NRW Trophy 2012. Dortmund, December 5th-9th 2012.

I like her sp better than her lp.

aftertherain said:

I get it, she's portraying a character... but there's just still something off about it.

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I get what you're saying too, lol. However, I always appreciate how Yuna's costumes are safe and not tacky. (There's a reason for criticizing ugly couture/intricate clothes as 'looking like figure skating costumes'.)

aftertherain said:

I understood that part (the red decorative "line" through her collarbones pretty much gave that away), but I honestly still don't think it matches the music. I get it, she's portraying a character; one that has been bitten by the being that the music is actually for ... but there's just still something off about it.

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don't worry. you're not alone with that sentiment. i actually wish they didn't put that red border on there. lol.

Just took a look at Kim's FS video. Hmmm. First off, I don't like the overall music selection or the specific cuts at all. Les Miz seems like going backwards for her as a vehicle to show off her artistic capabilities and maturity. Second, I don't like the construction of the program and choreography. And I particularly loathe those awful illusion dips in the step sequences (nor do I like any them in any other skater's program). Third, as to her performance: I'll give her a free pass on stamina issues which were apparent towards the end--for a first time out, the adjective that comes to mind on this program was "competent." But not a Wow! and I think largely because she doesn't have her performance face on. The whole program was lifelessly skated, actually, it was a downer and particularly since we know what she is capable of. Her jumps are quite good as usual, and I don't think the fall on the 2T or the popped combo was a big deal or a harbinger of doom--silly mistakes which I'm sure she'll fix on the next run of this in competition. Her spins and other elements definitely need a lot more work. Summary: No way was this a 200-point skate, despite what the judges seem to think. I felt like I sat down to a meal where the appetizer SP was reasonably yummy but the main entree FS was bland and left me still hungry.

Did anybody else think that Yuna and her team seemed surprised by the score when it was announced?
To me, it seemed that they were expecting lower scores.

bigsisjiejie said:

Just took a look at Kim's FS video. Hmmm. First off, I don't like the overall music selection or the specific cuts at all. Les Miz seems like going backwards for her as a vehicle to show off her artistic capabilities and maturity. Second, I don't like the construction of the program and choreography. And I particularly loathe those awful illusion dips in the step sequences (nor do I like any them in any other skater's program). Third, as to her performance: I'll give her a free pass on stamina issues which were apparent towards the end--for a first time out, the adjective that comes to mind on this program was "competent." But not a Wow! and I think largely because she doesn't have her performance face on. The whole program was lifelessly skated, actually, it was a downer and particularly since we know what she is capable of. Her jumps are quite good as usual, and I don't think the fall on the 2T or the popped combo was a big deal or a harbinger of doom--silly mistakes which I'm sure she'll fix on the next run of this in competition. Her spins and other elements definitely need a lot more work. Summary: No way was this a 200-point skate, despite what the judges seem to think. I felt like I sat down to a meal where the appetizer SP was reasonably yummy but the main entree FS was bland and left me still hungry.

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I think you forgot to read her interview before this competition.
She explained in the interview that she's competing in NRW trophy to get the minimum TES score, not to artistically prove herself. Hence why you see some awkwardness in her skating, and lack of true interpretation. I also felt a bit odd when she was skating, I felt like she wasn't giving in everything she had, not because she couldn't

gimble said:

Did anybody else think that Yuna and her team seemed surprised by the score when it was announced?
To me, it seemed that they were expecting lower scores.

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If you popped three jumps and fell on another, wouldn't you be expecting lower scores? Yuna's good, but I'd like to think she doesn't have a big ego.

bluesky85 said:

How come Mae is not doing 2A-3T anymore in her FS??

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She DID and still does 2A+3T in her FS (as I wrote), though it was called 2A+3< here.

If you meant Yuna Kim, the new rules (max two 2A in FS) makes that layout disavantageous, since she doesn't attempt 3Lo.

gimble said:

Did anybody else think that Yuna and her team seemed surprised by the score when it was announced?
To me, it seemed that they were expecting lower scores.

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Actually in her interview she said that since it was her first competition after a long break(20 months!) she wasn't really expecting high scores and that she just focused on TES score to qualify.
After making mistakes it's even hard to anticipate good marks but there you go.
And of course she has a humble personality.

gimble said:

Did anybody else think that Yuna and her team seemed surprised by the score when it was announced?
To me, it seemed that they were expecting lower scores.

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aftertherain said:

If you popped three jumps and fell on another, wouldn't you be expecting lower scores? Yuna's good, but I'd like to think she doesn't have a big ego.

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She doesn't.
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121209&content_id=40589096&vkey=ice_news

"I was surprised about the high scores," she said. "I did not expect that, because I made mistakes and could not show everything I can do.

