Yuzuru Hanyu and other figure skating talk part 33

Link to previous thread

Uno at TCC would be so awesome, I really hope he won't go to Russia, especially not to this Baba Yaga.

r2 As we saw with Med, Orser isn't a miracle worker, he hasn't fixed her technique, although some improvement is there, and Uno is 21 so it might be too late. He might just as well go to the Baba Yaga. At least house programmes won't consist od just crossovers.

But as others said, the idea of Uno moving to Sambo is hard to wrap you mind around and I doubt Eteri would agree to reason him remotely. Besides, remote training with an interpreter? Wtf.

Who is Baba Yaga?

Baba Yaga is a Russian witch.

I am honestly mystified by discussions about how Uno may want to rework his jumps. Why would he want to when the system currently already clearly indicates that PRs and URs are going to be rewarded all the same? It's like these people see what's going on but refuse to let it sink into their thick skulls that skaters don't gotta have jumps like Hanyu's or Boyang's to score more than the aforementioned two. Because in their ideal little world, it's not going to happen next season, just like it didn't happen last season, or the ones before. I mean, if I were Uno, now would be a good time to jump to a ship that would enable me to get more UR jumps in my repertoire, since it's all peachy according to the revised rules. And if the coach comes with political clout, all the better. I wouldn't only not judge him harshly for it, I'd even say he was smart, since he isn't one of the very select few whom, even if he had ideals, have the necessary skills to support them. And the more competitors to give the Americans a run for their money as well as add to the hurdles towards the next FS Oly gold they are quite obviously pulling all stops to get, the better.

And what about Hanyu, you ask? Well, the guy will just do what the guy does, for however long his ankle manages to hold out. And I pray that he doesn't end up ruining it to a point where daily life becomes difficult. At this stage, I'm more concerned about Jin, really. He's seemingly almost disappeared entirely from the conversation when people talk about the race for Olympic glory in Beijing. What's going on with that guy?

I hope he goes to Eteri and he ends up retiring by next season. Sick of the fugly little overrated troll.

R6 I get it that its smart, but being smart and sticking to ideals shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive. I'll still think less of him like I do Chen. Skaters come and go and fans could stay around for generations of skaters. Skaters who will game the system for their seconds of fame and then go, aren't doing anything for the sport in the long run and for an idealist like me. I don't even care if they fix their issues, but being content to win by being mediocre next to Hanyu in the same generation will make me respect them less.

China is probably punishing Boyang for his lacklustre season and refusing TCC.

Jin will be in the conversation again for 2022. It takes one or two good competitions for people to start talking about you again. Probably a good thing he isn't peaking too early.

R8 It is if you're in Uno's situation. It's much too late for the dude and if he wanted to do the whole reworking thing, he'd have done it a few seasons ago. Now it'd just be dumb with the whole Americans-are-the-full-package narrative going on. In fact, just as little as two seasons ago, I was in the very same place as you are, talking about how I have nothing against Uno but that I'm not able to respect him and the route he's choosing to take. It's also a huge reason why I prefer to root for Chen over Uno, to this day.

Now, I just accept that no one else can do what Hanyu does, which is precisely what made him the phenom he is. And that it's probably not fair to expect everyone to be able to do what he does. It means I won't ever respect them as much as I do someone like Hanyu (I know I talk about his ass a lot but that deserves respect separate from the being it is attached to) but it also does mean I am now able dislike these shortcut-takers less. I may even have developed a soft spot for Uno, though for as long as his jumps remain the way they are, in a scenario where he's pitted against Chen, I'd still root for Chen, American propaganda notwithstanding. But at the very least, Uno is not, nor has he ever been, obnoxious like Zhou. If doing this means that little punk may possibly get knock down a peg or two, I'm all for it.

R9 Gosh I sure hope so. While I've never been a fan of his performance aspect, and I'm not certain how far he can get with polishing it (I don't sense an innate flair for it coming from him), with the right program, he'll be able to at least sell it with his enthusiasm and I do really like that boy's jumps.

Is Shoma the next Jason Brown who couldn't quite hack it and made a last ditch coaching change? I know he's a more decorated skater than Jason, but I see some parallels.

Jin will be in contention in 2022 if he stays on his feet. You can be sure ChinaFed will try to buy half of the judging panel.

I'm trying to decipher the linked playlist for ATS (skaters names in Korean) - Javi is doing Prometo and Black Betty. Chen = Nemesis and "Next to Me" by Otto K. And Shoma = Great Spirit and Harry Connick Jr's Time After Time. There's a men's group number to Thunder by Imagine Dragons (Javi, Uno, Chen).

Somebody's doing Big Spender (probably a juvenile) and somebody, not Med, is doing 7 Rings by Ariana Grande.

And then Javi seems to be returning to FAOI for the last city Toyama.

BTW, I thought I remembered reading that Candeloro called and the FAOI people didn't have the nerve to tell him he wasn't invited. But he's not on any list I've seen. Wonder if he'll turn up with Deniss for the last two cities. (or maybe I've got my ice shows mixed up)

R13 7 Rings is Soyoun Park

Big Spender looks Dabin Choi

Thanks!

And I saw Javi and Gabriella Papadakis ice-dancing together in rehearsal - so looks like they're doing that hetero-pairing that everybody here's so fond of.

R16 Gabriella is known whore. She show everyone her tiddies. Javi not interested.

R10 Unfortunately, personal growth isn't my thing. I know not every skater will have the same strengths or weaknesses, but again it's just knowing that they are trying; trying to build their skills to match their scores, like the once scrawny Hanyu who was trying to catch up to his own high scores. I actually think Uno and Chen are somewhat striving to be better in their own way, but it unravels itself; like Chen purposefully stripping down his program to the bare minimum end of season because he knows mediocrity will still be good enough; or Uno with his recurring overpowered Floop that is sometimes the only quad difference between him and other skaters doing 4T and 4S in TES. Difference in mindset between skaters that are trying to win as the best and skaters that are just trying to win gold. Zhou is different imo, in that he isn't playing a game smartly like those two; he just truly believes he's that good and has gotten better. Perhaps this means I actually had hopes with Uno and Chen and not for Zhou.

If hanyu skips 2022 which he likely will, FS will be all about the women. Liu, new Russian-bots( yet to be named) , Rika and who knows is someone else will raise up the ranks.

R19 Skipping a season? He only needs to retire and people will already have forgotten that men's figure skating exists. Even with Uno and Chen in the lineup, current competitions are so soulless. GPF '19 happened and I can only remember the ladies. Time will tell if Gogo, non-Asian American skater, can fill in the popularity gap.

R20 *North American (Canadian)

Correction

Sotkova...

SP: To Build A Home. Choreo by Nikolai Morozov

FP: Fifty Shades of Grey. Choreo by Nikita Mikhailov

I wanted a 50 Shades of Grey by Morozov...

Rika Hongo is continuing too

SP: same as last season (Kill Bill)

FS: Ghost in the Shell. Choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne

everyone, including USFed is so quiet about John Coughlin scandal. Any news?

R23 Thheee only news is that Jooohhn Couuughhlin waass niice and maade people laughhh, exceppt for tatttttle tales and pruudes. He's tooo goood for thiiis cruuuuelll worrrllld.

Fernandez sees this photo taking place and gets the fuck out of the vicinity.

r23 I have such weakness for Rika Hongo. I wish she could get 2 GPs but oh well. Love her music choices.

50 Shades of Gray? Music is the on my good thing about those movies, but Sotskova? The most milquetoast skater out there?

Well, 50 Shades of Gray choreographed by Morozov and skater by Miki Ando could be an experience.

r25 Because they look like wax figures?

Queen Yuna.

That flower crown shouldn't be on Ando's head. She's wearing tan boots!

R28 Welcome, I guess.

All That Skate cast. Photo by Weijing Sui.

I'm blanking out on the second guy from the left, who is that?

R31 Probably Junehyoung Lee; better known as The Korean Guy Who Isn't Cha; also known as Who?

R25 That's...not a good angle. They look like caricatures.

R27 You nailed it. I thought they were wax too. How weird is that?

June, the one who almsot got the Olympic spot away from Cha because of the bizarre South Korean Fed rule. IIRC there was less than one point in between them

R26 I guess she will get 0 GPs next season. She must rely on JFS giving her one of the NHK host picks

r35 Damn, that's a shame about Hongo. More enjoyable to watch for me Then 90% od the field.

Thanks for the guy's name, I feared it was somebody I should have remembered.

r31 Uno sleeping deeply, Han dozing, Fernandez smiling and sitting in a, ah, European manner, Chen not giving a fuck, the Who guy kinda loking lost, Papadakis having fun on her own, Cizeron presenting all his assets. I wonder if Sui told them to do what they did best before she took the photo.

Kolyada and Hiwatashi have joined The Ice. Volosozhar/Trankov and Davis/White have joined FOI.

Russia may be banned from the 2020 Olympics for forging documents to protect dopers.

Ando has many more FaOI photos with cast members on her facebook.

Piper Gilles supposedly liked a post by an IG account (evgeniadoesntlikeyuzu) scolding people for shipping Med and Hanyu. (How did she find it? The account only had a few followers and likes before it was deleted, and looked like a crazy person was running it.)

About Uno’s independence: Last year, Uno admitted to leaving all decisions to everyone else except at competition, because it’s just easier to go along with what others decide. He also said Coach Higuchi told him he’d be skating to Moonlight and Stairway. In the past, his coach has complained that he wouldn’t offer his opinion whenever asked for input, and both Higuchi and Kanako Murakami have said he’s slow to learn new programs. His goal last season was to become more independent, but he not only lost a Worlds medal and ISU support to Zhou, but also lost media attention to Kihira and Chen, so the premature announcement might be the team’s attempt to get some of that attention back and prevent Uno from getting cold feet.

After ATS this weekend, Uno still has The Ice (July 27- August 4) and FOI (August 30-September 1). Eteri and maybe Daniil were at The Ice last year and will probably go to Dreams on Ice (June 28-June 30).

R11 Both stayed with the same coaches since they were five years old.

R13 It’s all on FaOI’s site, but Candeloro is only appearing in the Kobe shows and Vasiļjevs is doing the second half of the tour along with Volosozhar/Trankov. Sakamoto, Mihara, and Suzuki are replacing Arakawa and Ando. Apparently, Lanotte said he’d be in Toyama in 10 days on someone’s IG, but that hasn’t been announced. Cappellini/Lanotte were only scheduled to do the first half of the tour.

More Ando FaOI photos:

Someone explain why ISU started to suck Zhou's dick

r36 Stars and stripes.

I meant r38

Aww, he's so cute! Like Yuzu said, like a puppy.

Shoma's answer when asked a question about meat.

“umm, well you probably know this about me already but I don’t mind what type of meat it is, it’s fine if it’s meat. as for how much I eat....I’m rather small as you can see so I can’t eat that much"

Thanks, [R41]! That's adorable.

Blehhhhhh, yuck! Seriously! Shoma is just ODD. He’s socially awkward and so is the family PR.

R29, I agree, Johnny!

Shoma's choreographers for the season: Bourne (SP), Wilson (FS). Okay.

R45 Uno had intended to reuse his programs so he's not getting the choreo until late August and he plans to unveil them in late August. Didn't JDC just tell us it takes Uno a long time to learn his choreo? Yikes!

Someone translated Uno's message announcing the programs by Bourne and Wilson. What does he mean by "new programs to match my new environments"? Does this mean Toronto is in the running or is it a translation quirk and he just means, new programs by new choreographers to reflect the changes I'm making to my training?

What does Daniil think of all this!?

R47 He starts out talking about originally wanting to keep last season's programs since he didn't skate them anywhere near their potential but then decided that, in line with his upcoming fresh start in a brand new environment, he's gonna do fresh programs instead. Doesn't indicate for sure either way where exactly he's going, only that he's going.

So Yuzu Shoma, Vincent (and probably Nathan) have the same choreographer for this season. Is Shae-Lynn always on demand like this year?

R37 JDC, your explanation for Uno's announcement makes perfect sense to me - the team wanted a little PR out of it and they wanted to make things public as soon as possible to prevent Uno from getting cold feet. Makes me feel bad for Uno. I can't really see him adjusting quickly to such a confusing part time in Japan/part time somewhere else kind of arrangement with a completely new team.

R48 Thank you!

R49 Aint gonna happen, and we've talked about this before, but now with all the "top" men using Bourne, I kind of wish Hanyu would use someone else (for his SP too).

R49 I think this is the busiest Bourne has ever been. Wagner used her a lot and she did a few programs for top skaters here and there, but nothing like this year, where it seems everyone is using her.

Why so serious?

r45 Since Bourne and Wilson are the two choreographers Uno has most recently worked with for his exs, they must be the safest choice under the circumstances. But that means he’ll probably be at TCC or somewhere in Toronto between The Ice and FOI, where he’ll perform his new programs.

So, after ATS: Sambo? July: USA (Raf or Tom Z)? August: TCC? (TCC could be choreography-only.)

R46 What confuses me is that Uno said his music was already picked out during his interview for Colantotte (May 6). He said he couldn’t share the songs, but knew his fans would understand why when they’d be revealed. (Gallagher’s “scoop” was tweeted on May 17.) So did he think the fans would “understand” because his was planning to reuse last season’s programs at that time, or because Higuchi wouldn’t be choreographing them and fans would know a change was happening? Wilson was in Japan for a long time before FaOI choreographing other Japanese skaters, yet didn't work with Uno, so you’d think the former but…

The interviewer didn’t ask Uno why he couldn’t share his next SP and FS, yet interestingly, Uno kept trying to explain himself, repeatedly brought up how difficult it was for him to talk about next season’s programs and how he wasn’t sure how much he was allowed to reveal, and twice said he didn’t want to “lie” to everyone. He also said Bourne would be doing his ex again.

Also in the Colantotte interview, he said he immediately decided after Worlds that he wanted to go abroad for summer training camp, but didn’t have a particular place in mind, and it sounds like the camps were chosen for him.

I guess it's possible, but it seems strange that an Eteri student would have choreography by Wilson/Bourne. An interview with one of her girls, I think, revealed that Eteri had the last word on choreo - and she does seem to be a bit of a control freak. And I think, actually, Danlil sort of suits Shoma, from what we've seen.

Anyway, I guess Eteri could make an exception for a super-star "get" like Shoma.

I'm the odd duck who wants Shoma at TCC. What drama!

Daneil Grassl recently said he will do a summer camp at Eteri's in August. Details not yet defined.

And Bradie Tennell is going to work with Mishin - I think just for a camp - but hell, why not just move there. I think Tuk might bring her out of her shell. Teach her the wiley ways of a slut (and I say that with love, of course)

I feel like this Shoma coaching drama is a PR move and it seems to be working. In the end, he stays where he is and only does short away camps. Why, you ask? Because he lost to Chen and Hanyu when in same competition last season, then his sucky performance at worlds adding Zhou to the list. He’s not quite the “super star” but that is the narrative with all this hype on coaching change.

I think he's a super-star. He was on the Olympic podium - and Nathan wasn't. And he's been on the podium in nearly every comp he's been in since he turned senior. It's quite amazing really.

But if the super-stars are only Hanyu and Chen, then I guess you could say he isn't. But he's very next on the list, if not, at least in my book. I mean, who else?

Part of the problem is he is Silver Shoma entering his sixth year in seniors. His only Gold in 4CC this year was again without Chen and Hanyu. He has yet to prove himself as a super star. At least Chen has shown he can win and Hanyu is legendary. Now Zhou and maybe even Boyang may eclipse him this year since they both come from big Feds.

That would be a helluva turnaround for Boyang to eclipse Shoma next season - or hell, to get on any podium whatsoever. He crashed a burned since the Olys. Nine penalty points at Worlds in '18!?

And I shudder to think of Zhou as a superstar. Ewww. I don't think he'll ever have the 'it' factor, no matter how much the fed/judges try to prop him. He's just a damp squib whose body, as my boy Jonathan Beyer said, needs "unlocking"

* crashed AND burned

And I forget Boyang was 2nd at 4CC (which Shoma won). But he bombed everywhere else since Pyeongchang (not counting in-house stuff in China)

But in 2018 4CC it was reverse, Boyang Gold and Uno silver. It’s not unimaginable that boyang gets better and Shoma gets worse or stays the same. Boyang is younger and has better jump technique.

Shoma fell all over the place too, but he gets better PCS then Boyang too

If judges have stopped propping Uno up for Zhou, one skater with awful jumps for another, then Boyang will override Uno soon. Honestly in the past few seasons there were at least 2X when he should have won a medal over Uno.

R56, I could see Mishin working for Tennell. She's such a homebody though, I'm not sure it'd every happen.

Love black and white photos (especially with a worthy object depicted).

Does anyone have a link to a free stream of "Johnny Weir: to russia with love"? I wanted to watch it again but it seems to have disappeared from the Internet

41 He's the pillsbury doughboy of figure skating. ;)

62 They're pretty much the same ag. Boyang Jin is actually slightly older than the Uno bomber.

R53 Thanks for the summary of the Colantotte interview. Your description of Uno tepidly trying and failing to get people's attention with hints re: his programs/big move is funny. Since no one picked up on the clues, maybe that's why they went with an official announcement to stir up interest. I don't think Uno would have talked about his programs this way if he were just reusing the old ones.

I like Uno well enough, so this is all very interesting to me. It will be entertaining to see how his attention whore family handles all of this. I still don't see how control freak mom and control freak Eteri could work together though.

I was watching some clips of ATS and noticed that while attendance was great, there were a number of empty seats. WTF when Yuna fucking Kim + an all-star cast can't sell out in her own country. FS is doomed.

