Mao News - The 2012-2013 Season!

A bit OT but I really like this blogger's post on Mao: Monday Memory: Mao Asada

And a very nice quote from this person:

Quote :

“But beneath all that makeup and fancy costumes is just a girl who fell in love with the ice”

news clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpGQmvh1QVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r194YhCOnr4

Alokya wrote:

Edge call on the lutz? That's questionable. I watched that one really carefully and it really looked like an actual lutz.

In my opinion, it's still a flutz, her outside edge has improved a lot, she souldn't receive -2 GOE anymore if the landing is clean, but it's still not a pure outside edge...

I wonder if this Mirai's "I got rhythm"was also choreographed by Lori.
If so, I don't think I am glad with this choice of music for now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qXIt_7ta0r0

Mao really got rhythm in this program

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZk7vEKpAOQ

silenceisgolden wrote:

I wonder if this Mirai's "I got rhythm"was also choreographed by Lori.
If so, I don't think I am glad with this choice of music for now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qXIt_7ta0r0

Mao really got rhythm in this program

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZk7vEKpAOQ

As I mentioned earlier Mirai's program was choreographed by Lori, but I wouldn't worry about that. Back when Mirai had this program created she was a young girl, still skating in Juniors and just planning to make her senior debut. Her program was very well received and praised for being age-appropriate and she skated awesomely, but didn't have the skating skills or maturity that Mao has now.

The same piece of music can be interpreted in many different ways - it all depends on the skater's age, skill level and artistic ability. TAT used Sheherazade and Swan Lake for Mao and Adelina, but their programs were very different and suitable for their skill level. Similarly, the Sing, Sing, Sing EX linked above was choreographed by Lori - compare it with Rachael Flatt's Sing Sing, Sing (also by Lori) and they don't look anything alike choreo-wise.

Plus, the article above mentions that Mao's SP was inspired by tap-dancing and earlier Mao had mentioned that it was musical-like, so I don't think Mao's I Got Rhythm will look similar to Mirai's. If anything, it might be closer to Sing, Sing, Sing (which had some tap-dancing at the end) and Mary Poppins (which had musical-esque choreo).

silenceisgolden wrote:

Mao really got rhythm in this program

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZk7vEKpAOQ

I love this program I wish she'd skated to this in 08/09 season, though Por una Cabeza was fab as well.

I can't wait to see her new SP, if it's anything like Sing, Sing, Sing, she'll blow everyone away, imo.

Tap Dancing and musical-like? That'd be nice! I can now imagine that when Mao skates her EX to Mary Poppins and has to do an encore, it'll be to I Got Rhythm.

roma wrote:

Tap Dancing and musical-like? That's be nice! I can now imagine that when Mao skates her EX to Mary Poppins and has to do and encore, it'll be to I Got Rhythm.

Yes! I hope there will be many encores for Mao this season.

http://maimao-asada.com/mai/ Mai's blog update

my question is who was taking the pic...so lucky

good to to see Mao eating something I think at JO she looked the same as in 2008 and i really loved seeing that!

ballerinamao, I agree, her body looks great this season. Hopefully, she'll keep the weight.

shikure thanks for posting this. What are they eating? Potato chips?

Thank you for the feedback, Inskate!
My disappointment mainly comes from the music itself
because I felt the one for Mirai's program was a bit boring and thought if
the choreographer was the same, the music source would be the same.
(just like the case of Sing Sing Sing and Sheherazade, IIRC.)
I hope Mao's actual performance will blow away this impression
with the program like you described.

MaoChan756 wrote:

linglang wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

shikure wrote:

Alokya wrote:

Edge call on the lutz? That's questionable. I watched that one really carefully and it really looked like an actual lutz.

that was what taka said to Mao when Mao got back to her seat. she asked him "is the luz okay?", then he said "it's okay"
but she got edge call
sounds like he is her technique coach that she asked him the luz, then told him she made mistake in spin then asked his opinion about the scores.

(sigh) They're always hard on Mao. It saddens me............

It seems this season judges are more strict for 3z. People started to talk about it when junior GPS started and now it looks like the same for senior ladies and men. I hope judges will be equally strict about edge call for 3F too.

I also have a question about -3 GOE. I understand -3 is supposed to be given to a jump fall but not to a poorly executed jump as long as skater didn't fall. There are some judges who gave -3 to not fallen jumps. Mao, Ashly and Akiko got it. Why?

