SitTwizzle

It is so funny! Is there an attempt to figure skating with speed skates by Shizuka Arakawa, to complete? By the way (out of topic but the Olympic costume was on this video), do you think Ten to Chi to's costume belt, which we learned was chosen by Yuzuru Hanyu, is a tribute to this Shizuka Arakawa costume? Though it suits so perfectly well Ten to Chi to costume.

@SuzyQ has posted a Twitter video showing Javier Fernández commenting Yuzuru Hanyu's short program, and @rodica a link to TCC Instagram account showing his comments on the free skate, but as I'm not on Instagram I didn't see how long it was. Here seems to be the whole cut : https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ybnw8 Sorry if you had already seen it. Welcome, @hananistellata !

Oh yes, great news! I understand a 7-8 days off-ice period is not too long to recover from? Of course there's also the trauma. @Fay Had I known beforehand that he were to wear a black rock-n-roll costume with 3/4 sleeves, I would have thought "no way"! Indeed he can wear (and with what grace) costumes nobody else could wear. I am so glad (and grateful) he can rely on such a talent for his costumes, and a person with whom he seems to have a very good communication too.

I read too, that he was really injured. I don't know if we will ever know. But what we can see, is that Yuzuru Hanyu rejoiced sooo much to be in the same training group, at the same Olympics as his idol, and I still feel these images so heartwarming.

How awful! I hope there is no important damage, and light will be back soon for everybody. I suppose the rink will have to close several days, because if the ice is made to melt, it will take days to have it back, and then, starting to fill it only when power plants are back to normal, because the ice rink may not be considered a priority. This is already bad (and particularly, for a rink which has been struggling lately; they cannot accept private donations). But as @Geo1 and @rockstaryuzu wrote, it must be even worse for people's morals, just before the tenth anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake, which was so traumatic already, and people being already in such a state of panic due to CoViD. How can they endure it? And particularly, him and his family? Yes he will try to look well but how is he really? @barbara, I hope it will not be!

I won't pretend it cannot be spared, but I don't think we have to worry either. Sweden must be the European kingdom most prone to great dinners with all the trimmings, and every event has to have one, sometimes like for Worlds in the great Nobel Prize dining room. But with CoViD I understand they implement special measures and for instance, each guest has his Plexiglas cage (relying on automatic translation, I confess, if someone could confirm...) I foretell something rather boring but safe. Unlike the Rostelecom Cup one. I love your idea for Exhibition. But we can rely on him to surprise us if he wants. And with your and TallyT's comments, I wonder if we will have a "white wall" on 3/11, such a sad but important anniversary to him.

Yesterday was Legacy Ballade Anniversary and today is indeed Super Slam Anniversary. 2020 started well and finished well, thanks to his new programs. .gif : auditskater.com

They also ignore Pooh-san as his presential coach. By the way, are there/were there other officially full-time (amateur) skaters?

Happy birthday and a healthy new year, I hope his injury is completely healed.

