Mens SP Review | Golden Skate

Mens SP Review

EWalker

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
I can only post the first two flights for now... the final 2 will be posted in the AM. Please let me know what you want me to add/delete/clarify. Thanks!

Joel Watson (NZL) “Paparazzi” by Brian Tyler (Trains in Deleware)
3T-2T—fall on a 3S—change foot spin with weak positions—easy circular steps—2A—combination spin with weak positions—straightline steps with a fall—flying sit spin without the ‘sit’. Tech: 16.77; Components: 16.47; Deductions: -2.00; Total: 31.24.

Michael Weiss (USA) “Semiramide Overture” and “La Donna e Mobile”
3T-3T to start—circular footwork that was mostly mechanic—3A (Fallout)—flying sit—2L which landed forwad; at this point in the program it seemed like Mike gave up—strightline steps that, again, seemed overly mechanical—sit spin—traveling camels into combo spin. This was by far the worst I have ever seen Michael skate. It’s a shame really that he came here to skate like this. I would have rather seen Ryan Jahnke give it his all in his hometown than that. Technical: 27.11; Components: 31.78; Total: 58.89.

Bradley Santer (AUS) “Blues for Klook” by E. Louis
Begins with a fall on the first half of a 3F-3T combo—no footwork into a 3L—nice flying sit—good circular steps (so why none before the jump?)—2A—sit spin—straightline steps—combo spin to close. Overall, I really like his attack. My partner like is assets…Technical: 19.98; Components: 23.64; Deductions –1.00; Total: 42.62.

Xiadong Ma (CHN) Music by Mrvica
4T-2T (HUGE!)—3A—sit spin—circular steps—3L—straightline steps—weak combination spin—sit spin to close. If you are bored with his report, then perhaps you will understand how I felt during his performance. Ugh! Technical: 33.70; Components: 26.16; Total: 59.86.

Tristan Thode (NZL) “Harlem Nocture” by Haegan
3T-2T—3R (Hand down)—combination spin that was interpretive of the music—straightline steps—step out of a 2A—sit spin (YUM!)—circular steps—nice flying camel—weak choreography that consisted mostly of crossovers. Technical: 17.95; Components: 18.11; Total: 36.06.

Nicholas Young (CAN) “Revolutionary Etude” by Chopin
Nice 3F-3T—popped axel—circular steps with a hand down and a break in choreography—skidded landing on a 3L—combination spin with an ugly fall out—flying sit—straightline steps (seemed beat at this point)—sit spin to close. Technical: 26.33; Components: 27.25; Total: 53.58.

Gareth Echardt (RSA) “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica
3L-2t; sit spin—popped flip—flying sit spin—popped axel—out of control circular steps—straightline steps (SLOW!)—combination spin to close. Technical: 16.34; Components: 17.26; Total: 33.60.

“Bobby” Oda (JPN) “Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart
Odd face to start—3a (nice)—3L-3T—beautiful sit spin—3F—flying sit spin—cute circular steps—comination spin to close. This boy is World Class! Wow! I don’t think that he translates well on tv, but in person he is very charming and amazing. Look out if he gets a quad! Technical: 41.90; Components: 35.39; Total: 77.29.

Jianling Wu (CHN) “Shehearazade” by Rimski-Korsakov
3F-3T—3A—combination spin—circular steps—sit spin—3L—straightline steps—flying sit spin to close. This young man wore a pale lavender and pale yellow costume from hell. It reminded me of what sherbet should not be. Ugh! And his skating with exception to the jumps, is very poor… hunched back and doesn’t get a lot of use out of his blade. Technical: 34.27; Components: 26.39; Total: 60.76.

Michael Novales (PHI) “Warsaw Concerto” by Addinsel
3F (fall)—3S-3R that was BEAUTIFUL and fully rotated!—flying sit—circular footwork—2A—sit spin, straightline steps that were spiffy—combination spin to close. Michael used to skate for the US, and may have tried to qualify through Coasts to get to Nationals this year, but I can’t remember. His skating has improved so much since I saw him last, and I am glad that he is getting to skate internationals! Technical: 24.85; Components: 20.61; Deductions: -1.00; Total: 44.46.

