Vincent Zhou

[yyyskate]

use drums(percussion instrument) to accompany spins is a great idea in this program (and used well). But Vincent's spins need to be more spectacular (not just lv 4s )to match those fab music.
I really like https://youtu.be/YEI1DhBhQDo?t=224 the 3jump combo arrangement with Rising sun here is genius!! Rising sun is mostly rapid drums but here it has a long note of wind instrument and J-butt cleverly used it for Vincent's prep for the jump combo.Just perfect!
Also https://youtu.be/YEI1DhBhQDo?t=247 the usage of change edge spread-eagle with Chinese martial art squat styling provide the variety and a breathing point among the fast tempo tech stsq, definitely a highlight of the program for the audience and judges.
Cannot help but remember Vincent's novice wining free at 2012 US nationals.
Both programs this year, seems Vincent is rediscovering himself, thru visiting his "Origin" The start of a whole new Olympic journey.

 

[yyyskate]

And the costume, Just saying Chinese fans love love this free costume. Me too
but this dragon (traced in black and grey) on the white costume, is not your traditional dragon that you will see on an Chinese emperor's clothes.
It is a western dragon with wings.
Vincent is afterall, a US born and raised kid
if you look closely there are red crystals on that white costumes' dragon pattern.
Here, I have a crazy idea about this costumes, they could add more red crystals on the dragon as the season goes on, so that it will become more and more visible, resembles the progress.
The snow dragon thirsty for blood

some Chinese fans would prefer a wider waist band. I think the width of the waist band matched the slim trim of Vincent's sleeves (wider or thin as it is right now are both okay for me). But, I would prefer a bit wider sleeves. The free program costume is better than the short, to me, one big reason is the sleeves, it is not tightly contour Vincent's arm like the SP. it is wider, not only fits the traditional Oriental costume style, it also balanced his upper body better then the SP costume. Also the position of Vincent's waist band is bit higher than his waist (not too much). which also elongated leg lines effectively.

I am done with my little thesis, hopefully, it can provide some values (any kinds)

Wish Vincent can have a fulfilling figure skating season.

quote from Vincent
"I skate simply because I love skating. I love being free. The value of skating to the individual is so often defaced by outside influences--and so my next task is to find myself again. Success is another entity whose value is spoiled by arbitrary definition. True success will only be achieved when I reach inner peace. Until then, I will continue my infinite struggle for self-betterment."

 

[yyyskate]

Oh about the new hair,
according to fan interview, the new hair style is just Vincent exploring new things.
but lots of Chinese fans do not like it. I also do NOT think curly hair fits Vincent's new Chinese/Oriental themed free program.
Because, most hero/masters in Chinese culture, literature even anime has smooth black hair.
That is the traditional imagery of a Chinese Prince Charming or Chinese noble men.
And that is exactly the initial appeal of Vincent to his Chinese fans.
Vincent as he naturally is, it exactly the realization of what his Chinese fans called "谦谦君子，温润如玉"

Okay, I think I covered all feedbacks .

ETA. ofc, Vincent could explore in whatever way he likes, no matter what, you fans will always support you.

 

[yyyskate]

ETA, about the opening choreo of his CTHD free. I know Vincent wanna show internal tension and strength in his movement to interpret the feeling of a Kungfu master. But for now, it felt like still a bit robotic (and some head movement as well), more like the animation genre in hiphop.
And, if Vincent cannot practice jumps due to injury, could use the time to do more stretch, flexibility training and don't forget good posture.

 

[yyyskate]

Oh, about Vincent's skates seem look bigger than others. I think it is because Vincent naturally has longer feet. also Riedell skates the brand Vincent wears have a lower heal than Jackson and EDEA. thus looked a bit longer.

Also, if Vincent will still have to deal with injury, I think give up jumps to present an intact program, could be a great strategy for the long run. A clean well-performed 2quad, 2 3A or even 1 quad 2 3A free could be enough to land Vincent on the podium.

ETA, Suffering from injury the whole summer and could not train at all. it must be a torture for a laser focused Vincent with his big figure skating dream. Hopefully, Vincent has grown and mature from difficulties. Figure skating is volatile, so as many aspects of life. But figure skating itself is amazing. The "infinite struggle for self-betterment" is beautiful in itself, but I hope Vincent did not use the world struggle, wish Vincent happy and enjoy the journey.

 

[Zenchio63]

Lol, yyyskate, I was planning to ask you for your input of Vincent's programs since you always have plenty to say, and here you delivered and then some! You get an A+ for your thesis. :thumbsup:

Lots to digest, appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback and detailed analysis. I am also super busy these days and don't have much time to write, except for posting relevant links here and there, but enjoy everyone's input. Thank you.

