Li Zijun

[Eclair]

Zijun, great sp!!!!! she looked so disappointed with her score, and I agree, 29 PCS is way too low for her! Don't loose courage, Zijun! You'r enot alone! The german eurosport commentators would have put you above Yulia and behind Anna in PCS!!! Your hard training and staying in character from start to end were aknowledged! You did great! Just think of today of this way: just like your idol yuna, you were massively underscored in PCS in a competition in russia, because the judges knew you were the most dangerous for the podium!

 

[moonkat]

Beautiful SP!!!!!!!

 

[Sam L]

I feel like that's the best I've seen her skate in a long, long time. And it really was great to see. I really hope this gives her the confidence to perform at her best. Yeah still feel underscored but she needs consistency so that she doesn't get underscored like this.

 

[klutzonice]

A wonderful performance from Zijun Love that she's in such good shape for her first event this season, and I hope she can maintain that consistency!
It appears her performance skills have really improved and her confidence going into the program was very obvious. She needs to be a little bit sharper with her movements but that can be polished over the season.

I do feel her score is a little low, but her highest PCS last season was 28 I think? So it's gone up a tad bit. Her step sequence is level 3 at the moment...

Anyway, I'm so happy to see her on ice again and hope she will skate beautifully tomorrow!

 

[Violet Bliss]

Zijun showed everybody what she's made of with her SP. She stood up for herself and showed what she could do on her own without a coach and the support most skaters can't do without. Technical elements were all well done but what's striking is her artistry seems to have matured such that she presence was that of confidence, sophistication and a natural elegance few Ladies ever have.

I can hardly wait to see her LP later today.

 

[moonkat]

Zijun's beautiful LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az7C9JoBrB0

 

[liv]

She had quite a lovely long program. I hope she can improve her general conditioning so she can really finish strongly. She is such a lovely skater and deserves more credit.

 

[Manitou]

Does she have anything to do with Mishin? I thought I saw them talking to each other during warmup...

 

[skatefan22]

Does she have anything to do with Mishin? I thought I saw them talking to each other during warmup...

Rumor has it that she will move to train with him soon. Mishin mentioned in his recent interview that he is expecting a Chinese champion on his team. It was him who sent her out for SP last night as well. Chinese fed is really doing all they can to find her the best coach.

 

[qwertyskates]

I took back the skepticism about her work ethic - this girl works HARD, it shows in how much she has improved. Bravo!

I was so impressed by Zijun's SP, that was gorgeous and perfect! She was definitely low-balled in PCS for that one. She reminds me of Yuna! :agree:

I found her FP stunning, but the music killed her brilliant jumps and made her look slower than she actually skated. She deserves Silver, if only she had skated to something that accented her technicals :sad21:

I did a little experiment, I played her FS with the music off, and instead played The Last Emperor. Her program looks so much better, worthy of podium. See for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az7C9JoBrB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcGY0dStHuA

 

[moonkat]

I took back the skepticism about her work ethic - this girl works HARD, it shows in how much she has improved. Bravo!

I was so impressed by Zijun's SP, that was gorgeous and perfect! She was definitely low-balled in PCS for that one. She reminds me of Yuna! :agree:

I found her FP stunning, but the music killed her brilliant jumps and made her look slower than she actually skated. She deserves Silver, if only she had skated to something that accented her technicals :sad21:

I did a little experiment, I played her FS with the music off, and instead played The Last Emperor. Her program looks so much better, worthy of podium. See for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az7C9JoBrB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcGY0dStHuA

I think I'm going to have to disagree. Her FS music is powerful throughout. The Last Emperor music starts out soft and does not suit the passion she is trying to convey. She may not be there yet, but when she is, the program will be even more beautiful.

 

[qwertyskates]

I think I'm going to have to disagree. Her FS music is powerful throughout. The Last Emperor music starts out soft and does not suit the passion she is trying to convey. She may not be there yet, but when she is, the program will be even more beautiful.