Scott Smith (USA) “Freedom” by Michael W. Smith
Begins with a step out of the 3A—4S-3T!!!—3R with hand down (I want to slap Mark Mitchell for keeping this in his SP for the 3rd year in a row when he misses it so much!)—straightline steps—flying sit—sit spin with changes of edge and position—circular steps. Very sloppy performance for Scott, though his component skating has improved dramatically this year. Technical: 34.59; Components: 27.25; Total: 61.84.

Matt Savoie (USA) “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber
Dramatic flying sit spin to start—delayed 3A (WOW!)—3F-3T; circular steps that were interpreted so beautifully and with such command—3L-sit spin—straightline steps that were choreographed perfectly to the music—combination spin—ends with a beautiful hydroblade move. This is the best that I have seen Matt skate since 2002, and I think that there was more freedom in he expression tonight. Matt took the audience on a journey, and we were all willing travelers. Great set up for the Olypmics. Definitely a dark horse for the top 6 in Turino if he skates like this! Technical: 40.60; Components: 35.04; Total: 75.64

Standings to this point:
1. Oda
2. Savoie
3. Smith
4. Wu
5. Ma
6. Weiss
7. Young
8. Novales
9. Santer
10. Thode
11. Echardt
12. Watson

This is the end of the first two flights of skaters. I will continue with the other 12 in the morning. I’ve been up since 3:30, and want to get some sleep so that I can be fresh for the competition tomorrow. Goodnight from the Springs!
 

childfreegirl

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2004
Good for Scott Smith! I really liked him at Nats. Great for Matt too. I hope he kicks butt in the long. Too bad for Mike. :frown:
 

STL_Blues_fan

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Thank you so much for your detailed reports! I can't recall last time I saw 4CC reports..nice to learn about other skaters. Cheers!
 

Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Thanks for the detailed reports!! Interesting that Oda might be even more exciting live - I enjoy him a lot over the internet. Also glad to hear that Matt's program was "wow" live too. I was wondering about that after seeing him at Nationals. His FS there was very inspired IMO, but his SP seemed a bit tight. It was hard to tell for sure from the internet feed. Sounds like his SP last night was better than at Nats. Good for him!!

DG
 

LilyNWT

Spectator
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
I have seen the competetion and I have to say that Oda did so well!!!I'm happy the Chinese skater cleaned most of their jumps ^-^
 

EWalker

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Chris Mabee (CAN) “Tango” by Piazzola
Opens with a nice 3A—3L-3T—circular steps with nice tangoesque tension—3F that looked like a lutz—beautiful combination spin with many changes of position and edges-diagonal steps—flying sit to close. I was really blown away by Chris, and I think that he is going to move up the ranks even further in Canada. His technique is solid, and he has a great attention to choreography. Technical: 36.86; Components: 31.27; Total: 68.13.

Humberto Contreras (MEX) “Rockin’ Gyspys” by Willie and Lobo
Begins with a 3T-2T in which the 2T was underrotated—flying sit—majorly telegraphed 3R with a 2-foot—sit spin—basic (almost novice-level) circular steps—2A that stopped on the landing—straightline steps—combination spin to close. A good performance for him, but very poor in terms of competing internationally. Technical: 18.21; Components: 17.38; Total: 35.59

Justin Pieterson (RSA) “Europa” by Santana
Begins with a 3T-2T (which seems to be the standard in RSA)—3S—flying sit—2A—camel spin—straightline steps—circular steps—combination spin. Without knowing a lot about South African political culture other than the obvious, it was nice to see a black skater represent South Africa. He was very pleased with his skate, and he should be because he completed all of his elements as best he could. His coach, Susan Marais, is so cute because she was beaming throughout. After every completed element, hersmile got larger! Good for them! Technical: 21.39; Components: 18.93; Total: 40.32.

