Skate Canada 2011 Men's SP

Quickie recap of the men, as I am very busy.


Javier Fernandez. Mr. Fernandez wore a gorgeous soft yellow cardigan...given my secret fetish for cardigans, I think I loved this program even before he started skating. Anyway, cardigan aside, 4T, 3Lz-3T, 3A, all easy and airy--clearly the skate of the night. Good to see Mr. Fernandez doing some very unMorozovian non-upper-body choreography. Spins travelled way too much, but Brian Orser should fix that.


Daisuke Takahashi. A nuanced and mature performance from Mr. Takahashi, and definitely a solid departure from the glitterbomb programs of yore. Admittedly, I was sceptical of In the Garden of Souls, but Mr. Takahashi's great performance--albeit with no quad--has won me over. Great vehicle for demonstrating his musicality and range, and he should've won on PCS tonight.




Patrick Chan. Touch-down on the 4T after slipping a bit before the entrance, 2A, 3Lz-3T. I personally would not have marked him so close to Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Takahashi, but well, this competition is Skate Canada after all. However, Mr. Chan nonetheless still deserves to be in third place. Lori Nichol has tweaked the choreography of Take Five a little bit, but I'm somewhat surprised Mr. Chan still wasn't more clean--surely he's used to the program by now? Whatever....I'm just pleasantly surprised the judges didn't rank this first.


Adam Rippon. Rippon 3Lz, 3A with a slight touch-down of the free foot, UR 3F-3T. I hate to say it....but I really don;t see Mr. Rippon making the US world team any time soon. It doesn't look like Mr. Rippon's 3A demons are any more exorcised. The 3A was ridiculously stalked and had little speed going into it. The rest of the jumps don't look particularly improved and the UR call on the 3F-3T is worrying. Moreover, Mr. Rippon's mostly-7 PCS demonstrates that the international judges still don't really see him as ready to play with the big boys unless he whips out the 3A and quad like Mr. Fernandez. Not sure if I dig the Shae-Lynn Bourne choreography, but I liked how Mr. Rippon kept up the energy of the music up until the end.

Overall, a decent night of skating for the menfolk. Barring a catastrophic meltdown, the top three in the short will surely make the podium after the long. The 10-point gap between Mr. Chan and Mr. Rippon clearly says it all.