Worlds 2010: Men's Short

I have literally spent most of my day today watching the men's short program, and honestly, I can't think of a better way I could have spent it. It was one hell of an event.

I didn't see much of the earlier half, mostly because I didn't want to get up early to watch them, so I did miss Viktor Pfeifer, which is a shame. Still, it sounds like he had a great skate and he qualified easily for the FS - he's currently sitting in 17th place. After the first half finished, the eurosport feed I was watching showed a little catchup thing, showing the highlights of various skaters, which meant that I got to see some of Boris Martinec's hilarious 'Grease' program, and some of the Korean boy, Min-Seok Kim, who just missed out on the free in Vancouver. He had an absolute beauty of a 3A and his KnC was lovely to watch.

My other favourite Viktor, Romanenkov, had a terrible skate and looked furious with himself. I only really support him because he seriously impressed me with his skipping skills in Nebelhorn, but he does have nice quality.

The second half was really something. Fernandez changed his SP to the Matrix, which I love, and he also had one hell of a triple axel to start off with. Apparently he had a 4T-3T planned but executed a 3T-3T. He had a big score and great footwork, and is currently sitting in 13th, which is great for him.

Having Amodio directly after Fernandez was basically skating heaven, because Florent is just as gorgeous to watch. He didn't look quite over his skates today, though, with a step out on the 3A and a little slip up on the combination spin, which he managed to save. Either he was just having a bad day, or the growing expectations are starting to get to him a little. Eurosport seemed to think he didn't skate to his music, but I'd disagree. They showed an interview with him afterwards, I impressed myself by understanding most of it. He basically said he was just a little tired, what with it being the last competition of the season and after the Olys.

Oh, Kevin Reynolds cut his hair, and possibly also got highlights. He was dressed in standard Canadian-man outfit and skating to standard Canadian-man jazz. Nice 4S-3T to begin but then only a 1A, which his a shame. He does seem to have gotten a lot more flair though so that's good, I enjoyed his footwork and he really used the music. It reminds me a lot of Rachael Flatt's SP, actually. Eurosport commentators were raving over him, and it does seems ridiculous that Chipeur went to the Olys over him. He went into second behind Fernandez, but with PCS higher than Javier's, which seems a little off.

Kovalevski surprised me by being pretty good at the Olys and I liked his program here, too; I like the step sequences and the way he uses the music. He had a turn out on the axel but otherwise, not half bad for him. Eurosport seemed confused as to why he went behind Amodio...did they even watch Amodio?

Borodulin gave us the first big shock of the event. I loved him in Vancouver and the audience were getting into his program from the start, mostly because he used Kalinka, and then his blade snapped, right down the middle, after his first jump, and that was the end of it for him. That is terrible luck; poor guy. Hopefully he will come back strong next season.

After all that drama, my power then went out for ten minutes or so, which meant that I missed half of Schultheiss and all of Ryan Bradley, and then it came back to tell me that Ryan was sitting in tenth and without a Q next to his name! Luckily Pavel Caska, and then several others, also didn't qualify, so Ryan did, in the end, but wow. I see that he fell on the quad and then only did a 2A, and I have to wonder if it was down to the injury, or just nerves/an off day/whatever. Ryan just does not have any luck. Schultheiss, on the other hand, must have skated lights out, because he's currently in 12th place.

Aside from Adrian, this whole group was basically just a mess. I did appreciate Peter Liebers' quick set of star jumps just before his footwork, though. Eurosport insisted on showing me poor Brian's Oly SP during the ice resurface, and then they showed an interesting interview with Brian's coach about his mindset after Vancouver, etc, and he also said that they have added transitions. Good man.

I was so nervous for Jeremy! He has my absolute favourite SP of the season, and my God, he did it almost perfectly. I was literally clapping with delight as he landed each of his jumps. He didn't have exactly the same freedom and magic as he did at US Nats, but wow, what redemption for him. I could watch that program forever. I thought his PCS was almost criminally low, though. It ended up just a point or so above Contesti, of all people, which is just ridiculous. Still, very well done to Jeremy. Hopefully he can really bring it in the FS.

