Yey, my super late live impressions! What an eventful day Saturday was! So much fun! I love this competition! Take note I haven't really looked at any of the protocols or any comments here, this is just based on what I watched.
I'm only talking about the skaters who made some sort of impression.
Donovan- This kid has flair and pizzaz! Man, can he move! He was so entertaining and moved so well (ah, those Latin dance moves), he energized the crowd! He obviously enjoyed himself. He got huge cheers at the end of his performance, which continued until his K&C. Such a crowd pleaser!
Chih-i Tsao- being from Taiwan, the local crowd loved him. The audience members in front of me seemed to know him personally, they called out loads of encouragement to him (in Mandarin), and a lady in front of me waved to him (a familiar sort of "Hey, I'm here!" wave) during his performance, and when he was taking his bows. Performance wise, can't remember much of anything, I know he looked disappointed because he made mistakes on his jumps, but that's all I can recall. Deafening cheers from a very supportive crowd for their local skater.
Sihyeong Lee and June Hyoung Lee- I think both skated gracefully but the programs weren't that memorable, and the jumps didn't work very well.
Gyeon Hyeong An- Pirates of the Carribean? Sure, lemme watch! His sort of writing or whatever movements he was doing in the beginning caught my attention, and he was fun to watch, what with the fencing movements and such. You could definitely figure out the story of the program by watching him skate (even if you didn't necessarily watch Pirates). Good interpretation! I didn't even realize he had wounded himself until he kept touching the ice after his ending pose, and we were wondering what was happening, until we saw the blood on the screen. Then when the elements were being reviewed, I realized he was cut early on, but he never let go of the performance! How can you not admire that?
Kevin Reynolds- Love the costume. I think he interpreted the music well, with the serious sort of military start, then the light solemn music in the middle. I know he got underrotation calls, but he seemed to have a moment on the ice, even though he was disappointed in his scores afterwards. I'm glad I was unencumbered by a tech box while he was skating. I enjoyed it. Too bad the scores didn't reflect it.
Andrew Dodds- Does he remind anyone else of Adam Rippon? I felt like he moved like that. All I could think of while watching him was that he reminded me of Adam Rippon, lol. Mistakes on elements, and he looked really disappointed and defeated after his skate- but just the fact that he participated in two events here (ice dance and men's singles) is already highly impressive, no wonder he's tired during this event. I felt bad for him and wish he didn't beat himself up too much over this.
Julian- beautiful 3A even during the warm up, and that guy can move! The song was "It's a Man's World", and while he was skating, I did believe that it was! (Of course, the moment he stopped, it turned back to my world, not a "Man's World", haha). Really good height on his jumps. I think he YOLO'd his way into two consecutive 3As after his fall (I was like, what was that??!) which wouldn't have done much good because I believe he'd already done two of those earlier on. I think he was just pissed off at himself for falling and did that to prove he could.
Grant Hochstein- I know Les Miserables is considered a warhorse, but I always enjoy the music, so I didn't mind. I was singing along to parts of it. He skates well for me, love the arm movements. Jumps were scary though, he'd go really fast into them (probably to rotate them), and I was dreadfully afraid that he'd fall whenever he jumped, but hey he landed them! He too seemed to have a moment. I enjoyed his performance. Rousing ending (of course, "One Day More" always will be)! There was that cute moment where Jason and a few other members of Team USA (Sorry, I couldn't identify them from where I was sitting to the side) greeted him with exuberant congratulations after his performance. So adorable.
Okay, group 3:
Elladj- I've watched a few of his performances on YouTube before, but wow, he's such a treat to watch live! The most fun performance of the night, that man can dance with style and oomph! He's so passionate and obviously loved being out there. I enjoyed his performance because HE enjoyed his performance. Huge cheers for him! What a way to start group 3! Unfortunately, there was sorrow to come...
