GPF: Men's FS - Thoughts and Highlights

I don't think the event was unwatchable at all. Even with the mistakes, I thought both Nathan and Shoma put out enjoyable performances, Shoma especially. His movements are so beautiful. Brezina also put out a very entertaining performance, even though he didn't medal. And how could JULIEEEEET ever be unwatchable Congrats Jun, what an amazing Senior Grand Prix debut.

I thought Shoma's components were a bit low in comparison to Nathan's (or Nathan's were high in comparison to Shoma's), because even though I enjoyed Nathan's performance, Shoma's was at another level. Upon reflection, the placements are probably correct because of Nathan's superior jump technique, but I thought it should have been closer.

Overall, even though my darling Yuzu wasn't there :sad4: I still had fun watching. Almost still worth flying halfway across the world to watch live--perhaps ladies today will push it over that edge

I do agree that the men's field seems pretty weak this year, especially now that Yuzu's been sidelined for the time being. Hopefully Boyang Jin and Mikhail Kolyada can get it together and give Nathan and Shoma more of a challenge at future events.

I was pleasantly glad to find that Messing's quad lutz had an outside edge and with a toepick takeoff. With the number of new cheated quad lutzes landed recently and in the previous seasons it was refreshing to see a new skater land it with the correct technique. Also Junhwan Cha triple lutz edge was clearly flat in fs and sp but nothing on the protocol.

icybear said:

I was pleasantly glad to find that Messing's quad lutz had an outside edge and with a toepick takeoff. With the number of new cheated quad lutzes landed recently and in the previous seasons it was refreshing to see a new skater land it with the correct technique. Also Junhwan Cha triple lutz edge was clearly flat in fs and sp but nothing on the protocol.

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Is this a problem with skaters who are growing? Alina's edge is also flat but it was outside before, they are both growing so I was wondering if that's the reason

Michal Brezina was the best reason to watch this event for me. I’m not even sure if anyone else came close to capturing my attention in the same way.

Hehe...didn’t mean for that to sound insulting to the other guys. It’s not meant to be eace:

I said it in the FS thread and I'll say it here: looking forward to Javier at Euros and Yuzuru at Worlds

My super short summary of these six men:
Sergei - definitely not your best, but I'm just happy you made the Final. Looking forward to seeing him at RusNats.
Keegan - I was really rooting for him. Still, making the Final after so little 'major' senior comp experience was a win in and of itself. Hoping he'll be Canadian Champion this season.
Junhwan - still not ecstatic about that Juliet program, but it gets less unbearable every competition He's proving that he's one to look out for. He finished the GP circuit with three bronzes and each competition has not even had totally clean skates. I'm excited to see where he will place at Worlds. :thumbsup:
Michal - Oh, Brezina. I love your overly-simplistic wardrobe choices and your personality. He had the most enjoyable FS performance imo, yes, even with the lame air guitar. I get the impression he just continues skating for the pure enjoyment of it
Shoma - I thought he had the gold, tbh. But those URs :disapp: Seeing the jumps replayed in slow-mo made it clear that he needed to be called on those. I am sad he didn't earn the gold, but happy that his jumps were called appropriately. I wish he'd stop changing costumes and focus on relaxing into his choreo a little more :agree2:
Nathan - deserved win. My feelings on Nathan is he's Max Aaron upgraded several times over. Make of that assessment what you will

DaNiCG said:

Is this a problem with skaters who are growing? Alina's edge is also flat but it was outside before, they are both growing so I was wondering if that's the reason

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Was his edge correct when he was smaller/younger?

chopinskate said:

Cha needs better programs.

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welcome to the club
Whilst I've warmed up a bit with the R+J, I'm waiting for next year to be better for him program-wise.

Thank god for the new quad rule. I can't imagine how empty these free skates would be otherwise. I don't think it was a disastrous event by any means but I still find the men tough to engage with this season.