Here's a clip of the boys doing "Thunder" the group dance - with Nathan, Shoma, and Javi doing really butch jumps.

Yuna should dump David and Sandra. The bits I saw were all boring, hair-tossing, shoulder-shimmying, Canadian eldergay shit. She deserves better.

r72 totally agree. And since so much talk of Shoma. This is the creepy wierd, odd out of place Shoma at 1:40.

I forgot to name the "guy who isn't Cha" - even if he's not with the right agency, I'm pissed he isn't there.

Anyway, did the organizers just tell them to wear whatever they threw in their luggage because there would be no costumes for Thunder?

R71 by "really butch jumps" do you mean they just did some jumps in their street clothes with some music in the background? Is this what people mean when they say Nathan's programs are "masculine"?

R74 totally agree. We need more Cha in ice shows. He's a great dancer and performer.

I was being tongue-in-cheek which doesn't work too well in print, lol. Nathan looks so dorky when he points at the other guys after a jumping pass, sheesh.

I really don't think there's a showman in him waiting to come out. But I'm glad he's doing Nemesis because that music is so good, it sort of carries him - the way Spiderman did for Boyang. Here's bits of an interview with Nathan - somebody asked him if he felt bad doing Nemesis after the disaster at Pyeongchang lol.

"I was surprised that the audience was greatly supportive." Nathan Chen said, "The audience is almost full at this big stadium. It was the first time to perform in front of so many spectators. When I first got into the theater and got a spotlight, I had to get excited. It was time to feel how much I love skating again. I enjoyed it very much. "

In fact, Chen has a sick memory in Korea. It was the strongest gold medalist in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics men's singles division but suffered the worst in the short program, 'Nemesis' Asked if there was any reason to chose the song with the pain of Pyeongchang, Chen said, "There is no reason not to." "I did not play well in Pyeongchang, but it is still my favorite program. This mind will not change in the future. I will continue to show it. "

R77 I know you were being tongue in cheek ("butch" is rarely used unironically on DL). I was just grousing about FS's misguided take on masculinity generally.

Oh sorry R78 - here I am missing your sarcasm ;(

#ShomaUno will start working on the choreography mid-August and debut the new programs toward the end of this month. "They both have a lot of ideas that are real eye openers for me. Things I couldn't have imagined. I'm really looking forward to this." "At first I was going to skate to the same programs as last season to do a 'revenge' of last season, but since I'm moving, I thought I'd ask Shae-Lynn Bourne and David Wilson who have done EXs for me previously."

This really doesn't sound like he's going to Eteri. Surely Eteri/Danlil would not have recommended that he work with SLB and DW - and I wouldn't think they'd tell him to just pick any choreographers he wanted ??

Shoma seems so desperate. What’s gonna happen this year? Is this really going to get him ahead of Chen, Hanyu, maybe Zhou and Boyang. His technique sucks, not sure a summer camps will fix it. He is not going to Russia long term, that’s ridiculous.

r81 Sucky technique never affected his scoring. It's the consistency that's his problem.

73, agreed. Shoma looks funny tying to act enamored with Yuna Kim, and when he sits on the platform, his feet don't even touch the ground. I don't get the people who say he looks good. Looks, 3. Skating maybe 6.

Well, Shoma got lifted by Morgan Cipres, so Yuzu will be green with envy when he finds out.

But I don't think he'll be jealous of this move - love the cats below.

Did DW choreographed that? It's kinda lame.

At least the costume is not as horrible as FaOI. Then again, part of FaOI's charm is the horrendous costume.

Umm...

"OP costume is Masquarade leather meets HYK fluff. The fluff is pink/red or blue/violet. Yuzu was blue and CRAZY. Oh and clean 4T"

"If I wasn't clear enough, the costume is also like Masquerade, half and half. The leather half is sleeveless. The other is flowy, multi-layered fabric"

Yuzuru landed his second 4Lz (first popped to 1Lz) and Scott Moir did a double fist lump. However - it was "overturned, hand" so not perfect - but survived. Sheesh, is it gonna be like Kolyada's 4Lz? This is gonna be a long season. And he fell while dancing in the opening. Satoko, Deniss and even Stephane all fell, as well.

* lump = pump

R88 Goodness. Are they just tired or is the ice that shitty?

Hanyu practicing his lutz on bad ice, sheesh.

These ice shows are turning out to be very stressful

r84 is that really a lift, come on, this is a lift

Also, "The leather half is sleeveless", uuhh??

R87 I had to read that several times to even figure out what a costume of that description would even look like. For for those like me, someone drew a sketch (Also, for the DL grouch who is a sketch anti.)

finally! a blurring, amateur video. thank you law breaking Fanyus.

R94 That tweet shared by R87 told me everything and nothing at all. I already expected a dumpster fire of a costume, but how epically fucked up it was going to be was my question, and judging from the description (as well as the sketch you just shared), it seems I will not be disappointed.

R94 that doesn't look good on the theory, R95 and didn't look good on the practice

[quote] Goodness. Are they just tired or is the ice that shitty?

I don't know - just reading reports. I think the other three I named fell during their EX's, not during the opening, like Yuzuru did. Also, Yuzu's 4T in the opening was "perfect" - he's got really good stats on that for all the shows. I think he just screwed it up once?

Mai Mihara did a 5 jump combo (3Lz-3T-2T-2T-2Lo) - opening costume like an asymmetrical crop top - Rika was paired w Stephane for the finale apparently – finale costume: denim tight fitting pants with a faded light blue wash.

KOBE 1st half! Mai in sparkly red (Hero); Deniss (Clair de Lune); Satoko (new FS); acrobats; Nobu (Ghost); M-jay x Med collab; M-jay x violinist Suenobu Mayuko x Mukhortova/Trankov collab; Akiko; Johnny (new prog Love Story); Rika; Jeff; Tuk x Mayuko; Stepháne; Plushenko; Virtue/Moir Never Enough (May J) from Greatest Showman. (Zag was somewhere in there with Carmen - new program in 2nd half). Intermission.

2nd half: Elladj/ensemble skater; Kaori (Worlds Ninja Ex); Candeloro (3 Musketeers); Toshl/Satton collab (Vapor Trail by Yumi Matsutoya); Toshl/Akiko; Johnny (Fuego); Med (red dress with X on front); acrobats; Tuk; Nobu/Suenobu collab (Nobucruise); Rika ; Zag (new prog); Stepháne (new); Tessa/Scott/M-Jay collab; Yuzu Masquerade - Finale costume is...denim shirt, white at front and black at the back?? Finale was Can't Take My Eyes off of You: shiny metallic costumes. pink and turqoise for ladies, black and white for men.

Zag, Bad Guy debut: cropped red sweatshirt, hair in rolled up pigtails/buns and black leggings with cuts on them – started with her sitting crosslegged on the ice, biting on the sweatshirt - “quite fun” - Maxim and Tatiana did I Will Always Love You

R95 the vid was posted by one of the acrobat performers on the show

r100 still a law-breaking probable Fanyu

I'm tired of all the shitty pop music and recycling in figure skating. I tried to watch a few videos from these recent shows and decided it was a waste of time.

r102 "Recycling" rules out most of the classics and musicals, and "shitty pop music" basically excludes pop music. So what what would you like to see?

Copyright is maybe a problem when it comes to choosing music. Recycling and reusing warhorses, and using bad covers, are probably safer bets and wouldn't force a skater to change music midseason like Kevin Reynolds.

[quote]"Recycling" rules out most of the classics and musicals, and "shitty pop music" basically excludes pop music. So what what would you like to see?

I'm not against all pop music, but there are literally thousands of choices that have never been explored. And I'm no expert in classical music but surely over hundreds of years, there were some other interesting pieces of music produced besides Swan Lake, Carmen, and R&J.

I liked Loena Hendrickx's Madonna program, for example. But for every program like that you get 20 Lara Fabians. Or Muse, or Queen. Zzzzzz... Also, I'm going to puke if I see another MJ or Charlie Chaplin program.

I can listen to pop again and again...

Big recap of first half in the middle of page 31 on PH (second half coming later). Satoko had a rough time with her new FS Schindler's List.

Somewhere, maybe here? I read that Satoko was going for 3A next season, even if she had to YOLO it. Everybody's getting desperate (see Shoma).

I've been following the whole "who will Shoma Uno go to for coaching" saga and with the reveal of the choreographers, the TCC down seem so unlikely. But, somebody said "Shoma should be somebody's first priority and he won't get that at TCC".

Hypothetically, if Shoma joined TCC, do you think that the coaches would be subconsciously biased? Despite accusations of favoritism, Brian did great job juggling Javi and Yuzu and he seems to really care about Junhwan. Of course Junhwan is different level and no threat to Yuzu but I think Brian might have ambitions to have Junhwan as a podium contender for Beijing. It's evident that Brian feels comfortable and friendly with Yuzu and Junhwan through their long association, seven years with Yuzu and four with Junhwan. How would Shoma even fit into that? Obviously, they gave Med a lot of attention but she's a girl and no threat to their boys. Would Brian - and others - be capable of treating Shoma with the focus his situation requires?

But then "Shoma should be somebody's first priority" leaves out all the top coaches with a proven track record.

Welcome Shoma. I have lot coach experience!

r109 Misha, a top coach with proven track record who would make me my first priority! My saviour!

Hanyu needs to skate wearing this. Great aerodynamic qualities among other things...

r111 are though boobs?

*those, sorry shocked myself

R107, it's going to be a long season if everyone YOLOs it. Can't wait for all the thrilling falls and pops!

Ice dancer Joti Polizoakis retires. He was partnerless since last summer when Kavita Lorenz decided to retire. Not too surprised he didn't find a new partner. To be competitve for German spot is not so difficult given your competitors are Koch/Nuchtern, CancerDance and Urban/Steffan. I think he tried out with Schott's sister. I think his main problem is that he is quite short for ID (1.70cm) and therefore he doesn't have a big pool of potential partners.

Still, he is almost more famous for having bedded Weir's ex husband.

People often comment on how large Yuzu's shoulders have become yet look at him here next to Shizuka who seems to have even larger ones (or at least in proportion to their respective height/size).

R166 Sorry, we are still entranced by his glowing boobies.

Eteri confirmed on her IG that Uno will be joining her for summer camp. Pump those little troll legs and run far far away, Shoma.

Rizzo's FS will be Flamenco. Choreographed by MAssimo Scali

R116 that shirt looks huge on her

Sugar daddy Lambiel looking after his boy, sporting a hot bandana. And in the third picture, lathering up to shave? Interesting IG choices, Steph.

R120 It does but you can see the line of the shoulder still. She is probably an unfortunate soul like me, skinny but with large bones.

R118 I'm still baffled at these Shoma's news. He is already overscored so moving to people like Eteri or Raf will not help him.

R122 Shoma needs to perfect his underrotations and poor technique-eteri is perfect

Breaking: Hanyu's top in the opening number was the shortest and sluttiest top in the history of sluts.

R124 True? I'm reading they skating to a song from Neon Genesis Evangelion

It is at these very trying times that I bless the sanity of DL. Others talking about the Shoma to Eteri move for summer and not one of them is going to bring up the irony of bad jumps. Oh lord. If he finally gets his 4lz from them, and gets full candies more than Jin, like he already most times gets full candies more than Chen on the 4floop, Uno will go down as one of my most annoying skaters. Hard to respect him.

you cant just tell us yuzu was being sluty and leave without telling us how

I will always remember what I was doing on this most important day in slut history.

R126 There has been mention of his infamous jumps here and there but the ones that are point blank get shut down for being "abrasive" and others do it in a more roundabout and PC way by talking about the guy may be wanting to rework them (not even sure how they think he's gonna achieve that in Tut's camp, of all camps) which I think is plain silly when he's been getting away with them all these years and will likely continue getting away with them in this day and age when PRs and URs are as excessively rewarded as they are PRed and URed, as long as you skate clean. If anything, he's probably the prototype that brought about this kind of judging, right after Hanyu kicked down the doors of the remaining 200 and 300 threshold. The judges' problem with him was a never about his quasi quads just like it isn't with others who have quasi quads, which again, I suspect is all thanks to Uno in the first place). Clean skates is the buzzword these days. To destabilize yourself when others are getting brownie points for taking shortcuts just seems like going the opposite direction to me . Highly respectable, yes, but silly in its untimeliness. If he wanted to that., he should've and would've done it long ago. Doing it now will just land him in the same place as Asada. She got tons of respect but not much in the way of results.

Respect for the lil guy is far from high in my books but I've come to grudgingly accept the fella and maybe even feel a bit sorry for him that for all his cheated technique and propping, he still couldn't overtake Hanyu in any competitions they were both in even when Hanyu wasn't at his best, and now Chen has overtaken him. That's gotta be a tough pill to swallow. Sure he's got a silver at the Olys, which, although I feel is a result due to propping, it still isn't anything to sniff at considering Hanyu skated brilliantly (especially under the then-circumstances) and he's not exactly out of the guys shadow, but he hasn't got a gold in any other competitions when the real race is on, even when Hanyu isn't around. For all his sleepy and nonchalant demeanor, that has got to sting and adding to the fact that his family seems to also ride on his success, all this burden and pressure of "unpaid debts" (I get the impression that his OSM seems to have to be bolstered by multiple gold medals from other major comps to truly count for something) has got to affect him, which I think may be a major reason for this change.

Anyway, I really do hope this will help him remain in major running next season (because as it is, he may be headed towards a downward spiral) , if only this would impede Zhou and his obnoxious quest for quick and easy success (even more so than some of the currently propped up skaters).

R128 Not much gets you going, huh?

R127 Apparently, his top was very short and he danced so vigorously, it kept flipping up to reveal tantalizing centimeters' worth of slutty waist and back. When will the madness end???!!!

My theory is that ISU is turning COP into 6.0. Back then it was all about how the programs looked (no falls, charisma, showy, etc.) and supposedly technique didn't matter as much. ISU is just using the "guidelines" of COP to mask that fact that judges don't have to follow those "guidelines" and go full out 6.0 in scoring. That's what is really happening anyway at these COP competitions.

Morgan is the sexiest skater, and Daniil G. The hottest coach/choreographer.

Sorry, Mischa G.

R130 he has been very very naughty... more than normal. Hmmmmm...

R131 That's a good theory. But ISU is too dumb, old and disorganized for it to be a grand plan. I think it's just the natural result of ISU trying to give the sport some veneer of legitimacy, but totally okay with the fact that the judges don't know what the fuck they are looking at half the time. I don't even think it's the judges' fault (at least the ones who aren't blatantly cheating). They are asked to do too much in too little time. Fans have the benefit of time, replays, not having to judge a bajillion skaters in one sitting etc. In any case, I don't think I can take another season of ISU shoving both Nathan's and Vincent's artistry down my throat. I'm a skilled whore, but have standards, okay!

R132 Morgan is hot, but isn't he kind of a dick? Someone tell tales.

Sexier than Guillaume? Hmm I don't know.

And my boy Dave Lease says that Morgan treats Vanessa like shit, and at least once, somebody intervened to defend her (can't remember who - I hardly know who these people are since I don't watch pairs or ice dance, so I listen and kinda get the gist but I'm not fully getting it because, well, I've never seen any of this go down - even subtly - since I don't watch them.) Looks wise, I think Morgan is dull and ordinary looking - compared to Guillaume or even Yuzuru. But that's probably just me.

I can't wait to see Shoma fans start praising Eteri now.

[quote] he has been very very naughty... more than normal. Hmmmmm...

Report from a fan: I was really happy when Toshi showed up again. The song was really fun and Yuzu was really wild. There was a lot of head caressing and hands through hair and seduction while in his own world, a la Pieces of Dream from last year. At one point tried a leap and he slipped and fell and then was like… rolling around on the ice, his shirt halfway up. There was also actual dancing and he was, as usual, very into it. Lots of skin showing, too.

R137 O.o I'm having an easier time picturing a 4-year old instead of a 24-year old with that description.

R130 This is somehow reminding me of that Key & Peele sketch series where they played two middle-eastern gentleman checking out the ladies at a middle-eastern bazaar. Like they see a glimpse of ankle or a teensy weensy bit of a wrist and they get high from the view.

R138 Japanese media haven't released the FAOI pics yet because their pixelation department just wasn't staffed for this.

Don’t Japanese fans believe in hidden cameras? Some pics/videos would be nice.

Johnny Weir posted some hate mail on Twitter

Who tore sheet out of my journal?

R140 They're the Japanese. When sober, they're real sticklers for rules. It's both a blessing and a curse.

R141 And I think Weir, in his infinite wisdom, either just completely played into the sender's hand or he just made their day by both acknowledging and publicizing the letter.

Good point, R144. Sorry I brought it over here.

But maybe she wanted Johnny to post it? Maybe to get sympathy?

At least she seems like a girl with a lot of chutzpah and confidence, so I can see her brushing it off and moving on, less traumatized than others might be. And maybe this is a typical thing for some skaters? I shudder to think about the hatemail Yuzuru might have got. Especially when he said that time, "Whatever I do, people hate me."

R141 Am I a terrible person for thinking that Med herself wrote this?

For those not following PH's account of FAOI - the latest tidbits:

Today's show: Yuzu hangs on to 4Lz, but it's a success! Moir kun jumps around in joy/excitement In the jump battle -

Alina missed her jumps twice. At the end when he was high fiving everyone leaving the stage, Yuzu encouraged her to go for the jump once more and she succeeded at the 3Lz. He was clapping for her very hard when she did -

Yuzu's solo part is amazing, more intricate and in sync with the music than yesterday's show, the part where he was rolling on the ice was apparently choreographed, it's all in his calculation

R146, I think she did. Alina is getting way more attention, so she's trying to get some back. And some sympathy too. Seems to be working.

