Melodie

Yep, it is not going to be a standard Olympic rink. It is going to FIT the standard rink in it

We no longer have the Salt thread so I don't really know wherelse to say this but here goes nothing LOL I just saw a CM for the coming JNats and can I just say, how shameless JSF and Fuji TV are for using Yuzu's images and footages like that. The man is not even in the circus anymore LOL. If they are so, so, so very confident about the faces they chose to promote, why not just relying on them? All the resources needed are there (in theory) for drama and click and attention, no? Also, what new hero? None of the skaters showing up are even new LOL (except baby Mao)

They have all had it rough. Mai and Loena have both been having some health issues since GP Espoo, Yelim has just competed some days ago, Rinka has not found her foot as a top skater yet and Isabeau is a fresh senior skater. Kaori has the worst luck of them all; she has not felt well since after SkAM; she has that madness of a drug test schedule and I fear she is having burnout as well. It was a messy event given all those, but Mai came out on top of the unlucky skaters, so congrats to her still. For Kaori's sake, I hope she can bounce back for JNats and then the second half of the season. I don't think the idiots at JSF are going to support her as much (worst yet, dropping her like a sack of potato) if she remains like this or if she drops out like Wakaba.

I need to have a word with the ISU and the Italian fed because WTF Also high key same concern. I did say it would be super challenging for those competing at GPF and much easier for those who did not coming JNats. This is giving me Yuzu circa 2019 all over again. Alas...

Well with JSF's love he's probably gonna get it so...

Rock it

Roxanne

Hi peeps, is there a way I can get JPN numbers to enter the lottery?

Keegan did NOT just skate to Hakuna Matata in a plaid shirt and a pair of jeans and exude the absolute daddy energy. Like what LOL

Exactly. And this terrible schedule was why Yuzu was the mess he was at JNats 2019. Seeing that Mai is similarly never the best health-wise, I can only pray for her (and Kaori too, as she has not been well for quite some times).

Isn't that good for her? Now she can focus on Nats. Her goal was never the GP series this season to begin with.

Well she got a good rest and ample of time for practice in between, and it showed. Mai and Mana? Much less so, especially Mai. Coming to Nationals, it's going to be very brutal for those qualified for GPF and less so for those who don't.

Oh Jenni Saarinen announced her retirement at Espoo

Ilia's twizzle was tragic in the SP in Finland. I don't remember if it's regularly that bad tho but...

Ahh darn. Now the ISU should find me in the parking lot 🤬

The women's event felt kinda meh, although I do like - Mana Kawabe's attack and confidence throughout her performance, especially in the StSq (toe jumps need improvement though) - Mai Mihara's feather-like skating (and that spin that accelerates right on the note OMG) - minus the ISU's messing up the livestream just as her performance starts. But hey, at least the organizer doesn't mess up her music this time. - the comeback of Rika Kihira's one-handed cartwheel (best I have seen so far, aside from Kevin Aymoz's and Yuzu's). On a different note, while there is improvement in terms of flow (she did say she is in good shape for this comp), her movements still seem restricted and tentative. Oh and as she keeps finishing behind the music, I guess I have to accept that it is intentional. Doesn't mean I like it tho. - Loena Hendrick's daring costume and some part of the choreo. Her PE is getting better (and she has a better Latin program than many of the ice dance teams now IMO, go figure LOL).

Was gonna rewatch Mai's SP but then I realized the ISU screwed up the streaming midway thru her performance so now there's technically no record to upload 🤨

Why not both? =)) Anyhow, Makomanai maxes out at 6k, inclusive of VIP seats. For sure it's easy to see which is better, with or without Yuzu =))

Official data on live attendance. I do think overall that looks like a decent number especially if compared to other GP events. But, across two days Yuzu's Prologue attracted almost 16k people, while here across 3 days NHK was attended by some 12k in total. Oh and it's definitely NOT sold out.

but it's too much. The one thing I used to like about him was how he knew when to shut up or be kind to skaters no matter what. Hoh boy...

It's the way he kept babbling throughout the comps and the gala now when he used to only comment at the beginning or end (or the way he praised someone to the sky and dunked hard on someone else). Since when does he turn into this sort of commentator???

The soundtrack is gorgeous

I thought both the music and the choreo are boring, and hence, the performance. Shoma needs to stick to Mihoko if he wants to create something interesting again.

Watching that guy Nika skating to SOS d'un terrien en detresse, I can't help but recall Weaver/Poje's debut of their free dance to the same song at ACI, many moons ago. That's probably the best interpretation and performance of the song that I have seen. I remember I was so moved (and felt bad until now with all the changes made afterwards). Nika's FS couldn't come close to that. He was completely drown out by the music.