rockstaryuzu

From your keyboard to the ISU's ear...please let it be so.

Well, if it's a belief that Yuzu has, then I'll go along with it, although I don't agree that his belief is correct. For one, there are judges from Japan, Korea, and China. It's a bit of a stretch to think they would have trouble accepting a Japanese pop song. I was just wondering why so many people in the discussion here seemed to be taking it for granted that a song with Japanese lyrics would be somehow unacceptable in the rest of the world. That's such a foreign concept to me. Music's music.

doesn't mean he can't. I was about to use HYK as an example again, but then I realized he did use an instrumental version, even though the original has lyrics. But, perhaps he can get an instrumental version of Masquerade. You never know. My point is, I think the idea that there would be bias against Japanese music is a bit overblown. Maybe some of the judges are racist old fuddy-duddies, but the judges are from all over the world, not just the west. They can't all be prejudiced.

....again, someone mentions a song having Japanese lyrics as somehow making it unsuitable for competition. Why? I ask this out of honest curiosity. There have been many skaters in the past who have used pieces with non-English lyrics for their competitions (every piece ever skated to opera comes to mind), WTH would it make a difference if the lyrics were Japanese? He just skated a whole season with HYK , which is sung in Japanese, as his EX and no one complained, so What. The. Duck? The only things holding Yuzu back from using Masquerade are: 1. Whether he can make it into a competition-ready program, and 2. Whether he can get the performance rights to use it. #2, is, in my opinion, the real obstacle. Remember the lengths he had to go to in order for Joe Hisashi to agree to let him use H&L? And remember how Kevin Reynolds had to scrap his programs mid-season last year because Hisashi wouldn't grant him rights? That's where the trouble lies. not 'because the song's in Japanese'. Just how prejudiced do you think the rest of the world is? Ayoyoi! Anyway, the way Toshi is gushing like a newly-minted fanboy over Yuzu, I would not be surprised if he gives Yuzu carte blanche to use any song he likes, for anything he likes.

I'm thinking it'll be Ina Bauers. The Makuhari finale had Shizuka doing IB the full diagonal length of the rink past a line of skaters who were there for the express purpose of pointing to her doing it. Wouldn't be surprised if it's her and Yuzu together at Sendai.

After watching FaOI, I'm 100% certain Yuzu's Y-spiral was originally because of Shizuka. I'm going to disagree with you here. I personally think that Jason is madly motivated to win, for all his happy puppy ways. You don't, after being written off for the Olympics by your own federation, uproot your entire life of the past eight years and emigrate to another country, set up life in a new city, and start re-learning the fundamentals of your entire sport almost from scratch in gruelling 3-hour daily training sessions (as Jason did last year), while also being asked to look after another new skater from a third country, and basically being put to the test at every turn by your new head coach, out of some 'not very strong' desire to win. Jason wants IT, IT being Olympics and Olympic podium, and he wants it BAD. Yuzu has nothing to teach him in that department. This I would agree with. Like, seeing Jason do it might have reminded Zu to add them back in once in a while. As for Jason's influence or lack thereof at TCC, I believe Brian said during the GPF interview that he gave, that Jason had been a positive influence on the whole team and was good at reminding the hyper-focused skaters that there is such a thing as life outside the rink. I can't remember if he said Yuzu specifically, but I felt that was who he meant.

I just bought my SCI ticket last night (oof! Same week as I'll be buying Worlds - RIP my credit card) and I noticed that it's a fairly small venue - seats around 6800 - and that there's nothing closer to the ice left than row M (rows start from A at rinkside). If you're thinking about it at all, get your tickets soon. The plus side of that is, there isn't really any bad seats. No matter where you are, you should be fairly close to the ice. I was able to Google some photos of the venue (Prospera Place) interior and it's got maybe twice the seats that last year's ACI venue has.

Hmm. Considering that Nathan is about to enter his second year of a STEM degree at a tough school, maybe we shouldn't take it as a given that he'll be at any GPs....he might opt to only do the essential comps necessary to keep his standing and no more.

