2017 CS Autumn Classic Mens FS

[msteach3]

Javi should just go back to Black Betty for SP

I also think that the Man of La Mancha music is terrible. Sounds super dated. Javi will do it better than it is now, but it'll still be far from his best. It just doesn't have the potential to be a GREAT program.

I agree. I don't like either program. He's too great of a skater to use such dated music. I just don't get why he and his team would pick something so old and blah. Black Betty was his best program in the last few years and I'd have no problem with him repeating that one.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I agree. I don't like either program. He's too great of a skater to use such dated music. I just don't get why he and his team would pick something so old and blah. Black Betty was his best program in the last few years and I'd have no problem with him repeating that one.

Me too. The contrast would be good and he was always so confident with that SP. I still think it's his best SP to date, and one of my favourite (if not my favourite) SP in the last quadrennial.

 

[Roast Toast]

Idk, I dig the old school look for Javi. Not every skater has to reinvent the wheel. Not sure why Malagueña is supposed to give him a better shot at the OGM when it has yet to beat the Chopin SP...

 

[Interspectator]

Woooooh. What a roller coaster Yuzu is. -But more on that later.

As I was reading the conversation about rude fans splitting as soon as they saw Yuzu perform I was slinking slowly sideways. Sorry guys, I was one of those ruuude fans today. Not at the venue, but online.
Real life happens guys. I had to go. -And in a terrible mood. Now I'm back, and am looking at the results.
To answer those who accuse fans of inconsistently applying scoring criteria to favor their favorites, you're darn right, I favor my favorite. -BUT I do still think the scores are generous for Yuzu and Javi in keeping with the Judges ethos of 'GIVE ALL THE POINTS AWAY (to the top skaters) BEFORE THE OLYMPICS' This annoys me. So I'm double annoyed.

It's not all doom and gloom though. Keegan was a sweetheart, and Misha is a pleasure to watch, time and again. Never retire. Or, un-retire every year so fans can appreciate you like they should.

Also, regarding Yuzu, this is what I had expected for his first outing, rather, I had expected him to mess up his short and his long. It's how he is every season at this time. I'm less worried about his season's peaking process to see him still revving his engine now, so to speak.

If only I could be an Evgenia uber! That would be a glorious walk in the sunshine all the time.

I like Javi's LP a lot. He's not doing a repeat, but his programs are both in his wheelhouse, while not being so similar as to be called recycled. This is the best of both worlds for him. Very well done.

Javi can gain confidence by beating Yuzu here. Yuzu can sharpen his competitiveness by losing to Javi here. I'm satisfied with this outcome. --But still sad about Yuzu bombing. It's never good to see your fave bomb.

On to the NEXT competition!

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Agree to disagree on Shoma. I wasn't impressed by his programs at all last year but idk man, this year I think he has won me over. Especially with the SP.

Nathan is one of my faves but the hate he gets is OTT so I wasn't going to bring him up. But yeah, his programs are by far the most original, daring, and innovative. His skating skills and transitions might be outclassed though; even if they aren't, he won't get the scores since he's been pegged as a jumper, much like Boyang.

Nathan's really impressed me as well this year. He's making the naysayers run out of things to naysay. I wish Nathan would complete his landings a bit more though... he could easily rack up points with just a bit more extension on his landings and/or easy creative exits (although he was just toning it down at the Classic, probably). He's already working the system with his quads but he could go further with more exit transitions. Same with Uno.

Hah, Nathan's playing it smart to tone down the difficulty for the moment... it'll make the angry hordes spew their hate towards Shoma and take the heat off of him.

I'm also with you on Javier's FS... the lyrics are just cheesy, and this FS looks less intricate than previous ones. Still a lot of season left though.

 

[4everchan]

report from the venue MEN's

With time limitations due to extreme fatique from seating on those awful seats almost non-stop for about 11 hours, I will get to the point rather fast

First : I messed up my schedule and showed up for the men's practice !!! However, after struggling to find a seat because well... I will not add on to this topic, I sat down... and was like :wow!!! so many people for the first flight of ladies... NICE!!!! but then the zamboni left and appeared Hanyu and co.... for their LP practice....

