This is what I saw with my untrained eyes:
Chan's LP presentation:
He skated to the music for the first 50 seconds, outstanding start. After completing his 4T3T, he lagged behind all the way through his 3A and his circular step sequence, caught up, lagged behind again….and started to play catch-up. Thenceforth his choreographic highlights seldom matched the notes. For instance, he raised his both arms to highlight the music when the note (quarter E) was in the middle of "fermata" (i.e., pause)(3:36,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Nzn0K7yc4&feature=relmfu)--He highlighted a PAUSE!!! Similarly, he raised his both arms to highlight an off-beat chord (the 2nd beat, root note G♯)(4:18)--He highlighted an UNACCENTED beat!!! Even some of his transitional moves looked out of place due to the musical mismatch (e.g., the little running steps at 4:22 after his 2nd 3Lz, although originally choreographed to the music, now lost its meaning and looked as if he was hurrying to catch up). "Highlighting almost all of the notes", a praise for Chan's skating I read somewhere, means no note actually highlighted. A busy bee showing "I can do this (e.g., hops, directional changes) and I can do that (e.g., raising one leg up high while skating on a deep edge) deserved claps for his tricks (skating skills) but not his musical interpretation if failing to match tricks with music. Watching his LP was like having audio out of sync. I felt as if my eyes and ears were disconnected, which pricked my brain. To be able to interpret music well, one needs to live in the music or be one with the music. How well could he interpret it with honest emotions if he was off-beat more than half of his program?
I am no skating expert. But some of his flaws were plainly visible to my untrained eyes. For instance, his camel spin during the flying spin combination (FCCoSp) was way off—off center and off balance. His 3Lz+1Lo +2S combo looked like a sequence of awkward hops with one flaw after another. And of course his wild fall on the planned final axel generated ohs and ahs from the crowd.
Dai’s LP presentation:
Besides the jumps (4T, 3A, 3S), the first 50 seconds of his program was rather “simple” as if out of spontaneity and improvisation, which was exactly what the music dictated and what characterizes Blues, and with which he successfully set up a languid mood--even the way he raised his arms looked lazy. Then there came the drum and shortly the camel spins, whose entrance, foot change and exit went well with the music. During his circular step sequence, his arms and upper body highlighted the melody right on the downbeat (e.g., 1:51,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64QdXaZsUxs&feature=related), and his feet not only danced to the rhythm but also made small quick steps to reflect the synchopation (e.g., 1:57). Indeed, there were great uses of synchopation throughout his program (e.g., 2:25) with small steps or subtle kicks, so many I cannot name them all. The foot change and position change during his flying spin combination (FCCoSP), however, were not choreographed to the music, apparently as a trade-off for a level 4. As the music built up, he performed a series of jumps, which inspired cheering wows till the end of his straight-line step sequence executed with great musical precision, the climax of the program. Then the music calmed down, and he performed his final spins and ended with a pose that mirrored the starting pose, perfectly reflecting the musical construction of Blues—a cyclic form with reoccurring thematic/melodic materials. Variations unified by repetitions---great choreography, true to the music. And I cried, “Mommy, it’s over.” (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZVmV7c2TY4). I am no skating expert. All I could detect was a minor imperfection in his 4T (a small 2-foot maybe, I’m not even sure). I didn’t notice underrotation in his 3F till I read the protocols.
