Jason Brown | Page 768 | Golden Skate

Jason Brown

Liebestraume was always my favourite Jason FS from his Junior years. It's so graceful and flowing and weaves the elements and choreography together beautifully. This is the program where you can see the Jason that will skate The Piano and Schindler's List. His jumps are still looking good here, although the 3A is still not particularly stable. He's surer and more confident in his footwork and the occasional hesitations when he changes direction have gone. This Jason is ready for Seniors.

In terms of packaging, this was the season that Kori and Rohene started repeating over and over the "more mature" line. And yes, Liebestraume as a program was more mature...but the costuming! The first costume, with the simple blue shirt with gauze and the black trousers, was elegant, mature, Seniorish. By the time we get to JWC it's been butchered with blue velvet throwing him straight back into the Junior category. Considering how handsome and mature Jason was already, it truly astonishes me that they got his packaging so wrong time after time.

This is the same kind of error that was made with Tristan et Iseult, Juke, the first Prince iteration. I'm not sure if nobody near his camp genuinely saw it or if they just wouldn't listen, but I go back to that 2015 Nationals podium, with Max, Adam and Josh all in nicely fitting, elegant costumes and Jason in his cheap dollar-store lookalike. How could anyone look at that photo and say "Yes, we are clearly going the right direction with his costumes"?

As an aside, I also find his kiss-and-cry reaction interesting here. I think this was the first time I had ever seen him show actual disappointment when the scores came up - of course he instantly raises his hand to hide it. It's a nice reminder that Jason has never been there just to make up numbers. He's always wanted to win. He was probably most disappointed in himself because as I recall, he made an error in the SP - a turn between the jumps in combination I think - which gave away a six point lead to Josh; if he hadn't, with that FS score, he probably would have won.

(Also, I still love that we're back in the days when 228 was a great total score and 154 was the record for a man at Junior Worlds. So cute.)
 
Jason was certainly not known for great costuming. Some of that could be coming from him. I very much liked this year's costumes, preferring the short and last year's short was fine. My fave has always been the black shirt with the black pants. Nothing to distract from the skating. Which is why I prefer this year's short and The Piano. Jason's junior skates are mostly all new to me, so this has been fun and informative. I had seen a couple of very early skates, but almost none of the skates leading up to Nationals 2014.
 
Oh yes - totally agree on the black shirt and black pants - although I thought his Schindler's costume was appropriate. Jason just isn't a sequin, ruffles and feather kind of guy.

What's next?
 
Awwwwwwwww - baby Jason. His voice hadn't even changed yet. His SP shows the beginnings of the panache he has on the ice now. I loved it when he skated in front of the judges and threw his arms up in the air with a big smile. His arms even at that young age were graceful and interpreting the music. He also gave us a taste of the agility he has and the little dance moves. He didn't have long lead-ups to his jumps and his spins were almost organic. The upbeat music fit his age and his style appropriately at that stage. His LP music was just okay. I thought it was a little heavy for him but when the tempo picked up and he went into his footwork it was better. He still had that great flow out of his jumps but you could see the need for progress. Unlike a lot of skaters that age and that skill level, Jason didn't seem to rush from one trick to another. He skated his choreography rather than let it dictate his moves (if that makes sense)

Thanks Tavi. This "sheltering in place" is getting boring and I look forward to these blasts from the past.
 
I like this idea, @Tavi, going back to the earlier programs. If I saw them, it wasn’t for long, and I would enjoy seeing them now. :)

Also, just in general, I like costumes. I like feathers, I like spangles, I like sequins. It’s figure skating. I don’t want to see a skater in an Evan Lysacek special or in something they picked up at Target on the way to the rink.

Concentrating on what is best for Jason, my opinion would be that some of the costumes weren’t the best for him, because they didn’t accentuate his lines or seemed to ignore it. For example, I thought the Juke costume was excellent, as was the program:agree: it got blinged up as the season went on, and that could have been toned down a little (well a lot), but we can wait until 2015 to renew that discussion.