I had never been to a practice so I found it very interesting to watch. Some skaters were really good (Yuzu... was very very good) some were popping left and right but then also landing quads (Nam).... Keegan was more into steps out... Of course, I didn't see everything as it is quite difficult to follow 5 men at once.... especially since I had never seen Javier skate (I had seen the other 4 live already) and I was paying a bit more attention to Mr Puffy Sleeves.

.... fast forward 8 hours later.... I want to go home... I am considering it... My back is killing me and my butt, despite having some natural cushion (yes... i have skater legs and butt from training other sports when I was young... to the point that people ask me all the time at skating competitions if I am a former skater... because I do have big thighs LOL and I show a lot of passion watching skating !!! ----so I have been told LOL) is in such pain that I keep on standing up and down between skaters...

So... unfortunately, with D/R's subpar performance, there is no energy left in the house... and the fist four boys did NOTHING to bring some up... I could also say... that after the 5th boy, Andrew Dodds, who had a good opening combo, that my surrounding and I sighed in relief...THOUGH it was short-lived... Sorry Karne, but I am sure the Dodds family is really nice but if the Australian federation is spending money on sending them to competitions, they should revise this and invest more on Brendan, the two good ladies and the young world champions in pairs....

Mark is a very charming young man : Saw him warming up in the hallway. He seems very nice and polite. He had a very good skate. I have seen him on the junior circuit so I knew not to expect 3a and quads but I was impressed with his presentation... he really feels his music. He will be a great competitor for Israel in a couple years, granted he gets his harder jumps together... very nice performance to a somewhat difficult piece to perform for a kid that age.... (tacky Italian song)

Ross did much better than in the short... so I was happy to see him deliver a good skate. Not much to add here.

Daisuke Murakami : I have always loved Dice but had never seen him skate live... of course, he is on the way back from injury. He is so short and cute... with a big big smile and crazy hair. I loved his musical sensitivity. Despite his size, he skates with power in his presentation and reaches out to the audience.... very difficult to do with his material. I hope he gets his 4salchow back and is competitive at Japanese nationals. I really think he was a treat to watch despite the errors.

Peter Liebers.... that was also a very good skate. I have to admit that I loved the super tacky arrangement of Rachmaninoff Prelude in c# minor and Schindler's list.. I usually hate this kind of stuff ( I am looking at you B/S) but here it was intertwined so well.... WOW... bravo to the music editor/arranger.

The final flight : thanks to the last few skaters of flight 2... i feel i am able to stay for a while longer... I notice Ted Flett is there as well... watching over many GS users in their anonymous state LOL

The warm up has a bit of everything : mostly security guards telling fans to stop filming... I notice that now, most seats are taken... all the place holders have been replaced by young fans... when I say young, I can say that there were various kinds of fans, but many teenage girls were present....

One of them has put on her Winnie the Pooh body size costume... I wonder if she is going to throw herself on the ice, wishing to get picked up by Yuzuru.... would he like a live-in Winnie??? I am tired at that point... those are thoughts that perhaps I wouldn't have at 7pm... but by then, it was already 10 and I was very imaginative...

Keegan is first to go. A fairly solid skate... couple mistakes but strong... I am very happy for him... A good score. He didn't try the 4ltz... perhaps he decided to play it safe... freak fall in the middle of the program.... i think :why is he always so unlucky at ACI.... last year his lace got untied and he lost about 30 seconds of his program... I love his acting and facial expression... sure, both of his programs are channeling Browning... but who cares? He does it well... very happy for him.

Misha : it's nice to see him in better shape... last year, he was injured... however, Misha masters his content and the performance looks equivalent to his nutcracker... The piece, Massenet's Meditation de Thais is a good choice for him... he decided (i am assuming he did his choreo but I don't know???) to set his movements to the slow lyrical line of the piece.... so the look is pretty stagnant on the ice... very centered... little ice coverage for my taste BUT IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I am starting to think that despite being able to skate with nice speed (like in the last minute of last year's L P) Misha cannot sustain 4 minutes of intense and power skating... the entrances into jumps are quite slow as well... BUT IT IS A BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE and he gets a standing O....

