Trophée Eric Bompard 2007

congrats to Mao!


I'm very sleepy
(In japan it's 6:00am now )

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Really finally Very Happy Her spiral sequence is always beautiful Love Hearts

I agree! but this time her spiral in the short program got level1...?! I'm really confuse right now!

Now I have no doubt about what Rafael said.
Mao's weapon is her BEAUTY!

Popon wrote:

I'm very sleepy
(In japan it's 6:00am now )

Me too I woke up at 4 today

Popon wrote:

Now I have no doubt about what Rafael said.
Mao's weapon is her BEAUTY!

I totally agree with ya
Mao-chan was very beautiful

bibi wrote:

I agree! but this time her spiral in the short program got level1...?! I'm really confuse right now!

She didn't concentrate properly and didn't hold positions long enough. The Russian commentator mentioned that. Same with the final spin, should be lvl4.
But she got lvl3 for the layback (finally) and lots of positive GoEs both for layback and the spiral in the SP! I didn't actually expect that, the judges are very stingy with GoEs this season and the spins usually get high GoEs only when the positions are held for more rotations than necessary.

Popon wrote:

Now I have no doubt about what Rafael said.
Mao's weapon is her BEAUTY!

So true!

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Now I have no doubt about what Rafael said.
Mao's weapon is her BEAUTY! Swoon

I agree too!!!

Mao's program on YT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPcd0X0GOPo

If you search for "Mao Asada" here:

http://www.gettyimages.com/Home.aspx

you'll see some pics from the LP and the podium photos.

...It looks like the audio is a bit desynchronized in the YT video I posted a link to... Oh well, at least we can get some idea of how the program looked. Hopefully someone will post a higher quality version later

Another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw_Bbdc5ZeY

This one has the beginning cut off, and the aspect ratio is all wrong, but at least the music is properly synchronized with the video.

Now I could appreciate Mao's skating properly, as it is her expression of the music with the whole body that I like the most. She just becomes music when she skates.

But I don'y understand why she got the time violation deduction. It looked to me like she finished just on time - the music was still playing when she got into her finish pose. And if the music itself was too long, wouldn't the technical specialist notice it at Skate Canada..?

So confusing!

Just a little of what happened to me today!!
I was watching the ladies event live on a russian tv when it stops!!! I was soooo sad!!!!!! Finally, we managed to reconnect just at time for mao!!! I really like her new long program! It's so beautiful and everything look effortless !!

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But I don'y understand why she got the time violation deduction

I think it's maybe because she didn't hold her final position..anyway, I don't really care this program is sooo beautiful to watch, I thought her final position was really artistic and delicate!

OK, resurfacing after hiding all day...

Congratulations, Mao-chan! I'm so relieved that Mao looked relatively happy after her performance. :bounce: I'm eternally grateful to the person/people who whistled after her performance since it seemed to lift her spirit.

I think this was another important step for Mao. Up until now, she had a tendency to lose focus after she fell/popped on a jump. This is the first performance where she fell and yet was able to refocus and deliver. In the whole scheme of things, I think this experience will serve her much better than if this was an error-free performance. She had to experience for herself that a mistake does not ruin a whole program. She probably knew this in theory, but a first-hand experience was a necessary step for her. I also tend to think that knowing this should make her less nervous in the future.

Beautiful performance throughout! The improvement she's made since last year is just

photos up
http://sports.jp.msn.com/gallery/home.aspx/galleryid=18/

Mao's exhibiton up on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMExP1UJkrk

I have no words. It was so beautiful I cried.

OMG That was really really beautiful I like new ending

I also love the new final position

Spins and spirals - just gorgeous

I love the slow-mo replays - the tiny steps that she does on her toepicks, entrance into flying sit spin, the layback...

