Ice Musings: World Championships: Mens Short Program

Brian Joubert, FRA: 34.37 TES + 36.92 PCS = 71.29 and into 2nd place

He is skating to Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Turned out of his opening quad toe
Some of these choreographic moves have nothing behind them and just look like he's going through the motions
Nice triple axel
Nice flexibility through his upright spin sequence
Triple lutz, no combo
Nice positions in his combination spin and a nice low sit spin but he could have a bit more speed
Nice one foot section in his footwork sequence, but the music builds and his steps don't seem to build with it
Nice final sit spin but still a little slow

Adrian Schultheiss, SWE: 29.63 TES + 30.78 PCS -2.00 = 58.41 and into 16th place

He is skating to Scuba
Triple + triple toe combination was nicely done
Step out on his double axel and he looked tilted in the air
Fall on the triple lutz
Nice positions in his upright spin and he goes right into the combination spin with nice flexibility through the triangle pose
This footwork seems painfully slow but I think that has more to do with the music at this point in the program, there's also not a lot of excitement or performance quality
Could be lower in these sit positions in his final spin and stretch more through his free leg

Patrick Chan, CAN: 51.48 TES + 41.45 PCS = 93.02 and into 1st place

Beautiful opening quad toe + triple toe combination
He looks very relaxed
A little wobbly on the landing of the triple axel but he hangs on to it
He needs to straighten his working leg through some of these positions in this spin
Nice triple lutz with a solid landing
Very nice low sit spin position, but he has his leg bent coming out of it
Really nice camel position and a nice stretched out position
This step sequence is really put together with the music and Patrick is turning on the performance; very nice edge quality

Takahiko Kozuka, JPN: 39.83 TES + 37.79 PCS = 77.62 and into 3rd place

He is skating to a soul medley
He looks a lot looser through this opening section than I've seen him in the past
Nice triple lutz + triple toe with really solid landings
Really off in the air in the triple axel and he pitches forward on the landing and puts his hands down but he hangs on to it
Nice triple flip
Good position in his camel spin into a nice bent leg variation
This footwork is nicely done with a lot of intricate turns and is nicely done with the music; he's starting to bring out the performance as well which you don't always see from him
Nice low sit position with great speed in his final spin

Kevin Van der Perren, BEL: 35.73 TES + 33.61 PCS -1.00 = 68.34 and into 10th place

He is skating to Art of War
Fall on his opening quad attempt and I'm not sure he'll get credit for the rotations either
Nice height and landing on his triple axel
Nice triple + triple toe combination
Good speed through his combination spin and nice flexibility
He could use more stretch through this donut position in his camel spin
I'd like to see him deeper into his knees through this footwork and to be looser through his upper body
Nice low sit spin with good arm variations

Michal Brezina, CZE: 41.10 TES + 36.40 PCS = 77.50 and into 4th place

He is skating to Japanese Kodo drums
Opens with a huge triple axel
Turns out of the final jump in his triple + triple combination
Not sure if he turned out of his final triple or if that was choreography
He could use more stretch through the catch foot position in his camel spin and the spins seemed slow
The steps in the footwork sequence are nice but there isn't a whole lot of power or upper body movement behind them
Nice position in his sit spin with a good stretch through his free leg but these spins seem slow

Daisuke Takahashi, JPN: 39.33 TES + 40.92 PCS = 80.25 and into 2nd place

He is skating to a Latin selection
He is one of the only skaters that performs all the way through his program
Really nice triple + triple toe to open his program
A bit tight on the landing of his triple axel but otherwise nice
Nice positions in his upright spin and good speed
Nice triple flip
Good position through his camel spin but he could use more stretch through the donut position
Into the step sequence and the crowd is going crazy, he really uses his whole body throughout and really gets into the character of the music
Good stretch through his final combination spin and good speed

Tomas Verner, CZE: 39.62 TES + 37.32 PCS -1.00 = 75.94 and into 6th place

He is skating to Singing in the Rain
This is one of my favorite short programs this season and is packed full of interesting choreographic details
Fall on his opening quad toe
Nice triple axel but a little tight on the landing
Really tight on the landing of his triple lutz + triple toe and he hops to save the landing
Nice step sequence and spins, really well done with the music
Really low sit spin position and good speed

Artur Gachinski, RUS: 42.45 TES + 35.89 PCS = 78.34 and into 3rd place

He is skating to Pink Floyd music
Quad toe + triple toe combination nicely done to open his program
Nice high triple axel
Triple loop and hopped around a lot on the ending to hold on to it
Nice sit spin position but slow
Nice step sequence and he's really putting a lot of movement behind his steps
Could use more stretch through the donut position in his camel spin
Nice bent leg postion in his camel spin and good flexibility into the y position
He bends his legs a lot in between spin positions and I'd like to see cleaner transitions

Samuel Contesti, ITA: 28.62 TES + 35.97 PCS = 64.59 and into 17th place

I love when skaters enter the ice already in the character of their program
His program theme is similar to Ryan Bradley's long in that he plays a composer in a humorous manner
Triple flip + triple toe combination
Really botched the entrance to that triple axel--looks like he didn't get his leg wrapped in tight enough/fast enough and he only did a double and it was wild
Really low on that triple lutz but he got all the rotations in even if the landing wasn't great
Nice stepwork sequence with some good variety but not as difficult as some of the other ones we've seen
This camel spin is painfully slow but the position is nice
Very camel spin heavy here at the end of the program

Nobunari Oda, JPN: 43.37 TES + 38.44 PCS = 81.81 and into 2nd place

Stepped out of his opening quad toe
Really nice triple axel
Good fast camel spin but it looks like he's losing his centering on the ice, nice donut variation
Triple lutz + triple toe combination; I love how deeply he lands in his knees
Nice sit spin variations and great speed
Looks like a bobble in his step sequence and he almost had to put a hand down; he also looks really tired here
Great speed through his sit spin into the change foot