2019 NHK Trophy Day 1: Thoughts and Highlights

[Bentley]

Yeah Karen! After all of your struggles to skate so well here. Keep it up. Alena is going to be hard to beat. She is becoming one of my favorite skaters and only 16.

 

[Tavi...]

Only saw men’s event live so far by the virtue of it starting at 3 am for me & everything else... earlier, lol. And now I have to hoof it to work. Can’t wait to watch everything else. Kinda thinking about pulling an all-nighter to watch the free skates, because why not, it decides the spots in the final.

I’m giddy to see both Aymoz and Voronov putting out fab skates. Aymoz in the final would be awesome, I favour him strongly over Brown, sorry not sorry.

Poor Ignatov got retribution PCS scoring, oh, well, it’s another one of those ‘triple axel will kill you’ kind of thing. I guess, if he landed it, he still would not have ended in the hopeful pool due to the ‘your name is not Jason’ PCS.

Heartbroken that Hiwatashi could not pull off that short again. It looks pretty cool.

Hanyu is a demigod, confirmed, reconfirmed, etc. I feel it’s almost unfair that he doesn’t surprise anyone with excellence.

Edit: I feel that since nobody mentions Sadovsky, I have to mention Sadovsky.

You know you’re entitled to your opinions about Jason but your repeated bashing of him in various threads is really tacky and happens to be against forum rules.

 

[denise3lz]

I personally calls Yuhana Yokoi short as "mistress program".
It is comedy drama soundtrack, a wife and 9 mistress plot together killing a man.

 

[doublequad]

i wish alina did a 3F-3T instead as her combo instead of that mess

 

[lariko]

You know you’re entitled to your opinions about Jason but your repeated bashing of him in various threads is really tacky and happens to be against forum rules.

I’ll tune it down. Edited the post so it omits mentioning him. If you have any other post in mind that you feel he is being bashed by me, let me know, I will edit out the mentions or use a more neutral tone.

 

[1111bm]

I’ll tune it down.

Huh, I didn't see any bashing in your post?? I'm sure I've seen similar comments about other skaters and no one reprimanded the authors of those posts. Double standards, I guess.

However, I don't think Ignatov got what you call 'retribution PCS'. His PCS was the same as last week at Rostelecom Cup, and that was in Russia and with only a minor mistake/wobble on the 3A, not a downgrade + fall.

 

[lariko]

Huh, I didn't see any bashing in your post?? I'm sure I've seen similar comments about other skaters and no one reprimanded the authors of those posts. Double standards, I guess.

However, I don't think Ignatov got what you call 'retribution PCS'. His PCS was the same as last week at Rostelecom Cup, and that was in Russia and with only a minor mistake/wobble on the 3A, not a downgrade + fall.

Yes, I know now (re: Ignatov’s score). It seemed low, but it was actually his GoE that were lower in addition to 3A. I did not do the side by side while I was posting at 5 am. I am curious to see his PCS tomorrow, and how much they will be linked to the cleanliness of his program.

 

[Tavi...]

I’ll tune it down. Edited the post so it omits mentioning him. If you have any other post in mind that you feel he is being bashed by me, let me know, I will edit out the mentions or use a more neutral tone.

Thanks, I appreciate your considerate response.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I'm so happy! Yuzu, Sui/Han, Papadakis/Cizeron and Kostornaia were all perfect, simply perfect. 3 well deserved WRs today and imo it should have been also a WR for Yuzu (from his reaction I think this is also his opinion).

All 4 skated really well, but IMO Kostornaia's was the only one deserving a WR. Sui/Han had a rather far apart/slightly out of sync on their SBS spin (his started a bit wild too hence the level dropping), Hanyu's 4-3 combo was a bit of a save and his flying spin travelled/slowed down, and P/C should have been deducted for their twizzle error which the tech panel seemed to just ignore. I'm a fan of all their skating, but when I think record-breaking performances, I picture flawless performances (or exceptionally difficult ones that simply rack up tons of tech points like Trusova/Chen's FS)... and seems the NHK judges were a bit too eager for P/C and S/H. Kostornaia's score was very high, however, everything was delivered with exceptional quality, including the 3A and a second half combo (her 3-3 seems to get better and bigger every time I see it!).

 

[Olibritt]

A word about Yokoi's program. Seeing it on the broadcast with lots of close up detail, I could see all of the outrageous faces she was making. This is a super camp program, and uniquely out of many ladies this season, she seems to know exactly what camp is, and does the choreo with full gusto. It's terrible, but it's supposed to be and she is loving it. I couldn't help but laugh. A comedic program for a girl is so risky, and I'm sure there may not be many who like it or get it. But I want to say to Yuhana-chan, I got ya. -The other lady who could do camp program with panache was Radionova. -How I miss her.

