Mao News - The 2015-2016 Season!

COHK, thanks so much for providing more insight on that! When I ran it through translate I really liked that portion a lot so I'm really glad you've added more info.

Thanks for posting the article CONK.

Here is a charming photo of Mao arriving in Beijing, China. Thanks to rosewood for the link.

http://postimg.org/image/ini76qrm9/

I think it is so cute how Mao tries to hide her face in public places in such a stylish way with a hat that matches her gray and green plaid outfit. She is an incognito super star once again building up her incomparable air of mystery. I am nervous and excited about seeing Mao's performances, but I never like to make predictions because I don't want to jinx her. I look forward to seeing Mao skate with all the heart, soul, guts and inspiration she has shown so many times before, as she combines it with her unrivaled quality of light grace that makes her an Iron Butterfly. I also look forward to her revealing another side of herself that she has never expressed before.

From the interview with Lori Nichol:

She has evolved to become more aggressive, with more joy and curiosity, also liveliness. After experiencing such life experiences, she’s opens another door to the new world and is reborn. wrote:

This reminds me of Mao's rebirth after her incredible Sochi LP. I thought of her as the Ballerina Phoenix.

COHK, thanx so much for the translation!
While I do wish Mao would've worked with other choreographers, since I'm not the biggest Lori fan, I can't deny the close relationship that exists between them. Lori's words about Mao really warmed my heart. It's great to see Mao surrounded with such a great close-knit team. I do however wish Lori would give Mao a better choreography. I love Madamme Butterfly and Mao's interpretation is simply sublime, but there are parts where the program feels a bit empty. Maybe with more milage it will become even more awesome, but I can't help but remember Caro's programs and how detailed they were choreographicaly and wonder why Lori isn't giving that to Mao. But like I said, at JO it was still very early, so there's a chance everything will become "perfect" with time.
I don't want to sound like I'm doubting Mao, I'm not, I just want het choreographer to give Mao her absolute best and sometimes with Lori, I feel there is more she could've given. Only IMO.

roma wrote:

With the way they are handing out PCS so far, I won't accept PCS lower than a 72 for Mao (barring a major disaster in her pros). And even then a 72 is the lowest I can accept. I hope they won't screw up Rika also like how they screwed up Satoko's PCS. It looked like in SA small jumps = small PCS but +1 for every tano you do.

Honestly, the PCS that's been given at SA and SC is a complete joke. Medvedeva getting 67+, Ashley and Gracie 68+,  I mean come on. By this rate in direct comparison Mao should get 75. Of course she won't.
I agree with you, by this standard she should get 72+ at CoC, unless she has a meltdown. But somehow I doubt she will. I hope I'm wrong though.

Thanks to COHK for translating that Chinese article!

I agree that it was quite a brilliant article summarizing Mao's career, and it really sounded as if this writer is either a fan of Mao or has done excellent research. They talked about the highs and lows of each season, and described Mao's struggles in 2009 and onwards, for example discussing the rule changes of the ISU and how it impacted her 3L combo's.

The title was also beautiful "Mao Asada's perfect evolution in skating: the legend continues..."

Lori firmly believes that there are no difficulties that exist now that can defeat Mao, and that no doubts can impact the love that she has for skating.

The author concluded with this:
"She rose to fame as a prodigy in her youth, she is a 3 time World Champion, the first from Asia. She has been through many ups and downs, and has never won Olympic champion, but her name represents an era - she is Mao Asada, and her legend continues"

zarinaballerina wrote:

COHK, thanx so much for the translation!
While I do wish Mao would've worked with other choreographers, since I'm not the biggest Lori fan, I can't deny the close relationship that exists between them. Lori's words about Mao really warmed my heart. It's great to see Mao surrounded with such a great close-knit team. I do however wish Lori would give Mao a better choreography. I love Madamme Butterfly and Mao's interpretation is simply sublime, but there are parts where the program feels a bit empty. Maybe with more milage it will become even more awesome, but I can't help but remember Caro's programs and how detailed they were choreographicaly and wonder why Lori isn't giving that to Mao. But like I said, at JO it was still very early, so there's a chance everything will become "perfect" with time.
I don't want to sound like I'm doubting Mao, I'm not, I just want het choreographer to give Mao her absolute best and sometimes with Lori, I feel there is more she could've given. Only IMO.

roma wrote:

With the way they are handing out PCS so far, I won't accept PCS lower than a 72 for Mao (barring a major disaster in her pros). And even then a 72 is the lowest I can accept. I hope they won't screw up Rika also like how they screwed up Satoko's PCS. It looked like in SA small jumps = small PCS but +1 for every tano you do.

