The Last Thirty Seconds...

[Ladskater]

I love the last thirty seconds of a program after the last jump especially when the skater has such a great skate like Jeff did at the Worlds. Kurt Browning said "I am holding my breath as he does his final jump" - that is how I felt. One is on the edge of their seat anticipating the outcome. It is so thrilling to watch the skater as they do their final move and to see the look on their face when they know they just did an outstanding skate. That's what makes figure skating so exciting to watch.

 

[sebj]

yea the last 30 seconds are fun, but the program as a whole's even better with results =)
that way u can also see if u can "judge" as well as the pros do

 

[PolymerBob]

Katy Taylor used to put a combination in the last few seconds of her routines.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

I too love the final 30 seconds... like Kwan's Tosca at Nationals and Arjueblahblahblah ( I can't spell it and don't have time to look it up...) at Worlds... So lovely...

 

[Bennett]

I love the last thirty seconds of a program after the last jump especially when the skater has such a great skate like Jeff did at the Worlds. Kurt Browning said "I am holding my breath as he does his final jump" - that is how I felt. One is on the edge of their seat anticipating the outcome. It is so thrilling to watch the skater as they do their final move and to see the look on their face when they know they just did an outstanding skate. That's what makes figure skating so exciting to watch.

I like your posts!

Yes, the last thirty seconds has something very emotional about it.

To me, the finishing pose is essential in artistry. I like skaters like Jeff who take enough time to finish the program before shifting from a performer to one's normal self. In his Adios SP program, I really liked the way he slowly reached his arm in the air, absorbing the calm music to end. Sometimes the camera focuses on his hand, which made a beautiful picture. I like the way he really "performs" the program.

I also liked Mao's last season's Nocturne SP. But my only regret was her finishing pose. As it was initially choreographed by Lori Nichol, the finishing pose was very beautiful. in Skate America, she used to slowly absorb the music with her arms and had such a calm, nuanced expression on her face. It was so calm and so beautiful. But towards the end of the season, her finishing pose became so sharp (possibly as an attempt to squeeze the time to excute the necessary number of revolutions in her spins) that it didn't have the same beautiful effect any longer.

In her Chopin Fantasia LP this season, I really liked Nichol's original choreo towards the last 30 seconds. After the marvelous steps, she used to do I-spins while touching her cheek by a hand. As she exited from the spin, she slowly stroked a bit leaning her neck and upper body towards one side, and had a light double axel, and then took time to finish slowly with nice port de bras to absorb the music. In her finishing pose, she looked down a bit with a calm expression on her face. I really liked these calm, silient moments that left a lot of nuances to appreciate in the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4JVT7IEmzE
But towards the middle of the season, this peaceful moment was unfortunately hampered by her attempt to squeeze the time to insert more difficult spins.
At the Worlds, however, she changed the ordering of the elements and finished by spins so that she would have enough time to excute both double axel and spins. So she was able to have a nice finishing pose there again. But because of the initial painful fall, this performance wasn't the one I would like to watch all day long.

 

[Mathman]

I too love the final 30 seconds... like Kwan's Tosca at Nationals and Arjueblahblahblah ( I can't spell it and don't have time to look it up...) at Worlds... So lovely...

No, no -- the last thirty seconds of the Red Violin, 2000 Worlds!

She hit that last triple jump, turned the corner and brought it on home -- just like a baseball player rounding third on an inside-the-parker, digging for the plate for all she's worth!

No, wait...

Like Secretariat at the clubhouse turn at the Belmont, hitting the home stretch in overdrive, the others eating her dust 23 lengths behind!

(Can you read her lips after the closing pose, when she throws down down her fists? This is the shot that ABC always closes with in their ISU ads.)

http://www.cruelladekwan.com/images/images/kwan (272)_jpg.jpg

 

[mycelticblessing]

No, no -- the last thirty seconds of the Red Violin, 2000 Worlds!

She hit that last triple jump, turned the corner and brought it on home -- just like a baseball player rounding third on an inside-the-parker, digging for the plate for all she's worth!

No, wait...

Like Secretariat at the clubhouse turn at the Belmont, hitting the home stretch in overdrive, the others eating her dust 23 lengths behind!

