Japan International Challenge

emma · Oct 1, 2005

Thanks for the analysis so far...has anyone watched any vids??? I saw some photos and Irina's red dress looks awesome, but I'm wondering has anyone heard the music choices and what do you think?

My, my, my I just can't wait until next week so we can start comparing tech scores and figuring out where chips may or may not fall...i'm getting that nervous stomach feeling again (and I LIKE it).

OT--so who were you rooting for MM, blue or green?

amykaren · Oct 1, 2005

emma said:
I saw some photos and Irina's red dress looks awesome, but I'm wondering has anyone heard the music choices and what do you think?

Does anyone have a link to a picture? I would love to see it!

emma · Oct 1, 2005

amykaren said:
Does anyone have a link to a picture? I would love to see it!

Sorry...in post 138 at FSU there are some links and also a bit earlier in that thread too.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28603&page=10&pp=15

ETA: sorry again, post 138 in the Japan International Challenge discussion thread

Joesitz (RIP) · Oct 1, 2005

No big surprises in this early season. good practice for things to come. Let's see what happens in the GPs.

Joe

soogar · Oct 1, 2005

Mathman said:
Slutskaya finished five points ahead of Arakawa even with a fall and even without winning the PCS. She must have skated an awesome program.

Can anyone read the pdf files with the breakdown of scores? My acrobat reader says it doesn't have the right font to display it (probably Japanese).

Mathman

I just seen both programs and I'll post them here. Irina had a few sloppy moments and Shiz looked like she doubled 1-2 triples had a little trouble on the landing of one jump. Shiz was looking very sharp though the program is much simpler than Romeo and Juliet. Irina was better on a few spins, but her spiral sequence sucked.

Doggygirl · Oct 1, 2005

After watching the vids of Irina and Shiz...

Don't count out Shizuka. I think she is opening the season with more "freedom" in her skating than we saw last year. I hope she keeps "going for it" which I think she can on both the TES and PCS sides of the equation.

On the other hand, IMO Irina is laying it down as the current world champ, and the one to beat. IMO, she looks to be in terrific form....nuf said. I think this is going to be a season beyond compare!!

DG

soogar · Oct 1, 2005

Doggygirl said:
Don't count out Shizuka. I think she is opening the season with more "freedom" in her skating than we saw last year. I hope she keeps "going for it" which I think she can on both the TES and PCS sides of the equation.

On the other hand, IMO Irina is laying it down as the current world champ, and the one to beat. IMO, she looks to be in terrific form....nuf said. I think this is going to be a season beyond compare!!

DG

Well Irina always lays it down early in the season. Though looking at Irina's program, that is not an Olympic winning program. The music is different than other skaters' music, though it just isn't that uplifting (where the judges will just have to award that OGM). She will probably tweak it as she goes along, but what looked great last season is starting to look old and tired. Shiz's music isn't very good either (at least compared to her two previous programs).

Vash01 · Oct 1, 2005

This is just the start of the season. All these programs are going to evolve over the next several months, culminating in February. I would not make any predictions based on this competition. I hope Irina does not peak too early. She did in 2001 and we know how it ended in 2002 SLC.

I read somewhere that Plushenko withdrew due to injury. Is there any news about this? Is it the same old injury or a new one? That does not bode well for his Olympic season.

soogar · Oct 1, 2005

Japanese Challenge Videos

This is all I have for now:

Irina
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3GS7W22G13WH92PR0VDS21W7IP

Shiz
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=33I2SENKPSZ9712KAI5RO1C3YF

Buttle
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2N1RUVMVTTA8F0FP1MFC7QO0HT

Weir
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0MIWJ4BCWSYJ03VFFPI5VTBM8D

Mao Asada
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0UG4LIVLNIS4E07VG9CQYI3B0P

Nobunari Oda
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1BN3AIPHZEXIM1SE113Z0EXH0O

I can't wait until the other Japanese ladies are posted.

