Overall Opinions of NHK 2010 | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Overall Opinions of NHK 2010

oakl0008

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Dai was amazing as always. Such and extrovert. Love the choices Abbott made with his programs this year. I can see his LP progressing with time.
I can see both of them doing well at worlds.

Florent Amodio is an amazing jumper and skater. However, for someone with his abilities, I found the choreography of his standstills LP somewhat cheap and gimmicky. He can do better, but I that's the work of the choreographer so I won't put the blame on the skater.

Shawn Sawyer (my alltime favorite skater, ever). Loved his improvement with the short program. It was back in 2005 when I randomly turned on the TV and behold! Canadian Nationals was on. And Behold! There was this short guy skating a tango with heart, movement and flair that I have never seen before. Never even seen his face yet but I was mesmerized. Then I saw his spins and flexibility that not many men have managed before. I think Tangos bring out the true dancer in this skater so I hope he doesn't loose the "dance" in his skating. His exhibitions in CSOI this year seemed fun, but a bit gimmicky and I hope Sawyer doesn't go to that style permanently when he turns professional because he is NOT a gimmick. His spins, spirals and backflip are all amazing but his all around movement and dance abilities on the ice are what bring it all together. Even with some jump issues he doesn't fail to capture my imagination. Just fabulous!

Speaking of Spirals. Is that an extended spiral I see in his LP? I love that he has it and performs it better than most of the women! As for the LP. I hear that Marie France Dubriel coreographed most or maybe all of this? Kudos to her. I REALLY want Sawyer to bring this program to its full potential. Not sure about all the cuts in the music but I suppose I was just nuts for "Alice's Theme" alone. And I agree with other statements that the ending is somewhat anticlimatic. A tweak in the music here or there can improve it. I like the beading he has going on with the costume. But it still clear that it's from 2008 and not psychedelic enough to convince me of the Mad Hatter. I hope to see him change at least the top half to something eccentric like deep purple or magenta. :) I know that Sawyer's SP costume is from as far back as 2004, but that still works. ;)

And since Mr. Extrovert Ryan Bradely will be returning with a Willy Wonka LP (last year he also had Amadeus music in his LP, coincidence?) Sawyer's really going to have to do everything to stand out. Understandably so, Sawyer was eclipsed by many of the younger Canadian men over the years. Since this is probably his last year with no more "maybe next year's" ahead, this is it for him so I am hoping he ends it memorably. <3

I know this is an NHK thread, so sorry about the over ranting about Shawn Sawyer. I had to stick it somewhere.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I agree that it is about more than winning. But there is only so much some of us can take in.
I suspect Dance fans may have skipped the singles skating at NHK if they were busy and had other things going on.

Mea culpa. I didn't watch the ladies till the NBC summary show this weekend.

My initial point compared the ladies to the men, but it's worth mentioning that the ladies competition got more posts than the other three combined 356 vs 352, at this writing).



Think we should ask Blades of Passion which Vancouver podium was a better reflection of the skating, men or dance?



To me, Davis and White were the winners because their abilities simply outclassed this field - everyone knew they would win because they're just that much better. To me, a competition that was a "wait your turn" result would give us a podium that didn't have a just up from juniors team beating one that's been on the senior circuit.

If you had a podium by the numbers and reputation judging, C&L would have been 2nd. They were 5th.
If you had judging by pre competition politics & hype, I&K would have medalled.
If you had an old style lack of movement after the CD's/Od's, the Shibs would not have won a medal, given that they were 4th at Jr Worlds, over not only the overwhelming winners at Jr Worlds (I&K) and a top 10 team by ISU ranking (C&L).
And Weaver & Poje, 3rd place in Canada who did not get to go to either Olympics and Worlds would not have been second.
It was a totally unpredictable event, after D&W.

No reason to blame anyone for liking one discipline more than another.

For myself, I have to say that I have come more and more to like ice dance in the last few years because they don't fall down as much.

That is one of the attractions, IMO, too. Plus more varied music and use of vocals. Plus actually having the skating relate to the music being graded seriously. :)
 
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