Murieleirum

Ballade must be approx. close to the 'fast' part of PW, which is still pretty slow. Ballade also has the thing that there's a lot of breath between one musical phrase and another - the piano slows down considerably, so the tempo is really flexible here. But yeah, not surprisingly, this was a program that gave Yuzuru a chance to breath, especially in the first half. LGC, on the other hand, is 98 BPM, from start to finish (okay not including the small introduction). And I feel it, personally. LGC is a program that requires more energy, less (no) room for breathing, and this is just musically wise. Skating-wise, no need for me to tell you, just read the analysis. So, mentally, and musically, LGC was, in fact, more difficult than Chopin.

Reflecting on what a good decision PW was, as a music choice, during Olympic year, makes me think about the kind of piece that he and Jeff should pick to repeat the wonderful winning streak that PW had 4 years ago. PW is a strong, energetic piece, with a certain personality - that gets completed and expanded with Yuzuru's personality - but what makes me think the most is the tempo. PW's tempo is actually pretty tame. If you take a metronome you'll see that the first part is 58 BPM, and the second part is 79 BPM. In music, you could call both tempos Adagio. Pretty slow. No matter how many notes the guitar solo put in there. And the tempo is very important for a skater's mind, because they can "sync" their breathing, their movements, with a slow tempo. Meaning, since PW had a nice rhythm, inserted in a slow tempo, Yuzuru succeeded in executing it with a calm and energetic mind. Okay these are just random thoughts. I have too much time on my hands and am stressing too much with this Olympic talk!! I LOVE PW VRY MUCH.

I almost hope he could think something like this: "Well, all my youth I thought I wanted two Olympic gold medals to really become a legend of skating. But I didn't say these two golds had to be CONSECUTIVE. If Pyeongchang doesn't satisfy me, I'll just stay competitive until the next Olympics!" (How I wish he would say that )

The Olympic podium belongs to the skaters whom are able to deliver, when it counts, under a huge amount of pressure. To me, Yuzuru already has his name written, IF NOT ON THE GOLD, on the silver. Because he's the one with the most experience. Yes, Patrick and Javier are older, but I am positive they've never felt all of the pressure Yuzuru has felt since he won Sochi. I think it's a question of mental sanity. To be there, and to be able to filter your thoughts, letting only the positive thoughts get absorbed. If you're at the Olympics and you start thinking "if I fail here, I'll have failed everything", or "the whole world is watching me, if I make a mistake everyone will remember that" or "that skater looks more motivated than me", and so on, chances are the thoughts are going to reach you while you're performing. I believe Yuzuru will be able, when it counts, to have the right thoughts. Everyone (the press) is trying to insert bad thoughts in him like "He's the only one with something to lose", but I don't think he sees it that way. He sees himself equal to everyone else, and sees the Olympics as the greatest occasion to show his vision of skating to the world. He's had experience defending titles, he's had experience winning medals despite injuries, and he never fails to deliver, when it counts, no matter the amount of pressure.

I want this yelp as my morning alarm. I'm done. Too much cuteness. I gotta watch kitten videos on youtube just to harden my heart a little.

Okay, so, yesterday night I got to work and did something... I'm kinda embarassed to share it but okay I don't remember (and I can't find the comment) of who said they wanted to see Yuzuru skate to Saint Saens' Dance Macabre, but I totally agreed, because I loooove Dance Macabre. It's a powerful piece and the story begs to be skated: spirits and ghosts that come out from their graves at night and dance until sunrise? PERFECT skating FS. No wonder it's kind of a warhorse. Piecing it together with Hope and Legacy was hard tho. It was kinda painful to cut the music up and in a couple of situations I had to slightly change the video's speed to fit it all together. It's not that obvious, but most of you will notice, I believe. I think many people could have done a better job than me, but I did my best. I'm particularly proud of most jumping passes (always on a musical accent), how the Step Sequence and the Choreo sequence fit the music quite nicely. As for the ending... well, the original one was too damn long! So, there you go, it ends directly after the "sun rising" sung by the clarinet. Enjoy! I think I'm gonna do another one today because I am having too much fun. EDIT: fujitv blocked the video in Japan. Don't really know how to get around that one! :c

Your Yuzuru is definitely the one with the most literal and figurative CHILL.

It would be a reciprocated jealousy, since PW!Yuzu envies LGC's charisma and LGC!Yuzu envies PW!Yuzu's cleanliness!

Great, now I'm imagining different personalities depending on the costume/season Chopin2.0!Yuzuru being the most self-confident, self-declared prince of the ice. But Hana ni nare!Yuzuru still thinks he's the prettiest. LGC!Yuzuru always jumping everywhere and winking at everyone and being so i n t e n s e while Hope and Legacy!Yuzuru grabs him by the shoulders and goes "CHILL." For some reason, Romeo&Juliet1.0!Yuzuru keeps tripping on his own feet, but Swan!Yuzuru and White Legend!Yuzuru help him up because they are kind af. Meanwhile, teaching the ways of the force Seimei!Yuzuru is. (k I'll stop now)

Since I'm always the type to interrupt any discussion by saying something stupid, here goes: I find extremely amusing the fact that we (almost) all have Yuzuru avatars/icons, because when we're discussing among ourselves, in my mind there are all of these different Yuzurus fighting one against the other with the same serial killer face but in different clothes and different haircuts. Just think about that image. Let it sink in.

