My new favorite male skater: Jason Brown

I loved Jason Brown's JGP Courcheval skates, but after watching his Sectionals performances (up on IN now), I've decided that he's now officially my new favorite male skater!

Chan has the amazing skating skills, Takahashi is a fantastic performer, Abbott has the musicality, Oda has the effortless jumps, Adam has the spins and the "cute" factor. Well, Jason Brown has got it all. He glides across the ice with power and ease, he charms the audience effortlessly, his jumps are high and smooth as buttah, his spins are to die for, his musicality is impeccable and heart-felt. No male skater has moved me in this way since Johnny Weir's early days.

He scored nearly 200 at Sectional's. All Jason needs is the 3A in his arsenal (and later, the quad), and he would be competitive internationally at the highest level. He is only 15, so I think his future looks super bright.

Here are his JGP Courcheval skates, but he skated even better at Sectionals (IN):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WML-ZLpYWtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlkMxQJA47k

feraina said:

I loved Jason Brown's JGP Courcheval skates, but after watching his Sectionals performances (up on IN now), I've decided that he's now officially my new favorite male skater!

Chan has the amazing skating skills, Takahashi is a fantastic performer, Abbott has the musicality, Oda has the effortless jumps, Adam has the spins and the "cute" factor. Well, Jason Brown has got it all. He glides across the ice with power and ease, he charms the audience effortlessly, his jumps are high and smooth as buttah, his spins are to die for, his musicality is impeccable and heart-felt. No male skater has moved me in this way since Johnny Weir's early days.

He scored nearly 200 at Sectional's. All Jason needs is the 3A in his arsenal (and later, the quad), and he would be competitive internationally at the highest level. He is only 15, so I think his future looks super bright.

Here are his JGP Courcheval skates, but he skated even better at Sectionals (IN):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WML-ZLpYWtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlkMxQJA47k

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Funny that you just posted this! I just watched his sectionals programs as well and was very impressed! I swear his ice distance is so wide that I swore that he would crash into the boards.

Obviously the lack of a 3A will hold him back, but I could see him break into the top ten (a la Amanda Dobbs) at Nationals on his great basics and nice packaging. Out of all the US men he has the 11th highest season's best score, so I think this is totally possible.

about the triple axel

does anybody know if he is close to getting the 3A - and also , who is his coach? He is really impressive - I cant wait to see how he does at Nationals!

Brown is certainly an entertaining skater and great fun to watch. Not in the same league with the top skaters in the world at this point. Don't know how close he is to 3A but I don't think he is the strongest jumper. Jonathan Farris already has 3A + 3T and Keegan Messing has quad. Both are in JGP Final. Brown is 2nd alternate.

Jason Brown's long-time primary coach is a woman named Kori Ade, and he has also worked with Rohene Ward (over the past few years I've observed that Jason has adapted some "Rohene-sque" spin positions and other cool moves) -- his USFS/Icenetwork bio has a lot more information about him (I can't post a direct link here). I've had the pleasure of watching Brown skate at Nationals (Novice bronze in 2009 and Junior gold last year) and really am looking forward to his continued development.

Richard Dornbush and Keegan Messing are the second-year Seniors who have qualified for the JGP Final (both Dornbush and Messing have landed 3A+3T in competition and Messing has been attempting the 4T in his FS this season). Brown, Joshua Farris and Max Aaron went 1-2-3 in Junior at Nationals last year -- Farris (also 15 years old and will be a first-year Senior at 2011 Nationals like Brown) and Aaron (18 years old, landing 3A pretty consistently this season and staying Junior in the U.S.) are the first-time qualifiers for the JGP Final.

Farris landed 3A+3T in his FS in Sheffield. It is great we have so many talented skaters. I was also at 2009, 2010 Nationals. Greensboro will be my 28th Nationals.

Sylvia, Jason's choreography should remind you of Rohene Ward. On his bio, he lists Rohene as his choreographer!

Jason Brown is my one consolation after Abbott retires. I am trying to stay calm and not hype him too much, but that young man really has everything. His presentation quality at Sectionals is a notch above everything I've seen before from him. He is wonderful in Exhibitions, as well, here is one from Courchevel- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xNh6GWU_pY - one really can see what enjoyment Jason gets from performing and it has quite a few creative moves). His 2A seems to be getting more height, so 3A should be possible soon. I love the way his body feels the music, way, way beyond his 15, going on 16 years. At Sectionals he seems faster, with stronger, more assured strokes. Go Jason; keeping my fingers crossed!

I definitely see Jason as skating with more and more power, speed, confidence, and improved posture. His musicality is first notch -- to me, that is his greatest asset. He has that "it" factor, IMHO.

His jumps are all getting better, too, more height, distance, flow, interesting transitions into and out of them. I especially love the last 3S he did in the Sectional's LP. A split jump, landing on one foot, straight into a 3S, just before his program finishes. So cool!

