2017 Worlds Men's FS

[silverfoxes]

For me I just can't be a Shoma fan maybe because his torso feels tense and his face is intense/concentrated regardless of the theme, it's part of his aesthetics. Although for some it can be a positive in his presentation, it's not my preference. It's more fitting for his FS theme I hate tangos though, and the music is a no but I feel it's usually out of place in his SPs, Ladies in Lavender is a bit too soft for his style in my opinion. but I love his blue costume to bits. However, his arms are pleasing and his performances overall feel very polished so this doesn't stop me from seeing what qualities he has that can attract other people. It's evident how he's proficient in his presentation, even if it has no effect emotionally on me.

Yes, this is how I feel. I also simply prefer the look of taller men on the ice. While he has musicality, the music choices are dreadful (the tango) or boring, and there is nothing there for me to connect with. I've seen him 3x in person and tried my best to "get" him, but I guess he will never be my cup of tea.

 

[ancientpeas]

Yes, this is how I feel. I also simply prefer the look of taller men on the ice. While he has musicality, the music choices are dreadful (the tango) or boring, and there is nothing there for me to connect with. I've seen him 3x in person and tried my best to "get" him, but I guess he will never be my cup of tea.

I love Shoma but I know what you mean. Long lines are more attractive. Part of the beauty of Carolina are her long limbs. It's like Kurt vs Elvis. Kurt had the longer, leaner frame and it was always more appealing ascetically than Elvis's smaller, stockier build. IMO.

 

[seniorita]

Watching them from some distance, presentation -wise Shoma Uno reminds me a lot of Dausuke and Boyang reminds me of Oda. They were both very expressive and used the energy from the audience.
Hanyu has some different factor, he just drags you in.

 

[sweetphooh]

From Japan news, Shoma said he always focused on jump and pull out his performance and spin. Then he got the PCS of SP is 45.7, and FS is 94.42. The GOE spin of SP is +2.57 and FS is +3.44, the overall spin GOE is +6.01 which is the highest among top 6 skaters. I can't believe this kind of result.

 

[xeyra]

I just realized from checking protocols that Boyang finally got all his levels, including the steps! In fact, all the top 7 free skates had StSq4 and level 4 spins (with the exception of Shoma and Patrick missing a level on a spin each). Quality non-jump skills there, guys. Good job!

 

[synesthesia]

I love Shoma but I know what you mean. Long lines are more attractive. Part of the beauty of Carolina are her long limbs. It's like Kurt vs Elvis. Kurt had the longer, leaner frame and it was always more appealing ascetically than Elvis's smaller, stockier build. IMO.

They're both 5'7''.

Imo height doesn't have much to do with it. Many singles skaters aren't really tall (the majority in the ladie's field is </=5'5'' and </= 5'9'' in the men's field), which often seems to be an advantage. (Carolina Kostner, Maria Sotskova and Polina Tsurskaya are rather an exception than the norm in the ladie's category for instance). I think what influences the perception of lines and elegance more is a skater's build in terms of weight distribution, muscle definition and body proportions/relative length of their limbs, but the most important factor still is what someone brings to the table in terms of presentation and skating related attributes like carriage, extension, musicality, effortless glide, fluid and polished movements etc. I wouldn't say that a rather tall skater like Brian Joubert had a more elegant on-ice look than the "tiny" Tatsuki Machida for example.

I'm not the biggest fan of Shoma's music choices or choreography/overall program compositions this season (my fav men's program in those regards is Patrick's FS), but boy does he shine in almost all of the categories I listed above. He convinces me so much with his performance skills and projection and he skates so big, that I don't even perceive him to be of short stature when he's on the ice.

 

[Interspectator]

One last post in praise of Boyangs 4Lz in the Long program. It's the BEST, BIGGEST, and smoothest Lz in the world!

 

[TheGrandSophy]

I thought I'd document just some of the reasons I did love Shoma's programmes, performances and the attributes he exhibits, in no particular order:

