Grand Prix Final 2011/2012 @Quebec City, Canada

polosatik wrote:

My parents were sleeping, it was about 2:00 am in Russia, after Dai's FS I was clapping like crazy, but during Yuzuru's performance I jumped up from my chair(completely forgot about my cat sleeping at my knees), and then epic fail, I fell, my cat jumped to the table, dropped down the lamp,books and fell out of the table. You can imagine what my parents said me after that, that was very nice to hear

I can imagine. After Mao's free skate at NHK I literally shrieked from joy and scared my brother to death. I've never seen that kind of expression on his face before...

I don't remember how many times I said oops when I was watching Chan because I said it so many times ... and he defeated Dai-chan both TES and PCS. RIDICULOUS

polosatik wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

polosatik wrote:

Yuzuru and Dai were the highlight of the day. Their performances made me enjoy skating again!!

Agree, and I loved it how british comentators couldn't stop gushing about Dai's performance during the medal ceremony. They absolutely loved it, to them it was the highlight of the evening.

And I'm so happy for Javi He was adorable on the podium, he looked so happy.

My parents were sleeping, it was about 2:00 am in Russia, after Dai's FS I was clapping like crazy, but during Yuzuru's performance I jumped up from my chair(completely forgot about my cat sleeping at my knees), and then epic fail, I fell, my cat jumped to the table, dropped down the lamp,books and fell out of the table. You can imagine what my parents said me after that, that was very nice to hear

HAha famous! I wish i could have see that

Are they posted already? If not, here is

Akiko FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1TIIGIqOXQ

Yuzuru FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4iYu7xpR1c

Daisuke FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esr4oscGON0

Thanks for the video links!

Me, hubby and some friends from work have watched the broadcast of the GPF here, while we were having dinner today and now i am rewatching Yuzuru's and Dai's performance on youtube. Our friends and even my husband couldn't help but disagree with the points the judges gave Pchan with that LP. i myself wonder where did those points came from with that obviously mistake-ridden free? I am sure not few are convinced; his performance here just wasn't his best to deserve such high points esp. on the PCS.. honestly i am getting immensely tired of all this Chanflation, i hardly comment on Chan anywhere coz honestly i don't care, but this time it's already so disappointing.

It's my first time to visit this thread today and i also just now checked the protocols. I was move by Dai's performance and so glad he came back after the Short, even if he missed his Quad i am so happy it almost got full credit, he will get better in time if he keeps trying it in competitions i suppose. Only i admit i wished he also did good in the short. He commented about Mao in the interview after his LP. And i love him even more when he said his thoughts on Mao and her mother, how he knows Mao really wanted to compete there with them. And he also said, that for some reason he wanted to do his best in the free because perhaps partly of what happened to Mao and her Mom.

And Yuzuru, wow! he was just amazing! That brave move on doing the 4T and actually landing it beautifully!!! Just superb! His LP is the performance of the night for me, no wait, i'd vote for it anytime - as the best performance in the whole of this year's GPF! Despite the miss on his Salchow we all here at home were applauding for him like 'nuts' , Yuzu was just full of passion and was burning with fire in that LP that we all here wished he got a medal. But he's a real talent, so promising and no doubt his time will come. If he could perform like that, as passionate and alive at his young age, he sure will only improve and grew better from here..

Ak'ko was both a real joy to watch in both her SP and LP , though both not perfect she was the only woman in there whom i felt was skating with full energy on the ice, no reserve; no hesitation; and no pretenses. I am truly happy for her getting the Silver. Now i know it's already useless to say, but i still felt Mao's absence greatly, This year's GPF is just not that wonderful without her, but all in all i would say i am proud of all the Japanese skaters- Dai; Yuzuru; and Akiko for their fight and decent performances they have put here. And i really wish Mao also felt it somehow and was likewise proud of them as what the people here are.




* two words were edited due to same use of similar words...

anyone know when Mao is going to have the conference?

purplemaze wrote:

Thanks for the video links!

