the International Skating Union in August. The situation has drawn attention to the complexities of music licensing and how it affects artistic sports like figure skating. Contemporary music is not in the public domain and skaters are responsible for cleaning up their own music.
For now, fans will have to hold out hope that Guarino Sabaté's dream of bringing Minions mayhem to Olympic ice finally comes true.