Particularly the layback - in a very short time she managed to improve not only the back position, but also the leg turnout I wish she held it just a bit longer in the encore or something, so gorgeous

But what I liked the most was the emotion she managed to convey and the wholesomeness of the performance - there was nothing that could be called poor quality. Everything was gorgeous and right on the music

Even though the aspect ratio was wrong and the audio was a bit off again, I just loved it. Of course, I still can't wait to see it in higher quality, it will surely look even better then!

z4mboni wrote:

I love the slow-mo replays - the tiny steps that she does on her toepicks...
But what I liked the most was the emotion she managed to convey

Yes, yes, yes!! I'm not sure if you are referring to my favorite part of this program, but i lurrrve the joyous lovely steps she takes when the music turns upbeat. I also found this performance much more heart-felt and full of emotions compared to the previous EX performances. ((if it weren't for the crazy patterns they project onto the ice...))

I think the Russian channel on WebTV will rerun the gala in a little more than two hours.

Caliblue wrote:

Yes, yes, yes!! I'm not sure if you are referring to my favorite part of this program, but i lurrrve the joyous lovely steps she takes when the music turns upbeat. I also found this performance much more heart-felt and full of emotions compared to the previous EX performances.

Yeah, I'm refering to those steps In the slow-mo replays the camera did a close-up on Mao's skates - she really was hopping on the very tips of her toepicks.

This was my favourite performance of this program - Mao really gets better every time.

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((if it weren't for the crazy patterns they project onto the ice...))

Not a big fan of them as well. Sometimes they manage to make the lights tastesul and not distracting - but sometimes I have to wonder how the skaters manage not to get blinded and fall or crash into the boards (well, actually I've seen some troubles like that ).

I found this one:
http://www.divshare.com/download/2799973-ffe
If you download it, the resolution is much better than viewing it online.

I really love her exhibition! It really improved!

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I also love the new final position Wub

I thought it was because she fell anyway, she managed to do a beautiful final position!

Here's an interview after her LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZLl2SQV_U
could someone translate please?...Since Caliblue said that Japanese and English are such different languages and difficult to translate, I'm a bit shy to ask that but I just want to know a bit of what was her feeling after her program!
thanks!
bibi

bibi wrote:

Here's an interview after her LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZLl2SQV_U

Here is the translation. Hope my translation makes sense


Interviewer: Congratulations on your victory!!

Mao: Thank you!

Interviewer: Today you come here with smile.

Mao: Yes, thank you.

Interviewer: Could you skate as you wanted to today? About free skating?

Mao: I made a mistake on beginning 3 axel, but after that I could skate calmly, so I think that was good step for next time.

Interviewer: You tried to do 3 axel bravely. What is it meant to you about trying 3 axel?

Mao: I needed to land on 3 axel, but I think it was a step to next time, so I’d like to be more confident and skate better than today on the Final.

Interviewer: After that you did 3-3 strongly. How did ya feel that time?

Mao: I was bit off and made a little mistake on that, but I am very glad I could get good levels on spins.

Interviewer: Yesterday many of your fans also worried about you. Were you able to sleep last night?

Mao: Unusually I couldn’t sleep last night, but today I could perform well, umm I don’t now if I did..., I need to look it back. I want to try my best to be able to perform good next time.

Interview: Next will be Grandprix final in Torin, what kind of performance will you show us?

Mao: I would like to skate SP perfectly. And as for free, I want to skate better than today.

Interviewer: Thank you.

Mao: Thank you.

Thank you for the translation, Yumei!

Just have watched all Mao's programs... Personally, I see the best Mao ever, only with some mental issue concerning some of her jumps (like it was already said before in this thread). Nothing unsolvable, I'd say, taking into the account the early season, the interruption in her training due to the renowned fires... and first of all, remembering who is Mao (the best female figure skater in the history of mankind), and what she is capable of (of everything).
There are no reasons to be worried!
Concerning the programs themselves from the 'emotional point of view'... Well, watching Mao, whether she does all her elements clean or not, personally I always feel the same.
Somewhere over the rainbow... blue birds fly...
Something like this.

I love Mao not for the clean execution of the technical elements... I love her for something completely different.
Just like any of you.

Congrats Mao for winning another GP title!

She improved so much. Spins, spiral and steps are just gorgeous and I love the lighntss of her jumps.

And the exhibition is just amazing. A true masterpiece. Perhaps the most amazing ladies program I've ever seen.