#the ina bauer is gorgeous...

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite Programs of 2023/2024 - Women's SP

I'm debating calling it a good year. There's actually a lot of programs on that list but would i call them masterpieces ? Not really, at least not all of them. While all this programs are good they're not most especially groundbreaking. I feel like most of the field spent the season honing in their particular brand, or aesthetic, not doing that much of exploring with some exceptions.

Honorable mentions

Clare Seo (Simple Gifts) - NOT a Quaker song, thank you very much but a Shaker song (it's another Christian sect tho). I like it very much. I like the music, and Clare has gorgeous posture and musicality. It's very much Americana but I found it fresh.

Mao Shimada (Americano) - costume is the cutest thing. It's chock full of delightful moments and transitions. Looses points because the step sequence has imho too much of two-foot skating and stop-and-pause moments, but that's a recurring problem with Kaitlyn Weaver's choreo.

Seoyeong Wi (Pride and Prejudice) - perfect packaging for a young debuting skater and I'm surprised it's not picked more often.

Rino Matsuike (One Day I'll Fly Away) - One day Rino will choose music that is not a warhorse. Meanwhile I'll enjoy arguably the best skating skills of the field.

9th - Yu-Feng Tsai - Copycat, by Billie Eilish, choreo by Jun-Fei Ren

Arguably the best choreo in the junior field. Fun. Sassy. Unlike anything else seen this season. Okay, yes it was Billie Eilish but it was a song that's not usually picked, it was fresh and it was good.

8th - Niina Petrokina - Run, by Marvin Brooks, choreo by Mark Pillay

I liked her previous SP better, and I'm not that fond of the music but Niina wins this by sheer commitment to the performance. One of the skater where the whole body is innvolved, especially during the step sequence. That's what the GOE bullets are there to award.

7th - Young You - Otono Porteno, by Astor Piazzolla, choreo by Tom Dickson.

The attitude, the sass, the steps, THAT SPLIT JUMP. She did the right thing bringing it back.

6th - Haein Lee - Seirenes, by Christopher Tin, choreo by Lori Nichols and Carolina Kostner

First rule we should live by after this season : whenever Carolina and Lori are involved, they strike gold. Happened to Yuma, happened to Haein. Seirenes is eerie, moody and a very good vehicle for Haein. She had us worried for a moment but did the right thing bringing it back.

5th - Jia Shin - Fascination, by Fermo Marchetti, choreo by David Wilson

I never really got Jia until this season. This is I think her first program that made me go : "okay. I see now why other fans are obsessed with her skating. I get it". If you asked me, I would stop giving Jia twee instrumental pieces and moody ballads and give her waltzes, more classical pieces. Jia has the musicality to keep up those kinds of tempi. She has the lines to express that kind of music. She has the flow to match the rythm. The transitions in and out of her 2A ? Stuff dreams are made of.

With Fascination, I love the music, I love Jia in it, I love watching her hitting those notes, I love her inside edge Ina Bauer during her step sequence... I'm a new fan.

4th - Hana Yoshida - Koo Koo Fun, by Lazer Disk, choreo by Kaitlyn Weaver

I'm fascinated with the way Hana picks her programs because her choices are immaculate. For two seasons straight, down to her gala programs, Hana has picked bangers after bangers. Koo Koo Fun is outside the box, funny, stands out musically, the choreo is quirky...

Doesn't make it straight to the top because every time she skated to it, I found Hana a little bit too stiff for the vibe the program requires. She needs to skate with more abandon and fun and that will only come with experience. Her mind is already there, her body needs to follow.

3rd - Yelim Kim - Ladies in Lavender, by Nigel Hess, choreo by Jeffrey Buttle

I don't remember who on this website said that Yelim's skating makes them believe in a better world, but I do agree. There's something healing in her skating. Right now there's no skater in the field that can match the elegance and quiet dignity of Yelim's skating.

2nd - Loena Hendrickx - I'm Ninalu, by Mors Avraham, choreo by Adam Solya

Loena at her very best and when she's on she pisses everywhere on the stage. I honestly don't get the complaints about doing too much party programs. As long as she serves it as hard as she does, she can take us to the club anytime she wants. I don't care about versatility if a skater has found a niche they do extremely well.

