Men's SP 5:45 am Eastern Time Friday

[beep_beep]

Plushy arms could stay were they are, thank you. Evgeni cannot pull off feathers anyway.

Well, I don't think anything other than birds can pull off feathers...
it doesn't seem to stop the skaters though...

 

[sus2850]

I feel so sorry for Ponsero, he can do such a beautiful quad. Seems his work with his mental trainer doesn't help at all...

 

[schiele]

Well, I don't think anything other than birds can pull off feathers...
it doesn't seem to stop the skaters though...

Remember Joubert with the feathers at last year's Masters? Don't think I've seen worse..

 

[schiele]

I feel so sorry for Ponsero, he can do such a beautiful quad. Seems his work with his mental trainer doesn't help at all...

Yes, it does not look promising, first in TEB and now here, his mental issues prevail.. What a waste of talent!

 

[ae9177]

Great competition!

My favorite SP is Evan's. Not a big fan of the firebird music, but he made it work magically. He's really skating to the music, so powerful and beautiful to watch. He improved significantly artistry wise, the ballet training surely paid off. I'm so impressed with his dazzling footwork! :agree: His TES is lower than I expected, other than the edge call, his jumps are very clean and smooth. I love the prince look costume too , only complain is that I want to see a little more color than just black. I hope he'll rock the LP!

Sergei is a pleasant surprise, great jump technique! I hope he can keep improving his music interpretation.

Oda is getting better and better! He's definitely the front-runner in GP. Even Plushy needs to take notes on this little guy. But I still don't like his SP.

 

[merrybari]

Evan being in third after teh short is a good thing. he gets hungry/angry and kicks booty in the LP....

I agree!

Also, he did have the highest PCScores; 37.50 to Oda's 36.65. Here's the top three details:

Pl. Name Nation TSS=TES+ PCS+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded. - StN.
1 Nobunari ODA JPN 83.35 46.70 36.65 7.55 6.85 7.55 7.35 7.35 0.00
2 Sergei VORONOV RUS 81.40 46.30 35.10 7.05 6.75 7.20 7.00 7.10 0.00
3 Evan LYSACEK USA 80.80 43.30 37.50 7.40 6.85 7.75 7.55 7.95 0.00

 

[merrybari]

Great competition!

My favorite SP is Evan's. Not a big fan of the firebird music, but he made it work magically. He's really skating to the music, so powerful and beautiful to watch. He improved significantly artistry wise, the ballet training surely paid off. I'm so impressed with his dazzling footwork! :agree: His TES is lower than I expected, other than the edge call, his jumps are very clean and smooth. I love the prince look costume too , only complain is that I want to see a little more color than just black. I hope he'll rock the LP!

Sergei is a pleasant surprise, great jump technique! I hope he can keep improving his music interpretation.

Oda is getting better and better! He's definitely the front-runner in GP. Even Plushy needs to take notes on this little guy. But I still don't like his SP.

ITA with your observations re: Evan's program! Fire on ice!! Spot on with the music. Costume is spot on with the program too! His off season hard work has definitely paid off big time!

Voronov had the best SP I've ever seen him do. Can he repeat in the LP? Consistency has been lacking. We'll see.

Oda's Chaplin is just right for him. ?? Will he add the quad he talked about or not?

I do feel badly for Ponsero. So much potential so little consistency.

Consistency will play a huge role this season - I've heard it said it'll be the difference between the ones that "are" and the ones that "wannbe."

Tomorrow will be a fight!

 

[wonderland]

My impressions on some men's SPs:

Oda's SP looked good but not great. His expression in the program was far-fetched, somehow. Nevertheless, He was outperformed by his coach Morozov by the rinkside. What a sight to be remember for a lifetime: Morozov was lowering his body, staring at Oda performing, shaking or dancing from nervousness...

I love Voronov's SP, very cool, but I still get annoyed by his stiff posture on ice. I think his flexibility is rather poor. Despite that, he has improved a lot in both jumps and spins.

About the French guy, his elbows were bleeding after he fell on the quad at the very beginning of the program, which is a very dangerous attempt indeed.

As for Evan's SP, it only left me speechless. I was too scared to say a word after his performance was over. His costume is so distracting and horrible. Good or bad, I can say nothing about his Firebird. I think the judges might see it from an unusual and different angle, otherwise, his PCS would not have been that high.