Marc-Andre Craig (CAN) “Sway” by Ruiz and Martin
Opens with a nice 3A—3F-3T—combination spin that was interpretive of the music—3L—serpentine steps that he got through very quickly—sit spin—straightline steps—flying sit to close. Another surprise from Canada! This boy also has a future if he keeps improving. It seems that the top 5 Canadian men all have some crazy ability to interpret music! What a treat Nationals must have been for the spectators! Technical: 36.16; Components: 29.46; Total: 65.62.

Robert MacNamara (AUS) “Saggitair” by Rene Aubry
Opens by falling out of a 2A—flying sit that doesn’t fly—2R (was to be his combo)—straightline steps—camel—2L (2-footed and underrotated)—circular steps—combination spin. This was plain horrible. There should be a minimum score required to skate in the FS. This guy would not have made US Nationals on the Intermediate Level. Nothing was even average; it was just bad. Technical: 11.61; Components: 18.49; Total: 30.10.

Miguel Angel Moyron (MEX) “Concerto de Aranjuez” by Rodrigo
Opens with a popped Lutz—3F—flying sit—circular steps—2A with a very nice back position!—catch foot camel to begin the combination spin—straightline steps—back sit spin. Nice effort, though he was visibly upset to miss the combination. Technical: 16.30; Components: 17.24; Total: 33.54.

Kensuke Nakaniwa (JPN) “Sarabande” by Haendel
Opens with a HUGE 4T-3T in which his blades seemed to be above the boards—waxel (fall)—sit—3F—circular steps—flying sit—straightline steps—ugly combination spin. It’s a shame about the axel because he would have easily been 3rd if he had landed even a double. He has improved so much since I saw him at Skate America a few years ago. Technical: 32.57; Components: 31.72; Deducations –1.00; Total: 63.29.

Sean Carlow (AUS) “Scott and Fran’s Paso Doble”
Does he train here in Colorado? Kathy Casey is part of his coaching team. 3T-2T; 3S—flying sit—2A—combination spin—circular steps—straightline steps—sit to close. Sean has improved dramatically since I saw him at 2003 Worlds. I don’t think that he will ever place in the Top 10 at Worlds, but I think that he has a shot to make it out of Worlds qualifying this season! Was very pleased, and beat his personal best by almost 10 points! Technical: 23.58; Components: 25.12; Total: 48.70.

Konrad Giering (RSA) “Black Hawk Down Soundtrack”
Opens by falling on a 3F that never had a chance—very poor combination spin—straightline steps—spread eagle into 1A with hand down—2R—sit spin in which he fell out of after 3 or 4 revolutions—circular steps—flying sit to close. This was horrible! I have never seen such a poor effort on the senior level. I felt really bad for this guy because to add insult to injury, his costume ripped in the butt about 2 or 3 inches along the seam, and he wasn’t wearing undies. He needs to get into shape (he was bulky) before he competes at this level again. Technical: 8.37; Components: 14.11; Deductions: -1.00; Total: 21.48.

Yashuharu Nanri (JPN) “The Race” from The Cutting Edge
Opened with a 3F-3T with a hop out—3A—circular steps—combination spin—3L with hand down—sit that was ugly and very slow (Is he losting the race?)—straightline steps that had his driving a car half-heartedly (If anybody would drive with such apathy, there would be a major accident)—flying sit that NEVER flew to close. Nanri was dressed in a costume that looked like a race car driver’s suit, complete with “Nanri” on his chest. I just thought that he looked like a box of Marlboros. This performance was dreadful. Technical: 31.44; Components: 25.96; Total: 57.40.

Luis Hernandez (MEX) “The Legend of Zorro” (Different cuts than usual)
Opened with a nice 3R—popped flutz and missed the combination—diagonal steps that were super fast and very difficult!—2A (fall)—gorgeous sit spin—circular steps—flying camel with layover—combination spin to close. I haven’t seen Luis skate in a while; I think the last time was a few years ago at US Nationals on the Junior level. This young man has beautiful skating skills, and I was surprised that his scores were so low. I thought he should have been in the 40s. Technical: 14.65; Components: 20.47; Deductions: -1.00; Total: 34.12.

