Mao News- Post Olympics heading to the new season

Thanks for all the hearty "welcome backs" everyone! You are all too sweet!

Well, it's still only a rumor, so I guess we shouldn't get too excited!

I understand why aoi88 and polosatik are a little disappointed if Mao chooses "Liebestraum"--it's kind of been there, done that.

But, a part of me thinks that might be just what Mao needs. It's a piece that fits her natural style, so she won't have to think too hard about doing the choreography right--it will be easy for her. And perhaps that will allow her to focus her concentration on the harder things--like the 3Lz. I imagine having to juggle newly reworked jumps AND difficult music might be too much. (But of course, our beloved Mao-chan does love a challenge! )

More importantly, I think the message from the judges has been that they want to see Mao with pwetty, pwetty music and pwetty costumes. So in a way, I think it would be strategic/beneficial for Mao to pick something in her "style", so that she can make all the judges go, "oh yeah, this is why we thought she was totally the best in 2006...she's sooo pwettty!!"....and then, once she's got the judges rooting for her again, THEN she can go for the Stravinsky or whatever atonal, dark, complicated music her heart desires!!

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Going back to the interview...

Another funny comment from the interview was about those collar things that Mao has been wearing in recent seasons. They ask her about who's idea it is, and she says something like, "It's not coming from me, but Tatiana likes to put something around my neck."

Aha, so it's TAT's ideas to have the collars!! Interesting!

Thanks so much for the link Dani-chan!! I'm so happy I finally got to read the interview! And thank you Batsuchan for the other info, and welcome back BTW! Did you read the magical kingdom of figure skating yet?! You're a pretty important person in that place. lol.

As far as Liebestraum goes, it [/i]is[i] pretty similar to Nocturn, but on the other hand, I LOVED Mao's Nocturn! And as long as I see Mao do another beautiful, soft song, I will be happy! I don't care if it's her "old style" as someone mentioned. I love her old style best. Mao has proved that she can skate to pretty much anything, so where's there to go now? Unless she wants to do hip hop, she should choose the type of music that has worked best for her out of everything she's ever skated to - which in most people's opinions would be light music.

NEW: 2011 Figure Skating Calendar - Available July 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8eKstLkGJs

kirakira wrote:

NEW: 2011 Figure Skating Calendar - Available July 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8eKstLkGJs

They chose really great pics of everyone! But I'm really surprised that they left out a few certain skaters! Not that I really care, as long as Mao is in it, but I really couldn't imagine why they would leave out Yuna. I would also think that they would put in Plushy. And pobably Johnny, and Miki, before a couple other ones that they did include....

Star85 wrote:

kirakira wrote:

NEW: 2011 Figure Skating Calendar - Available July 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8eKstLkGJs

They chose really great pics of everyone! But I'm really surprised that they left out a few certain skaters! Not that I really care, as long as Mao is in it, but I really couldn't imagine why they would leave out Yuna. I would also think that they would put in Plushy. And pobably Johnny, and Miki, before a couple other ones that they did include....

Yu Na has never been in those calendar...I wonder why. Maybe it's made by IMG and Yu Na is not a IMG skater..

Thanks for the calendar info, kirakira!

Star85 wrote:

And thank you Batsuchan for the other info, and welcome back BTW! Did you read the magical kingdom of figure skating yet?! You're a pretty important person in that place. lol.

OMG, I totally did not see that thread!! I have so much catching up to do!! Thank you Star85 for bringing it to my attention! Now that I've read it, I feel so very honored!!

I wonder if Mao will announce her song choices before DOI next week!! Can't wait!!!!!

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/soccer/eusoccer/0910/players/headlines/20100616-00000051-kyodo_sp-spo.html

3A-for-women-in-the-SP amendment officially passed.

ISU Communication 1609
ISU Communication 1615

There's quite a few proposals I hope will pass as well aside from eliminating anonymous judging, including:
Proposal 163, 164, 165, or 166 (Austria, Canada, Russia, US)
◇The elimination of the random draw◇
- I find this to be particularly important - the final result of a competition with a small point difference between competitors (say, 1 to 3 points) can almost always come out differently if a varying random draw of judges' scores were used. This "chance" factor playing heavily into the outcome of a skating competition was particularly bad this Olympic season and it's about time the concept is scrutinized and reconsidered. It's no wonder a total of four federations have a proposal to discontinue it...

Proposal 182 (Canada)
◆Removing the lowest and highest score given by the judging panel; only the remaining scores are used in calculating the final score of a particular skate◆
- This, combined with Proposals 163-166 (whichever one) should be a big step towards eliminating the factor of chance from deciding the outcome of a competition.