Today I look at 2009:biggrin:
 
Two things stood out in the short program, besides his musicality. One was when he skated over and picked something up from the ice? What was that? And what was he talking about when he said "I didn't know what to do." I've never seen this program before, so don't know what it's supposed to look like. I agree that Jason's personality shines through in this one. He landed all his jumps. The spins need work but at that level were really good. Who was sitting in 1st place?
 
And 11 years ago the commentator noted that Jason's tech content was well below Josh's but that he relied on great spins and component marks. Some things never change, but he's better now. Josh was definitely the front runner in those days. That was fun! I love the understated outfit. You can see his lines. I think this is the earliest programs I've ever seen of his. He looks so young for 14! I would have guessed 11 or 12.
 
Bookseller said:
Jason was certainly not known for great costuming. Some of that could be coming from him. I very much liked this year's costumes, preferring the short and last year's short was fine. My fave has always been the black shirt with the black pants. Nothing to distract from the skating. Which is why I prefer this year's short and The Piano. Jason's junior skates are mostly all new to me, so this has been fun and informative. I had seen a couple of very early skates, but almost none of the skates leading up to Nationals 2014.
Click to expand...

Jason's spoken about this before - it was Rohene who was largely responsible for the atrocities. Kori even mentioned in an interview that she and Jason had to get the black pants for Tristan made while Rohene was away because he was so stubborn about the mustard pants being more historically accurate.

The black shirt and black pants for Piano was Jason's rebellion against the awful jewelled black top and dyed hair Rohene wanted.

noskates said:
Oh yes - totally agree on the black shirt and black pants - although I thought his Schindler's costume was appropriate. Jason just isn't a sequin, ruffles and feather kind of guy.
Click to expand...

SL costume was probably influenced by David Wilson, since it's not a Rohene program. With that said, even the Rohene program costumes have got better in the last couple of years - the costumes for Love is a B and this season's SP were excellent - so either Rohene has recognised that Jason is grown up and doesn't need to look like a Junior any more or Jason has taken more control in that regard.
 
Tavi... said:
Rather than moving forward from 2013, let’s double back and look at 2009!

SP: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uYzwU3898

FS: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5qQm6gl2Amg
Click to expand...

karne.exe has stopped working TINYCUTEBABYJASONTOOOCUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL

Bookseller said:
One was when he skated over and picked something up from the ice? What was that? And what was he talking about when he said "I didn't know what to do."
Click to expand...

It was ice! He skidded to a halt that way to scrape up some ice, then dusted it off his hands. I do not know why.

I think something may have gone wrong with the combo, actually. He looked a little lost between the 2A and the combo so I wonder if he got himself mixed up.

Bookseller said:
Who was sitting in 1st place?
Click to expand...

This other tiny adorable cutie...

Bookseller said:
And 11 years ago the commentator noted that Jason's tech content was well below Josh's but that he relied on great spins and component marks. Some things never change, but he's better now. Josh was definitely the front runner in those days. That was fun! I love the understated outfit. You can see his lines. I think this is the earliest programs I've ever seen of his. He looks so young for 14! I would have guessed 11 or 12.
Click to expand...

It's amazing how far apart they were. Jason's jump content here is a 3T, 2A, and 3S-2T - and the triples look wobbly and insecure. Josh's is a 3Lz-2T, 2A, and 3F, much more assured.

But Josh had also already had surgery for at least one injury if not two at this point...and Jason hadn't been injured at all. So, there's that.

Remember also that this was early January; Jason and Josh had literally only just turned 14.

This is adorable. This is such a Novice Jason. He even hesitates going into some of his turns how cute! Lots of spunk and flair though, and a sassy ponytail flip in there as well. He's already loaded with charisma and joy on the ice. This is a very, very early glimpse into his audience-pleasing power.
 
