Jason Brown

[Tavi...]

Nothing to do with the show, and not in a negative way. Room isn't one of the Hamilton songs that I listen to a lot, so when I listened to it again this week, the non-rap parts sounded like a slightly over-the-top theatrical jazz piece, almost circus-like.

Interesting, thanks!

 

[NoNameFace]

yesterday, I listened - and watched - whole Jason's interview with Ted, what a treat I have to say...There is probably no skater nowadays like Jason - so much animation and live in this interview. It's so obvious that he lives, breathes and actions by skating, it is his true passion which takes on probably all other areas of his life. And this trademark positivity, openness taken from every word and gesture is just plain comforting to see. He's really pushing the envelope both with 'Hamilton' SP and this individually composed track for him to be his FS - and it's good to see from an unique skater like him. I feel like he's now in a place where not only the music is making his programs viral/popular/iconic, but his skating style alone is doing such thing - now, when he's got that performance level/style established he has, he sure has also more freedom and personal input into musical choices. And he makes everything sounding so exciting and passionate, it's a virtue of true personality.

I have no doubt both programs will showcase Jason's best qualities and as the season will progress, he'll get more confident in his quest to up technical content, because he's a hard worker and never gives up, no matter how badly some people want him to do so. Regardless of execution, he's one of the very few skaters I enjoy and I'm mesmerized by just by skating alone.

ETA - a little off-topic there, but today I started serious thoughts about going to Milan 2018 Worlds, I'm calculating like mad woman and want this badly to happen, if Jason will go, I'd be over the moon to be there!

 

[TMC]

I've been thinking of his FS and perhaps lightning can strike twice. Almost 20 years ago at the Nagano Olympics a male competitor with a pony tail who performed primarily for the audience skated to the music of Maxime Rodriguez and won the Bronze Medal. Philippe Candeloro's D'artagnan contains my favorite sword fight on ice (at 4:08) and that part remains one of my all time favorite skating moments period.

Mine, too!!

The bits of Jason's SP we saw on the video looked & sounded great. I think it may very possibly be a huge hit. Hamilton is not a phenomenon here in Europe (for instance) in the way it is in the US, so it won't be as "easy" to make a connection with audiences worldwide as it was with Riverdance. But the song is catchy and Jason is a super charismatic performer, so I wouldn't be surprised if it, too, went viral. If it does become a worldwide success, it will actually mean more in a way because outside of the US it won't be because of the popularity of the musical. If he goes to, say, the Nepela Trophy and the audience goes crazy for it, nobody can say "well of course they did, everybody loves Hamilton". No, it will be because he is just that good.

 

[el henry]

Is Irish music really that popular worldwide Despite my Irish heritage, I *cannot stand* it, but of course I love Riverdance.

Although I am not one of the devoted fans of Hamilton, I would think the kind of music (rhythm and blues, jazz, hip hop) would be popular worldwide. I remember in France 35 years ago I saw young boys singing "Bad" on the metro. They did not have one clue what the words meant or what they were singing. But they were getting down

And, as we know, Jason can sell anything. The fact that he actually likes this music will be a plus.

 

[TMC]

Is Irish music really that popular worldwide Despite my Irish heritage, I *cannot stand* it, but of course I love Riverdance.

Although I am not one of the devoted fans of Hamilton, I would think the kind of music (rhythm and blues, jazz, hip hop) would be popular worldwide. I remember in France 35 years ago I saw young boys singing "Bad" on the metro. They did not have one clue what the words meant or what they were singing. But they were getting down

And, as we know, Jason can sell anything. The fact that he actually likes this music will be a plus.

Well, you could substitute "well-known" for "popular". Riverdance is very well known and liked. Even people who don't like Irish music will recognise it. Blues, jazz and hiphop are also well known and liked, but maybe the particular songs from Hamilton are not so well known everywhere in the world?

