Go Back to Competition and Show Reviews Index
ABBREVIATIONS
I have written out most jumps and other elements, but do use standard edge
abbreviations (F forward, B backward, I inside, O outside, L left, R right) and
SBS for side-by-side in the pairs.
I arrived at the arena on Wednesday morning as the men were practicing for the short programs, and only saw the last two groups. I will incorporate any salient points from practice notes in the commentary on the individual programs. I did get to see the long program practices in their entirety.
The first skater was Vakhtang Murvanidzhe of Georgia, who skated to "Pictures at an Exhibition" in a black costume with silver fringey "teeth" hanging off the top. He held on to the triple flip, but then did a rather deflating double toe-double toe as the combination. Camel travelled a bit, back camel nice. Double axel good, slight slip in the straightline footwork sequence. Flying sit with hunched back, combo spin with pseudo-half-Biellmann position.
Zoltan Toth of Hungary skated to "The Bolt" in a red costume with silver "icicles" on the shoulders. He fell on the triple lutz, on a bad lean. Flying sit was OK, simple but nice straightline footwork. Triple flip was a bit two-footed, combo spin a bit slow. He may have done a double axel, but I'll never know since some stupid old man thought this was a fine time to walk down the aisle of seats in front of me. Change camel was very slow and way short on rotation.
Next up was Vincent Restencourt of France, who skated to "Sing, Sing, Sing" in a black outfit with a short-sleeved top and multi-colored suspenders. He's a bit of a big goon and is slightly Tobel-esque in appearance. He's coached by André Brunet. Popped the triple axel combination into a double, flying sit OK, nice solo triple flip, good change camel, then attempted another triple axel but turned it into another double, a little overrotated.
Matthew Davies from Northern Ireland is very slight and wore a green velvet costume in a program skated to some classical music. Nice double axel with good extension on the landing, triple lutz a bit flutzy, turn, and then a double toe. Flying sit with a very low position, solo triple flip was good. (He started really smiling after he hit that!) Camel spin a bit droopy. Nice expression of the music. He did an exact replica of the Neil Wilson combination spin (same coach) with the layback and the faux-Ukrainian-layback backspin, but not as fast.
Maurice Lim of the Netherlands is a tiny little guy who looked about 12, in a shiny blue top and black pants. He had a good double axel, then a double flip-double toe combination, flying sit was OK, good straightline footwork, combo spin a bit slow and wobbly, but he did do the Toller catch-leg camel position. Solo double flip, good circular footwork with nice flow. Seems to have potential, but this wasn't enough to get him into the long programs.
Ben Ferreira of Canada skated next to "Desperado" in a cream-colored top and black "leather" pants with buckles down the sides. Right away I noticed a problem with posture; his shoulders seemed hunched up. Fell on the triple axel, which was on a bit of a lean, and then fell out of the triple flip. A bit self-consciously dramatic, but overall I liked his style; he just needs a lot of polishing up. Good change camel, nice double axel, combo spin ending in a crossfoot, which is nice to see for a change.
First to skate in the next group was Alan Street of Great Britain, who looks physically a bit like Michael Chack. He wore a nice blue costume with white sleeves and gold trim and has gold blades on his skates. The music was "Don Quixote" a la John Curry, but was unfortunately very poorly edited, with multiple jarring cuts. Double axel, OK combo spin, triple flip, Ina Bauer into a triple loop-double toe. Change camel was OK, footwork a bit "muddy" at times, and unfortunately he fell out of the flying sit at the end. Given a few years, Alan could be quite an excellent skater; his jumps have more height and his overall skating has more power than either Wilson or Davies, but he also has that lovely style and light touch that all these up-and-coming Brits seem to possess.
Next up was a very promising skater from Ukraine, Vitali Danilchenko, a sandy blonde who looks tall on the ice (but I don't think is actually more than 5'7" or so). He wore a black costume with a gold cummerbund and a "vines" design over one shoulder. Vitali has big jumps, and the triple axel-double toe combination was awesome. Triple flip was on a bit of a lean but he held on to it. Good fast flying sit. Double axel was a bit wonky but OK. Difficult, fast straightline footwork with good control, a fast change camel spin with very pretty positions. Last spin was a bit sloppy. He does the Zaggy catch-leg spin.