CDMM1991 · Oct 1, 2005

Thanks so much soogar! Please post any other vids when you get them! :rock:

Doggygirl · Oct 1, 2005

soogar said:
Well Irina always lays it down early in the season. Though looking at Irina's program, that is not an Olympic winning program. The music is different than other skaters' music, though it just isn't that uplifting (where the judges will just have to award that OGM). She will probably tweak it as she goes along, but what looked great last season is starting to look old and tired. Shiz's music isn't very good either (at least compared to her two previous programs).

Hey Sooger. Well, if the Oly's had been this weekend, then IMO Irina would have either 1) won, if no one else was there or 2) had a dang good shot.

IMO, her music is very high energy, which I think works well for her. (you might think different, and that's A-OK). I just had to smile, only because I think she has put something down that all the others will now have to chase. And I could be very wrong - that's just IMO as a fan. Where I think Irina fell short was coming to a near stop at the end of her jump combos.

Now - that could be OK if she's executing combos more difficult than others. But if others can execute those combos with some decent flow out, then.... Hopefully the scores will reflect that.

I'm THRILLED that Shiz just might be back as I personally love her skating. What a great season we just might have to look forward to!!

Just my 2 cents..

DG

R.D. · Oct 1, 2005

Vash01 said:
This is just the start of the season. All these programs are going to evolve over the next several months, culminating in February. I would not make any predictions based on this competition.

ITA. A little pre-season pro-am with no short program is not the best yardstick to use to predict the results of a competition four months away.

R.D. · Oct 1, 2005

soogar- thanks for the vids, BTW.

emma · Oct 1, 2005

Doggygirl said:
Hey Sooger. Well, if the Oly's had been this weekend, then IMO Irina would have either 1) won, if no one else was there or 2) had a dang good shot.

IMO, her music is very high energy, which I think works well for her. (you might think different, and that's A-OK). I just had to smile, only because I think she has put something down that all the others will now have to chase. And I could be very wrong - that's just IMO as a fan. Where I think Irina fell short was coming to a near stop at the end of her jump combos.

Now - that could be OK if she's executing combos more difficult than others. But if others can execute those combos with some decent flow out, then.... Hopefully the scores will reflect that.

I'm THRILLED that Shiz just might be back as I personally love her skating. What a great season we just might have to look forward to!!

Just my 2 cents..

DG

I totally agree...Shiz looks in good form and the program has tons of potential, and as it was today, I liked it alot. Irina looks fabulous....but she came to near dead stops with those combos, and she had some sloppy moments imo. But great start and no doubt she is making it clear that she is the leader....and i really like thre dress, and the music too.

Weir did look tired and sluggish. I'm assuming we didn't really see the whole program....seemed a bit empty in the beginning...but his style and carriage and technique just make me, well, want to watch him. Since he said he wants a quad in the short and long...well...did i miss it (cuz i'll re-watch)? The last cut of music is right out of Irina's from last year...but i like it and it could be wonderful when his energy is up.

Buttle, for sure, is the choreography king...the edging and intricacy of steps and moves was delightful....and oh my, that ina bauer into spread eagles was totally :love:

Doggygirl · Oct 1, 2005

emma said:
I totally agree...Shiz looks in good form and the program has tons of potential, and as it was today, I liked it alot. Irina looks fabulous....but she came to near dead stops with those combos, and she had some sloppy moments imo. But great start and no doubt she is making it clear that she is the leader....and i really like thre dress, and the music too.

Weir did look tired and sluggish. I'm assuming we didn't really see the whole program....seemed a bit empty in the beginning...but his style and carriage and technique just make me, well, want to watch him. Since he said he wants a quad in the short and long...well...did i miss it (cuz i'll re-watch)? The last cut of music is right out of Irina's from last year...but i like it and it could be wonderful when his energy is up.

Buttle, for sure, is the choreography king...the edging and intricacy of steps and moves was delightful....and oh my, that ina bauer into spread eagles was totally

I'm a big Weir fan, so of course was not dancing on my own rooftop with this debut. I does remind me a bit of the the Otonal debut last year - the first time I saw it on video was Campbell's - and it really , REALLY fell flat for me there. So I'm hoping there is a whole lot more to that program we have yet to see - and for Johnny with me anyway, it all comes in a very subtle package. Only time will tell IMO.