This Men's GPF in my opinion was similar to last years. Nathan led after the SP, with Shoma in close striking distance in second place. Nathan, AGAIN, skated before Shoma in the FS, made a couple of errors, leaving the door WIDE open for Shoma storm through. If any year with the change in points system, this should have been Shoma's to win, it was THIS event. But the final results were correct. Now my thoughts on the athletes:

Sergei: Hopefully he does better at Europeans
Keegan: He finished 5th at his first GPF...best international result in his entire career! So he should be proud.
Cha: love both his programs....he's ascending quite steadily. historic achievement of being the first Korean Men's skater to win a GPF medal?? if so, then happy for him
Nathan: attending Yale full time, skating full time...still handling his business! Very proud of him. (side note: that delay of his music at the start of his program and his facial expression was
adorable
Michal: He medaled at both his grand prix events, and finished 4th! That is a victory for him on his path forward. One of the top favorites headed into Europeans Championships?
Shoma: Always a class act.... I was expecting this to be the major competition that he finally gets his Gold....but onto the next.

Danny T said:

Who said the event was "crap" though? Most the comments in the competition thread never went that negative; people said it was uninspiring (and I agree). That doesn't mean crap. I honestly can't name a very good men's event this season so far, Nathan or no Nathan.

I'm a bit baffled by the victim complex.

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Overanalyzing much ... victim complex

I join everyone who felt entertained by this year's men's event. No deductions in the short and decent performances in the free. The final result in points was appropriate as well imo.

Nathan: he is not at his best yet, but it was one his better performances overall. His 4F deserves a notable mention - in terms of quality it's the best 4F in the world right now. Hands down for that beauty.
My problem with his skating: the sequences and transitions still look too rushed and wild to me. He doesn't take his time to glide on the ice, skate fluid long curves with deep edges or really highlight/accentuate choreographic moves. Sure, his music is fast - especially in the short - but I remember quick programs from other skaters with much superior SS and TR. I don't know, if he can/wants to change anything about this, it's his style of skating and makes him unique. I'm not a fan of it. Yet.

Shoma: He has to do something about his hanging free leg when he lands his jumps. In some cases it scratches the ice already. On the screen it looks really sloppy.
The musicality and body movements in both programs are great. Despite the mistakes I felt very entertained, especially in the short. Thumbs up :agree:

Jun: he gets better and better in every competition and 100% deserved his spot in the GPF. He has yet to work on his own style (in some of his movements I still see a tall little Yuzu on the ice), but his jumps are really pretty with good height, air position and a nice running edge. And I LOVE Julieeeeeet

Brezina: Thanks god he has NOT retired yet!!! He is a joy to watch. Full of energy, great jumps, very entertaining programs. The opening jump seemed to be cursed in everyone's FS (minus Nathan), but he wasn't affected by this error at all. The rest of the program was spot on. Wish him all the best for Euros. With him Javi will have a serious opponent for gold...

Unfortunately Keegan and Voronov couldn't show their best skate in the free, but I hope they can gain new strength for Worlds :agree:

Does anyone else thing maybe there was something wrong with the ice? It seemed like sometimes when the skaters botched their landings they were almost stuck on the ice. Or maybe everyone just had a rough day lol

I’m sad for Michal! I really wanted him to medal. But in his case, just even being here and getting 4th is kind of it’s own medal I suppose. I mean did anyone predict him to be here at the start of the season? I certainly didn’t-in fact the possibility didn’t even cross my mind. On to Europeans where i hope he can get a medal there!
Jun is wonderful and that Romeo and Juliet program has NO business working as well as it does...he really shines for me during the club sequence, next season I’m hoping for something purely upbeat and sassy I think he could really pull it off!
Nathan, I’m not sold on his lp yet tbh I haaaate the sound of the vocals and it kind of seems to drag? But he’s come a long ways from two years ago in terms of interpretation and artistry. Glad to see him go back to back.
Keegan scares the crap out of me I can’t lie. My sister said he’s like a wild stallion unleashed out there on the ice lol his jumps could be textbook if only he had more finesse and control! The air hight on that first quad was just unbelievable. If he could just reign in some of that power..and glad to see he’s apparently ok after that scary fall.
Sergei sad to see him struggle here. He’s still Russia man number 1 to me, hopefully he makes it to Europeans and has a stronger showing there.
And finally Shoma. I’m not a fan like at all but I do really like his final step sequence.
And I was glad to see him being judged more accurately then usual. Remember when Ashley Wagner used to be called the almost girl back in the day? Well I think it’s time for Shoma to pick up that mantle...this guy has to have more second place finishes then he does wins at this point. Which given how generous he is usually scored is really something. All in all it wasn’t a perfect event but seriously when was the last time we got a men’s event vent that was? Messy skates are just the name of the game right now.

evasorange said:

Does anyone else thing maybe there was something wrong with the ice? It seemed like sometimes when the skaters botched their landings they were almost stuck on the ice. Or maybe everyone just had a rough day lol

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It would hardly be the first in this series if it turns out to be so. Goodness knows what's up this season...