R144 He played into their hands allright. The TCC part is obviously referring to Hanyu, and now Hanyu is going to feel guilty, and the other Japanese skaters and staff will also feel obligated to do something for her. The tabloids will also pick it up to characterize Hanyu's fans as crazy again.

R145 Hate mail is a thing and Weir should be aware considering how long he's been in FaOI and his relationship with Hanyu and other Japanese skaters, but I guess he didn't feel passion about it before.

R146 I don't think she would go that far, but Weir made his post while the show was still ongoing, so she was reading her mail in the middle of the show and must have immediately shown it to him. The letter doesn't look folded, so I am curious how it ended up in her box as is. They wrote it at the show, tore it out, and put it in her box? It would've been very noticeable when it was dropped in Med's box, so someone out there had to have seen something.

We need to compare this with her own handwriting. ;)

R141 so many assumptions made -

1. Could’ve been Russian fan or fan from any other country commenting on her being in Japan. And trying to get Japanese favors 2. Could be Alina fan with their rivalry (or Gogo fan-LOL)

R150 it's written with left hand

R151 or Gabby fan

Interesting observation about it not being folded. I wonder how she received it. I think many of us think there is a possibility she wrote it (not saying she did). That doesn’t say much about her personality though.

R154 I think she wrote it because she desperately needs attention

Very well could be Alina fan who wants Alina to be closer to Hanyu than Med. upset about Med being in FaOI after pulling the “me or Alina” bit at last years FaOI. Then again, Alina has been getting a lot of attention from Hanyu and Plu proabaly because she is the gold medalist and Med is jealous and seething.

Now I definitely don’t think weir should have posted it without knowing all the facts, especially since people reflect this on Hanyu and his fans.

R153 or Gabby

r154 The letter also would've been placed in the box before the show, and Med would've received her fanmail and presents in a plastic bag backstage. Zakarian has an instastory somewhere where you can see Fernandez and others looking through their fanmail backstage.

R156 I think the hate mail would've said something about Med being a copycat or bully or mention the earthquake if it really was about Zagitova or Hanyu. Unlike the small but dedicated group of Med-Hanyu shippers, there aren't really any serious Zagitova-Hanyu shippers in Japan except for the people who just use it to troll the Med shippers. Whoever wrote the letter knew others would see it and it'd make its way to Hanyu and staff. And it's supposedly already made its way to Russian media.

There are a couple of other things that bother me about the writing. The G and the t's at the end are unusual for a Japanese person. They also first wrote "Ro" instead of "Ru" for "Russia," which is also an unusual mistake. "Rossiya" is the Russian spelling for Russia.

R158 I was also thinking that it doesn't have the usual spelling or grammar mistakes a lot of Japanese make when writing in English. At least not the ones I know.

Some of you psychos spend all your free time here trashing Evgenia and yet you don't believe that someone would write a letter like that?

We need to get the Butt Detective on this case.

And they also messed up "Japan" twice (it looks like they may have written an "S" instead of a "J" for that last one) and the J is unusual.

Johnny is a fucking idiot and hypocrite. What good would posting such a letter do? It could only make things worse. Did he not think about how this would reflect on his hosts? That it would make further trouble and unwanted controversy for them, without solving anything? He's trying to be so morally superior, but where was the moral superiority when he posted all those messages in support of Coughlin and bullied his victims into silence?

R160, I don’t think the “psychos” are saying someone other then Med could not have written that letter, I think they are saying it could go either way.

R163 did Weir really support Coughlin? I can’t remember the specifics. If so, did he at least apologize?

r160 My thoughts exactly. There's lots of people who dislike Med for, eh, insert your reason, including being at TCC. That letter is actually less vicious than what's being said here or on Twitter. It's way more believable than somebody just put it in her box than the conspiracy theory that she wrote it herself to gain sympathy.

About Johnny: few skater probably know hate mail better than Johnny. I totally believe he'd be passionate about any instance of it - if it was shown to him. Somehow I doubt that Hanyu would show him his hatemail though.

r163 So now we're going to hate on Johnny because... he spoke against bullying? Because the one he dared to defend was Med? Wtf.

R160 I find it amusing that you call other people psychos when you snap every time we mention a certain skater and you spent like three threads writing essays on why throwing phones and tissues and being a petty little bitch is okay "in context."

R166 that’s not really fair. It’s possible that r160 also considers themself a psycho just not against Med. they are a psycho who dislikes the short Elfie troll

Medvedeva liked an IG comment that pointed the finger at 'crazy Yuzu fans'. Classy.

R165 maybe it’s just me, but supporting an “alleged” serial child molester and standing up for a bullying letter is not the same thing. Hard to support his moral superiority unless he backed down and apologized for supporting Coughlin, which I still do not have evidence of

Also posting this letter does nothing to stop the bullying, if anything probably eggs the antis and makes Med the center of the pity police. That’s the problem with drama queens, they can’t think of the intermediate to long term consequences of their actions. Why not wait til after Fantasy on Ice.

R168 ugh! hopefully this is Med’s last year on FaOI, let’s just stick to Alina

R165 Did I even mention Med? I'm saying Johnny is a useless attention whore because he accomplished nothing by posting that note. Will the antis now be chastened? No, he just gave them a bigger audience than they could have ever hoped. Will this bring awareness to a problem we were ignorant of? No, this kind of shit is all over SNS. Did Johnny drag Hanyu into this mess when Hanyu has told him personally the anguish and trouble this shit has caused him? Did Johnny just bring new purpose to the crazy people on either side? Yes and yes.

R169 Why not wait til after Fantasy on Ice.

This won't get that mach attention after the show

R161 LOL

Han Cong and Shoma. Uno, the new Traumpaar.

It has begun....

If I were the organizers of FaOI, I would remove her from the show immediately...for safety reasons

R164 Here is Johnny's message regarding Coughlin: "John Coughlin was a person who made things fun. He was a person who was talented, had an incredible laugh & would go out of his way to cheer someone up. His kindness is something I’ll never forget and his light will be missed. My prayers are with his family & friends."

People asked about Coughlin's victims. Johnny's response was to post more videos of Coughlin on twitter and IG.

Who cares about this woman enough to write that letter? Nobody

There’s no reason to publish it.

My conspiracy theory: It was Hanyu who wrote the hate mail.

R161 Imma have to hunt down meself several volumes of those for real.

R179 Lol. Is his written English even good enough to manage even that much?

And is Hanyu trying to win ToshI over through his tastebuds and his stomach? Is this actually some kind of strange May-December courtship ritual we're witnessing?

I’m surprised Ge hasn’t jumped in to draw attention to himself. Maybe he’s mad at Med for not a being able to get him on FaOI. Then again, I guess there’s still time

IK translated the Hanyu/Buttle interview in the FAOI brochure.

Thanks R182. It's interesting how little Yuzuru talks about Johnny Weir in this interview about his tribute to Johnny. Much more about Jeffrey - even how Jeffrey skates and his body type etc. compared to Johnny.

I'm probably imagining things but I've felt the relationship with Weir was a little cooler (and with Plushy, especially during this FAOI series, warmer - like when he looks so worried when Yuzu is trying his 4Lz's and how he tried to help him with the body position going into the launch on Friday). Javi was concerned too, and talked to Yuzu when he looked upset.

Then now here's Johnny posting the letter - cozying up to Med in pictures and stuff, like Misha Ge used to do. You'd think he'd be old enough to not do the teenager bestie thing. I'm officially annoyed.

R183 Ah I thought it was just me. I was lucky enough to go to FaOI Sendai and Yuzu stuck by Plushenko’s side throughout. I never once saw him talking to or interacting with Weir.

Ice dancer Shingo and his partner won somthing! Google translate:

The first ice dance match is over! ! I was really happy that a lot of fans came to support I was nervous because I was the first ice dance game, but I was able to manage to slide with the warm cheers of everyone. And thank you for a lot of presents

The next ice dance competition is the Canada Mint Cup.

I look forward to your continued support!

R184 Didn't Plush say he wanted to tell Hanyu something about a "flaw" in his skating and that he would save it until the end of the season and tell Hanyu himself? I wonder what he told him. Hanyu admires Weir's skating, but has he ever been all that close to Weir? He's not exactly buddy-buddy with Plush either, but they are like-minded and seem to bond over skating and competing in a way Weir and Hanyu do not.

R186 Iirc it wasn’t a flaw and more of differences in how they would have interpreted the program? If somebody can bring up the quote again that would be great. Though it doesn’t seem to have affected anything. I do think Yuzuru idolises them in different ways - they’re both skaters he admires but imo Yuzuru still gets starstruck when it comes to Plushenko. It was nice to see Plushenko be so encouraging towards Yuzuru and his 4Lz attempts.

Was there beef between JButt and Weir? Hanyu seemed to sense something. LOL. Someone sucked someone else's husband's cock and someone never forgave him for it!

Oops - trying again on my link to Shingo's Instagram photo

JDC, what do the Japanese fans think about this new Med drama? Has she fucked up again with them?

R185 It is the Prince Misaka Cup, a local competition in Japan. Mind you, being Japanese ice dance, they may even have been the only competitors. Looks like they are doing Don Quixotte as FD.

Mint Cup probably is Minto Summer Skate, one of the Canadian Summer Series competitions. It's on late July

Thanks R191. I have a soft spot for the boy, going off to Canada alone at such a young age, without any family or anyone else with him. Go Shingo !!

I suppose his aim is Junior World.

first set to Krawietz/Mies

6-2

sorry wrong sport!

Maybe Weir's over-the-top comments about how great Nathan Chen is have started to annoy Hanyu and that's had a negative affect on their relationship.

R196 I don't think that's the case. Weir has made those kinds of comments about Chen for some time now and it didn't stop Hanyu from inviting him to his show or making a tribute program.

Hanyu’s always been a bit colder with Weir. In the past FaOI , he always trie to take his final pic with Plu, while Weir is always trying to get next to Hanyu.

I don't know what he said before but this season he said that a clean Chen can beat a clean Hanyu. Maybe this hurt.

R199 Oh man I’d managed to put that out of my head

I’m not sure Hanyu is that petty. Even this year, instead of being bitchy about the GOE candies for Nathan, he’s trying to figure out how to up his game. I just don’t think hanyu ever had the same admiration for weir as he does for Plu.

we have the first Mouline Rouge for the new RD. Or maybe it is already the second

Stepanova/Bukin:: "Sparkling Diamonds" from the movie "Moulin Rouge"

Med is the founder of "I've been rejected by Yuzuru Hanyu" club and Weir is the most recent member. I love this conspiracy theory.

R203 Well, it likely has more to do with Fanyus than Hanyu. I'm sure this is Weir's way of getting back at the fanyus who have gone after him on SNS for his comments about Hanyu.

Shocking that last year's and this year's FAOI dramas revolve around the same attention whore. I don't doubt Med gets hate mail, but of course she (and Weir) chose this particular one to highlight. I wouldn't be surprised if Med thinks Fanyus are the only thing between her and Hanyu.

R201, Hanyu skating style very similar to Weir, especially when he was younger. Also had the Weir cutesy, klutzy act down pat. In an interview he called Weir beautiful. I think he did admire him. But maybe he grew out of it now.

R198 Yuzu always tries to appear more stoic (or straight acting if you prefer) while in Japan. Although apparently at one of the previous faoi stops this year he was on all fours on the ice at some point during the finale going towards Johnny acting like a bear or cat. Of course it did not end up on camera same as the lift he got from that Georgian skater because Japanese tv is homophobic.

R203, is the club still receiving applications? Gracias, amigo.

Lo siento, Javier. The club is for people rejected by Hanyu, not the other way around.

r201 Hanyu's skating is much more influenced by Weir's than Plush's though. But I think that those comments by Johnny might have finally worn on him. I'm sure Japanese fans made as big a deal of them as international ones and he apparently follows Japanese stuff about himself.

[quote]Who cares about this woman enough to write that letter? Nobody

r171 lol, are you even reading this thread?

R207 That wasn't at a show. Some people got to watch a practice with Hanyu, Lambiel and Weir and it wasn't filmed. Hanyu and Lambiel were both crawling around on the ice and Weir called Hanyu a polar bear.

r182 So is it safe to assume that Hanyu isn't moving on from Buttle anytime soon.

Also, intersting creative process. I didn't realize "how Jeff skates it" was so important to Hanyu.

R182 It's good that Buttle gets a lot of shine in this interview because I think Hanyu's skating owes a lot less to Weir and especially Plushenko these days, and a lot more to Buttle and Bourne than people give them credit for. His unbroken fluidity and the way he uses transitions seems like influence from Bourne and ice dance in general, which he's known to be a fan of. IIRC he has talked about studying Bourne and trying to integrate a "feminine" way of movement into his own skating.

Hanyu has been visibly cold and distant towards Johnny Weir this year. Maybe he saw Weir and Med clinged to each other more often and he didn't want to get dragged into shit like last year with Ge and Med. Poor guy tried to run away from Med-Ge drama just to discover that he's jumped out of the frying pan into the fire because Med still has Weir lollll.

R190 There’s a mix of shame, embarrassment, sympathy, suspicion and a sense of irony after the way she treated Zagitova over Bad Guy. There are some fans who insist Hanyu should take responsibility and do something with her at the show. But Weir’s conduct is actually being discussed more than Medvedeva. Many feel he should’ve gone straight to Makabe instead of giving attention to the sender who likely expected Med to post it, or waited until the show was over to tweet it. There’s also confusion as to why it was Weir who tweeted the letter and not Med herself, and why he only did this for Med when it’s always happened to other skaters. The confusion was compounded after Med said on her IG that the letter didn’t bother her and it’s happened a number of times before. Then why now and why were the letters from Russia ignored? Many fans also had no idea what TCC was, because it’s always called “Cricket Club” or just “Cricket” in Japanese.

R204 Weir’s comments didn’t become an issue in Japan. He was defended, if anything.

[quote] Of course it did not end up on camera same as the lift he got from that Georgian skater because Japanese tv is homophobic.

R207 The lift hasn’t been on TV because the full broadcast hasn’t aired. The Weir and Hanyu polar bear incident was during a private P&G fan event. I thought I responded to you earlier when you also suggested Hanyu was trying to appear straight in front of his family because he turned down a lift that one time in Sendai, but maybe I didn’t get to it. Getting lifted in Japan isn’t perceived as “gay” and a thing done in physical education class. In fact, it’s far more unusual to see male-female and female-female lifts.

by seeing Yahoo Japan comments, almost all Japanese feel sorry and sympathise Med however many of them feel something strange for her/his way of writing English as a Japanese, especially the word “devil”. anyway Weir did throw a wet blanket to the fans who are looking forward to see faoi today. he should have done after the show if he really care about fans.

R215 thanks JDC, I think that pretty much summarizes how DL posters feel. Are DL posters just all English speaking Japanese??!?!

R217 Speak for yourself! I feel suspicion and annoyance and some sympathy for Med (but only because I feel like I should). Why should anyone, including the Japanese, FaOI organizers or Hanyu feel embarrassment or shame for the actions of one psycho, especially when there are psychos like that from other countries and races, all over the internet, against all the top skaters.

R218 JDC presented a broad range of emotions

[quote] shame, embarrassment, sympathy, suspicion and a sense of irony

I didn’t say DL posters feel all of it, we are all mixed on how we feel about this issue

Yuhuruzus, thisd horsrilble! bad presss SUCXXx. Caaall me, we talkkk aboutt howw to handles overr some drinksslk. ( bringgs cash, k? I gett it neXT time. pormise.

I feel 0% sympathy for Med. Sorry not sorry.

I feel bad for Hanyu. He does these shows less for money but to please his fans. These hangerons, who can’t see beyond themselves is pathetic. If that letter is real, it’s horrible. But posting it in SNS while the show is still taking place, making Fanyus defensive and diverting attention to attention whores is equally horrible.

R221. I think she looks for any god damn drama she can find. Whoever up thread said that she may have wrote the letter herself? I wouldn't put it past her. And as for Johnny Weir? Good god he's probably looking for some drama himself. Two drama seeking individuals at faoi. Both deserve each other!

r222 Don't feel bad for him. Those shows are a great way to practice his showmanship and get all the public adoration he likes without the pressure of competition.

R222 agree completely. Weir is too old to be this idiotic, rude and desperate for attention, but apparently he is. No wonder he got grifted by Voronov. He really is that stupid.

R215 My comment on his straight acting while he is in Japan had nothing to do with the lift. It's more about his general demeanour while there especially during interviews. I complained about Japanese tv in reference to the lift not him. And for the 100th time you aren't the only one with a knowledge of Japan and Japanese society so stop trying to school people on it.

I need an update on Mishe Ge. Hasn't he stood up for his BFF yet ?

R226, chill. In JDC we trust.

Hopefully Hanyu doesn’t feel any pressure to pay special attention to Med. He should stick to the Olympic GOLD medalists. Shade.. yes... shade... 1.31 points....

R226 c'mon don't start the who-knows-more-about-japan contest. We had it in like, thread #5

R227 I know I am DL fave and you all hungering for my insights, but my connection to Yuzuru are deeper than internet postings. When he have troubles, I am friend who there offering hand to guide step by step, until we reach climax of friendship benefits. I cannot say much beyond. Oh, maybe I say too much already. Don't worry DL, your thread pet much safe in my fingers.

R230 I never start this because it's stupid since we don't know the people posting but she constantly does and it's a bit tiring. I told her to block me in the past but I guess she didn't. I didn't block her until now because I reserve that for actual trolls but maybe I should. Please ignore in any case.

If faoi know what's good they won't invite Weir and Med again next year.

[quote] you aren't the only one with a knowledge of Japan and Japanese society so stop trying to school people on it.