Honestly, the PCS that's been given at SA and SC is a complete joke. Medvedeva getting 67+, Ashley and Gracie 68+,  I mean come on. By this rate in direct comparison Mao should get 75. Of course she won't.
I agree with you, by this standard she should get 72+ at CoC, unless she has a meltdown. But somehow I doubt she will. I hope I'm wrong though.

I certainly think you are entitled to your opinion about what you call the empty spots in Mao's Madame Butterfly. I am not trying to criticize but just to stand up for what I and so many others think is Mao's great performance at the Japan Open. I do realize that you like Mao's performance zarinaballerina, but I just disagree about the programs emptiness. I don't think she has ever had a skate at the Japan Open with so many views on youtube: over 170,000 views, another copy with almost 60,000 and with many other copies totaling well over 100,000 views deleted. This is at least 4 times more views than the next most viewed LP performance in seniors. Many are praising it for its light, natural, lyrical freedom of movement, fabulous skating skills, and deep genuine wellspring of emotion especially those enamored with the 6.0 system. I am reminded of the commercial in which Mao does traditional Japanese dancing dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and white make up. Her movements are spare but they are full of natural grace, intricacy and sophistication with a genuine connection to human emotion and moving expressions. Her Madame Butterfly performance has brought me to tears several times and even though I liked Carolina Kostner's freeskate at Sochi, it has never come close to bringing me to tears. It seems to me that there is too much focus on an overabundance of often purposeless or frantic movement or posing in the COP system. Mao's Madame Butterfly feels really genuine to me, though I admit I still like her Sochi LP a little better, but by the end of the season I will have to wait and see.

As for PCS, since Gracie and Ashley have both been inflated by about 4-5 points since the Japan Open, Mao should likewise receive the same increase in performance scores: high 73 to high 74 for relatively clean performances. If she doesn't, I won't accept the results. Even though I like Evgenia more than Ashely or Gracie, I admit that her PCS was inflated, but not nearly as much as the big inflation that Anna and Adelina received in their last competition in Russia with both receiving PCS scores in the 70's in their LPs which are officially recognized international scores that are higher than Mao received in her Madame Butterfly performance, which is ridiculous. Mao has had to endure score manipulation her whole career. The inflation in Ashley's score reminds me of the absurd results in the 4CC's 2012 in the United States when Mao had a lower PCS than Ashley in the freeskate and a bogus ur call on her triple axel to lose the freeskate and championship by 4 points, even though Mao's interpretation, transitions and skating skills were superior and even though Mao has almost 3 times more views on youtube with so many who are highly critical of the result. I think she is a hero for standing up to it for so long. Russia and US seem to be the power federations in scoring for women at the moment. I just watch for the performances; the scores are so often highly suspect and biased.

But, Mao is one of those skaters whose light shines so bright you can't hide it even if you try.        

Mao's Madame Butterfly at the Japan Open was so wonderful and deeply moving, so I can't wait to see it again along with her SP with the fabulous step sequence. Ganbatte Mao!

@wowmao, feel free to criticize me, there won't be any hard feelings.    This is what I love about this forum so much. We are all able to express our opinions without fear of being "attacked" by different minded members, and even when others disagree, their reply is always respectful, such as yours. I love your analysis of Mao's LP, and for the most part I absolutely agree. I should've explained myself better. I do not think her entire LP is empty. In fact, I love it. But there were some spots (just a few seconds), at lest from my point of view, where I felt they could be used better choreographically. Again, I'm just nitpicking here, but this program is so amazing and Mao's interpretation is to die for, so I just want everything to be absolutely" perfect".  At the JO it was still very early in the season, so I'm sure by the end of it, her LP will become perfect to me.
But at the end of the day, all that matters is that Mao is happy with her programs. I can't wait to see her programs at CoC.
And I don't want to see PCS below 71. She should get 72-73, it's still early in the season, but I agree, she deserves 74-75.
I refuse to accept the ridiculous scoring at Morodovian challenger, that was one giant joke. Sotnikova getting 75 points in SP, Pogorilaya getting 71in PCS for her LP. Give me a break. And the sad thing, it counts as an official season's best.

