http://www.flutzingaround.com/2010/12/g ... um=twitterGrand Prix Final - MENS LP ReviewRolled over and got out of bed just in time. Probably staying up just for the men and ladies.
Florent Amodio of France- triple Axel to start, same perfect deep-knee landing and extension he's had on most jumps all year. Second triple Axel/double toe right away, shaky landing on the first but still done. Rushed the loop and it became a double. Choreography starts for the circular footwork and if you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the program, he definitely gets into it. 18 seconds of standing around and selling some more 'choreography' and then a triple Salchow/triple toe, two triple Lutzes (one in combination with a double toe), a triple flip, and a double Axel all within about 30 seconds with nothing else in between and really nothing but skating from one end to the other. All of the jumps were landed, but none of them had the greatest flow coming out. Choreography picks back up for the straight-line footwork which goes on for a while, and then he ends with spins. I love Florent, I think this program is fun for the audience and casual fans, but I can't get past how much time he stands around and how none of his jumps have anything going on into them. Transitions mark should be extremely low, the set-up of the elements (those five jumps all so quickly together) is bleh and should affect his choreography mark, but his performance mark should be high. He only interprets the music when he's standing around or doing the footwork. Sorry, I'm not a hater. Just keeping it real! 140.26-- not quite a 7 average on the components. Don't get me wrong-- he's extremely exciting. Just this program is everything that the judging system doesn't ask for and it should be scored accordingly. Nice effort with the jumps once again, though.
Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic and we get back-to-back Michael Jackson. Triple toe, easy to start. Triple Axel/double toe and then right into a triple loop. Circular step is nice but moves somewhat slow, and then he does a combination spin on one foot which has nice positions until the final scratch travels. Second triple Axel, triple Lutz, triple Salchow, triple flip, triple Lutz/double toe with a turn-out in between-- all of those jumps were done in about 45 seconds, too, and the only transitions were some three-turns and simple movements into the jumps. I know he and Florent are hardly the only two to have a program set-up like that, but I hate it. Second footwork sequence once again has good content but once again he just doesn't have the power and speed off of his pushes that the next four men will do so effortlessly. Okay, tough for me again here. The concept is once again fun, but there really isn't that much going on in the program. He doesn't stand around, but he also is doing a lot of crossovers to link everything together. However, everything being watered down a bit this year and not attempting the quad has done wonders for his consistency-- I guess that's the trade off. He poses for the crowd in the kiss and cry. 148.27 for the free skate, 73 on components and he's in first place.
Takahiko Kozuka of Japan starts the final four and the likely race for the podium. Quad toe comes to a bit of a halt on the landing but it looked rotated to me and on one foot. Triple Axel with gorgeous flow coming out. Triple Lutz/double toe. Camel with a layover-- that's a decent effort, into a sit with variation and upright-- average speed. Now we see some transitions.. the first of the night honestly. One foot steps for the first part of his circular sequence and you see how easily he gains speed and flows. Triple Axel/double toe-- Axel was pitched forward a bit and the toe loop took a while to get the free leg back. I'm sure he wanted a double loop on the end but couldn't get it off. Triple flip, triple Lutz/triple toe with a wild run-out but it's done, triple loop, triple Salchow-- again all the jumps close together but at least he has some variation to what he's doing leading into the jump rather than stroke, stroke, stroke. Circular footwork sequence.. for skating clean so far he's not really getting into this or showing the excitement that he should have. Combination spin to end and the camel with a change edge could use work on the position but the rest of the positions are nice. Well, once again a clean free skate and he's going to put the pressure on big-time for the other three. Sato looks happy with that effort, smiling and clapping at the boards. I think he can do even more to the transitions and choreography of this program, but the difficulty level is seriously double that of what Amodio and Verner just performed. 159.89 for the free skate, just 77 for the components. Eh. Some of the jump landings weren't the best, but I'd still have him higher on components, especially comparing with the first two.
