2024 World Junior Championships Gala Exhibition

[Jumping_Bean]

It came back a few seconds before they finished.

And it looks like it would have been a really enjoyable programme too!

CaroLiza_fan

You can go back to the Euros gala to watch it if you want.

 

[anonymoose_au]

OK even though I missed most of it the replay of Anastasia and Luka's exhibition had me voting for it

Well, that and the fact you couldn't vote for Misha.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

You can go back to the Euros gala to watch it if you want.

That just backs up what I was saying earlier about it taking me a few times to see something to remember it. Because I did watch the Euros gala. In fact, I had the most posts in the thread!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I voted for Elizabeth TKACHENKO / Alexei KILIAKOV (ISR) just before Ted encouraged us to get our votes in. And I got this message:

"The form ISU WJC 2024 Exhibition Gala Voting is no longer accepting responses.
Try contacting the owner of the form if you think that this is a mistake."​

Typical ISU! They can't get anything right!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[TT_Fin]

Good decision.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Yanhao won!!!

I'm a bit ashamed I didn't vote for him.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Oh wait the Senior World's is in Montreal? I wonder how much of it I'll be able to catch...dang time zones.

 

[cohkaix]

Because of the ISU channel blackout, I switched to the Japan's Fuji on Demand (FOD) subscription by using VPN. Obviously they don't have a problem with the sound volume... (Adding: but I won't be surprised if Japan has their own source of signals)

 

[Jumping_Bean]

I love the boys just messing around, somehow the pairs boys and dancers are always involved lol

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

That was surreal, seeing Elizabeth TKACHENKO (ISR) standing just behind Iida KARHUNEN (FIN) in the queue for the gate.

If ever you wanted a visual demonstration of the differences in physical maturity in Junior level skating, that was it. (To be fair, Elizabeth is only 2 years and 2 months older than Iida. But they are at totally different stages of growing up).

CaroLiza_fan

 

[lileychristie]

I missed most of the gala and is distracted with cooking dinner, but I saw my son Yanhao won most favourite gala!!! Now I need to watch it

Who did that pair lift & throw with Savitsky? An ice dancer landing a throw jump!? Amazing! And they looked like they had so much fun

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Who did that pair lift & throw with Savitsky? An ice dancer landing a throw jump!? Amazing! And they looked like they had so much fun

Luke Wang!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I just watched the Finale and the messing about afterwards again, because I didn't half see it because I was so annoyed about that voting thing closing so quickly, and writing a post about it.

The Finale had a great concept, but it was far too short. Iida was perfect for playing the little girl. And, although you wouldn't imagine it of him, Minkyu was good at playing the part of the boy who befriends her, and then terrorises her.

It did have a serious message, and that came across very clearly.

As usual, the messing about afterwards was fun. And there is something that goes through my head that Michail Savitskiiy has dabbled in Pairs skating. But, I may be imagining things.

It's been mentioned many times this week that Pairs Champions Anastasiia METELKINA / Luka BERULAVA (GEO) are to all intents and purposes Senior skaters, and shouldn't have been here. Well, I just wanted to say that it was so funny when the official photographs of the winners were being taken at the end. We had two small young Singles skaters standing alongside the four visibly much bigger and much older Pairs skaters and Ice Dancers.

But the funniest moment was when the photographers wanted them to jump up in the air. And when they were doing it, Nastya was jumping in the most awkward fashion. And it was obvious that she was doing it like that because she was terrified of popping out of her top and giving the photographers an eyeful!

Well, you should have known better than to wear something with that neckline! It was so unsuitable for a skater to wear. It was barely holding you in when you were just standing still, never mind when you were having to move!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[TT_Fin]

That was surreal, seeing Elizabeth TKACHENKO (ISR) standing just behind Iida KARHUNEN (FIN) in the queue for the gate.

If ever you wanted a visual demonstration of the differences in physical maturity in Junior level skating, that was it. (To be fair, Elizabeth is only 2 years and 2 months older than Iida. But they are at totally different stages of growing up).

CaroLiza_fan

Iida is still quite tiny to be a 15-year-old, soon already 16, Nordic girl. When she won nationals, the two other medalists who are also born 2008 but tall girls - both are taller than mentioned in ISU profiles, IMO, and it was quite confusing when she was standing in the middle podium an all girls' head were about at the same level. She looks younger than she is, so let's hope she does not loose her jumps if she will have a growth spurt like her teammate Janna had.

 

[zebobes]

I was there in person, and so I got to see Misha Ge emcee the entire event, and his Chinese is quite impressive! With skaters he was familiar with, he was able to put together little fun bits, but as it got further in to the afternoon and with the younger, shyer performers, his transitions got more awkward, with some attempts at humor that the Taiwanese audience didn't really understand, as he speaks with more of a northern Chinese accent, which makes jokes more difficult for us to understand, especially in a big echoey arena.

Jia's performance stood out for me as having much more presence and command than anyone else, especially compared to other younger skaters. I find it somewhat amusing that Jia is so amazing and ends up with only a silver, while Minkyu, who is outstanding, but still rough around the edges, is the one with a gold medal.

Mao's music was more "fun", so her performance did not stand out as much, and I know this was only an exhibition, but this was the first time where I could really see how Jia currently does have stronger skating skills than Mao.

The Georgian pair's performance makes it even clearer that these do not really belong in a junior competition.

