2016 Japan Open

[theskatingbutterfly]

haven't watched all the men but I have a thought on Adam:

I saw his free program debut at that club competition in Arizona. It was beautiful and moved the audience. You could hear a pin drop while he was skating. He was holding everyone's attention and everyone just felt like this program was a masterpiece. That was before Champs Camp. I'm wondering if someone said something to him at Champs Camp to change the music? They added a drum beat and electric guitar riff in the middle and to me that takes away from the music - it is almost jarring to me. I haven't liked the program as much (and it might be that I'm watching it on my computer instead of live) and I think it's because of that. I wish he would go back to how it was in July. Also, I'm sad he moved that last lutz at the very end and put a spin in there. The end is just those piano chords.. and I felt it made more of a "moment" when he did that lutz in the silence. I LOVE Adam, I've seen him live a few times now and the tv just doesn't do him justice. I would love for him to stay on top.

Thoughts on Ladies:

Evgenia Medvedeva: She is phenomenal. I'll give her that. But this program. First of all, it's a 9/11 tribute? I don't think she even understands what that is. She would have been what, 1 year old (or less) when that happened? Also, how did that affect Russians? It really doesn't make any sense. I understand doing 9/11 tributes, but I would expect someone like Ashley to do that. Ashley was 10, and her father was IN the pentagon when it happened. If SHE did a 9/11 tribute, it would probably be a very emotional program. Also, the end - it sent chills down my spine. And not in a good way. It made me a little freaked out.. but that might just be me. I don't like it!

Satoko Miyahara: Consistency queen! Satoko has grown on me. Miss Saigon is still my favorite program from her, but this one is nice. My only note with her is that she really should only be getting as high as a +1 on her jumps. There is actually a list of "bullets" you must get for positive GOEs on your elements. To get a +1, you are supposed to hit 2 of those bullets. 4 for a +2 and 6 for a +3. I have the list somewhere but off the top of my head I know quite a few of them are height, delayed rotation, distance, difficult entrance, arm variation, difficult exit, timing with the music, same speed coming out as going in.. etc. I don't think Satoko should be getting many of those. But, she is great. Her spins are phenomenal.

(This is not just a problem with Satoko, but more like everyone. I don't think the judges follow the list very often. But most the other skaters can hit the height and distance, Satoko cannot)

Ashley Wagner: Ok, I am a self-proclaimed Ashley SUPER-fan and have been waiting for this program with baited breath for 2 1/2 months. Pretty much anything she does I ADORE because I practically bow down at her feet I am SO happy to see her skating strong here! Praying for consistency this year. The UR will probably go away soon, I'm hoping. They looked much closer to all the way around than what they usually do at the beginning of the season. LOVE her dress, however I think the original one designed for this program matched better. Would love if her spiral hit that note (when the music slows down) exactly. If she did that and just held it I think that could be a moment. Over all, a few missed moments but a lot of room to grow. Edges were flat during footwork which I think will go away when she is more comfortable with the program. Spins are looking better and it seemed to me she purposely did not hit all of her positions (she does that here often for some reason). She'll easily get level 4s. I hope this program help her win her 4th US title and 2nd World medal because I think her scores will grow and grow this year!

Anna Pogorilaya: I like this program! Her dress as always is strange but shes growing on me. Her jump technique is way better than Gracie IMO and she seems to have more confidence. She'll be a contender if she gains consistency as well. Would still like to see her emote more. But this program has potential!

Wakaba Higuchi: She's cute! Some problems on the jumps, but the program has potential! I would really like to see what she can do on the GP. Especially if she skates clean! She's young and has amazing jumping talent. Needs to work on PCS and consistency and she could definitely be the future.

Gracie Gold: Um well, it's hard to say what the program is like when she only lands like 3 jumps. But please Gracie, stop parting your hair down the middle!

This season is going to be difficult. I think she needs to completely change EVERYTHING. Different coaching team, different programs, different views. Something is not working. She needs to make her show program "Maybe this Time" her SP and something intense like Danse Macabre (Spelling??) her free. I feel like Gracie just doesn't love skating. And it might be because she doesn't connect to her music. Like, I just don't think she gets it. She's 21, let her pick her music on her own for goodness sakes! She needs to skate to something she LOVES! I think she'll be better at Skate America, but she honestly could come in 3rd place at both her GPs and miss out on the GPF. And I think that would be devastating for her. Overall, something needs to change..

