Knickknacks: General Skating Chat

Looking back at the 2017-2018 season, I have to say it proved to be a fantastic experience, though really a wee bit too dramatic at times. The best moments in it have to do with Yuzu, of course - the whole experience of seeing him live in Moscow, the ACI SP WR, the epic story of the Olympics... every single moment treasured. But I thought it might be fun to share some moments concerning other skaters and their skates which we thought were special. There were so many for me - I’ll just mention a few in no particular order: - Wakaba Higuchi skates - especially her LP at the Worlds. Isn’t she special - powerful and commanding at her best! - Kaori Saka…

Do you have any favourite non-Yuzu skating routines? Please share the love here!

There's an Ari Zakarian (Plushy's agent and vice-president of Armenian Figure Skating Federation) interview over on FSU and definitely worth a read. I so feel this man's frustration and it's not like we here haven't talked about some of this stuff for a good while now. Some bits The whole thing here

Okay so now that 2 olympic golds are a thing again (discounting the team event), I wonder. Generally we look at someone who is unable to win world titles but able to win the olympics as a flash in the pan. It's always nice confirmation to be a world champion building up to being an olympic champion. But what if you could get 2 OGMs in two separate games without any world medals (of any color) as opposed to being a multiple world champion and a 1x olympic gold medallist. It's a most unlikely hypothetical scenario as there's a good chance a 2x OGM at least has a world medal or two, even if not gold, but I'm just curious. All at the Olympics and nothing at worlds, or a li…

Hello and hi!I just found this forum page and decided to join it so I can get some updates about Yuzuru! Almost a year ago,I know about Yuzuru through his world-record performance,Hope And Legacy during Worlds 2017.Since that,my interest towards figure skating has grew so rapidly plus I also watched Yuri On Ice around November 2016. Why I love Yuzuru?The answer is so simple,I love him because of his endless efforts to improve his skating skills.He might be already a legend after his second gold medal in Pyeongchang Olympics but I bet that he wanted to do more especially to be the first skater to land quad Axel,which no one has did it. S…

This just hit me. All my favorite programs this 2017/18 season were choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. 1) Yuzuru Hanyu's FS, SEIMEI 2) Nathan Chen's SP, Nemesis 3) Wakaba Higuchi's FS, Skyfall All of them unorthodox but just as lovely, if not better 8D SHAE-LYNN BANZAI!! (Don' think there's a thread exclusively for choreographers yet, is there?)

The tension of the approaching games is so high nowadays! Maybe we can get it out a little by put the terrifying and the miraculous into words. For me, the best case would simply be this picture happening again at PyeongChang gala: It will be hard for all of them. Yuzu and Zhenya just came back from injuries, with Yuzu landing straight on Olympic ice and Zhenya losing her EC title to Alina. GPF showed us how judges are turning towards PC and away from VM, and how SH cannot afford any mistake facing SM. But they are all true champions. I believe they’ll rise to the occasion no matter what. Oh, and to add some icing on my dream scenario cake…

I received this email today, which I found extremely moving. I'm sure to write a few words of encouragement to Adian, but I'd also love to welcome the planet satellites to join this project! You can post your good luck wishes over here, PM them to me or send them directly to Katarzyna. Dear Fay, As I think Adian is a skater you like too, I would like to draw your attention to the fan project initiated for him: as Adian had to r**** from single skating we would like to give him a present of his fans in order to thank him for the joy he brought to us with his skating, for his hard work and how he was pushing progress in Russian male skating despite …

AS REQUESTED (CONTINUED FROM GENERAL THREAD)

What are your favourite exhibitions? And are there any you don't understand or think are really weird? My faves are: The faces he pulls just make me Also this: You can tell she is happy throughout. I like that Evgenia always does so many different ones. And then of course: No comment needed. I don't really get Alina Zagitova's ex this year. It's not that I hate it, but I have no idea what it's supposed to be about.