And GO JEFF!!! He is such special skater, and I hope this is just the start to a great season for him.

And Irina and Shiz too. And just think of what is yet to come by way of season openers for the rest of the ladies, men, pairs and dance teams!!!! I might have to put more padding on the arm of my chair to get me through the season.

DG

Jaana · Oct 1, 2005

I liked Arakawa´s and Weir´s programmes best. WOW, the way they both move on the ice and the way they interpret the music, it is just fantastic. Weir was not technically at his best and not totally ready with the programme yet, but later in the season everything will be great, I feel. Buttle was really elegant too. I liked Irina´s costume very much. It was simple and beautiful. So glad there were no long shreads hanging!

Mathman · Oct 2, 2005

What's cool about the New Judging System is that we can, to some extent, compare performances across different events. Even though Irina will not be at Campbell's, we will be able to see how Michelle's and Sasha's technical components stack up to Irina's opening salvo.

R.D. · Oct 2, 2005

Mathman said:
What's cool about the New Judging System is that we can, to some extent, compare performances across different events. Even though Irina will not be at Campbell's, we will be able to see how Michelle's and Sasha's technical components stack up to Irina's opening salvo.

That seems to be true, but as there would be different judges doing each event, I'm sure the point totals may vary- quite a bit as well. I suppose to a certain extent there can be comparisons, assuming every judge uses the same yardstick (and how likely is that?!)

Doggygirl · Oct 2, 2005

Mathman said:
What's cool about the New Judging System is that we can, to some extent, compare performances across different events. Even though Irina will not be at Campbell's, we will be able to see how Michelle's and Sasha's technical components stack up to Irina's opening salvo.

ITA Mathman. It's a LOT more than we had under the old system.

Has anyone else watched Miki's program? I love her new look. I'm usually not a fan of "hair down" unless the hair is a short cut, but I really like this look on her. I also like her costume more than I've liked any of her previous ones. And while she still has work to do IMO to catch up with the top tier ladies in non-jump elements, I think she is showing big improvement in her overall presentation quality, posture, line, etc. I really enjoyed the debut of this program!!

On the fashion front, I really thought Shiz looked fabulous in the shorter hair cut she debuted at World's. I wish she would go back to that - it's a great look for her IMO. I liked her costume - and this time she didn't appear to get cheated on the amount of fabric needed to cover the back side of the costume.

DG

singerskates · Oct 2, 2005

soogar said:
This is all I have for now:

Irina
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3GS7W22G13WH92PR0VDS21W7IP

Shiz
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=33I2SENKPSZ9712KAI5RO1C3YF

Buttle
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2N1RUVMVTTA8F0FP1MFC7QO0HT

Weir
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0MIWJ4BCWSYJ03VFFPI5VTBM8D

Mao Asada
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0UG4LIVLNIS4E07VG9CQYI3B0P

Nobunari Oda
http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1BN3AIPHZEXIM1SE113Z0EXH0O

I can't wait until the other Japanese ladies are posted.

Thanks for posting these as well. The Buttle link needs to be fixed though. I had to take the Irina link and take the number part after the = from the Buttle link and post it onto the Irina link to be able to download Jeff's program.

I think Jeff and Irina are leaving the flips for later on in the season. LOL It's a good thing that both of them aren't perfect yet. They can only get better with time and competition run throughs. Jeff's 3 toe loop that opened the program was really loose (his freeleg was not tightly wrapped around the skating leg in the air). Meaning that Jeff must be setting himself up to do the quad in its place.

Go Jeff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

singerskates

Japan International Challenge

emma

amykaren

emma

Joesitz (RIP)

soogar

Doggygirl

soogar

Vash01

soogar

CDMM1991

Doggygirl

R.D.

R.D.

emma

Doggygirl

Jaana

Mathman

R.D.

Doggygirl

singerskates

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