2021 Skate America: Men's Free Skate

[auser]

I did write a strongly worded tweet but then thought better of it...I got banned from Twitter for week once, better not push my luck.

But here's the gentleman in question... Nasty piece of work even by Twitter standards.

But! This was fun! And it's not even 5pm yet! I'm not sure what to do with myself!

Well I considered a walk to the grog shop as I think M/K and Shoma deserve more than one Japanese adult beverage toast. But it is now 11pm here(although early by my usual figure skating watching standards), FD is twelve hours away, and I am probably too lazy.

 

[msteach3]

I knew after watching Vincent skate brilliantly at Cranberry Cup in September that this was going to be his season. I love his heartfelt commitment to the music in both programs. He has turned into quite the performer along with executing the difficult tech content. I’m so happy for him.

Nathan looked like a bundle of nerves in both outings here. I can‘t say I like either program. The free begins so slowly… it’s like he’s skating through molasses and can’t quite get going. It’s rather dark and depressing as well. I’m sure he’ll bounce back next weekend at SC, but not sure if these two programs are going to be OGM material.

Congrats to Shoma. He hung on tonight, literally on a couple of those jump landings, but was able to do his Shoma thing. He was far more consistent than I thought he would be. Not sure about this weird rendition of Bolero, but it kind of worked for him.

 

[Skater Boy]

ok... i love nathan... i love mozart... i am not okay with 3 things

1) putting together the A major concerto + the Requiem
2) skating to a Requiem during olympics... especially lacrimosa....
3) that weirdo techno bit at the end...

now about the skating : so many different doubles

I am not worried. Look at Nathan's score most skaters would be thrilled including Jason Brown, Keegan Messing, ROman Sadovsky, Han Yan, Boyang, Kolyada and the Russian boys who seem almost interchangeable. Lacrymosa always makes me sad. It is the song of death and sadly our highschool grad song. (We won the national championships with this song so someone thought it was a bright idea to use it as our grad song. Yikes!

 

[formersk8ter]

I may be in the minority, but I kind of love Nathan's free program. I think he will be able to make it special. And he's such a competitor, I have no doubt that he will just get better and better.

But Vincent, wow! I've always been his fan, he comes across as so hardworking and quietly likeable. What incredible improvements in his skating. He is definitely skating while wearing his heart on his sleeve. So happy for him!

 

[Skater Boy]

That costume, the mini ponytail, and Attack on Titan??????????????????????/

I hate the mini ponytail also known as an attitude. Where's a pair of scissors. Get a full pony or not at all. Good Grief lol.

 

[SaDa]

I haven't gone back through this thread, but if the rocker skating threads are any indication, I might be the only person who actually likes Nathan's free.

Nah, you're not the only one who likes it. I love it, personally. His music is already playing repeatedly in my head. I've already said this elsewhere but I think that if skated cleanly with 5-6 quads, a little more polish, and the right touch of energy invested in the choreo section, it would absolutely bring the house down. It's dramatic enough. The Skate America crowd seemed to enjoy it, especially that choreo section.

 

[pianistliz]

I may be in the minority, but I kind of love Nathan's free program. I think he will be able to make it special. And he's such a competitor, I have no doubt that he will just get better and better.

But Vincent, wow! I've always been his fan, he comes across as so hardworking and quietly likeable. What incredible improvements in his skating. He is definitely skating while wearing his heart on his sleeve. So happy for him!

I found Nathan's free fascinating. Honestly I think it showcases both his balletic training earlier in the program and then lets him let lose and do his thing later. I found it very "Nathan" from start to finish. I also have always loved the specific concerto they chose and Lacrimosa; I thought it was an interesting idea to put the two together, although I wish they were in the same or related keys for the sake of the music cut.

 

[lariko]

Nah, you're not the only one who likes it. I love it, personally. His music is already playing repeatedly in my head. I've already said this elsewhere but I think that if skated cleanly with 5-6 quads, a little more polish, and the right touch of energy invested in the choreo section, it would absolutely bring the house down. It's dramatic enough. The Skate America crowd seemed to enjoy it, especially that choreo section.

Skate America crowd, understandably, went wild for home skaters. I just wish they could spare some enthusiasm for others, because i don’t know why Grassl was met with stone faced indifference. I found him interesting and avanguard

 

[formersk8ter]

I found Nathan's free fascinating. Honestly I think it showcases both his balletic training earlier in the program and then lets him let lose and do his thing later. I found it very "Nathan" from start to finish. I also have always loved the specific concerto they chose and Lacrimosa; I thought it was an interesting idea to put the two together, although I wish they were in the same or related keys for the sake of the music cut.

I've always loved the K. 488 piano concerto. And, while going from f-sharp minor to d minor is a bit jarring harmonically, I too like the music cuts here!

