rockstaryuzu

True and that's still not a reason to accept an unjust status quo.

I haven't listened to a lot of modern classical music, however I would be very hard put to hear the Japanese elements in it. Perhaps it's the overall aesthetic. I'm just saying that to a casual listener it doesn't stick out.

And this is the literal truth. The guy has an innate sense of musicality.

People being able to understand it is actually a very Yuzu way to think, and about the only explanation so far that makes sense. edited to add: Just to make it clear where I'm coming from here: even the most cherished cultural institution in Canadian sport, Hocket Night in Canada, is broadcast in languages like Italian, Inuktitut, Hindi, Punjabi, Tagalog, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, to say nothing of French, and most recently, Plains Cree. To say Japanese lyrics make a piece unsuitable for a figure skating competition because of crusty conservatism in the sport is both very sad and at the same time, nearly incomprehensible to me. Oh-Kay. Now that I'm done beating the dead horse...... how 'bout that Masquerade?

Didn't Yvett Toth just do that in the Olympic season? She skated to AC/DC. But she's nowhere near the top in terms of skill, so it's tough to say if the music choice was an issue or not. And I think Brendan Kerry has done AC/DC as well. With LGC, though, Yuzu never quite skated a clean program so that would affect the overall scoring. I don't think anybody objected to him doing it really. He was practically channeling Prince, he embodied the guy's attitude so perfectly. No one else could have done that.

Okay, but yet H&L did not sound 'Japanese' to me - it sounded like a modern but classical composition. And Seimei couldn't possibly have been any more Japanese and yet it won the Olympics in fine style. I think it still comes down to the skater, the program, and how the music suits both. Also, ISU needs to start banning warhorses just on the grounds that the recordings are getting worn out. I don't care if I never see another Carmen.

If you look at it from that perspective of "why give the judges an excuse to knock points off the score", then I can see it. But just to take the idea that music with foreign lyrics is not going to work, at face value, as a general given, I take serious issue with that. That's not how the world we live in gets better.

Because it'll be packed with Chinese fans. Especially if Yuzu goes. He is immensely popular over there.

I couldn't tell you, but I would say no. We're still in love with Virtue and Moir up here...the others might as well not exist. It's like 'TessaandScottTessanadScottTessaandScottElvisKurtTessaScott oh right and that Chan guy...." if you ask the average skating fan. I personally know more people who stan Reynolds than Chan. And Yuzu not wanting to get stuck doing back-to-back comps is why I say IdF is the other likely possibility for him besides Skate Canada. The flight from Toronto is probably about the same length either way.

I just can't see Yuzu wanting to do two competitions back -to- back like that, then the GPF, and then JNats, all in a 4-5 week time frame. Seems like way too much. I think he'll opt for at least one earlier competition just to get the break. If he does Skate America, I'll eat my hat...and book the cheapest flight to Vegas I can find.

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.