Japan Open | Page 10 | Golden Skate

Japan Open

SerpentineSteps

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
yukari: as good as ever. not exactly creative, but i'm liking her music choices for the season. very olympic-appropriate.

daisuke: superb. i think this SP, if delivered to its fullest potential at vancouver, just might have a similar effect to sasha's at torino. glad to see him back pretty much where he left of (or better!).

arakawa: not my favorite program of hers (frozen and yugao were MASTERPIECES).

nobu: as much as i like him, i don't think totentanz is the best vehicle for him... (btw: the fluff isn't wrong for calling it the same thing as "dance macabre"; since "macabre" essentially means 'evocative of death', in Japanese, both "dance macabre" and "death's dance" can be translated to "shi no buto" (dance of death)).

mao: ouch on the toe. not surprisingly, great overall though. and as for the encore, i can't get over this step sequence; AMAZING.

miki: i've been rooting for her since torino, but i don't know what to think of this one. yes it plays to her strength of power, but a bit too much so. i wish she could make the lp her sp, and take the lyrics out of the ex and turn it into an lp. it's too good not to be a competitive program!
 

Wicked

Final Flight
Joined
May 26, 2009
Watching Mao's LP, one word kept going through my head- ponderous. It seems like she wanted something big and epic for an Olympic year, but it doesn't suit her. It was like watching a little girl try on her mother's coat. She'll either have to grow into it or tailor it to fit her.

Dai's SP was absolutely fantastic.

Joannie is skating wonderfully. Don't care for the music or the costume, though.

I really wanted to love Jeremy's LP, but didn't. The choreo didn't grab me at all. It was okay.
 

Marie_S

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
I used to love Mao before she met TAT, but I'm not sure if she's the same skater now. She used to be a delightful cute little lady with such light movements.

This season's LP really doesn't suit her at all. Her expression's got better, but that's about it. What happened to all the jumps? I noticed that her skating is slower than usual and maybe that has something to do with it.

Of course the music's slow, but it doesn't necessarily mean that she should skate with a poor speed! I just couldn't bear to watch whenever she was getting into a jump - ooh I don't even want to mention all those pre-rotations and uner-rotations...

It's only the beginning of the season so I hope she does something about this program.
(and please please please please get rid of that slapping choreography...!)
Luckily she's got incredibly high PCS for what she's done, so let's see.
 
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ks777

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
I hate Miki's SP and Mao's LP. I am not a Mao fan since she went to Tarasova.
 

HCOSurfer

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Why does TAT give Mao such glorious exhibitions, but such dreary LP's? On a positive note I LOVE Daisuke's SP!!!
 

Bennett

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Dai's condition

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/winter/news/20091001-OHT1T00331.htm
(article in japanese)

A bit off topic, but just would like to update that Dai says that he wants to try a quad at Finlandia but does not think that he would succeed. He wants to increase the success rate by NHK.

He also says, "I can move more sharply than before. My hip has become smaller and lifted, which makes my legs look longer."

He hasn't changed in his character. :rofl: Not many people would say things like that at a press conference.
 

kalle

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 28, 2003
Wow, Miki's SP is about the worst I have ever seen :no:
What was Morozow thinking, I mean, her LP looked really great with a lot of potential and then he comes up with something like this!
Miki is one of my favourites for the olympic gold but not with such a crappy SP.
I thought it was a joke when I read this is her new SP and what about the costume..looked like something that belongs in a scary West End theater piece..
 

Oscilla

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Personally I really liked Miki's SP. The music is really catchy.
I look forward to seeing this program performer later on. Miki said that she was really tired after her trip from USA, so she couldn't perform the program as she wanted.

I thought the costume was fun, very Halloween-like. Nice for a show performance. She'll prbably have a different one for the actual competition, as it was with Chairman Waltz (and Cleopatra, according to the Lifeskate article about Miki).
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I watched Miki's SP a few times because I was not sure if her costume, hair and makeup distracted my judgment of the actual SP. I am afraid that it did.
I am not to crazy about the music but Miki makes it work for her. She had one fall but I thought she skated very well. I sure hope she changes her costume.
 

Wicked

Final Flight
Joined
May 26, 2009
I watched Miki's SP a few times because I was not sure if her costume, hair and makeup distracted my judgment of the actual SP. I am afraid that it did.
I am not to crazy about the music but Miki makes it work for her. She had one fall but I thought she skated very well. I sure hope she changes her costume.

The impression I was left with from this program was that it's kind of a hot mess! My thought when I first saw Miki was, "Whoa Miki, what IS this?!" But then I stepped back and watched to see if she could pull it off. She seemed to be skating really slowly and looked uncomfortable with the program. The look that she has for this program is off-putting for me and it does make it hard to focus on the skating. You have to wonder if the judges will feel the same. I liked some of the choreo. The costume is just too much.
 

merrybari

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Observation: I find it really odd that there's STILL no mention of this event on either USFS or Icenetwork websites. What's up with that, I wonder?
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Observation: I find it really odd that there's STILL no mention of this event on either USFS or Icenetwork websites. What's up with that, I wonder?
I was kind of wondering about that, too. They always reported about the Japan Open before. Maybe the sheer embarrassment to be beaten by the, often called mediocre, European single skaters proved to be too much for the American soul.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Observation: I find it really odd that there's STILL no mention of this event on either USFS or Icenetwork websites. What's up with that, I wonder?
There are a couple of paragraphs on it in IN's latest around the world of figure skating report, with a link to an AFP article.
 

merrybari

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
I was kind of wondering about that, too. They always reported about the Japan Open before. Maybe the sheer embarrassment to be beaten by the, often called mediocre, European single skaters proved to be too much for the American soul.

Personally I don't think it was an embarrasing loss - .13 points is scarcely a runaway. Three members of Team NA medaled after all - a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd, IIRC!

I think Stephane was awesome - but I do think his scores were a bit inflated. Any number of small things could've tipped the balance the other way.

Does possibly point to some second guessing by USFS and a greater watchfulness on choices for the upcoming season.

Still 'tiz a puzzlement!
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Personally I don't think it was an embarrasing loss - .13 points is scarcely a runaway. Three members of Team NA medaled after all - a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd, IIRC!
Yeah, but against Europe. Losing against Japan would have been honourable. But Europe is traditionally stronger in the team disciplines pairs and dance. Plus they sent Elena Glebova, who was 12th at Europeans, which is actually like coming in 5th at some US-sectionals.
 

i love to skate

Medalist
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Yeah, but against Europe. Losing against Japan would have been honourable. But Europe is traditionally stronger in the team disciplines pairs and dance. Plus they sent Elena Glebova, who was 12th at Europeans, which is actually like coming in 5th at some US-sectionals.

Well the US also set Bebe Liang who was horrible and Canada sent Jeff who doesn't even compete anymore. It was just a fluff competition anyways...doesn't really matter.
 

stevlin

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Just love that Buttle guy!

Well the US also set Bebe Liang who was horrible and Canada sent Jeff who doesn't even compete anymore. It was just a fluff competition anyways...doesn't really matter.

I too want the Buttle man back. He is such a beautiful skater. His trans. and edges are simply amazing. He looks so full of joy when he is skating. He is also very cute. Maybe he will comeback. If not, he is very happy with performing.:love:
 
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