But JDC is the one sharing all the wonderful scoops that no one else is, without which this thread would be much worse off.

R232 Hug it out guys. Can we watch?

Zag has been the one getting more attention from media and the host. I’m still waiting for fan report to surface on twitter but i thought yesterday there’s the P&G rehearsal event and Zag might be part of that? I am only speculating based on Zag’s IG story of her Bad Guy runthrough, there were clearly spectators sitting in the first row. Johnny was on the ice too.

@JDC, are these P&G rehearsals usually just for fans to watch Hanyu’s practice or do they also open more sessions for other skaters? If it’s only the Hanyu session then maybe Med is upset Zag is getting the special treatment to get to train with “the boys” in front of fans. Maybe she has just snatched herself a spot for the Toyama open practice if they are hosting something similar.

R233 And she can keep doing that without bringing takes like 'In Japan men kissing each other is seen as straight' and/or being condescending time and again. It's nothing new and usually I ignore it but that one was a bit too ridiculous to pass. End of rant.

R226 sorry but it’s irritate me as fu*k when I have so see this kind of comments that happen time to time in DL suggest that Hanyu r acting manly because his low voice talking in Japanese,his action this and that and yada yada. I mean even he finally discover himself as gay, so he has to change the way he act or talk in Japanese to be more girly or what?if he really do acting manly in Japan as u said he should stop laughing in high pinch voice that he alway do also. His manner is like that since he was young and I don’t see the different.

R232 Weir will have 2-3 more years of show career? Did he skate he will skate until 2022 or is he retiring by 2022, in any event FaOI is the only show he’s on right now so I think he might have already worked out with Makabe so I don’t be see him going. He’s been a staple in the show for past 10 years too, I don’t see Makabe cutting him off just for this.

As for Med, I can see Zakarian will do whatever he can to keep her on. Plush has talked about cutting down on shows, he needs a “star” other than ensemble skaters to secure his tidings with FaOI. I wonder if Zag is also signed under him? Maybe next year we can have Zag and ditch the drama queen. Their skating are the same anyways with Zag bringing much less drama. She also seem to appreciate all gifts from fans, unlike Miss drama who only reacts to Chanel gifts or hate letters.

When Hanyu gave interview in Japanese seriously about the competition and some comment was like oh he acting manly because he was in Japan. I was like WTF ! and thanks to JDC for all of ur information and I appreciate ur schooling that comment

R237 That's pretty on point. People are multifaceted and Hanyu even moreso because one thing that's clear as day is that most of his facets are vibrant and/or intense, and can be polarizing, and the guy isn't afraid to show it. But whether he's doing cutesy stuff or lording it over Oda (these are two extreme ends of a spectrum I've noticed the guy has), it all seems genuine to me as he just behaves whatever he feels like at the moment based on he environment he's in. I do that a lot myself. People who know me and seen me interact in different environments have pointed it out to me because they're fascinated but no one's ever accused me of pulling different acts and hiding behind masks. They just accept that it's all me.

The only time I get the feeling that Hanyu is consciously schooling his behavior is when he actually has to maintain decorum. Otherwise, he seems the go-with-the-flow sort to me.

I'm not a fan of condescending people myself and JDC does exhibit that from time on that time when she's exasperated, but I never feel as though it's completely unwarranted when she does because it's usually brought on by complete ignorance disguised as wisdom.

She didn't come off as condescending to me in her last post either, only matter-of-fact. And it wasn't like what she said was wrong. Don't remember her saying guys kissing each other is seen as straight in Japan tho. Only that dudes lifting each other is a norm.

People make ridiculous claims and act out here all the time and if we have to tolerate that, we can take JDC's bad with her good. Besides, unlike most of us here, myself included, she actually has more good than bad.

Vincent Zhou's 2019-2020 FS - "Cloud Atlas" soundtrack, choreographed by Lori Nichol

Why are you guys complaining about the things that make the JDC posts so awesome - the nit-picky, precise eye for the most humiliating and sordid details, academic disdain for degenerates, hypocrites and whores(? unsure about this one). Stay stuck up, JDC. I love it.

Shoma's quite the hit in Korea. Apparently these are some of the descriptions the Korean press is giving of him:

Determined glance -- Charisma on ice rink -- Idol of figure skating in Japan -- The majesty of PC Oly Medalist -- The Little Prince on Ice – The artist on ice -- The small giant on the ice rink -- His eyes make you feel overwhelmed -- You can feel power from his jumps

R243 that means nothing considering FS IS Yuna Kim I’m Korea, otherwise dead sport. He needs same support in Japan

R243 And that's just what they said about Itsuki.

LOL R245. He's a hunk, that's for sure. What a blessed family.

And about Shoma's eyes making you feel overwhelmed, wonder if they mean his sex appeal, animal magnetism, intimidating machismo?

Koreans don’t really like Hanyu anyway. He’s too patriotic and they think he has a personality issue (re: that silly Sochi gala incident) and that he’s fake and embarrassing (that one time he was late for a press conference and jumped over the barrier).

R247 the thing about the second OGM usually gets their goat too. No idea why.

R247 Cry babies and liars, the whole lot of them.

Olympic silver medalists usually get the most love

R248 Guess they just don’t like that he’s too dominant. Some of them got upset when he was playing around with Junhwan because they thought Hanyu was making fun of / annoying him.

Yuzuru does give me second hand embarrassment sometimes. But I still stan him.

R252 of course that's part of his charm. Only people looking for things to hate would take issue with the innocuous shit Hanyu does off ice. Sometimes people aren't content with disliking someone's skating. They want to invent things to take down the whole person.

That's rich because Uno's whole schtick for sticking out with his Japanese coach and her same programs for so long was because he wanted to come off as bred in his Japanese region and cannot bother to learn a little bit of English, while Hanyu is training abroad and always makes such a big show of trying his broken English at press conferences and throwing a bit of the local language in it. This big show this season trying to PR and turn Uno's image around is really making me wonder what the heck Uno's team is thinking. Did they really panic that hard after he fell off the podium at Worlds?

R232 I was responding to:

[quote] Wonder why Yuzu refused to be lifted this time in Sendai. Afraid of appearing not masculine enough in front of his hometown including probably his family and many people who knew him personally?

and

[quote] Although apparently at one of the previous faoi stops this year he was on all fours on the ice at some point during the finale going towards Johnny acting like a bear or cat. Of course it did not end up on camera same as the lift he got from that Georgian skater because Japanese tv is homophobic.

I didn’t realize that pointing out the Japanese TV broadcast schedule was so offensive. I also don’t remember associating the lift with any sexuality (or kissing?). Wait, I think that was you!

By the way, I did block you. You’re posting from a different account. And wouldn’t it make more sense for you to block me?

R232 At Makuhari, the P&G winners watched Hanyu and some other skaters (Weir and Lambiel in this case) practice. Each fan received a flower from one of the three skaters, and group photos were taken. Sometimes, other skaters like Zagitova happened to be practicing on the ice even though they weren’t technically involved in the event. The Toyama event is a talk show with a “secret” guest (Shuzo Matsuoka). The show will also be broadcasted live at 40 (I think) theaters across the country for those who won prize B.

Anyway, thank you all for the support, even if you are all a bunch of hopeless, degenerate whores!

R255 Cunt!

I agree with R237. Yuzu"s manner hasn't changed since he was young, like the limp wrist and the way he sways his head (I don't know the correct term for this kinda gesture). When he did that as a kid, people think it as a childish gestures, but when he did it as a grown man, somehow people perceive it as feminim. Don't get me wrong. I'm not the delusional fan who insist Yuzu is straight. I don't care if he's gay, straight, asexual or pansexual, I'd still be a fan.

Does the majority of Korean fans really hate Yuzu? Or just the minority? I remember watching 4cc gala video on YouTube, all the flower girls was all over Yuzu They even pushed Shoma out of the way. The flower girls (and even the boys) in Pyeong Chang looked kinda awestruck too.

R257 You must be new here because you forgot "allosexual."

R257 He does have Korean fans, just that haters make the most noise (as they usually do...). Though I do think Korean fans of FS tend to gravitate towards their own countrymen

Hanyu does have Korean fans, but most of the Korean general public doesn't have warm attitude towards him. Basically because of his being too competitive/ intense in competitions and being Japanese ( Koreans hate Japanese)

R258 Thank you for reminding me. I should include demisexual too.

Deniss’s new program premiering at FaOI Kobe today is to Two Men in Love

If Lambiel weren't so hot, would we find his relationship with Vasiljevs kinda creepy?

Of all the hate letters Zhenya must have gotten over the years, this must be the first English letter that she has shown Weir. Not like there's any right timing to reveal hate, but such a tame letter really got the Zhenya crowd riled up. I wonder why Weir has gotten the chance and is not trying to cozy up to Alina but would rather cling to a drama queen. Well he did previously call Zhenya's flutz textbook, so no wonder. Zhenya fits right in his niche, trying so hard to stay relevant past their due. I give her props when it comes to figure skating, but the extra stuff is hard to not side eye.

Plushenko seems he could care less about Zhenya and prefers Alina, even if its just a bit more than the other since she isn't stoking his ego.

R255. Don’t forget the psycho

“bunch of hopeless, degenerate PSYCHO whores!”

After Hanyu landed a perfect quad lutz on his second try, Moir and the other skaters rushed to him for a group hug. Plushenko gave a passionate hug and a kiss on the head. Moir was crying. Before the lutz, Hanyu also consulted with Plushenko and did some image training. Also, during the finale, Hanyu, who still seemed upset that he was unable to land the 3A in Masquerade, immediately went to Zagitova’s side, who pat him on the back and complimented him or gave him words of encouragement. They talked for a while and then Hanyu furrowed his brow, perhaps realizing the strange reversal of their roles. More skin (and muscles) in the opening.

Some people said Bibitto (TBS) was outside the rink interviewing fans about Medvedeva’s letter.

And… Takahashi was on “Daredatte Haranbakusho.” I haven’t watched it yet, but he supposedly talked about his lonely university years and his “type” (of woman). He likes women who are straightforward and a little severe. Seiko…?

No, he hasn’t apologized yet as far as I know.

Someone else is saying it was Plushenko who was patting Hanyu's back while he seemed irritated about the 3A, which makes more sense, unless it was both Plushenko and Zagitova since he was standing between them.

R263 it is creepy

He finally landed that fucking lutz holY SHIT

I wonder if he practices that Lutz in show rehearsals.

??? Is this a big deal because he's getting it back after that near career-ending injury (and to some it would have been a career-ending one already)? Because it's not like he never landed it before. But if it's because he's now doing it on half an ankle, then he'll yeah it's worth celebrating.

Hanyu wants to get his 4lz back. Then he will attempt the 4f, then the 4a. FFS this crazy bitch.

Wait, just realized that he's wearing his jacket so that interview was probably from March. Still a crazy bitch though.

R271 it’s a big deal because it is Hanyu overcoming his demons. Yes, That fuckin quad lutz almost ended his career, but more importantly almost took away his second OGM.

How do they even communicate? Zagitova doesn't seem to know a word of English and I doubt Hanyu understands Russian. Really curious because every account seems to suggest they're friendly.

Unrelated but I thought this video of Zags, Tuk & Mai doing Hanyu's masquerade pose was cute.

I don't believe he'll do 4F. I think Brian and Ghislain will sit him down and have a talk with him and persuade him out of it.

R276 Good luck with that, LOL

More about that successful 4Lz - seems like it was a group effort! After landing 4Lz, Yuzu raised both arms in joy. Everyone cheered and the members rushed to hug him in a circle, and only his right arm was seen still up. Toshl raised both arms in the air in a "guts pose". Lastly he hugged tightly with Plushenko. Jeff was also like 'are you crying?' at Scott Moir and they both laughed.

(I know JDC had this already but a few more slight details - THANKS JDC - WE LOVE YOU! - well most of us... as Yuzu knows, you can't please all the people all the time)

And somewhere in China, Brian Orser start to loose all of his hair.

Moir only cries when single skaters do something properly

Oh for fuck sake. Who needs Misha Ge when you've got Weir-do.

r281 Johnny's outfit trumps anything Misha might do or say.

r262 Do we consider Vasiljevs officially out or not? I mean, the kid couldn't be clearer.

Johnny's outfit looks like it was designed by Project Runway's Hester.

Moir always seemed fond of Yuzuru. Funny though that he cried when Yuz landed his 4lz. I also heard he was the first to hug Yuzuru? And then Plushenko. Also that kiss on Yuzu’s head by Plushenko... is every man who meets Yuzuru just enamored by him??? Lol ToshIs blog posts about Yuzuru seem like he also so emotionally invested (and emotional drawn) into Yuzuru haha and yet tell me why Javi couldn’t have at least posted one pic of him and Yuzu on his insta when he was in faoi?? Smh

So Rus Fed issued a whole ass statement about Uno? Geez. Also, looks like he's going there for a whole month.

R281 oh god no. That's a mess waiting to happen. R283 Yes, I'd say.

[R263] yes I do fine Lambiels relationship with Vasiljevs....interesting. It seems obviously they are an item? Don’t they live together? However interesting point that it may be creepier if it Lam was not as attractive.

I have never been more sick of Shoma fucking Uno. Who gives a shit if he goes to a training camp? You'd think he is the second coming of Christ the way people talk about him.

And what about Chris Trevisan? Are they all together then, haha?

Trevisan is Lambiel's partner. Supposedly. Because Lambiel is still in the "I don't talk about my personal life" phase.

Trevisan is the manager of both Lambiel and Vasjlievs

I know, R291. I am joking about the idea that Stephane and Deniss are an item in that context :). Not that they don't give this impression every now and then...

r289 C'mon, we need a breather from all the Hanyu talk, and something unexpected is happening with Uno. I mean, Uno to Eteri possibility? Of course people will talk about it.

r288 I always thought that Lambiel is in relationship with his manager and his relationship with Vasiljevs is partly a studen/mentor one and partly "looking out for the younger gayling" sort. Though some of their photo ops are so suggestive that if the manager wasn't in the picture, I'd definitely think they were an item.

And I do think that Lambiel's hotness mitigates the creepiness factor a lot because it's not a stretch that a young gay thing like Vasiljevs would just want to fuck him pure and simple. Of course I'd be better if for example Hanyu's dick was the beneficiary of said hotness, no weird dependencies involved atvall..

I completely agree with what you're saying re Lambiel, Deniss and Yuzuru, R293! I think Yuzuru and Stephane would make a gorgeous and intriguing couple or just a an on-ice pairing even!

Our Lady of Magical Vaginas has blessed a new disciple.

[quote] yet tell me why Javi couldn’t have at least posted one pic of him and Yuzu on his insta when he was in faoi??

Because he wants to remind us he's straight, remember? Only pics of making out with his girlfriend are allowed on his IG.

If Javi took pics with Yuzuru the nuts would call him an opportunist and a hanger-on. There's no winning with some people.

Isn't there supposed to be some kind of TV broadcast of FaOI today?

Watching it here right now.

Merci, r299

what does a gay man in his mid 30s get from hanging out with a teenaged girl?

jesus, that ex is terrible, he is so chaotic, no choreo at all, too much dramature gestures

Validation that he's doing something good? Feeling younger by hanging out with teenagers? Twitter hits?

Uno is trying to replicate the notoriety of Med's move from Eteri to TCC last season. The new fans will be soon coming out of the woodwork with praises about how much they have respect for that skater for trying to fix issues and stay relevant despite being overscored and how hard it must be to change countries. The OSMs are really something.

r304 C'mon, try to look past you bias. Objectively speaking, it did require some guts both from Med and from Uno to leave their comfortable nest where they'd stagnate and try to do something to remain competitive. Jesus, you really begrudge them people who want to respect them for that?

R305 Nah, that's respectable, but new (and old) fans will all of a suddenly see changes and improvements that aren't there just because. All of a sudden Med got likeable for many just because Eteri was a witch. Now that the angelic baby Uno is going to Eteri for training, I can't wait to see the new perspective on Eteri.

For your viewing pleasure, before it gets taken down

You all crazy psychos better pray Hanyu hangs out with Johnny more and gets infected with the penchant for skintight ass-displaying pants.

R308 Excuse you!!

Hanyu is going to hang around Jhonny EVEN LESS now. He should pay attention to Javier Raya, he's the nicer Javier, obviously.

Hanyu already has a new future boy toy...Junwha

Cha's wikipedia says he's 180 cm tall. Might be tall enough to lift Hanyu, so you might be on to something, r311

Cha is very tall but still baby-faced.

Maybe that's why some Koreans don't like Hanyu - they suspect that he's "seducing" Cha (though I guess Cha is gay anyway). I guess some of the dislikes come from the time, when Hanyu and Denis Ten (who has Korean ancestry) had a problem with each other at the wc of 2016 (and they probably imagine that he would have said something derogatory about Koreans to him).

I suspect of Koreans don’t like Hanyu it’s either due to the Denis Ten thing mentioned above or even some animosity toward the fact that he’s 2x ogm and yuna isn’t?? Idk. But I also feel that a lot of Koreans who like FS, do like him? At least I got that impression. Also, like mentioned above, all Korean skaters (staff, flower boys, flower girls, coaches) who have encountered him seem to be completely awestruck. Even during the Olympic he had a lot of people waiting for him at the airport in Korea.

ALSO did y’all see Miki’s tweet about Meds?? I could help but eye roll. I feel bad cuz part of me is like well that’s nice of her to show support.. but at the same time I haven’t looked at her the same since she retweeted that thing regarding Nathan’s scores at Worlds with the caption “take that fanyus” or something ugh

The extreme Koreans online (not all Koreans) don't need a reason to hate Hanyu. They also bully their own stars, sometimes to the brink of suicide. Now for Hanyu, he's Japanese and popular and that's enough. The Ten accident gave them an excuse to latch onto, but already outside of that antis from Korea (and Japan) joined arms and has so much to say about randomly cropped gifs spun with malicious tales about his bad attitude and bad sportsmanship.