Mura- The Taiwanese lady in front of me (she who is likely a relative of Chih-i Tsao), is crying out "Ganba" and waving a Japanese flag for you, Mura! Please skate well! His FS didnt make as much of an impression as his SP. The Phantom didn't work for him that well. Sigh. I wanted him to skate clean, but I guess the skate gods didn't hear my prayers. This is one warhorse I wouldn't mind never hearing again.
Denis Ten- He skates so beautifully. He moved me. His steps and upper body movement are wonderful, there was a moment when he was twirling with his arms partially up during his steps that there was literally a gasp of wonder from the crowd. Actually, I think there were two such moments. But his jumps just weren't there! I was sort of heartbroken after his skate, he looked so... I don't know, as if he was about to cry. I sort of wanted to cry a little for him. I would sign a petition that someone else wanted to start regarding having that PCS only competition, just for him. Also, I was shocked by how low his PCS was! (75??? Are you kidding me??)
Oh, side story. I was with an expert figure skating fan who had instructed me to go to the skaters' hotel immediately after the gala so we could take pictures with them. (Stalkers much? You bet!) Other skaters were sort of in a hurry and either ignored the fans or just quickly took pictures/ signed autographs, while some were being shuffled along by their handlers (Wah, Japanese ladies!), but Denis stayed in the lobby for quite some time, having pictures taken with fans and signing autographs. He was very sweet, but very solemn (which makes me sad again). I was able to take a picture with him as photographed by my friend, but when she was about to take a picture with him, he was called away by his handler (causing HER to look defeated, poor thing). Elladj was there too, super nice guy, stayed with the fans for a really long time, and had lots of patience with everyone.
Okay, Brendan Kerry- beautiful 4T, but mistakes on other jumps (can't remember which now, I took note of them when they were happening, but didn't bother to remember them while watching the rest of the program). I like the way he moves, although he could complete the movements a little more. Didn't look too happy after his skate, but he was amused when someone screamed out "I love you, Brendan!" after his performance.
Nam- Beautiful 4S to start, popped his 4T into a 2T, but didn't melt down. I think the music cuts to his La Strada were better thought out than others I've seen. He moved to the music (which I know has been a complaint with him, that he doesn't skate to it) and I think his interpretation has improved. Knowing the story of La Strada, I think the comedic part coming before the solemn /nostalgic portion was appropriate. Unfortunately, he took his bows too quickly per each section for anyone to really absorb that he was bowing to us, so we weren't able to give him cheers that loud. He didn't look pleased with his performance. By the way, I hope no one ever skates to La Strada again. I find nothing comedic nor entertaining about clowns being bludgeoned to death, thanks very much. The music will always remind me of the story.
Misha Ge- Obviously a crowd favorite. He skated cleanly and expressively, but honestly for me, the music made me sleepy (this particular one was a lullaby for me as a child), and I felt his movements were a little contrived, rather than looking natural. Maybe it's just me, but I feel his exhibitions come more naturally to him than the competition programs. Anyway, the crowd loved him, loud cheers for him, takes the leader board.
Last group:
Jason Brown - Beautiful skating, wonderful spins, looked really relaxed during his performance. Clean and really enjoyable performance!! He too obviously loves what he's doing out there, and he skates for the crowd. Standing ovation from me and everyone else, loud cheers all around. Tons of toys thrown on the ice and at him in the K&C, to the point that his coach Cori got hit as well. He looked really happy with his performance. I wish he skated like that at Nationals. Sigh.
Max Aaron- Here's one of the reasons I posted this. [emoji16] Max didn't look great during the warm-up, he fell and was popping his jumps. When he came out on the ice while Jason was going to the K&C, he looked really nervous and again attempted jumps which weren't working. I wanted everyone to skate clean in this group like in the SP, so I thought the guy could use a little encouragement. I took on the essence of karne, and just before he took his opening pose, I shouted loudly "Go MAX!" I think he heard me. The people in front of me certainly did, if their stares were anything to go by. Lo and behold... A clean skate! Imagine that! Some landings were scary, but he landed the jumps, and that was what was important. I previously had a quibble with him not really skating to the music, but I felt this time he was listening to the music more and making emphatic hand and arm movements to the dramatic beats. Hey, this Phantom worked! Karne, you owe me lunch. Lol.