I think the thing that will affect PCS the most, next season, is going to be the cleanliness of the program. As proof, the rule that stated that you cannot give a skater '10' if they fall or make a """"serious error""""

Well, at least you gotta hand it to the judges: since they got the hunch that the system is definitely gonna crash after the Olympics, they are making sure to bring it down as fast as possible, and with the most amazing explosion!

I don't think they're bad, but there's a difference between 'good' and 'perfect, couldn't do any better'! I just don't find the judges very accurate when it comes to distinguishing between these various shades...

All of those 10's to Javi. Oh jeez. I'll say one thing: to me, 10 stands for 'outstanding'. I personally didn't see anything 'outstanding' in Javi's programs this year. But I could be wrong. Also, that 10 to Shoma in skating skills. Lol. Shoma's crossovers made someone fall in love, apparently.

Honestly, this kind of 'intelligence' (I would call it slyness though) is very popular in Italy. Minimum effort, Maximum result. I hate it. And I think it's the complete opposite of Yuzuru's way of thinking. I can understand it, of course... but I hope Yuzuru and his team won't make the same decisions. I want strong pieces, sure, but not easy, or old, or overused. There's plenty of music, out there. You just gotta search a little harder. (Now that I'm thinking about it, might it be that Shoma's programs were released so early in the off-season because his team and him decided to take the 'music problem' out of the way at the very beginning, to focus on content practice? (meaning: moar quads) BUT this is Off Topic. Damn, Muriel, focus.) IT'S JUST THAT. Searching for a connection with the music is such a huge job. Finding your own interpretation of a piece of music is such a huge thing. Every time Yuzuru goes on the ice, he creates something new. It's not Seimei, Prince, Chopin, it's HIS Seimei, HIS Prince, HIS Chopin, and in Hope and Legacy he went as far as creating autobiographic poetry on ice. I cannot, cannot accept that this sensitivity is worth the same as 'being in tune with a powerful, familiar, popular tune', which is what both Shoma AND Javier do (Nathan doesn't even do that, since his FS music this year was basically a background soundtrack to his jump performance). Sure, it's interpretation, but the difference in depth must, must be noted. If not, just eliminate "Interpretation". Call it "Personal favourite" and be done with it.

Thank you for telling me! A very beautiful program indeed! Although, I have to say, classical music is so much more difficult to interpret than people think. That's why warhorses are few and overused. Turandot, Four seasons, Carmen, they're all easier to interpret because they're, like... the pop music of classical? Bam, bam, bam, kind of like that. And this is why I don't like Shoma's programs for next year. I already know the judges are gonna give him high Interpretation scores when... well... anyone can get fired up with Vivaldi's Winter and that one theme that goes 'All'alba viiiiiinceróóóóóóóóóóó'. So, smart move, Shoma. Doesn't get my approval tho.

Effettivamente, proprio ieri, leggendo i commenti sul 3loop come secondo salto, ho visto degli allenamenti per un Gala in cui Yuzuru faceva combinazioni tipo 4T3T3Loop e 4S3T3Loop. A riuscirgli, gli riescono. Ma credo che non le farebbe in una competizione perche' lo sforzo raddoppia e la differenza di punteggio e' minima. Anche i GOE sarebbero piu' difficili da prendere con un 3Loop rispetto a un 3Toeloop.

Since when did this thread become as non-sense and as fun as the Meme thread? Please keep going

A quanto ho capito (leggendo i commenti di chi se ne intende), pochissimi pattinatori scelgono il 3loop come secondo salto dato che richiede uno sforzo elevato per i fianchi (non avendo il toe pick come assistenza, risulta piu' faticoso), quindi in realta' si tratterebbe di una combinazione 4loop3toeloop. Io, ecco, sono uscita con 6 in matematica (LOL), pero' ho provato a cambiare i programmi di Yuzu inserendo un 4Lz e una combinazione con il Loop nel corto... verrebbe qualcosa intorno ai 55 TES di BV. Con dei GOE molto alti (i suoi), arriverebbe intorno ai 66 punti di Tecnico. Insomma, teoricamente con un Lutz e un 4Loop3Toeloop, e un programma PULITO, potrebbe arrivare ai 115. Stessa cosa, nel programma lungo, sostituendo il primo 4Loop con un 4Lutz, tenendo il 4S, cambiando 4S3T con 4Loop3Toeloop e tenendo il 4T, dovrebbe arrivare intorno ai 108 di BV, il che vuol dire 130 di TES in un programma pulito come quello che ha fatto ai mondiali, senza nemmeno mettere 3 GOE ai salti (ho messo 2,5). Non e' mia l'idea di un possibile programma con 4 quadrupli, di cui un Lutz, un Loop in combinazione, un Salchow e un Toeloop, l'ho letta proposta qui e mi ha allettato. E' tutto molto ipotetico, lo so. Ma mi diverto a fare i conti (senza l'oste).