This could be a whole episode called "What Not to Wear".

Stephane's shirt looks like it was destroyed in the dryer (why is it shorter in the middle than the sides?) and it needs ironing to boot - I don't like Deniss' black/white shirt w/blue wrinkled baggy pants - Jeffrey looks like he walked off the set of Happy Days set in the 1950s - why is Plush's shirt so long (and I never noticed his legs were so short!) - and Johnny deserves the worst outfit of the century award (looks even worse than it did with Med - wth are those pants made out of?) I'd give the best-dressed award to the 3rd guy, I guess, but his jeans look filthy (is that Candeloro?)

Johnny pants looks as if he glued them to his front. Like without putting them on.

I’m sorry, but this is really pathetic. We already mentioned the hair flipping BS. But really. All that screaming for basic moves in FS. Yuna has obviously given up on even trying. Korean fans don’t care what she is doing on the ice. I loved Yuna in competition, but this is embarrassing. Makes me really appreciate Hanyu doing quad toes, triple axels, and now quad lutz as an extra.

R319 I suppose the difference is Hanyu is still competing and he doesn't have the personality that would let him just rest on his laurels as double OGM. I feel even post-retirement, he wouldn't be happy giving only the bare minimum at an ice show.

Is Lee June-hyoung trying to make Yuzuru Hanyu jealous?

R321 uhhhhh, no.

R319 I'm with you. Yuna's show is a joke, she's not even trying. But, why compare her to Hanyu? Yuna is almost 30 (with the knees and back of an old lady) and retired. When she was Hanyu's age, she was doing shows with beautiful 3-3s so I don't see the correlation.

R323, I didn’t watch yuna’s show 4 years ago, so you may be right. Hanyu and Yuna are only 4 year apart. She’s 28.. Older skaters on FaOI are still trying to do some jumps. Weir ( yes, the attention whore) said he will quit soon since he can’t keep his body in shape to jump. Not asking for 3-3 combos or even triples, but come on.....

When Hanyu's ankle no longer allows him to do quads or jumps, I'd pay to just watch him shake his ass and eye fuck the crowd. He's also that popular to do whatever he wants and the fans will still cheer.

Same for Yuna. She will always be the queen for Koreans and can do whatever she wants. Also, if she wants to save her body for future endeavors, I won't blame her.

R325 touché

[quote]I'd pay to just watch him shake his ass and eye fuck the crowd.

You speak the Fanyu truth

I sure wouldn't pay good money to see Yuna skating around doing mediocre spins and no jumps. Shoot, even Roz Sumners was doing double axels over a decade after her competive days, and Witt still did triple toes. Is Yuna so out of shape she can't even do a double axel or double lutz anymore?

I just discovered this weird Russian ice competition TV show where kids too young to be novice /junior participate. Whatever, I just want to share this little girl's performance. I doubt she reached far, but she was more enjoyable for me than any lady at WC2019

Yuna is super rich, her income does not depend on shows or the like so I imagine she has less incentive to stay in shape than the average retired skater. I don't blame her one bit if she chooses to never ever do a single jump in her life, these skaters start when they're like 3 and continue a harsh, deprived life until they retire. So if she doesn't need to nor want to, I can see why she'd "let herself go".

That being said, I have no issue with her living her life, but I do think it's a joke that she charges money to watch her waddle from one size of the rink to another. It's her fan's money, so whatever.

r329 I saw that on Reddit.

It feels a bit like the rest of the world, except maybe Japan, can pack their bags and go home. I mean Russia has a skating competition show for kids. Skating's popular enough for that. And some of those kids are killing it in terms of performance. I agree that that girl award more fun to watch that any lady at Worlds.

Well, it looks like Hashimoto will not become JOC president after all! Previously ambivalent Judo-fed president Yasuhiro Yamashita has added his name to the list of candidates for JOC president and expected to be elected. Hashimoto will still remain vice-president. All JOC positions will be formally announced on the 27th. Yay?

R232 Someone tweeted a long report about the recent Kobe P&G event. (Fans are under a gag order about the practice until the show is over.) Tuk and Med were practicing as the lucky fans walked in, but left after Hanyu came out and Zagitova appeared. Hanyu changed into his practice shirt in front of everyone, so they got a little show. Then Weir also came out and eventually Lambiel joined them after they’d already started practicing. So I think it’s been the same four skaters on the ice at all of the practice events.

Apparently, it was very similar to a practice at competition, with someone announcing the skaters, their order, and time left in English. Hanyu sang along to Masquerade the entire time he rehearsed with the music. He was also moving his head along to Zagitova’s Carmen, so I think he really likes the musical arrangement/collaboration. (Hopefully not planning to do a Carmen himself.)

It’s a long report and I’m sure someone will translate it, but Hanyu practiced 4S, 4Lo, 4T, 3A, 4T+3A and it looked like he was timing his jumps according to when certain ads on the boards came into his line of sight (if that makes sense), which is a technique he’s mentioned before. Lambiel was blowing kisses at Weir.

r301 He also hangs around Ando all of the time, so he seems drawn to women of a certain type.

I haven’t had a chance to watch today’s morning programs yet, but there were two or three shows that covered Med’s letter and they supposedly weren’t that bad. Fans did say reporters from Bibitto at FaOI were asking leading questions and trying to imply a jealous Hanyu fan wrote the letter, but I guess the fans didn’t give them material they could use.

R332 Is the Carmen arrangment still the same one as the one used at the previous stops? If I’m not wrong, that version of Carmen and Infinity (Tuk’s program) are new releases on Mayuriza’s (the violinist) latest album and they’re really good.

R333 Yes, it's Suenobu's with most of the intro cut for time (I think.) Oda's "Mission Impossible, " too.

Wow, KOSÉ's really going to town with their Yuzu campaign.

The Yuzu-Sekkisei campaign, I mean.

R335 Haneda airport has so many!

Is Hanyu finally giving in to his exhibitionism kink?

[quote] He was also moving his head along to Zagitova’s Carmen

Was Zag practicing alongside Hanyu - or did he stay after? And did he remain for Weir/Lambiel?

Sorry to pepper you with questions - but it was reported he came out to watch Zag's Carmen during at least one of the shows.

I wonder if the song-stealing hubbub made him feel sorry for Zag and decide to show support - or maybe Plushy had a word because he's been protective of her too.

Also, I would have thought "lucky fans" would want to see Japanese skaters practice, instead of Russians, a Swiss and an Italian. But if they'd prefer the foreign stars, then good for them I guess. Though I might be a bit annoyed if I were Satoko, Kaori, Rika, Nobu, etc.

* Italian should have been American. What was I thinking...

Carmen's violin arrangement actually sounded very nice.

FSrussia: "Japanese figure skater Shoma Uno will arrive in Moscow this week to begin preparations for the new season in the group of coach Eteri Tutberidze. The athlete plans to spend more than a month in Russia at the summer gathering of the group, after which further plans will be discussed."

More than a month? But he's getting new programs from Wilson/Bourne in August.

He had said more than one camp, to check them out. Is there time to fit Raf's in there? And I still keep thinking the choreographer choice suggests TCC, but then, all the choreographers seem to be in Canada lately - all the popular ones, anyway. Except our beloved threadpet Misha Ge.

kitty yuzu is finally going into heat😂

Cats have barbed penis. Won't be nice.

[quote] kitty yuzu is finally going into heat

lol. If it were anybody else, I'd have already jumped to that conclusion, lol. (and I'm a little worried for Zag's calves with Yuzu being a bit obvious in his interest in this Carmen (NOTHING TO SEE HERE MED! GET BACK TO WEIRDO) - and for at least the second time. I mean, how many times do you need to show up to hear it/see it (when he's not watching anybody else, or at least not obviously).

Uno's saying he will take his time choosing a coach and may even skate without a coach this season. WTF?

I thought it was odd when, right after Yuzuru unveiled his 4T-3A, that Uno started up with his 3A-4T. I also think I noticed that Uno came out of his shell somewhat at ice shows - laughing, interacting, instead of hiding in the background, looking confused. He even said he realized he needed to sort of take charge now, as a headliner.

Sob... our babies are growing up.

It’s kinda nice when you consider that Yuzuru once mentioned he feels like it’s his responsibility to hang around a little longer to take care of Shoma (something like that... obviously not verbatim). Maybe this way he won’t feel as burdened with that.

But I'm here to overshadow Shoma. Everyone was looking at me at JNats.

Let the little creep try to skate without a coach. It might be the first time I find him entertaining.

Should we start a count-down to see how long it takes Misha Ge to come calling?

Uno's situation is giving me scares like Patrick Chan. Both personalities are way different, but Chan really needed a jump coach and needed a coach to hammer in the skating rules which he didn't have after Sochi Olympics. With ISU changing rules so often, Uno seems like he'd need someone to sort the other mundane things so he can focus and someone to correct his form.

Is this another case of a mad momma flounce?

Okay when is the the footage of Yuzuru's abs resurfacing? are we supposed to settle for shitty descriptions that sound like urban legends? HUH?!

Uno functioning without a coach for a year? Sure, Jan.

Weir is trying very hard to get back in favor with all of his tweets about loving Japan.

I still haven’t gotten around to the morning shows, but the reaction to Medvedeva's letter has been anticlimactic? Usually the public is quick to point the finger at Hanyu fans, but after airing the letter, it seems people are questioning if the sender was Japanese due to the handwriting and word choice.

Fuji inserted some random clips of Takahashi (who did not compete) in their worlds summary.

r339 (I was the one who reported about Hanyu watching Carmen during the show.) The event is organized by P&G, so they likely chose which skaters are on the ice. The practice is just like a regular competition practice about 45 minutes-long, where the skaters (Hanyu, Zagitova, Lambiel, Weir in this case) are all on the ice together practicing their jumps and each getting a chance to rehearse their entire exhibition program to the music. As I explained a little in r255, Hanyu, Lambiel, and Weir then give carnations to the fans and group photos are taken. Zagitova (and her grandmother?) was only there for the actual practice. I think the skaters are chosen based on popularity, accessibility (there are many more opportunities to see the Japanese skaters at shows and events in Japan), and their schedule. Zagitova is the ladies OGM/world champion. Hanyu might have some say, but I think it’s more Makabe’s doing. Hanyu does seem to interact with Zagitova and encourage her at every show like a mentor or older brother. I think he’s being particularly supportive due to his own rough experiences when he overtook his older teammate. And maaaybe he’s also throwing some shade at Makabe and Med for the way they treated her.

According to another fan report, after Medvedeva left the ice, she reappeared on stage with Miyahara (who was warming up) to watch Hanyu, Zagitova and the others practice.

R346 He also said he’d be focusing on the lutz and loop at Sambo, and confirmed what the NHK source said about continuing to practice at Chukyo, which makes him leaving Higuchi and Yamada a mystery if he remains coachless for a year.

[quote] And maaaybe he’s also throwing some shade at Makabe and Med for the way they treated her.

I love hearing that. Thanks, JDC! Also, Plushy has gained a few points in my good book for supporting/looking after Zag in this situation. (and Weir has lost quite a few - though he's been drifting into the negative territory for a while)

gabby_daleman Verificato So I started GOAL setting, NOT to get the likes but to HELP PEOPLE AND GET MY WORD OUT!!! Because MY FANS & SUPPORTERS mean the absolute WORLD to me, I would not be the person, skater, role model or inspiration that I am today with out you guys!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! So please HELP ME reach my goals xoxo

Japan aside, international fans and Zhenya worshippers are so quick to point fingers at Fanyus for the letter because of the TCC mention. The possibilty is there, but really irritating to see Fanyus always taking the bad rep for every evil in the figure skating world.

I think it's not only Hanyu who is given the idol treatment in this generation, although his fandom is an anomaly. Yagudin, Plushy, Yuna, Mao, Dai, and Chan had large fandoms that fought over them and defended every little thing. Because of the internet, it's easier now to start that up again with Chen, Uno, Zags, and Zhenya having an international mass behind them that is hardcore, vocal, and surpasses the average amateur skater.

R358 Oh no, Gabby, what is you doin??? (as someone else said, so much for her alleged "break" from social media).

That photo is so altered it doesn't even look like her. Looks like a darker version of Sarah Jessica Parker!

I don’t know what’s better, ignoring gabby or criticizing her. She obviously has issues, but if her family and friends can’t help her, DL cant help either. If that’s the case we are seriously egging on a troubled individual.

I was just going to comment on Gabby's post but she's already taken it down. The disturbing profile picture is still up though.

TSL 6/10 – Part 1 - “All That Skate 2019, Shoma, Evgenia, Yuna, Weir” Starts w/lots about Jonathan judging Miss New York pageant. D wishes skating judges had to make entrances (like at pageant) and be sneered at by skating moms. 15 J: Joke about Kihira “becoming the angel of light & combining all human religions thru a scratch spin” D: Tom Dickson is very serious about that, ok? 17 D says the Sandra Bezic All That Skate has always been the A-list of all shows “and I know that Hanyu fans like to say that things begin and end with him” but Koreans w/Kpop are so sexually liberated they give us the Bezic sex appeal we want – none of this androgynous Hanyu thing. Yuna just doing Mohawks & 3-turns, but wow. J: Sparkly pants were great! D&J loved lighting. D:Bezic’s fallen for Chen – must make Orser mad. 21 With Shae, Only Dai has managed "soulful". Lori’s better at that. 22 Mao’s Last Dance was getting close to Chen’s potential (to be a virtuoso) but D’s tired of his baggy outfits hunching shoulders schtick. 23 Bezic says Chen comes alive in shows. P/C=fabulous. J: Marie France school = female empowerment. 27 D upset Raf didn’t get coach of the year (Liu’s did). 30 Toyota Center talking w/Tom Z. 34 Bezic shd invite Mao next time. About Eunsoo, D thinks Mariahgate made her a star. You can tell they’re building her as next queen, “Yuna shd also invite Hanyu” 37 Loved her “imitation Sasha Cohen dark eyes/dress” J: Yeah but she’s rusty. Yuna’s empty but snazzy showy skating. ATS' classy costumes.

TSL 6/10 – Part 2 - 43 D: ATS is a much more polished production than FAOI, which is all about Hanyu’s energy. J:ATS more tv ready. 44 Cha not there, wrong agency, which is why Orser can’t take Eunsoo. D loved Thunder/impressed w/Lee. 48 SHOMA. Every skater except Ito has left Yamada. Her go-getter attitude needs reining in. 49 D contacted every A list coach in North America & none are taking Uno. J wants him w/Mishin – not D bec Uno is fully baked & can’t learn new tech. Eteri can discipline him, get rid of his stupid errors due to rushing & get him to check jumps properly. After 6wks he’ll either go w/her or coach himself. D:Uno wants Eteri for discipline & consistency. 54 TAT said Uno will be good for Eteri’s other skaters who’ll pick up Uno’s great edges & beautiful knees. 56 D:Coaches consider a male star a bigger badge of honor so it’s huge for Eteri & really matters vs Orser & vs Raf. All great coaches won in both men & women: Tarasova, Morozov, Frank. D&J glad he’s not doing Averbukh/DannyG schlock. 59: J:Speaking of inappropriate things, I didn’t realize the big explosion about Johnny and Evgenia. D: That's later... Zhou/Han Yan new progs; Dai keeping last year’s FS. J:He’s competing again?!? D:Yeah. This time I think he’ll try for Worlds. & Kolyada doing Chaplin, doesn’t that make you want to vomit? J:Ugh. Because I love him so much. 1.02 Doug Haw is helping them judge ‘88 Oly Men on Patreon. Looks like Marie France is doing Chen’s FS, not Shae.

TSL 6/10 – Part 3 - 1.30 D:Okayyy Weir/Med post, I have mixed feelings. J:Why such a big deal about this particular comment (in the letter)? Everybody gets that crap. 1.07 D:Weir’s gonna get a lot of positive press for being the savior here & it gets Med a lot of positive attention/love, “it's an attention grab by Johnny.” 1.09 Weir’s 10-episode serious Netflix dramatic skating series is coming up in the fall, plus he's got Wedding Cake thing. 1.10 Bradie Tennell to Mishin? She’s known as very hard worker – Benoit will work w/her there too, so she'll get some help from this. 1.14 Can’t wait to see Eteri vs Orser at Japanese Nats – and Hanyu’s not resting on his laurels – 4 Lz’s at show finales/quads in ice-show practices -- so if Uno can’t get consistency, he’ll just be competing for bronze against Zhou. Hanyu is really bringing it – if only he can stay healthy. Uno went from a top 3 skater to top 4 or 5 skater because he’s so mistake-prone - “the bridesmaid of all time.” D:Even in ice shows, Uno has to mess up something - that needs fixing. 1.15 Satoko is leaving a place-holder in her FS for 3A. J:What? D: May help other jumps but come on. 1.16 J: She should have gone to Eteri. D jokes: Well she has the same pre-rotation technique as Uno. But Eteri can scare you into doing anything so Uno will likely get more discipline from her so it's all good. END

JDC, was Hashimoto reelected JSF president? Is she still running for governor? What about her cabinet position?

What is TSL on? I'm no fan of FaOi either (other than Hanyu) but ATS was alternately boring and creepy in that everyone had to pretend both in interviews and during the show that they were in love with Yuna and she was the most beautious beauty ever. I like her, but the performative fawning was just weird.