Thank you for the link! I don't read Japanese but I found the automatic translation by deepl.com quite understandable. Like all automatic translators they tend to mix personal pronouns though. Midori Ito, Shizuka Arakawa... A program arranger from the past talks about Yuzuru Hanyu: "Why does your 'SEIMEI' fit the sound so perfectly? Hanyu performed "SEIMEI" for the first time in two seasons at last year's Four Continents Championships. Mr. Yano was also in charge of the arrangement, which was shortened by 30 seconds to fit the new rules. Keiichi Yano has been working as a sound engineer (PA) and program editor for figure skating competitions for over 30 years now. He was also in charge of arranging "SEIMEI", one of Yuzuru Hanyu's most famous programs, and "Heaven and Earth", which was performed at the All-Japan Championships at the end of last year. 　Mr. Yano's first encounter with figure skating was 35 years ago. His first encounter with figure skating was 35 years ago, when he was working for Yamaha as a sound designer for the 1985 NHK Cup. Since then, he had been in charge of sound at major competitions and gained trust, and in 1988, he received his first request to edit the music for a program. The first piece I arranged was Midori Ito's 1988-89 short program, "The Great Tango. At that time, I was asked to provide a song written by a Yamaha student, and as a sound engineer, I was in charge of recording the full orchestra. At that time, Ms. Michiko Yamada said, 'I want to hear a bang because Midori is going to do a triple axel here,' and I remember very well that I added the cymbal sound of the orchestra. Shizuka Arakawa was next involved in program editing. In 2003, there was an exhibition to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Nagano Olympics, and she said, "The sound at the beginning of Turandot is so low that it's hard to hear. The beginning of the piece was a very small classical piece, and it was hard to hear in the hall. 　 Since then, Yano has been asked to edit music for top athletes such as Daisuke Takahashi, Kanako Murakami, and Shoma Uno. Like Arakawa, he received many requests for "the sound at the beginning of the song. It is well known among the fans that the sound at the beginning of Yuzuru Hanyu's "SEIMEI" is his own breath. For "SEIMEI," Hanyu said, "I want a trigger sound, but I want it to be like breath, not an instrumental sound. So I recorded my breath and connected it. Then I asked him if he could send me a recording on his smartphone or something so that I could start at his timing. 3 patterns were sent to me, and I was thinking, "It takes courage for me to choose... I was thinking, 'It takes courage for me to choose...', but I was relieved when Hanyu immediately sent me an e-mail saying, 'I think I'll choose the second one. 　(Laughs)" Here, instead of connecting the breath sounds as they were, I tried to be creative. If the sound of the breath is too quiet, it might be dismissed as mere noise in a foreign game. So I put reverb on it so that people would know it was part of the music, and I tried to integrate it into the original piece. 　As for the beginning sound, he said that his past experience was utilized. There used to be a mechanical 'beep' sound at the beginning of the piece. At the 1987 NHK Cup, we thought it was just a noise that had been left out, so we cut the 6mm tape and threw it away so that the music would start at the beginning. So we had an official practice, and the bit coach came in and said, 'What happened to the trigger sound?　You can't start the slide without it! He said. He said, "Oh, you need that? I picked up the tape from the trash and reattached it (laughs). It was a good lesson. That's why the beginning of "SEIMEI" had to be devised so that it wouldn't be perceived as noise. Kanako Murakami: "I wanted a crisp sound. 　Other than that, she added sound effects to enhance the musicality and the storyline, as only a figure skating arranger can do. For Kanako Murakami's short flamenco in 2009-10, Michiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi requested in detail, "I want hand clapping, foot stomping, and percussion here. We didn't have such a sound source, so we went to Ms. Murakami's flamenco class in Nagoya and had the teachers dance while playing the program music, and recorded the actual sounds. As for Murakami, he added sound effects to the arrangement the following year as well. In the same way, for the free "Mask of Zorro" in 2010-11, I wanted a crisp sound when he swung his sword, so I went to the rink in Nagoya to have him skate to check the timing, and then I added the sword sound from another source. The idea of layering "hand claps for flamenco" and "sword sounds for fighting" was becoming popular in the skating world, thanks to Mr. Yano's editing. However, the more Yano arranged, the more his "dream" came into focus. I've been listening to skaters' music for years, and I had a theory. I had a theory that if they practiced to the music on a regular basis, they would be able to jump at the right time in the game. However, when I listened to the athletes and coaches, they said, "If you make a mistake or fall, then your jump will collapse if you try to force yourself to match the music. Somewhere along the line, I thought it would be great if I could create a piece of work by going through the music, creating a story, and then realizing it as a program. 　No matter how elaborate the arrangement, whether the musicality of the music can be utilized depends on the harmony of the players themselves. With this ideal in mind, Mr. Yano came across Yuzuru Hanyu and the program "SEIMEI". The first request I received from Hanyu was for the 2013 free skate "Romeo and Juliet. There was a little noise in the connection, and he said, 'When I'm concentrating and listening with earphones, it bothers me a lot. It was a really small noise, so I could tell how good his ears were and how seriously he was listening. And when I saw Hanyu's performance for the first time, I thought, 'Wow, he's really in tune with the sound!　