Her music is a miserable wail that sounds exactly the same throughout - no ebb, no flow, no rhythm, no crescendo, no power, no dynamism, it makes her skating so flat even when she did some brilliant jumps here with a lot of distance and height. I was registering dissonance - here was a great skate, a great jump, but why did it look so flat? If I were to be brutally honest it's one of the worst "plaintive" singing I ever heard, and I've watched a lot of Asian movies.

In the end, the music that Mao (Madam Butterfly), Yuzu (Seimei) chose all have the qualities that I mentioned. Tan Dun, the composer, has many other pieces to choose from that are rich and complex. People raved after Seimei, I haven't heard any praise for this, except for Chinese fans, and I suspect mostly girls who cried at the story or lyrics but to the rest of us, it didn't make any sense but the wailing sound goes on and on. Unfortunately, the judges are not Chinese girls.

I think if she is serious about winning she has to skate to something that accents her technicals, not deaden them. The judging panel is also international - they might let the music make a stronger impression than it should, and feel for her skate the way the music makes them feel. Everyone thought she was slow and lacked stamina here and needs to skate to a slow music with no rhythm, but it was the music, not Zijun, that was slow and excruciatingly boring. Lori did a great choreography that lets Zijun breathe and accentuates her strengths. She skated really well here with big elements but couldn't beat Courtney Hicks. Just a couple more PCS points would have handed her the bronze...pity. There's no denying she took a huge risk here, but is it paying off or does it have the opposite effect? She should ask some international coaches or judges for their frank opinion.

 

[moonkat]

Her music is a miserable wail that sounds exactly the same throughout - no ebb, no flow, no rhythm, no crescendo, no power, no dynamism, it makes her skating so flat even when she did some brilliant jumps here with a lot of distance and height. I was registering dissonance - here was a great skate, a great jump, but why did it look so flat? If I were to be brutally honest it's one of the worst "plaintive" singing I ever heard, and I've watched a lot of Asian movies.

In the end, the music that Mao (Madam Butterfly), Yuzu (Seimei) chose all have the qualities that I mentioned. Tan Dun, the composer, has many other pieces to choose from that are rich and complex. People raved after Seimei, I haven't heard any praise for this, except for Chinese fans, and I suspect mostly girls who cried at the story or lyrics but to the rest of us, it didn't make any sense but the wailing sound goes on and on. Unfortunately, the judges are not Chinese girls.

I think if she is serious about winning she has to skate to something that accents her technicals, not deaden them. The judging panel is also international - they might let the music make a stronger impression than it should, and feel for her skate the way the music makes them feel. Everyone thought she was slow and lacked stamina here and needs to skate to a slow music with no rhythm, but it was the music, not Zijun, that was slow and excruciatingly boring. Lori did a great choreography that lets Zijun breathe and accentuates her strengths. She skated really well here with big elements but couldn't beat Courtney Hicks. Just a couple more PCS points would have handed her the bronze...pity. There's no denying she took a huge risk here, but is it paying off or does it have the opposite effect? She should ask some international coaches or judges for their frank opinion.

Personally, I don't think Jane Zhang's voice is the best, though she sounds good singing "All of Me". Perhaps I am like those Chinese girls and after looking up the backstory, feel a bit hurt the song is said to be a "miserable wail". Well, I just want to see Zijun be powerful and graceful. It is very true there are better Chinese songs to skate to. Like I said earlier, The Last Emperor is soft in the beginning, in comparison Yuzu's Seimei, which starts with a distinct beat. I want to see Zijun mature from a pretty plum princess into a queen, so I was so excited about the powerful music.

 

[qwertyskates]

Personally, I don't thing Jane Zhang's voice is the best, though she sounds good singing "All of Me". Perhaps I am like those Chinese girls and after looking up the backstory, feel a bit hurt the song is said to be a "miserable wail". Well, I just want to see Zijun be powerful and graceful. It is very true there are better Chinese songs to skate too. Like I said earlier, The Last Emperor is soft in the beginning, in comparison Yuzu's Seimei, which starts with a distinct beat. I want to see Zijun mature from a pretty plum princess into a queen, so I was so excited about how the music was powerful.