And Yuzuru, wow! he was just amazing! That brave move on doing the 4T and actually landing it beautifully!!! Just superb! His LP is the performance of the night for me, no wait, i'd vote for it anytime - as the best performance in the whole of this year's GPF! Despite the miss on his Salchow we all here at home were applauding for him like 'nuts' , Yuzu was just full of passion and was burning with fire in that LP that we all here wished he got a medal. But he's a real talent, so promising and no doubt his time will come. If he could perform like that, as passionate and alive at his young age, he sure will only improve and grew better from here..

* two words were edited due to same use of similar words...

Yes, Yuzuru was amazing!! But it was totally ruined for me because I was watching on Universal Sports (they were broadcasting live for once and Michael Weiss just wouldn't shut up during his program!! He kept saying "yes this kid is amazing technically but he needs to improve on performing the piece, showing the emotions etc." and then i was like "shut up! are you even watching?? Let me enjoy his performance because I think his emotional portrayal is quite good!" He was so loud i could barely hear the music! OMG he was just sooo annoying! -__- at least during Jeremy's performance he was like whispering because he said "this music is so quiet I feel like I shouldn't be talking.." lolll and later he shut up and didn't talk much.

Aww Daisuke is so sweet ;_; I actually felt like in the beginning he wasn't very into his program and kept trying to get into it, but then as it went on he really started to feel it and as always he was on fire by the end Not too sure though gotta watch it again to see!

leo wrote:

roma wrote:

I just saw the protocols but haven't seen the videos yet. Some moron gave Dai a 5.50 in transitions and a 6.75 in choreography.

Patrick deserves to win since he has a better SP. But at least, Dai should have the highest LP score. The 5.5 and 6.75 are just wrong. Dai's transition is smooth as silk, and the choreography is full of flares! I love it.

Yes, my face after seeing Pat's scores was similar to that of someone who just finished swallowing a really sour lemon

I can't believe that I ever had nice things to say about the guy, but I'm so proud of Dai, coming back up after the short program, I knew that it would be pretty close to impossible for him to win with a ten point lead from Pat after the sp, but he still should have won the long, I think...I just love the way the ladies in the crowd love him,

kaabi wrote:

Yes, Yuzuru was amazing!! But it was totally ruined for me because I was watching on Universal Sports (they were broadcasting live for once and Michael Weiss just wouldn't shut up during his program!!!

the UniSports commentators were exceptionally annoying, especially in the ladies competition, with Tara and Terry pretty much repeating everything they've already said throughout the season...and they just barely mentioned Mao and the reason for her absence

I actually totally agreed with the nbc commentators after Patrick got his scores. I forget what they said, but they were pretty much shocked and in disagreement with the scores. Even though they were right about what they said, I was pretty surprised to hear them say what they did. Anyone remember what was said?

ElleluvsL wrote:

leo wrote:

roma wrote:

I just saw the protocols but haven't seen the videos yet. Some moron gave Dai a 5.50 in transitions and a 6.75 in choreography.

Patrick deserves to win since he has a better SP. But at least, Dai should have the highest LP score. The 5.5 and 6.75 are just wrong. Dai's transition is smooth as silk, and the choreography is full of flares! I love it.

Yes, my face after seeing Pat's scores was similar to that of someone who just finished swallowing a really sour lemon

I can't believe that I ever had nice things to say about the guy, but I'm so proud of Dai, coming back up after the short program, I knew that it would be pretty close to impossible for him to win with a ten point lead from Pat after the sp, but he still should have won the long, I think...I just love the way the ladies in the crowd love him,

kaabi wrote:

Yes, Yuzuru was amazing!! But it was totally ruined for me because I was watching on Universal Sports (they were broadcasting live for once and Michael Weiss just wouldn't shut up during his program!!!

the UniSports commentators were exceptionally annoying, especially in the ladies competition, with Tara and Terry pretty much repeating everything they've already said throughout the season...and they just barely mentioned Mao and the reason for her absence

Ugh! That's so annoying. I wish they acknowledged Mao at least. They keep acknowledging Kim Yu-na when she's hardly competing nowadays, but they won't even mention Mao! I'm just saying to keep it fair!

Star85 wrote:

I actually totally agreed with the nbc commentators after Patrick got his scores. I forget what they said, but they were pretty much shocked and in disagreement with the scores. Even though they were right about what they said, I was pretty surprised to hear them say what they did. Anyone remember what was said?