Daisuke Takahashi follows with Invierno Porteno. Quad flip comes down after 3.5 and on two-feet. Nice triple Axel, though, showing total control on the edge-work coming out. Triple loop lands on the flat but he gets the leg back. Combination spin with the first few positions somewhat thrown away (especially his camel), but the latter upright was nice. Circular footwork doesn't seem to have the speed that it usually does but he's an absolute master at using his full body, and the difficulty-level isn't easy in the slightest. Triple flip/triple toe and he can't hold the second landing after total curving the edge. Second triple Axel and he falls hard on that. Takes a second to get up. Triple Lutz, triple Salchow landing with no run-out, another triple Lutz that he thinks about for a second and then slips off the edge on that one and falls again. So his second Axel and second Lutz will both be called sequences because the first attempts were not done in combination-- lots of points lost right there. The straight-line step at the end doesn't have the normal spark, but the program itself has the best pacing so far and his ability to listen to the music remains among the best. Sorry, though, this was totally flat, especially the second half with the mistakes. 137.20-- they hit him hard but it's fair. He goes into second, but he's last on the free skate. Kozuka will medal.
Patrick Chan of Canada with Phantom of the Opera. Nice quad toe and it looked like he had time on the way down to stop rotating and adjust to the landing-- amazing. Triple Axel/double toe-- not a huge amount of flow between the jumps, but it's fine. Triple Lutz. Edge work on one foot and then his serpentine step-- just absolutely effortless and the speed he gets out of the pushes is ridiculous. Steps into his second triple Axel and he falls out. More steps all the way down the length of the ice and a Triple Lutz with a turn and step/ 1/2 loop/ double Salchow. I don't know if the second part of that will count-- there might have been a step too much. Triple flip/triple toe, triple loop-- none of these later jumps have very much flow and he looks extremely tight. Double Axel. Spins once again are fast and well-centered and all three have strong positions. I totally respect the amount of content in between everything, but like pointed out so many times before-- he skates to the music and does exactly what the system wants, but is there a lot of feeling behind anything he does? Not really. This performance started to fall flat in the second half when the jumps started losing their flow. It should still be enough to lead by quite a few points in the free skate, even with the two mistakes and rough landings. His coach and her preaching in the kiss and cry every single time annoys me.
174.16 and 87 points on the second mark. Haha.. here we go again with haters, I'm sure. He's 22 points ahead of Kozuka. I think this is one point behind the world record, and he's not even clean.Nobunari Oda of Japan finishes the night. Quad toe and he's down. UGH. Well, at least I got the winner of the event right in my predictions. Triple Axel/triple toe that was cautious going in, perfectly fine landings but not the ease of rotation that is usual with him. Three-turns on one foot leading into a triple flip/triple toe-- again done, but muscled out more than just letting it happen. Footwork is much more of a non-highlight than the last two men. His spins between Skate Canada and now have become much more centered.. they were a mess there. Beautiful triple Lutz with steps leading in. Second triple Axel. Triple loop. Triple Salchow/double toe/double loop. Double Axel that he had and just slipped off the edge after a second. He looks like he's totally disoriented in the steps following, and this performance has had no energy. After having that brilliant short that I think he obviously really likes, this choreography looks really junior at times and he's not into it at all. So disappointing. I'd think he still gets silver after his lead over Kozuka in the short, but if he were to fall to third, I will have predicted the podium exactly right here. 156.22 for the free skate, he's third in the long and second overall. Highest-ranked Japanese man here. I think the components were a bit generous for as flat as he was and the program is. And there goes my dream of predicting the podium right by about five points ;-)
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http://www.flutzingaround.com/2010/12/w ... um=twitterWhen You're Already Marked So High...Is a 9.00 for interpretation really that needed or deserved? Chan and Takahashi both had 'off' performances in my opinion, and while the latter might have made more severe mistakes, he should have topped the interpretation score easily. What did he earn? 8.25.
I commented on the live review that Chan's interpretation was the weakest component that he has, yet these judges gave him the highest score there.
.....
I commented about the lack of steps into the quad. He obviously planned it to be his combination, but when he couldn't get the second jump off, the lack of steps should have hurt. He did have a few turns into the jump, so a -1 GOE for the otherwise decent attempt (I guess I didn't watch close enough for the under-rotation) is alright by me. Since he got the < call, a -2 is probably better off there.