 

[SaDa]

Skate America crowd, understandably, went wild for home skaters. I just wish they could spare some enthusiasm for others, because i don’t know why Grassl was met with stone faced indifference. I found him interesting and avanguard

I missed his performance so I didn't see the reaction from the crowd. I'd have to go back and watch it, but that's quite unfortunate for him. Like him and his performance or not, they absolutely should have given him a warm welcome and offered proper enthusiasm. It's simply good sportsmanship and the polite thing to be doing. Really sorry to hear that

 

[anonymoose_au]

Skate America crowd, understandably, went wild for home skaters. I just wish they could spare some enthusiasm for others, because i don’t know why Grassl was met with stone faced indifference. I found him interesting and avanguard

Aww poor Daniel, it was a rough skate but you can't say he didn't try. I thought the spins would at least get a clap.

I hope he doesn't feel unloved.

 

[rollerblade]

Skate America crowd, understandably, went wild for home skaters. I just wish they could spare some enthusiasm for others, because i don’t know why Grassl was met with stone faced indifference. I found him interesting and avanguard

Not sure what it sounded like in person, but on stream, the crowd was pretty wild for Uncle Cactus.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Not sure what it sounded like in person, but on stream, the crowded was pretty wild for Uncle Cactus.

I know I was cheering at home, best song choice for sure

 

[Jaana]

I was very happy for Zhou´s freeskate performance!!! Now he will have gotten his confidence back after that WC disaster... It wonders me though (as this was Skate America), will his possible carrots and all those q´s give him -GOE at international competitions? I noticed he is back to his old coach, which fact might not help him to get those jumps without "q"s.

Zhou has a very nice bodytype which looks great on a skater.

Hopefully he will be 100 % concentrating on his skating and not doing any studying this season...

I also liked Shoma´s performance and the way he interpreted the music. Great choreography!!!

 

[Jaana]

I'm always a little nervous when a skater has a lights-out skate on the first GP... like, that's great, but you wonder if that perfect skate can be replicated in the olympics.
now i sound like a debbie downer...

Better to have it early in the season than at US Nationals, IMO.

 

[kappa_1]

Not sure what it sounded like in person, but on stream, the crowd was pretty wild for Uncle Cactus.

The crowd was meager (understandable because of the pandemic) but people were really supportive of all the skaters. Of course the home team got the biggest cheers, but generally everyone was met with enthusiastic applause.

 

[LadyB]

Aww poor Daniel, it was a rough skate but you can't say he didn't try. I thought the spins would at least get a clap.

I hope he doesn't feel unloved.

Zhenya Medvedeva was very proud of him after the short. She did an interview with him where he told her about his long lasting injuries and struggling to coming back to form. I wonder why he was set up for GP (other than being on the podium at Europeans 2019),but that's for the Fed to answer.

 

[LadyB]

After catching up:
Shoma Uno: That was the best Bolero by a single skater I've seen so far, great costume as well. Glad to see him back with great programmes.
Nathan Chen: You watch the programme and you see his quality. It says something when you're disappointed to land 'only' 4 quads! I could watch him for days, just his interpretation of the music and the expressionist performance to go with it. Wow factor 100!
Vincent Zhou: Those jumps, the whole programme. I just cannot argue with that.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Wow, it turned out to be a little drama in the FS as well, but in a good way I think!

I think it´s good Kevin WD. Hope can rest now, and not be forced to do competitions he don´t feel ready. If that was the case.

Nathan is looking stressed as he enter the ice. This is new for me. He landed 4 perfect quads, but loosing 2 cost him a lot. Strange that he was just one point behind Shoma all together, and only got the bronze. All though, i´m happy Shoma did so well!

Vincent was just perfect, i´m so happy for him and it was so nice to see the emotions and how much it meant to him. Looking at the scores it didn´t really matter if Nathan did 4 or 6 quads, he wouldn´t have won anyway after that SP with Vincents clean performance.

OG is going to be very exciting. Nathan still has the WR so normally he should be ahead of Vincent if he skates clean. But Vincent win might also give him better PCS now. So Nathan can´t afford to make mistakes.

Shun did pretty well considering his injury.

It was nice to see the men skate better then the SP.

It´s pointless to say the predictions went down the toilet for me. Whoever had the top 3 predictions in right order should easily get a medal. After having a look at Shun at the first practice I kind of panicked about the injury and changed my predictions and put Shun out of top 5, in case he WD. Instead I put Kevin in nr. 5 - which actually was the one who WD. Anyways, if I havn´t changed it wouldn´t have made a big difference, I never ever considered putting Jimmy in top 5, so applause for him on doing so well considering he got the spot at such short notice!

 

[Ruthypegs]

I read that Nam is retiring after this season so I hope he just has fun and skates his heart out for the next few months!

He looks a little out of practice right now but I think the program is nice.

Oh, that's a pity - I like the joy he brings to skating - has he been injured?