Derrick Delmore of the US was next skating to Paso Doble music in a costume I made no note of (I think it was black). He began with the Olga/Ilya spiral, and then an excellent combination spin with a layover camel, very low sit, etc. Nice triple flip, but I didn't spot much footwork into it. Triple axel looked a bit two-footed to me, double toe. Change camel into a "donut" spin... sorry, Plyushchenko is still our male champion on this move. Ina Bauer into double axel, flying sit spin into the "fetal spin" position. Sort of introverted guy on the ice for the dramatic moves he was doing.
Taijin Hiraike of Japan skated a tango in a brown costume. He has longish hair and a very young-looking face. Triple axel-double toe almost ran into the boards, change camel got very slow. Triple flip out of a mohawk entrance, flying sit was OK but he almost fell out. Turned out of the landing of the double axel. Combo spin OK.
Next was Sergei Davydov of Russia, a small guy with medium brown hair who wore a bright purple toreador jacket over black pants and a white shirt and skated to an amazing disco-ized rendition of music from "Carmen." Nice flow over the ice was the first thing I jotted down. Triple axel, he may have put his hand down, double toe. Flying sit good. Triple flip gorgeous landing position. Change camel very good, fast, nice extension. Double axel. Layback spin in the combo. Excellent quality in the footwork. Very impressive!
Yosuke Takeuchi of Japan wore an elaborate silver costume and skated to music from "Phantom of the Opera." Triple axel, hand down, double toe, fell out of landing. Fell out of triple flip. Nice flying sit, one of the best take-offs so far. Good presentation and nice speed on the combination spin, ending in a fast back scratch. Camel position droopy. Spreadeagle into double axel, very well done. Just not his night on the big jumps. He looks a bit like Takeshi Honda.
Emanuel Sandhu of Canada skated first in the next group to some classical or classical-esque music in an unflattering bright teal-blue costume with poofy sleeves and black trim. He fell on a triple axel with an extremely slow and tentative approach. Fell out of the triple flip, underrotated. Change camel with several changes of upper body position, nice, but overall extension on the spin was not fantastic. He is long-legged and a little gangly. Combo spin with the Nathale Krieg "upside-down" position (the free leg straight down at an angle with the upper body bent over it, holding the free leg as closely to the upper body as possible).
Matthew van den Broeck of Belgium skated to the "Russian Sailor Dance" music in a black short-sleeved costume with a red vest over the top. Just held on to the double axel, fell on the triple flip, camel spin slow, awful position, back camel worse, fell on the triple sal. Flying sit, not very low position. Didn't make the cut for the long program.
Joon-Ho Park of Korea skated next wearing a red top over black pants. Nasty fall on triple lutz in the warm-up, and here he fell out of it but did stick a double toe on the end. Nice double axel, good change camel, doubled and fell out of the flip. Too bad... he also didn't make the long programs. He looked better in practice, but in competition he was stiff and just seemed to give up halfway through the program.
Next up was Angelo Dolfini of Italy, who more than lives up to his first name, a small guy with abundant dark curly hair who looks like he might have stepped out of a Caravaggio painting (greetings to Dick "Pre-Raphaelite" Button ;-)). He wore blue and was very "flouncy" in his presentation (a positive thing in my world-view). Big double axel, fell out of a triple flip-double toe that was preceded by a spreadeagle. Combo spin - sit very low, good control, Toller catch-leg position. Double flip. Fell out of the flying sit spin! Lost speed on the camel spin, but nice positions.
Aleksei Kozlov of Estonia was next, a tall guy with a young-looking face who skated to "Malaguena" and wore a red sequined top and black pants. Popped the triple lutz, triple flip OK, nice footwork, good flying sit, nice double axel (does anyone remember that infamous Toller rant about the American commentators... "nice this, nice that... come on, people, buy a thesaurus!"). Combo spin with half-Biellmann position into a donut spin.
Another Alexei followed, this one a Gruber from Israel, who skated to "Summertime" and "I Got Plenty of Nothin'" and wore a tight grey satiny top over plain blue pants. Triple loop-double toe okay, double flip (no doubt planned to be a triple) was overrotated and he fell out of it. Nicely extended change camel, but he always seems to have the free foot flexed. Almost wiped out on the flying spin. And you wonder why you don't see flying sit spins that often... obviously, skaters hate them!