the way he uses his whole body right down to the finger tips to inhabit the music;
the timing he shows in his step sequences so that every movement is to the beat of the music;
the deep knee bend that means his movement looks so elegant and smooth;
how his limbs never look like windmills or seem hurried or lacking purpose, even in the quiet moments;
the way he uses his head and neck in rolling and sweeping ways to transmit musical intent;
the way he uses his hands in spins to feature all the nuances and grace notes of the music (see that last spin in the SP for an amazing example of that);
how he times his spins to stress the dramatic crescendos of the music (see the last spin in the FS as a great example of how he does that);
the way certain jumps are timed to match the music e.g. 3A+3T in the FS;
the gorgeous 3 jump combo in the FS that looks like a pebble skipping across gleaming waters;
how he fights for every landing (yes, he isn't a natural jumper, but goddamnit he will wring every single point he can out of them);
the beautiful rolling 3s into the 4T;
the way he makes things work even when he isn't at his best;
the way he puts mistakes (e.g. the lutz in the FS) out of his mind and focuses on every element thereafter;
the way he puts a rocky practice out of his mind and is 'on' when it counts;
the sheer hard work that has meant he has improved these programmes and his skills throughout the season;
the way he thinks his way through unfamiliar music so that you can see his understanding of the music progresses through the season;
the glorious 3A from spread eagle and into cantilever in the SP;
the cantilever with the flourish of the arms that just suits the cackle of the singer in the FS;
the way when the music reaches its height in the FS you can see this crazy kid singing along;
that endearing triumphant arm up and the shy grin as he bows at the end that so contrasts with the intensity of his stare at the start
and the way he keeps humble, hardworking and eager to improve throughout it all.

These are just some of the things I love about Shoma. Go, Shoma!

 

[Interspectator]

One final, final, post in praise of ALL Yuzu's jumps in the long program. Even in GPF Seimei there were a few jumps a tiny bit scratchy on landing...but each of his jumps here were smooth on take off and landing, good height, distance, on the music and in transitions. Checking all the boxes. That he didn't get more +3s on his GOE is a mystery to me. But anyway, loved each jump. All textbook. Even poor little 3F.

 

[MaiKatze]

I thought I'd document just some of the reasons I did love Shoma's programmes, performances and the attributes he exhibits, in no particular order:

the way he uses his whole body right down to the finger tips to inhabit the music;
the timing he shows in his step sequences so that every movement is to the beat of the music;
the deep knee bend that means his movement looks so elegant and smooth;
how his limbs never look like windmills or seem hurried or lacking purpose, even in the quiet moments;
the way he uses his head and neck in rolling and sweeping ways to transmit musical intent;
the way he uses his hands in spins to feature all the nuances and grace notes of the music (see that last spin in the SP for an amazing example of that);
how he times his spins to stress the dramatic crescendos of the music (see the last spin in the FS as a great example of how he does that);
the way certain jumps are timed to match the music e.g. 3A+3T in the FS;
the gorgeous 3 jump combo in the FS that looks like a pebble skipping across gleaming waters;
how he fights for every landing (yes, he isn't a natural jumper, but goddamnit he will wring every single point he can out of them);
the beautiful rolling 3s into the 4T;
the way he makes things work even when he isn't at his best;
the way he puts mistakes (e.g. the lutz in the FS) out of his mind and focuses on every element thereafter;
the way he puts a rocky practice out of his mind and is 'on' when it counts;
the sheer hard work that has meant he has improved these programmes and his skills throughout the season;
the way he thinks his way through unfamiliar music so that you can see his understanding of the music progresses through the season;
the glorious 3A from spread eagle and into cantilever in the SP;
the cantilever with the flourish of the arms that just suits the cackle of the singer in the FS;
the way when the music reaches its height in the FS you can see this crazy kid singing along;
that endearing triumphant arm up and the shy grin as he bows at the end that so contrasts with the intensity of his stare at the start
and the way he keeps humble, hardworking and eager to improve throughout it all.

These are just some of the things I love about Shoma. Go, Shoma!

Bless you! Great document!

 

[NoNameFace]

'one last post' edition - to phrase all Men competing, so many great performances, even those unexpected and final 2 groups , so much magnificence to cherish and re-watch!, kudos to All of You and Your posts about technical/PCS analysis, comparisons, I'm too lazy and unconcerned that much about those <embarrassed>, but what an event it was!

 

[HanDomi]

One final, final, post in praise of ALL Yuzu's jumps in the long program. Even in GPF Seimei there were a few jumps a tiny bit scratchy on landing...but each of his jumps here were smooth on take off and landing, good height, distance, on the music and in transitions. Checking all the boxes. That he didn't get more +3s on his GOE is a mystery to me. But anyway, loved each jump. All textbook. Even poor little 3F.

one thing I would notice here, Hanyu's take offs, they were just sooo sharp and spot on, I was just replaying over and over again his take offs to quads

 

[xeyra]

I have updated the Best Element Scores for Men in the 2016/2017 Season. I know we still have WTT to go, for official competitions, but there's a lot of updates that happened with this World Championship.

