Lol, some of the comments on this thread have me ROTFLMAO
(in a good way of course, nothing bad
)!
On a more serious note concerning my fav Mao, I just wanted to cut & paste two FABULOUS posts from member
Blades of Passion on another thread because what he stated should be sent to Madame Tatiana Tarasova & Mao Asada. JMHO:
Doing 3A/2T as the combo is a bad decision.
What Mao NEEDS to do is the 3A as her solo Triple, and then the 3F-3Lo as her combination. Or at least the 3F-3T.
That's the ONLY way she can hope to beat Yu-Na in the SP, if Yu-Na is clean.
I like Mao's SP. That music works better for a SP than it did as a LP last year.
The costume is no good, though. She should bring back her costume from last year.
http://www.isuresults.com/results/gp..._FS_Scores.pdf
Problems abound:
* Yu-Na ---> Her +GOE on the spins is too high, and PCS for that program and performance was far too high as well.
* Mao ---> What the hell was wrong with the technical specialist here. Downgrading her perfect Triple Loop? Total failure. Was he snorting coke at that moment or something? Those double loops shouldn't have been downgraded either. Her PCS were also too high, especially given how she finished behind the music.
Additional thoughts:
* Yu-Na was clearly the winner and she will be the clear winner throughout the season, unless a drastic health problem happens. Other than her rock-solid jumps and very good skating ability, she is succeeding because of sex appeal. She creates an aura of desirability with her body line and demeanor.
* Mao's costumes are horrible (the SP one especially). She looks like a little girl playing dress-up for Victorian-styled Halloween parties.
In fact, MAO is doing pretty much everything wrong. Her LP music needs to change. Her jump layout (for both the SP and LP) needs to change.
Tarasova has completely screwed Mao over, I'm sorry to say. She doesn't seem to understand CoP and she doesn't understand how to bring out Mao's strengths. Tarasova has failed to present Mao as being different and unique (and superior) in comparison to Yu-Na.
* The differences between these two skaters are quite obvious. Yu-Na is a toepick jumper and skates outwardly. Mao is an edge jumper and skates inwardly. Their jumping styles not only are completely different, but also compliment their skating styles. Mao has softer knees, allowing her to lilt across the ice more naturally. Yu-Na skates a little "harder", but is also more expressive and explosive.
Mao's SP from 2007 is a perfect example of her strength when it comes to artistry. She should be doing something like that for her LP this year. And, she NEEDS to fix that jump layout. Going for the second Triple Axel is simply not working out (and, even if it was, that's no excuse to leave out the other important combinations). She underrotates that second 3Axel all the time. She is completely capable of doing 3-3's, but Tarasova seems to be ignoring them. This is a HUGE mistake. A bigger mistake than her horrible costumes and the poor manner in which she is being presented as skater (which at the moment is, "hey look, I can be like Yu-Na too").
Mao NEEDS this jump layout for her SP:
3Axel
3Flip-3Loop
2Axel
And for the LP:
3Axel
3Flip-3Loop
3Sal (or 2Axel, if it's really giving her that much trouble)
----
2Axel-3Toe
3Lutz-2Loop-2Loop
3Flip
3Loop
There is NO excuse to not do the 3-3 and 2Axel-3Toe. These are elements Mao can do and they are of utmost important in scoring points.
I've said this before about her jump layout and I'm going to keep saying it until someone forces Tarasova to stop ruining Mao's career (and the excitement of having a competitor who can actually defeat Yu-Na).
I totally agree with poster Blades of Passion about Mao's jump layout! I feel like I'm in that movie "Cutting Edge" wherein the father keeps telling D.B. Sweeney's character:
"the move, the move, forget about the move, you can win without the move!"
Seriously, Mao has already put her name in the record books with firsts (i.e. 1st woman to land 2 triple axels in the FS), she *doesn't* need to land two triple axels in the FS again. It's done & over with, finito! Time to move on.
Not only that, but she never gets full credit for the 2nd 3A due to UR problems. The 1st 3A takes enough out of her, so by the time the second 3A comes round her legs & body are too tired to complete that last 1/2 rotation on the ice. It's just like a fall, better to leave it out. Also, it gets repetitive & doesn't add excitement.
What I would like to see her do (& in the process up her scoring potential to match Yuna Kim's at the very least) is to do a clean 8-triple program with what Blades of Passion mentioned up above.
She will still have completed a first once again: that is, the first woman to do a 8-triple program!!!!
So if that is what's bugging her, no problem, she'll be a record-breaker again.
Also, most importantly, it will be a
well-balanced & complete program, instead of just focusing on 3A after 3A in the FS.
Oops, and yes, she still needs a 3A in the SP, but also a 3/3 combo. as well.
Nowadays the competition can be lost or won in the SP. Yuna Kim showed us that at TEB. Thus, Mao needs to hang tough in the SP with Yuna Kim, which means landing a 3A & a 3/3 combo. to stay in contention. And then skating lights out in the LP! You can do it, Mao, you can do it!
EDITED TO ADD: oops, forgot to say that I honestly feel deep in my heart that Mao also has the ability to move people, just like Yuna Kim has done with her fabulous James Bond Program, but in a different way, as Blades of Passion mentioned in his post up above.
Mao has shown us she already has the capability to move people to tears (e.g. her exquisite
Clair De Lune SP) & also make them catch their breath with excitement & awe, which she will
do so when she lands all her jumps in her Bells of Moscow LP.
but yeah it can get annoying. I didn't see today's broadcast so I don't know if he has gotten worse.
Seriously, 99% of skaters take little rest stops here & there, either to breathe/catch their breath after a spin(s), or to shake their booty & flirt with the judges. Not Mao, not Mao, she literally does a full out sprint from beginning to end, her legs don't rest once, ask any skater & they will tell you that takes incredible athleticism! Her legs must have been burning at the end, especially after that incredible complex fast step sequence. That is what I call an athlete, combined with her tall supple body with beautiful posture & super fast speed, all which makes for a Queen (& Tatiana Tarasova outfits her as such, reminiscent of a young Marie Antoinette when she first ascended the throne at age 19 in 1774). 
When Mao lands all her jumps, this will be a masterpiece... I bow to Tatiana's genius.