 

[chloepoco]

I love Tatsuki Machida's beautiful program! What a treat to see him skate again!

 

[lady_bee]

Here is my report about Japan Open 2016.
Now you can watch all performances on Youtube and Dairymotion, you might not interested my post so much, I am writing about things TV didn’t air.

It was Jeremy and his coach Yuka Sato, who caught my eyes during warm-up time. His smooth skating and good posture are so beautiful, and Yuka, who was watching him at the link side, was so sharp and strong.
I also enjoyed watching not only skaters but also coaches during warm-up and between each performance. My seat was about 15th row from front and opposite side of kiss and cry; I couldn’t help stalking famous coaches with my binoculars. Rafael Arutunian, watching Adam like a guardian, Tracy Wilson with sunny smile, gorgeous Russian ladies, Eteri & Anna Tsareva, gentleman like Frank Carroll, and off course, Mie hamada & Machiko Yamada. I also spotted Noriko Oda, Oda’s coach/mother, in the audience area with her grandchildren and daughter in law. They must be so proud of their son/father/husband!

After the men’s competition, Arakawa, Papadakis/Cizeron and Machida performed their exhibition program. Machida ruled the venue by his experimental program “Ave Maria” with no jumps, highlighted by long straight one stroke spiral along with long tone of trumpet. I am not sure if I can call it as a spiral, because he just skated across the rink quietly, from one side to other side, keeping Arabesque-like position without any movement. My poor English is not good enough to describe how brilliant it was, I am sorry. At the end of the program, he’s got huge standing ovation, even from some judges.


Ladies were as good as men, as you know. I don’t blame Gracie for her poor performance, because she must have hit herself so hard when she fell at the first combination. My friend, who was sitting at front row of short side, said she couldn’t see how see fell because of wall, but could hear very heavy sound. It was so painful to hear, according to her.
Talking about Evgenia, we (my friend and me) agreed she is much better than we expected from what we’ve seen on TV or computer screen. Although I don’t really like her music & sound effect, because I think it’s too direct, I was very impressed by her performance.

That’s the things I can remember so far.　Anything you want to know?

 

[Mrs. P]

Hey lady_bee thanks for the report!

What were your thoughts on Ashley and Adam's programs?

 

[demarinis5]

Thank you for your report lady_bee, much appreciated. I know that Dai skated to Lilcac Wine but I heard that he did an encore
to Mambo I can't find a video and was wondering if it is true.

 

[[email protected]]

. First of all, it's a 9/11 tribute? I don't think she even understands what that is. She would have been what, 1 year old (or less) when that happened? Also, how did that affect Russians? It really doesn't make any sense. I understand doing 9/11 tributes, but I would expect someone like Ashley to do that. Ashley was 10, and her father was IN the pentagon when it happened. If SHE did a 9/11 tribute, it would probably be a very emotional program. Also, the end - it sent chills down my spine. And not in a good way. It made me a little freaked out.. but that might just be me. I don't like it!
[

It has been explained more than once now. It's not a 9/11 tribute. It's a program about the insecurities of the today's world performed with the score from 9/11 movie. A woman sees her man off and she is not sure if he ever comes back. Medvedeva was 1 when 9/11 happened but Russia has had many of its nineoneones since then like a shot down plane with 300 tourists mostly families with kids flying out from Egypt. It was just a year ago.

 

[Mrs. P]

It has been explained more than once now. It's not a 9/11 tribute. It's a program about the insecurities of the today's world performed with the score from 9/11 movie. A woman sees her man off and she is not sure if he ever comes back. Medvedeva was 1 when 9/11 happened but Russia has had many of its nineoneones since then like a shot down plane with 300 tourists mostly families with kids flying out from Egypt. It was just a year ago.

I listened to the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close soundtrack yesterday and it's completely instrumental, which makes me wonder why Averbach felt that she had to do the step sequence to what was clips from ACTUAL Sept. 11 emergency responder calls -- you can hear someone say "people are falling off the building!" (not to mention the phone ring). I know they won't change it, but the soundtrack itself is fine and she could have done her step sequence to a number of the darkest parts of the soundtrack, and kept true to the theme of insecurities of today's world.