EDIT: I looked at the competition thread, and it seems that Yokoi's program was during a stream outage?? Aww, you guys missed it. So I won't have people agreeing or disagreeing with me on the subject. Please watch it and tell me what you think.

Thanks to you and to the other posters that mentioned Yokoi, that made me look for her SP in YT: I love her! I want to see more of her! I'm not sure what her program is about but it's clear that her carácter is a the anti-heroine (I mean a b***) in some kind of comedy. Great performance

What left me a bit was how her coach sent her to the ice...

I'm not sure if it's ok to post videos in this thread. I link it hear because the stream outage letf most of the fans without it.
Yokoi SP NHK

 

[sailormoon]

A word about Yokoi's program. Seeing it on the broadcast with lots of close up detail, I could see all of the outrageous faces she was making. This is a super camp program, and uniquely out of many ladies this season, she seems to know exactly what camp is, and does the choreo with full gusto. It's terrible, but it's supposed to be and she is loving it. I couldn't help but laugh. A comedic program for a girl is so risky, and I'm sure there may not be many who like it or get it. But I want to say to Yuhana-chan, I got ya. -The other lady who could do camp program with panache was Radionova. -How I miss her.

Her short program is based on a 1961 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa, Ten Dark Women ("ten black women"). There are nine mistresses and a wife who band together and plot to kill a husband in the film. So Yuhana is playing these dangerous women with sinister motives. Her PCS score is slightly below 30 but I appreciate her efforts on acting.

A married television executive has many mistresses. Nine of the mistresses and his wife band together and plan to kill him. His wife tells him they are planning to kill him and they fake his death at a meeting of all ten women using a pistol loaded with blanks and a tomato.

The other women tell her that they were not really serious about killing him and run away. One of the women, Miwako, commits suicide, and her ghost comes back to view the proceedings. Then they find out that he is not really dead, and they decide to kill him again.

His wife divorces him and one of the other women takes him on.

 

[aname]

3 well deserved WRs today and imo it should have been also a WR for Yuzu (from his reaction I think this is also his opinion).

This is what Mr. Perfectionist himself said after the SP:
“I think for myself, today was getting a passing grade,” said the 24-year-old. “It wasn’t my best performance."

Biggest surprise today: Kevin DIDN'T cry after his skate

 

[1111bm]

Biggest surprise today: Kevin DIDN'T cry after his skate

I was just gonna post the exact same thing!!

ETA:

Gutted for Jason Brown but 2 falls isn’t going to cut it ... great program but shame shame shame on the judges who gave 9’s with 2 major errors.

They were actually perfectly in line with their scores, it says maximum PCS for SS/TR/CO is 9.25 and 8.75 in PE/IN in the case of two major mistakes and I believe no judge was above those numbers.

 

[ladyjane]

It's time again. Just before retiring myself, and not having seen everything due to either sleeping or working hours (although I did watch the whole pairs event) here's my commentary.

Ladies:
Kostornaia is superb. I am not one of the fans of young jumping beans (although I definitely respect them, that's a whole different thing) but this girl is such a skating icon. She's got the artistic side of skating well in hand, and is just beautiful to watch. And the 3A is excellent. I love Rika (another one of the young guns who doesn't disappoint on the shall we say PCS side) too, so I'm pleased with the outcome. Poor Zagitova. I hope she does better tomorrow. And Chen had a good skate.

Men;
Yuzu is Yuzu, and did one of his excellent programmes here. He's a dream even when he's faltering, but today that wasn't the case. Good skate. Kevin did his thing, and made me fall in love with him all over again. Such a rare talent. Never mind the not so succesfull quad. Who cares when the rest is just superb. And Sergei is back. Yay, yay, yay!

Dance:
I am totally in love with P/C's rhythm dance this year. And it's not even at top level yet. I didn't think the twizzle thing was a mistake, but that it was part of the programme. And it fitted. Love the music, love the skaters. I also liked S/B. Personally, I like them better than S/K (who weren't here obviously) but I guess it's because I enjoy Bukin's smile so much. But today they had a good skate too. And Guignard/Fabri had a great new RD.

Pairs
My favourite always, not the best event today though. Sui and Han were excellent (again), Kirstin and Michael did well (except for the spin) but for the rest the event was a bit meeeeh. I felt really sorry for Nicole and Matteo who didn't have a good skate and a botched lift, but to me it's incomprehensible why they are behind skaters with missing pivots, falls and everything. They should be behind M/G (only a step out of a jump), that's correct, but much as I love Alexa and Chris I don't understand that they got judged more generously than the Italians. The same applies to the rest of the field, except for the Japanese who really had a good skate.