I hear the score is slightly higher than Keegan's and I am thinking that Keegan must have been hurt in PCS? but again.. I still haven't looked at protocols... so I am not there yet...

then... I am happy that Keegan remains first overall... as with 3 skaters to come... and one other Canadian, there will be a canuck on the podium... Not that it matters but oh well... might as well cheer for the home boys...

Yuzuru comes in... he exudes confidence.. he landed all sorts of things in practice and warm up... Music starts... I am excited as Seimei is BY FAR my favourite program of his... however, in practice, I thought it was a bit boring... so I am thinking that with all the choreo in there... and the jumps, it will be something completely different...

Now: we all know he is injured. Fine. However, with the SP and the amount of jumps he has landed all day, I am sorry but I am expecting something better than what is about to happen.

Pops the lutz... honestly, why bother with a quad lutz? He doesn't need it. Now, in practice, if there was a jump he was struggling with, it was the 3lutx... well... I wonder why???? simply because he is playing with the 4 revolution monster and we all know it is tough to control the different levels at first.... The rest goes accordingly to plan with 3 loop and 3 flip...then a super long pause... that's the one i remembered being boring in the practice... but in reality, it's still a very long pause... perhaps it will be filled in, but it wasn't in the original Seimei... now I remember what I liked less from the first version... it takes a long while but then, finally, it picks up again... Yuzuru lands the combo of doom (4s-3t) and it's a good one. I am thinking he will do very well from then on.... well... no... pretty much a disaster end of the program... considering that others have landed content, I am guessing that his PCS are holding him up... and well, if I see 10s or even anything about 9.5 in there... I will think it's wrong... people complain all the time about Canadian inflation.... well... whatever... end of topic.... Yuzuru got well paid here.... Of course, he has a huge lead on third place so I expect him to be in silver after his skate.... Standing ovation from the crowd.. well not the whole crowd... let's just say that his fans stood up... Maybe I am a harsh fan... but I love D/R and I didn't stand up for them tonight.... and I didn't stand up for Patrick's SP at Nationals either...

anyways... moving on..

Prince Charming Javi comes in with his puffy sleeves.... I think he will be stellar... popcorn... problems... etc... ugh.... he gets better as we go on... I actually love the program and with the practice I saw in the morning I can tell that when he is 100% ready with it, it will be great.

in first... but nothing special...

Nam : I wonder how he will be... he has been all over the place all day... well... his program was like that.... quads are doubled... then retried... some are landed some are not.. however, the YOLO transformation to retry the quads probably pissed off the judges... they pissed me off I am glad though that he has landed some pretty awesome content in the last couple days... too bad that he couldn't do a bit better today.

I leave without hearing the marks and the ranking as I want to get to the bus stop as soon as I can to make sure that 1) there is no line up... 2) i don't miss the first one passing in front of the rink since they must not run too often at that hour...

So until now : I don't know where Nam fits in how fun... i guess Keegan keeps the bronze... but we will see..

Here are MY awards

Favourite performance of the night : Mark. He rose to the occasion. Sure his content is "junior level" but he stood up for himself and didn't freak out despite skating on the same ice as two world champions.

Biggest disappointment : considering how well he did in the SP : Yuzu... and also, I was there for Hope and Legacy last year... and that was a brand new program and i was way more enthusiastic about it than Seimei's rep. PS : one cannot get disappointed if indifferent. I was really hoping for myself and everyone at the rink that Yuzu would deliver a good performance, even with only triples... the pop corn and falls were just sad to watch... The last 30 seconds of Seimei though are so exciting... i can imagine that after a relatively clean program, when it hits with the steps sequence etc... WOW...

Biggest surprise/discovery : well... don't laugh at me but I enjoyed Javier way more than I thought I would. I have never been a super fan though I have followed his progress throughout his long career. His skating is more appealing live than on tv to me... he is a good performer. I hope he keeps the top but changes the pants.