I knew that listening to the sound and matching it with your body would lead to a good performance. After that, the first real request that came from Hanyu was for "SEIMEI". In the beginning of May 2015, he contacted me and said, "I want to make a freelance film with Yin and Yang. In his case, the request came after he had studied a lot of historical aspects and had a firm idea of what he wanted to play. With other players' songs, I often end up making two or three versions. But Hanyu's request was a different level of commitment. I made version 1 on May 10, and sent him 33 versions from then until June 20. If you include the ones I rejected, there were 42 versions. There is no absolute answer to this question, because it is a completely original work. Even for a single note of the dragon flute, we had to stretch it, change the pitch, and adjust the tempo. I would listen to it the next morning and say, 'Let's fix it! To start with the choreography, we solidified the arrangement of the overall flow. The overall flow of the piece was to start off with the taiko drumming and build it up a bit, then have a quiet part, and gradually build it up towards the end. He is a person who can harmonize with sounds very well, so I made sure to create such a slow and rapid pace. 　Once the choreography began in Toronto, he began to receive more detailed requests. When the choreography began in Toronto, I received even more detailed requests: "For the choreo sequence, they said, 'We want to hear the drum sound at the end a little stronger, and we want to hear the rhythm. I looked for a sound that would match the drums and attached them one by one, saying, 'Turn-tatan, turn-tatan. The rhythm is not constant like computer music, but fluctuates, so I had to listen to each one and match it. When I finally finished, I was asked, "Can you shorten this choreo part by one second? So I spent three days reattaching the drum sounds to ....… Small sound effects were also added to make the choreography look more impressive. For the Ina Bauer part, he said, "I want some kind of metal banging sound," so I added a slightly low sound called China cymbal after processing it. Also, before the step sequence, Mr. Hanyu said, "I want some kind of gap between the steps," so I added an impressive sound like a cymbal playing backwards. Similarly, at the end of the step, I added a "cheep" sound. There were many ways to enhance the artistry of the connecting sounds. 　The most difficult part was in the second half, where two quadruple jumps followed each other. The most difficult part was the scene with two quadruple jumps in the second half, where the sad melody of the dragon flute is interwoven with the piano sound. Originally, it was a quiet melody with only piano. As I was choreographing, Shay-Lene (Bourne), the choreographer, said, 'There is a melody on the flute that is the same as the piano, so if you could put it on top of it. But the key and tempo of the flute and the piano are different, so I couldn't simply layer them, so I used the piano as a base and created the flute notes one by one and layered them. I think it took me 10 days just for these few seconds. As he slid further in, he was asked to integrate the music with the timing of Hanyu's own slides and breathing. "Hanyu was very particular about the sound of the piano when he jumped the second half of the jump. He said, 'The sound between the second sound and the third one doesn't fit my body well, so can you adjust the third one a little bit earlier?' So I put the sounds back one by one, so that the rhythm of his skating and the music would be integrated. 　In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of pinpoint "harmony with sound" like sound effects. However, "SEIMEI" was the first time for Hanyu to take a convincing approach to unify even a single step with the music without compromise. With "SEIMEI", Hanyu has realized my dream of 'harmony with music', which I have been thinking about for a long time. I was in charge of sound during his 300+ point performance at the Big Hat in Nagano in 2015, so I was really excited to see him skating in front of me. The 30-second reduction was "already made in Hanyu's mind. 　At the Four Continents Championships in February 2020, "SEIMEI" will be back for the first time in two seasons. Because of the rule change, he had to make an arrangement to shorten it by 30 seconds. It was January 4, 2020, when I received the call. I was busy preparing for a classical concert that was scheduled to feature Hanyu's program. In his mind, Hanyu had already completed the piece, saying, "I'll cut this part and move this part up. In the final choreo sequence, the tempo was made so fast that it could be heard by ear. I also cut the last repetition in the ending. I'm happy to have won the Four Continents Championships with this version. And now a new legend has begun. This season's program, "Heaven and Earth," was commissioned. For Yano, this new program was an opportunity to reevaluate the relationship between music and skating. He said, "Hanyu himself has chosen the music with historical background in mind, but for me, I listened to "Heaven and Earth" and "The New Tale of the Heike", and picked up the parts that fit musically, to make it as one piece of music. What I felt this time was that Hanyu had a very objective view of how to present himself. For example, he takes a video, watches it, and keeps making minor changes, saying, "I need to make it more like this. I think that's why he can make precise suggestions to me, saying, "I want this part to have this kind of sound. And because he listens to the music so carefully, he is able to grasp the small sounds that are the key to the musicality and express them with his hands and choreography. That's probably the reason why I'm so into the sound. Through his arrangements, he transforms the music into something that fits the players perfectly, just like a custom-made suit. That's the essence of Mr. Yano's arrangement, which is not just a mere joining of songs. This is the essence of Yano's arrangement. I'm in charge of the arrangements and the choice of instruments, but he has a clear idea of the direction he wants to take. I think it's much easier to create a piece when the athlete has a specific image in mind and we can talk directly, not a coach or choreographer. Heaven and Earth" is filled with the feeling that a new legend is about to be carved. If Hanyu is going to win the Beijing Olympics for the third time in a row, I will fully support him, and if he does, I will have nothing left to say (laughs). I hope that the approach of listening to the music of your program, thinking about what you want to express, and practicing to achieve it will become more widespread. For the children who will follow in his footsteps, I want them to pursue what they want to express themselves, rather than just doing a given piece of music or a choreographed performance. I believe that Mr. Hanyu has reminded his juniors that the most important thing is what the athlete himself wants to express.