Yeah, Weiss was really in disagreement with the PCS, he said he thought Daisuke should be higher and Terry nodded in agreement, didn't say much but you could see both of them had dissatisfied faces.

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Ugh! That's so annoying. I wish they acknowledged Mao at least. They keep acknowledging Kim Yu-na when she's hardly competing nowadays, but they won't even mention Mao! I'm just saying to keep it fair!

I didn't watch the Ladies but I know what you mean, earlier in the season Tara said Alissa and Carolina were probably the most artistic female skaters at the moment and I was like "Excuse me, I think you're forgetting someone who is way more artistic than both of them combined!!" (ok that's an exaggeration, but Mao is way more artistic than Carolina and I would say even more than Alissa!). I think I know where this comes from though, because whenever Tara speaks I'm always reminded of last season where Tara criticized Mao for starting over from the beginning, I remember clearly! She said, "I don't know why Mao Asada is starting over from the beginning when she's already at the top now that Yuna Kim's out of the way. She should just stick it out four more years and win her medals while she can because there will be new skaters coming up and she may not be able to catch up and compete with them. This is a very risky move for her to take." Then after some awkward silence she added, "But if there's anyone who can do this it's Mao Asada, she is such a hard worker etc..."

This quote really shows a lot about Tara's character and how it differs from Mao's! For Tara, (as we can see from how she finished her skating career after she won the gold medal ) it's all about the medals and fame and winning, but Mao does it for pure love of the sport and wants to be the best she can be, even if that means taking a step back to get better! And now that Mao is so much better even after stepping back last year I bet Tara is feeling rather uncomfortable since her thought process was proved wrong HA! So naturally she wouldn't want to talk about Mao much~

(Sorry about the rant and any Tara fans out there, I don't have anything against Tara but I was kind of indignant about what she said last year and never had the chance to properly express my feelings " But I think it definitely shows why she's reluctant to talk about Mao!)

Wow! I had no idea Tara had made those comments. She is usually very positive about Mao. Maybe people are not mentioning Mao's tragedy because her family has always been very private. Tracy Wilson (cbc broadcast) mentioned Mao's mom when Yuzuru was in the kiss and cry waiting for his score. She mentioned that the black ribbon on Yuzu's jacket was in honor of Mao' mom.

Dai and Yuzu were amazing. I cried after Dai’s LP and thought I was all cried out. Boy was I wrong! Yuzu made me cry too. Just wonderful! Javi did a great job too! I’m still heartbroken for Mao and her family. Naturally, I was not all too enthused about watching the GPF. I’m glad I watched with my mom. I was uplifted by Dai and Yuzu’s LP! I think I needed a good cry. I hope to read about personal experiences at the GPF from the members that attended the event.

I'll give Tara (and Terry) a free pass on this. Maybe it's because I actually enjoyed Tara as a skater (in addition to the sheer fact that Tara is quite literally someone numerous Japanese skaters including Mao and Miki look up to) but as far as the technique correction statements from last season is concerned...I saw it less of a criticism as much as it is a genuine confusion as to why Mao decided to correct it in the first place, which is a sentiment quite a few other skaters commentators echoed throughout last season. Tara was already very complimentary regarding Mao's jumps *prior* to the technique overhaul, for one thing. She was one of the very few NA commentators that had nice things to say about Bells, questioned the UR calls Mao received on her 3As at Worlds 2010 coupled with praising the height she got on them, and actually brought up Mao's strength as an all-around skater in her footwork and spins. Most of the NA media outlets were too busy convincing themselves that Mao is some cold robot that only cares about the 3A 24/7 and skated to the ineffective and labored program choreographed by a Russian lady who likes to wear fur.

I'm not quite sure how to put it; I can definitely see why she may rub some folks the wrong way, but snark and/or lack of appreciation towards Mao is the very last thing I sense from her. Not after seeing her and Johnny on the Universal Sports couch during Worlds '10 discussing the ladies, anyway. There was a bit of a raised-eyebrows situation going on in the forums during 4CC because despite her (usual) positive comments towards Mao's performances she stated that she didn't feel much has changed regarding the jumps. I think it was inskate or Okami...or both (my brain is heavily flawed, my apologies in advance) who came to the conclusion that Tara is A) not a dedicated fan who makes gifs/comparison vids and thus isn't able to immediately spot the changes and B) ultimately someone who competed exclusively under 6.0 and might not be as picky of a commentator when it came to COP-appropriate jump technique, period, like Dick and Peggy.

