Skate Canada 2011

Adam as he takes the opening pose in this costume looks so much like a perfect Greek statue. God, the man's beautiful. It reminded me of Gordeeva and Grinkov and their vocalise program--at least until he started skating.) Not perfect, but showed great fight coming back from early disappointment.

I would have liked to see Daisuke T. skate Javier's programs, Javier's long especially. The classical style is one I'd like to see him delve into more. With his talent for expression, he can even meld classicism with comedy. Dai's long program currently does not appeal to me. I just hate this music.

On the other hand, Dai's new short underwhelmed the first time I saw it, but here the short was awesome. There is a nuance of expression I hadn't seen before--even the spins felt like they were really _on_ the music. Maybe this can happen with 'Blues' as well?

I like Javier and Ross and hope to see a perfect rendition of both of these long programs at some point this season.

As for the judging... *shrugs* Daisuke knew what he signed up for, now that his days as Japan's #1 are in the rearview mirror. At the time when I read his statement (paraphrasing here) about how he wants to keep skating, even if he might (will) be passed by younger skaters, I admired his honesty and outlook. Now that I've seen it in action, I find I've underestimated how irked I'd feel seeing him under-appreciated.

Whatever. Skating has always been this way--how long have fans complained about Akiko Suzuki's PCS? Have the judges suddenly seen the light, or is it the new landscape--no YNK, no Miki, Mao not yet consistent (I know she had momentum from JPN and 4CC, and Worlds was an exceptional circumstance, etc.), Haruka and Kanako not yet ready to seize Japan's #1? To my eyes, Akiko's Fiddler on the roof program suited her even better than this year's Die Fledermaus, yet only now is she being rewarded.

When I think about the judges holding inconsistency against a skater, I think more than ever Mao must make that her #1 goal. Yes, there might be a PCS bonus for having a difficult layout, but I think this bonus isn't applied to every ambitious skater--only to whomever is the darling of the day (dictated by politics PLUS whoever is the clear #1 from each federation--for example, with the results of Skate America and Skate Canada on record this season, one would think--well, I would think--that Mirai's going to have an even tougher road to establishing herself as the US #1, both with American and international judges).

Anyway... I'm thankful Daisuke showed me something new with this short program, and among the men, there are interesting long programs that might be masterpieces if skated well.

Among the ladies, I think Liza T. has a wonderful ear for music--even when I find her arm and hand movements a bit too 'busy,' I marvel at how on-the-beat and how graceful she is. Only thing is, I would like to see her beautiful finger tips--I wish she wouldn't wear the gloves. Same wish I had when Mao wore gloves for her Bells of Moscow program

Disappointed once again for Takahashi and Tran, but what beautiful music, choreography (except for the last lift), and costumes.

at the men's event.

As with the ladies' result in SA, there's (unfortunately) not much grunting I can do from a TES perspective. PatC is for better or for worse, an above-average spinner and simply skates far better than Javier period, although as usual for Skate Canada dear Pattie just had to have bobbles on every other jumping pass, a fall on the 4T, and another splat on what appears to be the walley entrance to his intended 3Lz SEQ. It's too bad Javier isn't exactly an all-around skater yet and made just as many small jumping errors as PatC in the FS. That said, the fact that he would still lose the FS and would just barely have the lead over PatC overall if the solo 3A was landed cleanly is really too much. The culprit of this is of course, PCS. Bzzz. I'm glad that Dai's PCS is still strong though.

Cup of China will be fascinating - hopefully not in a bad way - just in terms of the PCS and how the top competitors there can possibly stack up against what happened here in SC.

skfan wrote:

Whatever. Skating has always been this way--how long have fans complained about Akiko Suzuki's PCS? Have the judges suddenly seen the light, or is it the new landscape-- (...) To my eyes, Akiko's Fiddler on the roof program suited her even better than this year's Die Fledermaus, yet only now is she being rewarded.

This observation is incorrect. It's still too early to tell but Akiko's Fidder on the Roof program still remains, on average, her best LP as far as PCS is concerned and the only program of hers that managed to hit the 60s internationally on the second mark. Die Fledermaus's achievement(s) at Skate Canada are mostly TES-related - no URs/DGs, and level 4s on all of the elements, including the SLSS. A 55.60 on the PCS is not a reward for Akiko; it's pretty conservative.

clovera wrote:

at the men's event.