(Can you read her lips after the closing pose, when she throws down down her fists? This is the shot that ABC always closes with in their ISU ads.)

http://www.cruelladekwan.com/images/images/kwan (272)_jpg.jpg

I always thought she was saying 'YES!!!' She looks so happy in that picture!!

 

[Ladskater]

I like your posts!

Yes, the last thirty seconds has something very emotional about it.

To me, the finishing pose is essential in artistry. I like skaters like Jeff who take enough time to finish the program before shifting from a performer to one's normal self. In his Adios SP program, I really liked the way he slowly reached his arm in the air, absorbing the calm music to end. Sometimes the camera focuses on his hand, which made a beautiful picture. I like the way he really "performs" the program.

I also liked Mao's last season's Nocturne SP. But my only regret was her finishing pose. As it was initially choreographed by Lori Nichol, the finishing pose was very beautiful. in Skate America, she used to slowly absorb the music with her arms and had such a calm, nuanced expression on her face. It was so calm and so beautiful. But towards the end of the season, her finishing pose became so sharp (possibly as an attempt to squeeze the time to excute the necessary number of revolutions in her spins) that it didn't have the same beautiful effect any longer.

In her Chopin Fantasia LP this season, I really liked Nichol's original choreo towards the last 30 seconds. After the marvelous steps, she used to do I-spins while touching her cheek by a hand. As she exited from the spin, she slowly stroked a bit leaning her neck and upper body towards one side, and had a light double axel, and then took time to finish slowly with nice port de bras to absorb the music. In her finishing pose, she looked down a bit with a calm expression on her face. I really liked these calm, silient moments that left a lot of nuances to appreciate in the end.
But towards the middle of the season, this peaceful moment was unfortunately hampered by her attempt to squeeze the time to insert more difficult spins.
At the Worlds, however, she changed the ordering of the elements and finished by spins so that she would have enough time to excute both double axel and spins. So she was able to have a nice finishing pose there again. But because of the initial painful fall, this performance wasn't the one I would like to watch all day long.

Yes, I also love the way Jeff finishes his programs. He really gets the essence of the music right to the last note. I love the end of his short program as well.

I loved his Phillip Glass program from a couple of seasons ago. At the Canadians he skated it perfectly except for the ending because he was so excitied to finish. He said he made up an ending on the spot. It was great - no one could tell. I actually liked it better than his choreograped ending which I saw later. It was brilliant.

Thanks for the great reply!

 

[Kwanford Wife]

No, no -- the last thirty seconds of the Red Violin, 2000 Worlds!

She hit that last triple jump, turned the corner and brought it on home -- just like a baseball player rounding third on an inside-the-parker, digging for the plate for all she's worth!

(Can you read her lips after the closing pose, when she throws down down her fists? This is the shot that ABC always closes with in their ISU ads.)

http://www.cruelladekwan.com/images/images/kwan (272)_jpg.jpg

Oh, I know... but to be honest, Red Violin @ worlds is the best free skate EVER & that program began the uberness that is KW... I'd always been a fan of Michelle and knew she was the most special in a world of special ... but after Red Violin, I was hooked. Its simply perfect - for 4.5 minutes...

Meaning of course, Red Violin has the worse 30 seconds ever... because it ended.

I've always thought she said YES!!! Which is what I was screaming while watching it...

 

[blue dog]

Oh, I know... but to be honest, Red Violin @ worlds is the best free skate EVER & that program began the uberness that is KW... I'd always been a fan of Michelle and knew she was the most special in a world of special ... but after Red Violin, I was hooked. Its simply perfect - for 4.5 minutes...

Meaning of course, Red Violin has the worse 30 seconds ever... because it ended.

I've always thought she said YES!!! Which is what I was screaming while watching it...

Shall we watch it again?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YXacr9-HAg4

 

[nubka]

The last 30 seconds of a program can be very exciting, but so many skaters/choreographers seem to think that spins are the only exciting way to end a program. In theory, that might be true, however, when the skater has NO energy left and the spins are slow and sluggish, to me it really marrs a program and ends it on a low note...

