2024 GP France: Men's Thoughts?

[Karoltyna]

I've had family events this week-end, but I finally got to watch, in the middle of the night, some of the men's programs.

Adam ... SO well done. I couldn't make it through either of the Dune movies (or the book sequels), but I loved the original book by Frank Herbert devotedly. And for me, Adam beautifully captured the spirit, the feelings, even the drama of the book with this FS to the Dune music. His skating, his movement, the way he expresses what he feels are just so divine. I adore Ilia Malinin too, and it's wonderful to have their extreme styles on display.

Second to Adam's, I enjoyed Aleksandr Selevko's FS the most. Obviously I wasn't greatly affected by the errors. I just love the way he skates with such dynamic movements and drama inherent in his skating. I just love watching him skate!

I didn't get to watch all of the programs yet, but I found it interesting that Boyang's FS score was so very close to Camden's. Have to go back and see if people's comments were as severe to Boyang's FS as they were to Camden's.

TBH I think it was better Dune that the book itself (it was quite boring and sequels? what sequels? like Star Wars after Disney bought the franchise, simply didn't happen ). I just hope Adam stays healthy and gets some mental coaching.

I loved Sasha Selevko - both SP and FS. Errors? See above, just like Star Wars.

Japanese men are something else, they should get at least +2 spots in Worlds, just for sake of artistry and skating skills.

And Nikolaj Memola, he can be brilliant, but so inconsistent.

 

[lariko]

I, for one, am glad Adam bounced back again. I love that it's most likely gonna be : Ilia, Adam, Shoma goin back and forth, pushing each other, with either one of them with a chance to be champion

Unless I am really out of the loop, Shoma Uno of Japan has retired from competitive career. It's Kagiyama, Sato, Miura and Yamomoto.

 

[TallyT]

Unless I am really out of the loop, Shoma Uno of Japan has retired from competitive career. It's Kagiyama, Sato, Miura and Yamomoto.

Shoma has definitely retired - I think I saw he will be a guest commentator in some Japanese competitions (in Japanese) but I could be wrong?

 

[labgoat]

I know folks have a lot of opinions on who has the most creative Dune program this year.
Please check out Matias LINDFORS FIN from the JGP who may have the best Dune program.
Please keep in mind he is a JUNIOR skater with regard to his technical content.

 

[TallyT]

I know folks have a lot of opinions on who has the most creative Dune program this year.
Please check out Matias LINDFORS FIN from the JGP who may have the best Dune program.
Please keep in mind he is a JUNIOR skater with regard to his technical content.

Matias is a joy to watch.

 

[Sai Bon]

The senior season started poor and is heading downhill. Hopefully it can't get worse than this one... can it?

NHK will be stellar (I hope!).

 

[Mathman]

TBH I think it was better Dune that the book itself (it was quite boring and sequels? what sequels?)

I think the reference was to sequels of the book. The original novel, far from being boring, was one of the most sucessful, critically acclaimed, and best-selling (20,000,000 copies) science fiction novels of all time. There were five sequels. None of them came close to the original (although Children of Dune wasn't too bad). The original won the 1966 Hugo Award (co-winner) and the very first Nebula Award, the two highest prizes in the genre. After Frank Herbert died his son took up the pen and co-autgored a bunch more sequels, none of any exceptional merit.

The movie? I dunno. Never saw it.

 

[Karoltyna]

I think the reference was to sequels of the book. The original novel, far from being boring, was one of the most sucessful, critically acclaimed, and best-selling (20,000,000 copies) science fiction novels of all time. There were five sequels. None of them came close to the original (although Children of Dune wasn't too bad). The original won the 1966 Hugo Award (co-winner) and the very first Nebula Award, the two highest prizes in the genre. After Frank Herbert died his son took up the pen and co-autgored a bunch more sequels, none of any exceptional merit.

The movie? I dunno. Never saw it.

I do believe that the original Dune was something else when it was first published. I acknowledge it was innovative back then. But I read it over 40 years later and after reading many oter sci-fi books. Dune didn't age well. Sequels are unreadable. But this is off topic

 

[rabidline]

Shoma has definitely retired - I think I saw he will be a guest commentator in some Japanese competitions (in Japanese) but I could be wrong?

Shoma's the Fuji TV special ambassador for figure skating- he'll be reporting in person from Osaka for Japanese Nationals, along with Marin (now working as Fuji TV caster for sports and figure skating). He's not doing much for GP Series and GPF as it's broadcasted by TV Asahi (whose contract is with Shuzo Matsuoka, Shoma's agency senior).

He is keeping tabs on the skaters, likely for work purposes- and for personal purposes: he was very happy for Koshiro's silver GP medal win.

Shoma will also be working for Fuji TV at Worlds- not sure whether he'll be there in Boston, but last year Marin flew to Montreal to work at Worlds. Their roles are similar- he is likely to be there.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Unless I am really out of the loop, Shoma Uno of Japan has retired from competitive career. It's Kagiyama, Sato, Miura and Yamomoto.

This is what happens when you write and you're high AF!!!.... I definitely meant to write Yuma!!

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

I know folks have a lot of opinions on who has the most creative Dune program this year.
Please check out Matias LINDFORS FIN from the JGP who may have the best Dune program.
Please keep in mind he is a JUNIOR skater with regard to his technical content.

I had no idea this was Dune also! Definitely the BEST one I've seen ! His choreography and style is outstanding

 

[lariko]

This is what happens when you write and you're high AF!!!.... I definitely meant to write Yuma!!

Well, you brought a moment of sweet nostalgia, heh. Uno was something.

