Replay Lounge 2025-26 Grand Prix Final

[lariko]

We'll see whether Laurence makes costume adjustments for the Olympics. I think the dress design and theme color is supposed to represent flowing water. The dress gives that effect very well, but consideration of possible hazards during performance is crucial.

So, put waves and ruffles on her leggings like Medvedeva had in 2019 or so. Cizeron can have them too. Not that Whale is a movie about marine animals as far as I know.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

So, put waves and ruffles on her leggings like Medvedeva had in 2019 or so. Cizeron can have them too. Not that Whale is a movie about marine animals as far as I know.

Yeah, it's not about whales, nor is it literally about water either. It's the music that Laurence & Gui are responding to, along with the sense of flow, connection, intensity, release, etc. They are amazing in how they put this program together and in what they are finding in each other through this new partnership. Forget about the subject of the movie. Some fans are getting overly hung up on that. Laurence/Gui's FD was never about the subject of the movie, but always about what the movie's music soundtrack inspired in them. Yes, even water can be metaphorical. Thus, no, re ruffles on leggings, which might also become hazardous during a performance.

The main character in the film is obese, so he's called, 'The Whale', because whales are huge. Still, it's meant to be an abstract reference as there are no real whales in the movie, AFAIK. The film is more of a psychological character study than anything else. I suppose the composer took the sense of the title and went places with it that again have an abstract sense of water, flow, huge expanse, depths of emotions, etc., not literally referencing an actual whale. Even Moby Dick is symbolic, eh!

BTW, I never saw the movie, The Whale, but I do know the actor who portrayed the main character, Brendan Frazier, won an Oscar for Best Actor. That's Brendan with an 'e', not Brandon with an 'a'. Figure skating's Brandon said he ended up receiving congratulatory dms for winning an Oscar! LOL!

 

[lariko]

Whatever they want: water, or fluidity, or connectivity of human spirit, or anything else, I am pretty sure they can express it in leggings as successfully as they could with a skirt. Patterns can continue between the two skaters, they could have clever illusions when they spin, and their moves as well as their safety will not be compromised for the sake of a length of sheer fabric hanging from her hip.

This is the 3rd (!) dancing team this year negatively impacted by a skirt, and I don't get it why Mrazkova isn't enough to figure this simple thing out: skirt doesn't make a dance a success. The dancers do. And they move the best when they are not hindered.

 

[ladyjane]

I would like to ask @ladyjane whether another ISU control is planned?

I don't know what you're asking me exactly. What do I know of ISU-controls? I noticed the illegal jump, I know that, I had seen it before and wondered why it wasn't called. But I know nothing of ISU controls.

But please don't ask me anything about ID judging. I go with the flow, and watch the tech box. Please, no photos or videos to demonstrate why a call or level is wrong/right/mistaken. I don't watch ID like that. I remarked to having seen some strange things, like good and well established ID couples scoring low while I just enjoyed the Dance.

 

[skylark]

Already for a while there is no more REWATCH thread...

Thank you so much for responding, @withwings . I had thought that this new forum, named "Replay Lounge" would provide actual replays of the actual skates. If not, I don't understand why there's no more REWATCH thread.
I need help with tech issues often, so I thought that this was a tech issue.

Again, you are much appreciated!

 

[RobinA]

Just watched the Women's SP. Mone Chiba was amazing. She has such grace and lightness when she skates. BUT - it always makes me smile to see the joy and happiness that Alysa exudes when she skates. You know she wants to win when she takes the ice but you also get the feeling that no matter what happens she's having a good time and is enjoying being on the ice. Wish more skaters had that attitude. Amber - what can you say. She looked nervous and shaky when she started and the 3Axel showed it. And while Kaori has never been a favorite of mine, I have huge respect for what she's accomplished. It was so sad to see her crying and upset after her skate. I hope she comes back with a vengeance in her freeskate in front of her home crowd.

And reading the discussions in here and after other competitions, it seems like some people don't like anything about figure skating anymore. Why do you still watch? The good ol' days are the good ol' days and aren't happening again. Try to find some enjoyment in the here and now.

Well, count me as a person who likes practically nothing about figure skating anymore. I still watch because I just keep hoping. I've been a fan since 1968, it's kinda part of who I am. This year, frankly, is horrid. I will watch this year and then probably next year, but if next year turns out to be as glitzed up as this year with the same not great skating and forgettable music, I will be done. I hope skating continues to do well, but what I liked about it seems to be pretty much gone.

