Liveblogging the men's free skate
Fri, Feb. 19th, 2010 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterDear NBC,
It is not a battle between Plushenko and Lysacek. They are part of the battle, but the top THREE men are so close that it's anybody's race, and the top five probably have a shot at the gold, depending on how everyone does. Trying to make it all about Russia vs. the US is just not true and rather insulting to Daisuke Takahashi, who is behind Lysacek by only .05 of a point.
No love,
Oyce
Gah! NBC! Why all this time on woman's half pipe and only showing the last two sets of the men's free skate! (Of course, I am sure many other people are annoyed by how much time figure skating takes up, heh.) And now I want to find out who is in the last two sets but too scared to look it up for fear of spoilers. Damn you, NBC, and your pointless time delay for people on the West Coast. Grrrrr.
Kozuka's really good! I will have to keep an eye on him going forward. Oh no, fall! Woes! Good lord, that's a lot of jumps though.
Oooh yay, now they're showing Denis Ten! He's so small and cute! His rotations are so fast! Though it looks like he kind of does the thing Caroline Zhang does, with the leg swing telegraphing some of his jumps (not as large as hers though). And still flexible enough to do the donut spin thing! Hrm, I feel he's slowed down a lot in the second half of the program. Also, that may be the first time I've seen a guy do a Biellmann spin.
Florent Amodio's long is interesting. I'm not sure all the music and mood switches work for me; it feels like it's composed of ten small programs rather than one long program. Still, I like that it has character and it doesn't really sound like anyone else's. (And I feel Takahashi could have done some cooler stuff with the more hip-hop bits of the music.)
At least Patrick Chan's skating to a more interesting version of Phantom... Oh no, a fall!
Oh huh, new costume from Evan Lysacek. Complete with a snake around his neck! WHEW. Nothing terrible, and once the jumps were done, the footwork was pretty good. But this is why I love watching Evan Lysacek: he almost always rises to the occasion and doesn't fall apart from the pressure. Like the tie in Nationals a few years ago with Johnny Weir! Mostly no comments from me because I hardly dared to breathe during the entire thing.
Oh! Oda's program is so cute! And oh, his landing on the lutz was gorgeous. I feel like he's not performing it as much as he usually does, probably thanks to the whole Olympic pressure thing. Oh no! What happened? They're stopping the program? Oh no! Oh whew, skate lace and not an injury, but oh, those two points will probably hurt. At least hopefully not an injury? Awww, I'm glad he managed to end that well.
Stephane Lambiel, your tassel isn't as awesome as Johnny Weir's, but at least you no longer look like Count Chocula. I can't even tell if the bobbles in his footwork are deliberate or not, but it looks like he keeps losing his balance. Even his spins are looking sloppy. He seems to be doing better as the program goes on, but probably too little too late. And he was skating to "Libiamo," which I love and he did not really do justice to. Woes.
OMG Daisuke Takahashi WHAT are you WEARING? It is okay, I love you anyway. I'm not sure if the eye-dazzling checks are better or worse than the partially deconstructed matador's bolero... I don't know. I just got a closer look at it and there is fringe and purple and red on the vest. But I will stop snarking as long as you pull this off! DOH. I think that fall just took him out of the running for gold WOE. Still! I am glad he's still giving it everything even after the fall, and oh, I love his choreography and how fun it is. (And I am fairly sure he did not wear this costume last time I saw him. I feel I would have remembered it.) I feel like he's actually into his program, unlike some of the other skaters, who felt too worried or reserved. Okay, I don't care if he fell! He still pulled it off and gave a great performance by the end.
(Hrm, looks like Plushenko changed his costume as well. This is probably a good thing, as the one I saw in the Grand Prix involved mesh and fake rose vines on top.)
OMG Johnny Weir stumbled on a spin! (I nearly typoed "Johnny Weird," which I feel is all too fitting.) His jumps have been gorgeous though, with the arm flourish on a triple (the lutz?)! Also, I feel if one's program is called "Fallen Angel," there should be way more random feathers. Instead, I keep thinking he has an ice version of the Firefox logo going over his shoulder and chest. Dude! Go you for a clean skate! I had sort of given up on Johnny Weir for the Olympics, but that and his short were really great efforts! Good for him! Especially because he really hasn't been the same ever since he lost the national title years ago.