I apologize if I offended in any way. Such songs can be lovely to listen to, but for figure skating, music criteria are very different. I think it might be poetic and the story might be beautiful but if the listener doesn't know the song/movie they just hear a very simple, repeated refrain by a miserable lady, over and over, and some subdued piano tinkering. It repeats so much. The jumps, spins, all don't look "alive". If you look at the programs of some skaters, they might be doing crossovers, glides, simple hand gestures and dramatic facial expressions but their music is BIG and the audiences get carried away by the waves after waves of emotions, by huge arias, etc., so music can build audience feelings. They give the cue for drama and make a jump feel like it's perfectly synced to punctuate the moment of music and the audience applauds loudly. These are the sort of stuff that send PCS to the stratosphere.

The Last Emperor's start is quiet but I don't think quieter than the current FS song. There were however, moments that really frame her spins and jumps and especially her "death". How can such a "dying" just whimper out? It doesn't have to be this piece, but already, for the very same skate, many moments of the choreography are brought into sharp relief by a simple change without affecting choreography. I absolutely don't think she should change her program, but the music has to be better to get those PCS up.

Not many skaters pop out to me, definitely not Zijun in the past, but like Jason at SA, she suddenly struck me as having a lot of Yuna in her, especially in her SP, and even the FS but the music mutes it. It's such a pity, Olympics are near and it'll be good to have people starting to notice.

Hope it's not taken as an unkind criticism, far from it, I am impressed, but I understand why most others aren't.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Zijun just asserted herself with her independence and accomplished the best result of the couple of years with a great performance that is loved by many fans, raved by commentators and received high marks from the judges. I am not about to let the celebration be quashed by one insistent critic going to great length to denounce her music choice. However the music inspires and resonates with her, it works for her and that's what matters. She has seasons ahead to choose other music for her expressive skating.

Congratulations, Zijun, for the eye opening, fan gaining, and confidence building GP performances and results. May this be the new beginning of a brilliant career befitting the most graceful and elegant Lady today.

 

[Eclair]

Zijun just asserted herself with her independence and accomplished the best result of the couple of years with a great performance that is loved by many fans, raved by commentators and received high marks from the judges. I am not about to let the celebration be quashed by one insistent critic going to great length to denounce her music choice. However the music inspires and resonates with her, it works for her and that's what matters. She has seasons ahead to choose other music for her expressive skating.

Congratulations, Zijun, for the eye opening, fan gaining, and confidence building GP performances and results. May this be the new beginning of a brilliant career befitting the most graceful and elegant Lady today.

Lol, I don't know what competition you watched but I did not see much of the 'great result', 'performance loved by many fans, raved by commentators' and definititly no 'received high marks from the judges' and judging from the disappointed look on Zijun's face she didn't either. THough none of this is her fault. She skated better than ever this early in the season. Don't know what the chinese judge thought to give her so low marks. Don't know what all the judges were thinking or if they were even looking who gave her the same PCs as Courtney (and I like Courtney but she has other strenghts than PCs).

And as I see it, it's not much confidence building, if she skates better than ever (or at least for long) and it doesn't change a bit in PCS. I already wrote it in another thread, but I'll say this again: Boyang should stop practicing SS right now and just concentrate on his jumps, since as we've seen at SA and here at Rostelecom Cup, it doesn't matter how much one improves in SS and choreo, once the judges decided what PCS category you belong in, you stay there till retirement.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Lol, I don't know what competition you watched but I did not see much of the 'great result', 'performance loved by many fans, raved by commentators' and definititly no 'received high marks from the judges' and judging from the disappointed look on Zijun's face she didn't either. THough none of this is her fault. She skated better than ever this early in the season. Don't know what the chinese judge thought to give her so low marks. Don't know what all the judges were thinking or if they were even looking who gave her the same PCs as Courtney (and I like Courtney but she has other strenghts than PCs).

And as I see it, it's not much confidence building, if she skates better than ever (or at least for long) and it doesn't change a bit in PCS. I already wrote it in another thread, but I'll say this again: Boyang should stop practicing SS right now and just concentrate on his jumps, since as we've seen at SA and here at Rostelecom Cup, it doesn't matter how much one improves in SS and choreo, once the judges decided what PCS category you belong in, you stay there till retirement.