 

[Bennett]

The last 30 seconds of a program can be very exciting, but so many skaters/choreographers seem to think that spins are the only exciting way to end a program. In theory, that might be true, however, when the skater has NO energy left and the spins are slow and sluggish, to me it really marrs a program and ends it on a low note...

What other ways of ending have you liked? I liked Yukina Ota finishing with step sequences. It was very beautiful.

The step finish might work better with circular steps than with SLS because you could finish at the more center part of the rink.

I also like finishing with double axel

I also like finishing without any element, just nice dancing and calm pose. But perhaps this might be difficult to do so in tight competitive programs.

 

[blue dog]

What other ways of ending have you liked? I liked Yukina Ota finishing with step sequences. It was very beautiful.

The step finish might work better with circular steps than with SLS because you could finish at the more center part of the rink.

I also like finishing with double axel

I also like finishing without any element, just nice dancing and calm pose. But perhaps this might be difficult to do so in tight competitive programs.

The best program that did this for me was Susanna Poykio in 2007.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GK_LGLBd1Y

Then there's the non-traditional ending, using an Ina Bauer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9WzbmgBVTF0

 

[Mathman]

How about a backward change of edge spiral, all the way in to the center?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dr01qTQ1_FI

 

[Kwanford Wife]

How about a backward change of edge spiral, all the way in to the center?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dr01qTQ1_FI

Stop it... are you trying to make me lose my rep as the office tough girl?? (there's no crying in baseball!) That program always makes me teary... so beautiful, honest and perfect.

And blue dog: thanks for the red violin link... that program is simply awesome. Also the Yukina link... talk about unlucky - not just because her injuries kept her from really dominating but for skating... she just might be the most natural skater on the planet and definately had the potential to impact this sport on a molecular level

but at least we have YouTube...

 

[Bennett]

Yes, I also love the way Jeff finishes his programs. He really gets the essence of the music right to the last note.

I know! He takes the time to finish the program so that the audience can appreciate it until the last moment. I also love his big smiles after the performance! However his performance goes, he has really a good smile to thank the audience. I really liked it when he did so at the 2006 Worlds. He had some mistakes, and he looked a bit dissapointed by his performance after he finished. But then, he looked up and greeted with a BIG smile to the home crowd. That was truly graceful.


Another moving moment was Takahashi's finish at the last season's Worlds. He was already crying with joy.

 

[nubka]

What other ways of ending have you liked? I liked Yukina Ota finishing with step sequences. It was very beautiful.

The step finish might work better with circular steps than with SLS because you could finish at the more center part of the rink.

I also like finishing with double axel

I also like finishing without any element, just nice dancing and calm pose. But perhaps this might be difficult to do so in tight competitive programs.

Some great ideas have been given here. Really, It's not that I'm so picky. I don't mind spins finishing program as long as they are FAST and not slowed to a crawl/sluggish...

 

[PolymerBob]

I've always thought she said YES!!! Which is what I was screaming while watching it...

Watch Caroline Zhang at the Junior Grand Prix in Taiwan. She lets out a "YES" you can see a mile away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU6azqxB4hY

 

[Bennett]

Some great ideas have been given here. Really, It's not that I'm so picky. I don't mind spins finishing program as long as they are FAST and not slowed to a crawl/sluggish...

Yeah, I feel that difficult variations and change edges in spins may be contributing to the slow spins. We don't see fast back scratch or fast regular stand spin any longer.

Despite some mistakes in jumps, Lambiel's programs always look gorgeous because of the unbelievable spins and breath-taking steps even though these are not reflected on the scores too much because of their lower values compared to jumps.

The best program that did this for me was Susanna Poykio in 2007.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GK_LGLBd1Y

Then there's the non-traditional ending, using an Ina Bauer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9WzbmgBVTF0

Thank you for your links. Susanna's program is very tasteful and the calm ending goes beautifully well with the Minor tone of music. It would be perhaps nicer if she could finish a bit closer to the center of the rink but I stll liked it a lot.

Yukina's program is also very beautiful. I love the ina bauer ending. Compared to the excitement of spin-ending, it gives very calm, nuanced impression. I think this ending underscores the beauty of her edges quality.

I also love the ending of Mao's ex program without spins. It's very caml and lyrical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nftn0NnzCXg