Also, I can't wait for season of Dune to be over. So, so overrated.

 

[Arriba627]

I kept hoping Nathan and Shoma would appear. I guess I should have smoked something.

Last season it was the typewriter that made no sense. Now this season we'll lie on the ice instead.

 

[Tutto]

May I inquire what is SO special about Dune soundtrack? I admit I haven't read a book or watched the movie, nor I am going to, as I am indifferent to sci-fi (exception - Tarkovky's Solaris) so only judging the music itself which is ok but hardly justifies such a mass 'hysteria' over it as it were the last drop of water in a desert, ahh pardon me - only available piece of music left in the universe?!
Adam, I am a fan, I love his fierceness and lots of things about his skating but I wish to God someone is his circle would tell him that his partnership with Benoit has ran its course. What was fresh and exciting 2 seasons ago, looks, well, ridiculous now. The thought he would stay with him for an Olympic season despairs me.

Frankly, the current state of choreography on the whole despairs me. Do skaters and choreographers alike ran out of ideas altogether?
The basic principle of telling the story by body movements matched to the music, preferably - a beautiful, memorable, emotion evoking music, seems to be gone out of the window. It is either VOICES telling us a story while a skater mechanically does the elements or the need to cook up some script, put it on a social media and hope that the audiences will guess this or that plot behind the skate.
I like Mark Hanretty as a commentator, but he drove me nearly mad by pressing on us more and more scripts and in the end it got all mixed up in my poor head - a fight for liberty, flight to distant galactics, a young woman in the theatre, flowers in the desert and so on...
I have a suggestion, a good one I believe. The ISU new requirement for skaters should be: to submit to the judging panel along with a planned content, a story synopsis. That would be only fair (the poor things have no clue what is happening in front of them) and it might even increase the scores!

 

[lariko]

May I inquire what is SO special about Dune soundtrack? I admit I haven't read a book or watched the movie, nor I am going to, as I am indifferent to sci-fi (exception - Tarkovky's Solaris) so only judging the music itself which is ok but hardly justifies such a mass 'hysteria' over it as it were the last drop of water in a desert, ahh pardon me - only available piece of music left in the universe?!

My theory--and maybe I am also smoking something, but hear me out--is that the Dune has a huge appeal to the skaters because of the main character in Dune.

Paul Artreides aka (insert million TITLES he earns) is a slight young man of high agility and towering mental prowess who is cast down and then wins the universal renown and glory (and titles!!!) through his agility and mental fortitude. Also worth mentioning is an unwavering support and tutelage of his powerful Mother.

Sand or ice... I can see how this character holds appeal to the male skaters (at least).

 

[Mathman]

I have a suggestion, a good one I believe. The ISU new requirement for skaters should be: to submit to the judging panel along with a planned content, a story synopsis. That would be only fair (the poor things have no clue what is happening in front of them) and it might even increase the scores!

I see two problems. First, it is not necessary , or even always desirable, iMHO, to tell a story. at all To me, choreography means matching movement to music -- there is no need to dress up like Prince Igor or to flap one's arms like a swan.

The second thing is that the judges should be free to judge what the skater actually puts on the ice, not what he says beforehand about his intentions.

 

[Mathman]

Sand or ice... I can see how this character holds appeal to the male skaters (at least).

Or... maybe modern skaters respond to the ecological/environmental theme. Way back in 1966, this was one of the first books tp preach on the sermon of the responsibility of the human race to come to accommodation with their planet's interdepemdent biospere -- a topic that has received renewed attention in the last couple of decades.

 

[rabidline]

I mean, how can Dune NOT be popular as skating music? It's by Hans Zimmer, whose music is always present (Pirates of the Carribean, Lion King, Interstellar), and as @lariko said Paul Atreides / Lisan Al Ghaib hold appeal as a recent "cool" character for male skaters to be (I'm not even saying to portray, lol) especially after part two of the movie. And it's memed so much all over social media in most parts of the world, making the viral potential higher.

 

[rabidline]

Frankly, the current state of choreography on the whole despairs me. Do skaters and choreographers alike ran out of ideas altogether?
The basic principle of telling the story by body movements matched to the music, preferably - a beautiful, memorable, emotion evoking music, seems to be gone out of the window. It is either VOICES telling us a story while a skater mechanically does the elements or the need to cook up some script, put it on a social media and hope that the audiences will guess this or that plot behind the skate.
I like Mark Hanretty as a commentator, but he drove me nearly mad by pressing on us more and more scripts and in the end it got all mixed up in my poor head - a fight for liberty, flight to distant galactics, a young woman in the theatre, flowers in the desert and so on...
I have a suggestion, a good one I believe. The ISU new requirement for skaters should be: to submit to the judging panel along with a planned content, a story synopsis. That would be only fair (the poor things have no clue what is happening in front of them) and it might even increase the scores!

Show, don't tell. It applies to skating programs too for me- if I can't appreciate it without knowing the entire backstory, then they have failed to make their expression and artistry accessible.

And the thing is that I feel like the choreographers responsible for some of these absurd stories- yes Benoit, I'm looking at you- also had great programs in the past I can appreciate without knowing what the program concept was. I guess it really just depends on the skaters' skating and performance abilities, and some of them are just not up to par to sell the program that the silly stories are the thing we remember about it.

 

[TallyT]

Probably but the book Dune is very overrated being big, self-importantly portentous and very very dull. It has weathered the years better than it deserves, probably because the other big, self-importantly portentous and very very dull SF super-classic is even bigger, more self-important and portentous, and dull to the point of stupefaction and makes Dune look good.