ETA I obviously only see it from an European pov, but the reason Riverdance is so popular is all thanks to the Eurovision Song Contest! Before the internet and whatnot, they used to have a long-ish show after all the performances to give time for counting the votes and all that. One year in the 90s when Ireland hosted the competition (one of the many times they had to do it), the intermission show was none other than Lord of the Dance & friends. It was a MASSIVE hit - like this was before social media and still everybody was talking about it, it was all over the news, it completely overshadowed the singing competition. I still remember how we gathered together with friends the next day to watch a rerun of the entire contest just to see that magical dance where "their legs flail about as if independent from their bodies"!! The ESC is now, and for sure was even more then, a programme that was watched everywhere in Europe. So if you made an impression there, you made an impression all over the continent. That is why it's so incredibly popular here. Of course Mr Flatley's business acumen helped a lot and made the show a success outside of Europe, too

 

[Tavi...]

Alright you guys - I'm here. Jason will be skating Hamilton in about an hour. He's already cheered on one of his rink mates, who won junior ladies. It is freezing here!

ETA Sr Ladies now. Bradie Tennell is competing. Yoonmi Lehmann (trains with Kori) must have withdrawn. Oops no, just skating later.

Jason's family has arrived. Jason is stretching quite near me. Bradie did well.

 

[TMC]

Alright you guys - I'm here. Jason will be skating Hamilton in about an hour. He's already cheered on one of his rink mates, who won junior ladies. It is freezing here!

ETA Sr Ladies now. Bradie Tennell is competing. Yoonmi Lehmann (trains with Kori) must have withdrawn.

YAY I'm so happy you get to witness it in person!!!

 

[jacky]

this sounds really great I cant wait too see the finished piece.

 

[el henry]

Alright you guys - I'm here. Jason will be skating Hamilton in about an hour. He's already cheered on one of his rink mates, who won junior ladies. It is freezing here!

ETA Sr Ladies now. Bradie Tennell is competing. Yoonmi Lehmann (trains with Kori) must have withdrawn. Oops no, just skating later.

Jason's family has arrived. Jason is stretching quite near me. Bradie did well.

Yes!!! So glad it worked out and close enough for the whole Hamilton lovin' Team Brown to see

 

[Tavi...]

Okay you guys just very briefly cause I gotta drive: I think the program is gonna be good but it didn't blow me away today. He's in great shape physically, 3A was good, but he didn't do any quads. I prefer this year's SP, but El henry will like it!

It's very much in the mold of Gatsby as to movement. I kinda kept thinking so g and dance man. I am pretty sure it starts with the step sequence - which looks really hard - there are some jazz dance moves in there that I can't believe he's doing. There are also some "sassy" hand gestures that don't work for me yet, but it's only the first outing. I think he will use the st sq to reveal the personality of the character he's playing - and I'm hoping it will be a bit ...I don't want to say evil, but a bit darker than, say, Juke was. We'll see. It was kind of hard to get anything today, not only because it's new but because he was dressed for Piano. Ending spin and pose - click boom - is great. He scored 85+.

As to music, I think there's no need to worry. It's mostly all chorus of "room where it happens" and it's hard to catch words. It's not gonna come off as political.

I think when he has it under his belt it will be really good, but I have a suspicion the FS will be more my style. I think he's gonna do it tomorrow, so looking forward to it!

Okay that's all - if you've go questions, ask!

 

[el henry]

Thanks for taking the time to report before driving home.
The second coming of Juke and Great Gatsby

(And I'd say I was being selfish, but the judges loved Juke too )

I only hope Jason is in good enough health to handle this, and that he doesn't have the type of quickstep that stressed his back in Great Gatsby days. Did he have the high kick a la Prince program that we've seen him practicing?

And does the audience (such as it was) seem to appreciate the Hamilton music, or was it all Team Brown, so who could tell?