We are not blaming the ice. People just did not do well, it's not always the fault of the ice (plus we're in Canada).

yume said:

This competition made me want to watch again 2015 and 2016 GPFs

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Yes. I agree here.

sunnystars said:

welcome to the club

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I started the club

s_parks said:

We are not blaming the ice. People just did not do well, it's not always the fault of the ice (plus we're in Canada).

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Well, it could be the ice. In general I agree it just seemed like the skaters weren't doing that great, though.

To be honest, this entire GP was a bit lackluster in the Men's field. Some new and old stars rose up, which was enjoyable to watch, but there were too many disappointing performances. Nonetheless, the field for the GP was exciting, with some expected faces, and some very unexpected ones.

Both Nathan and Shoma made mistakes, but their performances were fine. It wasn't the best performance of the season for either of them, but it was still enjoyable to some extent. A little disappointing that neither of them did their best, but very deserved medal placements :thumbsup:

Jun and Michal's programs were my favorite. Wonderful that Jun got a medal with two superb skates- and a mistake on the toe. He's really making a mark for himself this season, and his LP became more tolerable, even with those crazy music cuts. Looks like I got a soft spot for Junliet. Brezina's mistake on the 4S was costly, but his program was still so fun to watch.

Voronov and Messing had unfortunate mistakes, but I'm still so happy that they made it in the final.

Shoma Uno. I had an "Aha" moment last night watching him, which I've been grabbing at many times before. There's a story about the fabled Middle Eastern (or Oriental? not sure) rug weavers. When other weavers make a mistake in the pattern, often the habit is to unravel back to the mistake and correct it. But these famed weavers are taught differently. When they make a mistake, they keep going, and incorporate the mistake into the pattern. That's what I feel Shoma does so brilliantly. Whenever there's a bobble or hesitation at the end of a jump, he creates moves that make it look like part of the program. It's a genius way of making art, in my opinion. Duke Ellington said he learned that if he made a mistake in a chord or a melody sequence, it didn't matter, as long as he kept going, progressed and ended on the intended right note or chord.

Nathan Chen. Staying on the comparison to composers, Nathan is more like Bach or Chopin. The precision and perfection are in the notes; or in Nathan's case, in the technique. And his technique is simply divine. This is why he's earning these GOEs, because of his beautiful technique, whether it's for the jumps, his fabulous footwork, his shimmies (SP) or more subtle body movements. If people are grumpy about skaters getting so much credit for quad jumps or other jumps, watch Nathan's quad flip in either program this competition. And watch his arms when he jumps; he wraps them low on his waist (Kurt Browning first pointed that out to me a couple years ago). Speed, spinning in the air, everything. And as Nathan said again in his post-win interview, he's working hard on his artistry, so that he can bring all that (without the mistakes, one day soon, he hopes) to bear on his performance.

If people are discouraged about the men's competitions this year, I think all you need to do is go back to Yuzuru's answer to a question, that the shortened program length makes it harder for the men. To put it another way, Lori Nichol said that it's much harder to devote the time in a program needed for artistry. She was talking about pairs, but both disciplines lost the same 30 seconds.


ETA: So, I have to correct myself and say that Nathan's more like Bach or Beethoven, in precision and perfection. Then, my whole comparison gets elevated, because Nathan's skating to Duke Ellington and Shoma's skating to Beethoven.

Don't know if this has been mentioned but... can we talk about how wild it is that the ONLY judge that scored Shoma over Nathan was the *US judge*
http://skatingscores.com/2019/gpf/men/long/

Arriba627 said:

I was wondering if this season you would have a different punching bag, but it appears that you will again have to use every opportunity to tell us you do not care for Shoma's skating. We get it. You've told us in every thread possible at every opportunity possible ad nauseum.

They're scrutinizing his jumps? Where have you been? Everyone has been scrutinized more carefully this season. Check protocols on Nathan's 4Fs and 3Fs, Cha's 4Ss for the season. The 1/4 turn rule is no longer in effect.

There were things about your beloved Javi I didn't like, but I never felt the need to post those same things over and over. We'll look forward to your J-Nats posts. Maybe you'll tell us about repetitive programs again. How ironic is that??!!

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:agree::agree: