He definitely has. Among my favourite programs are several Plushenko performances. I don't know why some, often Northern-American, people always fell the need to reduce him to some idiot who could barely stand, arms flailing, on the ice and only won because the judges loved him.
And I bet if Joubert would have happened to be Canadian / US-American, people would rave about his masculinity, about his aggressive style, about his ambitious nature, about his modern, crowd-pleasing choreography, his powerful massive jumps.
But he happens to be French and therefore the only thing you read is "bad spins" (I don't think they are bad anymore, they are good average this season), "zero choreography" (strange, where do all those standing ovations for him come from then? Worlds 2008, Skate Canada 2007, CoR 2008... dumb audiences, they know nothing about figure skating!), "flailing arms" (yeah, like every second male skater around these days), "arrogant jerk" (it's called honesty in other areas of the world). It's simply irritating.
Thank you Medusa! Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way!!!
Coming back to the article, I wouldn't be against Brian's working with Mishin. He's definitly had some trouble with his quads recently (they're not as consistent as before) and maybe working with such a technicist would be great for him.
He also needs a boost in confidence, but his new program seems to have given him a bit more.
As for choreography, the big question is, who will he work with for the Olympic season. Here are a few guesses:
Kurt
Firstly, it seems unlikely. Secondly, I'm not sure it would be the best option anyway. Kurt did some great work with Brian, but I'm worried he'd do something like Brian's Metallica program again. Saying that if he could do something like the All For You program, then it would be great!
Morozov
He did some fantastic programs for Brian, Time, The Untouchables, James Bond and Matrix. But he also did the Lord of the Dance program which was far from Brian's best LP. I'm not sure if Morozov could do anymore for Brian, although it's a shame because he's a great choreographer. Plus Brian needs someone who can spend a lot of time with him, and Nikolai has just way to many students. Moreover, I'm not sure he'd accept to work with Brian as he's working with Oda.
Ian Jenkins
Brian's new program is fantastic considering how long it took to create it. However, I'm not sure, as we don't know him, that he could do anything else. It would be extremely risky during an Olympic season to work with someone with so little experience. Saying that, it could turn out to be the perfect match.
Evgeny Platov/Tatiana Tarasova
The reason why I put them together is that they have the same approach to choreography. I really don't thinhk Brian should work with either of them. They've created some gorgeouse things for him, but each time he doesn't feel comfortable with the programs, even though they really suite him. Such a shame!
Muriel Zazoui
She does fantastic things, but I fear he programs will have the same effect on him as Tatiana Tarasova's.
Any other suggestions?