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bigsisjiejie said:

Just took a look at Kim's FS video. Hmmm. First off, I don't like the overall music selection or the specific cuts at all. Les Miz seems like going backwards for her as a vehicle to show off her artistic capabilities and maturity. Second, I don't like the construction of the program and choreography. And I particularly loathe those awful illusion dips in the step sequences (nor do I like any them in any other skater's program). Third, as to her performance: I'll give her a free pass on stamina issues which were apparent towards the end--for a first time out, the adjective that comes to mind on this program was "competent." But not a Wow! and I think largely because she doesn't have her performance face on. The whole program was lifelessly skated, actually, it was a downer and particularly since we know what she is capable of. Her jumps are quite good as usual, and I don't think the fall on the 2T or the popped combo was a big deal or a harbinger of doom--silly mistakes which I'm sure she'll fix on the next run of this in competition. Her spins and other elements definitely need a lot more work. Summary: No way was this a 200-point skate, despite what the judges seem to think. I felt like I sat down to a meal where the appetizer SP was reasonably yummy but the main entree FS was bland and left me still hungry.

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That's exactly how i felt, i just didn't know how to explain.

She really needs to work on her spins....especially the layback which really has no quality...jumps look good but I think the 3toe of the combo wasn't fully rotated, it was better in the long than in the short though....however good for her is she still can do it!
for me the score is too high..but this is not new for he, is it?

I think Yuna's PCS was a bit high despite she made some mistakes, but not that much, 2-3 points, maybe?
But she landed 9 triples including three beautiful TRUE 3Lz!! 201.6 looks very reasonable and fair considering what she put out. She needs to work on her spins and steps, they are still work in progress, but I like her new spins! Her signature layover camel spin is beautiful, and her layback position looks prettier than before.
Given that it was her first competition after a long break, her skating was very impressive! I love her new programs, especially LP. Really enjoyed that!

Tanja90 said:

She really needs to work on her spins....especially the layback which really has no quality...

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What level/GOE did she get for her layback? It actually is pretty good, at least as far as her back position is concerned. It would be prettier if she kept her leg down.

Let's keep in mind that senior B scores tend to be high due to the fact that elite skaters stand out a lot more. So the 201-ish score Yuna got can't be perfectly compared to GP scores, for example.

bluesky85 said:

I think that people usually don't count the fall or underrotated jumps as clearn triples

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She didn't fall on any of her triples and got no under-rotation marks. I think she was scored about right on tech.

Senior Men Menshov is doing well this season, If he goes to Worlds he might just get Russian 2 spots back

Konstantin MENSHOV RUS 238,63 p LP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LbL85HBqp0&feature=youtu.be
Michael BREZINA CZE 213,09 p. LP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIcHrhOatzY
Peter LIEBERS GER 211,75 p.
Chafik BESSEGHIER FRA 210,75 p.
Misha GE UZB 210,66 p.
Alexander MAJOROV SWE 193,74 p.
Jin Seo KIM KOR 193,68 p.
Paul FENTZ GER 181,63 p.
Mark SHAKHMATOV RUS 173,32 p.
Franz STREUBEL GER 172,29 p.
Denis WIECZOREK GER 171,31 p.
Dmitriy IGNATENKO UKR 169,33 p.
Michael Christian MARTINEZ PHI 167,42 p.
Valtter VIRTANEN FIN 167,15 p.
Ryuichi KIHARA JPN 164,34 p.
Igor REZNICHENKO UKR 164,16 p.
Javier RAYA ESP 162,28 p.
Felipe MONTOYA ESP 162,23 p.
Petr COUFAL CZE 161,81 p.
Victor BUSTAMENTE ESP 161,16 p.
Harry MATTICK GBR 157,25 p.
Saverio GIACOMELLI ITA 150,18 p.
Matthias VERSLUIS FIN 150,31 p.
Matthew PARR GBR 137,27 p.
Viktor KREMKE GER 120,43 p.
Florian GOSTELIE NED 106,60 p.
Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS LTU 105,54 p.