Okay, since I am too excited about all of these musical possibilities to function in my daily life, first thing when I get home after work today, I'll try to fit Yuzuru's FS of this year with some of the musical pieces we proposed, and then I'll share the results so we can get a feel of 'what it would be like' if he skated to our favourite pieces. *determined* But just to get the discussion going, I too second the New World Symphony, although it would be difficult to fit that in a program without adding something else in the end, because the ending is quite weird (for a skating program). True, Debussy is a bit too little dynamic for skating - I mean, the whole theme of his music is 'suspension', so there's hardly any tension building and tension releasing - I mean there is, but it's always subtle and floating. Very fitting for Yuzuru, but not for a Program that needs to conquer consent from the judges. Oh yeah I almost forgot: regarding themes that we would like for him to 'bring back', there is actually one I wouldn't mind, because there are plenty of pieces to inspire him: Requiem. Mozart, Verdi, Ligeti... (okay maybe best not Ligeti). Or a theme he himself brought up: Fire! (Firebird 2.0 cough cough)

Let's play the adaptation together!!! Something that'd go like this: Yes, maybe for Olympic season the Rite of Spring would be a bit too much... Yuzu would risk to finish same way the First public performance of Rite of Spring went... escaping the ice rink while judges chase him I don't remember if I already shared this but oh well... then there's Bruch violin concerto, or Mendelssohn... I do agree that Brahms isn't very popular, unfortunately. Piano wise... What about Debussy?

OMG SAME. At both the 20th century Russian giants, and the Ballad cringe. I haven't played it (too hard for me), but I loved it and listening Yuzuru's SP version at first felt very weird. It does get better after a while though xD I am super-duper stuck on Stravinsky, I would die if Yuzuru skated to him again (not randomly, I chose to marry Firebird at the marrying topic on this forum). Also, I think while Shostakovich might be a little too 'Russian' (especially the 7th) - hard to interpret for Yuzuru - Stravinsky's themes are more International, and accessible. For example, The Rite of Spring woud be a veeery very difficult music choice, but if there's one skater who could do it, it's Yuzuru. But if he chooses to skate to a violin theme... aaaah, I'm torn. I don't know what I'd rather see. I would send him hundreds of violin concertos or sonatas, he is so perfect for so many of them! Too short, I know, but from 0:25, I'd die if he skated to this. Morricone's music is all genius, all fantastic.

It is, in fact, it's been Shoma's choice for next season! And it would definitely be too unoriginal for Yuzu. Yuzu is a unique skater, so he skates to unique choices of music. (I love Nessun Dorma, but something that bugs me is the singer's voice from the version they chose for Shoma. I am used to listening Pavarotti sing it, so that version just doesn't sound right to me). Prokofiev, Stravinsky, even Shostakovich, maybe - Russians composers are almost as perfect for him as Japanese composers are! EDIT: I mentioned Shostakovich without reference. Well, this down here is my crush from third year of high school: meet, Leningrad! It would be perfect for a program, but I wouldn't know where to put the cuts, honestly. Fortunately, Yuzuru's music cuts have always been superb. Really, I mean it. POTO's music cuts were definitely made by a professional. Also, Chopin's cuts.

E' mezz'ora che cerco lo score sheet di Let's Go Crazy per capire di quanto aumenterebbe il BV se Yuzu aggiungesse il 4Lz e facesse una combinazione con il 4Loop... ma internet mi ha fallito. Non mi archivio mai le cose, dammit xD Qualcuno mi saprebbe dire quale sarebbe il BV e quindi di quanto potrebbe aumentare, con i suoi soliti GOE e PCS, il suo record del corto? Non c'è niente di più soddisfacente, per me, di provare a vedere che numeroni potrebbe oltrepassare Yuzuru la prossima stagione *u* Anche se so che i punteggi non sono tutto, anzi. Però... il fascino del numero c'è.

They already replied, but I wanted to specify that in Japanese there's a whole category of vocabulary called wasei-eigo, which are pseudo-Anglicisms, which to me are probably one of the most hilarious things about Japanese (I don't mean this in a disrespectful way - I find Japanese vocabulary absorption from the outside particularly intelligent), because these English vocabulary are adapted to Japanese pronunciation, creating things like: teeberu (table), nooto (notebook), or even complete expressions like karesu missu (Careless mistake) or, as I've learned yesterday, adobaisu purizu. So I googled this expression because I wanted to find out whether Yuzuru had made it up, or it was a codified wasei-ego! (OT )