1) Diva Wagner's FS - her personal best thanks to her sports psychologist Adam Rippon
2) Yuzu SP & FS - he'd be #1 but him topping himself was almost expected
3) Chan's FS - scoring 190+ with just one quad and a 3A, pretty impressive
4) Shoma's FS - his Turandot is the best one this season (sorry Max and Karen)
5) Shibs FD - although I still think their SC performance is the best, gotta give Alex and Maia so much respect for performing with food poisoning and pressure (hope Alex is recovering)
1. Shibs FD
2. Hanyu LP
3. Javi's LP -love his heart and artistry with some serious jumps
4. Chan's LP- he floats above the ice-his skating skills are superb
5. Kavaguti and Smirnov LP- after 2 falls on the jumps, she lands the quad. Love this program
- Stolbova and Klimov FS: Great strange and somehow dark atmosphere. Amazing speed. Awesome execution. Beautiful running edges out of Ksenia's landings in their throws. Nothing more to say.
- Shibs FD: An emotional program that builds in intensity until it gets awesomely moving. People went crazy when they finished their routine, you could feel they were skating with their hearts until the very end. Kudos to Alex for skating in such condition.
- Weaver and Poje FS: Strange programe for some people, but leaves a big impression live. They skate passionately, their expression is so intense and the program builds really well. They are beautiful, I love these two!
- Yuzuru's SP and FS: Nothing can be added. He's awesome: fast, light, technically perfect, artistically committed. Simply perfect!
- Shoma's FS: If it wasn't for Yuzu I would say this was the highlight of the WHOLE competition. Even with Yuzu in the mix, this program ranks among the very very best I've ever seen in terms of connection with the audience. I'm a big Yuzuru fan, but I admit Shoma's FS was the one that moved me more. Don't know what he has that I find so exciting. I was almost in tears at the end...man, that was glorious!
Special mentions: Seeing Gracie live (I like her very much) and especially seeing MAO live for the first (and probably last) time in person. I'm a big fan of hers since 2005 and so you can imagine what an amazing experience this has been to me. Even though she is not at her top, she was still beautiful, moving across the ice with great flow and lightness and an aura that no other girl has right now (for me). I'll remember these moments for the rest of my live.
Edit: Oh I forgot Patrick! He was spectacular, but since I saw his 2013 TEB FS live, this (as great as it was) didn't leave me the same impression. But amazing, anyway.
1. Shomas SP - by far my fav program this season. I am in love with his smoothness.
2. Shibutanis Free Dance - so emotional. I wished they would get better scores.
3. Shomas FP - so happy for him to land everything and making the podium.
4. Marin Hondas SP - she is like a breath of fresh air
5. Ashleys SP - something different amongst all the exchangeable girls.
1. Yuzuru Hanyu SP and FP - everything has already been said about him. Just to be able to watch his performance, it's worth the trip to Barcelona
2. Stolbova/Klimov FP - For some reason, I didn't followed them until now....but I was stunned by their FP. Like a big rush of emotion, I didn't understand what was going during the program but I was moved to tears in the end.
3. Shoma LP - A great moment. I can't wait to watch the next competetion/season of this short guy. He does't have the best bodytype and jump ever but his performance was really great (and when you think that just last year he was still a junior...O_O)
4. Evgenia Medvedeva FP - For the choreography and the music (and of course she was also good technically)
5. Shibutani's SD and FD - I loved them
Special mention :
- Patrick Chan FP : great come back after the SP, and his happy feets and his SS =
- Fernandez SP and FP : good job from Javi, it was not easy to skate at home after Hanyu for the SP but he did it, and his FP was great even if I don't like the music.
- Satoko SP and FP : tiny jump, tiny lady but great artistry and performance. And big up because she is consistent.
For this competition in no particular order...
Yuzuru Hanyu - SP and FS
Ashley Wagner - FS
Satoko Miyahara - SP and FS
Javier Fernandez - FS
Honourable Mention
Evgenia Medvedeva - SP and FS: I did not watch this live, so the scoring kind of prevented me from fully enjoying the actual performance, but she was still great.
Mao Asada SP: Despite the pop, she's still beautiful.
Shoma Uno FS: Don't know much about him, but he had a nice showing here.
1. Ashley FS. I mean, she's not one of the people for whom things come easily. Her emotional authenticity is powerful, and when she overcomes her demons like she did here, it's thrilling. But even when she makes mistakes, she gives her all to the program. Chills and tears.
2. Stolbova and Klimov. Power and fearlessness, and beautiful synchronicity.
3. Javier FS. He makes me happy; I love his connection with the audience.
4. Yuzuru SP. I love this Chopin program, which to me is perfection. I love the nuances with the music that he gives, and how he flows into and out of the elements.
5. Shoma FS. This kid has such musicality and fluidity with his skating. His open face and joy of skating are beautiful to watch.
In no particular order (and I am not very familiar with Pairs not Ice Dance so I will leave it at Singles'):
Yuzuru SP & FS
Are there even words needed?
Shoma FS
I've lost count of how many times I've replayed his FS.
Evgenia FS
Yay for a clean FS! Amazing skate.
Ashley FS
Comeback queen doing what she does best 2 years in a row at Barcelona!
Satoko FS
Tiny queen! I didn't trust her enough; and here she goes, winning silver! World silver medalist, Japanese national champion, and GPF silver medalist sounds great to me!
Additionally:
Mao SP
Pity about the lutz, :sad21: but otherwise a great performance. Hopefully she regains health for the second half of the season! I still have trust in Mao.
Javi FS
200 club! Not perfect with the step-out, but definitely a great skate in front of the home crowd.
Patrick FS
Comeback! Also, it's been said over and over again but his skating is so .
Elena SP & FS
It's always good to see her fighting spirit.
Congrats to all the finalists, and of course to the medalists! Hopefully Gracie and Mao recuperate well enough for their respective Nationals and Worlds (hopefully). Good luck to Boyang and Dice as well!
1- Yuzuru SP - I'm in love with this programme and to see it in "live", it was even more fabulous
2- Yuzuru LP
3- Javier LP
4- Shoma LP
5- Maia and Alex Shibutani FD
And Mao, Kavaguti-Smirnov, Stolbova-Klimov, Elena Radionova, etc... This Finale of Grand Prix was so great (Dance apart for me, except Maia and Alex Shibutani's programs)