So we aren't out of the loop :laugh: Shoma has announced his music for next season: SP: Vivaldi Four Seasons- Winter LP: Turandot (different choreography, probably a different cut of the music) He'll be showing the short at least during the summer shows. Any other men announced their programs? (Also anyone from any other discipline you are interested in :grin:) ETA: All the programs we know so far! Men’s Shoma Uno (JPN) SP: Vivaldi Four Seasons - Winter LP: Turnadot Michael Christopher Martinez (PHI) SP: Carmina Burana LP: TBA Artur Gachinski (RUS) SP: Tango de Roxanne LP: TBA Andrew Torgashev (USA) SP: TBA LP: Tango de Roxanne Julian …

Mods, if you think the topic is too hot, just delete it. Well, sad news: Russia as a country has been excluded from the 2018 Olympic Games. The athletes will be allowed to compete under the neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia". The big question is, will they though? Will all of them give it a pass? Will some of them choose to go? If they do choose to go, what rules will apply to who can compete, will "Olympic Athletes from Russia" inherit Russia's slots or will they be treated as a new country with one skater allowed? Something else entirely? If they choose not to go, which seems very likely, will their slots be redistribute…

Vote!

Some people were annoyed at the icenetwork "bold predictions" article, so let's have some fun, let's do our own list! From unlikely but possible, to theoretically possible, to possible if we switched planets... 1. Yuzu will jump a 4A in competition. 2. Anna Pogorilaya will wear demure dresses for her programs. 3. Iliushechkina/Moscovitch will have 2 clean programs at one of the events. 4. None of the top 6 men will have a fall at the Olys.

Throughout the years, have you had favorite commentators or any particular piece of commentary that you have liked? I'm particularly partial to Mr. Ambesi, to whom we owe our lovely name, and his co-commentator Angelo, due both to their enthusiasm and the knowledge they share with all of us but I am also quite partial to the Russian ESP commentators, especially the 4CC 2017 commentary, where one of my favorite lines happened, when he compared Yuzuru's skating to him mastering a foreign language. I also am also always appreciative of those who take the time to properly appreciate athletes like Jason Brown or Misha Ge, who may not have quads but sure do grace us w…

Gracie's beautiful Rippon 3Lutz...it's huge! I miss her I miss the enthusiastic, slightly unpolished, athletic skater Gracie. And Yuna's single tano at the end of her 3-jump combination in Gershwin. OMG this is the jump/competition/program that made me LOVE tanos!! It looks soo gorgeous and effective, a memorable way to highlight an otherwise easy 2A-2T-2Lo combination. I dreamed of doing 3-jump combinations with a single tano after this. Mao has gorgeous gorgeous tanos too. So beautiful And of course, all of Yuzu's rippon double toes!

I've come across this old video with Nicole Hassler - and while most of her skating looks far too simple, though quite elegant, for us now, the speed of most of her spins is just mind-boggling. I wonder if our current top spinners can beat this. Nice seeing her skate to a Russian song too. Well, who is your favourite spinner among men or women, retired or still competing?

We all know that *Things* happen At ice shows. Crazy Things. Tongue-in-cheek Moments. Because I couldn't find a thread about crazy happenings at random ice shows I made this New thread. This is not just about yuzuru's shows or big shows, but the craziness in general. So share Videos, pics etc that you find. I hope i chose the right category for this thread.

There's always that one skater/couple who comes to mind first when you hear the music of an oft-beaten figure skating warhorse, no matter how many people skate to it. What music do you match with which skater? I'll start: Scheherazade: Yuna Kim. I know this isn't one of her most celebrated performances, but I think she performed it so well at Worlds 2009. It flowed so well and she was so light and delicate. When I hear Scheherazade I just think of her and her red dress. Phantom of the Opera: Yuzuru, of course. One of my favorite costumes Romeo and Juliet (Nino Rota version): Yuzuru and Sasha Cohen. Yuzu because...it's Yuzu (and it's the O…

After the announcement by the ISU that there may be 'Radical Change' in scoring coming up, there has been a lot of speculation on what is and isn't possible in the future regarding the proposed changes. What are your thoughts on the proposed changes? What do you think would be better changes or different changes that could be made in scoring? While this has been touched on in some of the more general threads, there are enough of us that I think have thoughts or questions enough to start a discussion specifically about the scoring system and what should/shouldn't be changed. I'm very interested to see what thoughts others have on the various proposals and th…