First to skate in the next group was Michael Amentas of Australia, who skated to what I would describe as "super-hero music" in a black outfit with an elaborate red, black and gold vest. He has the shorn look ... I'm talking Kurt Browning shorn, not just Jerod Swallow shorn, like he could have stopped by from boot camp (although the media guide lists his occupation as "child minder" :-)). He had been struggling with the triple lutz in practice and warm-up, but hit one in the program, pause, double toe! Good job. Double flip no doubt meant to be a triple, and then an awesome mazurka (paging Trudi Marrapodi). Camel spin fairly slow, combo spin travelled, and then he popped the double axel to a single.
Kyu-Hyun Lee of Korea wore part one of his personal costume saga, this being a blue and black costume that included strange "lacings" on his arms made with black fabric criss-crossing illusion fabric. More importantly, however, he had his hair entirely dusted vaguely blue with a bright blue streak in the front. I was overjoyed at this development. Fell out of the triple axel, double toe on the end, triple flip good, good speed on the flying sit, double axel OK, again good speed on the combo spin. Lee has pretty good presentation, but tends to look down or only at the judges.
Next up was a clockwise rotator, Juraj Sviatko of Slovakia, who has curly Philippe-esque hair and wore a black tunic-like top over a white shirt and black pants. He skated to fast Greek/gypsy type music. Triple lutz-double toe, nice flying sit, good triple flip, fast combo spin, double axel was okay but landed a bit on the toe. Good change camel with decent extension and then a serpentine footwork sequence. Pretty solid skater.
Lukas Rakowski of the Czech Republic skated to "1492" and some older music by Vangelis in an ugly costume composed of a "speckly" yellow, orange and red top with a V-neck over black pants. He's a cutie, tho'. Barely got the triple lutz, double toe. Triple flip was okay, combo spin travelled a little. Double axel was alright, as was the change camel.
Next was Yunfei Li of China, a very fast skater who wore a white top and black pants and skated to Yanni. Nice triple axel-double toe, a little bent at the waist on the landing, and then a perfect triple flip. Good change camel spin; he does a layover back camel on a nice edge. Solid double axel. I have written down "major potential."
Ilya Klimkin of Russia wore blue pants and a white checkered vest over a dark-colored top. His music was tango-esque, although at times it sounded more like an animal or small child being strangled. He has a quirky sort of style and this program had great choreography and very original connecting moves. Flying sit, good triple lutz-double toe, very solid triple flip. Fast change camel, good positions. Spirals in the footwork sequence including a brief cantilever spreadeagle move, and then a back spiral entrance to the double axel.
First to skate in the last group was David Jäschke who had a program to what I would call "robot" beatbox music. His costume hurt my eyes, a white shirt with black "optical illusion" swirly designs on it, worn with black pants. Turned out of the landing of the triple flip, fell on the triple lutz. Change camel with layover position, nice flow and decent presentation abilities. Double axel. Bobble on the combination spin.
Chengjiang Li of China wore a purple-brown outfit with a mustard yellow tunic top and skated to bizarre music, maybe from a movie soundtrack. He hit a perfect triple axel-double toe, but fell on the triple flip. I thought his combo spin might have been short of rotation. Double axel. Nice layover flying camel. The stereotype that the Chinese skaters can jump but they can't spin is no longer valid in any discipline. Li seems young and didn't have a lot of presentation of the choreography.
Next up was Bartosz Domanski of Poland, a tall, handsome guy in a nice grey costume, who skated to piano music which may have been from a movie soundtrack. He popped the lutz, flying sit was slow and a poor position, triple flip a bit messy but okay. Combo spin lost a lot of speed. Footwork fairly slow, a lot of two-foot transitions. Bobble on the change in the change camel spin, double axel low but okay. He didn't make the cut for the long programs.
You had to love the next skater, a very cute little guy from Slovenia named Gregor Urbas who has just turned 15 but looks even younger. He skated to "Kalinka" in a bright blue long top over black pants, which of course everybody began clapping along with. Triple sal-double toe combination was basically clean, very low and wrapped but I think fully rotated, double flip for the solo jump, change camel slow but okay, he almost doesn't do a "true" camel position, footwork was simple but done well, double axel low but okay. This clean skate was enough to squeak him into the long programs, and his coach was so proud that he picked Gregor up and carried him off backstage over his shoulder!
