Men - Free Program

[astimegoesby]

My $0.02:

Congratulations to Brian on his first world title! Believe it or not, I've never seen his LP until Worlds and while I didn't think he had the artistry of some of the other guys, he definitely did what he had to do in order to win. I didn't even know he had a foot injury until reading this thread, so that just makes me impressed by him even more.

Congratulations to Stéphane on fighting back and making the podium, as well. I can't comment on whether he was held up in the SP (since the CBC highlights show chacked it) or whether his program can be considered a "real" flamenco, but he certainly fought hard for every jump and I certainly enjoyed watching it! Not perfect, but certainly not bad at all for a guy who wasn't even sure whether he wanted to continue to compete just a few months ago! I hope Stéphane sticks around for a few years since I really like him and I think he still has a lot to offer eligible skating, but if he does turn pro/retire, he certainly ended his eligible career on a high note!

And congratulations to Takahashi for delivering two great programs under such tremendous pressure!

I'm also proud of both Jeff and Chris. Although Chris' LP wasn't as strong as his SP, a Top 10 finish in his first Worlds is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

As for Jeff, I'm just impressed with how well he's skated this season, considering his injury and how much time he had to spend off the ice. I was especially impressed and surprised he attempted the quad.

I was also impressed with Tomas Verner. I agree he needs to improve his choreography and non-jump elements, but the guy certainly can jump!

As for Emanuel, all I have to say is sigh and :banging:

Thanks to everyone for posting details on how Oda and the American guys did (none of which were shown on the CBC highlights broadcast).

 

[Melody]

I'm also proud of both Jeff and Chris. Although Chris' LP wasn't as strong as his SP, a Top 10 finish in his first Worlds is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Just to clarify, Chris was hoping for a top 10, but wound up 13th. IMHO, even that is nothing to be ashamed of, since Emanuel finished 18th at his first Worlds, and Shawn Sawyer wound up 21st last year, so 13th is pretty good, and is really going to be a building block for the future. What kind of lessons would he learn if everything just came easily?

I am very proud of him, and also of Jeff, for battling back this season to do what he did.

 

[astimegoesby]

Just to clarify, Chris was hoping for a top 10, but wound up 13th. IMHO, even that is nothing to be ashamed of, since Emanuel finished 18th at his first Worlds, and Shawn Sawyer wound up 21st last year, so 13th is pretty good, and is really going to be a building block for the future. What kind of lessons would he learn if everything just came easily?

I am very proud of him, and also of Jeff, for battling back this season to do what he did.

Oops, you're right, Melody! I knew Chris had fallen a few places after his LP, but forgot he slipped out of the Top 10. (Where's a "blushing" smiley on this forum when you need one?)

But I agree, Chris' placement at his first Worlds is still nothing to be ashamed of...and hey, he did at least place Top 10 in the SP! :yes:

 

[gio]

My congrats to Brian for the gold, butalso to Daisuke and Stephane for their artistry.
Special congrats to Thomas Verner, who skated greatly.

 

[blue_idealist]

my thoughts

Takashi's free skate was really good. Usually I don't like him that much, but I was impressed with his skate this time. I don't remember much about Brian Joubert's so I guess it bored me. I was surprised to see Lambiel move up and take 3rd. I'm disappointed Lysacek was not shown on CBC in the free skate. I feel bad for Buttle but 6th is still pretty good and he is injured. He didn't deserve any higher because he skated pretty badly. He really needs to improve his jumps but that's easier said than done! Mabee's showing was good for his first Worlds. Ugh, Sandhu, what can I say. I wonder if he'll retire. It will almost make me laugh if he comes back for another season.

 

[shine]

I can watch that program by Stephane over and over It's just soooooo fantabulous! What a dancer!!!!!! If that kind of skating is sloppy I don't ever want him to EVER become unsloppy!!!!

 

[Jaana]

I can watch that program by Stephane over and over

Yes, that is a fantastic programme! Besides that I also loved the freeskates of Takahashi and Lysacek.

 

[iloveaxel]

Lambiel

Lambiel should be the world champion, or at least silver medalist. He's fabulous.

 

[rochettefan]

I loved the way Lambiel's freeskate music builds towards the end with his spin. Thought it was very effective

 

[Zuranthium]

His final spin was the best spin I've seen ANYONE do in the past two years. I'm happy some of the judges gave it a +3 GOE because he certainly deserved it.

~Z

 

[silver.blades]

His final spin was the best spin I've seen ANYONE do in the past two years. I'm happy some of the judges gave it a +3 GOE because he certainly deserved it.

~Z

I LOVE watching him spin.

 

[N@d&A]

I agree Stephane is the best spinner ever!!

I just love him, love love love his freeskate !! He´s the winner to me

 

[Zuranthium]

I've watched Lambiel's program probably 10 times now. It's so amazing what he did. I want him to take back the World Title next year SOOOO bad.

~Z

 

[temperboy28]

Well, had Stephane been flawless, Brian would not have downgraded his planned difficulties the way he did so there is no way Stephane would have won.

Stephane probably could have scored over 170 easily including GOE and PCS gains had he gone totally clean, Joubert could have gained not too many points by doing a second quad, and even at the event he did 3 quads this year he still managed only a 160 type score. Lambiel would indeed have had a chance to catch Joubert with a clean long program even if Joubert had done his 2nd quad anyway, even with his disaesterous short.

 

[Zuranthium]

Nah, there's absolutely no way Lambiel would have won if Joubert did the second Quad. Let's just hope he can pull it off next year!

~Z

 

[jennylovskt]

Saw Tomas Verner's LP. Impressive! He certainly has made a great, great improvement and squeezed himself into the last group of the best skaters in the world. I don't like his LP's choreography that much. But I think he has the ability to improve his presentation a great deal, too. He should find a better choreographer. Evan's Carmen is much better than his. For now, I would put him with Evan Lysacek in the same group. JMO.

 

[slutskayafan21]

The double-footing on the loop was not a big deal and a lot of the "perfect" programs you mentioned have had small mistakes like that. And the 3A that was downgraded was really considered a 3A by most - replays showed that it looked pretty cleanly rotated and that got a lot of controversy. Stephane could have won by an even larger margin last year.

Landing jump squarely on two feet loses you 2 points outright, plus some minor GOE and PCS scores. It is not a "small" mistake in a heated competition. It does not really matter if you or I believe his 3A in last years Worlds free skate was rotated or not, the tech. specialist felt it wasnt, thus it is considered an underrotated, equivalent to being doubled, triple axel. The fact that is the best example of a close to clean free skate for him that was not in a qualifying round just further illustrates how he never comes close to doing a clean free skate that was not in a qualifying round.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I don't know if the exhibitiions have been shown yet, but Lambiel steals the show. He used the Vivaldi and had the girls going crazy. Daisuke had the roar of the crowd but it was Stephane who got the roar of the connoseurs of skating.

I'm beginning to think that Joubert is an imposter. He tries so hard to skate like Yagudin but it just doesn't work. Poor guy, he just never produced an individual style of his own.

Joe

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I agree Stephane is the best spinner ever!!

I just love him, love love love his freeskate !! He´s the winner to me

Stephane is more than the best spinner. He's the best whole package skater in the business. He had the audience in the palm of his hands. Only Takahashi could get the louder response from the Japanese fans.

After the incredible Vivaldi exhibition, he had a 5 minute ovation to do an encore but he had nothing prepared as did the gold medalists.

Joe

 

[Tonichelle]

Joe - the Gala was shown last weekend so we all got to see it (I think there is a thread about it somewhere lol)

and I completely agree about Brian...