(NOTE: I've gone back and fixed the layout of this to make it more read-able... very sorry for that; it's amazing what passes as OK in one's mind when it's 2AM and one is still trying to type up notes without doing a face plant on the desk.)
Confession time… my night was thrown early on by a home emergency of sorts, as will be illustrated as I skate past some of the early performances. (But I do have them on tape; will study them in a later analysis. So, let’s see…
Florent Amodio (France), Viktor Pfeifer (Austria), Vaughan Chipeur (Canada)… I’m very sorry boys, but shortly before NBC got started tonight, my six-year old tripped coming up the stairs with a cup of red tempera paint and spilled it in two places on the living room carpet. Yeah, I know…tell me about it. I was alternating between blotting the carpet with white vinegar and rags, cleaning up the kitchen, and putting the kids to bed when you skated. So sorry… but I do have it recorded, and will look ‘em over in analysis. Here’s how they scored…
AMODIO—in 11th
PFEIFER-- in 23rd
CHIPEUR—in 24th
Next up: Evgeny Plushenko, Russia (wearing black & silver; skating to Concierto de Aranjuez)Plushy, did you not hear me?? I’M CLEANING. RED. PAINT. OUT OF MY CARPET. Can’t your SP wait?? No?? Time to go take on “your enemies”? OK, fine. I’ll call it without even seeing it: HUGE quad toe/3Toe… skate skate skate HUGE triple axel… skate crossover skate solid 3Lutz(?)… pose spin pose footwork crossover spin pose pose spin finger in the air You’re Done, suck on that. Got it. NEXT.
SCORE: 90.85. In 1st. By a macho whisker hair.
OK, later that same evening…
Daisuke Takahashi, Japan (wearing black with a jacket I can only describe as hyperdetailed—skating to EYE by Coba.)
3Flip/3toe good… 3 ax great… 3lutz swish! Oh, the footwork, the footwork… yum! What super expressions on his face! Everything rocks so very well. “That was hot”, says Sandra when he’s done. Yeah it was!
SCORE: 90.25. In 3rd. What? so close to Plushy?? Hope!!!
Stephane Lambiel, Switzerland (looking like an extra from Robin Hood... skating to William Tell Overture)
No triple ax, only double… quad toe VERY low in knee, barely pulls off 2/toe comto… 3lutz good… Footwork is awesome and of course so are spins, but oh well. Is he screwed? Let’s see…
SCORE: 84.63. Components rule… currently 5th.
Nobunari Oda, Japan (in black and silver with arrows pointing…??; skating to Totentantz (Liszt))
Deep, lovely triple ax… 3flip(?)/3toe awesome… 3lutz terrific… I’m seeing Yagudin influence in his footwork… anyone else? And is it possible his spins are even BETTER than before? Nice work!
SCORE: 84.85. Currently 4th.
Brian Joubert, France (in black with rhinestones down front; skating to Rise by Safri Duo)… shaking his head and talking to self before music begins. Hmm. Quad toe/3Toe—flip out on quad, no combo. 3 ax is OK. 3lutz… oh, what was that? Complete blow out. Looks like he was trying for a higher level spin in there. Ugh.
SCORE: 68.00. Oh, did I say in my predictions he’d finish 2nd? I meant, um… 18th. I’m sorry that I don’t feel sorrier for him, but I just… don’t.
Takahiko Kozuka, Japan (in “jeans” and red patterned shirt that Scott Hamilton covets… probably my fave costume of the night…. skating to Bold as Love (Hendrix))
Do the circle and slap, Mr. Sato… there ya go. 3Lutz/3 Toe YES! 3Ax little 2-foot, OK, still better than you’ve done most of the season…3Flip YES! This is such a cool program when you land the jumps, dude!
SCORE: 79.59. Atta boy! Currently 8th.
Samuel Contesti, Italy (Looking like Cotton-Eye Joe after a hard day in the fields… music is Wish Me Well (Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim) and Whammer Jammer (J.Geils))
3Lz?/3Toe good… 3 axel rough landing but OK… SPLAT on last triple. I think I’ve said before that this guy reminds me of Ryan Bradley… or do I say that about Preaubert? Anyway… I love that Scott gave a J. Geils shout-out. It wasn’t a total embarrassment of a skate, like, um others we’ve seen … so great job there, France, on your choice to let him “relocate” and skate for Italy.