I don't think the point is to justify that U.S. citizens are the only one who has experience tragedy or even a magnitude of tragedy. The shot-down plane you speak of is certainly a tragic event. But it's not like a U.S. skater is skating their step sequence to actual air traffic control calls as the plane is crashing.

But that point aside -- and forgetting the step sequence. She's consistent and she got the jumps, but I'm not feeling the program as a whole. I am not feeling her interpretation of the world's insecurities.

 

[MaxSwagg]

It has been explained more than once now. It's not a 9/11 tribute. It's a program about the insecurities of the today's world performed with the score from 9/11 movie. A woman sees her man off and she is not sure if he ever comes back. Medvedeva was 1 when 9/11 happened but Russia has had many of its nineoneones since then like a shot down plane with 300 tourists mostly families with kids flying out from Egypt. It was just a year ago.

Frankly, it has so little impact you could project almost anything onto it. Her programs last season were better (which, again, were essentially the same programs). But I appreciate she's doing..."other" things.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Leaving aside all the other reasons why I think the programme is wrongheaded, 'a woman sees her man off'? The girl is 16 years old, for heaven's sake. Why give her such a mature theme?

 

[TheGrandSophy]

I listened to the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close soundtrack yesterday and it's completely instrumental, which makes me wonder why Averbach felt that she had to do the step sequence to what was clips from ACTUAL Sept. 11 emergency responder calls -- you can hear someone say "people are falling off the building!" (not to mention the phone ring). I know they won't change it, but the soundtrack itself is fine and she could have done her step sequence to a number of the darkest parts of the soundtrack, and kept true to the theme of insecurities of today's world.

I don't think the point is to justify that U.S. citizens are the only one who has experience tragedy or even a magnitude of tragedy. The shot-down plane you speak of is certainly a tragic event. But it's not like a U.S. skater is skating their step sequence to actual air traffic control calls as the plane is crashing.

But that point aside -- and forgetting the step sequence. She's consistent and she got the jumps, but I'm not feeling the program as a whole. I am not feeling her interpretation of the world's insecurities.

:thumbsup:

 

[puremagic]

I am glad that Evgenia don't read all of this mud. I've heard that on russian forums people writing the same things too. This girl always got blame for any reason. Ugly tanos, fake lutz, ugly posture, bad programs, bad music, etc. Seems like everybody hate her, just give them a reason. But she becomes only stronger and stronger. So I just wish you good luck, Zhenya. You are the diamond.

 

[Mrs. P]

I am glad that Evgenia don't read all of this mud. I've heard that on russian forums people writing the same things too. This girl always got blame for any reason. Ugly tanos, fake lutz, ugly posture, bad programs, bad music, etc. Seems like everybody hate her, just give them a reason. But she becomes only stronger and stronger. So I just wish you good luck, Zhenya. You are the diamond.

With all due respect, puremagic, she's just not some people's cup of tea. That doesn't mean they hate her personally. Every skater gets their share of criticism.

I actually like Evgenia's skating and enjoyed watching her live both at TCC and Worlds. My concern is strictly on the choice of pieces. And I think others pointed out that they like her skating but feel the choreography she's getting doesn't justify it.

 

[NaVi]

It's hard to say it doesn't have anything to do 9/11 when you can hear George W Bush's voice in it... which is not something I picked up on while watching the JO performance the first time and made me like it a bit less afterwards...

but I really like the program... I think it flows better than last year and has a little less jump telegraphing... there are also better musical highlights for her jumps.

 

[Mrs. P]

It's hard to say it doesn't have anything to do 9/11 when you can hear George W Bush's voice in it... which is not something I picked up on while watching the JO performance the first time and made me like it a bit less afterwards...

but I really like the program... I think it flows better than last year and has a little less jump telegraphing... there are also better musical highlights for her jumps.

I thought I had heard his voice. And that's a WHOLE other can of worms, given that people have mixed views on how he handled the whole thing.

 

[sabinfire]

but I really like the program... I think it flows better than last year and has a little less jump telegraphing... there are also better musical highlights for her jumps.

I like Evgenia's program too. The music is a good choice and it's much appreciated to hear something different in the figure skating rotation.

I'm never really a fan of voice-overs or sound effects, so those could stand to go. Especially sirens, I always find sirens in music to be distressing or distracting in any scenario. But those are just minor complaints overall, same as Radionova's 'Titanic' last season... but at least that one was funny.

