Japan Open | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Japan Open

oxade21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 24, 2004
Of course everyone is going to have different jumps. It's how the jumps are laid out throughout the program and what comes in between the jumps that make the program. That's my point. We shouldn't have to excuse a program just because it has harder jumps.

Unfortunately, we should. The program dynamic changes significantly based on the level of jumps planned. Laying 2as and 3ts is different from laying action packed program with 3-3s and 3As.
 

oxade21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 24, 2004
I wasn't talking about front loading and lack of transitions. I was talking about how it literally looked like the the first half of the Masquerade FS:

3A
spread eagle
3a-2t
steps into 3F-2l-2l
spin
pose
spiral

Her new FS features all these elements again in the first half, except for the posing section and that the spread eagle sequence is much shorter.

All programs these days suffer from that. Just look at S/S free, or as someone already mentioned take any Lori Nichol program.
 

jovani2293

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Wasn't Carnival on Ice suppose to follow the Japan Open??? I want to see Miki Ando's new short program!!!
 

SerpentineSteps

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
yukari: yes, i agree that the costume is a tad too literal, but i'm not too worried about the program itself. i think that the music is ideal for the olympic season (especially how it builds up towards the final spin!), and i'm just looking forward to TEB, once she gets used to the choreo (and actually doesn't have her shoulder pop out of its socket!).

joannie: excellent, and i expected nothing less of her. my only comment would be that the music cuts, though i get what they're trying to do in terms of building the program, seems to lack continuity (or maybe i just know saint-saens too well?). hopefully she can maintain this condition until the olympics.

laura: omg love her. if she gets her jumps together, she's one to watch.

mao: now let's see what the fuss is all about... yesssssss the spiral sequence is just where i thought it would be super. !!!! the step sequence is to die for (and what is that at the beginning!? amazing.). too bad about the jumps, but i think, if executed to the tee, this program can really bring the house down (yes, repetitive if you try to hum the melody, but the orchestration is out of this world and definitely provides an excellent vehicle for mao).
 

Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Wasn't Carnival on Ice suppose to follow the Japan Open??? I want to see Miki Ando's new short program!!!

Yes, and it did. Those who went to see it live, have seen the rest of the skaters. But it will be broadcast on Oct 4, i.e. later today. I want to see Daisuke's renewed version of 'Eye'! Plus, the new costume :)
 

Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
youtube? But you need to be real fast, they'll probably want to remove the vids, because it's bad for the figure skating when fans from around the world can watch their faves' skating.
 

Daniel5555

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Just to share my (lame) opinion on Mao's program. At first I welcomed the use of Bells of Moscow because it's very original and powerful piece of music. But when I saw it today in the actual program, I thought it's a really wrong choice. A lot of people consider it way too repetitive. Also it's so tragic that combined with not perfect acoustics of the arena it really made me nervous and I'm afraid that Mao also suffers from that, as she is being surrounded by that music, and if she makes errors that certainly won't help her.

The program itself generated a bit of controversy, some people like it and others seem to hate it already. Today I think we didn't see it properly, so the best thing is to wait until another performance on another event.

It's definitely not that bad program, but I would like to see Mao skating to something lighter.

I won't compare her to Yuna just because it's too early and I really can't do it objectively.
 
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Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
16:00 on Tokyo TV, that is ... in about 6 hrs? Maybe you can watch it with that KeyHole TV software that's been mentioned before.
 

hauteor

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
It was rearranged for the purposes of skating program. Parts will be cut off, parts will be reordered. It's not about insulting Rachmaninoff. It's about fitting the needs of the skater. The orchestral version was specially commissioned with Tatiana overseeing the recording process. She probably had a specific vision/ auditory impression in mind.

I just heard the spacey "aa-s" at 3:20- I might just throw up...

I know that skaters have needs, that's why I thought Mao was a genius for picking this peace - the original is the PERFECT length for an LP, nothing has to be remixed (sometimes remixed music sounds kind of crooked and incomplete) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSO6dfTgVOY, it's slow, then fast then loud- what more could you want choreography-wise??

With a little bit of imagination just invision Mao skating to the piano version, I have and in my mind it could be breathtaking... (a killer step sequence at 3:20 jumping into spirals and doing another even greater sequence as the theme returns. Call me a dreamer).