Back tomorrow!

 

[readernick]

I personally calls Yuhana Yokoi short as "mistress program".
It is comedy drama soundtrack, a wife and 9 mistress plot together killing a man.

Haha. I love how brave she is to do such an off the wall program. Apparently the judges don't like it too much (her PCS was so low especially considering her good basic skating) but I loved it.

 

[readernick]

I felt really sorry for Nicole and Matteo who didn't have a good skate and a botched lift, but to me it's incomprehensible why they are behind skaters with missing pivots, falls and everything. .

Simple answer is that a botch lift is the worst possible mistake in pairs. The BV of the lifts is over 7 points and with GOE teams are getting 9 to 11 points on that one element. Botching SBS jumps cost teams 3/4 points . Bad death spiral... around the same... Bad spins a few points... but lifts...any team who botches a lift ( especially in the short) is going to have a very very bad day.

 

[TallyT]

Yuzuru showed yet again why he deserves every iota of fame and love; Sergei answered all the carping (both at himself and everyone else not just out of teenhood) about "too oooooooooold"; Kevin was just... just lovely. Jason...... :sad21: and Sota as well, but I'm hoping for good things for both in the free, and all the rest of the guys. The last place(s) in the GPF is still in play.

Sui/Han were sublime, there is no better word.

In the Ice Dance, anyone with eyes (even if they are untrained eyes!) can see why P/C are at the top. I will say, however, it does make me glad that at least two of the men are still right up there at the top (even if I am biased about who I want to win, as we so often are); a pretty much predestined anointing, however deserved, just doesn't have the same excitement as a battle. But I also love the Disco Brits and the utterly adorable Chinese Chaplins, even if neither is GPF material yet.

 

[ladyjane]

Simple answer is that a botch lift is the worst possible mistake in pairs. The BV of the lifts is over 7 points and with GOE teams are getting 9 to 11 points on that one element. Botching SBS jumps cost teams 3/4 points . Bad death spiral... around the same... Bad spins a few points... but lifts...any team who botches a lift ( especially in the short) is going to have a very very bad day.

I know all this...the BV of lifts is high, but thinking about what happened in earlier GP's (like last week at Rostelecom) I can't help but feel that Nicole and Matteo had a bad break today. Just like you say. And to me it's still incomprehensible even though I secretly know why......

 

[FlyingFeather]

Pairs:
So happy to see M/K have a clean skate in front of the home crowd.
I love the Knierims! I love their lines and interpretation of the music. The spins were in synch, but of course the death spiral had to fail them in addition to the SBS jumps. I've made up my mind to thoroughly enjoy their performances despite the inevitable mistakes. Still, I can't help holding out hope for a clean free.
I really like E/K's choreography. So many pairs programs are completely detached from the music, but this program really fit the music.
I find M/G's program detached from the music, and not very interesting to watch. I hope they can do a little better in the free. Nothing against MT/M, but I want M/G to beat them so Tarosova/Morozov can make the GPF.
S/H: The attention to detail in the choreography and performance is exquisite, phenomenal, breath-taking, and confidently done. This sets them decidedly above the rest in the pairs field.

Ladies:
The more I watch Aliona, the more I love her! She is a complete skater. My favorite are her spins. I could watch them all day.
I wish Alina wasn't psyched out by the younger skaters. So sad watching her in the K&C.
So happy for Karen. Her artistry is intricate and light years ahead of everyone in the field, IMHO, except for Kostornaia and Meite. I'm glad her jumps decided to mostly get with the program today. (Get it? With the program? Ok, I'm done with the puns now. )
I love watching Mae. What a performer and dancer. Again, I have resigned myself to enjoying her performance with slight interruptions when she jumps.
So, Yuhana's program didn't stream properly in the US, and they still blacked it out on YouTube. Thanks, NBC.
Rika's program was hard to get into. Jumps are good, but not much connection with the music.
I so thought Starr was going to skate clean. :sad21: Still, she is improving.

Ice Dance:
P/C's RD is so fun! Must be nice to be sitting on top of the world and be able to let loose in your performance.
C/P are much improved from Skate America. I'm so excited to see them in the FD.
Am I the only one who finds the kiss at the end of S/B's program just plain weird?
S/E's program was much more convincing this time than their last GP assignment. Always good to see teams visibly improving. (Or possibly, I just understood it better this time around.)
Good to see M/C back in competition. I wish they'd had the first GP to help polish their program, but it was pretty good considering.