 

[Mrs. P]

I like Evgenia's program too. The music is a good choice and it's much appreciated to hear something different in the figure skating rotation.

I'm never really a fan of voice-overs or sound effects, so those could stand to go. Especially sirens, I always find sirens in music to be distressing or distracting in any scenario. But those are just minor complaints overall, same as Radionova's 'Titanic' last season... but at least that one was funny.

Yeah, the soundtrack is really nice. And the storyline of the movie is interesting -- I think the criticism was that it had the Sept. 11 attacks as a backdrop -- the novel the movie is based on got similar criticism.

I'm hoping that the interpretation will get better. I do remember I wasn't that sold on her FS when she skated it at Nepala Trophy and really liked it by Worlds, so I'm hoping the same will occur here -- though it might be tougher if she keeps the Sept. 11 step sequence (ETA: Yes, I get that the program itself isn't about Sept. 11, but again, if you're using actual newscasts/voiceovers from the event, I think it's a reasonable to call it that).

 

[StitchMonkey]

It has been explained more than once now. It's not a 9/11 tribute. It's a program about the insecurities of the today's world performed with the score from 9/11 movie. A woman sees her man off and she is not sure if he ever comes back. Medvedeva was 1 when 9/11 happened but Russia has had many of its nineoneones since then like a shot down plane with 300 tourists mostly families with kids flying out from Egypt. It was just a year ago.

Then lines like "One of the two planes..." "Take off from Boston" Should not be in it.

I actually like the original descriptions (well ok translated description) of it being about more then 9/11, but I think the actual program missed that goal by including too much neon flashing "9/11" signs in the program. Can you catch any lines form other tragedies? Not being sarcastic, if there are others lines/effects that have been overlooked, id like to know and think it might change my opinion.

If she wants to do a 9/11 program... fine, i barely care - i mean i don't like it, but I support people being able to do things I don't like. If she wants to do a insecurities program... she needs to make some changes. And if she wants people to not think her program audio choices are tacky and trashy she should ditch the voice overs. I mean she is allowed to be tacky and trashy, but id prefer it in a fun way. The voice clips do nothing more than seem like a blatant attempt to kick a hornets nest - but if that was the goal, she is succeeding. They don't add anything artistic to the program and frankly are just ugly. Ditch the sound effects and it would not be a bad program at all. As it stands her program is at best a fridge break in my eyes.

 

[ioanna]

After the men’s competition, Arakawa, Papadakis/Cizeron and Machida performed their exhibition program. Machida ruled the venue by his experimental program “Ave Maria” with no jumps, highlighted by long straight one stroke spiral along with long tone of trumpet. I am not sure if I can call it as a spiral, because he just skated across the rink quietly, from one side to other side, keeping Arabesque-like position without any movement. My poor English is not good enough to describe how brilliant it was, I am sorry. At the end of the program, he’s got huge standing ovation, even from some judges.

The reason why the program had no jumps, I've heard, is that he wanted to emphasize the "artistique" in what the French call "patinage artistique". He has said that before, that in languages such as English and Japanese it's called figure skating, but in other languages (including my own) it's called "artistic skating". The program was also a tribute for the Saitama arena (host for the 2014 Worlds, his only Worlds).

 

[sabinfire]

And if she wants people to not think her program audio choices are tacky and trashy she should ditch the voice overs. I mean she is allowed to be tacky and trashy, but id prefer it in a fun way. The voice clips do nothing more than seem like a blatant attempt to kick a hornets nest - but if that was the goal, she is succeeding. They don't add anything artistic to the program and frankly are just ugly. Ditch the sound effects and it would not be a bad program at all. As it stands her program is at best a fridge break in my eyes.

I found it interesting that Evgenia's program received a full standing ovation and placed ahead of a flawless Miyahara in Japan. Until otherwise, I think the current perception going forward is this program will be well-received internationally and Evgenia is still the one to beat. I'm not sure her team has any incentive to change anything at this point.

She is not currently scheduled to compete in the US this season, so we may never know if a US audience would react differently than an international one.

 

[theskatingbutterfly]

Here is a comparison of Medevdeva's programs:

http://https://youtu.be/nuKoGRn8Grw