Have to put in a word to defend H&L here
It's an abstract, non-literal, organic program, like a Papadakis/Cizeron FD when they're at their finest, a natural ebb and flow so that the elements disappear into the program in a dream-like state. Best watched without any commentary (or live
) because it's not a program like Let's Go Crazy where you want to hear commentators shout in excitement and break the spell. It's a personal communication between him and the audience that means something different to every individual person. That's also why I think any mistakes shatter the illusion and none of his skates have quite hit the mark.
It's also incredibly brave, there is no reward for changing his layout, for doing a 3F just before the halfway mark, for doing a 3Lz at the very end of his program after an ina bauer. Much like his journey through skating and life, there's ups and downs, successes and failures, and part of the legacy of this program is the challenge of skating it cleanly itself, for him to fall on that 4Lo or that 4S+3T time and time again, to pop that -1Lo-3S and miss that final Lutz, all the while the program grows with us and with him, so that over time it's never the same twice. SEIMEI was skated cleanly early in the season and it was the challenge of skating up to that standard, like a master artisan of his craft. H&L is failure and starting over and surpassing oneself, about treading new grounds with the 4Lo, it hasn't been skated even close to cleanly, and the choreography is still changing and maturing in its own organic way. Part of this program is the hope that he can skate it cleanly at Worlds and thus, establish his legacy
I guess it's different if you have attachment to the original pieces of music itself, but much like Michelle Kwan's Rachmaninoff SP, sometimes splicing together different pieces gives a different flavour and interpretation that challenges what you expect. I know the Chopin cuts took a while to get used to as well.
(This is not to say I don't love his Prince SP!
I watch it more often because it's a program that tolerates mistakes, and the crazier the landings on the jumps, the better his marks for IN should be
)
I wonder if he'll still take full course load next season....maybe he should take a semester off or something.
I wish he could hold it longer, but he'd have no time to prepare for the Lutz.
Lol was this the one where he cartwheeled in on the red carpet? Or was that a different award? 
. I'd also love to see someone skate to Suteki Da Ne. Probably as an EX or something. Bring more VGM to figure skating!!!
Go Yuzu!!!