Canadian award of the day : Keegan without a doubt. Happy for him and he does have speed and ice coverage which i felt was lacking from all the other skaters.

Honorable mention to Misha Ge for staying true to himself.

 

[4everchan]

So we have seen all the OGM contenders compete aside from Boyang. I said it months ago and I'll say it again - the OGM is Shoma's to lose. His jumps aren't always the most pretty, but his programs are A+++++ and historically he is far, far more consistent than Yuzuru or Javier. Of everyone, I'm rooting for Javi the most, but this LP is too bad to win.

well if they compete like this... you may add Chan, Jason Brown, and others to OGM

 

[Winnie_20]

La La Land has yet to actually be overused lol.

In Seniors maybe, yes (I have only seen a total of five Senior programs so far, so honestly don’t know). But in Juniors... 2-4 La la land performances per JGP, I think. ;-)

 

[MaiKatze]

So...the usual pattern of Yuzuru continues. Good SP, bad LP. As many said it is early in the season and there is no reason to be worried. But, lol at these scores. Lovely.

 

[Interspectator]

Yuzu's total here is 8 points higher than last year at this time. -A mixture of being in better condition (though slightly injured) and the general inflation. He's right on track.
Here are some adorable podium photos. http://irenedrew.tumblr.com/post/165676375624/im-soooo-damn-happy-for-this-congrats-boys

Back stage, these are weird filters Dice. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZaV-8ZHAts/ https://twitter.com/DaisukeMurakami/status/911822185148403712
Yuzu and Javi hug and wave to the audience http://irenedrew.tumblr.com/post/165678434294/this-two-vid-rec-by-mimi-tn-on-fb

A wild prediction based on Yuzu's general skating arc: Yuzu loses to Nathan at COR...Yuzu wins NHK...Yuzu Wins GPF...Yuzu loses J Nationals ...Yuzu w...w..ins the Olympics? :hopelessness:

 

[ramurphy2005]

skylark - I too enjoyed Javi including the Dulcinea section. But I wonder who was the vocalist? Could have been O'Toole from the movie soundtrack? I think the program suits him nicely. IMO the vocal is weak and undermines the power of the program.

I know it's definitely not Richard Kiley or Brian Stokes Mitchell. I find it a bit sacrilegious to be doing Man of La Mancha and not using Richard Kiley's vocals, but Brian Stokes Mitchell is an acceptable alternative. The weak vocal track that they did choose isn't doing Javi any favors, but I think I could really like this program if Javi skates it better.

Richard Kiley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNV2YJD6Lk
Brian Stokes Mitchell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLsQvCKG58k

As a side note, my mother's told me that seeing Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha on Broadway is one of those things for which she wishes she had a time machine.

 

[Interspectator]

I know it's definitely not Richard Kiley or Brian Stokes Mitchell. I find it a bit sacrilegious to be doing Man of La Mancha and not using Richard Kiley's vocals, but Brian Stokes Mitchell is an acceptable alternative. The weak vocal track that they did choose isn't doing Javi any favors, but I think I could really like this program if Javi skates it better.

Richard Kiley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNV2YJD6Lk
Brian Stokes Mitchell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLsQvCKG58k

As a side note, my mother's told me that seeing Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha on Broadway is one of those things for which she wishes she had a time machine.

I agree that the vocals they chose to go with aren't my favorite, but I like Man of La Mancha. As far as musicals go, it is not used much in figure skating. It's a good match for him.

 

[Interspectator]

For those interested in 'what happened' A short comment from Yuzu

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170924-00000526-sanspo-spo

"The gap between good time and bad time is intense. The weakness of losing concentration is an eternal subject in my skating life ".

Early season Hiccup.