The next skater was Christian Horvath of Austria, kind of a goofy looking guy with a mop of dark curly hair. He had the "Steven Cousins" arms, held out straight like ram-rods but with the hands up and the fingers curled. Costume was blue with vertical stripes of slightly different shades on the top. Double axel okay. Very slow spin, triple sal-double toe okay, a hard fall on the triple flip. Flying sit very low position, but slow. Almost lost it on the combo spin. Didn't make the long programs.
The last skater was Ivan Dinev of Bulgaria, who wore a diagonal-striped black and white t-shirt over black pants and skated to dramatic music. He gets great height on his jumps and has a lot of explosive power, but tends to be scrapey. Triple axel-double toe, solid combo spin with some neat positions, huge triple flip, good straightline footwork. Fast change camel, double axel a bit forward but okay. The judges held up Davydov over Dinev, who wound up fourth going into the free.
First up was Michael Amentas of Australia, who skated to some nondescript fast music wearing an unappealing shiny purple and black costume. He actually skated fairly well considering how badly his practice session went that morning. Fell on the triple loop, which was on a bad lean, to begin. Turned out of the landing of the triple lutz, triple flip was messy but OK. Flying camel into a crossfoot spin, sort of. Triple sal was forward but OK. Singled the axel (I think), nice mazurka, not much in between the jumps, most of which were placed at either end of the rink. Came down forward on the double axel, into double toe. Turned out of triple toe, into double toe. Sit spin low position. Amentas tends to skate with the ram-rod arms and was fairly "charisma-free."
Alexei Gruber of Israel skated to Scott Davis' music from last year, "Once Upon a Time in America" or something like that, a movie soundtrack with lots of chopped up bits of disparate music which was about as effective as it was for Davis (that is, not). He wore a waiter outfit and tends to click his blades together in the air. Began with a nice fast flying camel and a doubled lutz, and already had more choreography at this point than Amentas had in his entire program. Popped the flip. Triple loop was okay, doubled the salchow, fell out of the triple toe. Change camel. Got the triple sal into triple toe (my notes seem to indicate a sequence, not a combination), doubled the flip, overrotated the double axel but saved it. Decent speed and flow, but a struggle.
Next up was Vincent Restencourt of France, wearing a deep blue military style outfit. My notes on the music, as taken in the practice, are: "military-esque movie soundtrack, sounds like something Todd Eldredge would skate to," and then later, "yup, it's 'Independence Day'!" Started out with a big triple axel, but couldn't check out of it and turned out of the landing. Triple flip, good height. Flying sit. Choreography was very wooden and he is rather ungainly at this point. Big double axel, probably meant to be second triple. Death drop, triple lutz forward but okay, stroking and posture could be better, nice big triple loop into triple toe. The music and choreography did not seem to mesh very well... at "highlight points" in the music he would be stroking around to the next jump, although he would occasionally yank one arm into the air on a beat of the music, a la Elvis. Sigh. Finished with double flip and triple sal-double toe.
Angelo Dolfini of Italy had a beautiful program to "Nessun Dorma," "E Lucevan Le Stelle," and other classical pieces. He did a splendid all-doubles run-through in practice, but unfortunately, he didn't do much in the way of triples in the competition itself, and by the end of the number there wasn't much acting going on in terms of the angst he was portraying. He began with double axel-double toe and then a double lutz followed by a combo spin with the Toller catch-leg position. Spreadeagle into triple toe, which was underrotated and in combination with a flailing double toe. Next was an Ina into a spreadeagle into a double toe (? or flip?). Doubled the loop, seemed very off-axis in the air. Triple sal-double toe okay, split jump into double axel, nice circular footwork, doubled the sal. Deathdrop. Attempted a triple toe at the end of the program and fell.
Next to skate was the adorable Mr. Urbas of Slovenia, skating a number to Spanish guitar music in a hot pink vest over a white top and black pants. He began with a double axel and a flying sit, and then hit a triple toe, of which we had seen very few in practice. He started getting bouncy after that. Fell on the triple loop, underrotated. Triple sal-double toe okay, not much in the way of choreography. Back spiral and then another attempt at the triple loop, this one successful! Big smile after that. Pseudo-layback spin and backspin. Gregor had been working on triple lutz in practice without any success and here did a nice walley into double lutz, a wise decision. Double axel, fairly weak circular footwork, double loop. He was just beaming when he finished and although he came in dead last in the long, this was probably a great performance for this young man, especially since he got three different triples, all fairly clean. Probably just making it out of the qualifiers was quite an accomplishment.