Long Program
1 Konstantin MENSHOV
RUS 158.90 84.52 74.38 7.38 7.19 7.56 7.50 7.56 0.00 #25
2 Misha GE
UZB 145.65 70.89 74.76 7.00 6.75 7.94 7.88 7.81 0.00 #27
3 Peter LIEBERS
GER 143.98 76.72 68.26 6.75 6.94 6.75 6.88 6.81 1.00 #23
4 Chafik BESSEGHIER
FRA 143.12 77.36 65.76 6.56 6.19 6.75 6.63 6.75 0.00 #22
5 Michael BREZINA
CZE 142.80 65.90 77.90 7.88 7.50 7.63 7.88 8.06 1.00 #26
6 Alexander MAJOROV
SWE 132.92 67.80 65.12 6.50 6.25 6.81 6.25 6.75 0.00 #21
7 Jin Seo KIM
KOR 124.03 58.75 65.28 6.69 6.19 6.63 6.44 6.69 0.00 #24
8 Paul FENTZ
GER 123.14 65.26 57.88 6.00 5.25 5.81 5.94 5.94 0.00 #18
9 Mark SHAKHMATOV
RUS 122.67 66.67 57.00 6.00 5.19 5.75 5.81 5.75 1.00 #9
10 Ryuichi KIHARA
JPN 121.73 66.45 55.28 5.88 5.31 5.63 5.44 5.38 0.00 #4
11 Dmitriy IGNATENKO
UKR 115.61 63.09 52.52 5.50 5.06 5.38 5.19 5.13 0.00 #13
12 Franz STREUBEL
GER 113.73 61.23 52.50 5.50 4.94 5.50 5.25 5.06 0.00 #17
13 Denis WIECZOREK
GER 111.83 61.93 49.90 5.38 5.00 4.94 5.00 4.63 0.00 #16
14 Javier RAYA
ESP 111.69 53.67 59.02 5.69 6.00 5.81 6.13 5.88 1.00 #6
15 Valtter VIRTANEN
FIN 108.36 51.96 56.40 5.75 5.38 5.69 5.75 5.63 0.00 #20
16 Saverio GIACOMELLI
ITA 107.95 51.67 56.28 5.75 5.38 5.63 5.75 5.63 0.00 #7
17 Igor REZNICHENKO
UKR 107.87 54.49 53.38 5.63 5.19 5.31 5.31 5.25 0.00 #12
18 Michael Christian MARTINEZ
PHI 107.52 54.74 53.78 5.31 5.38 5.63 5.19 5.38 1.00 #19
19 Harry MATTICK
GBR 107.36 53.60 54.76 5.31 4.88 5.75 5.69 5.75 1.00 #10
20 Petr COUFAL
CZE 107.30 53.94 53.36 5.56 5.00 5.50 5.31 5.31 0.00 #14
21 Victor BUSTAMENTE
ESP 105.42 50.04 55.38 5.63 5.50 5.56 5.44 5.56 0.00 #15
22 Felipe MONTOYA
ESP 105.06 51.28 53.78 5.50 5.25 5.38 5.38 5.38 0.00 #11
23 Matthias VERSLUIS
FIN 101.84 49.08 53.76 5.63 5.06 5.25 5.44 5.50 1.00 #8
24 Matthew PARR
GBR 92.96 45.20 47.76 5.06 4.38 4.88 4.75 4.81 0.00 #2
25 Viktor KREMKE
GER 77.83 39.93 38.90 4.38 3.56 3.94 3.88 3.69 1.00 #5
26 Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS
LTU 73.40 33.50 40.90 4.69 4.00 3.94 3.88 3.94 1.00 #1
27 Florian GOSTELIE
NED 68.28 32.76 38.52 4.31 3.69 3.63 3.88 3.75 3.00 #3

I'm back from Dortmund and this thread has gained 10 pages. Half of South Korea attended NRW Trophy it seems. Watching figure skating live is much more draining than I thought. I was utterly exhausted after Saturday was over. There were so many skaters, and I watched them all! On Saturday I saw S/S live for the first time. I don't know, if it was the program, the exhaustion or just them, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. Maybe Aljona was still not a 100% healthy. Thank good they changed the FS costume as well, even though I don't really like the combi of her unitard with a skirt.

Someone wrote that Yuna looked thin, and I have to agree, seeing her in person, she seems extremely frail and delicate. I never saw her before, though, so it might be she always looks this way. Fame like hers comes with a price, I guess. She was always followed by a huge crowd by everything she did. People in the audience were mainly Koreans and once she came into the venue, even the skater currently on the ice was quickly forgotten. Of course, she and Jin Seo Kim were the only skaters bombarded with presents. I liked her FS dress. It may look plain on pictures, but it was so beautiful in motion. While she did skate the best of all the ladies, there is room for improovement, especially in the presentation department. Technically she was really good. Even with the falls. This was her debut after pausing, so not everything is going to be perfect. And for the first time I understood how hard it must be for the judges! It isn't easy at all, when everything goes so fast, to see UR or Edge Calls. I know it is their job, but judges get a lot of unfair hate when the job isn't that easy, imho.

Mens event seems forgotten here. But Konstantin Menshov...let me just say wow. He was awesome and landed all of his jumps. He won this easily, and I think I'm a fan now. Russia should focus on Menshov, imho. (Besides Plushenko) I know he isn't the youngest horse in the stable, but look at Plushenko. Where was Menshov in the years before? Time to do some research. Michael Brezina wasn't bad, but did some costly mistakes in his free. He has a natural arrogance to him, which is quite charming. Misha Ge is a funny guy and pretty entertaining. Peter Liebers was so-so, I wouldn't really have put him into third, but this was home turf.

I really liked Menshov's skating at SkAm
Definitely, Russia should give him some respect. He has been skating consistenly well this season.

Melon said:

I think you forgot to read her interview before this competition.
She explained in the interview that she's competing in NRW trophy to get the minimum TES score, not to artistically prove herself. Hence why you see some awkwardness in her skating, and lack of true interpretation. I also felt a bit odd when she was skating, I felt like she wasn't giving in everything she had, not because she couldn't

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I didn't need to read her interview, it's well known that the prime reason for her competing here is to get her qualifying TES score. My first and second points still stand, as does my summary above. The music selection of Les Miz, and the music edits themselves are just so beneath her. The choreography is lackluster. This is just not a program that has unlimited upside Wow potential, regardless of how well she eventually executes/performs it. And it wasn't a 200 point skate and should not have been scored as such.