1st - Kaori Sakamoto - Baby God Bless You, by Shinya Kyozuka, choreo by Jeffrey Buttle

Forget what i just said. Kaori wins it but virtue of trying and succeeding in bringing in a new style. The concept is cute. Skating to the string version is the superior choice, as the music is more climatic than with the piano version. And the step sequence shows how above the field Kaori is right now.

[an-odd-idea]

Aaaaa women’s short program aaaaaa!

Shoutout to this audience for always applauding a spiral, and for several well-deserved standing ovations. Let’s have all the competitions be in Japan and Canada and maaayybe the United States if they promise to be as hype as they were at Skate America from now on

1. Lindsay Thorngren: She was just wonderful. Definitely my favorite from the US right now, and this is a neat program. (Did a spiral on the lyric “spiral”, I am a simple woman) And she did some kind of wild grabby skate thing, idk what that even was, but so cool. And so exciting for her to be in first! The people there loved her, too

2. Nina Pinzarrone: Very nice. I like her skating better this time, maybe she’s grown on me or maybe she was more relaxed or something. Anyway, I’m glad she also did well thus far after doing so well at her last assignment, keep the momentum going

3. Haein Lee: The jumps were better! I’m happy to see her in medal position, even if by the narrowest of margins. Pls be careful on your illusion. I also always support a program about sirens eating people, and I like her dress

4. Mai Mihara: Aaaa, Mai! I love her, the fans love her, it was so wonderful to see her, and she looked so joyful on the ice. She’s only this low because she did a triple-double, but it looked like that was what she intended, so as long as she did it well and she’s happy, I’m happy. What a wonderful step sequence

5. Ava Marie Ziegler: She was so much fun! She really sold the jazzy program from the first moment, and I loved the Ina Bauer, I can already tell she’s one of those fun skaters who thinks about more than the technical. For a second there the little box showed her flying sit spin was invalidated, but no, phew we’re good

6. Seoyeong Wi: Never seen her before in my life, she was nice. Her dress was so pretty

7. Yelim Kim: Argh the jumps. Argh, the Lutz was downgraded. Argh the combination. But she is so lovely, and the Ina Bauer. Please please please come back strong in the free?

8. Yuna Aoki: Low key my favorite in the entire thing. Skated first in front of a home crowd after not competing much at all for a few seasons and absolutely nailed it, so smooth, so fluid, so expressive, made everything look effortless. Also Lutz-loop- go big or go home I guess

9. Lea Serna: Argh the flip. But I love this program. Eivor is always a win, and she skates it with such ferocity. Also makeup on point, I never notice makeup, but hers was really good

10. Anastasiia Gubanova: Argh the combination! I was really hoping she’d come back and do super well and maybe even medal here after her score at her last competition made her so mad. Still possible, I suppose, Amber made a bigger leap last week

11. Wakaba Higuchi: Nooooo! The jumps! The jumps. But that axel was gorgeous, as always. Can she do an Amber Glenn? That would be wild

12. Lindsay van Zundert: Oh dear the fall and the downgrades. But it’s okay! I saw that she has an Olympics tattoo, I guess that really is A Thing and not just something a handful of people do. I only remember ever seeing her at the Olympics, actually, but I liked her. I hope she does well in the free

[figurelifeflirt]

2021 Skate Canada Challenge Entry #20

Junior women free program

Hye Jin Cho

Thoughts: is her hair two different colors?! Fun. When she’s in the K&C and you can really see the sparkles on her chest in a good light, gorgeous.

Elise Dawson

Thoughts: the Ina Bauer was very pretty. I’m not sure if it’s still considered an Ina Bauer if you don’t bend back but still, very pretty.

Laura Paquette

Thoughts: there are no flattering names for this silvery brown color. It’s beautiful though.