Will respond in detail when I get more time.

P.S. You may want to go back and edit post #551, though Tony the Tiger thinks "Crunch" and "Wow" are great words to use in music titles.

Vincent free program Crunch tiger hidden dragon + rising sun
2 CTHD OST #2 - The Eternal Wow (later part, main theme gentle harp accompany)

 

[Zenchio63]

Here is a group photo from "An Evening With Champions" where Vincent is sacrificing his face again, lying on the ice, as he did in Ice Fantasia.
Aah, nice cool ice!

 

[yyyskate]

@Zenchio63 typo is my trademark
Vincent's Chinese fanclub weibo has his USIClassic fancams. I don't know if you need a weibo account to watch it or not. So far it has not been shared on Youtube, Dailymotion or Bilibili
These fancams has different angles and relatively bird eye angles at parts, So some of the great choreographic ideas I linked before, can be viewed in different perspective.

 

[ice coverage]

Instagram story of @daniel_tioumentsev has a bit of video of locker-room improv from Vincent.

(BTW, "2020’ Inspiration Vincent Zhou" is part of Daniel's Instagram bio.)

 

[yyyskate]

Instagram story of @daniel_tioumentsev has a bit of video of locker-room improv from Vincent.

(BTW, "2020’ Inspiration Vincent Zhou" is part of Daniel's Instagram bio.)

thanks @ice coverage, luckily I I did not miss this gem. Vincent fans need to download it asap！

Also, Vincent please do NOT shave the sides of your head. I kr it is a fad.... but it does NOT look good on you.

 

[Zenchio63]

Instagram story of @daniel_tioumentsev has a bit of video of locker-room improv from Vincent.

(BTW, "2020’ Inspiration Vincent Zhou" is part of Daniel's Instagram bio.)

Thanks so much for that great find, ice coverage! :cool2: That was priceless! I wonder what Daniel meant by 2020? Can't find any stats on his age, just that he was the US Juvenile Pairs Champion. He was taller than Vincent in the 2017 Jump On It Camp picture they took together.

And what is this bo**** beef Vincent was talking about? I thought I saw the words somewhere when I first searched for the Instastory but can't find it now. Tomoki also looks puzzled. Must be something they put in his food.

Vincent sure has grown up, graduating from simple knock knock jokes to locker room improvisations! :rofl2:

Also, Vincent please do NOT shave the sides of your head. I kr it is a fad.... but it does NOT look good on you.

Aww, yyyskate, you are so critical! :disapp: I disagree with you! Vincent looks great with the new "trim & shave". Much better than the initial curly mess that USFSA revealed during Champs Camp! Keep those locks shiny and well groomed! :luv17:

 

[Zenchio63]

Vincent is featured in the latest installment of Medium.com:

Vincent Zhou, Colorado Springs: Vincent is an Olympic figure skater whose mind works in overdrive pondering existential questions. Being an Olympian, he says, will keep him voting in the midterms: He wants to represent America athletically, not politically.

This interview is part of "The Edge of Adulthood: Forty-Six American Teens Discuss Their Lives, Their Struggles, and What’s Next."

Vincent Zhou: Olympic Figure Skater, Existentialist, Patriot
“Representing the United States of America is not about representing what’s going on in the White House.”

Honestly, for me, representing the United States of America is not about representing what’s going on in the White House. It’s not about representing what certain people may believe. It’s about representing the legacy—the athletic legacy that the United States has in the Olympics. I believe we’ve won the most medals of any country ever. We’re the most successful country in the history of sports. That in itself is something to be very proud of. To have the opportunity to compete on the world’s biggest athletic stage, representing a country that has had more success than any other, those are big shoes to fill. Being given the opportunity to fill those shoes is just something else. I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to compete for my country.

I salute your patriotism, Vincent, and share your sentiments! (insert American flag) :agree:

 

[ice coverage]

Thanks so much for that great find, ice coverage! :cool2: That was priceless! I wonder what Daniel meant by 2020? Can't find any stats on his age, just that he was the US Juvenile Pairs Champion. He was taller than Vincent in the 2017 Jump On It Camp picture they took together ....

Maybe 2020 refers to the next Youth Olympic Games for winter sports???

Will add that Daniel also competes in singles.
This season at the Novice level: http://skateontario.org/north-american-series-results-skate-milwaukee/
He placed 7th among Intermediate Men at 2018 Nats.