The lack of acknowledgment is rather odd indeed, but I'm not that bothered by it for some reason. Scott and Sandra were irritating to say the least during the Vancouver Olys. when it came to Joannie and her struggles, and if they were part of the commentating team here I'm sure they would have mentioned Mao and Yuzuru's situation every 20 seconds or so coupled with screams and shrieks about brave skates that overcame adversity. I'm not sure if I really want that either.

kaabi wrote:

Yes, Yuzuru was amazing!! But it was totally ruined for me because I was watching on Universal Sports (they were broadcasting live for once and Michael Weiss just wouldn't shut up during his program!! He kept saying "yes this kid is amazing technically but he needs to improve on performing the piece, showing the emotions etc." and then i was like "shut up! are you even watching?? Let me enjoy his performance because I think his emotional portrayal is quite good!" He was so loud i could barely hear the music! OMG he was just sooo annoying! -__- at least during Jeremy's performance he was like whispering because he said "this music is so quiet I feel like I shouldn't be talking.." lolll and later he shut up and didn't talk much.

Well; IMO, Yuzuru at 17 is better at performing than Weiss at his best

Love his comment toward Dai though. This weekend is already bad with all the thing that happen to Mao's family; the chanflation make it worse!

Here's an article by Monica Friedlander about Patty Chan at the GPF.
I like her posts, she usually make good points.

http://savefigureskating.blogspot.com/2011/12/rewarding-failure-diminishes-sport-if.html

Afsfan wrote:

Well; IMO, Yuzuru at 17 is better at performing than Weiss at his best

Heh, I have to agree.

clovera wrote:

The lack of acknowledgment is rather odd indeed, but I'm not that bothered by it for some reason. Scott and Sandra were irritating to say the least during the Vancouver Olys. when it came to Joannie and her struggles, and if they were part of the commentating team here I'm sure they would have mentioned Mao and Yuzuru's situation every 20 seconds or so coupled with screams and shrieks about brave skates that overcame adversity. I'm not sure if I really want that either.

I'm with you on this, clovera. And Terry did mention it, just after they showed the standings after the ladies SP. He simply told us the situation and then moved on. I didn't feel they meant to disrespect Mao or her mother in any way—quite the opposite, in fact.

Honest speaking, I was not bothered by either Tara or Weiss. For them, Mao, Yuzuru and Akiko are just other skaters. They don't have any emotional attachment to any of them. Rather, for Joannie, she is Canadian and well within their culture scope.

Plus, what they said are not completely bull. For example, Yuzuru is still a kid. He definitely needs more improvements especially on his PC, his posture, his facial expressions. (Many times, he faces down too much). I think, Yuzuru can learn a lot from Dai who is an artist on ice!

yeah leo is right just think about how many times tracy keeps repeating that Mao has chosen a CANADIAN Lori Nicol for her choreography...

ballerinamao wrote:

yeah leo is right just think about how many times tracy keeps repeating that Mao has chosen a CANADIAN Lori Nicol for her choreography...

so true she is talking about evil Tat and genius Lori every single time Mao is skating her LP

Afsfan wrote:

kaabi wrote:

Yes, Yuzuru was amazing!! But it was totally ruined for me because I was watching on Universal Sports (they were broadcasting live for once and Michael Weiss just wouldn't shut up during his program!! He kept saying "yes this kid is amazing technically but he needs to improve on performing the piece, showing the emotions etc." and then i was like "shut up! are you even watching?? Let me enjoy his performance because I think his emotional portrayal is quite good!" He was so loud i could barely hear the music! OMG he was just sooo annoying! -__- at least during Jeremy's performance he was like whispering because he said "this music is so quiet I feel like I shouldn't be talking.." lolll and later he shut up and didn't talk much.

Well; IMO, Yuzuru at 17 is better at performing than Weiss at his best

Love his comment toward Dai though. This weekend is already bad with all the thing that happen to Mao's family; the chanflation make it worse!