 

[4everchan]

From what I understand, it was because they needed to que up for his practice tickets. My observation is that the Japanese fans are the greatest fans in the world, even bringing and waving flags for other countries and skaters.

no need for tickets for practice... just the ones for the day... i got there just on time... no need to queue

 

[4everchan]

It may be rude to you, but they are paying customers who travelled half way across the world to see someone for 5 minutes... they have every right to do what they wish as long it does not disrupt the competition. They left during zamboni time, so what is the big deal... Would you prefer those seats empty for the whole duration of a B competition?!

last year, they didn't come in such a big number.. seats were not empty... the difference this year : sold out tickets on the first day of sales... parents of skaters told me they couldn't even buy tickets to watch their kids compete... it is a small rink, we see well from everywhere... also... they announced several times in Japanese it was forbidden to film yet, many were doing it...

I saw various kinds of fans from Japan... very nice, sensible, supportive to all skaters and kind ones... and awful ones too.... there to see their 5 minutes of pooh and not caring if they block your view by standing to film in the warm up, not caring to hog seats. one the place next to me had a "place holder" and that person never came by... so not only the seat was hogged but unused the whole duration of the event...

anyways... I would say many fans were very nice... but the ones who were not had their presence largely felt by everyone.

 

[yude]

If only I could be an Evgenia uber! That would be a glorious walk in the sunshine all the time.

Hanyu fans are always on the roller coaster, and I'm loving it :agree:

 

[FCSSp4]

https://skatecanada.ca/results/2017-ACI/CSCAN2017_SeniorMen_FS_Scores.pdf

Soooo..... 89.5 points PCS for Hanyu, quite a few 9.00+'s, including one judge giving a 9.50 for Performance (great judging, Kenji Amako! :agree. 6 out of 8 jumping passes having some sort of error. Including a fall, a pop, and a downgrade. And he gets pretty much 90 PCS.

*waits patiently to see what those who were bashing Osmond's FS PCS and Shoma's Lombardia PCS have to say about this*

wow usually canada gives him 88 when he messes up. truly a scandal of the highest degree.

 

[Ender]

I remember some people said they're afraid that Hanyu would peak too early right? This is a great sign for them isn't it. He isn't peaking at all.

He put all his current energy in the short program. I saw his free skate practice and it was messy the same as today. His coach Orser wasn't lying when he told people shouldn't expect too much from Hanyu in this competition.

His fans should be happy, as this means he will peak later. And his coaching team is truly a great strategist to force him not to try 4lz and 4lo here. He might have agitated his right knee had he tried these quads. Better to rest properly and the right knee will be fine, no more slight pain soon.

I think Hanyu will be much better by Cup of Russia.

 

[Farnaz]

Going through comments in this page and:

1. Who was bashing Kaetlyn? Her black swan is a piece of magic. She lost her foot in the middle of step sequence so what? It happens for every one. Her jumps are huge and gorgeous, she is as light as a feather in step sequence and her persona is weaved together with black swan. Announcing that I'm rooting for Queen Evgenia and Agent Wakaba, Kaetlyn's LP is the best counter attack against Evgenia and to claim the OGM.

2. With all due respect to Japanese fans who carry the flags of all countries in their bags, I'm on the side of annoyed non-Japanese spectators. In Skate America 2016 there was not enough foot space in front of the seats in each row meaning that if someone in the middle of row wanted to go out all the people in that row had to stand up and gave them a way. Just imagine how frustrating it was that before/after Shoma's programs and in the middle of other contenders step sequence we had to stand up and give a way to two Japanese guys that wanted to come in/leave? Raising the flags of all countries is an extra milage that Japanese spectators take but respecting other spectators' right to watch the programs is a necessary step that they don't. Hope not to hurt anyone just stating a fact.

3. There is absolutely nothing to be worried about Yuzuru. When the pigs fly Yuzuru is going to loose OGM. It was just the test event like last two years. Honestly, even in the last two years he would have lost ACI gold if there had been another skater of his caliber. It's his norm and we know it. Ganbare Yuzu, koko kare hajimaru

 

[TontoK]

well if they compete like this... you may add Chan, Jason Brown, and others to OGM

One possibility:

Young guns... especially, but not limited to, Boyang, Nathan, and Shoma... have ramped up the pressure considerably.

And some veterans are struggling to respond.

It's still early days on the season, but very interested in how this plays out.