Paulina Grant

Thoughts: her takeoffs were crazy high

[sneakykpopblog]

BTS if they were figure skaters because tis the season and I enjoy just making things up based on The Vibes

Seokjin: Would definitely be a singles skater. I can picture him having a really powerful but kind of scary quad toeloop, he just thunders down the rink into it and you hold your breath, but then the height he gets is glorious and he somehow lands it. Fairly reserved and traditional skating, but I think he could do some really neat spins with how flexible he is

Yoongi: When I was first learning who everybody was, he was “the one who reminds me of Shoma Uno” so yes, Shoma Uno vibes. (Shorter than his peers, squishy, perpetually sleepy) Could do really nice quads, not so much flip or Lutz, but loop for sure, toeloop, maybe Salchow. Big fan of minimalistic choreography, in a good way

Hoseok: Hehehehe the step sequences he would pull off, can you imagine? People usually watch figure skating to see the jumps, but they’d watch him for his step sequences. Sorry but I just can’t picture him doing quads, I think he’d be scared. Could also be a really good ice dancer if he had a partner who could match his energy. Jason Brown or Satoko Miyahara vibes, and component scores and non-jump base values should carry more weight, I tell you

Namjoon: Would be the quad king. If he were in a different discipline, he’s definitely built like a pairs skater, and I think he could do well there, but I can picture him a lot better in singles and doing quads. Just imagine him doing a quad Lutz, oh my goodness gracious

Jimin: Triple Axel would be his favorite jump, I don’t make the rules. I think he’d have really gorgeous spins (can he do Biellmann? maybe) and footwork, and I bet he wouldn’t be afraid to do more traditionally feminine choreographic elements like spirals or a really nice Ina Bauer, kinda Yuzuru Hanyu vibes, but also kinda not

Taehyung: Would have a really nice quad Salchow if he were a singles skater. Other than that, I can actually picture him a lot more as an ice dancer. I think he’d have really nice edge control, and the smooth type of steps they do would really suit him

Jungkook: The heir apparent to the quad king, crazy fast spinner edition. Could also maybe be a pairs skater, though, like can you imagine? That’s not even very imaginary, he really can just lift somebody over his head no problem. Okay, swooning a little. The way the man in a pairs team throws his partner in the air and she rotates above him and then he catches her by the waist and sets her down so lightly, oh wow

Ye

[anewbeginningagain]

TSL briefly mentioned Caroline and Michael around 40:45 of their latest episode, in case you want to listen. Dave doesn't outright say that they're at MIDA in the episode, but he did confirm it buried in the episode comments on YouTube. Another piece he dropped was, "they have a really gorgeous free dance where [Michael] does a really extended Ina Bauer." There's one last tiny bit he dropped about GPa meeting with USFS around 44:30.

Thanks, I'm 99% Green/Parsons are with MIDA. K&C's with Scott, Charlie, and Tanith next season are gonna be a blsat.

[eggplantgifs]

Junhwan Cha, Turandot || 2022 Four Continents Championships

[resssistance]

You Young / SP 'The Leftovers' / Beijing 2022

[incandescentlysilver]

2020 Russian Test Skates: Alena Kostornaia + you should see me in a crown

[fieryrondo]

2018 Stars on Ice - Karen Chen, “Never Enough” (Loren Allred)

[shadowsinwinter]

Good morning from NYC! @alexshibutani and I are starting our day with the @todayshow! ⛸ (x)

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Yelim Kim just won the Korean Nats and i'm so so happy for her right now. It feels to me like of the four top Korean ladies Yelim is the most overlooked. I'm going with my personal experience there but I've met a lot of Eunsoo fans, Young fans and some Haein fans.

Which isn't a dig at them but Yelim to me is really underrated. She has big jumps (that Lutz in the FS was awesome), decent AS. She hasn't Eunsoo's levels of presentation but she's getting better every season. She listens to the music and is very patient and deliberate in her gestures.

What hurts her I think are her music choices. So far she has been a bit of a warhorse kind of skater. I mean for the past three seasons she has skated to Cinema Paradisio, Meditation from Thais, Black Swan and Love Story. This season she has Liebestraüme and Love Story.

But she actually surprised me with her Black Swan last season. It wasn't the most original thing but she tried to find a new take on a tired FS music

And in the short yesterday she was wonderful. Just look at this.

I love the choreo here. It's cohesive, it showcases the music. It's packed with transitions that were all pulled off. She kept the flow going and was right on the music everytime. Also I think it's the best I've seen her present a program. There was a joy there that had so far been missing.