Proposal 185, 186, 187, 188 (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)
◇Implement the 1.1x time bonus for jump elements in the Short Program◇
- This applies especially to the men. While front-loaded programs can work and aren't necessarily a bad thing, it seemed to be happening a bit too much this season. At this year's Worlds, only 7 of the top 24 men didn't front-load all three of their jumping passes as their first three elements (it was the exact opposite with the ladies).

This year's ISU Congress ends on the 18th; here's hoping for the best!

Thanks for the updates clovera! I hope they pass all those things (especially the first one). There are people out there who want the system to change for the better, and make more sense. Passing these proposals would be a good step in the right direction. If the ISU wants what's best for the sport as well, I sure hope they pass these proposals, or at least something very similar to them.

coach information
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/100617/spm1006170516000-n1.htm
seems like akiko's coach would be her jump coach.

tianrushui wrote:

coach information
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/100617/spm1006170516000-n1.htm
seems like akiko's coach would be her jump coach.

I think Nagakubo-san did a fantastic jump helping Akiko get her jumps back! I would be VERY excited with this choice!! He looks like such a sweet man too... I'm sure he and Mao would click!

ETA: I hope they throw out the random draw... With the judging panel getting smaller and smaller, it just doesn't make any sense. And actually, I don't think it made much sense to begin with. Why throw in luck when you already have to deal with the subjective side of judging...

Good news I like Akiko's coach. I saw a translation of the news at FSU and I am a little confused about the wording. Akiko's coach is likely to be her special jump coach and not exclusive coach. So, does that mean someone else will be the exclusive coach?

Did you guys see the requirements for juniors on page 137 of Comm. 1609? Required solo jump for ladies and men: loop in 2010-2011, lutz in 2011-2012, and flip in 2012-2013... They're also alternating between a flying sit and a flying camel. I think it's a great way to help junior skaters master all the elements, especially the jumps. We'll be seeing more and more young skaters with a complete jump arsenal in the coming years.

Finally, this system seems to be headed in a direction that will benefit the sport

aoi88 wrote:

Good news I like Akiko's coach. I saw a translation of the news at FSU and I am a little confused about the wording. Akiko's coach is likely to be her special jump coach and not exclusive coach. So, does that mean someone else will be the exclusive coach?

Yup - Coach Nagakubo will be Mao's jump coach. The announcement regarding Mao's main coach is yet to be made.

chiyori wrote:

Did you guys see the requirements for juniors on page 137 of Comm. 1609? Required solo jump for ladies and men: loop in 2010-2011, lutz in 2011-2012, and flip in 2012-2013...

It's great to see the alternating jump and spin requirements continue for the next few seasons. In terms of Ice Dance, it looks like the CD has indeed been completely removed from major senior-level competitions and is now called a "Pattern Dance" (the OD, similarly, is now the Short Dance). The Pattern Dance is more or less a junior-only segment now.

clovera wrote:

chiyori wrote:

Did you guys see the requirements for juniors on page 137 of Comm. 1609? Required solo jump for ladies and men: loop in 2010-2011, lutz in 2011-2012, and flip in 2012-2013...

It's great to see the alternating jump and spin requirements continue for the next few seasons. In terms of Ice Dance, it looks like the CD has indeed been completely removed from major senior-level competitions and is now called a "Pattern Dance" (the OD, similarly, is now the Short Dance). The Pattern Dance is more or less a junior-only segment now.

Has this been going on in the last seasons? I never really did follow juniors before... Were they already only allowed to do a specific jump out of connecting steps?

tianrushui wrote:

coach information
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/100617/spm1006170516000-n1.htm
seems like akiko's coach would be her jump coach.

Is it for sure? Or are they just thinking about it?
I'm thrilled to finally hear something about her coaching situation. I was so worried.

chiyori wrote:

clovera wrote:

chiyori wrote:

Did you guys see the requirements for juniors on page 137 of Comm. 1609? Required solo jump for ladies and men: loop in 2010-2011, lutz in 2011-2012, and flip in 2012-2013...

It's great to see the alternating jump and spin requirements continue for the next few seasons. In terms of Ice Dance, it looks like the CD has indeed been completely removed from major senior-level competitions and is now called a "Pattern Dance" (the OD, similarly, is now the Short Dance). The Pattern Dance is more or less a junior-only segment now.

Has this been going on in the last seasons? I never really did follow juniors before... Were they already only allowed to do a specific jump out of connecting steps?

I think it's already something that was required? I know that this season the flip was required... Yuzuru had to do it even though he got an edge call every time! I could be thinking of something else though?

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