A couple random thoughts:
The triumphant return of the Biellmann better than ever!!! (even we were saying it wasn't the most beautiful and it was ok that it was gone... OOPS NOPE). I swear I wouldn't be surprised if
someone at TCC stalks the boards.
I hope Yuzu doesn't simply file the SP under "unfortunate event." Instead of tunnel vision on the combo blip, I hope he recognizes what he did right: perform the heck out of LGC! I brought my sister, a casual fan, and she was fully converted to worshipping Yuzuru after watching that. We had SO MUCH FUN!
FS warmup: definitely nerve-wracking. His face, nervous. But, even watching him fall on a 3A, I didn't worry it would desert him in competition. How could it?! Still, a tense moment. It was good to see him land 4S3T after missing it; that was enough to settle. Quad loop looked totally reliable in Helsinki. In the end, for me, I don't think I can pay too much attention to practices and warmups. Competitive programs are stressful enough! And I need sleep even though I barely got any. I was only sleeping 4-5 hours a night (excitement/jet lag), until Sunday after the gala, when I slept 10 hours. I kept waking up so early I decided not to set my alarm, and then I had to rush to the airport because I overslept!
My favorite part of the LP: beginning step sequence. None of the video does it justice
Very definitive skids to stop, hand gestures, changes of direction. Beautiful nuance. Everyone was right, the artistry of the program truly resides there, and the 3F is always a surprise even when you know it's coming. Probably early in the season it was coming across as "boring" because they're using the wrong camera angles to catch the subtleties. Of course he's obviously continued to refine it.
The 4S3T. Yes, it felt like EVERYONE KNEW what it meant. Savvy audience. I was squeezing my sister's leg leading into it and when he made it I screamed YES! along with so many other people. It couldn't be like watching Evgenia Medvedeva, where you know she will always land everything, but I would say I felt adrenaline/suspense instead of dread/terror waiting for the jumping passes. After he cleared his greatest hurdle, we knew he had to be careful to keep his concentration, but everything was flowing, just like the wind and trees and the ice crystals he's talked about embodying. That came across, that he was simply one with the environment and the music and us.
The gala spins were like lightning, but seemed to last an eternity. I wish they would have! It's clear that he doesn't max out his spinning ability in competition because he has to maintain his energy for the other elements. It's a shame in a way. Like Jason Brown, he's a skater you can enjoy watching for his non-jump elements alone (not that you need to). Those two have spins and moves in the field much better than the rest.
And after he skated, they were sure it's a new world record. Piotr Sobczyński was like... "I wonder if Javier Fernandez saw it or did he plug his ears and hid somewhere in a dark room". And they said this performance was Olympic champion worthy. During gala, Przemysław Babiarz was wondering why judges didn't give him 10s for components. He came to conclusion that it's probably because he skated first. If he skated last he would get a lot of 10s for sure and the score would be bigger.
