Shoma Uno: 2014-2024

[ioanna]

So, a question to distract us all from anticipation of SA: which choreographers would you like to see Shoma work with in the next few years (either you think they fit his style or would encourage a broadening of range maybe) and why?

Phillip Mills, Tom Dickson and (in my dreams) Tatsuki Machida.

The first two because in my opinion they are underrated choreographers and Dickson seems to have found the best ingredients to help Satoko develop her quiet strength on the ice. I feel like Shoma skates in a similar way. Mills because Shoma gives a lot of attention to detail and Mills can explore that.

Machida learned bits and pieces from Mills, Lambiel and ballet dancer Tetsuya Kumakawa and developed his own unique style that I feel would go well with Shoma's skating. For instance, I wish he had choreographed Turandot. It's a powerful piece to skate to (and he's been there before with Symphony no 9) and while Shoma is able to perform and sell it very well, the choreography doesn't quite do him justice.

Basically he should try and collaborate with as many choreographers as possible in the future, but I would like him to start with the ones I mentioned.

 

[mikaboo]

So, a question to distract us all from anticipation of SA: which choreographers would you like to see Shoma work with in the next few years (either you think they fit his style or would encourage a broadening of range maybe) and why?

Hmmm, all of the mentioned above plus Stephane Lambiel. I don't know how they'll match, but I believe Shoma said that he was admiring Stephane's performances at FaOI and Stephane has coached TJ a couple of times at summer training camps in the past so they must know each other quite well, or more than you would expect Shoma to know somebody who doesn't speak Japanese.
Unfortunately, Shoma said in a recent interview that he has no plans of changing choreographers at the moment. He respects Mihoko Higuchi very much. Has any skater on his level stuck with one choreographer throughout his/her career in recent years? I hope he changes his mind though. It would be a shame not to see him try different styles with different people.

Camerlengo!
Shoma has huge potential and artistic expressions, but I would like to see him push or reveal something inside himself more (Honda-san also said something like this). Further, some of Camemengo’s choreographs tell a story and are perfect with piece of music, like La Strada. If they work together, it will be exciting! (BTW, does anyone know Camemengo is based in Canada or US?)

I think he coaches at Detroit Skating Club in Michigan but I don't know if that means he's based there or not.
http://dscclub.com/figure-skating/our-coaches/

I just went to the SkAm predictions thread and got a stomach ache by looking at the number of people predicting Shoma to win. Why!? What about the Han Yans and the Denis Tens (injured, I know) and the Menshovs and the Aarons and the Browns who'll be there? It's his first senior GP... I hope he's as oblivious as he looks to be.

 

[Rissa]

I just went to the SkAm predictions thread and got a stomach ache by looking at the number of people predicting Shoma to win. Why!? What about the Han Yans and the Denis Tens (injured, I know) and the Menshovs and the Aarons and the Browns who'll be there? It's his first senior GP... I hope he's as oblivious as he looks to be.

I don't understand why it's so unclear why so many people predict Shoma's win. The field is unpredictable, but there are lots of factors working in Shoma's favor: he's shown to be able to do a clean 2 quads SP with good artistic value, Denis Ten has a history of poor performances, the less said about Jason Brown's quads the better and PCS won't put him ahead of a cleanish Shoma, Max Aaron's consistency and PCS leave a lot to be desired, Ham Yan makes mistakes as anybody else and he's no Patrick Chan to have much room for error, Konstantin Menshov is good but not quite good enough to beat Shoma in good form. Peop.e aren't saying that Shoma WILL win SA but that he has the highest chances to do so.

 

[mikaboo]

I don't understand why it's so unclear why so many people predict Shoma's win. The field is unpredictable, but there are lots of factors working in Shoma's favor: he's shown to be able to do a clean 2 quads SP with good artistic value, Denis Ten has a history of poor performances, the less said about Jason Brown's quads the better and PCS won't put him ahead of a cleanish Shoma, Max Aaron's consistency and PCS leave a lot to be desired, Ham Yan makes mistakes as anybody else and he's no Patrick Chan to have much room for error, Konstantin Menshov is good but not quite good enough to beat Shoma in good form. Peop.e aren't saying that Shoma WILL win SA but that he has the highest chances to do so.

Yeah, I know. But it's still a lot of pressure to be chosen from the big names there and Shoma hasn't skated to a clean SP in a competition yet.

 

[Caustica]

Yeah, I know. But it's still a lot of pressure to be chosen from the big names there and Shoma hasn't skated to a clean SP in a competition yet.

This is just random fans making their predictions by themselves though. This doesn't actually add any pressure to Shoma as I doubt he reads this website. What probably does add pressure to Shoma is the large amount of news coverage he's getting from Japanese TV.