I was confused that Yanhao got the best performance award, as while I do really like his skating, I did not think he had the best performance of the day, but I didn't get my vote cast in time before they shut the form. I then read on Reddit that someone voted for Yanhao fifty times. I didn't realize that Yanhao was already getting a devoted fan following. The ones who I would have voted for were Edward Appleby, Olivia and Luke, Li Yu-hsiang, Jia Shin, Tkachenko and Kiliakov, and Neset and Markelov. I did think the Georgian team's performance was well done, but I felt kind of icky seeing it at a Junior competition. I wanted to vote for Minkyu, but the beginning of his exhibition, his body was so loose and casual, it lacked sense of purpose and power.

Anyways, these are my scattered thoughts on the exhibition. I'm sad that it will likely be many years before there will be another competition in Taiwan, since China will likely boycott any competition held here for the foreseeable future.

 

[CoyoteChris]

It's Gala time everybody!

Livestream for Gala is now on air.

Here is the link for the World Feed coverage on the ISU YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V65nX3JwYVE

And here is the Time Schedule:
https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.co...DQDv0KOT4exMHXrR3pA26S56cmz7n4zzOwVWgKKOE9lLM

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST EVERYBODY!!!

CaroLiza_fan

Thank you!

 

[CoyoteChris]

I was there in person, and so I got to see Misha Ge emcee the entire event, and his Chinese is quite impressive! With skaters he was familiar with, he was able to put together little fun bits, but as it got further in to the afternoon and with the younger, shyer performers, his transitions got more awkward, with some attempts at humor that the Taiwanese audience didn't really understand, as he speaks with more of a northern Chinese accent, which makes jokes more difficult for us to understand, especially in a big echoey arena.

Jia's performance stood out for me as having much more presence and command than anyone else, especially compared to other younger skaters. I find it somewhat amusing that Jia is so amazing and ends up with only a silver, while Minkyu, who is outstanding, but still rough around the edges, is the one with a gold medal.

Mao's music was more "fun", so her performance did not stand out as much, and I know this was only an exhibition, but this was the first time where I could really see how Jia currently does have stronger skating skills than Mao.

The Georgian pair's performance makes it even clearer that these do not really belong in a junior competition.

I was confused that Yanhao got the best performance award, as while I do really like his skating, I did not think he had the best performance of the day, but I didn't get my vote cast in time before they shut the form. I then read on Reddit that someone voted for Yanhao fifty times. I didn't realize that Yanhao was already getting a devoted fan following. The ones who I would have voted for were Edward Appleby, Olivia and Luke, Li Yu-hsiang, Jia Shin, Tkachenko and Kiliakov, and Neset and Markelov. I did think the Georgian team's performance was well done, but I felt kind of icky seeing it at a Junior competition. I wanted to vote for Minkyu, but the beginning of his exhibition, his body was so loose and casual, it lacked sense of purpose and power.

Anyways, these are my scattered thoughts on the exhibition. I'm sad that it will likely be many years before there will be another competition in Taiwan, since China will likely boycott any competition held here for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for your take on the gala. I like your expression, Big Echoy Arena. The arena was certainly big! I have two questions. Why didnt people move down to the front 10 rows? Is that cultural? And two... All through the comp, I found it curious that many people who were making comments on the right side of the ISU stream complained about the audio levels. I have a couple of pieces of paper that say I am an electronic system specialist. And that I am licensed to run a broadcast station and that I maintained the Emergency Broadcast Network in two states for 30 years, the Tsunami warning for the entire west coast, yada yada yada. Ted's voice level was fine, although a bit lower than the blaring youtube commercials. The music level during the FD was 18 db below Ted's voice level, which is a bunch. I spent the competition raising the audio level of my surround sound system 18 db until Ted Talked, then lowering the audio level 18 db. The last group was a bit better....I had to have my finger on the audio system mute button so I wouldnt be blown off the couch when a youtube add appeared. Normally, setting up an audio system to catch the K and C, Music, and Announcer(s) is childs play, using audio mixer boxes with sliders and VU meters.....I would say the cameral work was professional....at least....How was the audio in the arena?

 

[elbkup]

All the dancers had fun programs; especially liked N/M skating to Lady Gaga’s Telephone Flora and Luke were pretty in pink.. Rio, YL, Seo were wonderful as was Appleby. Anastasia Brandenberg’s skating skills are awesome; she performed with a maturity beyond her years, skating to Everybody Wants to Rule the World dressed in black pants and shirt which looked like sweats to me so no costume. Jia Shin was stunning in deep red skating to Dark Eyes.. wonderful to see Misha Ge again and I was of course reminded of his Gala with Madison Chock a few years back which he choreographed; this is the only clip I could find .. still love it. This was just before Maddie’s foot surgery .. I digress but thought it was worth another look…

Misha Ge (Joe Cocker)

youtu.be

All in all an entertaining Gala despite the sound issues and lack of extra lighting effects ..

 

[CoyoteChris]

You can go back to the Euros gala to watch it if you want.

Link?

 

[CoyoteChris]

All the dancers had fun programs; especially liked N/M skating to Lady Gaga’s Telephone Flora and Luke were pretty in pink.. Rio, YL, Seo were wonderful as was Appleby. Anastasia Brandenberg’s skating skills are awesome; she performed with a maturity beyond her years, skating to Everybody Wants to Rule the World dressed in black pants and shirt which looked like sweats to me so no costume. Jia Shin was stunning in deep red skating to Dark Eyes.. wonderful to see Misha Ge again and I was of course reminded of his Gala with Madison Chock a few years back which he choreographed; this is the only clip I could find .. still love it. This was just before Maddie’s foot surgery .. I digress but thought it was worth another look…

Misha Ge (Joe Cocker)

youtu.be

All in all an entertaining Gala despite the sound issues and lack of extra lighting effects ..

I liked the lighting...not a fan of show lighting.....MG was great. Jia was clear winner of best gala performance. Pic of the night...Marin applauding Mao....