The highest PCS Mao has ever received in the LP is 72.76 at Worlds 2014. I thought Madame Butterfly deserved more than what she got in JO but just passed it off as a beginning of the season thing. Even then there are some saying those are overmarked since it's in Japan.

http://skatedb.net/modules/skateDB/index.php?page=player&playerid=1

However, looking at the recent PCS scoring, I'd say she was severely undermarked. I hope she finally gets the PCS she deserved. She never gets the PCS love... well, among the Japanese ladies she does but  compared to other skaters it's pretty conservative. Just look at how they scored her Sochi LP.

Anything less than 35-37 in SP and 72 in FS early this season I won't be able to accept considering what others have been getting. And nope, I also cannot accept it if the reasoning is because she took a year off. Yuna came back still with the highest PCS even with the breaks and joining a handful of competitions only. Caro still has the highest SP PCS at 37.46. But that Ave Maria she skated to when she got that score was utterly sublime that I cannot argue.

Thanks for your message zarina ballerina.

I love Mao's SP program. I can't believe Mao's jump layout.

SP run-through
http://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034...4bb604b9796a47

Please read till the end for a likely explanation of Mao's two footed triple axel and for videos of Mao's much better ones.

Thanks to the posters largeman, inskate and mikaboo for providing the following video clips and information.

Original Posts can be found at: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?38067-Mao-Asada/page155
posts #2315 and #2325
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?57047-2015-Cup-of-China-Ladies-Short-Program/page4 Post #56

The poster largeman said that if Mao does the 3A, 3F / 3L and 3 Lutz as planned, her base score will be 5.67 points higher than the next competitor, fellow Japanese skater Rika Hongo and the American Courtney Hicks. largeman said that even with the "easier" routine, 3A, 3F / 2L and 3L, Mao would still have an advantage in max base score by more than a point. He also said this is the max difficulty for a woman's SP program. The edge on Mao's lutz looks even better than in the Japan Open. The 3F / 3L looks great though it is from a long way away. Anyway, the spectators sure seemed impressed.

inskate posted this video of a beautiful triple axel from Mao's practice with excellent height and distance. Unfortunately, it is from a long way away, but it is still really impressive. In addition, Mao's expression and skating skills in this program are mesmerizing, full of fluidity and reflect the dynamic changes of the music especially in the scintillating step sequence. What a rare and fabulous performer she is!

https://i.imgur.com/ZIaElye.gifv

inskate made the interesting point that there was a skater close to Mao leaning against the boards when Mao attempted her triple axel in her SP run through. People are also visibly near the boards during Mao's successful triple axel attempt posted by mikaboo.

https://twitter.com/fukura_sparrow/status/662208855150108672

But in Mao's really big, beautiful and flowing triple axel, there are no skaters near the boards. It looks in these attempts that Mao just needed more room to let loose and maneuver.

Please read the updated links for possible viewing the SP and LP below.

That's a great triple axel.

This looks like the best possibility for seeing Mao's and the other womens' freeskate that I could find. But, I don't know if I am right.:

Coverage for the short program starts at 4:00 am eastern time in the US tomorrow. Mao skates first in the second group. Thanks to cocovica

http://www.zoptv.com/live/british-eurosport-2:

Also available at: http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta/Figurnoe_katanie/spbvideo_NI567816_Gran_pri_Kitaja_Zhenshhiny_Korotkaja_programma

Thanks to KIG who provided this link for viewing the Ladies LP It says on the site that the free program begins at 11:35 Moscow time on November 7th.

Ladies http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta/Figurnoe_katanie/spbvideo_NI569448_Gran_pri_Kitaja_Zhenshhiny_Proizvolnaja_programma
Ganbatte Mao! The SP is gorgeous artistically and technically stupendous.

Japan news report from this morning:
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/11/06/kiji/K20151106011453830.html

Part of the news mentions that, last month during the GP season opening meeting, Mao said she'd like to try a layout such as 3A-3F3T-3L for SP. Upon arriving in Beijing, she decided to challenge a more difficult content by upgrading the program content to 3A-3F3L-3Lz (Coach Sato states it Mao's decision). She has been working on correcting the Lz edge for about a month.

