rockstaryuzu

That photo of him on the left is so beautiful it's just unfair.

The new scoring means that the judges are basically spanking anyone who tries a jump and doesn't succeed....makes the quads a lot less enticing until you can land one reliably

The only SE I saw was in the Origin section but maybe I missed it

I watched that through, and I think the spread eagle they show is actually from Origin, not Otonal. They show it in the Origin half of the program. And I agree, it looks nicer. Just waiting to catch the train to Montreal to go see SCI....but I feel more excited for GP Helsinki next week...argh.

I swear I just watched this yesterday...is Jack stalking my YT lists now?

Yes yes. It makes a handy example of what I'm trying to say, though.

I love all his twizzles; that's one move of his that I think should be done longer and more often in every program of his. But that's just my bias. If he actually did all-twizzle programs all the time, we'd soon be tired of them .

Probably? The phrase 'glittering career' seems to have been coined with him in mind.

& @makebelieveup Yes, it works in Seimei. But I'm saying that it didn't work in Origin; it looked out of place there.

Mass Axels? I wonder if there's a Guinness Book category for that.

Same. Particularly the Seimei-style side lunge...it just didn't work. It would have been better to put a different step there. So when I say Yuzu should sometimes leave his favorites out instead of trying to force them to all fit into every program, this is the kind of thing I mean. I'm not saying he should stop doing his favorites altogether. I'm saying he should pick and choose and add new things in instead. For example, if he could learn that sliding backwards lunge thingy that Kevin Aymoz does, that would add a cool new element to his repertoire. By now, we all know a Yuzu program is going to have a certain set of moves in it no matter what. That's a strength but also a weakness because he runs the danger of becoming too predictable. I don't want him to ever become predictable.

This is what I was thinking too. And Nathan took his costume inspiration from Patrick. Or maybe straight up borrowed the shirt. 😃

Isn't Keegan still doing Singing in the Rain? I know he kept Chaplin. I'd love to see Yuzu do this kind of a program though.

don't you think that's a little mean? After all, Nathan is five years younger than Yuzu and still learning...maybe we should cut the kid some slack.

About 'artistry': I think Nathan has a long way to go before he's at Yuzu's level, but his Skate America SP did indeed have a level of artistry that was similar to some of Yuzu's programs. One 'artistic' program does not an artist make. The difference between Yuzu and a lot of other skaters is that Yuzu has internalized 'artistry'. The art in his programs comes from within himself. It's not something imposed on him by the choreographer from outside.

The thing is, when Yuzu puts all of his favorite elements in every competition program he makes, every single time, after a while all the programs start looking similar to each other. It would be good for him to have variety, add new things in, sometimes leave other things out, just to keep his programs fresh.

If I were a figure skater, this would so be me. People would have to cover their kids' ears because of the language.

This. We can speculate all we want but at the end of the day he's going to do whatever his kuyashii heart desires. However, I agree that the opening gong in Origin is actually the most likely place for Nessie to make her appearance. Putting it in place of the long SE in Otonal is merely a possible alternative. And there's no reason he can't combo the 4S in the SP to make room for a solo 4A. It must be exhausting for a skater to sort out program layout. First you have to come up with the idea, then try it and see if it works, try it with the music, fit all the pieces together, lather, rinse, repeat...no wonder skaters take weeks or months to get programs together.

Kurt really specializes in the funny/sexy though - he's the one who did Super Javi for Javi. H, ILY has that sassy sensibility, it's not just about the sex appeal, it's about light-heartedness and fun. I'd love to see what he would make for Yuzu now, but TBH I think Jeffrey's already stolen that march with LGC.

Kurt sounds like Forrest Gump saying that...comparing Yuzu to a box of chocolates... ....kind of fits, considering how sweet he is and his Lotte sponsorship.

I don't see why he doesn't do a piece by One OK Rock or Bump of Chicken, or whatever it is he's listening to before he goes on the ice. He seems to really feel that music and it looks like fun.

About that: the risks from having an instability in it are so high, that even once Yuzu debuts it in competition, I'm guessing that he probably will only attempt it when all the stars align to give a good landing. We'll probably see a LOT of popped jumps once 4A is a reality.

Certainly I can see how he's improved over the years as a skater. Go back and compare PW to LGC or even PC Ballade and you can see how his skating has become more fluid and his programs more complex over time. But rather than his skating per se, I think Yuzu's biggest weakness for his competition programs lies in his tendency to get attached to certain things. He has his 'darlings' - the side lunge, the hydroblade, the pancake spin, the bielman and the Ina Bauer - that he likes to put into every single program. Likewise, his taste slants strongly in a certain direction in terms of music and costuming. Any time he's done something different in that regard, it's usually been at someone else's suggestion. So if there is an area where he can still improve, I'd say it's that - to keep trying new things and to recognize when the old favorites aren't going to serve him well. That's not to say I want to see him drop old favorites entirely. I just would like for him to realize that not every single competition program needs all the tricks in his bag in it.

My first instinct is to say 4A. But to give you a more serious answer, I'll have to go re-watch Otonal and give it some thought. I mean, it's right smack dab in the middle of the program and takes the whole length of the rink going by the judges. What would a kuyashii boy put there, if not a showcase item?

Maybe Joseph got elected club photographer/instagrammer this year. (and Yuzu is class president 😃)