Here we go...
Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments below as the event unfolds!
Tape-delayed Jeremy Abbott (USA, Music: Symphony No. 3 by Saint-Saens): A NIGHTMARE> That's what it felt like the other day. Here is the chance for redemption. He is wearing his blue shirt from Nationals. Maybe good luck? Quad - argh, fall and now ice is on his hiney. COME ON JEREMY! ick, popped that triple attempt. Terrible. Triple axel attempt - a little forward but he lands it and the triple toe on the end. Yikes his face is all red. But he looks determined now. Of course, the program is not quite what it was at Nationals...the spirit is not quite there. Triple axel number two - awesome, and a combo. Great three jump combo! Triple loop, woo! Bezic talking about the nerves. Lands the salchow - this is a great recovery from the start. I'm glad he could do that, at least. It's such a good program. Gosh he just looks so sad. Aww...Jeremy!!! 149.56 for this segment, 218.96 overall, he's in first for now.
aaaand now we're talking about hockey. I AM MAD AT YOU NBC.
Takahiko Kozuka (Japan, Music: Guitar Concerto by M. Kamen): I love Kozuka! He is going to be even better in a couple of years. OOH Quad toe, don't care if it was two-footed. Good for him!!! held onto the triple axel/triple toe...great. He is not wearing a fancy tiger shirt today, but he is still awesome. Another triple triple. Spins are ok, not great. Music is a little overwhelming right now. He's not doing too much with the footwork that's exciting me. Spread eagle! three jump combo...sit spin. He is just ON tonight...wow. NBC loved pulling out that clock, didn't they? OH CRAP I jinxed him, what a terrible fall on his second triple axel attempt. But then he goes ahead and lands his triple flip, triple toe, and triple lutz. He's awesome. More footwork...ooh - they said supple knees, there you go. Can't top supple knees. Scratch spin - the audience knows to clap. hee. Great job. A bad fall, but everything is so good. Oh, dear. Scott is using the line about how he doesn't know how difficult skating is yet. oy. New material, please! 151.60 for the segment, 231.19 overall, he's in first for now!!!
Denis Ten (Kazakhstan, Music: Paso Doble, Concierto de Aranjuez): I remember seeing him last year at worlds...craziness. Augh that triple axel was so big. And he couldn't contain it!!! Second triple axel is better, and he has a combo double toe on it. triple lutz is good. Another turnout...I thought that was setting up to be a loop but it turned into a flip. it was interesting. There's the triple loop. Now a triple lutz/double toe, double toe, augh Scott says he did it before the bonus, what a waste!! Another great jump sequence...I'm glad the guys are skating pretty well overall now. And a double axel. He is kind of just going through the motions in the choreography but he is only 16 so he probably needs a little more time. MAN BIELLMANN - DRINK! Last bit of that spin went all over the place, but great job by Ten!!! Time to smile. 135.01 for the free skate, 211.25 overall. He is in third for now.
Guess we are skipping Kevin van der Perren for Shaun White's medal ceremony...
FLorent Amodio (France, Music: Amelie): Marionette program. I do like his short program better...He is dressed more like a clown than a marionette, but let's not be picky. Easy double axel...Triple axle with a crazy (painful?) landing. He lands the next triple. Nice camel position. This whole spin is nice. A lot more hopping around than in the short program. He is definitely performing and not just skating, which is nice. Triple axel/double toe. Awesome. I would love to see him try the quad sal...that would have been fun tonight. Nice triple flip. Another good jump...doubled a lutz. This is a fun footwork sequence. I'm excited to see more of him. I think for me I just didn't go for this style of routine as much as the short program, but I love Amelie and I love Amodio's skating. 134.95 for the free, 210.30 for the whole competition. Fourth for now.
Patrick Chan (Canada, Music: Phantom of the Opera): I could see Chan medalling. He can score big on those components. Bam, there's that triple axel! Double toe as well. triple flip, triple toe. This was not perfect, but it was landed. Turned out of the triple lutz. But now it's the Patrick Chan show, and he's ready. Nice sit spin. Drama! Happy face! I love butterflies face! Scott talked about the bonus - he loves that. Fall on the triple axel. ugh. Patrick! Very nice three jump combo. Bezic loves to tell us how young Patrick Chan is. I'm tired of hearing about how rare it is to land on the podium the first time out. Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan and Evgeny Plushenko and Tim Goebel and a ton of others did it. So..whatevs. This footwork is good, but I like Lambiel and Takahashi's better. It's just not as fast as I expect it to be and not as much going on as expected,although I do think he's amazing. I wonder what Don Laws is thinking. 160.30. Hmm. That's kind of ridiculous, I don't care how good your spins are. 241.42.