As with the ladies' result in SA, there's (unfortunately) not much grunting I can do from a TES perspective. PatC is for better or for worse, an above-average spinner and simply skates far better than Javier period, although as usual for Skate Canada dear Pattie just had to have bobbles on every other jumping pass, a fall on the 4T, and another splat on what appears to be the walley entrance to his intended 3Lz SEQ. It's too bad Javier isn't exactly an all-around skater yet and made just as many small jumping errors as PatC in the FS. That said, the fact that he would still lose the FS and would just barely have the lead over PatC overall if the solo 3A was landed cleanly is really too much. The culprit of this is of course, PCS. Bzzz. I'm glad that Dai's PCS is still strong though.

Cup of China will be fascinating - hopefully not in a bad way - just in terms of the PCS and how the top competitors there can possibly stack up against what happened here in SC.

skfan wrote:

Whatever. Skating has always been this way--how long have fans complained about Akiko Suzuki's PCS? Have the judges suddenly seen the light, or is it the new landscape-- (...) To my eyes, Akiko's Fiddler on the roof program suited her even better than this year's Die Fledermaus, yet only now is she being rewarded.

This observation is incorrect. It's still too early to tell but Akiko's Fidder on the Roof program still remains, on average, her best LP as far as PCS is concerned and the only program of hers that managed to hit the 60s internationally on the second mark. Die Fledermaus's achievement(s) at Skate Canada are mostly TES-related - no URs/DGs, and level 4s on all of the elements, including the SLSS. A 55.60 on the PCS is not a reward for Akiko; it's pretty conservative.

well, with regards to akiko's PCS, i was talking about relative numbers--she got a big PCS score, relative to the PCS of others in this one competition. from what i understand scores from different competitions are given by different panels of judges and can't always be directly compared (die fledermaus vs. fiddler...). of course, the ISU keeps track of things like personal bests, season's best, world records, and use scores across competitions as tie-breakers at times, so you have a point--they are at least partially comparable.

i saw the happiness of other net fans as they give play by play, how they feel akiko being 'above the field' was adequately recognized at this one competition--the big gap between her and the other skaters at the same competition. i looked at the TES and PCS on the event page, but i didn't really crunch the numbers, run an analysis. too lazy


in so far as absolute numbers, i readily yield to your more carefully researched opinion with regards to akiko's PCS, in this competition or past competitions. i usually stay out of judging debates, even when i disagree quite vehemently--such as when YNK led after the short at Moscow Worlds, and nearly every single time I see Patrick Chan's PCS (he's superior, but by that many points?) sometimes i engage in net arguments when the scoring within a competition is (to my eyes) such a galling deviation from what's fair that i'm not able to hold back my typing fingers, but i strive to stay out of it, so if, god forbid, mao should be scored unfairly at some point in the future, my not typing an essay on it does NOT mean i support mao being robbed.

re: the skate america ladies comp, i did not mean to come across so confrontational with regards to your statement (i'm paraphrasing) that this is on par for COP. i apologize for that--i meant no disrespect. i wasn't angry at you, i was angry at the competition results, those who put this system in place and manipulated it. if you (or anyone reading this) feel that politics play but a minor role in modern day judging, i respect your opinion, but i'll respectfully disagree.

skate america is already in the past--after 20 plus years of watching figure skating judging, i've learned to distance myself from the whole thing rather quickly. i watch skating for the art, not the jumps. it's a blessing that there are skaters like mao and daisuke--skaters whose artistry keeps me watching, no matter how the judging may irritate me at times.

i'll try to remember that i've been through this before, and settle for just an eyeroll next time

I am pretty weak about technique and the only jump I can recognize everytime is axel
I will only talk about how I feel when I watch those programs.

Akiko is the one who enjoy her own programs. The main difference between those young skaters and her is she didn't let those mistakes take her down. she made mistake in first jump in her SP, you just can't tell that happened if you only look at rest of the performance. even you look at her face right after the miss, she didn't show any difference. then she gave you a beautiful program. Her fs, she landed the beautiful 3T after the 1A like that is the original plan and she is the joy to watch.