The little I watched, Yuna looked like a deer caught in headlights - I wondered if she was on the spectrum or something. I really do not get it with her. If people think Arakawa is cold - Yuna is glacial. (though I admit I didn't watch skating back in her hey-day but she's so borrrring - and that silly Bezic style went OUT of style in 1965. Good grief.

Bezic and Wilson were trying so hard to sex up Yuna (kinda in the same way they tried to sex up Med), but that's not really Yuna or her skating, which was more elegant and cool, not steamy.

[quote] D wishes skating judges had to make entrances (like at pageant) and be sneered at by skating moms.

we already get the introduction of the judges....when they are called one by one and camera zoom at them waving to the audience...if only you watch the competition from first second...some channels comes on live a bit later (during first warm up) and so they miss it.

Gogo spotted at Granite club.

Is TSL sucking up to ATS because of backlash from their comments during Slasher Gate? Didn't they say ATS trumped up the whole thing as a publicity stunt for the ice show?

Is ATS out there to watch? It seemed no different to me than FaOI, perhaps even a bit cheesier, but maybe one needs to watch it in its entirety? I saw Yuna's performances - the one in shiny pants was awful but I quite liked the gypsy dance stuff, or whatever it was. The number with guys around her was cringeworthy though, I don't get this shit.

As far as TSL/Uno is concerned: He's safe from Averbukh/DannyG schlock, but he'll be doing Wilson scholck as his FS. ut of the two I think I actually prefer the former. So Dave can just call North American coaches and they'll tell him who they're taking on who not?

Uno situation: coachless? Seriously? Why not stay with old coaches if he can't find anythng suitable right away?

Nathan: coached via Skype. Uno: No coaches needed What's the next stage..? X-skater sometime in the future: "I don't train at all but I get to the pedestals, see? I am a f*cking genius!"

Weren’t Hanyu coached via email in 2014-2016 so maybe it’s a rite of passage that these 20 year olds think they must experience. I think it’s idiotic. Even if you’re in such a high level as these guys you can easily develop bad habits without realizing it if you’re by yourself.

R375, I thought those were short periods of time when Hanyu had to stay in Japan, in between GP events and healing from injury. Hanyu pretty much gets most of his training in Toronto.

R376 Yeah. I'm also curious to know how a few short months between Dec 2014 - Mar 2015 stretched to become two whole years spanning 2014-2016. And it wasn't like he was coachless either. Neither is Chen. What Uno is doing is completely different. Is this some kind of Chinese Whisper game, where at the end of it all we have Hanyu having been trained in Timbuktu all his life and Chen's coach all this time is his third cousin's dog?

I've never been a fan of the H&L costume, but it looks gorgeous here.

Also, as far as I can recall, he stayed behind after nats 14 because he had to have some kind of surgery so in between healing from that and WC in the same continent (Beijing, was it?) just 3 mths later, it wasn't like he had a real choice.

The hair pulling, slapping and scratching between between Mama Uno and Fluffy must have been epic (and hot? for some corners of DL).

Maybe Shoma going coachless is like Chen going to Yale. Just in case he sucks they can say “oh but look?he’s doing all this without a coach”

By the way, you DLers did know Chen goes to Yale, right? Didn’t want to shock anyone.

In the 2014-2015 he stayed in Japan before/after CoC to about month before worlds (which was because of the injuries and surgeries) then went back right after and stayed at least to the wtt maybe went to Canada for awhile (I can’t remember) and back to Japan for ice shows. 2015-2016 went to Japan before nhk. Don’t remember if he went to Canada or Japan between god but after gpf to Japan and stayed again until about a month before worlds. Don’t remember if there were any news after that cause it was so hush hush and there were some rumors/hopes that he would leave tcc. So if I compare how he has dealt with these new injuries now that he’s older it’s very different in my opinion. He has stayed close to his coaches instead of emailing them that he’s fine so that they don’t even know the extent of his injuries going in to the worlds.

[quote] So Dave can just call North American coaches and they'll tell him who they're taking on who not?

I left a bit out I shouldn’t have – before he said that, Dave said something along the lines of having to use his spy network – so he meant he contacted everybody’s camp, not the actual coaches.

[quote] Is TSL sucking up to ATS because of backlash from their comments during Slasher Gate? Didn't they say ATS trumped up the whole thing as a publicity stunt for the ice show?

I should remember but don't - I miss a lot. Lord they say a lot!! One thing that was funny I thought - they said Carillo was just about to get his 3S stabilized. And this is one of many examples of Dave throwing shade on Hanyu fans. He does it in most episodes. But I don't think he was as hard on Hanyu as he has been - usually it's more getting after the fandom that he thinks is extreme. He's got a mad gay crush in Bezic too, and always starts mimicking how she throws her head back and acts of 'fabulous'. I watched her on his show and thought egads what a narcissist.

Last time though, he said her father's been ill for years and she spent a lot of time as a caretaker but now her father has died and freed up a lot of time for her - so he keeps imagining all these projects for her to do. She may suck more that David Wilson (if that's possible). I like Danny G better too. I mean, he's working with children - let him be daffy and melodramatic. It's figure skating ffs. Look at the audience! Do cutesy for old ladies. (but this faux sexy mess - I don't thin that has an audience who isn't there for a star, other than Dave) Now I'll hush and run along (for a while).

[quote]I watched her on his show and thought egads what a narcissist.

That must be what he likes about her...birds of a feather. I do not watch TSL any more but I always thought Dave had quite old-fashioned, conservative tastes, so it doesn't surprise me.

[quote] we already get the introduction of the judges....when they are called one by one and camera zoom at them waving to the audience...if only you watch the competition from first second...some channels comes on live a bit later (during first warm up) and so they miss it.

Well, I lied - just remembered this. I think Dave may have meant that he liked the way the judges at the pageant had to walk down aisles, right in the midst of the audience - so the skating moms could almost spit at them? I know he's been to a lot of the comps, so he must know about the judge intros.

And looks like TSL may be proved wrong if Gogo's at Granite. I was wondering if he was willing to abandon Barkell to become yet another skater-in-the-shadow of a star at Raf's.

Gogo could also just be training at Granite while they get the move in order.

Javi is already back in Japan?

that's how the judges presentation currently works. From 2minutes50seconds mark

R378 I think the H&L costume is the prettiest one. He should have worn tighter pants though. He still needs to.

Oh I didn't know that R389. Then I don't know what he was talking about! But he's talked about going to comps, quite a bit, so you'd think he's know. Oh well - being so uninformed myself, I think I mis-hear things sometimes because I don't get the context - which is why I ignore a lot of the pairs/ice dance stuff and leave it out. He was saying something this time and Sui/Han skating in a way that Russian pairs do (not in synch on purpose? well something like that) Also some stuff about Vanessa and Morgan. (but I also worry about these summaries being too long - and this thread doesn't seem all that keen on couples anyway)

Maybe Dave meant they should walk through the audience when they're introduced, so if you wanted to, you could reach out and touch them (or give them a whack on the backside?)

Med and Johnny are learning so much from each other!! Even setting aside the ridiculousness of the outfit, it's summer and she is wearing white tights, a jacket and some kind of sweater dress.

Those shoes? Surely that means when they're giggling in their hotel rooms between practice and shows, Johnny is "styling" Med. I've wondered if that's what went wrong between him and Yuzuru - didn't he design at least two costumes for young Yuzu, but then never any more?

And the more I keep hearing about Eteri "disciplining" Uno and scaring him into straightening up his errors - I keep thinking this will be a reverse 50 Shades of Gray. Sorry if that's vomit-inducing - I think it's funny. I also keep picturing all those girls fixing Uno's collars and jacket sleeves and such - there's a video from ATS of the Korean male skater Lee spending a few minutes adjusting Uno's collar on his jacket (and somebody poking his cheek when he was sleeping - or was he just pretending because it's his schtick now?)

Anyway, who would have thunk we'd be talking about Uno now. Maybe it's all Itsuki's master plan? (or Mama Uno - though I've never seen this dragon lady behind the scenes) East Asian mamas are somethin'!

[quote] Med and Johnny are learning so much from each other!! Even setting aside the ridiculousness of the outfit, it's summer and she is wearing white tights, a jacket and some kind of sweater dress.

That second photo - there's no way that's Med's "hourglass" figure because she doesn't have a waist. Some serious photo-shoppin' going on there, Gabby level.

r395 She doesn't have much of a waist in this picture either, just a good design dress and a jacket that hides her sides.

I think she might tightening her waist with those belts

This upcoming season, Med is on the way out. Trusova and hopefully Rika TES levels will destroy the older Russian bots. Throw Turs in there too.

Here is the beauty of Hanyu’s jumps. He’s like a straight top, almost a straight line that just spins. Boyang is the next closest. For the other skaters, not sure if it’s their knees, or pigeon chest or shoulders but they all look like they are a crooked top - off axis.

Admit, which of you miserable psychos is that insufferable cunt Tinami Amori from FSU? I thought they were Russian. They're dishing the Med dirt.

I thought I followed these threads closely, but this is new to me. Did we argue, I mean, talk about this? Or did we miss it? Or is it made up?

[quote]A major Japanese TV network sent a crew to TCC to do a "TV special/interview" with Hanyu. Medvedeva was in the rink at the time. Apparently she, as people said, was interfering with the filming, by coming up to Hanyu while he was filmed/interviewed, and trying to hug him, or give him "horns at the back of his head", trying to keep attention on herself, to get into the shots and get publicity (since Japan market is her target, and she wants to stay in the lime light). The TV crew asked Medvedeva to step aside, to leave Hanyu alone and stay out of the shots, and their request was quite serious and clear. The observers put this incident out on social media, and there were discussions going on for a while by Hanyu's fans and others.

[quote] This upcoming season, Med is on the way out. Trusova and hopefully Rika TES levels will destroy the older Russian bots. Throw Turs in there too.

I cannot wait. I want her and Mariah to have abominable seasons. Can't believe how worked up I am about disliking these girls but their exits can't come soon enough for me!

With the boys, I only hated Misha Ge - oh and pchiddy - but of the current crop, I'm only suspicious of Lazukin, after him yelling in Boyang's ear etc. I'll be on the lookout though as creeps are always emerging.

Not even a little hate for Vincent? I pretty much dislike all the American skaters right now, with Jason being the only exception. Plus Shoma and a few others.

I hate Krasnozhon. Well, at least his skating, passionately.

R399 His jumps are beautiful. I don't think Boyang's are as straight but they are crazy high, very impressive. R400 we definitely need to discuss that, if it's true, when was it? what was Yuzuru's reaction? R402 All the hate for Vincent here. Can't believe he got away with the 'redefinition' bullshit.

R400 Never heard of this. Sounds like bullshit. I don't see Med acting up on media day with everybody around and on their best behavior.

r404 Tinami Amori hates Med more than anyone here so take whatever she says with a grain od salt.

They could be talking about that time when Japanese tv send their crew for the reveal of the programs - but I think that was covered here extensively and people bitched that Med could be noticed skating in the background and nothing like that made its way here, and it'd have with all the craze here around Hanyu and Med. Unless Jpn tv send their crew again during his pre-Worlds recovery?

Oh, and a comment that Hanyu pings like crazy was of course deleted in that FSU thread.

Tinami is some mentally ill, ex-Soviet, uber right wing old frau who will post any tabloid and Sports.ru blogger crap as long as it fits her narrative. But I guess that's good enough for her fellow Med haters.

Matteo Rizzo will train with Orser this summer. Didn't see that one coming.

I don't believe the Med story either but I hope it gets spread far and wide. Just like she did with her supposed hate letter that made fanyus look evil.

R409, Javier out there working hard to provide students for Orser. He got half the skating population convinced Orser can work miracles. The other half probably thinks the same about Eteri

r409 Looks like a summer camp. Those seem to have become a thing for some skating schools, there's lots of those going on, So I don't see it as surprising that Rizzo would attend one.

True enough, but somehow Shoma going to Eteri's camp was seen as earth shattering news by some.

r412 Well, Rizzo isn't announcing a coaching change, isn't he?

Javii no 2 should step up his game. Matteo Rizzo kinda looks like Javi no 1. He might steal Yuzuru's attention.

LOL. Rizzo doing summer camp at Orser's. And Grassl at Eteri's.

Bradie is doing camp with Alexei Mishin right now too.

It looks like it is Eteri vs Orser on all fronts now. DramaTM

Now I want Lindfors and Peltonen doing camps at Orser/Eteri

Reports from the talk show are coming in and Hanyu has made it clear once again that he follows everything on social media, said his fans have been blamed for things they haven’t said/done like himself and wishes he could protect them, the tour can be tough/painful things happen but the cheers from fans help him forget, and he loves fan art. His words have been twisted by the media since Sochi. He sprained his left ankle 10 days before FaOI practicing the 4A, but was already landing the lutz. Bourne choreographed Masquerade and he won’t be performing it outside FaOI. Still doesn’t like English ("really really hate it!) and never liked going outside.

TV shows, internet news, and other major media sources have continued to address Medvedeva’s letter for days with various celebrities weighing in on the incident. Dave Spector (American producer/commentator) suggested the author might be a right-winger upset about the Kuril Islands dispute. Fifi (an Egyptian-born talento) questioned the wisdom of tweeting the letter and is currently in a back-and-forth on twitter with a Hanyu anti who claimed the author was one of Hanyu’s fans. Fuji TV’s “Viking” claimed Med received the letter possibly by hand when she arrived in Japan, and heavily implied the culprit had to have been a jealous Hanyu fan. Whoever wrote it for whatever reason, must be quite pleased with the attention they’re getting.

On the other hand, Med’s present box was stuffed with gifts the following day and received a standing ovation. After her collaboration with May J, the singer told her she was loved and Toshi had some kind words for her on his blog.

(But what’s most puzzling is the complete silence from artiste/coach/choreographer Misha Ge. It’s so unlike him!)

I still think it's all a master plan concocted by Med and Johnny to achieve popularity. It's crazy, but let me dream.

Could you guys please enlighten me about the fanart drama people on Twitter was talking ?

R419 He passed the torch to his fellow drama whore Johhny Weir.

R419 That sounds like a nice interview - I don't know why I am always surprised when Hanyu is pointed and direct, because he often is. I love his fanart too. Some of those people are amazing, like the person who draws all his jumps as little kids (with cute butts) or the yoshtsh(?) person who does really elegant, beautiful drawings. It must be hard to out your work out there on the internet so I'm glad he gave a shout out to them. The silence from Ge is interesting. Maybe this means we're not going to get Geisha Ge. Too bad.

R418 lol

He sprained his left ankle?!! JFC!!!!!

I'm glad that despite so many people quick to point fingers at Fanyus, Hanyu isn't one of them. There are crazy Fanyus out there, but the antis of figure skating are as crazy and exist outside Fanyuism as well.

Like I said, hopefully this is med’s last time on FaOI

Every Fanyu had a tear in their eyes today- Masquerade will end with Fantasy on Ice.

So did Hanyu give her extra hugs too or was he still too preoccupied with the real step-child, Alina? Did Alina have kind words for Med too, y'know, after being implied a copycat? I guess Med is finally getting the adoration and attention she wants that she couldn't take away from an OGM.

I enjoy the fanart, too. People always gets stupid about it though, I remember during Pyeongchang some people were complaining about fans drawing him in Anime style.

What I find fascinating about the Uno to Eteri, Med to Orser, Eteri vs. Orser showdown is that Hanyu has been openly friendly with Zags while ignoring his TCC teammate Med, and his adoration of Uno is well-known. I guess the fan explanation is that Hanyu is just publicly avoiding Med to quiet the gossip mills. It does make me wonder about the next season though.

I take the fact that no picture of Med's cake were shown till now as a proof that no one cares about her anymore.

R421 Here's a thread explaining what happened re fanart. I guess it was all over jpn twitter yesterday.

R431 That's the same discourse I saw on tumblr during Pyeongchang! Christ, it's so dumb.

Have these people complaining about innocuous fanart seen the fan fiction? The ones that involve rape, torture, male pregnancy, even a romantic relationship with Orser! (Or so I've heard. I don't touch that fanfic stuff.)

R430 No way! Johnny, prepare your twitter!

The fanfiction is all in English. Yuzuru wouldn't know about it. Unless the Japanese fans write it too.

R433 Sounds as bad as Vincent Zhou's poetry.

In defense of fanfic, I bought a ton of books on sale a few weeks ago because they were cheap. And from that pile the one I picked up to read first was garbage and remains unfinished next to my bed. I used to read fan fiction and some of them were garbage as well, but like published books, there have been some that are great. Just change the names in fan fiction and some of them will be better than 50 shades of grey that is a bestseller.

I've been through many fandoms and read lots of fanfiction, and Figure Skating fanfiction is the tamest yet. The Yuzu ones are mostly cutsey Yuzuvier stuff, although I've seen a few weird ones as well. Unless there's something written in Chinese that's more hardcore - btw, did you know Yuzu/Patrick used to be a thing in Chinese fandom? I put one through a google translator and it read really poetic.

Anyway, Oda reveals what kind of women Yuzu said he likes. It's apparently Yui Aragaki, an actress who is responsible for.... the Koi Dance.

Camden Pulkinen has announced his music for this coming season:

SP: Caruso by Josh Groban choreographed by Josh Farris

FP: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence [OST] / Rain by Ryuichi Sakamoto choreographed by Stéphane Lambiel

JDC's report of the P&G talk show (June 12) was great - here's a bit more, some parts slightly different, from Golden Skate:

Masquerade and Crystal Memories are like twins, he practiced them at midnight. He preferred leather on Masquerade costume, but he felt hot and heavy so he couldn't have it anymore. He will end his Masquerade performance in Toyama since it is hard (he said like "please understand" means he knows we love that program).

