rockstaryuzu

Now, that's one I never thought of, but I could totally see it. Although if it's anime programs, Yuzu might do Tokyo Ghoul first since he's a fan.

Now that's interesting. I did not know he'd said that. Also, welcome back, @micaelis. I saw your post about your better-than-you-were-expecting health news.

Interesting thought. I did like Beautiful Storm. And if I recall correctly, both Shae and Jeff have said in interviews that Yuzu contributes just as much to the choreo as they do. It's not a question of choreographers handing him a program to do anymore. It's a question of finding someone who can work with his vision.

The parade surplus went to charity for sure, I can't remember which one.

I'm not entirely sure Chiddy knows what tact is, but he'll probably try his best.

I find the Russians talk too much. My favorite commentators are the Japanese ones because they pretty well say nothing other than naming the elements in the program as the skater does them.

I agree somewhat with what you're saying but on the other hand, Yuzu is the guy everyone is talking about because he is the one at the top, this year's Worlds notwithstanding. It would be weird for them not to talk about him, just like 15-20 years ago, it would have been weird for them not to talk about Plushenko. And they're broadcasting for general audience, not just figure skating fans. So it would be unrealistic for them ignore all the parts of the phenomenon that Yuzu fans have become, because all of that is interesting to a broader audience. As for Kurt saying or implying that skating in front of a Japanese crowd should be encouragement for Yuzu, I'm pretty sure Yuzu himself has said exactly the same thing in interviews, so I do not see the problem. As for the rest, it's kind of speculative to say things like Kurt might be projecting himself on Nathan because their situations are similar, etc. Again, if you think of the general audience CBC is aiming at, half them will be wondering why so much time in the broadcast is devoted to a Japanese skater, so it makes sense (even if it's very annoying) that Brian and Tracy get mentioned over and over again as the Canadian connection there. The part of their commentary I find cringey is when they try to be poetic and venture into flights of fancy with their language and say things that aren't really skating-related. Those types of comments get really easily lost in translation and can be misinterpreted by non-English speakers. But again, if you look at their commentary from the perspective that it's supposed to be reaching a general Canadian audience that may or may not know all that much about figure skating, as opposed to an audience made up of say, satellites, a lot of the issues become more understandable. And frankly, I don't agree with all the dislike of media coverage of the 'Pooh rain' and other fan things. Stuff like the Pooh rain sticks out, media is going to cover it, and it's the freedom of the press to decide how they want to portray the story. If people don't want to see Pooh rain in the media, then stop making it rain Pooh's and the press will go away, it's that simple. You can't have it both ways - you can't make big splashy fan gestures that attract attention, and at the same time expect it to go unremarked, especially not at an event like figure skating that already has intense media coverage.

He should be an honorary Canadian! In my heart he's one. More to the point, Kurt and PJ both know Yuzu personally. Of course they're going to talk about his season. You'll note Nathan didn't make the poster.

Yes, Kurt is a bit that way, but his specialty is songs like these, and at this point I think Yuzu would be pretty comfortable speaking up for himself and getting his own influence in. Pop Jeff in the mix and I think the three of them could make something really unique. Also, I happen to like HILY. It's not like Yuzu can't do flirty, after all.

And now for something completely different: How about a sultry, seductive Yuzu? Are we ready for that? I could totally see him doing this as a SP, but in order for him to get the right attitude going, I think he'd need Kurt Browning on the choreo. This is the kind of song Kurt does in his sleep. Maybe a Kurt/Jeff collab?

He would be all that in the West too! His character is admirable everywhere.

Huh. Isn't that interesting. If you go north of the border to Canada, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't consider Yuzu attractive, Asian or not. In the words of my one of my senior-citizen Polish-Canadian friends, "he's adorable". And Yuzu aside, there's a lot of variety in what's considered male attractiveness here...like, I don't think you could actually find a 'standard' for male beauty here. (Except for 'athletic', which is an attribute everyone seems to like).