After Borodulin's disaster, Voronov faced a hell of a lot of pressure to earn more than one spot for Russia, and he hadn't exactly had a lot of time to prepare since Plushenko withdrew. He just about made the 4T-2T, and just about made the 3A, and just about made the 3F, so not bad at all. When he got his scores, the Eurosport commentators announced "It's good...it's better than Abbott!" and I nearly had a heart attack, but they were, of course, mistaken. He's currently in 11th so it's going to be tight for the two places for next season, but Kevin van der Perren, who is in tenth, is not exactly known for his consistency so there is still hope.

I love Kozuka, and he was absolutely fantastic. His jumps, footwork and just his general quality and skating skills are all sublime, and I love his music, too. I do love Jeremy and I don't think the gap between them should have been quite so wide, but I would definitely agree with Kozuka going ahead of him. He just really captured the crowd today.

Oda is my least favourite of the Japanese guys but wow, he had an unbelievably terrible skate and popped every single jump, which I don't think I have ever seen anybody do before. I have no idea what went wrong for him. The weirdest thing was, he didn't even look too shocked, and aside from a big hiccup in the footwork, after which I thought he might be going to leave, he kept selling it the whole time. He didn't even make it to the free. Such a shame.

After a rough season, Chan finally seemed to be back on form and hit everything. He didn't have the same magic as Kozuka and I just find it difficult to like him as a person but that was a beautiful skate. Still, I wouldn't have had him in first. I did actually find him quite nice and personable in his interview, though, which surprised me.

Takahashi, on the other hand, absolutely deserved his lead. I love that guy. His 3Lz looked so big and easy that for a second, I thought he'd doubled it. He definitely brought it. Here's hoping he can hold onto that gold medal position! In his Eurosport interview, he said that he wasn't too happy with his skate; apparently he 'didn't have the speed' and 'missed a couple of things'. Perfectionist much?

Did Contesti change his costume a little? I seem to remember him wearing a plaid shirt at the Olys/the rest of the season, but I like the new, simpler look more. Sometimes I find this program contrived, but I love Contesti in general. Nice 3Lz-3T to start things off for him. Little tilted on the 3A but held onto the landing, and then just about held onto the 3F. He definitely knows where his feet are. He wasn't in the same class as the group before him, but then we weren't expecting him to be. He looked delighted with his skate and went into fifth, currently sitting in eighth, so not bad at all for him.

I was SO happy to see Joubert skate so well! He definitely brought his A-game and the 4-3 was a beauty. Loved him celebrating with his coach just before the step sequence, and it was just lovely to see him back where he belongs at the top of the leaderboard. I'm not sure that he'll be able to manage gold, but an incredible redemption for him given his performances in Vancouver. Hopefully he can land on the podium tomorrow.

Kevin van der Perren landed the 4-3 with no problems but then had a bad fall on the 3A and looked as if he was struggling to keep up with the music, which is pretty standard for him nowadays. He looked happy enough, though, and could hold onto his top ten placing.

Brezina was textbook as usual. He has perfect technique and he just really suits both of his programs; he just looks so incredibly natural and confident out there. I'm not sure I would have had him above Jeremy, but he is definitely a talent for the future. If he can get a couple more intricate programs for next season/the seasons after, I think he's a future world champion.

Like Amodio/Fernandez, having Adam skate right after Brezina was lovely. He turned out ont he 3A but everything else was just about perfect; I could watch him and his Rippon lutz for the rest of his life. He was adorable in the KnC, too. Very well done. Right now he and Jeremy are right on track to earn the USA three spots, sitting in 6th and 7th, so hopefully they can hold onto that or better it.

I like Denis Ten's Sing, Sing, Sing, and he's textbook too. These last three skaters are definitely the ones to watch for the next four years. I was a little surprised to see him under Contesti, but not too bothered. I can't believe he's only 16!

That leaves our final group for the free to be Takahashi, Chan, Joubert, Kozuka, Brezina and Abbott, so that definitely has potential to be absolutely electric. Out of those six, there's only Chan that I wouldn't be delighted to see on the podium, but right now I'm especially hoping to see Takahashi, Joubert, and then either Kozuka or Abbott up there, in that order. I'm also seriously hoping that Ryan Bradley can get it together and deliver that fabulous FS of his.