Michal Brezina, Czech Republic, Music:An American in Paris by Gershwin): I cannot get over this crazy vest. I love it more than life!!! Beautiful triple axel!! This guy does not feel the pressure. Triple flip. Who is he running from? Why is he doing the mashed potato? He is so cute trying to connect with the audience with these goofy faces. Now he is skipping! Well, as much as I love Brezina, watching him after Chan makes me appreciate Chan's strengths even more. I will begrudge him his score a teensy bit less. Brezina seems to be waiting out for the bonus. Here comes another triple axel, in combination! woo! He is just landing triple after triple after triple! ARGH I jinxed him, too. I am teh jinx. And he popped a double axel, ooh he is improvising! and it's not really working. Scott says he is out of gas. His footwork is not fabulous. But he is so darn cute. He is another one I'm looking forward to watching in the future. 137.93 for the free, and 216.73 for the competition.
The final group is warming up OMG SO EXCITED. The big news is Evan has chosen to wear his snake outfit tonight. And Evgeny has chosen the rhinestone vest/tie.
Evan Lysacek (USA, Music: Sheherezade): OH MY GOD I AM SO NERVOUS. OH DEAR GOD. Ok. I have to breathe. I'm not even skating. Triple triple PERFECT!!!! I thought he almost just skated into the boards. TOO CLOSE, I am being paranoid. OH MY GOD, I thought he would fall on that triple axel but he DID NOT. why am i thinknig such bad thoughts?!?! Another clean triple. He does a lot of the Russian knee things. He loooks a bit nervous but is trying to get into it. Good footwork sequence, very crisp. Nice sit spin. Here he comes with the second half (BONUS!). Second triple axel OMG So forward. Will be low GOE...aughghg. Triple loop, perfecto. difficult entrance into three jump combo, but it's good. Evan looks disbelieving...augh...triple lutz, YEAH!!!!!!! Awesome, Evan!!!!! Spin, great. Here comes the patented Lysacek step sequence. Not as fast as usual - come one Evan!!! here we go. ending spin, loved i!!!!! Ok, that was not perfect, he gave up some grade of execution points. He skated clean. This better score high! This man is such a competitor. he won me over four years ago when he came back from a disastrous short program in Torino, and he just further proved his strength tonight. Apparently he had a bad warmup, I didn't know that. ACK CAN'T WAIT. 167.37 UM YOU HAVE TO BE EFFING KIDDING ME THAT HE ONLY GOT 7 POINTS OVER PATRICK CHAN. 257.67. That is not going to do it. (or am I being paranoid/pessimistic? But this competition has been pretty high-scoring so far so I am worried). Personal best, though.
Nobunari Oda (Japan, Music: Chaplin): Triple lutz. I thought he was going to do the quad?? Triple axel, triple toe, beautiful. They should mention his knees soon. He is cute here, but he better work it! Triple salchow...nice! His personality is not shining through as much as usual...I am so sad! Triple axel...these are so clean! Another gorgeous three jump combo - the guys are so good. Wow, Oda's jumps look so easy they are misleading. OOPS I got him too - he just kind of fell OH NO now he is hurt, Oh Nobunari, I'm so sad!!!! I hope he's ok.Skate lace. Always the friggin skate lace. Well, he is better at this than Tonya was, but I miss the yelling. And the inhaler. Good for Oda! beautiful spin. Poor guy will lose two points for the stoppage. Double axel. Cute little section here. Well, that was unfortunate. I do not want to see Plushenko walking. Sittng. Talkign to someone. I don't. Oda gets a 153.69 for the free and a 238.54, he's in third behind Patrick Chan.
Stephane Lambiel (Switzerland, Music: La Traviata): Lambiel's components will be through the roof. Will he land both quads? No triple axel. Touched down on the first quad. Triple lutz...shaky landing, but honestly as long as he lands them.... Just makes the second quad, with a double toe. These are the ugliest jumps, I must say, but they are landed. Another combo...now the fun stuff!!! Bezic says he is tight. Yay, spins. He should spin all day long. I am still not as into this program as I feel like I should be - I mean, the arm over the head the whole time doesn't do it for me. Another low landing, but if he is clean from here on out I think his scores are going to be very high. Another beautiful spin from Lambiel. I do like this section better than the beginning sections. Another clean triple, the loop. No one is just coming out and grabbing this competition - even Evan. I want someone to really really wow me. Great ending spin. Wow. Scott didn't think it was great, but his scores will surprise us. Watch! 162.09 in the free, 246.72 total. Actually, that sounds about right.
