I thought Matt was just absolutely FANTASTIC; it's been a long time since I've seen, in National Men's, that many flawlessly skated elements (except for fall on lutz, of course) all tied so beautifully together, and yes, I am taking Johnny's last 2 Nationals into consideration when I say that. Matt used almost every note of his music in his choreography and there was always something interesting going on.
I liked Evan's program, too, but I agree that he was scored rather highly; I did find the choreography very interesting, tho.
Johnny did fine but I feel he could have used the music better and there seemed to be too much gliding around for my taste.
Michael's program, IMO, was actually, from a choreographic point of view, the most interesting long program he's had in quite some time -- well, basically since Mrs. Weiss took over his choreography. It was the first time in a few years that he actually didn't bore me. I thought that Tim, too, had, for him, a pretty well choreographed and presented effort as well; too bad the jumps weren't there.
Scott Smith's program was a huge surprise for me. When he finished 4th a couple seasons ago, I just couldn't understand what the deal was. But he was really good this afternoon and his program was terrific. If we were doing the old "placement system" and I were a judge, I would have actually placed him 2nd or 3rd behind Savoie and possibly Weir.
As for Ryan Bradley -- I REALLY TRULY WISH THIS GUY WOULD GET SERIOUS. IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. It seems inexcusable to me that ANY long program done to "Saturday Night Fever" would be THAT BORING. I kept expecting him to every now and then flash a few moments of brilliant footwork or something really clever among all that meandering about (like he did with his "Devil Went Down to Georgia" a couple years ago), but there was NOTHING there. He seems to have been laboring under the impression that merely flashing that devillish eye twinkle of his would suffice as some form of artistic impression. Well, guess what? It didn't. And ordinarily I would just write this off as just another flat long program that didn't really work, but I really think that he's got some SERIOUS TALENT, based on stuff I've seen him do in the past, and I get really annoyed when I see a skater with so much potential put together a free skate that dull.
I liked Evan's program, too, but I agree that he was scored rather highly; I did find the choreography very interesting, tho.
Johnny did fine but I feel he could have used the music better and there seemed to be too much gliding around for my taste.
Michael's program, IMO, was actually, from a choreographic point of view, the most interesting long program he's had in quite some time -- well, basically since Mrs. Weiss took over his choreography. It was the first time in a few years that he actually didn't bore me. I thought that Tim, too, had, for him, a pretty well choreographed and presented effort as well; too bad the jumps weren't there.
Scott Smith's program was a huge surprise for me. When he finished 4th a couple seasons ago, I just couldn't understand what the deal was. But he was really good this afternoon and his program was terrific. If we were doing the old "placement system" and I were a judge, I would have actually placed him 2nd or 3rd behind Savoie and possibly Weir.
As for Ryan Bradley -- I REALLY TRULY WISH THIS GUY WOULD GET SERIOUS. IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. It seems inexcusable to me that ANY long program done to "Saturday Night Fever" would be THAT BORING. I kept expecting him to every now and then flash a few moments of brilliant footwork or something really clever among all that meandering about (like he did with his "Devil Went Down to Georgia" a couple years ago), but there was NOTHING there. He seems to have been laboring under the impression that merely flashing that devillish eye twinkle of his would suffice as some form of artistic impression. Well, guess what? It didn't. And ordinarily I would just write this off as just another flat long program that didn't really work, but I really think that he's got some SERIOUS TALENT, based on stuff I've seen him do in the past, and I get really annoyed when I see a skater with so much potential put together a free skate that dull.
arty: I do feel bad for Mike, and was hoping that he would make the Olympic team. Classical music suits him well. I loved Johnny's SP, felt he skated his LP well, although the music choice was kind of flat. I like Evan's skating a lot, but was puzzled by his final placement over Matt. 