 

[formersk8ter]

So thrilled for Oda this season. He's my guy!!

 

[evangeline]

Yes, some said he was out of character with the music. His "Firebird" was soaring with those flapping arms

Isn't a bird supposed to flap it's wings?
Maybe Plush should also skate to Firebird so his arms would make more sense than they do in a Tango

Reminds me of the environmentally-friendly arm-flapping jokes earlier in the year--I remember you said that if properly harnessed, Evan's arm-flapping could power LA for a month.

If Firebird suits Lysacek's arm-flapping, perhaps Plushenko should skate to Don Quixote--he could be the windmills.

 

[janetfan]

Reminds me of the environmentally-friendly arm-flapping jokes earlier in the year--I remember you said that if properly harnessed, Evan's arm-flapping could power LA for a month.

If Firebird suits Lysacek's arm-flapping, perhaps Plushenko should skate to Don Quixote--he could be the windmills.

I also said Plushy's arm flapping could cause a Tsunami if he skated in a coastal city. Note how his own federation has him landlocked in Perm and Moscow

But seniorita is being kind to Evan, so I will admit Plushy looked sensational to me last weekend.

And perhaps she also noted Evan had the highest marks for choreo and music interpretation. :yes:

 

[Medusa]

And perhaps she also noted Evan had the highest marks for choreo and music interpretation. :yes:

Which is probably a bigger mistake than giving Plushenko the highest mark for music interpretation.

Seriously judges, shower guys like Lysacek and Plushenko with monster marks in Performance / Execution, that is where they really shine - but stop trying to tell us that they are artistic or especially musical.

Watched Ponsero's fall. That was scary. I doubt that he will ever put everything together, and that's a big big shame. So much talent. The speed, the musicality, the sharpness of the movements, without ever looking frantic. He could have been up there with greats like Browning, Yagudin, Lambiel etc. He is a tragedy personified. I sincerely doubt that the French Federation will give him another chance, but should perhaps, Amodio is probably just as inconsistent as the lot of them, Préaubert is slightly more consistent, but will never ever break the 70 points mark on PCS, and while that bugs me from an athletic and rational standpoint, it is actually correct.

 

[viv]

... Nevertheless, He was outperformed by his coach Morozov by the rinkside. What a sight to be remember for a lifetime: Morozov was lowering his body, staring at Oda performing, shaking or dancing from nervousness....

I love that; he gets so emotional about the performances of his students.

If Oda can hold it together in the LP (and I think he will), he's the frontrunner of the season for me. I hope he gets the quad done this time, though I'm not sure he will need it to win.

 

[amateur]

geez, i somehow failed to recognize any of the quad attempts of the top guys in my PbP. No wonder I was having a hard time identifying some of the jumps, it's like I had forgotten to look out for quads, or even that they existed, yet was thinking "what was that jump? it surely wasn't just a 3t, at this level...). Maybe more sleep will help next time...

 

[Hsuhs]

Oda's Chaplin is just right for him. ?? Will he add the quad he talked about or not?

Nobunari doesn't need quads to win this competition. If he lands all his triples the way he did in Paris, he'll have it.

 

[museksk8r]

If Oda can hold it together in the LP (and I think he will), he's the frontrunner of the season for me. I hope he gets the quad done this time, though I'm not sure he will need it to win.

I don't think Oda needs a quad to win over this field. I do think Lysacek will need to be clean with a quad in order to beat a clean quadless Oda though.

 

[Medusa]

I don't think Oda needs a quad to win over this field. I do think Lysacek will need to be clean with a quad in order to beat a clean quadless Oda though.

You hope, you hope! Don't forget, Lysacek is a World Champion now. That's a PCS-plus.

 

[viv]

I don't think Oda needs a quad to win over this field. I do think Lysacek will need to be clean with a quad in order to beat a clean quadless Oda though.

I agree. But I think a consistent quad in the first half of the season would do him good, regarding how nervous he sometimes can get. He will need it in Vancouver anyway, if he wants to get on the podium.

 

[seniorita]

You hope, you hope! Don't forget, Lysacek is a World Champion now. That's a PCS-plus.

or maybe judges want to forget that also.

 

[Hsuhs]

or maybe judges want to forget that also.

Because The King is back?