2023 NHK Trophy Men's Free Skate

[4everchan]

To me, Shoma is the most natural musical skater right now. He skates with his full body in connection to his music and he's done several styles over the years. Unmatched. I don't really care about what the tech panel says. They are not there to judge his musicality. I am LOL but seriously, I think he deserves higher recognition for his passionate and genuine skating.

 

[treblemakerem]

I'm a bit disappointed with the scores. Shoma's jumps looked clean to me. I think the fact that he had uncalled urs in the past is pretty irrelevant to this competition. Happy for Yuma because I love him too but I want him to win fairly.

 

[Dreamer57]

So proud of Shoma and his YOLOed 4T+2T! I loved his free skate and it did win the free, it was the SP combo that took the gold. And popped 2T, oh well.

Tbh, I'm starting to question if Lambiel is the right coach for Deniss at this point in his career. Yes, there are a lot of positives that have come out of their collaboration and they seem to get along very well, but now Deniss seems to be stagnating as a skater, and his programs sometimes seem to be more Lambiel than Vasiljevs.

I agree with this and I would support him moving to an alternative coach. The problem is, who?

 

[snd]

To me, Shoma is the most natural musical skater right now. He skates with his full body in connection to his music and he's done several styles over the years. Unmatched. I don't really care about what the tech panel says. They are not there to judge his musicality. I am LOL but seriously, I think he deserves higher recognition for his passionate and genuine skating.

i agree with every word. his movements speak the music.

patrick and denis ten also boasted great musicality but for the last 5-6 years shoma has been peerless in this. the judges don't have the know-how to recognize this, though

 

[sworddance21]

i agree with every word. his movements speak the music.

patrick and denis ten also boasted great musicality but for the last 5-6 years shoma has been peerless in this. the judges don't have the know-how to recognize this, though

I would argue that Jason is in Shoma's league, artistically. Shoma is a little more raw (organic?) in his interpretation than Jason, but Jason mesmerizes.

 

[RatedPG]

I just finished watching the Men skate.

I’m so happy Yuma won. He is my favourite Senior Man skater. I prefer his artistry over Shoma.

Shoma lost the gold medal due to leaving out an entire jump. He should have done 3A 2A and then added the 2A. It was on his jump layout. But, he never seems to add a third jump. Had he done that, he would have won gold here.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

I was told yes. But I don't think there's been actual data collection about this We need to start a scientific study.

For Gabriele, it is true. I saw a pic on his IG a couple years back where he is sitting shirtless on a bench, i think on a beach somewhere, and you can see his imprint

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Selevko bros are not only talented but very pretty too

I seriously always be trying to figure out which i think is more cuter, and i cant choose. I'll just take them both

 

[icewhite]

To me, Shoma is the most natural musical skater right now. He skates with his full body in connection to his music and he's done several styles over the years. Unmatched. I don't really care about what the tech panel says. They are not there to judge his musicality. I am LOL but seriously, I think he deserves higher recognition for his passionate and genuine skating.

It is difficult to say how musical a skater is, though, isn't it? I would argue that someone like Jimmy Ma is also extremely musical, maybe more than Shoma. But to bring it out on the ice you also need the skills, the confidence, the calm and the music and programs.

Apparently this program which I hate so much works very well because most people love it...
I think that after the first third it's very slow, especially the step sequence, and kind of empty. I think it's much easier to show some things in such a program.

 

[4everchan]

It is difficult to say how musical a skater is, though, isn't it? I would argue that someone like Jimmy Ma is also extremely musical, maybe more than Shoma. But to bring it out on the ice you also need the skills, the confidence, the calm and the music and programs.

Apparently this program which I hate so much works very well because most people love it...
I think that after the first third it's very slow, especially the step sequence, and kind of empty. I think it's much easier to show some things in such a program.

I don't personally find it difficult. This is what I do every day, listening to and coaching musicians. Musicality indeed requires skating skills. It's never just pure or raw talent. WIthout technique, there is not much room for real musicality. It's about skating with your whole body and feeling the pulse of the music, being aware of the musical line and emotion. I find Shoma is unmatched right now and I agree with a poster who mentioned Denis Ten and Patrick Chan before. Jeremy Abbott is someone else who felt music and had the skills to embody it. To me, it's not rocket science at all. It's my daily bread.

Jason Brown's musicality is expressed differently. I remind you all that I wrote most natural musical skater when describing Shoma. WIth him, there is a lot of instinctive connection with the music which is very nice to see. When I write instinctive, it's not like a "god-given talent" that's not what I mean. It is still coming from work and technique. But it is coming more from the emotional connection with the music, rather than concepts of choreography and intellectual analysis. I find that Jason's program are of the latter category. His interpretation is often based on great research and care for every detail. It's a different type of skating which I appreciate immensely as well. Both are different and both are good. When it comes to natural musicality, then, to me, it's Shoma numero uno

 

[sworddance21]

I don't personally find it difficult. This is what I do every day, listening to and coaching musicians. Musicality indeed requires skating skills. It's never just pure or raw talent. WIthout technique, there is not much room for real musicality. It's about skating with your whole body and feeling the pulse of the music, being aware of the musical line and emotion. I find Shoma is unmatched right now and I agree with a poster who mentioned Denis Ten and Patrick Chan before. Jeremy Abbott is someone else who felt music and had the skills to embody it. To me, it's not rocket science at all. It's may daily bread.

Jason Brown's musicality is expressed differently. I remind you all that I wrote most natural musical skater when describing Shoma. WIth him, there is a lot of instinctive connection with the music which is very nice to see. When I write instinctive, it's not like a "god-given talent" that's not what I mean. It is still coming from work and technique. But it is coming more from the emotional connection with the music, rather than concepts of choreography and intellectual analysis. I find that Jason's program are of the latter category. His interpretation is often based on great research and care for every detail. It's a different type of skating which I appreciate immensely as well. Both are different and both are good. When it comes to natural musicality, then, to me, it's Shoma numero uno

I appreciate your description of the difference in musicality between Shoma and Jason. It articulates well my thinking.

 

[Skater Boy]

GPF Finalists: Siao Him Fa, Malinin, Miura, Kagiyama, Uno, Aymoz.

This is the best of all the finals match ups. Ladies and pairs are not up to the usual calibre. Dance is fine I guess but no team really is grasping the gold.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

To me, Shoma is the most natural musical skater right now. He skates with his full body in connection to his music and he's done several styles over the years. Unmatched. I don't really care about what the tech panel says. They are not there to judge his musicality. I am LOL but seriously, I think he deserves higher recognition for his passionate and genuine skating.

Shoma feels every note of the music. But for me, he repeats the same range of transitions and movements throughout a program and through programs. Where Yuma excites me is he has a wider range of transitions and movement and steps, although his musicality, particularly in the short program, lacks the final connection to the music. Yuma's FP is extraordinary though. For me, part of Shoma's musicality comes from the free program. Yuma looks hesitant towards the harder elements, Shoma is always very free.

I'm a bit disappointed with the scores. Shoma's jumps looked clean to me. I think the fact that he had uncalled urs in the past is pretty irrelevant to this competition. Happy for Yuma because I love him too but I want him to win fairly.

Fast motion, they look clean. But they all looked somewhat under when I slowed them. This panel was stricter than other panels, and he is usually borderline even when clean, so when slightly off he will tend to underrotate. I also would question the GOE, even when rotated, being too high for his jump quality. Although I can understand those who thought Shoma deserved it, his free program was divine.

Edit: I thought his 4Lo was clean even in slow mo, but not the rest.