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/01/19/gabriella-papadakis-guillaume-cizeron-figure-skating-world-championships/ So, they won't go to Worlds. They say they didn't have proper training conditions with CoViD, which I understand. I am sure they could have been dispensed with Nationals to avoid additional quarantine. I am really sorry for them, but I am glad they are focusing on Olympics.

So do I! Your mother really seem extraordinary. I've never seen Yuzuru Hanyu as a surfer in a fanart though? Thank you very much, I hope it is still there tomorrow!

How can a single man be so wrong on so many subjects? Not only those outside his sports (I doubt soccer will lose many supporters when Messi and Ronaldo retire); but particularly on figure skating. Disdaining Japan (and of course Yuzuru Hanyu whom he mentions only once, just so say he's "also of the level of Nathan Chen", very kind of him I'm sure) and ignoring its figure skating history pre-2006, believing American public would flow if figure skating was just selling a narrative and a show with no relation to what is truly skated on ice (that's what American channels are already attempting, isn't it? And it doesn't work, most of those who get interested in figure skating in spite of all, don't buy those narratives, come on we're in 2021); completely ignoring the commercial potential of China for ISU (while the greatest number of fans come from China), and of other countries, particularly East-Asian, some already wealthy, others on the way. Plus, of course, if spectators don't want to be robbed of a proper Gala for a mock Oscar ceremony, it's just because we are his enemies. But I didn't know his name before that infamous attempt! I must say though, when I then learnt he was Evguenia Medvedeva's agent, I somehow linked the dots, particularly with the 2019 letter episode. And that man is an oracle to ISU! We should not wonder why they struggle.

I would agree with the others for B (NDP) and C (PoTo) but I think G may rather be Notte Stellata. I have no clue as to the others, I didn't take time to search in fact. Yet I am under the impression that for A and D, I should know.

Not more than usual, that is, very little and charmingly so? His family home is not Champéry or the Honda family home, but this doesn't forbid him to try some cooking, does it? Maybe not with this cute Ghana apron of course.

Una pequeña revista de prensa hispanófona del mes pasado, iniciando con un lindo artículo para su cumpleaños (se puede dar apreciación) : https://k-magazinemx.com/yuzuru-hanyu-el-talento-sobre-hielo/ https://www.excelsior.com.mx/adrenalina/yuzuru-hanyu-padece-asma-se-corona-en-japon/1424088 https://penascodigital.info/2020/12/yuzuru-hanyu-se-corona-en-japon/ https://www.zocalo.com.mx/new_site/articulo/la-estrella-del-patinaje-yuzuru-hanyu-se-corona-en-su-regreso-a-la-competic Es un poco triste, muchos diarios no hablan más de él desde que Javier Fernández dejara de competir; y la página Wikipedia solo tiene actualización parcial con su victoria a los campeonatos nacionales, y no tiene sus nuevos programas : https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzuru_Hanyū

Which means, just as many ultra-C jumps as his rival's program. And I agree about the easier layout in less competitive championships, which I think is a general practice and a wise one, and for Nathan Chen specifically, allows him to show part of his talent. Oh yes, we are too spoiled with his skates, and particularly with the two new ones, the programs and how he skated them. Mr Knightley : "What do you deserve?" Emma : "Oh! I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other (...)" @ Monchan and @ Melodie The problem I see, is the amount of energy needed for the 4A. He has somehow a little spare energy at the end of a SP, not at the end of a FS, though at Nats he didn't look extremely exhausted (but, it was an early season layout). So, if he opens his FS with a 4A, won't he fall later?

I just cannot imagine a 4A in a free program. My wildest imagination cannot go further than a 4A as the quad in a short program. Sorry. And indeed, usually physiotherapy involves contact between two sweating skins. @yuzupon Indeed effortlessness is mentioned at least twice in ISU rules : once as a bullet for jumps GOEs, and another one for skating skills. That judges score to the opposite, doesn't mean the rules aren't there. I don't watch them often because they make me angry when I think of actual skates and scores. https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/sandp-handbooks-faq/17596-program-component-chart-id-sp-2019-20/file