Vakhtang Murvanidzhe of Georgia skated next using last year's program to the "Addams Family" music, wearing a shiny white shirt over teal velour pants. He popped the triple axel which he had been struggling with in practice (into a single), saved the triple flip, flying camel, doubled the toe loop, singled the loop, then a deathdrop into a silly-looking two foot spin with his upper body bent over and his heinie in the air. Doubled the sal. Popped another loop to a single. Nice spiral sequence; when he was doing choreography, it was cute, but there would be long stretches without any. Combo spin, and then finally, a triple, the salchow. Triple toe, landed on the toe, but okay. Giant mazurka. Ran out of music while doing his last spin, probably rearranged the program to try and stick in more jumps.
Costume boy from Korea, Kyu-Hyun Lee, did not disappoint with his long program outfit, a black bodysuit with pinkish-red glowing "flames" over the top. I had noticed in the practices that he still had the blue streak in the front of his hair, but for the long program performance, Lee came out with his hair streaked with white and red as well as the blue! His music had a ballroom dance sensibility and may have been the soundtrack to "Shall We Dance" or the like. He had no trouble making eye contact with the judges, and in fact spent most of the program staring at them rather deliberately. It was either in the short or the long that he actually skated right up to one of the judges and ran his hand through the colored streak in his hair. The boy's got a 'tude, and I for one liked it. Began with a big double axel that was supposed to be a triple, good triple flip, triple lutz. Doubled the loop, footwork a bit scrapey, death drop, bad lean on the second triple axel and a hard fall. Combo spin with some interesting positions, sort of slow over the ice in general, triple sal into triple toe, fell out of landing. Sit spin with a very cool variant position, his upper body twisted fully over.
Ben Ferreira was up next skating to Big Band music in a black costume with a red tie (shades of Detroit... sigh...) and hit a great triple axel-double toe to start off with. Then a double toe-double toe combination only, flying camel with a droopy position, turned out of the triple loop, triple lutz landed somehow but on a nasty lean. Ben had been having better luck with triple axels than triple lutzes in the practice that morning. Triple flip was good. Combo spin I've written "yeesh" so I'm guessing multiple poor positions. He does the "Canadian male sit spin" with the hunched back. Not a lot of choreography. Double sal. Little relation to the music, but he is charismatic and I think he could get there with a better program. Fall on triple lutz. Hand down on triple toe. Death drop to finish.
Matthew Davies of Great Britain was up next skating to the Prokofiev "Romeo and Juliet," "O Mio Babbino Caro," etc., in a nice burgundy velvet vest over black pants and a bright white shirt. Began with a double axel, then a triple sal. Slow skater. Fell on triple lutz, death drop without a lot of height, good triple loop, triple flip okay, singled the next lutz attempt. Good relation to music, very graceful, nice posture. Triple toe, triple sal-double toe, and then he got the triple lutz on the third try... bravo! Double flip and a gorgeous, fast layback spin with a very deeply bent back and a nice arm variation.
Next up was Aleksei Kozlov of Estonia, who skated to bizarre ukulele music which later developed into bluesy harmonica music, in a stunningly ugly checked yellow, orange and green top over black pants. Began with a triple lutz which may have been slightly two-footed, then a triple sal-double toe, flying sit, triple flip. Nice circular footwork done with good speed. Change camel, a well-done spreadeagle sequence, triple loop, and then some kind of little jump (maybe taken off from two feet, I don't remember) which landed in an Ina Bauer position. Double toe, then a triple toe which may have been two-footed. Straightline footwork, stepped out of the double axel, and a combo spin with (sort of) a half-Biellmann position. Kozlov has nice long legs to do things like that with. :-) Aleksei may be a nice skater somewhere down the road; the jumps are pretty solid and he skates with pretty good flow and awareness of the music.