Novice Jason; squeeeeeeee:luv17:

I feel like an idiot picking apart any novice skater's technique, let alone Jason's. Only because we know how wonderful and masterful he was later, his spins traveled??? He did a butt spin????

on the plus side, the performance and charisma off the charts, even as Baby Jason. The opening pose in the SP, the hand gestures, the audience involvement (and that jazzy version of "Money" is an inspired choice for a younger skater). Less excited about "Russian Cinema", but a complete change of mood and tempo and I think we can see the kernels of Jason's movements in the Piano/SL programs.

What a glimpse, in both programs, of what was to come:)
 
karne said:
The black shirt and black pants for Piano was Jason's rebellion against the awful jewelled black top and dyed hair Rohene wanted.



SL costume was probably influenced by David Wilson, since it's not a Rohene program. With that said, even the Rohene program costumes have got better in the last couple of years - the costumes for Love is a B and this season's SP were excellent - so either Rohene has recognised that Jason is grown up and doesn't need to look like a Junior any more or Jason has taken more control in that regard.
Click to expand...

I'm really glad to know that. Rohene is a great choreographer, but he definitely has a very individual style that doesn't suit Jason. I sensed that maybe Zhenya got her opinion in on those costumes this year. That short program costume is really sophisticated. David no doubt influenced SL. It's appropriate. And most importantly, not distracting. I would be quite happy to see both of those back with both of those programs next season. Maybe they can streamline SL next year. But the SP costume is perfect.
 
That ice cleaning looked like it was choreographed, but I knew it wasn't. Maybe he did that to correct whatever it was that happened. It was puzzling. Maybe he exited out of one of his spins or jumps wrong and that confused him. I looked at the jumps again, but wasn't sure what they were supposed to be. Doubt that there is a protocol posted online for that comp. Not sure I would have predicted Jason's longevity and star power based on those skates. The seeds were there, but they weren't sprouting yet.
 
At each of the Nationals I've been to we always try and see as much of the Novice and Junior competitions as we can fit in. There have been a few skaters that we KNEW were going to make their marks as seniors - Camden Pulkinen being one of them for example. It's hard to look at baby Jason and not think of him the way he is now but like Bookseller said, the seeds were there. I generally base my opinion on their - what do you call it - "moves in the field?" To me if there's continuity in that movement, if the footwork sort of flows and the jumps aren't horribly telegraphed, if the spins are centered and the skating interprets the choreography - then the rest of it will develop with hard work and good coaching. And I attribute those factors to some degree of native or inherent ability. I won't mention other skaters for comparison purposes but some have all the technical expertise, can do the jumps, but the rest of it is somewhat lacking for what I appreciate in figure skating. So maybe Jason didn't have that technical ability as a junior or novice but he had that already there "it" factor.
 
I had no real critical knowledge about skating back when Jason skated Novice. I would have appreciated the flow and musicality and personality. But unlike ballet, which I did know, I don't know if I would have recognized Jason at that time as being something special. Of course, I haven't seen any of the others at his level. The only skating that I watched for decades was the every four year Olympics. I only watched Nationals because a friend had gone to Boston to attend, but Jason captured my attention within 30 seconds and I was riveted. And I've not stopped being riveted. Watching these throwbacks has been an education for me in the development of a skater. Some skaters continue to move forward and some don't. Jason did. Seeing the seeds of that special quality that he has, has been interesting. Looking forward to seeing the 2010 skates!
 
Baby Jason again - even at 15 he looked younger. I liked his SP because it was playful and interesting but thought it was a little too fast for him and felt he was rushing everything. On the other hand - thought his LP music was slow and almost dreary by comparison. I thought he actually looked like a totally different skater. His jumps were more solid, his spins seemed faster, and his footwork just overall seemed better. He just seemed more in control in the LP. He did go on to win Junior Nationals that year and I think he took 6th or 7th at Junior Worlds. (should look it up before I post....)

Thanks Tavi for taking the time to do this.

Oh - from what I could hear the only reference to Kori's pregnancy was that she had had the baby just a few days before that. He said "she induced her just for me!"
 
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