P.S. I didn't know this was commissioned, but I immediately knew that only TAT could have dug up such a wretched version, it's so her. I see TAT on the Russian Ice Age every saturday, sometimes she is sooo full of it it's ridiculous. Having a pianist husband doesn't mean she's got good taste in music, maybe after hearing this awful concoction of hers did her husband run away to Germany.
 

hauteor

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
But about Mao- I've taken a liking to her. At the worlds I had the impression she was cold, calculating and probably unsociable in person. I didn't like the music, because Russian National TV had just started a thing where during the commercial break they promote their country- birds eye video footage of the big cities and famous sites with the slogan "This is Russia" (in a booming voice of course) and guess what the background music was? Masquerade.

If Mao likes this program she should keep it and enjoy this Olympic year (but honestly, this sounds more like what TAT wants and maybe she's such a big shot that even Mao dare not disagree?)
 

Daniel5555

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
hauteor
P.S. I didn't know this was commissioned, but I immediately knew that only TAT could have dug up such a wretched version, it's so her. I see TAT on the Russian Ice Age every saturday, sometimes she is sooo full of it it's ridiculous. Having a pianist husband doesn't mean she's got good taste in music, maybe after hearing this awful concoction of hers did her husband run away to Germany.
Full of what? She mentions that music?
Yes, it was commissioned and perfomed by some Japanese orchestra. I saw a program on Japanese TV, it looked like big accomplishment.
 
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hauteor

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
hauteor

Full of what? She mentions that music?
Yes, it was commisioned and perfomed by some Japanese orchestra. I saw a program on Japanese TV, it looked like big accomplishment.


Erm- "It" it's an expression. :) It's when you learn some fancy words from a fashionable subject and you use them to impress the crowd, but to the people who actually have knowledge in the field you would sound silly.
 
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shallwedansu

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Unfortunately, we should. The program dynamic changes significantly based on the level of jumps planned. Laying 2as and 3ts is different from laying action packed program with 3-3s and 3As.
If you're letting a skater off the hook for crappy choreography just because she has more difficult jumps, then you're essentially labeling the skater a jumping bean. And Mao is definitely better than that.
 

hauteor

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
On an entirely different subject (seeing as the Japan Open was the original theme of the thread but it has now evolved to an all-Mao discussion), I watched the show online via keyhole and even tho the quality of the video was really poor, I noticed one thing- the camera really loves Elena! They filmed her every chance they got, and with reason! She is such a nice and positive person and I think she looks great this season. Hope she shines at the EU champs at home.
 

DarkestMoon

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
I thought Mao chose Bells...

She did, between the two options that Tatiana offered and Tatiana had an orchestral version commissioned.

P.S. I didn't know this was commissioned, but I immediately knew that only TAT could have dug up such a wretched version, it's so her. I see TAT on the Russian Ice Age every saturday, sometimes she is sooo full of it it's ridiculous. Having a pianist husband doesn't mean she's got good taste in music, maybe after hearing this awful concoction of hers did her husband run away to Germany.

Now, now. The same can be said in your case. You maybe a fan of Rachmaninov but it doesn't mean that everyone is going to like the cut that you're envisioning. It's a matter a taste... the taste of the skater. Music/genre aficionados/choreographers/coaches/ or skaters may not always pick music (plus alternate renditions) that people like. Curently, I'm disappointed with Mirai's flute version of the POTC score (IIRC) and I'm big Hans Zimmer fan but I'm not going to launch personal attacks on Lori while I bemoan.There's no need to be rude.
 

hauteor

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
She did, between the two options that Tatiana offered and Tatiana had an orchestral version commissioned.



Now, now. The same can be said in your case. You maybe a fan of Rachmaninov but it doesn't mean that everyone is going to like the cut that you're envisioning. It's a matter a taste... the taste of the skater. Music/genre aficionados/choreographers/coaches/ or skaters may not always pick music (plus alternate renditions) that people like. Curently, I'm disappointed with Mirai's flute version of the POTC score (IIRC) and I'm big Hans Zimmer fan but I'm not going to launch personal attacks on Lori while I bemoan.There's no need to be rude.

I don't mean to be rude but this hits close to my heart. I've done composition, your peace is your baby and once its printed or recorded it's gone, you're lucky if at the premiere you get to guide the performers and get them to play the way it was meant to but otherwise the composer has zero control over how others are going to use it. Not everyone can write music, the composer has done humanity a favor by bringing a melody into existence, the least we could do is interpret it in the closest possible way that he or she wanted. This is why Bach has to be played a certain way (not kidding, there are rules), or Mozart, I have a romantic style so instead of "slaughtering bach" (my teachers words not mine) I would choose Chopin. Why make water out of wine (in this case the order is more suitable). Music always sounds best in its original form- a romantic Bach is much worse than a baroque one as is a futuristic Rach worse than a romantic one. If creepy and warlike is what Mao was going for, she should have taken a pick of Prokofievs pieces.
 
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