The third judge on the protocol should have to explain themselves. +2 for the quad toe and +3 for the flying sit? LOL
comments:
Anonymous said...
I'm in complete agreement. Takahashi was a bit off, but he deserved a higher mark for interpretation because he really does become the music. Chan... not so much. And Kozuka deserved higher PCS marks, as always - his skating is so gorgeous to watch.
5:06 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
I agree. Chan almost always deserves high scores in SS, for example, but for interpretation? It's like the judges decided they might as well give him high PCS across the board as long as they were giving some. He definitely deserved the win (and I say this as someone who's generally a hater XD), but I feel like it sullies his victory when they do this... not to mention makes PCS look like a joke.
5:07 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
I think Chan is routinely overscored on interpretation. I don't even care that he gets high scores for his other components marks, but interpretation? I don't think he even hears the music.
5:07 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
Totally agree. I can live with Chan getting high marks for SS and TR, but IN? Seriously? He doesn't interpret the music at all.
But what I'd really like to know is what was going on with the scoring of Chan's SP quad attempt. As the solo jump jump, there should have been steps into it, and there weren't; and it was underrotated as well. Yet two judges didn't even see fit to give it a negative GOE, and the overall GOE was just -1.14.
Are the judges watching the same skater we are? What incentive is there for Chan to improve his weak areas when he's scored like this? It's bad for him and bad for skating.
5:12 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
Wow, I didn't even notice the +2, it must have registered as a -2. How on earth?
I hope you're planning on scoring the GPF yourself, Tony - I'm curious to see the results.
5:22 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
9.00 interpretation for Chan?
Lambiel and Takahashi flatten Chan when it comes to interpretation, and I can't even remember the last time they've ever received a 9 for IN.
What a farce.
6:10 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
9.00 interpretation for Chan... It's a sin, and it does make PCS look like a joke. Although I feel that Chan did deserve the win, but this mess in PCS needs to be adressed. I'm a huge fan of figure skating in general, but I'm starting to not want to watch competitions anymore. It's just not good for the sport.
6:20 AM, December 11, 2010
cameralaw said...
Have to disagree here. Chan interpreted the last part of the music quite expressively. This is what made the final impression on the judges. Of course, we know how imprecise the program component scores are and how they tend to be a mirror (or a rubber stamp) of the technical scores. Nonetheless, giving high scores to Chan is quite defensible. He is a smooth, pleasing skater with continuous flow and almost no scratching of edges. He listens well to his music (though some of the music in the middle of the program was too amorphous for a couple of the combination jumps he had to perform). He skated away with this competition. So, my hat's off to Patrick! Job well done.
10:26 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
Many ISU judges are still continuing relative judgment. Now i doubt they have tried to give inflated PCS on Chan and to keep his attention to figure skate competitions and go on to Sochi? Well, at least Chan himself knows and admitted he has been overscored at interview with Sport Express in Cup of Russia.
11:26 AM, December 11, 2010
Anonymous said...
Having just re-watched his LP... yeah, there's really not enough going on there to merit scores even near Takahashi's. During the first half of the program, the only time he really emotes TO the music rather than THROUGH it (or... vaguely around it sometimes) is during the step sequences, and honestly I felt the same way for much of the rest of the program. It's good, and he's very good at interpreting the music during the steps, but when you put it up against Takahashi... :/ Did someone forget to tell the judges what interpretation means? Were they trained? What's going on here?
2:07 PM, December 11, 2010
David said...
Yeah, I think 9 for Chan's interpretation is too much; I think he deserved to win, overall, but his PCS marks are very weird,I mean I agree his skating is one of the best, but then Kozuka's as good as his, and in my opinion as far as interpretation is concerned, no one can beat Takahashi. But I'm not arguing with Patrick winning here, he deserved it.
...PCS marks have been weird in the ladies' competition too; I personally feel Akiko's should have been higher and Kostner's and Ando's much lower.
11:38 AM, December 12, 2010
.Я не понимаю...
С 4 падениями первый –второй,без падений его не перекатать? Или два-три четверных остальным прыгать?Так получается???