 

[katmari]

It's very much in the mold of Gatsby as to movement. I kinda kept thinking so g and dance man. I am pretty sure it starts with the step sequence - which looks really hard - there are some jazz dance moves in there that I can't believe he's doing. There are also some "sassy" hand gestures that don't work for me yet, but it's only the first outing. I think he will use the st sq to reveal the personality of the character he's playing - and I'm hoping it will be a bit ...I don't want to say evil, but a bit darker than, say, Juke was. We'll see. It was kind of hard to get anything today, not only because it's new but because he was dressed for Piano. Ending spin and pose - click boom - is great. He scored 85+.

Thanks so much for the update! 85+ in the first outing of a new program is a great score. I did get a bit of a Great Gatsby vibe at 4:50 in Jason's video and am pleased that you've confirmed it. Did you happen to notice when the jumps occurred? His SPs have not maximized the jump bonus but if he's starting the program with the step sequence that's going to place the jumps further along and he may have two in the bonus now. If one of those jumps is a quad, that's going to rack up some points in a hurry.

 

[Arriba627]

As to music, I think there's no need to worry. It's mostly all chorus of "room where it happens" and it's hard to catch words. It's not gonna come off as political.

I think when he has it under his belt it will be really good, but I have a suspicion the FS will be more my style. I think he's gonna do it tomorrow, so looking forward to it!

Okay that's all - if you've go questions, ask!

Awww! You're in Milwaukee, right? So jealous! Great report. Thank you. I'm behind and just finished watching the interview with Ted.

Do you know at what time he'll do the FS tomorrow? Enjoy!

 

[Arriba627]

yesterday, I listened - and watched - whole Jason's interview with Ted, what a treat I have to say...There is probably no skater nowadays like Jason - so much animation and live in this interview.

ETA - a little off-topic there, but today I started serious thoughts about going to Milan 2018 Worlds, I'm calculating like mad woman and want this badly to happen, if Jason will go, I'd be over the moon to be there!

Just finished watching the interview. It brought such a smile to my face. Also found it so interesting to hear him talk about what it was like to skate with injuries. He is one fierce competitor!

You need to make Worlds happen! Tell your family that's what you want for Christmas, birthday, Valentine's Day, etc. etc. -- contributions to your Worlds fund. :clapper: See you there!

 

[Tavi...]

Thanks for taking the time to report before driving home.
The second coming of Juke and Great Gatsby

(And I'd say I was being selfish, but the judges loved Juke too )

I only hope Jason is in good enough health to handle this, and that he doesn't have the type of quickstep that stressed his back in Great Gatsby days. Did he have the high kick a la Prince program that we've seen him practicing?

And does the audience (such as it was) seem to appreciate the Hamilton music, or was it all Team Brown, so who could tell?

Hah hah - I never thought the judges loved Juke, but maybe I'm wrong.

In retrospect, it was hard to make sense of the program seeing it once - i don't have a good sense of the structure and I'm no longer even sure the step sequence was first. But yes, the high kick is in there. I don't recall if there is a quick step. My overall impression is that the movement is slightly less twisty than Gatsby, but there are more "Broadway" type moves. It is constant movement.

In addition to the 3A, I think his second jump was a 3S (obviously a placeholder). I think the combo was 3F-2T. All his jumps look strong, with good height, distance and rotation. I like the music cuts.

As to injury, I think that they may be doing things a bit differently than with Gatsby and the first iteration of Piano. If you recall those scary Glacier Falls performances in 2015, he seemed to be trying to master the programs at the same time he was adding the quad he was also trying to master - which affected his other jumps. Here, even though he has a long way to go stylistically, he looks physically pretty solid despite the obvious difficulty. So I think when he adds a quad and perhaps eventually two, he'll be able to preserve the integrity of everything else.

Audience appeal: can't tell yet. This is a club competition, so aside from 8 or so Browns, most of the audience were young skaters and their families. They were thrilled to watch all the seniors, but especially Jason and Jordan. Jason was a rock star and could have skated to the phone book set to atonal cowbells!