I rather see an impression of space, than real space (in the sense of room for something else). Watching it I feel completeness, fulfilment, and I would say, more overall coherence than in Hope & Legacy, maybe precisely thanks to these few well marked pauses. The program is about reflection, so we must be shown what looks like a time of reflection, by the means of showing the state of the hero when he has just finished reflecting — because there is no loss of time, every fraction of second is counted and the flow must be kept. The real full 4D, 3D + time, chiselled as if having even more time and maybe more dimensions. Maybe I'm lacking imagination when I don't know how he could skate it better (except, of course, adding base value with different jumps). Whereas when I compare Nationals' (clean) LMEY with what he's done with LGC at Worlds (the one little error being so perfectly fixed on-the-spot), and also with his first LGC (and PW) interpretations, I feel more a sense of "work in progress" and I think it may well "rock" a good deal more, either at Worlds if they happen, or next year if this is his Olympic SP, or in shows etc. Here the third dimension is scarce (just as a skater's program is short) but Lorenzo Ghilberti managed to give it a sense of depth and even of time : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Ghiberti#/media/File:Abraham_(Gates_of_Paradise)_01.JPG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorenzo_ghiberti,_porta_del_paradiso,_1425-52,_06_giuseppe.JPG

This is extremely interesting! How a clear mind can make things, well, clear and readable. I really don't know what amount of energy Nathan Chen puts in what he does perform at great championships, but it occurred to me that his skating, for the same steps, was more energy-consuming than Yuzuru Hanyu's or Jason Brown's or others; and above all, more focus-consuming because they are not fully internalised yet, it's really a pity he projects to r..re after Beijing. Many thanks to Brian Orser, to Tracy Wilson and to his previous coaches, and to his accepting their advice : he now can do extremely tricky steps with a wonderful flow for a minimal energy and probably a reasonable focus (I'm sure he has at least two "thinking streams" going on when he's skating). Yet they remain exhausting, as his choice is to have such full programs, and I think you are right also in suggesting he must have calculated all the pace of this program, to allow him to have the best jumps, while being even more meaningful than his previous ones; which may not have been a primary focus in other programs, particularly in Origin. And his performing is so wonderful in H&E, I thought maybe the best, but you must be right too in guessing it must be less energy-consuming than in Origin. I think too, his most exhausting (and enthralling) skating part was for LGC, which was at the same time so high in jumps, I am still incredulous every time I rewatch it. As to Notte Stellata, I hadn't thought about its consuming of energy, but I had for Haru yo, Koi! (thank you for having put it online without clapping) and while most often I just watch the poetry of this cherry blossom going by the wind, I also watch it sometimes more for the speed, the steps, the accelerations, etc and it is just as astounding. That's a sign of genius after all : you watch a masterpiece and you can dissect it as much as you want, when you watch it again it is fresh as new. I confess I feel a bit awkward with the expression "first pancake". Nationals H&E is much better than that. And, as to his skipping Lutzes and Flips, I feel more "prosaic" and tend to think he simply avoids the steps which recovery need more physiotherapy, because at the moment, he cannot access physiotherapy. As to know if he can have some before Worlds, I really don't (if there are Worlds). As you all say, he didn't need them to win here, so why endangering his health and a clean skate?

I wonder what they say?

I have a question about Let me entertain you. He had less-smooth-than-usual landings, and a 2¾ rotation at his last spin. Do you think it may be due to skating in "trashbag pants"? I know Yuzuru Hanyu always pays a great attention on costume details and aesthetics, and indeed these pants fit this program perfectly and give a superb image, but don't they also hinder some of his movements? And thanks for the news of his message, and for the videos about H&E and "a bit of transition comparison". I think, about the latter, the comparisons may go rather beyond these few numbers, and might (should) be measured with cameras and softwares in the future. For instance, a crossover can be discreet or laboured, and this changes all. A one-foot turn is something, the body balance over it is another, etc.

"Fortunately", neither Michael Jackson nor Prince were there to react... (Well, Yuzuru Hanyu did moonwalk at least once, during the final part of a gala?) Edit : at least they had it right with Winnie the Pooh, they didn't write Paddington Bear.

Latest video by @yuzuponbitch : moments of last Nationals.

He won with a score of 319 after a 319 days absence (I didn't check, in fact) but doesn't remember his score, so, is really everything in his calculation? @caterpillar Until now I had good hopes of a third Olympic Gold, but if Philip H* says he's the favourite, then he must be less likely to win? Because Philip H* so rarely speaks the truth... @b138oo He is definitely the GOAT, because he made of a sport a full art, which even great "artists on ice" (I think of Yuna Kim) couldn't. He has achieved what it takes technically, and nobody had done before him. He could have done it without a quad in fact, but he is also at the top jump-wise. We can imagine future skaters jumping quints (he does) but no one will approach him, and what he did of figure skating. And it doesn't depend on a third Olympic Gold, no more than it depended on a second.