And Evan Lysacek, guaranteed at least a silver!
Bwahahaha, Plushenko's mugging for the audience totally cracks me up. Especially the bits of almost-tango (?!) he tries to put in. I think the slower part of the program once the jumps stop really isn't that interesting though. Dude. I can't believe how many jumps he's been landing after his air position on some of them has been so crooked. Wow. Clean skate! This is going to be an interesting wait for the score....
OH MY GOD EVAN LYSACEK ACTUALLY WON THE GOLD FROM PLUSHENKO BY A POINT!!! A POINT!!!! OMG!!!!!!
I mean, I have been a fan of his for forever but I seriously never quite thought he could beat Plushenko just because... Plushenko! OMG!
... I wonder what he's going to do now? I'm going to miss seeing him on the ice!
Still. WHOO! And OMG they are so cute backstage!
It is not a battle between Plushenko and Lysacek. They are part of the battle, but the top THREE men are so close that it's anybody's race, and the top five probably have a shot at the gold, depending on how everyone does. Trying to make it all about Russia vs. the US is just not true and rather insulting to Daisuke Takahashi, who is behind Lysacek by only .05 of a point.
No love,
Oyce
Gah! NBC! Why all this time on woman's half pipe and only showing the last two sets of the men's free skate! (Of course, I am sure many other people are annoyed by how much time figure skating takes up, heh.) And now I want to find out who is in the last two sets but too scared to look it up for fear of spoilers. Damn you, NBC, and your pointless time delay for people on the West Coast. Grrrrr.
Kozuka's really good! I will have to keep an eye on him going forward. Oh no, fall! Woes! Good lord, that's a lot of jumps though.
Oooh yay, now they're showing Denis Ten! He's so small and cute! His rotations are so fast! Though it looks like he kind of does the thing Caroline Zhang does, with the leg swing telegraphing some of his jumps (not as large as hers though). And still flexible enough to do the donut spin thing! Hrm, I feel he's slowed down a lot in the second half of the program. Also, that may be the first time I've seen a guy do a Biellmann spin.
Florent Amodio's long is interesting. I'm not sure all the music and mood switches work for me; it feels like it's composed of ten small programs rather than one long program. Still, I like that it has character and it doesn't really sound like anyone else's. (And I feel Takahashi could have done some cooler stuff with the more hip-hop bits of the music.)
At least Patrick Chan's skating to a more interesting version of Phantom... Oh no, a fall!
Oh huh, new costume from Evan Lysacek. Complete with a snake around his neck! WHEW. Nothing terrible, and once the jumps were done, the footwork was pretty good. But this is why I love watching Evan Lysacek: he almost always rises to the occasion and doesn't fall apart from the pressure. Like the tie in Nationals a few years ago with Johnny Weir! Mostly no comments from me because I hardly dared to breathe during the entire thing.
Oh! Oda's program is so cute! And oh, his landing on the lutz was gorgeous. I feel like he's not performing it as much as he usually does, probably thanks to the whole Olympic pressure thing. Oh no! What happened? They're stopping the program? Oh no! Oh whew, skate lace and not an injury, but oh, those two points will probably hurt. At least hopefully not an injury? Awww, I'm glad he managed to end that well.
Stephane Lambiel, your tassel isn't as awesome as Johnny Weir's, but at least you no longer look like Count Chocula. I can't even tell if the bobbles in his footwork are deliberate or not, but it looks like he keeps losing his balance. Even his spins are looking sloppy. He seems to be doing better as the program goes on, but probably too little too late. And he was skating to "Libiamo," which I love and he did not really do justice to. Woes.