SCORES: 70.60. Currently 14th.
Patrick Chan, Canada (in Black w/a super sparkly vest… skates to Tango de los Exilados.)
BTW I thought the little collection of coulda/wouldas for Canadian men was great. Just sayin’. OK… triple Ax w/step out… 3flip?/3toe good… 3lutz nice… here comes da footwork we all love from him… nice… super nice… um, stumble?? Yes? No? (Bueller? Anyone?) Did anyone else catch that? OK, there, Scott mentioned it. Plus a music violation? Yikes.
SCORES: 81.12. Currently 7th… and he won’t make the final flight with that. Aw. But I think it might help, and take the pressure off him.
Johnny Weir, USA (in his black and pink corset costume w/the tassle… skates to I Love You, I Hate You)
“Let’s see if he can back it up with some skating,” said Tom Hammond. Word. 3Lutz/3Toe great… 3 axel good… 3Flip good… I can see him working up to his big Footwork Stuff… saw a smile… DIVA it, boy, just DIVA it! Nicely done. The tassle is rocking!
SCORE: 82.10 Currently 6th. Interesting placement, but not shocking.
Kevin Van Der Perren, Belgium (in what I still say is My Son’s Halloween Costume From 2008—all bones, no quads or components. Hee. Skates to some classic pastiche I’m going to call ”Night on Crazy Bald Disco Mountain”)
3axel OK…3flip/3toe good… then triple loop… OK, I’m officially impressed because this guy had a SUCKYyear. Maybe it’s the skeleton costume…oh, finally, a smile… thank God. If he’d blown this event I was going to put him on a suicide watch.
SCORE: 72.90. Currently 12th.
Tomas Verner, Czech Republic (in his I’m-not-a-waiter Zorba outfit; skates to.. .umm… ZORBA)
Sandra graciously says he “struggles with consistency sometimes.” How about ALL the time…such as when he turned his quad into a double? Anyway, 3axel FALL… I cry for this guy. Triple F/3toe ok. He’s in a cab going to the dark side of town with Joubert. See you guys… and please, be real men and don’t withdraw from the free skate.
SCORE: 65.33. Currently 19th. Oy.
Evan Lysacek, USA (wearing black w/feathers…skating to Firebird)
Ca-CAW! OK, had to get that out. But seriously, if I hear about him and the IV’s from 2006 one more time I’m plucking his shoulder feathers out… 3Axel NICE one, looks much better!... 3lutz/3toe awesome. 3Flip stellar… Fly, Evan, fly!! He’s having fun now, not too much fun Evan, you’ve fallen on footwork before… now the spin; he’s looking like he did when he won Nationals in 2007. Wow. So emotional it takes me by surprise… Wipe your happy tears with the feathers!
SCORE: 90.30. No kidding!? That’s cool. Currently 2nd.
Jeremy Abbott, USA (wearing plum shirt/vest; skating to Jeff Beck’s version of A Day in the Life)
Did he fix his collar yet? Yes he did. OK, let’s see how he does going right behind Evan’s throwdown… 3Flip/3Toe nice. Triple Axel—singled?? Not even really popped, but singled??!?! Why??? Oh, damn… 2’d the lutz after that… what?? Oh… my stomach hurts. Did he HAVE to skate that bad? Did he have to leave his best back in Spokane?
He looks like a man in shock. We are fans in shock, staring back. No one wins this staring contest.
SCORE: 69.40. Ouch. Bloodletting. I think Verner and Joubert’s cab just ran him over. Come sit with us in Blogland, Jeremeeee. I have band-aids in all sizes. Currently 15th.
Finally… Michal Brezina, Czech Republic (wearing black and white, skating to Puttin on the Ritz)
Nice Triple axel… great 3Lutz… 3Flip/3toe. That’s all the notes I took, but he’s a snazzy fellow… Takahiko/Brezina showdown in 2014?
SCORE: 78.80. Currently 9th!
More analysis and other stuff to come tomorrow!
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