David Jäschke skated to some ponderous music, probably a movie soundtrack, in an ugly grey v-neck design top over blue pants. Began with a flying camel and then did a triple lutz, very close to the boards. Fell on triple flip. Change camel spin, triple sal out of a mohawk, popped the loop to a single, change sit into a Toller-type spin, then a nice triple flip, which is probably his best jump. Program was dull. Hand down and fell out of the triple loop, popped lutz, stuck double toe on the end of it, and finally stuck in another triple toe at the end, which was a bad idea, as he fell on it. He was certainly better in practice and may have just had an off night. In practice, David was also working on the triple axel, but I didn't see any attempts which were anyhere near fully rotated.
Alan Street of Great Britain was next, skating to "Samson and Delilah" in a very attractive red and gold costume. He has a nice softness to his skating and the choreography for this program was quite good, but once again, there were several noticeably bad cuts in the music. At one point, I swear it sounded as though someone hit a pause button by mistake and then quickly released it. I mean, I make compilation tapes to listen to in my Walkman which are better recorded than this was. I have no idea why this one aspect of his "packaging" was so atrocious. Anyway, he began with a nice double axel, and then got off a triple flip, triple sal-double toe, and then attempted a triple toe-triple toe, unfortunately falling on the second. Flying camel, walley into double flip, nice triple loop, change sit both very low to the ice, hand down on the next double axel in combination with a double toe. Triple sal-single toe (tribute to Ilya Kulik?). Nice serpentine footwork sequence. Looked a bit tired near the end of the program. Overall, I really liked this guy.
Next up was Juraj Sviatko of Slovakia. In practice, I described his music as "killer bird pan pipes," but when he came out for the long in his costume I realised that it was some sort of Native American theme. He wore a mustard coloured top with a brown rag-like "pelt" over it, including what appeared to be either a feather or a rabbit's foot stuck on the back. This was not as horrible as it sounds (in my opinion, anyway). Began with triple sal, 1/2 loop, triple toe, very well done, then a triple lutz and a flying camel. Triple flip, doubled the loop, combo spin, and then the homage to Michael Weiss, walley-reverse walley-triple lutz, also very well done. Change sit with interesting variant positions. This guy is going to be one of those "obscure Europeans" with a real fan base... unless he can get a triple axel and graduate to the big time, of course. Double axel, double flip turned out of the landing, triple toe-double toe which was two-footed (I can't tell which part of the combination I intended that comment to refer to), single axel.
Emanuel Sandhu of Canada was next skating to the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #2, the "Michelle Kwan Short Program Rachmaninov Music" (my apologies to classical music connoisseurs), the Barber "Adagio" and then back to Piano Concerto #2 at the end. His costume was a white top with a black scroll, or music stand?, type design on the front over black pants which were rather high-waisted, emphasizing his long legs. Very "ahtsy" opening with several interesting poses, then a triple flip, barely landed with almost no flow, right into a triple toe! Then a single axel, a two-footed triple loop, flying camel with layover position, fell on the triple lutz, which was underrotated. He had been struggling with the jumps in practice, so this was all no surprise to me. He seemed a bit slow and didn't have a prayer of landing any triple axels on this night. Single axel into a double sal (maybe it was actually a loop?!), combo spin, two-footed triple lutz, double axel. A lot of two-foot skating in the program, as well as the two-foot landings on jumps. Triple sal, again possibly two-footed. Triple toe, definitely two-footed. Sandhu has some potential, but I was expecting more given what I had heard about him. Somebody told me he'd only been back on the ice for two weeks before this competition?
Taijin Hiraike of Japan gave us another "Malaguena" program for someone's future database project, this in black with a gold-trimmed vest. Big triple axel, but way too close to the boards, and then the double toe on the end was more like a 1-1/2 toe to avoid killing himself. Triple lutz-double toe, doubled the flip, flying sit, doubled the sal, combo spin not great, okay presentation, a bit scrapey. Next move was different, a split flip into double axel. Triple toe. And then Hiraike did the homage to Brian Orser, a walley-reverse walley-triple toe, but unfortunately he fell out of the triple toe. Triple sal, and a flying camel. Good job, he was thrilled when he finished!