OMG Daisuke Takahashi WHAT are you WEARING? It is okay, I love you anyway. I'm not sure if the eye-dazzling checks are better or worse than the partially deconstructed matador's bolero... I don't know. I just got a closer look at it and there is fringe and purple and red on the vest. But I will stop snarking as long as you pull this off! DOH. I think that fall just took him out of the running for gold WOE. Still! I am glad he's still giving it everything even after the fall, and oh, I love his choreography and how fun it is. (And I am fairly sure he did not wear this costume last time I saw him. I feel I would have remembered it.) I feel like he's actually into his program, unlike some of the other skaters, who felt too worried or reserved. Okay, I don't care if he fell! He still pulled it off and gave a great performance by the end.
(Hrm, looks like Plushenko changed his costume as well. This is probably a good thing, as the one I saw in the Grand Prix involved mesh and fake rose vines on top.)
OMG Johnny Weir stumbled on a spin! (I nearly typoed "Johnny Weird," which I feel is all too fitting.) His jumps have been gorgeous though, with the arm flourish on a triple (the lutz?)! Also, I feel if one's program is called "Fallen Angel," there should be way more random feathers. Instead, I keep thinking he has an ice version of the Firefox logo going over his shoulder and chest. Dude! Go you for a clean skate! I had sort of given up on Johnny Weir for the Olympics, but that and his short were really great efforts! Good for him! Especially because he really hasn't been the same ever since he lost the national title years ago.
And Evan Lysacek, guaranteed at least a silver!
Bwahahaha, Plushenko's mugging for the audience totally cracks me up. Especially the bits of almost-tango (?!) he tries to put in. I think the slower part of the program once the jumps stop really isn't that interesting though. Dude. I can't believe how many jumps he's been landing after his air position on some of them has been so crooked. Wow. Clean skate! This is going to be an interesting wait for the score....
OH MY GOD EVAN LYSACEK ACTUALLY WON THE GOLD FROM PLUSHENKO BY A POINT!!! A POINT!!!! OMG!!!!!!
I mean, I have been a fan of his for forever but I seriously never quite thought he could beat Plushenko just because... Plushenko! OMG!
... I wonder what he's going to do now? I'm going to miss seeing him on the ice!
Still. WHOO! And OMG they are so cute backstage!
(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 20th, 2010 12:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 20th, 2010 05:43 am (UTC)I am kind of half watching ice dancing, mostly because the compulsories bore me after a while.
(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 20th, 2010 10:23 pm (UTC)I actually really liked Daisuke's outfit!! Awwww! Phredd contends that we've seen that one before, but I don't remember. Yay that he went for the gold by trying the quad, but... waaaah, I bet if he landed it (or if he did something like a triple axel successfully instead) he'd have gotten the silver over Plushenko.
We have definitely seen Evan's outfit before, b/c I remember the creepy snakes. When they showed him pumping his fists after he finished, in slow-mo, the snakes were also creepily undulating (I prefer them to Plushenko's attempts to get funky tho').
I think it's really weird that Johnny Weir didn't get more points than Stephane Lambiel, whose program seemed kind of flat to me, but I'm not always up on the technicalities of difficulty, etc.
Speaking of deliberate-or-not bobbles, the trouble w/cutesy mugging a la Oda's Charlie Chaplin schtick is that I'm always going, "Oh noooo!... no, wait, he meant to do that." (But also: if he is trying to look more mature & serious as a skater, not the best idea to be clowning...) Also ACK re: skate lace fail! He was such a champ in how he handled it & how he skated afterwards though.
But anyway: yay Evan!! He was so cute when he realized he won, heh. I do like him a lot. In my world Daisuke would've won, but frankly anyone but Plushenko winning r0xors.
(no subject)
Sun, Feb. 21st, 2010 03:56 pm (UTC)I was worried too when they stopped Oda's programme; I thought he'd injured his wrist or ankle. Then Robin Cousins was saying How do you break a lace without noticing it fraying beforehand?, but I thought it was because of the awkward fall.
Ha ha, that's one in the eye for "You're not a real man if you don't attempt the quad" Plushenko. Maybe he'll think twice before insulting people in future.
(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 22nd, 2010 11:31 pm (UTC)I was confused by Johnny Weir's program getting less points too, especially because the judging for the men's event had been pretty good so far. So I will take the commentators' word on less transition elements or something! Still, I am glad for him that he pulled off a good skate.
(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 22nd, 2010 11:33 pm (UTC)