 

[noskates]

What are you hoping for?

 

[withwings]

Well, count me as a person who likes practically nothing about figure skating anymore. I still watch because I just keep hoping. I've been a fan since 1968, it's kinda part of who I am. This year, frankly, is horrid. I will watch this year and then probably next year, but if next year turns out to be as glitzed up as this year with the same not great skating and forgettable music, I will be done. I hope skating continues to do well, but what I liked about it seems to be pretty much gone.

I guess it feels to you that the soul of figure skating is killed... I bet you are not the only one to have this feeling. However, IMHO the skaters who really love the skating and skates because of their pure love of skating-even if there would be only one such a skater!- are worth to watch figure skating. It still IS a divine sport despite the intentional or not intentional attempt to destroy figure skating's soul and to make it a merely dry gymnastic on the ice.
Don't become despondent and watch! Good things arrive when we anticipate them the least.
p.s.
I agree about the music choices. Sometimes its more noise than music.

 

[Anna K.]

What are you hoping for?

I don't know what @RobinA is hoping for so I'll tell you what I am hoping for.

I'm hoping for new ice show formats that might lit light at the end of the tunnel and create new motivation for skaters to develop their artistic skills while keeping their technical skills.

Well, I'm not hoping. I know that, considering current developments, this is the next thing that will happen. I know that there are lots of creative people in the field so this is inevitable that the day will come when these people will sit down and think: "So I have this skill and this artistic capability that I cannot realize in sport. What shall I do with it then? Shall I start something new?" And I am truly interested in what they will come up with.

And, what for the competitions... They shall exist to teach the above skills. I have lowered my expectancy to this.

 

[Mathman]

I'm hoping for new ice show formats that might lit light at the end of the tunnel and create new motivation for skaters to develop their artistic skills while keeping their technical skills.

Well, I'm not hoping. I know that, considering current developments, this is the next thing that will happen. I know that there are lots of creative people in the field so this is inevitable that the day will come when these people will sit down and think: "So I have this skill and this artistic capability that I cannot realize in sport. What shall I do with it then? Shall I start something new?"

I think that the problem is not on the supply side but on the demand. Yes. there are lots of creative people out there with something to sell. Who will buy?

 

[Anna K.]

I think that the problem is not on the supply side but on the demand. Yes. there are lots of creative people out there with something to sell. Who will buy?

In my book, this is the problem on the supply side. This is the only task of any supply side: create an attractive product that people will buy. That's how it works.

But I guess you are always free just to sit and whine that nobody buys your something.

 

[4everchan]

I think that the problem is not on the supply side but on the demand. Yes. there are lots of creative people out there with something to sell. Who will buy?

if we are talking about shows : I am not buying. I am actually selling. As a matter of fact, I used to not attend the galas at SCI. I considered not going to the gala at worlds but since it was worlds and Patrick was there... I had to go

But yeah. shows are, to me, the most boring part of figure skating . yes... I am all about wanting better skating and yes, some figure skaters truly emerge when their focus is no longer on competing. However, I find shows very very very boring to watch I need the thrill of sport. I need the thrill of competition. I need to feel the adrenaline of the skaters, the energy of the crowd over the "OH... was that lovely, wasn't it "

Yet, I still hope for better performing in the competitions and would still remove some quads to allow it.

I guess it's because of what I do : it's not what you perform but how you perform it that truly matters. There Is nothing worse than listening to musicians who have chosen repertoire that doesn't suit them or is a bit too big a chew. It only enlightens their limitations. I feel that with some skaters, we are there as well. At one point, my favourite Jeffrey Buttle was planning a fall on a quad in his programs. I was so happy when he dropped out of that and won worlds without any quad attempts. His two programs were exquisitely performed. The quality. The intent. The energy.

That's a performance I watch and rewatch... no matter what Brian Joubert thinks about it.

 

[Mathman]

This is the only task of any supply side: create an attractive product that people will buy. That's how it works.

To me, that is why supply side economics never works. If you build it, there is no guarantee that anyone will come. But if customers demand it, you can be sure that some clever supplier will build it and cash in.

 

[Anna K.]

To me, that is why supply side economics never works. If you build it, there is no guarantee that anyone will come. But if customers demand it, you can be sure that some clever supplier will build it and cash in.