Looking back, when she made the announcement of returning to competitions, she said she wants to return to the previous state at WC 2014. And she made it at JO. So now she can set a higher goal for herself, and I think it will be refreshing for herself to get inspired by the new challenge. Overall it's a right way to go, whether she will accomplish the plan or not. I think many many years ago someone from the forum says that we hope to see Mao stabilizing her 3A and other jumping technique, so she eventually can decide the layout based on her own condition. I think we're seeing that happening now.

Mao has always preferred the more challenging layouts. It gives her motivation whether she nails them or not. Of course it's a double edged sword but accomplishing them gives her utmost satisfaction.

I always thought because of all that happened during her second quad she wasn't able to fully be at the level she wanted to be in. It was more of a rush to be ready by Sochi. If the tsunami and her mom's illness and death didn't happen I think she would've been ready by then with most of her confidence back. She only seemed to feel ready by Worlds 2014. This time she's looking more and more ready and confident. Like the Mao we saw in 2005.

But, Mao is one of those skaters whose light shines so bright you can't hide it even if you try.

WowMao

An emerald shines, even if its worth is not spoken of.

Marcus Aurelius

I loved Mao's SP performance: smooth and lyrical with beautiful spins. Such flow and effortless swift gliding across the ice with ideal spin and beautiful air position in her jumps. The best and tightest donut spin I have seen drawn out slowly into a variation on a Biellmann, then the sit spin with her unique ability to extend her hand out over her skate as she extends her leg, and the almost smoky and syrupy flow of her tear- shaped Biellmann spin into the beginning of her scintillating step sequence with loose, fluid and rhythmic movements and that dash forward towards the crowd with head thrown back. Most of all, I am glad she was so satisfied and joyous about her performance because her return should be mostly for her. Her beaming smile was priceless. She put her heart and soul in it and it was mesmerizing to watch.


The Russian broadcasters on the video I am posting said in real time that they thought Mao's 3F / 3L was rotated in their eyes. On instant replay, they did say they thought the back end of her 3F / 3L might be slightly ur'd. They called her triple axel rotated on instant replay and they even thought Mao's lutz had a much better edge on the lutz than she was given by the tech crew. They complimented Mao's mature presentation and Lori Nichol's choreography. When Mao finished they said that they seriously thought she had a great chance of breaking her world record. After looking at instant replay, they said that if Mao had rotated her 3F / 3L, she would have broken the world record. It is obvious to me from their commentary that they thought she should have scored higher.

Can you believe that? Mao's performance was so impressive that even Russian announcers thought that she would break her own world record when she finished. And the ISU is so blatantly corrupt that even Russian announcers admit that Mao deserves better tech calls and scores. with Anna and Elena yet to skate. I compliment them on their honesty.


I also feel Mao's PCS were too low given the generous scores that were given out this year in other competitions and the deflation in scores that Mao was given even in comparison to her Nocturne LP performance. Mao's high level of skating skills, musicality, interpretation, choreography and seamless transitions deserve more and, like the Russian announcers, I also believe her tech deductions were too severe. I do not take Mao's score seriously and believe it was deflated, but I do take Mao's performance seriously. It was mesmerizing and beautiful. I love her dress too.


Such an inspirational performance Mao.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lSPnBevRcM

Thank you for this post. It's so wonderful to hear positive commentary from russian commentators. Yes, compared to other grand prix's Mao was very much underscored in PCS, but at least the panel was strict to everyone, so there's a bit consolation. As for TES, her loop was UR'ed, and the british eurosport guys called her lutz a flip. but then, Chris also called her a double world champion unstead of triple, so... but her lutz is not a lutz yet, at least at competition. Though I would've marked it as ! and not "e".

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thank you for this post. It's so wonderful to hear positive commentary from russian commentators. Yes, compared to other grand prix's Mao was very much underscored in PCS, but at least the panel was strict to everyone, so there's a bit consolation. As for TES, her loop was UR'ed, and the british eurosport guys called her lutz a flip.  but then, Chris also called her a double world champion unstead of triple, so... but her lutz is not a lutz yet, at least at competition. Though I would've marked it as ! and not "e".