As you probably noticed, Daniel's partner for pairs is Natasha Mishkutionok, daughter of the Olympic champion.

 

[Zenchio63]

New article on Vincent by Bev Smith:
https://twitter.com/bevsmithwrites/status/1049858629648572416?s=21

Vincent Zhou: Tough Summer, Bright Future

 

[yyyskate]

I like reading Vincent's interview. because it has substances about figure skating. Most time, high profile skaters' interviews are pretty generic(more than often needed PC answer or marketing driven) or not much interview at all. Fan really cannot get much info in terms of figure skating per se.
But, every time I read Vincent's interview from the IceNetwork(#rip) interview (back in 2017) about choreo with David Wilson to this new one. I felt deeply connected and resonate with him in terms of figure skating. As a pure figure skating fan, I felt as if I am communicating with Vincent about every aspects of figure skating while reading his interview. Thus, I can absolutely feel his passion and love of this sport. Because, we share the same passion, One as a figure skating profession, one as a figure skating fan

 

[yyyskate]

the interview has quite a few typos, just saying #shouldIusemysoulmatetag

some quotes
"He has long admired Patrick Chan, known for his skating ability. He knows there are skaters who are so talented with skills that you could hit pause on a video, and they will always be in beautiful position.

“I can’t really say that about myself,” he said. “But the way you move from position to position, the kind of angles you can create…I’ve barely scratched the surface. I have a lot more to work on.”

“I know that a lot of western idea of Asia martial arts is to do the cool flexed-hand position,” he said. He wants to move in a more accurate way.

“The transition between junior to senior is a lot of learning how to keep your skating interesting as opposed to just throwing an arm towards the crowd … just to say you engage with them,” he said. It’s a first step.

Wish Vincent Good Luck @ 2018 SA

 

[Zenchio63]

Glad you enjoyed the article/interview, yyyskate. Here is another one from IFS Magazine:

https://twitter.com/ifsmagazine/status/1050062913698971648?s=21

Vincent Zhou is headed to Skate America next week with a new focus on the performance aspect of his skating.

 

[Zenchio63]

Here are some highlights from the interview:

Vincent's back problem has been fixed and he was able to train without major interruption for the past 2-3 weeks. Yay! :hap85:

On Lori - Zhou said working with her was “quite an experience. I had never really had such a connection to music and movement before working with her. I learned a lot about the different feelings you can create with movement. Lori really helped me connect with imagery and rhythm."

"I have continued developing my knowledge and understanding of movement with Tom Dickson in Colorado Springs.” yes2:Thank you for answering another one of my prayers . Tom is the man!)

On FP - “I have also taken a few lessons and sessions with martial arts instructors so I can understand the positions a little better.” (You'd better watch your criticism of Vincent's moves, yyyskate, or he'll chop you up )

When asked what he worked on over the summer to improve his component scores, Zhou admitted he had a mental reset after the Olympic Winter Games. “The best way I could get enough points to make the Olympic team was going for all the quads (at nationals). But during the off season, after doing some shows and choreography and putting extremely low emphasis on pumping out 100,000 quads a day :eeking:,my skating was naturally able to improve." (Thank goodness )

“During my back injury I was able to spend some time being able to skate without jumping and that allowed me to put more focus on the other things. Maybe the back injury was a blessing in disguise. I have made it pretty clear to my team that I don’t want it to be all about jumps this season.

“I am really excited to show my improvement, not just in the jumps aspect. I am still being ambitious with my jumps but I am trying not to make them the main focus.”

So happy and ecstatic that Vincent's back problem has healed and the injury has "guided" him in a way to become more focused and in touch with the artistic side of his skating.

Sending Vincent all my best wishes and good vibes for a successful and clean performance at Skate America! May he give himself a fantastic early 18th birthday present by getting on the podium! :thumbsup: Go, Vincent, go! :dance:

 

[Zenchio63]

FigureSkatersOnline had a couple of tweets about Vincent, same info as those from the 2 articles above.

On the teleconference, Vincent Zhou said that he was struggling with back problems this summer, but is now "healthy" and has been training well the last 2-3 weeks.

Zhou has taken some Kung Fu classes to help him understand the positions and movements within his free skate. He still wants to be ambitious w/ his jumps, but he's trying not to make them the focus.

These teleconferences are leading up to #SkateAmerica next weekend. FSO will have a pre-Skate America article on their website next week.

 

[ice coverage]

Vincent made another random Instastory appearance -- @tarahkayne posted a few seconds of him at the OTC.