Lun Song (CHN) Music by the Blue Man Group
4T (Fall)—3A—sit spin—very boring straightline steps—3L—wobly camel into the combination spin—circular steps—flying sit to close. Yawn. Technical: 21.76; Components: 26.61; Deductions: -1.00; Total: 47.37.

Final Standings:

1 Nobunari ODA JPN 77.29
2 Matthew SAVOIE USA 75.64
3 Christopher MABEE CAN 68.13
4 Marc Andre CRAIG CAN 65.62
5 Kensuke NAKANIWA JPN 63.29
6 Scott SMITH USA 61.84
7 Jialiang WU CHN 60.76
8 Xiaodong MA CHN 59.86
9 Michael WEISS USA 58.89
10 Yasuharu NANRI JPN 57.40
11 Nicholas YOUNG CAN 53.58
12 Sean CARLOW AUS 48.70
13 Lun SONG CHN 47.37
14 Michael NOVALES PHI 44.46
15 Bradley SANTER AUS 42.62
16 Justin PIETERSEN RSA 38.58
17 Tristan THODE NZL 36.06
18 Humberto CONTRERAS MEX 35.59
19 Luis HERNANDEZ MEX 34.12
20 Gareth ECHARDT RSA 33.60
21 Miguel Angel MOYRON MEX 33.54
22 Joel WATSON NZL 31.24
23 Robert McNAMARA AUS 30.10
24 Konrad GIERING RSA 21.48
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for your reports, EWalker, and welcome to Golden Skate. Keep on postin'!

Savoie and Oda are on a pace for scores in the 200s. A good omen for Olympics and Worlds.

MM :)
 

EWalker

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
I will only be covering the final 2 flights of men and ladies in the FS... it is a lot to report on! I will post the other flights next week when I return home if anyone is still interested.
 

Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
EWalker said:
I will only be covering the final 2 flights of men and ladies in the FS... it is a lot to report on! I will post the other flights next week when I return home if anyone is still interested.

I really appreciate the time you are taking to do this!! I would definitely be interested in your play by play of the earlier flights once you get home. Take time to have LOTS of fun while you are there!

DG
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
I got to see Matt's SP on the PPLive coverage last night and holy crap, I started cheering in my basement because he was totally AWESOME. OMG, had he skated like that in the SP at Nats, he would have been top three for sure! I think his confidence is building heading into the Olys and I cannot WAIT for the LP tomorrow. Rock it out Matt, you can do it! GO MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :rock: :agree:
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
thanks EWalker...

geez, I hope Mike can eat up some ground in the lp... I'd just like him to place top 5 at this point!
 

nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
EWalker said:
Matt Savoie (USA) “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber
Dramatic flying sit spin to start—delayed 3A (WOW!)—3F-3T; circular steps that were interpreted so beautifully and with such command—3L-sit spin—straightline steps that were choreographed perfectly to the music—combination spin—ends with a beautiful hydroblade move. This is the best that I have seen Matt skate since 2002, and I think that there was more freedom in he expression tonight. Matt took the audience on a journey, and we were all willing travelers. Great set up for the Olypmics. Definitely a dark horse for the top 6 in Turino if he skates like this! Technical: 40.60; Components: 35.04; Total: 75.64
OMG. :love:
I can't wait until the Olympics, and I am definitely on the Matt Savoie love train.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
eWalker - You are super for doing all that. It is not easy.

I have no ill feelings towards Savoie but he's got one heluva climb to get a medal in the Olys, imo. There is the Japanese one guy, the two Canadians, his own team maters, the Chinese guy, and the three Europeans.

Well, I think he might hit a top ten.

Joe
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Hope a medal in Colorado will give Matt the confidence to do well in Turin! (Though I agree that a top 10 finish will be great for him).
 
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