Here's some raving by commentators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az7C9JoBrB0

On the COR Ladies threads, many fans posted they loved her performances and proclaimed she should have won Bronze.

The 4th place finish is her highest international placement, against world medalists, after the Bronze at 2014 4CC. This is after the self training and two difficult years prior. It took hard work, determination, and self motivation for her to get here without the kind of support most skaters need.

This is not the time to be harsh with her and definitely not the place, if you understand the GS guideline for Fan Fest threads. If you don't, read it on top of the Fan Fest Index page.

 

[Eclair]

Here's some raving by commentators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az7C9JoBrB0

On the COR Ladies threads, many fans posted they loved her performances and proclaimed she should have won Bronze.

The 4th place finish is her highest international placement, against world medalists, after the Bronze at 2014 4CC. This is after the self training and two difficult years prior. It took hard work, determination, and self motivation for her to get here without the kind of support most skaters need.

This is not the time to be harsh with her and definitely not the place, if you understand the GS guideline for Fan Fest threads. If you don't, read it on top of the Fan Fest Index page.

I'm not harsh on her, in fact I have done nothing than praising her. It's the judges I'm complaining about and your rosy perspective on the injustice that happenend to her this weekend. Your post read as if we all should celebrate and be happy about her scores, ignoring that her sp got 6 points less than Yulia and her LP got basically the same PCS as Courtney, which is a mentality I don' t agree with. I'm so very impressed by her courage and talent, being able to achieve all this without coach (as I have repeatedly wrote) but the judges don't and won't care if everyone is just equally happy if she gets dinged in PCs and sees her fourth place as a success, when it actually was below of what she deserved.

 

[Violet Bliss]

I'm not harsh on her, in fact I have done nothing than praising her. It's the judges I'm complaining about and your rosy perspective on the injustice that happenend to her this weekend. Your post read as if we all should celebrate and be happy about her scores, ignoring that her sp got 6 points less than Yulia and her LP got basically the same PCS as Courtney, which is a mentality I don' t agree with. I'm so very impressed by her courage and talent, being able to achieve all this without coach (as I have repeatedly wrote) but the judges don't and won't care if everyone is just equally happy if she gets dinged in PCs and sees her fourth place as a success, when it actually was below of what she deserved.

I realize you are an appreciative fan. But I wonder what you and qwertyskate think would help her. You disagree with her scores, which fans do all the time, but what do you intend to do for "justice"? We cannot change scores and results. We are not judges and we are not even at the competition. Is it desirable that all disgruntled fans get their "justice"? She knows where she stands, and I hope she keeps up her motivation to do even better so higher marks have to be given her. It's part of being competitive. Positive mindset and actions, not complaints, will get a person very far.

As for music a fan disagrees with, what are we supposed to do about it? More importantly, what is Zijun supposed to do about it? Change it now because someone does not think it's good enough? It's her choice and her consequences. She has to hear it almost daily for a whole year and perform to it so it's intensely personal. If she can perform to it with the result she has for its debut, it is pretty good. She may do some tweaking to the music and the program and she will improve her performance as the season progresses as most skaters do.

As fans we support her with positive energy, not put her in a corner with demands she can do nothing about. I'd rather celebrate her and her performances.

 

[adelia]

I'm not harsh on her, in fact I have done nothing than praising her. It's the judges I'm complaining about and your rosy perspective on the injustice that happenend to her this weekend. Your post read as if we all should celebrate and be happy about her scores, ignoring that her sp got 6 points less than Yulia and her LP got basically the same PCS as Courtney, which is a mentality I don' t agree with. I'm so very impressed by her courage and talent, being able to achieve all this without coach (as I have repeatedly wrote) but the judges don't and won't care if everyone is just equally happy if she gets dinged in PCs and sees her fourth place as a success, when it actually was below of what she deserved.

Well, Mishin is coaching her now, at least until CoC is over. And this arrangement with Mishin was planned for some time because he talked about this several weeks ago.