Since junior days, his stamina doesn't last. He gives his 150% while others give 70%, so he gets very tired. During the show, he sleeps a lot and does the warm up for his turn. When the show is over, he is too tired to eat. Some people can come only on that day, that is why he always goes with full force in order to reach their hearts Yuzuru: I don't want my family talk me down. I want to win against my family. Shuzo: You should never get married! (Everyone laughed)

“You all are told many things whether they are true or not. I keep causing you troubles, but you are protecting me. I also want to protect you.”

He doesn't eat out in Toronto and Sendai. He likes to eat being relaxed, stretching his legs, watching TV at home. Sometimes he eats watching figure skating seriously.

Right now, he has been trying to treat all fans equally as much as possible. He said as an example like, if he told a fan about the program for the next season, she could be isolated from fandom and he would be so sorry for her.

He really really hates English. Hence Shae and Jeff speak Japanese in his dreams. [or "he talks to Shae and Jeff in Japanese in his dreams"]

I forgot to mention and I’m not sure it’s made its way to English twitter, but the Canadian posters at GS are not going to be pleased when they hear that Hanyu acted surprised and skeptical when Matsuoka suggested Canada has some good food.

R367 Hashimoto decided not to run for governor. She was reelected JSF president last September and has another year. She’s still the chairman of the House of Councillors for the LDP and will be serving again if reelected at the big House of Councillors election this July, and possibly become the Minister for the Olympic Games if Abe can overlook her kissing scandal. She’s also the president of the Japan Cycling Fed and Japan Horse Racing Promotion Fed.

The only Med/media day-related rumor I’ve heard is that she wasn’t supposed to be there, but her mother found out it was happening that morning and they showed up. I wasn’t able to track down the original source, but I think it was actually a rumor brought over from the Russian boards. Tinami’s story definitely hasn’t made its way to Japan and sounds incredibly fake. She was also wrong about the earthquake outrage. The earthquake joke that caused the most offense was Med’s response to a comment on her IG about how she’d accused Zagitova of stealing her music.

The source of the fan art debate was a well-known Hanyu fan/whiner called Kurage, who’d had some pent up anger about anime otaku sexualizing Hanyu to fulfill personal fantasies since he was a teen, that had grown into resentment towards anyone who anime-tized Hanyu. She recently blew up in a long blog post (linked below) due to all of the Evangelion-Hanyu art and some fan artists (whose art was completely benign) freaked out and hid their accounts. Both sides overreacted and it was all very pointless.

Kurage’s blogpost (archived):

R438 whyyyyyyy I thought people only liked to ship Yuzuru with pretty people. It's what he deserves. R441 lmao I guess she wouldn't be too happy with all the ass lust here.

Gogo was spotted with Raf.

Thanks for answering my questions, JDC.

I love the fact the Gogo is with Raf. I hope they coach shop like Chan did and realize that its the talent and not just the coach.

Good catch, R443. I see ugly sticky-out-ears Slasher girl on the right. I need to learn Korean so I can join a Korean anti-Mariah brigade, if there are any (and I hope there are - and I'm American)

[quote] I forgot to mention and I’m not sure it’s made its way to English twitter, but the Canadian posters at GS are not going to be pleased when they hear that Hanyu acted surprised and skeptical when Matsuoka suggested Canada has some good food.

Hmmm. If he never eats out in Toronto, how would he know?

[quote] Hence Shae and Jeff speak Japanese in his dreams

I wonder why it's Shae and Jeff and not Brian and Tracy aren't in his dreams? He doesn't really need coaching anymore? Like our littlest prince?

He really doesn't seem to like Canada much at all :/

Gogo’s parents see an imaginary cash cow. Canada loves figure skaters but the country only has 40 million people, it’s never going to pay like a country like Japan. Even with the elusive GOLD he will barely be a millionaire

Actually maybe a millionaire, but is that worth this angst

R447 I don't really see it that way. They didn't think Orser was paying enough attention to their kid so they switched coaches. By many accounts, Orser seems to delegate a lot. Maybe a junior skater like Gogo needs more guidance than Orser had time for. I don't see Gogo's parents trotting him out for cash or PR a la Alysa Liu. He himself seems serious and not at all an attention whore.

If Gogo ends up being another Canadian Silver Medalist, the country really is cursed. He’s not good enough yet or a woman skater from a big Fed to warrant that much attention so can’t be successful as an attention whore. He’s no Misha Ge level, but at this age and with coach switches he is (or his parents are ) proving to be flighty and not trusting of their coaches.

A lot of people get old and need artificial hips and knees. Is it possible to get artificial ankles? Let's say if you overdid it when you were young and sprained them too many times? (asking for a friend - well a friend in my dreams - who's speaking English)

I meant yuzu doesnt seem to like canada much lol

It is only the start of the summer and he already looks super-thin and tiny. 4Lz and 4A training really showing. Hope he'll be fine.

Should we talk about Sondre advertising rianbow toothbrush?

Is it just me or does something ride up as he lands that 4lz

The vague understatement game here is strong. But if the guy were asked to introduce himself and along with listing his proudest achievements, I imagine this sounds about what he might say.

Hanyu quad lutz is really a thing of beauty.

R455 Looks like his dance belt.

That's a saved landing though? It's +3 but judges would mark it between +1 and +3

How was it 'saved'? It looked fine to me.

R459 no, it wasn't a saved landing.

+1 cause I am in good mood today

r461 It was so low it looked saved to me....

But then all Uno landings look saved to me, so what do I know.

I could be way off the mark but I think what r459 could have maybe meant was that it doesn't look as effortless as his other jumps, which is his trademark that he's spoiled people with. It's certainly a beautiful take-off and air position, but the landing is a lot lower than usual, for him. Wouldn't consider that a save though because there's nothing inherently uh-oh about it. It's more nicely done than the one at Rostelecom '17, but not quite as nice as the one he pulled off during practice at that competition. But certainly, if this weren't Hanyu we're talking about, this one would be considered as almost perfect. When I agree that with the judging the way it is now, that effort won't garner him above a +3, which is a fair enough scoring. BUT if he were American, it'd have been nothing less than a +4.

There should be extra +1 GOE for attempting this 4lz in jeans.

R466 and an additional +2 for flashing the dance belt.

R467 that's a -2. No modest and appropriate at all.

The judges would just stare at that sinful glimpse of skin and fabric and there will be a mess in scores. (Although the scoring has been a mess for quite some time already).

Vanessa explaining live on TV the "dance belt+transparent costume" dediction is still an epic moment

at 3m35s mark

R468 But was it dignified, Vanessa??

R470 Loved that interview. Thanks for linking it.

r465 also the entry without the ridiculously long telescoping...but the judges don't seem to care about this, especially when its the americans

Americans are a disaster on ice these days...so wretched.

R455 you guys have eyes like hawks…anyone have super super slo mo?..just want to verify…for accuracy sake that is

R475 I want to verify too. It's a blink and you miss it moment and I certainly don't want to miss it

Yuzu is happy.

Lots of good details in this translation of the P&G interview, that I don't think have been reported before this.

Like: "Yuzu likes Ultraman Gaia and Agle."

tHE MaSK oF yUZuru HaNYu

LOL. He has entered into ToshI's mind and set his smoldering feeling free!

I think ToshI's made that clear in those Yuzu-worshiping blogs. A May-September romance? Gotta start somewhere - why not with a man of maturity?

Shoma leaving Japan for Russia. Itsuki said he was sadder than he usually is when Shoma leaves. No sign of Mama Uno, at least in the picture.

Won't he need a translator? Have they really thought this through??

They can hire the translator in Russia. Cheaper.

How did he manage those times when he went to Chicago to work with Ouriashev? Eteri and Daniil speak English very well, and I assume the other coaches know a fair amount. Shoma might not speak it well but he must understand some basic terminology related to skating. They can always play show and tell if need be. Mind you, I think it will be a challenge for him anyway since he's aspie af, but other Japanese skaters have survived training abroad.

I had to laugh at Hanyu saying he has to put in 150% where other skaters only need to put in 70% bc of his low stamina. Somebody tell him he could afford to pull back a little. Look at this video of Hanyu flying across the rink, singing and, of course, slutting up the arena like a mad man while everyone behind him is operating at half speed and looking sane.

Here he is overrotating a 4Lz (yes, that's correct) and hanging on to the landing.

So I saw this over at GS:

[Quote] Yuzu: That medalists, including Olympic gold medalists have the opportunity to gather in one place and unite to skate together is extremely rare. I think it's a really good show, please watch each one carefully.

Pre-DL, I wouldn't have thought anything about this seemingly innocuous comment but now, I can't help but see a dig in there somewhere in there, albeit cleverly disguised (if there's meant to be something in there). Not saying that there *is* since I dunno the guy and what goes on in his head. Just saying my perception has expanded a bit to notice other possibilities, mostly thanks to all the gossip going on here. So now, with him, it could be simple or it could be nuanced. You never know.

R484 Damn son, calm your overachievin' otaku ass down. Nice abs, btw.

R485 plot twist: he ends up doing a quint before a 4A

Anyone else having trouble with DL? All of my saved threads are gone and I can’t save any new threads, either.

R481 Mom is always with him, but doesn’t allow her photo taken. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of other people are accompanying him to Russia, including his manager and trainer. The interpreter may be based in Russia. Maybe Kawaguchi (Kavaguti) will also help.

R484 He didn’t say that he needed to put in 150% because of low stamina, but while everyone else will put in 80%, he’ll overdo it and go 150%, which is why he gets exhausted. But it looks like he’s at 200% in that clip.

R449 Sorry I missed this. He didn’t say the fans are told many things, but rather many things (which may not be true) are said of his fans, and when he later talked about “painful things” happening during FaOI, he was not only talking about himself, but also said “happening to you (the fans),” so he was referencing his fans being blamed for Medvedeva’s letter in both comments.

R486 There’s probably a full video somewhere, but that was from the beginning of Part 4 (and there’s a fun part at 1:02):

Just saw a full video on YT and after listening to what he said in Japanese, I conclude that it's not particularly nuanced as a dig. It actually sounds exactly like what it is: you usually don't get a lot of Olympic medallists especially OGMs in a single show because of obvious factors like the ka-ching one. So this year's FaoI is truly special because they somehow managed it. Like how did they work it into their budget? Were tix this year more expensive than previous years?

R488. I lost all my saved threads too. Not sure what is going on.

Yeah DL is fucking everyone over. I also couldn't post anything for several hours.

I mean he didn't come right out to say the financial factor but to me, that's the most logical conclusion to be drawn based on what he said (he said it's virtually impossible for such a gathering to happen in ice shows). Like, he didn't actually have to say it, because it's already right there. And I've also seen a show that went behind the scenes of how ice shows are organized and the runner said the Olympic medallists are paid significantly more than others and the amount of moolah paid to each skater rises pretty noticeably the nearer towards OGM it is so OGMs themselves are of course the highest paid skaters (the guy's expression indicated that high was probably unimaginably high)...I think he may have also mentioned a vague ball park figure in JPY but I can't remember what it was...I was still a very new fan then and not so great at currency conversion so a lot of info didn't manage to sink in).

R492 Ticket prices are the same as last year. Hanyu may have been referring to more general factors like scheduling and agency conflicts that can make it difficult to get everyone together, but they were going to have all of the 2018 gold medalists last year until Makabe was told not to invite Zagitova.

R487 Reminds me of how he was having trouble doing double axels after his injury leading up to the OG and Ghislain was like “why don’t you try the triple instead” and he landed that no problem lmao

Yuzuru has managed to find even tighter pants to practice in. What's next? Speedos?

R488 Yeah, there are a number of DL threads complaining about this - saved threads gone, ignored threads/posters cleared.

Thanks for clearing up what Hanyu said about his 150% effort. I was wondering about the comment because I thought he overcame the stamina issues he had early in his career. Linked is the twitter translation that got a bunch of people on my tl all worked up. Looks like the translation at R478 is closer to what you are saying. Poor Hanyu is right. His words often do get twisted, even by well-meaning fans.

Do you mean the fun part is at 1:02 or occurs thereafter (basically, is the fun part where the guy hangs on to Hanyu's hand like he doesn't want to let go or where Hanyu pretends to shoot him?)?

R495 The fabric seems slinkier too.

R495 Nice tights

A message for Plushenko's son Sasha from Yuzu.

I'm not even sure Sasha really idolize Yuzuru. It's more like, my dad adores him, so I must like him too. Or maybe the kid just has a cool demeanor.

R455 Finally saw it for myself. Gotta love those panchira. What a money shot. His looks black and shiny. Is that a standard design for dancing belts?

Or maybe it's just black and the shiny part is only my imagination due to all the lights cos I don't think shiny is a standard design and if it isn't, it means Mr. I Only Wear Black Tracksuits went out of his way to pick a shiny one...

(I feel this topic hasn't been discussed to its fullest potential, which is both wasteful and shocking given the platform and the demographic of its general users)

Interview about working with Buttle and Otonol. No mention of Wier inspiration. Gotta burn.

R501 I need more clear slow mo footage

R503 As do the rest of the world. But we gotta work with what we have. Which is what we all saw. Plus our imagination. And what we did see is the most we've been given by that guy in terms of skimpy underwear.

Oh and if rumor has it right, the guy has apparently moved on to the next jump on his To Do list. It's like he's clearing a competitive career bucket list or something. Guess he really figures he's got nothing to lose now with both his OGMs safely stowed away somewhere and also potentially everything to lose, if he doesn't try them, like the remaining GPF and WC golds he can still get his grubby hands on in what little time he has left competing. Sure, there's no telling his ankles (or other body parts) won't become well and truly fucked to the point of no return before he can get there but if he's gonna lose either way, which may or may not happen, might as well get it done his way. Maybe it's still a bit too soon for both Hanyu and the lyricist, but Paul Anka should be proud.

[quote]GPF and WC golds he can still get his grubby hands

I hope his grubby little hands grabs as much as his ankles will allow, because that means the Fanyus will continue to see him skate.

although I wonder is there will be more competition this upcoming year than the elfin stubby hands or the pigeon chested masculine hands trying to grab for the same medals.

He tried the 4F. IT'S ON, he's coming for you Nate

jesus he cannot accept that someone was better then him at worlds, even once?? he is pathetic, he won olympic yes but with easier layout , he got luck because other were too ambitious and they fucked up. He was shocked that nathan didnt get nervous after him in japan, kudos to him. it takes amazing courage. Yuzu thought it would be pyeochang 2.0???

R507 Don't you mean 4Fe? I'll believe it when I see it.

r507 i think 4F v 4Lutz is still up for debate.

In case your ignore buttons aren't working and it's not otherwise obvious, Daitroll r508 is in a twist. Sorry about Olys, Daitroll - the 3000 North Koreans cheering on VM must've really gotten to you. :-(

R508 Who told you to get off your meds? That's it, no more computer privileges for you.

R511 cheap provocation, typical for you

R512 I send them to your mother , she needs it more

Speaking of Dai. Is he on Jason Brown level as far as jumping now? I would love to see Hanyu, Uno and Takahashi at JNats.

Uh, Jason actually met the minimum to go to WC, so no.

takahashi is 32(??)years old, brown is 24

I just meant questionable single quad

Poor Dai, I can see him drinking himself silly, watching FaOI news and Masquerade going "That could have been me...I would have skated it better......"

Yes, we know yoy wish all skaters bad, like poor Ten.. You re happy now ,slut that he is gone?

What is this, Yuzu? Oh, boy.

Yuzu at this years FaOI is all abs, caressing his head, running his hands through his LGC hair, blowing kisses....he knows what his fans want

R521 He's so fun to watch, even when he falls on his ass.

R523 That's coreography apparently

r523 I think we figured out the first day it may have been a fall but this one is part of the choreography.

R509 Fair enough. If it's indeed the 4F he was attempting. And since we've been laughing at others' Flutzes and Floops and URs and PRs, none of which applies to him and his very sound technique, it's only fair that we laugh at his one weakness, the Lip, if he's really gonna go there.

R521 The fug is he doin'? I thought that description someone else gave of his antics in Kobe sounded more like it fit a 4 year old instead of a grown ass man 20 years older but I can see now that it actually wasn't far off the mark, lol.

definitely choreo

Feels a bit Ge- he loves choreo that involves rolling on the ground

I read that the opening was self-choreographed by him. Wasn't it? It reminds me of a cat in heat rolling on the ground... Maybe I am weird but I certainly approve. Ge and Hanyu rolling on the ground are two big differences.

R527 How can you tell it was definitely choreo? BTW, the tweet you linked auto-translated as "Trim only part of colon." LOL.

r530 well you probably don't want to trim the entire colon, i hear it is a valuable part of the body that holds your poop

R531 I come here for the sound life advice. Thanks.

You're welcome. Now back to slutty Zu

Come to think of it, I think the guy has tried all forms of jumps under the sun during this tour, including the loop during one of the practices, if reports were to be believed. All except for the salchow. While he has largely that jump to thank for his triumph in PC, it didn't do him any favors and went back to being a stabby little back stabbing biatch in Saitama. One has to wonder if it has been put on time-out ever since...it's gotta be pretty pissed now that Hanyu is completely ignoring it in favor of maybe courting the one jump he's never been particularly hot for.

Lol, as did I r532, as did I.

R521 I said upthread that Yuzuru gives me second hand embarrassment sometimes. Well, this is one of those times.

Sasha Plushenko's Y spiral. Kinda cute. I'm glad Daddy Plush has been a loyal friend to Yuzu. Rare enough, at the top, I'd imagine. I mean, even in Sochi, Plush was unbelievable - handing Yuzu the flowers and calling the 19 year old his hero now.