I am glad you liked their commentary. I still think 7 points in tech deductions is too harsh, as the Russian announcers seem to based on their analysis of the performance. As for being strict on everyone, the ISU uses bias in reputational tech and PCS scores in one competition  as the precedent for future scores, so that those who benefit from high scores in one competition often continue to do so in the future, while those who are given lower scores and harsher calls tend to continue having deflation. Besides, what scores would have been given to the skaters in the final group if they had all skated clean? Mao only had 3 points advantage in PCS on Anna and Elena who had sub par performances. The sport has basically been placed in the hands of the tech crew because they took away 7 points from Mao's score and as a reward for a commanding performance she was given back 3 points partially because her opponents didn't perform well .   I believe Mao should have a considerably bigger PCS advantage than all the skaters who have competed through this Grand Prix season. They can give whatever scores they want, I will decide for myself what is the best performance.

What is more amazing is that Russian announcers AGAIN pretty much say that Mao was underscored just as Maxim Trankov did in Sochi, even though Mao is one of the main competitors for their own skaters. I think the ISU has a discrimi"nation" based scoring system.

To me, figure skating has become a microscopic and often reputationally and nationalistically biased "tech fest" with the totality of a performance often ignored and with tech scores either tied to tech or PCS kept close enough so that tech scores can be arranged to decide the final outcome.   Mao would have been scored much higher for this under 6.0.

Here are some comments that Mao made about her SP program. It's wonderful that she is so satisfied with her performance.

"It went just as I pictured it," Asada said. "I was nervous before I started. I wasn't able to skate that well in practice and just tried to use the nervous energy to my advantage. I hope I can carry this momentum over into the free program."

http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/ap/sports/japan-s-mao-asada-st-after-short-program-at-cup/article_1631dcc0-e764-5938-801e-8bd7e5577cb2.html

The TES is correct, IMO. An ur'ed jump get a certain minus goe ( I don't remember if it's an automatic -1 across the board or more). Her loop was visibly ur'ed in slow-mo. The only thing I disagree with tech panel is "e" on her lutz. To me, ! would've been enough. As for PCS, I think we all agree, she was underscored. Had she skated at SA or SC, she would've gotten 35+.
Edit:
As for her Sochi LP, since you've brought it up, it's been a year and a half and my blood still boils when I remember the atrocity that was her LP score. I'd love nothing more than to send Lakernik and the rest of the judges, to where "the sun doesn't shine". Mao's score should've been the scandal not whining about Kim's silver medal.

What a beautiful comeback! I cross fingers during FS.

It's increadible she's still able to deliver such a great performance, I just hope she won't peak to early. The worlds seems to be very interesting this year

zarinaballerina wrote:

The TES is correct, IMO. An ur'ed jump get a certain minus goe ( I don't remember if it's an automatic -1 across the board or more). Her loop was visibly ur'ed in slow-mo. The only thing I disagree with tech panel is "e" on her lutz. To me, ! would've been enough. As for PCS, I think we all agree, she was underscored. Had she skated at SA or SC, she would've gotten 35+.
Edit:
As for her Sochi LP, since you've brought it up, it's been a year and a half and my blood still boils when I remember the atrocity that was her LP score. I'd love nothing more than to send Lakernik and the rest of the judges, to where "the sun doesn't shine".   Mao's score should've been the scandal not whining about Kim's silver medal.

it was the scandal, and it caught the attention of the whole skating community, I just hope they don''t underscore Mao, like that again, it's soo laughable when I look at the pcs and that was given to her today, sometimes i wonder if the judges don't have a bad conciousness after underscoring a skater like they so often did to Mao and soo blatantly.
I have never seen a skater more determine, more hard working, more talented, and courages then Mao and I want her to finally get rewarded for all the has done and continues to do for this sport, the fact that she still is here despite having won pretty much everything, shows how committed she is to figure skating.

ballerinamao wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

The TES is correct, IMO. An ur'ed jump get a certain minus goe ( I don't remember if it's an automatic -1 across the board or more). Her loop was visibly ur'ed in slow-mo. The only thing I disagree with tech panel is "e" on her lutz. To me, ! would've been enough. As for PCS, I think we all agree, she was underscored. Had she skated at SA or SC, she would've gotten 35+.
Edit:
As for her Sochi LP, since you've brought it up, it's been a year and a half and my blood still boils when I remember the atrocity that was her LP score. I'd love nothing more than to send Lakernik and the rest of the judges, to where "the sun doesn't shine".   Mao's score should've been the scandal not whining about Kim's silver medal.

it was the scandal, and it caught the attention of the whole skating community, I just hope they don''t underscore Mao, like that again, it's soo laughable when I look at the pcs and that was given to her today, sometimes i wonder if the judges don't have a bad conciousness after underscoring a skater like they so often did to Mao and soo blatantly.
I have never seen a skater more determine, more hard working, more talented, and courages then Mao and I want her to finally get rewarded for all the has done and continues to do for this sport, the fact that she still is here despite having won pretty much everything, shows how committed she is to figure skating.

