NHK Trophy 2008

Caliblue wrote:

What I gathered from Mao's interviews:

3A combo (she didn't say what the second jump would be in the final/maxed-out version)
3A (this will be changed to a combo if the first 3A becomes a solo jump)
3f+2l+2tanol (she didn't comment on this combo, so not sure what the final version will be)
3s (she said that this would stay in the program this season)
3f+3l (she confirmed that this was the intended combo)
3z (she said that TAT and her decided to replace this with 3t for NHK in order to focus on the two 3A's)
2A

Thanks Caliblue for the link! Oh, it is even better in HQ with Shizuka commentating. She sounds so happy for Mao!

Where are the interviews? Time to go scour youtube. I saw one official interview where the reporter kept saying how happy the Japan fans must be to see the Mao smile (I know I was!). And I loved how the fans clapped after every time she spoke. Mao, you are a superstar!

Nobunari wins!!!!!!!

1 Nobunari ODA JPN 81.63 1
2 Johnny WEIR USA 78.15 2
3 Yannick PONSERO FRA 74.39 3
4 Takahito MURA JPN 69.70 4
5 Stephen CARRIERE USA 68.99 5
6 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 67.51 6
7 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 66.31 7
8 Yasuharu NANRI JPN 63.87 8
9 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR 58.84 9
10 Peter LIEBERS GER 58.27 10
11 Andrei LUTAI RUS 56.34 11
12 Jamal OTHMAN SUI 55.94 12

A very good job to all the medalists! They really earned it. Ponsero landed the quad and kept cool. Johnny started out solid, but he looked tired near the end (probably due to his sickness) and popped a jump and doubled another. Still a very good showing for him, and his legion of fans in Japan showed their appreciation.

Nobunari!!! Ooh, I can't wait to see him against Takahiko now at Nats! He had a fall on his 3-jump combo, and stepped out on the 3A and 4T, but he had it rotated. Good for him! I can't wait to see it perfected. I think all the adrenaline and nerves got in the way in the free skate, but he didn't collapse and kept things together.

ETA: Protocols up. Yup, Nobu's 4T was ratified, as well as his 3A. He really had the 4T too - he just had maybe "too" much of a deep edge on the landing and lost his balance.

ETA2: As expected, some fans are going brouhaha with "Johnny was robbed." Gosh, I wish some people COUNT the quad/triple jumps during the competition. Nobu had nine. Johnny, five. 9 > 5.

hehehe... Johnny was fooling around during the medal ceremony, pulling the ballerina act to walk over the red carpet, showing Nobunari's medal to the photographers and getting the trophy Nobunari had forgotten on the podium (or maybe he was trying to steal it ... lol). The crowd loved it . Loved how Midori Ito chose to congratulate the medalists as well! You go, girl!! Three big hugs from the three handsome men . I'm so jealous... I'd love to hug Johnny

So happy for Nobunari!! That's how you make a comeback

chiyori wrote:

hehehe... Johnny was fooling around during the medal ceremony, pulling the ballerina act to walk over the red carpet, showing Nobunari's medal to the photographers and getting the trophy Nobunari had forgotten on the podium (or maybe he was trying to steal it ... lol). The crowd loved it . Loved how Midori Ito chose to congratulate the medalists as well!

Without a doubt the most enjoyable GP event for me! Oh gosh, that lady rinkside announcer needs to stop it. "Johnny, where?" or Johnnywear™ (an imaginary brand of skating outfits) has been stuck in my hand now ever since yesterday.

I can't wait to see the Eurosport coverages for the men and ladies' FS now. And I can't wait until GPF and U.S./Japanese Nats either!

inskate wrote:

Sorry for the silly question... but does anyone know the address of the official ISU results page..?

Here you go: http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn08/

Thank you, clovera!

So silly of me, it's on the old results site again. I was searching for the results on the same site that had the results for Cup of Russia. Dear ISU, please stop changing the sites so much! And better yet, please post a link to the results on the main page.

Wow, Nobu beat Brian's score by 6 points! It's really weird that the skater with the highest score will not make it to GPF... But maybe it's a good thing for Nobu. He'll have more time to work on his LP. The SP was fab (I feel ashamed to admit that I wrote on FSU that he should dump it after Nebelhorn ), and I believe that the LP can be improved as well!

Congratulations, Nobu!

I just watched his LP. He was visibly very nervous, but I was very impressed with his improvement of arm movements and facial expression. Except those 3 stumbles his jumps looked so easy - the quad looked as a triple and the triples looked like doubles.

I loved the costume.

