2012 Cup of Russia Men's SP

Thank you, jaylee and mathman. :agree:

let`s talk said:

You are not answering plusyfan's point- if Chan is as great as his score claims, then why he failed to revive the popularity of FS even in his home country. If it's because he doesn't have charisma and doesn't grab the audience, then why he gets such a huge score for Presentation and Interpretation. It doesn't add up. And no need to bring that old reason- it's all because of poor economy! In Russia the economy is not great either. But Plu gathered the full house just two days ago there (more than CoR or SC, both with Chan), with the ticket price of 10000 roubles (about 316$) in arena and 3000 (95$) in stands. How much was the ticket in SC?

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It is totally unfair and irrational to lay blames on one single skater for the sport's decline. There are several things that could be sure:

1. There are many much more important reasons for the decline of the popularity of figure skating in North America. Evan Lysacek won the OGM. He wasn't able to revive North America. Sarah Hughes won OGM. She wasn't able to revive North America. The world champions Davis&White weren't able to revive North America. And for the same reason, the OGM and World champions Virtue&Moir weren't able to revive North America. Now you want to blame Chan for North America's figure skating popularity decline. Funny, to say the least!

2. One thing we can be sure that figure skating competitions are not popularity contests. If you argue that the most popular skater should win the race, then you might as well argue why figure skating wouldn't let the audiences judge for the competitions.

3. Patrick Chan is not well liked by some people might not be totally based on his skating. Some people simply don't like his look. Some people don't like his unguarded way of expressing his own feelings...

Bluebonnet said:

Evan Lysacek won the OGM. He wasn't able to revive North America. Sarah Hughes won OGM.

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Neither one really tried to, though. When Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano were unhappy with the opportunities (or lack thereof) given to them after Gold they went out and created their own market. Scott along with his management company created a new touring show. Boitano created his own production company, put on Carmen on Ice and then headlined Champions On Ice believing that the US was big enough for two shows like SOI/COI...

Instead of whining that there isn't, they should go out and make... but I know that's not society's mentality these days. Someone else has to do the work.

Bluebonnet said:

It is totally unfair and irrational to lay blames on one single skater for the sport's decline.

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What is unfair is to twist people's words and put them in their mouth. No one said that it's PChan's fault entirely that the popularity of fs in NA is below zero. The controversy of his wins is one of the factor but not the only one.

Tonichelle said:

Instead of whining that there isn't, they should go out and make... but I know that's not society's mentality these days. Someone else has to do the work.

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Pretty much the same happened in Russia when the USSR collapsed and the sport lost financial sources. Folks like Averbuch, Zakaryan (Plu's agent) created their companies, shows and the rest you know. Shizhuka in Japan is another good example of working hard promoting this sport instead of whining.

Mrs. P said:

I think it's cute that you call Urmanov, Urmy.

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Urmy in a white shirt with puff sleeves is forever a prince on ice for me! :

Did you see prior to the start of Bush LP, Urmanov was holding Zhan's hand and talking to his eyes to encourage his student? Priceless.

Blades of Passion said:

It's not an artless program, it actually can work quite well, except for the last parts after the step sequence. The music cut there needs to be changed. Johnny's flow and positions are something that's sorely lacking from figure skating these days; it's too bad he completely bungled the jumps. He is NEVER going to do a rotated quad if he keeps approaching it like this. Needs way more speed and less reach-around on the toepick. He used to get very good elevation and rotation on his quads before going to Galina, albeit with two-foot landings. Regardless, fully-rotated quads with two-foot landings give you a lot of points under this scoring system, so that's what Johnny should aim to do. He needs to get a jump coach. Galina is TRASH.

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I wouldn't call Galina "trash," but I do agree that Johnny's technique has suffered under her. She wasn't able to help Oksana with her technique on jumps either. However, Johnny never had any problems with his jump technique before leaving Priscilla. So as for Galina, I'd have to say, "Don't try fixing what ain't broke!" But I guess it's too late now.

ETA:

After viewing the programs, none of the guys skated with much passion or inspiration. Too bad re Richard's problems on the combo and hand down on the 3-axel, because he otherwise did a good job and I think he's a much smoother skater with budding interpretive skills than Bush, Menshov, Gachinski and Brezina (although Brezina has very good potential artistically to go along with his jumps -- he just hasn't shown much yet -- I don't like his sp choreo, costume or music). Menshov is a good skater and landed his jumps, but he lacks stretch, artistry, and interpretive skills. Bush shows much improvement as someone else mentioned above, but he still has a long way to go. Gachinski is improved in terms of landing his jumps compared to his recent performances. Apparently, Johnny skated injured, but still he landed more of his jumps than Denis Ten, so I'm not sure why Denis wasn't in last place. I do love Denis' programs this season, but he needs to skate with more confidence and learn how to land his jumps under pressure. Maybe he should ask for more help from Lambiel, as Frank's pep talks are clearly not working for D10. It will be a shame if Denis never gets it together. He's a much better skater than his results show.

Of all, I enjoyed Kozuka and Patrick Chan. PC did a wonderful job and looks to be back on track.