GreatLakesGal

But is choosing to go "the safe route" really the wisest choice to make when you already have one Olympic Gold Medal and are the current World Champion? When someone says "he played it safe," it is usually not seen as a compliment. Many believe Kwan "played it safe" in 1998 and that's why Lipinski ended up with the OGM. And is it the smart choice to make when you're known to be fabulously wealthy and have unlimited resources at your disposal to help you create exciting new Olympic-worthy programs? I do think more is expected of Yuzu than is expected of his fellow competitors. As for how the judges will score Chopin 3.0, I doubt they will be influenced by scores he received for that program in the past. Within reason, judges can score skaters however they like. I just hope they won't be negatively influenced by someone of Yuzu's stature recycling a program for the third time.

It's an unfortunate trend and one that does nothing to help a dying sport.

If I were one of the judges, it would likely impact my judging. Using the same music for the THIRD time? At his level? I've been critical in the past about elite skaters recycling their programs. Very disappointed to hear this.

Maybe the costume people thought they were designing for Gracie Gold? Although even for Gracie at her most Disney, those ruffles would be way, way over-the-top. Actually, those ruffles are just .

I really love the Chopin one. It captures the ethereal beauty of his skating.

Figure skating is certainly on life support in the US. The reviews circulating online about Stars on Ice are seriously depressing. Empty seats, people leaving at intermission. And all the reports about Gracie are very disturbing. From what I read over at FSUniverse, she even has problems staying in sync with the other skaters during group numbers. Very sad for her and very sad for the audience who has to witness that.

Add me to the members of your fan club, Fresca. I'm not a skater or a dancer but I know which skaters bring me joy and which ones don't. However, until I started reading your excellent posts I wasn't always sure exactly WHY I preferred certain skaters to others. Thank you so much for enlightening me!

My concern about Yuzu doing shows is that he will forget himself and do something reckless. At least at TCC he's surrounded by coaches who I believe have been instructed to yell at him if he gets carried away with the jumping.

I don't think it's fair to blame Gracie's decline on Frank. He took her on when she was in a pre-Olympic year panic and coached her to two National titles and some respectable 4th place finishes at international events. When she was on the upswing, she seemed perfectly happy with him as a coach. I think it was only within the last year that their relationship deteriorated, when she apparently stopped listening to anything he said--e.g., skipping the GP events because she was too out of shape. Graice clearly has some serious anxiety issues related to skating. In all my years of watching skating, I've never seen any elite level skater in such a visible panic prior to taking the ice. And I've never heard a coach trying so hard to calm someone down like I heard Frank trying to do with Gracie. I agree that SOI video is pretty shocking.

Lots of pros and cons to choosing one path or the other. I wonder if he is struggling with this issue right now? What to do, what to do!! :embSwan:

Agree with everything you wrote here, Dara. Just want to add that it's unlikely Yuzu's competition will be clean, given the pressure cooker that is the Olympics.

You really have a talent for designing banners. I especially love the first and 2nd (gif version) ones. :clap: :clap: Also, your avatar is adorable!

Adam Rippon's keeping his Arrival of the Birds LP That's good. I like it a lot and, given his track record, I doubt he could come up with something better to replace it. The skater I'm very curious about is Gracie. It really is now or never for her so I hope she chooses well.

Since it doesn't appear taken yet, I would be delighted to marry his jewelry (especially the necklaces). :love:

I will be very surprised if he includes the 4Lz in competition next season. I still feel this season never completely jelled for him, despite winning Worlds again. He was really, really lucky and you know that he's well aware of that. I think as fans we often underestimate just how risky these quads are for skaters, not just physically risky but mentally as well. And based on comments both he and Brian have made, I'm pretty certain he'll have two new programs for the Olympics. Brian made Prince sound like a one-off, experimental music choice for him. And Yuzu has spoken of the downside of using H&L as the music for his FP.

Bravo to all of you who pulled this together so quickly!