Han Yan- Another skater who could probably have used some magic cheers from me. All his jumps were wobbly and scary during the warm up, even his usually wonderful 3A. He also looked really nervous beforehand, but I didn't think he'd appreciate any cheers from me, since he made the crowd keep quiet before taking his opening pose (no, you don't want magic cheers? Okay, never mind then.) Thus ended the clean trend. Fell on his 4T, popped a few times, and then he let go of the performance- lost extensions and the lines. Ugh. I'll just remember his beauty of an SP.
Shoma- Our Shoma is so kakkoii!! Whether you like it or hate it, that yellow costume is eye catching, and it certainly helped me keep track of him during the warm-up! (Not that I needed it.) I could have done without the slicked back hair, though. He looked a little nervous before his skate (Gee, thanks, Han Yan). During the warm-up, he had done a clean 3S-3T (on which he had fallen during practice), a 4F with a slightly off kilter landing, 2 4L attempts but popped (one was probably since another skater was nearby) but completed the 3rd attempt. Nice 4L to start (it didn't look underrotated live, although of course I didn't have screens to view them closely with in my face at the time), but he fell on the 4F to a collective gasp of horror (or maybe that was just me [emoji23], especially since it happened in front of our section). But he got right up and back into his performance, and he never let it to! Movements were big, lines were beautiful, spins were beautiful and fast (except for some travel on that last one). I heaved sighs of relief whenever he completed a jump. And then, hello, he completed all his combos in the second half smoothly! And that beautiful cantilever (which I have greater appreciation of on seeing live)! The crowd was going nuts with each jump he completed, and from the cantilever onwards, silence was foreign to us all. He finished his ending pose to deafening cheers from the crowd, and the cheers only got louder when he fell to his knees in relief. That must have been cathartic for him. What a fighter! He too got loads of toys like Jason, and I think he got hit by a few on his way to the K&C. Happy Coach Mihoko, happy Shoma, an enthusiastic Jason in the green room holding both thumbs up and a smiling Misha and Max, a very energetic return wave by Shoma to the guys in the green room- what's not to like? Everyone was happy! (Oh, the Taiwanese family, including the auntie in front of me, also held up Japanese flags and cheered "Ganba Shoma!" and gave out standing Os after that performance.)
Keiji- another recipient of "Ganba!" from the auntie in front of me, with Japanese flags being waved. He'd been popping his jumps in the warm up (Why, Keiji, why??), and true enough, he popped his first 4S into a 3S. But did another one shortly after. All is not lost! All in all, not a bad skate, but I must admit I'm a bigger fan of his SP than his FS, which as a program isn't too memorable for me. At least he cheered up with the cabaret green room shenanigans! I think they were initiated by Jason, with Shoma as the gratuitous featured star.
Boyang- Beautiful jumps during the warm-up. The moment he came out on the ice after Keiji performed, I knew he would do well and had a feeling he would win. He looked relaxed. I think he was in prime competition mode and happy to finally be back. He jumped a beautiful 3Z while we were waiting for Keiji's scores (which was ironically the jump he messed up a bit on during the performance). He already gets an additional point on PCS for me, just for skating to Star Wars music. Could use a little more dramatization during parts of the program, but he seemed to enjoy the cantina music part, and I give him props for his emphasis of Darth Vader's breathing. Of course, aside from the 3Z, spectacular jumps, with the beautiful 4Z to start, then the 4S and the two 4Ts. Definite improvements in his skating. Clean! A well-deserved win, he too is a fighter to come back and do so well after injuring both feet!
Congratulations to Boyang on his first gold in a major international competition, Shoma for his silver, and Jason for his bronze! Such a good competition!
Edited to add- apparently Julian did a 2A-2a, whoops. My mistake.
His style appeals to them. 