Also the dress is gorgeous.

[an-odd-idea]

The epic highs and lows of the women’s short program at Four Continents (missing Tara Prasad hours, but health is important)

Time to give awards!

Best of warm up group 1: Hongyi Chen (first clean skate of the event yay!, her triple toe-triple toe combination is so good, and I love the graceful way she uses her hands and arms like a Disney Princess)

Best of warm up group 2: Sara-Maude Dupuis (skating to Evanescence and absolutely committed to it, neat choreography and a great step sequence, good job saving the combination and really nice double axel)

Best of warm up group 3: Seoyeong Wi (Pride and Prejudice nice music choice, unique starting pose at the boards, BIG huge gorgeous jumps, good speed and footwork)

Best of warm up group 4: Ava Marie Ziegler (I love this program so much, it’s so fun and flirty and she skates it that way, the jumps were great, and I love the Ina Bauer with the arms timed to the music)

Best of warm up group 5: Rinka Watanabe (so good to see Rinka landing all her jumps, especially that dynamite double axel to start, I loved the detail of the arm reaching up and then coming down past her face in the sit spin, and the step sequence and dramatic final pose were so cool)

Best step sequence: Mai Mihara

Most committed step sequence: Andrea Montesinos Cantú

Coolest spin position: Anna Levkovets

Coolest transitions: Lindsay Thorngren

Coolest starting pose: Seoyeong Wi

Coolest ending: Rinka Watanabe

Best choreography: Ava Marie Ziegler

Best music selection: Ava Marie Ziegler

Best dressed: tie: Sofia Lexi Jacqueline Frank in a fun sparkly pink two piece dress, and Mai Mihara in a classic gorgeous dress that gives Lothlorien elves vibes

Coolest makeup: Rinka Watanabe (all peacock colored eyeshadow)

Lutz edge award: Chaeyeon Kim

Ina Bauer Queen Award: Ava Marie Ziegler

Speedster Award: Tzu-Han Ting

Happiest Skater Award: Mai Mihara

Best reaction: Rinka Watanabe (laughing with joy as she left the ice, we love to see it!)

Most-improved-since-I-last-saw-you Award: Tzu-Han Ting

Fought-the-demons-and-won Award: Mone Chiba (looked about to cry of nerves, powered through splendidly to first place)

Special shoutout to Haein Lee: All is not lost, Amber Glenn once jumped from eleventh after the short to a bronze medal

[jennibeultimate]

Personal recap NHK 2021 - Men

As always personal recap means just this completely personal opinions - bias included! Also this is mainly for myself...if you like it fine, if you don't it's also fine. I don't care.

First I am extremely sad that Yuzu wasn't here and that he has to go again through such pain in an Olympic season. Get well soon Yuzu! ❤️ (I was also looking forward to have Yuzu and Shoma in one competition and it didn't happen which made me sad😔) BUT I will refrain from looking at the comp with Yuzu's absence in mind. Yuzu wasn't there, so we don't know how he would have performed or how he would have placed. I can imagine Yuzu is happy his fellow compatriot won as he always wishes the best to all competitors!

NHK Trophy Champion Shoma Uno! 🥇❤️

Shoma just radiates confidence like he didn't for the past two years. Breaking 100 again in the SP internationally after 3 years drought. He is on fire this season! 🔥

The SP Oboe Concerto is just perfection. It highlights all his strengths, his beautuful lines, his deep edges and how he is the music in this. Also the costume is so gorgeous! 😍 Shame about the 2T instead of 3T but it's ok to not be perfect at this point of the season. The most important part is to show progress and confidence imo.

I am not a fan of Ravel's Bolero at all, but Shoma's version doesn't sound much like Bolero so I am ok with it. I still prefer DOMO but his Bolero is well constructed and has some really cool unusual moves for him. The first half of the program was nuts 4Lo, 4S and 4T2T all landed beautifully. Maybe he got a bit too confident and loosened up so he made some couple mistakes after, but I don't think that's too bad. Add that 4F points in and he breaks 300+ points. 290 points is still a new personal best under this scoring system. 😄 I am super happy he is where he is now. Thank you Shoma, thank you Stephane! ❤️

2nd - I am bit devided on this. In the SP I think Vincent Zhou belonged to top 2 but after the free skate I would probably have Junhwan Cha and Vincent reversed. Both of them got calls (which is totally fine imo), but I think Vincent's free program also lost a lot in presentation when mistakes started to add...imo Junhwan Cha is the superior performer on a good and bad day. I see the improvement though that Vincent tries to include more artistry. I think both his programs are actually well constructed. I just think his skating in general is a bit sketchy and not flowing as good.