Daisuke Takahashi (Japan, Music: La Strata by N. Rota) Oh my god, my stomach hurts. And it's not just because of his shirt. AUGH. Hhaha people thought he didn't mean to do that at the beginning. FALL ON THE QUAD WHY DID YOU TRY THAT AUGHGHGHG. WHYYYYYY. Triple axel...double toe. I am so sad. I don't get this macho quad crap...if you can't land it anymore you cannot land it. Triple loop, beautiful. Spins are not up to par with some of the other skaters. Ok I will try to enjoy his awesomeness. He's so cute! This footwork is great as usual. He looks good here. Triple/triple! Another triple landed. Second triple axel - YES! I hate you even more for that quad now that you're landing everything. Beautiful...triple lutz. WHY. Another gorgeous triple/double combination. This is great. He is skating with emotion. I am LOVING it. Very slow spins at the end though. Oh, well. YOU ARE AWESOME. I wonder if he can make it to the podium. ugh, probably not. 156.98. UM? REally? he scored less than Chan?? YOU SUCK, WORLD. But, he is in second place. AND EVAN IS GOING TO MEDAL!!!
Johnny Weir (USA, Music: Fallen Angel): Johnny needs to own this competition before Plushenko does. Let's go, Weir! I say, try the quad. You're not going to medal anyway without it at this point. Ergh triple fip. No quad. Oh, well, it was probably smarter not to listen to me. hee. Triple axel - awesome, you landed it. Clean triple. Come on Johnny, look alive! second triple axel, nice, with a tano double toe. He stumbles ugh. And he hasn't done a triple/triple yet. GEEZ. Held onto that triple loop. I don't love this program, I really wish it had more energy. Triple lutz...Triple!!! YAY. Good. Scott said bonus again. Triple jump combo, very good. Weir is doing just FINe! Double axel. Beatuiful sit spin. Yes - now he is getting into it. He looks mean! hah I like that. Camel into sit spin, awesome. YES JOHNNY! YOU DID IT!!!!!! GOod for him. That is literally the best free he has done in SOOO LONG or ever as Scott said. I'm soo sooo happy he could do this!!!! Oh gosh, I have divided loyalties. 156.77. The crowd is booing, augh WHY DO THE JUDGES HATE YOU JOHNNY WEIR!!!??? I hate you, judges. I continue blogging under protest. I don't even know where he ended up. Fifth for now.
Evgeny Plushenko (Russia): OH, gee will he win? Yes. he will. Anyway. Quad - very forward. Triple toe landed. WOW that triple axel was all over the place but the landing was not bad. Another triple axel, double toe. Triple loop. Fast sit spin here but not the positions of some others. Ooh - is that a fish face...swivel those hips Plushy! It will distract us. Triple lutz - he is landing jumps he should not be landing. He is a machine. This program doesn't do it for me. I prefer a (slightly restrained) Evan over a flamboyant Plushenko any day. Useless arms. Footwork that does not appear so complicated. Still, this may very well be the gold medal. Triple lutz...was that fully rotated? I think it was just a weird landing. Triple sal.Double axel. He has a minute left an no jumps. Ew, this is not a good program, I dont' care who he is seducing. I'm sorry, I can't believe this man is probably going to win. I'm starting to think maybe he won't win. But I shouldn't verbalize that. This program was a joke to me when you put it up against Lysacek. UGH I AM DYING HERE. SCORES. His jumps were not as strong as Lysacek's on the whole, more grade of execution deductions, although Bravo to him for landing them. He really is amazing. HOLY [EXPLETIVE]! EVAN LYSACEK JUS TWON THE OLY MPIC GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 165.51 for the free skate. 256.36 for the competition. EVAN WINS BY ONE POINT. This is such a triumph. I was one of the doubters, and I am so happy to see that the actual skating, not just one jump with one more revolution than all the others, actually won out tonight.
And my Daisuke gets on the podium!!! This is a good night!!!
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