Seriously, I'm thinking they're aiming for a Broadway musical vibe. If he can pull that off, I think he will draw people in, especially Hamilton people.

ETA: Arriba wish you were there! Senior men are from 12:42 to 1:21 or something like that. They had him skate last in SP and as he's leading, I expect he'll go last here. It's free - you should come!

Katmari, I do think the jumps were later, but I'm so tired now I'm not sure! I agree 85 is a good score but 94 spoiled me!

I think I really loved his SP last season so much with the beautiful flowing edges and graceful arms - I miss that. I think once I get beyond that, and once it has some mileage, I might really like this program.

More tomorrow!

 

[el henry]

Hah hah - I never thought the judges loved Juke, but maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I am selectively remembering 2015 US Nats, and forgetting all other comps, because it fits my narrative.

Audience appeal: can't tell yet. This is a club competition, so aside from 8 or so Browns, most of the audience were young skaters and their families. They were thrilled to watch all the seniors, but especially Jason and Jordan. Jason was a rock star and could have skated to the phone book set to atonal cowbells!

Although maybe even Jason would have trouble selling that....

And when you have a minute, maybe we could hear about Jordan too. And I will be really interested to hear about the FS, considering that he's probably had the complete music now for a New York minute, going by his interview.

Thanks again!

 

[Ross74]

Thanks for the Milwaukee report, Tavi. Can't wait to hear about tomorrow!

And I'd also like to hear about Jordan.

 

[karne]

Wait wait wut?! Jason's competing?! when did this happen? why did I not know?

I am so glad you're getting to see it Tavi! I can't wait to hear your report on how the FS is!!!!

 

[Ross74]

(And I'd say I was being selfish, but the judges loved Juke too )

As did I.

 

[Tavi...]

So Team Koro had 5 skaters there that I know of - Sonja Hilmer, who won Jr Ladies, Yoon Mi Lehmann (S), who just started with Kori and competes for Switzerland, and Jason, Jordan, and Ben Jalovick.

I really, really liked Sonja - she reminds me of Mariah. She has a lovely flowing quality to her skating - really nice SS and expressive use of upper body. Musical. Her jumps looked good although I don't remember what they were - she did a 3z combo but I don't recall if the second jump was 2T or 3T. I spoke with her briefly and she seems quite level headed and maybe a bit older than many juniors? Anyway, I liked her a lot and hope she makes it to Nats this year. I'm almost positive Rohene did the choreo, which I liked a lot.

Yoon Mi fell on two of her three jumping passes and they may also have been called <, because her score was quite low. But her skating quality is really nice and I'll be interested to see what Kori does with her. I overheard her speaking briefly and her English sounds quite fluent - I'd never guess she wasn't born in US.

Ben has improved a lot but probably isn't yet at Team USA level. He doesnt appear super flexible through out most of the program - my impression of his skating is mostly that he's "powerful," so I was surprised that he included a pretty good I-spin at the end.

Jordan - is looking great! He seems to have made a full recovery. His jumping is strong and his training in ice dance (he competed at adult nationals) really shows in his flow over the ice. I liked his program and music, which is kind of "tribal." He did a good quad (don't recall if 4S or 4T - maybe 4S) in warmup. Stupid me I can't remember if it was in his program. His 3A looked good. I hope he can move up at Nats this year. He scored about 72 - not sure why he was so low.

So my final thought about Jason's short program for now: I don't think anyone else will have anything like it this season, so it may be a really good choice. I don't mean his music so much as the choreo. Honestly, I don't think I've seen any other current competitor do the kind of footwork / movement he does. The program never stops. He's got so much stamina already - he wasn't even breathing hard at the end. I look forward to seeing it when it's not so new. I do wonder how much more it will take for him to add the quad.

Im pretty sure there was no teardrop spin in the SP so I'll be really disappointed if it's not in the FS! Seriously it probably wouldn't work with the choreo. Excited to see FS! I'll report back later.