3rd - Junhwan Cha's SP is a masterpiece. It's sooo good. I loved it so much last week and was so happy he could deliver it again just one week later with jetlag etc. ❤️ Good fight also in the free skate. His ina bauer is to die for! 😍 I think he needs to shorten the time he needs for his big jumps like quads and 3A. Especially the 3A needs a lot of preparation.

I am really happy he got a medal here! 🥉

4th - Makar Ignatov is uhm..interesting....I dunno his jumps look good. His air position especially good, but his landings seldomly have flow...and the rest of his skating is very slow and laboured. He has no glide at all. His SP suited him music wise, in the free the music was overwhelming him completely. He could a have had any music and his program would have the same connection it did have in the free. He doesn't have the projection to put up with such a gigantic classical music, you need aura for it and he doesn't have any.

5th - Matteo Rizzo does have the projection and performance abilities that Makar is lacking. I liked his SP very much, unusual and fitting to him. His jumps are ok but without more content he won't get further ahead. His free was also lovely. Overall steady performance.

6th - Alexander Samarin - Once he was only jumps. Now he did only quad and a clean program which served him well. I never ever liked his skating at all and the Matrix short may still be ok as I think it suits him, but I totally don't get the free skate at all. It's just weird. But I do think he is a friendly guy and I found his surprised face about his free skate score adorably funny. 😄

As for the rest of the places there were some skaters that spring to mind. Sota Yamamoto had a lovely SP (though that version isn't my favorite), but sadly couldn't deliver the same in the free. Kao Miura is definitely an exciting newcomer. A bit chaotic at this point but I am sure with time he could be a top contender. Tomoki Hiwatashi had a good free skate and I always admire his flexibility.

Nam Nguyen is just kind of a shadow of his old self. Even though he is not so old, it will be his last season and looking at what he delivered here it makes sense and he somehow lost all the fire and looks slow. He can be an entertaining guy, so I hope that he gets to perform in shows after his career. It's again a story of someone that was promoted to glory far too early at 12 years old and couldn't keep up with expectations and also puberty hit him hard.

I really do love Camden Pulkinen's skating, but he makes so many mistakes it's just heartbreaking to watch. I fear he will never get to the heights his beautiful skating would deserve...

Congratulations to all medalists! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 It was an interesting event!

Also I will party hard that Shoma won!

[yuzuavenue]

skating journal no 5

so the highlights of tonight’s skate include racing two small hockey kids (and winning surprisingly) and the pretty boy at the rink accidentally taking out a kid while hydroblading (they were both okay so i didn’t feel too bad about laughing).

skate-wise, my boots are so done that i don’t think i’m improving much anymore. hopefully i’ll get my new skates soon.

[triplelutzmoreliketriplecry]

2 JUNCLEANJUNCLEANJUNCLEAN PLEASE--

4T - FALL!!! NO RIP Yea it was a problem from the entry...pulled the toe back too much.

4S - BEAUTIFUL!!! That was gorgeous omg

3Lz3lo - Looks cleaner that it has been!

Love how slow he takes this stsq; it’s just perfect with the long running edges

3A2T - Well done!!!!!!

3A - WELL DONE!! Mihgt have been under

3FEu3S - Iffy landing but HUNG ON TO IT

3F beautiful

Oh that choreo sequence is killing me. That stag jump is just beautiful, and the Ina Bauer was one of his best!!!!!!

And he’s smiling yes!!! Pissed about the 4T but that’s alright, it’s on track for him. Couldn’t have fixed it in time given that it’s been giving him grief all season.

182 HOLY FUCK! AND HIS PCS FINALLY BROKE 90 FUCK YEAH

[resssistance]