THIS!

As for her Sochi LP; when even the haters are scratching their heads at the low score, you know something isn't right. I've said it in March 2014 and I'll say it again: to me, Mao holds WR in BOTH short and long program. I don't care what the official results say.

I just hope she'll finally get the fair treatment and be equally overscored or underscored as others. Unlike so far... Though for starters, I'd be happy if she'd just be scored correctly. Still don't understand the PCS for her fabulous short.

Mao has one SP video with over 41,000 views on which the Russian announcers sounded puzzled with her low score and initially thought she should have broken the world record in real time and still thought she should have been very close after looking at instant replay. One poster at goldenskate said that they heard Mao ask Coach Sato what the world record score was, so she evidently was thinking the same thing as the Russian announcers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lSPnBevRcM

There is another one of Mao's videos with almost 118,000 views from eurosport. This video has 889 likes and 28 dislikes. She also has several other videos with around 30,000 views. That's more than 190,000 views in less than a day or almost 10,000 views an hour.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC9PI2RISEU

Mao's competition with an SP score only 1 point lower than hers
Evgenia Medvedeva has two videos: one with 44,000 views and another with 36,000 views after 2 weeks.
287 likes and 63 likes on her most viewed video.

Ashley Wagner-
one video with a little over 26,000 views, another with a little over 12,000.  

In the eyes of Russian commentators, youtube users and me definitely Mao's program was much better. In the eyes of a few ISU judges and members of a tech crew who have a history of underscoring Mao and inflating or overlooking urs  in other skaters, her SP is basically at the same level.

Adelina Sotnikova's officially sanctioned ISU score of over 75 with a PCS score 2 points higher than Mao's, has a little over 11,000 views.  So, in the eyes of ISU judges her SP is considerably better. I know Mao and Adelina are friends. I am not criticizing Adelina, but the judging system.   

and I haven't even factored in the nearly identical PCS that Gracie now enjoys compared to Mao which is identical to what happened in the Sochi LP.  

I would say the same biased scoring as happened at Sochi is continuing with a flashback to the 4CC's 2012 thrown in when Ashley was inflated in PCS to be higher than Mao combined with the bogus ur call on Mao's triple axel to give Ashley the "victory." with a 4 point lead in the LP.  As i mentioned on a previous page, Mao had almost 3 times as many views for this LP performance. .  

Whether the issue is with the scoring system itself or the way the system is applied to skaters because of disadvantage, bias and preference often on a nationalistic basis, I think it is a combination of both, there is a big disconnect between the people and the judges views of Mao's skating.

I know I like numbers too much, but it sure does make writing this more fun and ridiculous. Basically, I think that these numbers show that when it comes to Mao's skating the scoring system does not represent what most people can or want to see. "Can" means the loss of huge numbers of points for -GOE (double punishment), urs and edge calls that are most often not visible in real time, are debated on instant replay, constantly change from year to year, and are often administered disproportionately on certain skaters and ignored in others.  Then, no real advantage and sometimes a disadvantage, compared to Adelina Sotnikova, is "granted" to Mao in PCS for her obvious ability to draw people to her performances far more than any other women's skater now competing. Mao's Sochi LP has 2, 310, 000 views and the next biggest copy has over 470,000, one with over 1 million has been deleted, and there are many other copies totaling more than 500,000 views on youtube. That makes about 4 million. Then, Adelina who got 5 points more in PCS has one video with about 944,000 and the second most viewed has a little over 30,000 views, perhaps a total of a little 1,000,000 views overall. This means Mao has about 4 times more views for a performance that has 5 points less in PCS and with 2 more tech calls. Likewise, Mao has far more views for her SP performance at Cup of China despite having far more tech calls than any other skaters' SP close to the same score. If I was looking at Mao's performance from the outside, I could almost make the absurd conclusion that more tech calls makes a better performance because of how much people want to see her performances!! Perhaps tech calls for Mao can be factored in as a PCS bonus.

 

 


How cute is Mao in these GIFs?

Those moving pictures of Mao are really beautiful, shar.

All the best on your performance today, marvelous Mao. Skate with your whole heart and soul!