The next skater, Chengjiang Li of China (called "Leapin' Li" in the headlines of a newspaper I spotted the next day), had a program to "The Rocketeer" for which he wore a blue blousy top over dark navy pants. He started off rather well. Quite well, in fact. He started off with a totally clean quad toe-triple toe combination!!! He had hit many of these in practice and at least one in the warm-up... wow. Next he had an impressive fall on a big triple axel. Flying camel with layover position, triple lutz was two-footed, change sit was low but travelled a bit. Fell out of the second triple axel, which was overrotated. There were some in-betweens in the program, such as a nice spiral sequence, but not much in the way of expression or musicality. Triple loop, combo spin, circular footwork done with good flow, triple sal, deathdrop. This guy does have more to offer than the jumps, but this wasn't much of a program.
Yosuke Takeuchi of Japan was supposed to skate next, but withdrew and did not skate the warm-up. He had looked alright in practice that morning and I have no idea how and when he injured himself. His program was to "Hungarian Rhapsody."
The last skater in this group was Lukas Rakowski of the Czech Republic, who wore a most unattractive black bodysuit with an orange front, one white sleeve, and gold decoration on the arms and legs. He began with a deathdrop, triple flip, and triple lutz-double toe (had hit a few triple lutz-triple toes in practice). Doesn't get that much height on the jumps, but pretty solid technique. Double axel, triple loop, spirals, double sal, combo spin into crossfoot spin, double axel-triple toe, put a hand down on the toe. Pretty generic program, and a bit slow in general, including in the spins. Second triple lutz was underrotated, fell. Circular footwork sequence and then a really gorgeous walley into a triple toe. I guess a walley can actually look like a pretty jump instead of a weird flinging motion when done by someone who wants to do a nice one. ;-) Then at the end of the program, Lukas did a spin into a jump spin... more happy memories of Detroit.
The first skater of the final flight was Yunfei Li of China, who wore the same white top and black pants he had for the short. His music was pretty unbearable. The first section was all this Kenny-G like cheesy 80's make-out music, and then the second part was jazzy sort of music which was very poorly recorded so that it would go from far too quiet to far too loud, and all of it sounded like mono and had sort of a background hum. I guess I'm spoiled? There were quite a few skaters there with music that sounded this way. I guess not everybody has their music on their own CDs with pictures of themselves on the cover (noticed this about Punsalan & Swallow at Skate Canada). ;-) ANYway. Li began with a perfect triple axel-triple toe, the only one of the entire competition. Fell out of the triple lutz, then flying camel, deathdrop, spreadeagle. He reminds me a bit of Aleksei Yagudin in that he is not naturally terribly graceful, but he has obviously put some work into it and with a little bit more you almost wouldn't know that he wasn't "born with it." He also has a tendency to ka-thunk some of the jump landings and look a bit weighted down on the ice. And yet, he was the fastest of all the men at this event. Next he got triple flip, triple sal, a change camel, triple loop. Started to look a bit labored near the end. Triple lutz was forward but okay, in combination with a double toe. Combo spin with a nicely stretched "Galindo" position with the free leg up near the side of the head. The judges went way down on the second mark, which I didn't think was entirely justified. He is not particularly charismatic on the ice, but I thought he did a good job of presenting what choreography there was. I got to see him run through his exhibition program on Sunday morning and was really impressed with how much delicacy he can skate with.
Ivan Dinev from Bulgaria skated next in an unspeakable tight white top with a black vest and black pants. There seemed to be some sort of lobster or scorpion or something on the back of the vest. Okay, I'm teasing a little, I'm sure it was a scorpion. I was calling this the "Transylvanian Cowboy" program, all to twangy music and yet somehow retaining a bit of an Eastern European feel. Ivan began with a huge triple axel and a good triple lutz, but things quickly fell apart from that point on. Camel jumped into a back sit was a bit sloppy, triple flip with a messy landing, triple loop landed on the toe. Presentation not bad, but the program was a bit nondescript. Triple axel was two-footed, stepped out of landing, turned, triple toe, also very wonky. Flying camel. Triple toe, turn out, double toe. Hand down on triple sal. Oy.
Next was Ilya Klimkin of Russia, who skated to "The Bolt" in a very, very green velvety bodysuit with some gold sequins up top. He began with a fast camel spin and from the spin, took off directly into a triple salchow. Very cool!! Double axel, triple lutz-triple toe well done. Lots of flow, great presentation. Flying camel, very nice position. Triple flip, turned out of the landing. Double axel, fell out. A sort-of headless spin into a weird edgey spin, all very unusual. Fell out of triple loop, but nice triple flip. Stars into a flying camel, followed by a very well-done clockwise camel spin. Fell on second triple lutz. Not much footwork in the program. Huge Russian split jump, deathdrop, combo spin with other interesting positions. Even with the mistakes on the jumps and not having a triple axel, Ilya got very high marks, particulary the second marks, and managed to move up to fourth place!
