Thanks, FSGMT, Cherryy, and gmyers, for getting things started.
I'm going to start with
Patrick Chan's short program from this year's Worlds. I remember watching online with my 11-year-old nephew, explaining things as we went along and guessing the scores and placements together. I knew before the score came up for this performance that it would be a world record. Now I'll analyze why I thought so, and why it gives me pleasure to rewatch this program.
Chan starts just standing, breathing and letting the music play for a couple of seconds, before lifting his arms and his head on an inhalation in time with a lift in the music, then relaxing his head slightly backward and letting the exhalation and that movement pull him around in a pivot-like turn. A pose and two backward toe scoots pick out the focused higher notes in the music while subtle arm ripples reflect the rippling notes in the lower range of the piano. From the back knee glide, he rises and turns on two feet, pushes slowly onto a forward outside edge, and then
gains speed still on the same foot by changing edge into a quick counter turn.
He quickly picks up speed, making it look easy -- with just about three crossovers interspersed with a clockwise back three, a couple mohawks, and a forward outside three, he's already all the way around the end of the rink and down the length to the other end into the quad combination. Great speed, distance, and control on the quad toe; loses some speed on the triple toe but still exits with a good stretched back and free leg position.
A couple back crossovers, and then he heads to the far end of the ice with a half-rotation jump from left back inside and toe pick (i.e., flip takeoff, counterclockwise rotation in the air) but lands on right forward outside edge (clockwise curve, i.e., changing direction just as he returns to the ice) with a lunge and CW three turn; twizzle with the music; mohawk and a repeat of the half-flip with counterrotated lunge landing-three turn-twizzle. This sequence fills the length of the ice and by 6.0 standards could have qualified as a straight-line step sequence -- good thing the tech panel didn't call it as such.
Forward crossovers CCW around the corner with good lean, stretch on CW forward inside edge adding a slight body lean in time with a high note, mohawk turn to backward, briefly collects himself, then steps forward into triple axel with good continuation of the speed and body control -- not a complete surprise but much less telegraphed than most triple axels we see. Good height and distance, good stretch on the landing on the musical downbeat; well controlled back outside-forward inside-back outside threes from the landing edge, timed to the musical pulses, show superior control and lead directly into a brief inside spread eagle and a step directly into the change-foot camel spin, a seamless intricate transition from the jump to the spin.
He comes out of the spin on a CCW back inside edge with a wide step to change direction to CW back crossover, CCW back crossover with upper body movement, clockwise-rotating half-revolution jump from LBI to LFI with toe assist on the landing (i.e., a quarter-walley or inside counter jump), mohawk, clockwise half-flip, two back crossovers increasing speed, some backward steps that are light and lift off the ice, another counterrotated half-jump from LBO to LFO (outside counter or half-toeless-lutz), CCW three, CW mohawk, cross, into triple lutz. Nice control, holds the landing then changes edge and turns forward with a RBI counter right into a twizzle. Finally he puts his left foot back on the ice for the first time since the lutz takeoff and immediately steps forward directly into the flying sitspin, another incredibly intricate connection between jump and spin.
Crossovers, clockwise back inside three with lifted arms, chest, and head to start the step sequence on the new phrase of music, with a majority of clockwise turns by this counterclockwise skater. I love the smooth, continuous flow of both the edges and the full body movement, punctuated by a skidded curving landing of a small jump to create a blade sound timed to a musical silence. The lunge and arm movement after the (deeply curved) bracket and the forward outside loop-relevé on toepick, tombé forward (would be even better if the free leg were stretched a bit more on that balance) also stand out as highlighting the musical nuances.
After reaching the far end of the ice, he turns the corner with deep outside mohawk and continues back into the ice surface with a left back inside edge twisted left in the torso, wide step to near stop with arms and chest opened and twisted rightward toward the audience, then immediately back to the left and a step forward that surprisingly becomes the entrance to the combo spin.
As always in the last few years, I'm awed by Chan's effortless speed/ice coverage and depth of edge and knee bend.
This music has a contemplative minor-key mood with near-continuous flowing rhythmic motion in the lower notes of the piano and subtly highlighted, less predictable higher notes in the melody. I think Chan does a great job of not only expressing the general mood of the piece but also reflecting the underlying rhythm with the rhythm of his stroking and the melodic line with the head, arm, and torso movements throughout. Although not every highlight is executed spot-on the music, most are.
What also impresses me is the seamlessness of the movement from one element to the next, with very few simple strokes and constant, effortless changes between forward and backward skating, between counterclockwise and clockwise rotation, between hops and edge work.
If I have any quibbles, it would be that I think this program could benefit from a more refined body line in the spin positions -- they're good, but not quite at the same level as everything else.
The movements at the beginning fit the music very well, and just look at the expression on her face. Most of the skaters, when they do a Flamenco program, express anger or determnination, she was one of the few skaters who was able to express passion, pure passion, and give us a "gloomy" Flamenco. What I specifically love about THIS performance is how she was so "into" the program from the beginning 'till the end, she was feeling the music and gave us this feeling, creating a pure 3-minutes gem; she was even underscored, I think. I would have given: 
. 
