Favorite figure skating programs

Frenchie said:

Maria Butyrskaya 1993 EC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chfsHzUwu5E (Kojiki by Kitaro. Just impressively confident, notice the entry into the 2A)
Katarina Witt 1994 OG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmrprWr-kUM (yup, 3T2T is nothing to write home about, but that was a beautiful emotional moment)
Yuka Sato 1994 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfkeJgVMw-w (great skate at home, setting the stage for her WC win. she said she chose the music because listening to it made her happy )
Nicole Bobek 1995 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgfcohSFIOE (not a big fan of her out-of-the-rink activities or of her textbook Flutz, but the performance was great - and it was a huge Flutz )
Chen Lu 1996 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-DeyZ5yY28 (so delicate and silent to accentuate the emotion)
Sasha Cohen 2002 OG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDWCrlkloPA (she had charisma oozing out of her. as well as blood out of her nose!)
Fumie Suguri 2002 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfIMDI7doWI (great to skate clean at home. as clean as at the OG where she was low-balled to 7th in the SP, due in part to an early starting number)
Carolina Kostner 2003 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZBz7juIsg4 (so cute and young - jumped without any fear!)
Kim Yu-Na 2010 OG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xeO1qWH1JA (in command!)
Ksenia Makarova 2012 WC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylvYDThM58U (I just love the music, choreo and polish. This is NC, has better sound and the commentator shuts up)

Honorary Mentions:
Viktoria Volchkova 1998 SA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jniy2CbyaAA (on her 16th birthday! Looks older than many skaters 5 years her senior)
Lenka Kulovana 1997 EC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw5Hr-UDFEw (Music "Romance for Lenka" was composed for her)
Mojca Kopač 2000 EC; 2004 EC Not to be found on youtube.

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Frenchie said:

Katarina Witt 1987 WC Maria/West Side Story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLiJlOMdylg (after having lost the WC last year to Debi Thomas, she came to the US and had to skate right after Thomas' great performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYStCbrD84 Thomas only made 1 slight mistake with the identical technical content and the pressure was on for Witt who skated her strongest skate ever with 5 triples. Very different to both Olympics where she didn't need the 3Lo to win)
Midori Ito 1989 NHK Sheherazade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hupxBUve6Q (technically as awesome as her 1989 WC, but with imo better music, choreo and interpretation)
Maria Butyrskaya 1994 EC Kojiki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POcVjSr9W9U (beautiful, classy, clean and underrated, that was before her big successes.)
Yuka Sato 1994 WC Paquita http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZD_N4FY3B0 (ok, no 3T and low jumps. and I prefered her new LP she showed at 1993 Pirouetten despite the mistakes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTSTbTxCJBU before coming back to this one. But her skating is just mindblowing. Her step sequence is so much more thrilling to me than what is being done / required today. I love her for remaining classy during and forever after Bonaly's embarrassing podium affront)
Katarina Witt 1994 World Professionals Schindler's List http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL7cACwNdY (Lipnitskaya should have a look. Intense)
Chen Lu 1994 NHK The Last Emperor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR0qX7xhNLw (Perfect music for her. Same as when she won the WC in 95, just with a 2nd 3Lz)
Michelle Kwan 1995 SA Salomé http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yEnZwD4Zozk#t=73 (Like the 1996 WC, but with a 3T3T. I'd have been ok if she had won the 96WC with that against...)
Chen Lu 1996 WC Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcT_FdX_66E (Should have clearly won in my book. Notice at the 2:40 mark: a few seconds of intensity and just goosebumps. Nowadays, they'd tell her to not "waste any time and stuff some more technical content in!" :no: )
Tanja Szewczenko 1997 GPF Speed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj9q7UOqwQ8 (it's the whole back story: she almost died due to a combo of viruses, couldn't skate for over a year and wasn't expected to ever come back. and oh boy, she did. that brought tears to the eyes of the commentators - and me!)
Chen Lu 1998 OG Butterfly Lovers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYzxIjEewuk (the peak of LuLu's artistry. So delicate and yet feisty to fight to come back and even try a 3T3T at the very end - delusional in the best of ways! :agree: )
Maria Butyrskaya 1999 WC Otonal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYvVzNZNE4E (talk about mature woman skating! World Champion!)
Vanessa Gusmeroli 2000 EC Legends of the Fall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS2N76XOqMw (the perfect performance in her best season. lol on the us commentator taking offense to a 5.5 before his co-commentator subtly slips in that it was the US judge!)
Yuka Sato 2000 Stars On Ice Take My Hand by Dido http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCuC4OGsgj8 (just glorious! 6 years after retiring, still 3Lo, 3T, 3S and 2A, and in addition a sense of freedom and true happiness)
Kim Yu-Na 2007 CoC Miss Saigon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BIT_fTeQaY (perfect jumps, incl. a 3Lo. I thought Miss Saigon suited her perfectly, up until I saw...)
Kim Yu-Na 2011 WC Arirang - Homage to Korea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHqwxLU4mIc (not perfect jumps, but what a sublime idea for the theme: Arirang is a traditional Korean song that's played as the National Anthem when South and North Korea march in as 1 team. Shame on Orser for squealing it to the press after their split. whatever went on between the 2, that was just not classy at all and I lost most of my respect for him)
Yukari Nakano 2008 WC Capriccio Espagnol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeSwUNLqFkE (probably the origin story of why I have this trauma of thinking jumps should get downgraded more often! An electrifying performance after all her opponents stumbled their way through their programs, incl. a 3A. It was underrotated, and back then, there was no differentiation between < and <<, so that meant 2A. She ended up 4th. All the other jumps were clean -incl her huge wrap on F and Lz- and the spins were great)
Alissa Czisny 2011 NC Winter into Spring http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gvqVM3fh0 (love the music, elegance and spins! clean on all jumps. imo this was her best ever performance)
Sarah Meier 2011 EC Love in the time of Cholera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9akOqp9fKc (plagued by injury, she only came to the 2011 EC because they were in Switzerland, to say "goodbye" to her fans. She didn't think she could medal. She won. Watch to the very end of the vid, her reaction to the marks and then to the placement, and tell me you didn't choke up!)
Akiko Suzuki 2012 NHK "O" http://4.hidemyass.com/ip-1/encoded/Oi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9bU91YVVNZ0ZPY2c= (my all-time favorite musical arrangement and choreography)
Kim Yu-Na 2013 WC Les Misérables http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6d3XEp6mg0 (perfect. she's always impressive, but here, I also loved the musical arrangement!)
Akiko Suzuki 2013 NC Phantom of the Opera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVgLvbzDQsM (just perfect. the silent parts in the middle best showcase how delicate she's become despite her strong technique)

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