His 2A looks so high and easy, and all his other triples, too. He has such good technique on his jumps, they are so smooth and so controlled. It looks like he runs out of space on his 3Z every single time, especially on the combo, because it covers so much space. And yet he manages to tack on a decent 3T in this tiny little space left, which to me shows that he has a lot of control/confidence in these jumps. I think he has a very good foundation on which to gain a 3A and/or a quad. The boy is only 15 and not especially muscular. I think as he gets older and gains more muscle mass, his jumps will only get better!

I've had the pleasure of watching Jason since he was a Prejuvenile boy. Even then, he had an "it" factor. You all do realize that the 3Lo, 3F, and 3Lz are all "new" in that he got them sequentially in the summer of 09 and was very hit or miss last season until Nationals with < and falls, so his work on the 3A really only began after Nationals this year, right?

I'm actually glad that Brown is not rushing to get the 3A. In his second JGP in Japan, the technical panel called 7 of his jumps < in his 2 programs -- wonder if they were stricter-than-usual or he just had a bad competition? Brown didn't receive any underrotation calls at Mids, but international panels tend to be stricter than domestic.

That is exactly the point I was trying to make (except it was last year's < and this years << that he was getting hit with early). Thanks for restating my point, Sylvia!

Wow! He's amazing! Is he really just 15 years old? Looks like such a ready skater - and already has quite a fan club in audience! b

Sylvia said:

I'm actually glad that Brown is not rushing to get the 3A. In his second JGP in Japan, the technical panel called 7 of his jumps < in his 2 programs -- wonder if they were stricter-than-usual or he just had a bad competition? Brown didn't receive any underrotation calls at Mids, but international panels tend to be stricter than domestic.

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Are there videos of his skates in Japan? I'm really curious.

In Mids his jumps looked good. None of them made me think, gosh, that's a close one, did it get all the way around? Most of the jumps were high, smooth, effortless-looking. Maybe he's been working really hard on his jumps since JGP Japan. So I agree with you that it's good that he's working on consolidating them instead of rushing to push out the 3A. He's only 15, he has time. Both Chan and Rippon are 20 and still working on their 3A's, and they are doing great at the international level. Actually, it's good Jason's still working on his jumps. If he'd gotten them all down now, he'd win all these medals and retire early, and then we fans wouldn't get to see him develop into a more spectacular artist-athlete over the years.

I really like how he has different spins in the SP and FS -- although I wish he would swap some of the SP spins with the FP ones, 'cause they are really unique and spectacular, and would reach a wider audience in the FS. He also has at least 3 different kinds of split jumps that he sprinkles effectively throughout his programs -- good flexibility and high leaps! I think his choreographer is very clever, giving him fun, energetic, fast programs for his SP, and smoother, more lyrical ones for his FS (Daisuke's choreographer is really good in the same way). It shows multiple sides of his versatile performance abilities, but also maximizes PCS in the SP and conserves energy in the FS. I also like the choreographic footwork sequence in his FS, it's not very intricate, but it's fast and goes great with the music, and, when combined with the innovative entry to the 3S, brings the program to a wonderful climactic end. Two thumbs up for his choreographer, Rohene Ward.

The only thing I would wish more from Jason right now is engaging a little more emotionally and projecting out to the audience more. He's already a good dancer, with good posture/extension/line, meticulous attention to every little musical detail and body part, sharp and controlled movements, but I wish he'd smile more in his playful SP, and maybe look a little more soulful in his FS. I think he has the potential of bringing the audience to a standing ovation every single time, like Michelle Kwan did. But even Michelle's WC Salome at 15, artistically a masterpiece as it was, did not yet have the same emotional intensity like some of her later performances. Plus boys mature emotionally later than girls. So I still have a lot of hope for Jason.

ETA: Someone can probably help me on this -- which notable performances of Nessun Dorma by a male skater have there been in the past?

ETA: Someone can probably help me on this -- which notable performances of Nessun Dorma by a male skater have there been in the past?[/QUOTE]

Brian Boitano 1991 World Challenge of Champions, also 1993 Hershey's Pro Am, and 2008 Tribute on Ice - all on YouTube

I was delighted to discover Jason ! I think he's a terrific talent.

Brian Boitano 1991 World Challenge of Champions, also 1993 Hershey's Pro Am, and 2008 Tribute on Ice - all on YouTube

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Thanks! I loved the last big spread eagle he did, went great with the music, too.

The more I watch Jason's Nessun Dorma, the more I think it's just a masterpiece. Obviously Rohene did a fantastic job choreographing it, but Jason has to be an amazing skater to be able to bring out every musical highlight/phrase/detail -- in his footwork, hand movements, whole body movements really, and also with his spins. He has to be extremely aware and in control of himself to time his position changes perfectly with all the musical variations.