Mirai, don't know what is going on with her. she was strong last season and she became unstable again. just like Caroline of SA, you can feel the anger after they made mistakes and that really impact their performance. she skated with no power and like "here do the move, and there do the move". she did it better in Nebelhorn trophy.

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team his performance...maybe because I am Asian, I still can't get used to those facial expression from him. as usual, he made mistakes in CA and won.

Dai, very honest and brave. I also can't get the idea of his SP but he is always so into that. even he had his surgery and the off season is shorter than usual, he still got two new programs and got back to us. I am glad those incident in GPF and worlds didn't impact his PCS, since what happened in GPF and worlds were not his faults. ( of course, the GPF thing ...I wont' blame Taka too much. If they can choose, they didn't want that happen too)

Due to the timezone difference, I did't watch all vids yet. my wish this year will be at least...there will be fair competition for ladies' event.

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

why I have never think of this. Great comparision. Who should be enemy to invade their world then?

Liiiizaaaa!!!!!!!! My baby!!! Congrats with your first gold in seniors!!! What a skater, well I hope Adelina won't make the same successful debut (I'm evil, hahaha_)

Afsfan wrote:

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

why I have never think of this. Great comparision. Who should be enemy to invade their world then?

Maybe Tatiana and Maxim can play the bad guys. Someone should make a montage.

Congratulations, Polosatik! I was very happy for Lisa, too, although I was sad for Alena at the same time. I think Alena looks much better with Morozov and sort of more polished, but her programs are strange this season. She looks like Miki in her LP, only worse.
And I like Adelina too, so hopefully she will do well, I just want her to lose to Mao in Russia and she can win everything else

http://ameblo.jp/suzuki-akko/entry-11064758101.html
Akiko ~fans and her friends called her Akko, updated her blog yesterday.
she shared the sad story about Skate Canada 2003.
she checked the rink for SC this year to see if she had been there before and what kind of rink that is.
Then she realized the prior SC took place in the rink is SC 2003, which supposed to be her senior debut. but she was sick and stayed at home for recovery.
she skipped the whole season~she still remembered that she called the JSF for her withdrawal for GP assignment then cried her heart out.

after 8 years, she felt grateful that finally she is here and healthy.

You can check her wiki if you are interested to know what happened to her healthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Suzuki


heard about they arrived Japan together~team Japan

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

Haha, my thoughts exactly!! (Except the Kamen Rider part)

dangerous_angel_face wrote:

Afsfan wrote:

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

why I have never think of this. Great comparision. Who should be enemy to invade their world then?

Maybe Tatiana and Maxim can play the bad guys. Someone should make a montage.

or make a pic like this

shikure wrote:

dangerous_angel_face wrote:

Afsfan wrote:

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

why I have never think of this. Great comparision. Who should be enemy to invade their world then?

Maybe Tatiana and Maxim can play the bad guys. Someone should make a montage.

or make a pic like this

Ha ha ha! This totally cracked me up, really hilarious!!!
Did you make this yourself shikure? Nice One!
thanks for sharing, coach Sato is my most favourite here (⌒0⌒)／~~Hee hee

purplemaze wrote:

shikure wrote:

dangerous_angel_face wrote:

Afsfan wrote:

shikure wrote:

P-chan, the FS costume...looks like he is going to save the world with Taka...they looks like Kamen Rider from the same team

why I have never think of this. Great comparision. Who should be enemy to invade their world then?

Maybe Tatiana and Maxim can play the bad guys. Someone should make a montage.

or make a pic like this

Ha ha ha! This totally cracked me up, really hilarious!!!
Did you make this yourself shikure? Nice One!
thanks for sharing, coach Sato is my most favourite here (⌒0⌒)／~~Hee hee

No, ppl thought it's from Keiji Tanaka's fan ...lol...Miki is so hilarious

shikure wrote:

No, ppl thought it's from Keiji Tanaka's fan ...lol...Miki is so hilarious

i see. yes miki just looks so smokin' hot and seductive up there, and lol for the morosov behind her.
such an idea (whoever made this)!! gave me a good laugh.
thanks again shikure!