R536. Unlike Weir plush is being a good friend to Hanyu. I can't believe what a jerk Weir is. And after Hanyu did a tribute to him. I wonder if Hanyu has been seen with weir during faoi.

Some notes on first day in Toyama (from PH/Twitter):

Landed 4T beautifully + a high kick; Even though the rink size is smaller than FaOI Kobe, he's adjusted just fine and seems to have no trouble preparing for a jump.

Finale: "...reports that it was actually a 4F because the entry looked different than what Yuzu usually used for his Lutz." "In a jump battle he jumped 4F, fell but then got up and did a 'ato chotto' pose" "Double three turns is FLIP!!! I knew it!" "Seemed a bit sheepish but not even kuyashii... so I guess that's actually an argument in favor of 4F, if he didn't mind it so much that he fell. He was bouncing all over the place after that lol Jumping in place and waving to all sides with a huge adorable smile on" "During finale, he's holding hand with Scott Moir uwu"

"...It's not cheering. It's screaming. The person behind me was so quiet until Yuzuru appeared and then she screamed so loudly I nearly had a heart attack. When #Hanyu-kun blew a kiss the entire area was razed to the ground." "faoi this year is the first year since 2013 that Brian wasn't involved in even a show." "Javi performing Black Betty [brief video linked]"

Hanyu wins again! Takeshi Kitano is expected to give up over 20 billion yen (about 200 million USD) to his wife in their divorce settlement, including his personal assets and company name, making it the largest divorce settlement in the history of Japan for a celebrity. The wife is even getting his precious car collection. All he’ll have left to himself is his house in Setagaya and production company, T.N Gon Inc.

Takahashi and Tanaka appeared at a talk show and auction for the Western Japan Flooding Disaster Recovery Charity in Okayama. (In July 2018, heavy torrential rains caused deadly landslides and floods across Japan, with the worse-hit areas being Hiroshima and Okayama. Remember Zhou’s Hiroshima tweet?) Takahashi’s skating boots and running wear garnered 460,000 yen (about 4,200+ USD) at the auction, while Tanaka’s skates and practice wear drew 115,000 yen (about 1,000+ USD).

Tanaka said his FS has already been choreographed. He wouldn’t share the music or other details of his program, but hinted that it involves “an incident.” (Hopefully, not 9/11.) He’s leaving on the 16th to the US to get his SP choreographed.

Takahashi said he got very fat before Golden Week and is in the middle of a diet. Regular rehearsals for Hyoen will begin in July. He’s started wearing sunscreen because he tans easily and doesn’t want to ruin the image of Genji (who he plays in Hyoen). He did not piss his pants this time.

Tomono dropped out of the 54th Four Universities Games for health reasons (“poor body condition”). (Too much ramen?) The figure skating event is hosted by Keio and takes place at the Kose Shin-Yokohama Skate Center today. I think Tomono might’ve been the only recognizable skater to participate.

r498 Sasha is going to be performing in Prince Ice World Sapporo (June 22-23). Maybe the Plushenkos and Hanyus are going to have a get together after FaOI.

Footage from the Okayama talk show and charity (you can see the ladies bidding):

[quote] Hanyu wins again! Takeshi Kitano is expected to give up over 20 billion yen (about 200 million USD) to his wife in their divorce settlement

Hanyu wins? Is this ex-wife his girlfriend?

Sorry -- that's not even funny, but I was trying to guess how it could be a win for Hanyu.

Thanks for the details, JDC. I've been thinking Dai looked really rough in a couple of photos. He's a troubled person, seems to me. I'm kinda worried about this coming season (well, for more reasons than Dai, but you'd think he'd be the picture of health, in the middle of his huge come-back, but no, he got fat, and looks like a drunk in pix ?!?

r540 Karma for Kitano being a dick?

What did the dude do to lose most of his fortune to his wife, fuck all of Japan?

I'm so out of the loop - did Kitano do something bad to Yuzuru?

And you know, I bet if anything could 'adjust' a person's sexual orientation, it might be $200,000,000.

543 If I remember correctly, he called Yuzu a faggot in a derogatory way on some tv show.

Kitano called Hanyu a homo in a derogatory way. In the same show, he also insulted other athletes. I think JDC explained that he has a history of putting down successful, young people who have a clean image.

I want to know what the heck he did to have to part with that kind of money. He's had mistresses, a love child that people already know about. What's worse? It's got to be a gay lover ($50 mil?) who's a minor ($150 mil?).

Or he’s just an ignorant asshole without a pre-nup. I agree with JDC, Hanyu wins, cause in this situation, Karma wins.

r540 Just karma. Kozuka/Yuzurenai, Hashimoto, Takahashi, and now Kitano have all been hit by scandal this season.

r542 Lysacek is doing it for slightly less.

r544 Yes, and Kitano has always been frosty toward Hanyu and was one who was against him receiving the People's Honour Award because he was "too young." Kitano is giving up everything for his longtime mistress who also runs his production company. He and the wife have been separated for a long time, but the wife wouldn't agree to a divorce until now. He's been senile for a while.

There's something odd about the first photo...:

R546 Lol at that first pic! Surely the second pic has been photoshopped. Her uterus is nowhere to be found!

No no, come on, in general she’s pretty, not an OGM like Alina, but still...it’s her boobs.. wonder bra

New thread. Looks like we'll need it soon.

I feel bad for med. although sometimes she makes it hard with her drama , attention seeking ways. Her life would be her ideal with an OGM. But she didn’t and she never will, so she gets introduced with tuk. While Alina hold hands other OGMs. All for less than 2 points? FS life can be cruel.

R546 What the hell is going on with her boobs. whAT IS THE TRUTH

I agree R547. If her figure was that good, I wouldn't have repeatedly noticed how thick-waisted she is. The second one's photoshopped for sure (in my opinion.) The first one probably, to make her boobs bigger?

She learned from a photoshopping master though (mistress?) - Gabby. Though Med's are less amateurish so one of her gay besties must be helping her out.

I don't feel sorry for Med, though. She strikes me as a spoiled brat. Cold and manipulative. While Gabby is just bonkers (and probably borderline.)

I'm so glad Alina got gold - she's a nice one. And this week, was doing a 3Lz-3Lo-3Lo in warmup. And here's her 3Lz-3T-3Lo. Maybe she is a girl after Yuzuru's own heart ;)

[quote] Just karma. Kozuka/Yuzurenai, Hashimoto, Takahashi, and now Kitano have all been hit by scandal this season.

Thank you, JDC! Revenge is sweet.

r553 Lol, you make it sound as though he willed or voodooed it all into happening. He didn't...did he?

Yeah I did kinda make it sound that way lol. Well... if he's got voodoo power, he needs to use it to save his ankles!!

I just watched the stream of the Kobe show - well bits of it, interspersed with ladies decorating cakes and a long interview w/Yuzu, Nobu, and a woman, not understanding a word, but Nobu kept putting his hands on Yuzu and a couple times, Yuzu lifted his hand off of him, which was cute. Nobu is too perfect.

Anyhow, the three Japanese girls (Satoko/Kaori/Mai) were all together when they did their cakes -- then they showed Med and Tuk doing theirs, just the two of them - and THEN, just Alina, all by herself. Egads. Everybody in Japan must know about the bad feelings between Med and Zags, I guess.

They said this was the first time since 2013 that Brian had no involvement in FAOI - I wonder if the reason Alina wasn't in the show last summer was because Brian was involved - and somehow, that's why he's not involved this time and Zags is there. (If that's true, I wish they'd left Med off the cast-list, lord knows she's been in enough shows already)

Which Brian are we talking about? I can’t remember a Brian in the cast last year and don’t get why Orser would influence the cast at all

R550 Med had my sympathy after Olys, but all the bitter, mean girl bs with Zags has been a total turn off. Does this whole Weir/letter fiasco mean FAOI is obligated to keep Med on forever? If they drop her, everyone would notice.

IK translated parts of the Nobu/Hanyu interview.

I was talking about Orser R556. I'm probably way off base - I was just wondering why they changed their minds last summer - they were gonna invite Zags but then didn't. I assume it was because Brian Orser was involved with the show (and had been involved since 2013) and he just took Med on as a student.

Now I'm not even sure that had already happened. But why didn't they invite Zags, after originally planning to?

Oh I'm getting my words all tangled. Never mind. I didn't think it through.

And I hope they're not stuck with Med forever, R557. Yuck.

[quote] Japanese girls (Satoko/Kaori/Mai)

Rika did the cake too. Now I'm not sure if Mai did. Shit, should have taken notes. I know Akiko didn't.

R558 I remember Orser was involved with the Kobe stop of FaOI last year, probably helping with the programs

Takahashi has now said that he will compete internationally if he has the chance and that was his intention all along?

Deniss landed a 4T!

R555 I explained the Zagitova situation in a previous post about an interview Makabe did on Tokyo Groove. He said he had planned to invite Zagitova, but was told not to because it would crush Med. Orser has been busy in China and not involved in FaOI casting or managing Med's career. He also didn't have his meeting with Med about joining TCC until a month before FaOI last year. It was most likely Med herself and her agent's doing. Ari Zakarian represents almost all of the Russian skaters and the entire ensemble cast, so he does have some power. (He also represents Ge.) It's unlikely that anyone but Med's agent would discourage Makabe from inviting the ladies OGM during the Olympic year.

R557 Makabe might not be pleased about the way Weir and Med went about the letter.

I love the Nobu-Yuzuru interview. Last year’s was great as well. Nobu really brings out the cuteness in Yuzuru

That is, Deniss landed a 4T, 3A , 3Lz and all jumps were good. Now if he can just land them in competition.

Slam!

R564 He's been looking so possessed. LOL. I don't know whether to dread or look forward to next season. With Hanyu, it's always a mixture of both.

China has shopped around

Ashley Lin, Emily Zhang and Beverly Zhu have been naturalized (all previously skating for USA).

For Pair Chelsea Liu (previously Liu/Johnson and Liu/Meyh for USA) will skate with Zhong Xie

Now that's a side of him I suspect isn't exactly rare but definitely not one we as fans get to see a lot of. Dude sure was in high spirits and lowered his inhibition towards on-screen antics enough to awkwardly try to match the pace of the other two. He's never gonna be a gag artiste but it's interesting to see him try.

Also, I'm getting the vibe that his relationship with fans is the sort that's a two way street. Like some fans proudly proclaim that if he asked them to take a dive of a cliff they would (figuratively, I'm reckoning...many would certainly follow him to the ends of the earth). Likewise if fans and supporters ask him to jump, he'll simply ask how high. I've never seen anyone who enjoys shouldering expectations as much as he does. It's like he sets these high expectations for himself and when people inadvertently follow suit, he takes it as some kind of validation to his own expectations and I'm guessing that's how he generates fuel to sustain his seemingly neverending motivation. It's little wonder why he lacks chill, if that's the way his brain is wired. To be honest, if he weren't so successful, and if I didn't admire his character so much, I'd think he was a moron.

By success, I meant his ability to walk the talk. There's a very fine line separating those who can't (the morons) and those who can (the ones who turn the tables around to make those who would call them morons the real morons instead). Hanyu is firmly in the latter category.

Apparently Yuzu tried 4F, Med 4Sal and Mai 3A. Don't know about Mai, but I'm really curious to see how < Med's jump was. I don't think she had time to try it in practice, so...

Medvideva is pathetic, she has so many complexes that she has to wear such big push ups, whats wrong with her? she fas flat tits and no waist line , live with that girl

Oops. Johnny has already deleted it but he wasn't quick enough.

R565 That's because of his asthma. My brother looks the same while trying to breathe in some air.

Weir and his drama. Duhhhh, it would cause a messy scene when he deletes a post like that. I hope Hanyu’s people told him to take it down. They don’t want hanyu associated with the same site that posted that anti letter.

He is so intense. OMG.

All I heard is Med 4S didn't land. Someone else tried something but not sure who or what

[quote] I explained the Zagitova situation in a previous post about an interview Makabe did on Tokyo Groove. He said he had planned to invite Zagitova, but was told not to because it would crush Med.

Sorry about that. I remembered that part - but not that it was likely her agent or herself. [which makes me dislike her even more!]

Is it just me or something going on behind the scenes with Weir. His odd naked video talking about retirement, after accepting all those praises from Tara about Otonal being an homage to him-yuzu/Jeff interview changed tunes, or this odd deletion of his picture with his “idol”

His “idol” after he played up with the rest of US media that Nathan is artistically now as good as Yuzu. Then his posting an anti letter in the middle of FaOI. In past FaOI weir tried to chummy up to yuzu, I haven’t seen them close in any video yet this year. Maybe yuzu finally realized you can admire from afar.

Does anyone know? In japan who is the most popular for women. Alina v med, or are Japanese women the overall favorites? JDC ?

R578 Not JDC but I would think it used to be Marin Honda, but her lacking senior seasons hasn't done her any favors.

R577 - probably not related, but after filming for his Netflix series in Canada, he ended up in a hospital with a vague reason given - "exhaustion" I think. I can't remember when it was - a few months ago. Anyway, he was especially weird-acting around that time, and in a way, ever since. In the past year, he bought a house that looks like it's in the countryside and relatively secluded (his Instastories sometimes give a panoramic view around his "estate") And he seems alone, other than two or three female friends that he gushes over and goes shopping with and stuff.

But the weirdest thing was that shirtless video from his bed, saying he wished he had a new husband and kids to settle down with. He also announced his 2022 retirement from skating along with insulting some of his fellow veteran skaters for doing a crappy job just for the pay check. He said even gaining one pound messed with his jumps - and I remember a while earlier than that one, he did an instastory complaining that he had gained weight and was reaching the "mumu and statement shoes" stage.

Sorry to ramble. I think he's having a midlife crisis - kinda weird with all the tv opportunities that have opened up for him with Tara (and without, like the series).

R580 thats the naked video I was referring to

LOL, he’s only 34, if he’s already having a mid life crisis, he is in for a world of hurt

r579 I loomed Honda's programs last season but regarding her what I feel most is the shadefreude towards this one poster from GS who insisted aggressively that Honda is the future of Japanese FS and other Japanese girls looked like peasants next to her.

But it seems to me that Kihira gets the most media attention, she's often featured in those FaOI snippets along with Yuzu.

So Johnny said Hanyu’s management made him take the flower picture down? Should he be mentioning. Hanyu management like that? It’s like he can’t keep the drama troll from taking over his better instincts...assuming he has better instincts

R583 hmm no. That's speculation.

No it’s in his Ig instatory shirtless and with bunny ears. Go look it up

It’s the last video , is he on drugs

This is what Johnny said: "Hi everyone so sorry i had to delete that picture of Yuzu and I in our flower crowns. His management has a very specific way that they like to see him and apparently I had broken some rules and they asked me to delete it. And so sorry to both sets of our fans. We love you."

What a fucker. The barely concealed, "a very specific way that they like to see him." Why is he being such an ass? Hanyu doesn't have management. It was probably Mama Hanyu giving Johnny the finger!

Hanyu does have a team though. Maybe not management in the sense of an agency like img, but he does have people.

R588 Yeah, I know. I just like the idea of Mama Hanyu giving Weir the finger.

I don't, it sounds ridiculous and kind of weird.

Wier is acting like he’s not been around Hanyu and his management before. Obviously, he feels slighted and knowing him it’s the lack of attention just like Med. of course Hanyu has management. Other skaters have deleted photos/videos in past too, but without being a bitch about it.

Same for that anti letter, I’m sure he’s seen many before, but something making him act out this FaOI. Hopefully the good thing about this is he may not be back next year.

It’ll be interesting to see is he throws shade while he’s announcing for NBC. Is it beneath him? LMAO we are talking about Johnny here.

Weir needs to grow the fuck up. Calls himself a skating elder, but he's caused more drama this week than the teenage girls. He's been desperate for attention for some time now. FAOI just gave him a captive audience.

No wonder Johnny and Med get along so swimmingly with their teenage, drama troll ways.

R592 Earlier this year, he had no qualms openly orgasming over Nathan whilst writing off Hanyu in the same breath on national television. I doubt he'll change any time soon as evidenced by the thinly veiled pettiness in his statement regarding him having to delete his photo with Hanyu.

Whaaat damn it, I couldn't believe it. It's so weird he's making such a big deal out of it. What's going ooooon

A specific way they like to see him, huh? I'll just take it to mean that his social media has been flagged as one of the problematic ones and is now blacklisted from featuring Hanyu. I mean, if I were being paid to protect my client's image, I'd be vetting the kinds of accounts I want my client to appear on and generally avoid the problematic ones for easier management. He's appeared on other skaters SNSes without problems. The guy's pretty much all over the place, in fact, so it doesn't sound as though there's unreasonably tight restrictions over his image during show season. Weir's seems to be the first case during this show. And since it hasn't been even been a week since the last drama incited through one if his accounts, it really doesn't take a genius to figure out why they'd prefer their client's image not to be affiliated to this guy's SNS so soon after it.

As a palate cleanser, here's a sub version of the Hanyu/Oda interview.

r596 PH is speculating whether Johnny was asked to take down the photos because Yuzu wearing a flower crown was too gay, but then someone pointed out the official FaoI photo with Hanyu grabbing Stephane's ass. Now somebody needs to point out Hanyu's costumes, penchant for being lifted by other men and love affair currently going with Toshi. If the management wanted to make Hanyu appear less gay, they'd first have a talk with Hanyu.

where is the photo with hanyu grabbin stephane's ass?

R598 As you pointed out, I doubt the reason Hanyu's management objected was because they don't want him to appear too gay. But Weir was definitely trying to throw that out wasn't he? Weir is butt hurt about something and is grasping at homophobe straws. Johnny must be really desperate if he's playing that card on Hanyu of all people.

I don't know but it's mean what Weir did. Twice.