I hope I won't offend anyone by responding to this but, yes, I can tell that Boyang has a Chinese face and Yuzuru does not. But I work with a lot of Chinese people who have immigrated to Canada and my eyes have become used to how they look. However, there is something very interesting that I noticed when I went to ACI last year, I've been wondering about it all year, and I was afraid to mention it in case people take it the wrong way. But I must know if anyone else has experienced this: when I saw Yuzu in person, his face looked much more 'Japanese' to me, than it does in photos and videos. I don't know why that is. Is it just that I'm crazy, or is it that his Japanese-ness can shine through better when you see him in person? has this happened to anyone else?

It is a math thing. From the ancient Greeks, no less: Phidias, the man who designed the sculptures of the Parthenon. Plato and Euclid also described the concept in some detail. It's universal, like gravity, and not specifically Japanese.

It's a risk either way at this point...if he does an edge jump on the wrong ice conditions for edge jumps he could hurt the ankle again too. I'm guessing that having more options is better from that perspective as well.

I wonder about that. From what I've seen, PCS tends to reflect technical scores to some degree, so if the overall tech score average across all skaters goes up, so will PCS. Simply put, I don't think either PCS score reflects reality all that much.

Bingo! That is exactly the difference between Yuzu and everyone else

I can see what you're saying but compare it to his SP from last season. It's a vast improvement (I know people prefer Nemesis but I find it much more devoid of choreographic content than Caravan). You can see that SLB did her best to give him something good, and it's not awful (sorry, I thought it was their first time collaborating but she did Nemesis too, so wiki tells me). Take a look at Great Spirit for comparison - it was literally too much for Shoma; every time he performed it it nearly did him in, and I suspect that Shae-Lynn overestimated what he was capable of. Whereas with Caravan, I think she gave Nathan exactly what he was capable of and no more. And taken by itself, Caravan's not a bad program - certainly on par with what most of the men's field come up with. The trouble with it, in my opinion, is that (jump layout aside) it seems like something anyone could or would do. I could totally envision Brezina or even Brendan Kerry doing it. And I don't know whether that's because there's nothing of Nathan's personality in there, or whether it's because Nathan's artistic personality is just not that unique.

The way I'd put it is this: Caravan is what you get when a super-competitive and talented athlete reads a bunch of feedback about himself online saying he lacks artistry, so he goes out and hires a great choreographer to give him a great program that he can perform to prove to everyone he has artistry. Etude is what you get when an artist decides he wants to take the audience on a journey with him, using his superlative figure skating skills and the beautiful music to draw them in and tell the story, so that he and the audience can experience the moment together and achieve victory as a by-product. Personally, I think you can't compare them and shouldn't try; they are two entirely different things. And the scores are from two different eras. Etude was scored when the max GOE was +3, so unless you're going to try and do some kind of conversion to the current system, you're not comparing apples to apples at all.

He'd make them work like nobody's business. If he wants to really bring the drama, Yuzu could do Wagner. Ride of the Valkyries. Can you imagine it? 🤣 DA-da-dah-da, DA-da-dah-da, DA. DA. DAAA!!! With Yuzu in a Viking outfit.

@kaeryth beat me to it, but what they're talking about is the Golden Mean, not the 'golden portion'. Basically it's considered the ideal ratio of length and/or width to height to produce an image pleasing to the eye.

Will do. God bless.

Just a note here, because everyone seems to be interpreting this differently: there's more to Yuzu trying to reintroduce 4Lz and trying to get 4F than just a quest for higher BV or more candies from the judges. As I understand it, he also mentioned (in a post-WC interview) that having only edge jumps other than 4T is a serious disadvantage for him because edge jumps are more affected by ice conditions than toe jumps are. So he's looking to improve his strategy and give himself more options. I think it's a really smart thing to do, especially if you consider how often the ice has been soft at competitions this year. Because he's great, he's managed to overcome this without too much point loss this year, but why not just skip the stress and give each program a 'good ice' and a 'bad ice' layout? Planning ahead, always thinking - that's our boy.

I think it's too soon to make predictions but I'm expecting a new short but a recycled and revamped Origin. Just a gut feeling I have.