Different opinions. It happens.

 

[withwings]

if we are talking about shows : I am not buying. I am actually selling. As a matter of fact, I used to not attend the galas at SCI. I considered not going to the gala at worlds but since it was worlds and Patrick was there... I had to go

But yeah. shows are, to me, the most boring part of figure skating . yes... I am all about wanting better skating and yes, some figure skaters truly emerge when their focus is no longer on competing. However, I find shows very very very boring to watch I need the thrill of sport. I need the thrill of competition. I need to feel the adrenaline of the skaters, the energy of the crowd over the "OH... was that lovely, wasn't it "

Yet, I still hope for better performing in the competitions and would still remove some quads to allow it.

I At one point, my favourite Jeffrey Buttle was planning a fall on a quad in his programs. I was so happy when he dropped out of that and won worlds without any quad attempts. His two programs were exquisitely performed. The quality. The intent. The energy.

That's a performance I watch and rewatch... no matter what Brian Joubert thinks about it.

The same here. I am in the same opinion. Its actually more than an opinion- its my utmost certain conviction.
I also totally agree about Jeffrey Buttle.

Also... shows...shows are entertainment. I do not need any entertainment even if these shows would be completely for free.

 

[TontoK]

Add me to the "no shows" contingent. They just don't interest me, particularly the silly programs skaters do. I'd much rather watch a practice session or a six-minute warmup than a gala.

The real entertainment for me comes in watching skaters perform under the stress of competition. That's where the adrenaline is. My one exception to this is the recent Legacy on Ice gala in memory of those who died in the airplane crash... but that was purely an emotional thing, having nothing to do with traditional show program appeal.

 

[withwings]

In my opinion, in figure skating competitions- provided we watch in real time either at home or in competition- we are not only spectators, we all are participants! we are participating by giving our hearts, meaning we are jumping with joy when a skater does great, suffering when something goes wrong, crying, smiling....we do life with all of them and for all of them, we are giving our hearts. All that together creates unrepeatable psychological environment, magic of figure skating competition.

Of course, it is possible also to watch not as a divine sport but... as a horse race, where focus is on quantity of jumps while, in fact, that jump race more or less is ideological or political agenda ( e.g. Eteri factory). Jumps by itself ARE divine sport and ARE admirable. What is not admirable is what kind of attitude are on them and from where it stems.

 

[skylark]

In my opinion, in figure skating competitions- provided we watch in real time either at home or in competition- we are not only spectators, we all are participants! we are participating by giving our hearts, meaning we are jumping with joy when a skater does great, suffering when something goes wrong, crying, smiling....we do life with all of them and for all of them, we are giving our hearts. All that together creates unrepeatable psychological environment, magic of figure skating competition.

Beautifully said! thank you

although my only quibble with your paragraph is that I believe that connection is also made even when we watch in un-real time

 

[skylark]

french has been skating since january..and you are comparing them now with the people who had skated many years, since childhood..

That's why I said, "Could Laurence develop that talent, if she has it? Only time will tell. "

My point was that the judges seem to be giving FD/Cizeron scores based on his record with Gabrielle.

 

[Magill]

Several years ago I would have joined the "competition better than shows" contingent but not any more. Now I care way way more for selected shows than for competitions, and judging by the selling data, it seems some shows are selling way better now than any current competition, attracting bigger crowds and more attention which is just a fact and not an opinion. And no wonder. With the greatest skaters of the recent years retiring from comps and focusing on their pro careers, shows have much better skaters now, skating much more interesting programs and offering much better "entertainment" than any current competition. Sorry guys but with Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, Daisuke Takahashi, Mao Asada, Akiko Suzuki, Satoko Miyahara all just skating in shows, I don't really see many current competitors able to compete with them for my attention. Besides, shows have evolved, at least in Japan, and the best of them have become so much more than trying to earn a buck by skating a watered down version of your competitive program from the past season(s). Now we have shows like Yuzuru's ice stories reviewed as "serious" cultural events in high art magazines and discussed by philosophers like a great piece of high art would be. It is a very different landscape from what it was a few years ago, though I do not think US caught up as yet. Maybe it will, maybe not, we'll see.
And BTW Notte Stellata annual show has been celebrating the memory of 20,000 victims of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful one recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. and, with all due respect, I do not see it an inch less important or less emotional than Legacy On Ice. No reason to be so US-centric, really.