I so do not love the music cut! The music itself is lovely , but the circular step sequence is placed in totally wrong place - the music is too soft and the skating itself falls flat. And when the straightline step sequence starts the music starts to build beautifully... and then the music is rapidly cut and the same cut is repeated again, like on a broken record. I hope something will be done about this before Worlds.
On a positive note, it's still one of the best edits of Warsaw Concerto I've heard... I don't know why, but it seems to me like every time a skater uses this music, they cut out the most beautiful parts and leave only the "Tam!---Tada-Tada--Tam-Tam!" motiff. Dear skaters, please don't! Richard Addinsell is spinning in his grave!

Musical woes aside, he Gala has already started, has it not? Or is it over already? I wonder what Mao skated to. Was it "Tango", or "Sing, sing..."..?

Well, that was fast. Than you, inskate!

Ah! I can finally watch n read everything in peace. Only had time early this morning to check the results before I had to leave for class. The masquerade waltz was playing in my head all day...

Mao...was MAO!
magnificent! There was no 'anxious feeling unlike the last lp she skated (feeling being like that described by some as where the heroine is forced to dance till she collapses), but here it just builds n builds n get more n more exciting. Some say there is no room for her to breathe in it. I felt like there wasn't any for me to breathe either. I was jumping around n yelling like a dervish at the end.

Thank you all for the vids!

EX photos:

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0e7IcjA9uk5se/340x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0aUcapDdzCfVL/340x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/08qA6WdaIh27S/340x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07wH5FEgMZ32e/340x.jpg
http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/graph/2008/figureNHK/index.html
http://photos.nikkansports.com/sports/figure/07-08/top-figure.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/081130/oth0811301848024-n1.htm
http://www.jiji.com/news/photos/photo_news/images/450/view7490231.jpg
http://www.jiji.com/news/photos/photo_news/images/450/view7490272.jpg
http://www.jiji.com/news/photos/photo_news/images/450/view7490235.jpg

Quote :

Loved how Midori Ito chose to congratulate the medalists as well! You go, girl!! Three big hugs from the three handsome men .

Yeah, that was really funny. I loved the way Midori hugged Johnny extra long (was it Johnny's idea or Midori's?) and then waived to the crowd full of Johnny fans as if to say 'hey, did you guys see that?' I was also happy to see the way Johnny was cracking up Nobu because Nobu seemed to be unusually tense even after the competition was over to the extent that the NHK interviewer blurted: "This is a victory interview. Would you mind looking a bit happier?"

Mao's interview was funny as well. The interviewer asked about her tripping just before the final pose and Mao said something like: "Maybe people didn't notice it if they didn't know the choreo..." and the interviewer reassured her that they did notice.

Mao was insistent, though. While waiting for the medal ceremony with Akiko and Yukari, she asks if anyone noticed the tripping and was told that everyone did. She looked genuinely surprised by it as her name is announced as the Ladies champion and then darts off.

inskate wrote:

Mao's EX program! It's tango!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5baa-ryoBdY
(I'm off to watch! )

Thanks for the link inskate!

Lovely, as always.

Mao had a tiny mishap on the 3flip. Is it just me, or did it look like she was thinking about doing the 3F-3Lo? She was really concentrating before she took off!

Ah, looks like the 3Lo is back (though I certainly can't tell if it's fully rotated or not).

'Masquerade Waltz' steps for encore. I LOOVE those steps! And no fall out of the spin this time.

It looks like Mao and Nobu are having fun at the EX. (I wish I could see it!)

Batsuchan wrote:

inskate wrote:

Mao's EX program! It's tango!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5baa-ryoBdY
(I'm off to watch! )

Thanks for the link inskate!

Lovely, as always.

Mao had a tiny mishap on the 3flip. Is it just me, or did it look like she was thinking about doing the 3F-3Lo? She was really concentrating before she took off!

Ah, looks like the 3Lo is back (though I certainly can't tell if it's fully rotated or not).

'Masquerade Waltz' steps for encore. I LOOVE those steps! And no fall out of the spin this time.

It looks like Mao and Nobu are having fun at the EX. (I wish I could see it!)

This is exactly what I was thinking about! She did 3 flip- single loop at TEB, but here her landing was a little bit shaky and Mao thought about planning it save

For the Japanese speakers, this is a very interesting video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Md6eqhiKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqmjExs9_GA

It's an interview with Mao after the competition, and Shizuka Arakawa also gives her some advice. She told Mao that before the Olympics, she decided the kind of feeling/thoughts she wanted to skate with (so she didn't have a bunch of random thoughts in her head when she skated). She also said that watching the men's competition was good preparation because she could get used to the nervous feeling in the arena. And Mao agreed that she plans to watch the men's competition at the Olympics before she skates.