Well - might be some new changes in rules we are unaware of...:/
The -3 scores are quite random - So I would not suspect favoritism...
I really want Mao to concentrate on her jumps - She needs more speed going in them -

That's what I was thinking. They're significantly better than before at least! I just hope Mao will peak by the Olympics because I know how badly she wants her dream.

i'm not very familiar with the code of points, so how COP friendly is mao's long program? i know i keep hearing many of her previous programs weren't so COP friendly (and i can sort of see why).

How COP friendly I cannot say. However, I'm beginning to wonder why most of Mao's FS jumps are in the first half of her program. Only the 3L-2L and 3F-2L-2L are done after the halfway mark. Most will take advantage of using the halfway mark to get more points but Mao's FS this season definitely the other way around this season.

how much point does one get when one executes the jumps after the the first half of the program?

but i wouldn't worry to much about, we all know that Mao's jump layout will change as the season progresses!

ballerinamao wrote:

how much point does one get when one executes the jumps after the the first half of the program?

but i wouldn't worry to much about, we all know that Mao's jump layout will change as the season progresses!

You get a 10% bonus for each jump that is done after 1.25 min in the SP (new rule) and after 2 min mark in the long. For example, fopr a 3 lutz (base value 6 points) executed after 2 min mark is worth 6.6 points, add + goe and you can get yourself a nice advantage.

roma wrote:

However, I'm beginning to wonder why most of Mao's FS jumps are in the first half of her program. Only the 3L-2L and 3F-2L-2L are done after the halfway mark. Most will take advantage of using the halfway mark to get more points but Mao's FS this season definitely the other way around this season.

I was surprised about this myself, because you know that other medal candidates will try to take advantage of the rule and land as many triples as possible in the second half.

I do agree with ballerinamao, and I wouldn't be surprised if this layout is just for the first half of the season. I hope so at least.

Next week the GP series begins with Skate America although Mao is not competing until Cup of China. Without Miki, seems like most of the pressure for Japan to medal will fall on our girl. Not only that, people might be looking to compare with how well she'll score against Julia given that Julia's score at Finlandia is higher that what she and Ashley got at Japan Open.

I hope that by that time Mao is already quite comfortable with her programs. I want her to skate with confidence reflected in her eyes the moment she takes to the ice, not skate as cautiously as she did at JO and most importantly not get any UR jumps. An 'e' might still suffice for the Lutz but really hoping for no URs so that we'll get a clearer picture as to what Mao's score range might be this season.

If she does her jumps clean and consistently improves in each competition her confidence and scores will only get higher. Looking back to the season before the last Olympics I think that was how Yuna's scores started getting astronomical. Carolina, even with her jump content, was also quite consistent that her scores were also quite high the past two seasons. And Ashley is also putting up consistently good skates internationally. She's already looking quite strong this early in the season. After last season and her winning JO I'm sure the judges will be looking out for her. Lets see how well she does at SA next week.

Still hoping to see a 3-3 from Mao later this season (and hopefully in her SP). Just basing on her JO score we can already guess she'll be able to break her PB even without a 3-3 and 3A so long as she'll skate real clean and without URs. Lets hope it happens this season.

We've already seen her Swan Lake. Now I can't wait to see her skate to I Got Rhythm.

roma wrote:

Next week the GP series begins with Skate America although Mao is not competing until Cup of China. Without Miki, seems like most of the pressure for Japan to medal will fall on our girl. Not only that, people might be looking to compare with how well she'll score against Julia given that Julia's score at Finlandia is higher that what she and Ashley got at Japan Open.

I hope that by that time Mao is already quite comfortable with her programs. I want her to skate with confidence reflected in her eyes the moment she takes to the ice, not skate as cautiously as she did at JO and most importantly not get any UR jumps. An 'e' might still suffice for the Lutz but really hoping for no URs so that we'll get a clearer picture as to what Mao's score range might be this season.

If she does her jumps clean and consistently improves in each competition her confidence and scores will only get higher. Looking back to the season before the last Olympics I think that was how Yuna's scores started getting astronomical. Carolina, even with her jump content, was also quite consistent that her scores were also quite high the past two seasons. And Ashley is also putting up consistently good skates internationally. She's already looking quite strong this early in the season. After last season and her winning JO I'm sure the judges will be looking out for her. Lets see how well she does at SA next week.