Haha the British Eurosport ver is really nice though! I have to say, I didn;t watch Yuzuru until this season, so when i was watching COC, and I chanced upon his skate boy! I was soooo blown away first by his artistry and second by those huge jumps! O: (it was only later that the huge 3A was like WHOA.HIGH.) Haha! but I guess it would be lovely to see him mature as a skater! He has quite a lot of promise, and this artistry at 17 has a lot of potential (since he seems to be the kind to connect and draw in the crowd).

Anyway, Team Japan was awesomeee at GPF!! Daisuke was awesomes! So was Akiko and T/T! (happily ignores all weird/awkward/sad moments at GPF)

Sorry for posting so late... I was away and since I knew this would most likely be long, I thought I'd avoid using my cellphone.

I was absolutely crushed Friday when I logged on just before leaving for Quebec city and read that Mao had pulled out. But even without hindsight on the situation, that was the right thing to do and I would have done the same thing. Still, I was soo disapointed that we wouldn't get to see Mao on the comeback trail again. At that time, I thought everything would be fine. Mao would see her mama, the doctors would fix her and everything would turn out fine. So you can imagine my reaction, having just sat in the stands in the arena and picking up my phone to see if there were any updates and learning Kyoko-san was actually gone. And it only got worse as I scrolled down... Mao didn't make it to her bedside... didn't get to say goodbye... When my friend arrived, my eyes were red and I was sniffling like crazy, trying not to cry and worry the nice old ladies sitting behind me (they were worried enough already...). Let's just say I wasn't in a very good mood for skating all of Friday. But my friend was a real angel. He took me out to dinner and some shopping and tried to cheer me up so that I could at least enjoy the weekend. And he confiscated my iPhone. So I didn't get anymore news until Monday night, at which time I cried my eyes out reading Mao's statement. I didn't think there was any way I could have even more respect for her than I already had, but I was completely wrong. SHe is the sweetest, strongest, most amazing human being... I will scream myself raw cheering for her in front of my computer for Nationals and I hope the crowd gives her the ovation and support she deserves.

A couple things on the GPF... The juniors were AMAZING... Zijun Li did fantastic in the free but Julia Lipnitskaya completely stole the show. I was unconvinced after watching her GP events on YT. But I am now a total believer. She is so tiny though.

Without Mao there, the ladies event was quite forgettable. Akiko's program was really nice, fast and powerful. My friend didn't know her at all (in all honesty, before that weekend, he only knew PChan, who he believed was god's gift to figure skating... I was quick to show him there were other options ) but he fell in love... Despite the mistakes, he liked her more than Kostner. He said that while her lines might not be as refined as Kostner in her lines, she was really committed and you could feel her intent up in the stands. That's really special. The only other skaters who gave us the same feeling were Daisuke (in the FS) and Weaver and Poje, who I'm not usually a fan of but thought were undermarked for the fantastic FD they did. Or maybe it's Voir and Merlie who are really overmarked... that's most likely it.

The Men's FS though... That was worth the entire price of the tickets, from Daisuke to Javier, it was just building and building!! And than PChan came out and ruined it by being sloppy and still winning the FS. Don't misunderstand, I think the overall placements are fine. His 10 point lead was more than enough, but I'm still confused about the FS win. He did have 2 3-3 combinations, both of them perfect though... And his quads were rotated though I still think it's terrible how high a 4T(step-out)-2T(ugly two-foot that even I can do) can score so many points. Falls and sloppy landings should really impact PCS too... Shouldn't the performance/execution mark reflect that kind of thing? And obviously, one judge was heavily on the "let's make sure Daisuke doesn't get PCS too high" bandwagon... Seriously what was that about... I hope there is an inquiry because those scores he/she gave out are completely ridiculous.

