Chan is not the most likeable skater with a few years of comments. It is easier to like a HUMBLE GUY with extraordinary musical interpretation.
Let me say some of my own feelings. My favorites are 1) Jeremy, 2) Chan, 3) Kozuka, accidently all of whom were at GPF 2008 held in Korea and I had never heard of any of them before.
Back then, the Korean media were madly focused on ladies, where Yuna and Mao competed and about men, Chan was told in some articles that he was a young, promising skater who set the record in the previous comp(right?). I was not really a big fan of FS and though I wished Yuna would win(it turned out to be Mao's win), my good interest was more on men's field as I had always been.
Chan skated very disappointing SP and LP and even he fell twice at gala. Especially, his SP was painful to watch, LP a little better but fell twice... he had no control of his jumps.
If you have patience,
Chan SP, 2008 GFP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rnkzin5YYg
Chan LP, 2008 GFP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3k9PalpyGk&feature=related
Chan EX, 2008 GFP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcHQ2dJM6UQ&feature=related
He said he was frustrated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcHQ2dJM6UQ&feature=related
I link this vids because I actually like these. Why? See warm hearted, enthusiastic audience and Patrick's reponses after the very disappointing performances. I don't know why but Korean audience liked him then. Or maybe they gave those big applause to every skater.
What I liked was not his mistakes filled programs but his genuine smile after the disppointed look. Since then, I saw his natural smiles and laughs many times. I thought this was a good natured, nice kid.
As you know, English is my third language but I read some controversial commens from him. However, I have never agreed with some who say he is an arrogant, spoiled brat. He is just prone to misunderstanding.
I am not trying to say your feeling is wrong and I also like fair scoring.