At the end, Mao talks about maintaining her "fighting spirit" for GPF! Gooo Mao!

What a great event!

Thank you for all the photos and translations. I enjoyed them thoroughly.

I keep rewatching Mao's LP and Nobu's SP. Who said that Masquerade is boring and monotoneous? I love it!

Mao's EX was wonderful as well. I hope to see it in better quality soon.

Quote :

She also said that watching the men's competition was good preparation because she could get used to the nervous feeling in the arena. And Mao agreed that she plans to watch the men's competition at the Olympics before she skates.

A nice strategy!

Batsuchan wrote:

For the Japanese speakers, this is a very interesting video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Md6eqhiKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqmjExs9_GA

I love that portion of the NHK event. It's called Yutaka's room and it's where Higuchi Yutaka (former skater and national champion) as well as the announcer (Mr. Kariya) gets to sit down with the medalists and go over the performances.

Mao is so cute and humble. Both she and Higuchi confirm that her 2nd 3A was underrotated, and it looks like there was a requirement on the SL steps for the FS she missed (he mentions the double-three + loop portion of it). He seems to imply that Mao's steps were just a wee-bit off from getting level 4!

muffin14 on DM is continuing to upload the British Eurosport vids - she's done with the top men's FS, and currently Yukari's FS is there too. It shouldn't be long before Mao's FS with English commentary will be up.

clovera wrote:

Batsuchan wrote:

For the Japanese speakers, this is a very interesting video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Md6eqhiKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqmjExs9_GA

Mao is so cute and humble. Both her and Higuchi confirm that her 2nd 3A was underrotated, and it looks like there was a requirement on the SL steps for the FS she missed (he mentions the double-three + loop portion of it). He seems to imply that Mao's steps were just a wee-bit off from getting level 4!

Mao is sooo adorable!

Ah, so that's what they meant about the 'triple loop that was only a double loop' thing in the SL sequence. I was confused, since it wasn't a jump.

But I am wondering - people that know CoP better than me - what exactly does Mao need to do to get a level 4 for her SL sequence? Can it get any harder?
And another question - why is the 'Clair de Lune' sequence 'circular' and the 'Masquerade Waltz' one 'straight line'? They both look circular/zig-zag to me!

One more question: the announcer says that at the end, when Mao slipped, maybe she should have just pretended that collapsing on the ice was her final pose, but I think she and Higuchi-san say that it is not allowed? Not sure about this...

Can't wait to hear what the Eurosport team had to say!

OMG! Mao in a kimono! (With Nobu on TV!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyOK9U1QBs

off to watch now...!

I just watched the British Eurosport version. I wish I could upload it, but my connection is so slow that muffin14 will probably be faster.

The commentary was great again! Nicky admitted that he was wrong at TEB thinking that the music is too powerful for Mao. They said Mao's performance was sensational and that the first 3A was as good as those of male jumpers and just textbook. At first Nicky mentioned that the second 3A might have been underrotated, but when he saw the slow-mo, he said that it was "just about", and he would have it ratified. The footwork? "The ice dancers must have been involved in creating it!" and "Gosh, dear me!"

Nicky & Chris!

inskate wrote:

Yes, the announcer must have joked! Mao would get a deduction if she collapsed on the ice. It used to be legal, and it was a final pose of Torvill/Dean's famous "Bolero" and Katarina Witt's "Carmen". However, the move became so popular that the skaters started pretending to die in their programs as much as 4 times, and the judges were fed up with this. So they made a rule that if the skater falls, there will be a deduction!

Pretending to die 4 times! wow...

inskate - thanks so much for staying up past your bedtime to answer my questions!
I will have to check out the step sequence requirements on the ISU page.
And for the double 'OMG'.

In the Mao/Nobu interview, they showed parts of each skater's program and had the other comment on it. Mao was half-laughing as Nobu was praising her, saying things like "Mao's jumps are so nice that you can relax while watching them." And Nobu was like "no no no" while Mao said that Nobu's jumps are so high and he can do 3-3-3s. Aww, they're both so humble and cute.
Gah, that reminds me of a clip of Mao/Nobu goofing off at the 2005 World Jr. Champs, but I can't seem to find it now....

Okami - you are killing me! I'm now *dying* to see the Eurosport version!

Aaaw. MAN: Daisuke Takahashi is also cheering for you.
NOBU: Ganbarimasu!!! (I will do my best).