I had such thoughts when Stephane did his King Arthur routine. I liked it but there was still a bit of a feeling that this breastplate was kind of too big for him to fill. Yeah, well, maybe "more masculine" is not the right wording for his goal. "More athletic" or "a different type of a hero" might be better
Welcome to the club!This is the first time I've watched a full men's competition with both SP and FP (and live too!) but I am converted, it was so much fun! Also, with watching live, I don't care one jot for the scores and it's so refreshing. (Can you tell? I'm still buzzing haha)
Adam Siao Him Fa's program was a crowd pleaser, I loved his energy and musicality so much. I hope we get to see him at the Olympics! It was my favourite of the night which is saying a lot because there were a lot of performances that I enjoyed!
Jason's program was beautiful, you could see how much it meant to him. And congrats on the landed quad! I hope he got how much we appreciated his skating
Dmitri Aliev was another standout to me. Don't know how it comes across on camera (I was sitting opposite the judges so couldn't see the skaters faces most of the time) but his expression was very good and he seemed very into the music. Kicking myself now for swapping him out for Mozalev in the predictions because everyone else had Mozalev! Yes, I'm blaming everyone but myself.
That said, Mozalev was very good too! He had the smoothest jumps of all the non-japanese men and I really liked his SP (the FP was less memorable to me but the jumps were great!).
Kevin Aymoz opening the competition with a great skate was heart warming. I was really worried after he hit his head in the SP but the crowd were really rooting for him that I think it meant a lot to everyone that he skated so well in the FP. Also, just got back from the gala and this man can do a full lap of the rink with his spread eagle
Dennis' SP is fantastic, his musicality is insane and he really goes for the choreo. But I didn't get the same feeling for his FP, he seemed a bit more tentative and slower. Hope to see the FP at its best soon. (I'm assuming he's going to the Olympics? ... And won't be retiring???)
I'm sorry Keegan but all I can think of right now is the gala and what a great showman he is. He has so much joy and energy and it's infectious. And his baby is the cutest.
And of course there's the two Japanese youngsters who did so well. Both Shun and Yuma have great skating skills and silky smooth jumps. I don't think they've quite got the performance experience of the other guys yet but they're going and there's a lot of potential. Also, Yuma has so much speed and he makes it look effortless with just a few pushes.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts from someone who only knew the names from men's before so I have no knowledge of the general opinions towards these guys. (okay except Kolyada and Hanyu, they were previously discovered but I've found many more men to follow now!)
Hanyu was my gateway drug, and now I have a whole list of skaters that stress me out during competition season and get me up at ridiculous hours to watch them I'm totally holding my breath during the Rostelecom free skate tomorrow...I need Jason and Misha to make the grand prix final!!