Oh my goodness. I love. I LOVE!!!

Anything that might help is good.

I was thinking the exact same thing!!

Just based on timing and the fact that Yuzu hasn't done NHK in a longtime, I picked SC and NHK. But on second reflection, IdF and Rostelecom are equally likely. The only way I could see Yuzu ending up at SA is if Nathan doesn't go, which I think is unlikely. CoC is awkwardly timed for everyone, IMO.... not early enough for someone to kick off their season but too far out from GPF for someone to use it to build momentum towards that. On the other hand, because ACI is so early this year, Yuzu might end up picking earlier comps to get some flow going....in which case it could be SA and CoC or Rostelecom. I think SC/ Rostelecom might actually be the most likely combo, though. Also, does Yuzu get to pick this year? He's not top 3 in world rankings, doesn't that mean he gets assigned instead? In which case I wouldn't put it past ISU to dump a lousy combo like IdF/CoC or Rostelecom/NHK on him, just to be jerks.

Yuzu playing with the shawl! Of course he would! I'm a watered cactus today!

But he introduced HYK at FaOI...

You'll note that this is now, will always be, and always has been, Yuzu's approach to competition. The only thing that changes is whatever the 'that' might be. Seriously, if an earthquake and tsunami didn't stop him, if a potentially career-ending collision didn't stop him, if season after season of injury and pain didn't stop him, some trifling judging nonsense surely isn't going to, either. Brian has said it many times: he and his skaters' jobs are to work within the rules and the judges' scoring in order to find a way to win. So far they've been spectacularly successful at it. The main thing that made this season look so bad is because the judging was a dumpster fire for everything. The men, the women, the pairs and the ice dance were all f**ked at every competition, IMO. And because it was a dumpster fire, there was opportunity for favoritism to rear it's ugly head. ( I keep thinking of the resurgence of the 'skating while Russian' bonus in ice dance, but there are lots of other examples.) My hope is that now that ISU and the judges got that out of their system, scores will at least make sense next year. As for Worlds this year, because of a couple of things Yuzu said here and there, I'm of the opinion that he wasn't in his best condition going into it and it affected his mental game, which is why he ended up popping the Sal. And after that, it was a case of holding things together, and it just wasn't quite enough to win. Maybe that plays into his seeming to be less upset about the scores than you'd expect.

Of course not. She totally saved herself for Yuzu. and she made him work hard to get even that little kiss. Ice-Chan is a tsundere.

but that part was just because...well...it's Ice-Chan, you know...

And if you do it in the programs you have to add a ballet leap with full turn as you exit the hydroblade. Because that's how you know you're The Champ. I'm waiting for the day when Yuzu brings out all-new moves no one's thought of before and then people will be scrambling again to do them . Would also love to see him try that swirly layback slide thingy Kevin Aymoz does...what's it called? The 'JZ slide' ? This thing :

Fast forward to 2032 and some fresh-faced young lad will be doing Origin all over again, tribute to Yuzu. But even his contemporaries are doing it - did you see all the hydroblades and high-kick Axel landings that popped up this season? crazy.

I really like what Yuzu says there about Shae's skating and how it's helping to move him towards his 'ideal of skating' . I've always found Shae's own performances to be something completely different from other ice dancers - even back when she was with her skating partner, they stood out as people with a different concept and a unique vision. Nice to know Yuzu sees it too, and wants to incorporate it into his own work.

Depending on your sources, Musashi is sometimes seen as a bit of a madman. Or at least, an obsessed man. Guess Yuzu can be like that too...

I seem to recall Scott saying during an interview for the Thnak You Canada tour that the reason he and Tessa did the side-by-side Axels with Yuzu at FaOI is because Yuzu's the boss and what he wants, he gets, and they were really happy to do it for him...but I can't find the interview now.

That sounds like a very well-spent evening.

No doubt. The price of fame.

I'm sure Yuzu never dreamed he'd end up.in so many girls' bedrooms!