 

[ethereal]

Yeah, I know. But it's still a lot of pressure to be chosen from the big names there and Shoma hasn't skated to a clean SP in a competition yet.

But, honestly, the only two competitors I could really see fighting with Uno for gold if everyone brings their a-game and skates clean (which obviously won't happen) are Denis Ten and Han Yan. But we know Denis Ten's track record and we know that Yan Han himself is very iffy sometimes. Max Aaron has exceptional jumps on his best best days, but there's much left to be desired in all other categories. Jason Brown is the exact opposite of that. If Uno really has his head in the game this competition he really can't be beat. And even if he makes some missteps (as long as he doesn't completely bomb both programs), I can still see him on the podium if the other skaters skate as they usually do.

 

[mikaboo]

I think he has a good shot at winning if he skates well, but I was just surprised at the number of people who had him in first just in the last few pages that I looked at. I expected a little more diversity since he's just as unpredictable as everyone else. It's not that I have zero expectation of him to win, but I thought if he does, it would have been a surprise win. Don't mind me though, I'm just being a concerned auntie and you are all making me feel better

 

[hamaguri]

I think he coaches at Detroit Skating Club in Michigan but I don't know if that means he's based there or not.
http://dscclub.com/figure-skating/our-coaches/

Thanks!

 

[mikaboo]

Video of Shoma at practice.
https://twitter.com/DadeMeghan/status/657217478452473856

And TV Asahi reporter says he looked sleepy, probably due to jet lag.
https://twitter.com/figureskate5ch/status/657206734088310784

 

[ioanna]

Video of Shoma at practice.
https://twitter.com/DadeMeghan/status/657217478452473856

Oh dear. He's doing the 3A first which means he moved the 4T in the second half of the program.

 

[MaxSwagg]

Go for it, Shoma!

 

[ethereal]

Oh dear. He's doing the 3A first which means he moved the 4T in the second half of the program.

I heard that he skated his sp cleanly in practice today. If he stays focused I have no doubts that he'll be able to do this perfectly.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Oh dear. He's doing the 3A first which means he moved the 4T in the second half of the program.

Ooh, brave guy. Go, Shoma!

 

[firal]

Went to the practice today, Shoma was great! Definitely not sleepy when he was on ice. will be interesting to see how the judges mark his PCS in his first senior year.

 

[invisiblespiral]

Go Shoma! Be awesome, like at JO!

 

[demarinis5]

Went to the practice today, Shoma was great! Definitely not sleepy when he was on ice. will be interesting to see how the judges mark his PCS in his first senior year.

Thank you! Glad Shoma is practicing well.

I am little concerned about his PC score. Shoma's tech when executed is excellent but his main competitors especially (imo)
Jason and Denis are very good technically as well and score very high PC's (which imo are well deserved).
PC's could very well make a difference regarding where Shoma will place in this competition.

 

[Rissa]

Thank you! Glad Shoma is practicing well.

I am little concerned about his PC score. Shoma's tech when executed is excellent but his main competitors especially (imo)
Jason and Denis are very good technically as well and score very high PC's (which imo are well deserved).
PC's could very well make a difference regarding where Shoma will place in this competition.

Being a new senior skater Shoma has no chance to receive PCS like Jason or Denis even if skates clean and they don't. If he is to win, he will have to do so with superior TES. There is nothing to be concerned about, because IMO at this point of GP it will be the TES that will determine the winner. The one with fewest big mistakes will win.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Well, at least Shoma was looking happy and relaxed at practice.

 

[MaxSwagg]

I was afraid he was going to be buried in the short program today! Let's do a good performance today, Shoma!

 

[mikaboo]

4th place after SP sounds good to me. He still has a chance to medal if he skates well in the FS and has nothing to lose if he doesn't, he's still in the 2nd group, he didn't give up after the fall, is happy about how he did and has no regrets :thumbsup:

SP and interview from TV Asahi. Interview from 6:27.

How did your GP senior debut go?
-I was nervous and had too much combative spirit that I was trembling from excitement even before the competition started. I made a mistake on a jump, but did okay with the skating and expressions. The jump mistake was costly so I'll do my best to land it in the FS.
How will you compete in the FS?
-I consider (the expressive side of) my skating important but to get good results, I'll definitely need the jumps and I won't be satisfied unless the jumps are successful. I hope to have success with both in the FS.

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Yesterday's news, but TV Asahi news video of his first official practice. I hope it's not geo-blocked.
http://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_sports/articles/000061077.html

Couldn't find a better video of this, but it looks like he lost his sense of direction on the final pose