Still hoping to see a 3-3 from Mao later this season (and hopefully in her SP). Just basing on her JO score we can already guess she'll be able to break her PB even without a 3-3 and 3A so long as she'll skate real clean and without URs. Lets hope it happens this season.

We've already seen her Swan Lake. Now I can't wait to see her skate to I Got Rhythm.

i'm afraid mao can't land a triple triple consistently due to the height of her jumps. if she does land a triple triple, i'm sure her protocol will be barked with UR. is there any news that mao is working to regain the original height of her jumps? sure, her technique seems to be improved but i'm afraid that the height and explosiveness of her jumps were sacrificed for her technique.

Video of Mao with Mai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DEE_D2Vjro

Can someone please tell us what they're taking about? I can only manage to understand bits of this. Just wanna confirm if I understand during the later part they were talking about Mao's dreams and in future she wants to have a family too?

swan wrote:

i'm afraid mao can't land a triple triple consistently due to the height of her jumps. if she does land a triple triple, i'm sure her protocol will be barked with UR. is there any news that mao is working to regain the original height of her jumps? sure, her technique seems to be improved but i'm afraid that the height and explosiveness of her jumps were sacrificed for her technique.

You may be right. I just saw Mao's previous jumps in YT videos awhile ago and the height is definitely better compared to what she has now. I hope there is still time to fix this issue.

swan wrote:

roma wrote:

Next week the GP series begins with Skate America although Mao is not competing until Cup of China. Without Miki, seems like most of the pressure for Japan to medal will fall on our girl. Not only that, people might be looking to compare with how well she'll score against Julia given that Julia's score at Finlandia is higher that what she and Ashley got at Japan Open.

I hope that by that time Mao is already quite comfortable with her programs. I want her to skate with confidence reflected in her eyes the moment she takes to the ice, not skate as cautiously as she did at JO and most importantly not get any UR jumps. An 'e' might still suffice for the Lutz but really hoping for no URs so that we'll get a clearer picture as to what Mao's score range might be this season.

If she does her jumps clean and consistently improves in each competition her confidence and scores will only get higher. Looking back to the season before the last Olympics I think that was how Yuna's scores started getting astronomical. Carolina, even with her jump content, was also quite consistent that her scores were also quite high the past two seasons. And Ashley is also putting up consistently good skates internationally. She's already looking quite strong this early in the season. After last season and her winning JO I'm sure the judges will be looking out for her. Lets see how well she does at SA next week.

Still hoping to see a 3-3 from Mao later this season (and hopefully in her SP). Just basing on her JO score we can already guess she'll be able to break her PB even without a 3-3 and 3A so long as she'll skate real clean and without URs. Lets hope it happens this season.

We've already seen her Swan Lake. Now I can't wait to see her skate to I Got Rhythm.

i'm afraid mao can't land a triple triple consistently due to the height of her jumps. if she does land a triple triple, i'm sure her protocol will be barked with UR. is there any news that mao is working to regain the original height of her jumps? sure, her technique seems to be improved but i'm afraid that the height and explosiveness of her jumps were sacrificed for her technique.

Have you seen Yulia jumps? I still find it fantastic how she land them,they are super tiny and the height is about 0. So I won't worry about Mao that much in case of jump height, she jumps high enough to rotate the full triple-triple.

polosatik wrote:

swan wrote:

roma wrote:

Next week the GP series begins with Skate America although Mao is not competing until Cup of China. Without Miki, seems like most of the pressure for Japan to medal will fall on our girl. Not only that, people might be looking to compare with how well she'll score against Julia given that Julia's score at Finlandia is higher that what she and Ashley got at Japan Open.

I hope that by that time Mao is already quite comfortable with her programs. I want her to skate with confidence reflected in her eyes the moment she takes to the ice, not skate as cautiously as she did at JO and most importantly not get any UR jumps. An 'e' might still suffice for the Lutz but really hoping for no URs so that we'll get a clearer picture as to what Mao's score range might be this season.

If she does her jumps clean and consistently improves in each competition her confidence and scores will only get higher. Looking back to the season before the last Olympics I think that was how Yuna's scores started getting astronomical. Carolina, even with her jump content, was also quite consistent that her scores were also quite high the past two seasons. And Ashley is also putting up consistently good skates internationally. She's already looking quite strong this early in the season. After last season and her winning JO I'm sure the judges will be looking out for her. Lets see how well she does at SA next week.