Best Element Scores 2016/2017 Season - Men

Some interesting tidbits:
CHAN, FERNANDEZ, HANYU and UNO are the only ones to have gotten +3 GOE on a jump element. FERNANDEZ managed to do so in both a quad (4T) and a triple (3A);
CHAN, FERNANDEZ and HANYU had once again max GOE in their StSq4 in the SP at the 2017 World Championships. They've each received the max GOE at least twice this season.
GE has gotten max GOE in his Choreographic sequences two times this season, one of which was at this year's Worlds.
BROWN has managed to get max GOE three times on his CCSp4 spin. Twice in the FS and once in the SP.
CHEN's 4Lz-3T at 4CC remains the highest scoring element in the history of FS for now.

 

[thk]

The Finnish commentator, expert/coach/ex-skater Anuliisa Uotila has for year been praising Patrick Chan's basic skatings skills, his ability to create and maintain a flow, his edges and use of the blades as unique among the male skaters. During the exhibition she praised Shoma, said Shoma has the same quality in his skating and is on par with Patrick. She was clearly impressed.

 

[Sabrina]

For me, Shoma is an exception, as I love his skating even he is considerably short. But I think he is lucky having a nice proportion between his body and his limbs. Some short men have short legs, and a larger body. That's the most unfortunate body type for figure skating or ballet. And leg/arms lengths may be altered even in taller people. It's all written in genes.
That's why, I have a huge respect for Elvis, but I could not fully enjoy his skating. And Elvis is not alone in this situation. Still some skaters mange to compensate with other qualities. Others are less fortunate. It's not fair, but we are not born equal from the physical point of view.

 

[icybear]

I do have respect - for actual choreography and artistry and good skating, of which the second half of his program was barren of.

It's not a question of what you thought of it but being respectful of everybody regardless of their work.

 

[irriya]

But why, when Daisuke Takahashi skated to this same music SO much better in 2010?

I mean, Boyang's Quad Lutz is the best jump ever and makes for such a magnificent opening, but after that he generally skated like a gawky freshman at his first high school musical in comparison to Takahashi. :confused2:



I do have respect - for actual choreography and artistry and good skating, of which the second half of his program was barren of.

Well, I agree there is big gap of music interpretation between Jin and Takahashi, but you also need to understand Jin is only 19. It's hard for a young skater who only had his second season in adult competition to really understand the music and perform it that well, especially you have to work on those difficult jumps. I think it's true for most young skater that they will focus on technical part first to get the world's attention in first one or two seasons. As time goes by, they will develop their own understanding and interpretation of the music. I can only remember very few skaters, maybe Kwan, Yuna and Patrick as those who skated more mature than their ages when they were still young.

 

[itiahs]

Terrible. Did it happen with other skaters too? Probably the arena acoustics didn't help, or maybe you sat close to the speakers (?).

I don't remember it happening to other skaters. Aside from some bad music cuts and some programs where you can obviously hear the compression artifacts (sorry i'm sensitive to things like this). I thought the arena sound quality was pretty good, everything was pretty balanced except for bass boost that was sometimes enough to shake the chairs. I think it was actually better than Boston in terms of balance and picking out nuances in the music, but then I haven't been to enough championships.

With Shoma at the beginning, I swear I really couldn't finish his FS because of the music. I think it was at the GPF where I finally watched it whole. It took me the whole season to bear with it, but now even though the program won't be my favourite, I find it amusing in a latin american soap opera kind of way. k (I don't mean in a derogatory way)

I kept wishing shoma was skating to Anna Pogorilaya's FS music, it's a similar style after all (feel so sorry for Anna )

 

[Blades of Passion]

Well, I agree there is big gap of music interpretation between Jin and Takahashi, but you also need to understand Jin is only 19.

Here is Takahashi at 19 years old - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewOxbymcHc (bad video quality though, I'll have to find a better one)

Anyway, it really just doesn't matter. Whatever happens on the ice should be scored for what it is and discussed for what it is. The subject was if Jin's PCS were too high and my opinion is they were WAY too high in the free program. Maybe someone doesn't like hearing that the second half of their program is awful from a PCS point of view, but that is the most accurate assessment I can give and there's no getting around it, no way to sugar-coat it.

 

[UnChosen]

I was lucky enough to see the event live in Helsinki and I can tell you that in the FS, Yuzu was on a totally higher level than all the others. Please realise that a figure skating performance looks a lot different live than it does on youtube and judges do not look at youtube. Yuzu was underscored and Shoma was overscored but the final placings are agreeable and the judging for the entire championships has been exceptionally good.

I read some comments about Boyang's performance. In both the SP and the FS, Boyang had complete command of the arena and captivated the audience from start to finish. A standing ovation does not lie. Those who say he is all jumps simply have never seen him skate live.

Yuzuru and Boyang were better than the rest of the top 6 when it comes to projection and performing, so it was no surprise they they got the best reaction from the audience.