Anyway, it was a fantastic event, slightly ruined by the fact that I was surrunded by Chan ubers. For some reason, I realised I appeared to be the only one in my section who wasn't a complete stan of Chan and Voir... "of course, I know they're good and that was a really good skate; I like them too. But I prefer Daisuke/Merlie", I would say, and every time, I got the same answer "BUT THEY'RE CANADIAN!!!", topped with a completely traumatized look. So? Couldn't really care less what country they come from. I'll cheer for them just as much as I cheer for any other Canadian athlete and I'm happy when they have good performances, but I have other favorites and they happen to come from another country. Apparently, that's unheard off... This lady was giving me this really superior, condescending "you're a nice little girl but you and I know I know better" when Chan's FS marks came up even though she couldn't tell a triple from a quad. Anyway, that was kind of annoying but I was really happy Daisuke pulled up to 2nd. Yuzuru totally had to performance of the night. He won the cowd, I think, even more than Daisuke, and I saw thousands of people jump on the edge of the seats and cover their faces/eyes/mouths when he tripped up of his last 3S. Awesome crowd reaction!! I was thrilled for him. In the gala, aside from Chan and Voir (of course), I think he got some of the loudest cheers when he got introduced.

We hung around Sunday morning after the gala practice, and I was a little bummed that I hadn't gotten up and gone to the other side of the rink fast enough to catch Daisuke once he got off the ice... PChan was still there and my friend was wetting himself in excitement (sorry... crude but it was pretty darn close...). Being 6'4", he easily got spotted over the throngs of little girls in the stands when he asked for a photo. So I took it for him, smiled at PChan, who looked kinda disapointed he got to take a photo with the creepy old dude but not with the cute young girl (being sarcastic here... I do not think so highly of myself, but you should really have seen his face!!) Looking around, I could kinda understand how we stood out... little girls everywhere! So yeah, I was completely depressed I'd missed Daisuke by the time the FD came around. We went to buy some water during the warm-up and as we were heading back, I almost ran over him... I started apologizing without really looking at the person in front of me (didn't have my contacts so it's kinda embarrassing to squint at people's faces... I prefer to avoid it) and I was about to step aside and walk by when my friend made this really strange noise... he says he just cleared his thoat to get my attention, but I'm pretty sure he squealed like a 12 yo girl, caught himself and choked on it (he is a big and tall grown man of 36... I'm still teasing him over it lol). I've met a couple people I admire a lot over the years and usually can hold myself pretty well and not come accross as a blubbering idiot, but apparently, I was having an off day, because I kinda teared up a little and it showed. It was all really embarrassing. I don't really look my age, but it's obvious I'm no teenager who faints in front of rockstars (and he is a rockstar)... Anyway, the face he made was really funny! He's not tall or big in any way, but he is sooo intimidating, at least to me. Not in a bad way... I'm pretty sure if I'd been standing in line, waiting to meet him, I'd have been composed enough to get over my starry eyed syndrome, but yeah... I was a little unprepared. He was really really nice though. And his smile is so gorgeous! Gah! I think I fell in love right there on the spot. We took a picture and I got a few words in without stuttering too much... Can't really remember... Something about being a really long-time fan and wishing him luck for Nationals I guess. He was obviously going somewhere and I didn't want to detain him, but I added that I loved Mao with all my heart and that all of us were thinking of her and wishing she could feel our love and support halfway across the world. I don't think he was expecting that... The smile he gave me then is something I'll treasure for the rest of my life (makes me sound stalker-ish but who cares).

So that was, my special moment. I am now overexcited about live skating and was caught by my boyfriend looking at Worlds 2013 brochures... so totally out of my budget but anyone can dream right? I hope some of you read through to the end because that was really the best part of the entire weekend.
I'll be extremely busy at work next week so I won't be here very often, but I hope to see many of you online for the ladies SP on the 23! Let's all cheer so loud that Mao will hear us!

Thanks chiyori! I'm sorry that you were not able to see Mao in person.

I'm happy for you about the encounter with Dai. Your description is vivid and very funny. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you!

thanks chiyori for sharing you're experience, I actually thought of you and bibi when i knew Mao withdrew from the competition, cause you guys have been sooo looking forward to it, anyway loved the part where you screamed to Dai that you loved Mao, haha most have looked hilarious...

chiyori, I envy you!!! If I were to meet Dai I think I'd faint. :-)

OMG I'm soo jealous you got to meet Daisuke, and in such a manner too! I would've been the same haha, I feel exactly the same way about him!! And the fact you almost ran over him so jealous!!! It was nice of you to add your condolences to Mao too!! He must've been surprised loll.
AHHH any chance you can share your pictures?? If it's too much trouble/invasion of privacy I totally understand though!