Still hoping to see a 3-3 from Mao later this season (and hopefully in her SP). Just basing on her JO score we can already guess she'll be able to break her PB even without a 3-3 and 3A so long as she'll skate real clean and without URs. Lets hope it happens this season.

We've already seen her Swan Lake. Now I can't wait to see her skate to I Got Rhythm.

i'm afraid mao can't land a triple triple consistently due to the height of her jumps. if she does land a triple triple, i'm sure her protocol will be barked with UR. is there any news that mao is working to regain the original height of her jumps? sure, her technique seems to be improved but i'm afraid that the height and explosiveness of her jumps were sacrificed for her technique.

Have you seen Yulia jumps? I still find it fantastic how she land them,they are super tiny and the height is about 0. So I won't worry about Mao that much in case of jump height, she jumps high enough to rotate the full triple-triple.

Same here! I believe she'll be able to land 3-3 as she used to!
However, her jumps need speed if she wants to achieve full rotation -
That is the real issue - She was quite cautious during the JO - Hopefully once she is more confident with the pro, she'll skate more freely!

MaoChan756 wrote:

polosatik wrote:

swan wrote:

roma wrote:

Next week the GP series begins with Skate America although Mao is not competing until Cup of China. Without Miki, seems like most of the pressure for Japan to medal will fall on our girl. Not only that, people might be looking to compare with how well she'll score against Julia given that Julia's score at Finlandia is higher that what she and Ashley got at Japan Open.

I hope that by that time Mao is already quite comfortable with her programs. I want her to skate with confidence reflected in her eyes the moment she takes to the ice, not skate as cautiously as she did at JO and most importantly not get any UR jumps. An 'e' might still suffice for the Lutz but really hoping for no URs so that we'll get a clearer picture as to what Mao's score range might be this season.

If she does her jumps clean and consistently improves in each competition her confidence and scores will only get higher. Looking back to the season before the last Olympics I think that was how Yuna's scores started getting astronomical. Carolina, even with her jump content, was also quite consistent that her scores were also quite high the past two seasons. And Ashley is also putting up consistently good skates internationally. She's already looking quite strong this early in the season. After last season and her winning JO I'm sure the judges will be looking out for her. Lets see how well she does at SA next week.

Still hoping to see a 3-3 from Mao later this season (and hopefully in her SP). Just basing on her JO score we can already guess she'll be able to break her PB even without a 3-3 and 3A so long as she'll skate real clean and without URs. Lets hope it happens this season.

We've already seen her Swan Lake. Now I can't wait to see her skate to I Got Rhythm.

i'm afraid mao can't land a triple triple consistently due to the height of her jumps. if she does land a triple triple, i'm sure her protocol will be barked with UR. is there any news that mao is working to regain the original height of her jumps? sure, her technique seems to be improved but i'm afraid that the height and explosiveness of her jumps were sacrificed for her technique.

Have you seen Yulia jumps? I still find it fantastic how she land them,they are super tiny and the height is about 0. So I won't worry about Mao that much in case of jump height, she jumps high enough to rotate the full triple-triple.

Same here! I believe she'll be able to land 3-3 as she used to!
However, her jumps need speed if she wants to achieve full rotation -
That is the real issue - She was quite cautious during the JO - Hopefully once she is more confident with the pro, she'll skate more freely!

i thought that more speed makes more height though? even if she fully rotates her jumps, i think that more height (as well as speed) will make a better impression upon the judges. i'm afraid that lack of height gives room for judges to mark down and judging by the marks mao has been given in the past, she isn't likely to be given the benefit of the doubt (even if in our eyes the rotations were complete).

You know to me the main problem is consistency,just imagine is Mao was more consistent , if she had less falls less pops, even her jumps would get less UR,trust me. It's impression on the judges, to me Yulia jumps are usually Ur, but she is very confident and judges are sure she will land her jumps, with Mao they're not sure if she fall or not. So with more stable performances number of UR will go down, I know this may sound funny, but I notice this a while ago.

does mao have a sports psychologist working in her team? if not, i think a sports psychologist would be the most valuable investment at this point in her career.