Derrick Delmore of the US was up next, skating to "The Untouchables." In the practice, I could not tell whether this was "The Untouchables" or maybe "On the Waterfront" ... all I could ascertain was that it was music skated to by Paul Wylie. And so I wrote in my notes that I would be able to tell what soundtrack it was by whether or not Derrick came out for the long dressed like a lumberjack... For what it's worth, he wore a sparkly black top over plain black trousers. He began with a triple lutz-double toe and then fell on the triple axel. Derrick's triple axel reminds me a bit of Laurent Tobel. He brings the arms way up high in the air and gives the impression of whipping the jump around. Not as scary as Tobel, though. Next was an interesting combination spin which was rather slow, including a layover camel and a very low sit spin. Triple flip, flying camel a bit droopy, spreadeagle into Ina Bauer. Then the second triple axel, very solid, in combination with a double toe. Triple toe was messy, triple loop, stag jump (I think?). I didn't care much for the program. Although many of the moves were creative, it fell flat a bit because I didn't feel that he related well to the music (if you can call this music) and he is not particularly expressive. But that's just my opinion. The audience was enthusiastic and his second marks were high. Next was a change camel into a donut spin position, and then a triple toe-double toe, triple sal, and finally a dinky deathdrop.
The next skater, Vitali Danilchenko of Ukraine, had won a special place in my heart for his practice costume that morning, which consisted of plain skating pants and a black "Daffy Duck" t-shirt. He had a rough session, however, and this carried on through the warm-up and his performance in the long, where he dropped like a stone. He wore a black sequined top and black pants and skated to romantic classical music. Fell on the opening triple axel, doubled the flip which was way off axis in the air, and then a fast, gorgeous flying camel spin. Fell out of the triple lutz, good change camel, both hands down on the triple loop. Triple toe okay. Good musicality and expression of the music, very graceful, lovely spirals. Triple sal, triple flip-double toe, nice straightline footwork sequence, double axel–double toe, combo spin including the Zaggy spin. Basically, I liked this program in all the ways I didn't like Delmore's. I hope to see a lot more of this skater.
Last to skate was Sergei Davydov of Russia, who skated to very familiar classical music that I couldn't name for the life of me, also recorded with a distracting hum in the background. Costume was an attractive red blousy top over black pants. Sergei is a very polished skater but had to deliver a bit more in this performance to overtake Delmore. He began with a lovely triple axel-double toe, triple lutz, triple sal, flow is great, a very smooth and graceful skater. In practice, Sergei had been doing triple axel-triple toe as well as triple lutz-half loop-triple loop. The latter combination was also performed multiple times in practice by Yelena Ivanova; they have the same coach. Somehow he must have caught his toepick or tripped or something momentarily, and he may have had to put a hand on the boards, but it wasn't on an element. Fast layback variant, travelled a bit, gorgeous back spiral with one hand brushing the ice. Triple loop, fast flying camel spin with nice extension, doubled the flip, the "Olga Markova" variety of Ina Bauer with the fairly straight legs (this is how I do it too ;-)), fell out of the triple toe at the end. Although he finished with footwork with excellent flow and a good combination spin, I think the flip and toe at the end gave the impression that Sergei was getting tired, and he did not keep up the level of presentation that he had at the beginning of the program. Moreover, he only had one triple axel planned, and so he really needed to have hit the triple-triple. He looked miserable on the podium. Smile, Seryozha, it was still a beautiful performance!
Well, I was thrilled to discover two new and wonderful skaters from Russia at this event, both of them quite refined as well as innovative. Moreover, the continuing influx of good male skaters from China and Japan is wonderful to see. There were a few potentially interesting "second-tier" skaters here from Europe and a strong performance from the "second" American. (Tim Goebel of the US, last year's silver medalist who was a favorite to win this event, unfortunately had to withdraw with an injury). Many of these guys could skate at senior internationals and do quite well. Only a handful of the skaters in the long program were not at least working on triple axels. Moreover, quite a few of these guys had some creative and well-performed spins as well.