NHK Trophy Oct. 22 – 24, 2010 Nagoya, Japan *SPOILERS*

[Isk8NYC]

This thread contains spoilers for the ISU Grand Prix / NHK Trophy event.
Oct. 22 – 24, 2010
Nagoya, Japan

Entries: http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent00011181.htm

[Isk8NYC]

Men

Entries

No. Name Nation                             
1 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 1               
2 Shawn SAWYER CAN 2               
3 Jeremy TEN CAN 2               
4 Jialiang WU CHN 3               
5 Florent AMODIO FRA 4               
6 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 5               
7 Takahito MURA JPN 5               
8 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 5               
9 Denis TEN KAZ 6               
10 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 7               
11 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 8               
12 Ross MINER USA 8   

Ladies

Entries

No. Name Nation                             
1 Diane SZMIETT CAN 1               
2 Kiira KORPI FIN 2               
3 Lena MARROCCO FRA 3               
4 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 4               
5 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 5               
6 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 6               
7 Mao ASADA JPN 7               
8 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 7               
9 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 8               
10 Rachael FLATT USA 9               
11 Ashley WAGNER USA 9               
12 Caroline ZHANG USA 9               

Pairs

Entries

No. Name Nation                             
1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 1               
2 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 1               
3 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 2               
4 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 3               
5 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 4               
6 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 5               
7 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 5

Ice Dance: For some reason, the ISU site isn't listing the dance teams.  Maybe it's being updated.

[Isk8NYC]

NHK Trophy live streaming times Oct. 22-24 -- Icenetwork.com broadcast schedule

(10/15/2010) - The 2010-11 Grand Prix season kicks off Oct. 22-24, and icenetwork.com will provide door-to-door coverage of the entire NHK Trophy live from Nagoya, Japan.

If you've not subscribed to the Season Pass, it's not too late! Click here to subscribe now!

The following are the icenetwork.com live broadcast times for the NHK Trophy. All times Eastern.

Friday, Oct. 22
2:00 a.m. : Short Dance
4:05 a.m. : Pairs Short Program
6:05 a.m.: Ladies Short Program
11:20 p.m.: Men's Short Program

Saturday, Oct. 23
1:30 a.m.: Free Dance
3:35 a.m. : Pairs Free Skate
5:30 a.m. : Ladies Free Skate
11:00 p.m. : Men's Free Skate

Schedule subject to change, please check back for updates.

The 2010-11 Season Pass broadcast schedule for icenetwork.com costs $40.
LINK: http://web.icenetwork.com/subscribe/


EDIT: The NHK site has videos of each skater available on demand, but here's the catch: the links are all in Japanese, so you have to look at the skater order in order to choose the one you want.
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/figure2/list.html?e=2

[Isk8NYC]

Universal Sports television schedule: http://www.universalsports.com/tv-listings/sport=FS/index.html

Friday, October 22, 2010
6:00p - 7:30p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Pairs Short Program & Original Dance (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY
10:30p - 11:30p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Ladies Short Program From Nagoya, Japan EARLIER TODAY


Saturday, October 23, 2010
2:30a - 4:00a Figure Skating: Grand Prix Pairs Short Program & Original Dance from Nagoya, Japan (Oct 22) EARLIER TODAY
3:00p - 4:00p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Pairs Free Skate (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY.
5:00p - 7:00p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Short Program & Dance Free Skate (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY.
10:30p - 12:00a (10/24) Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Short Program & Dance Free Skate (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY.

Sunday, October 24, 2010
12:00a - 12:30a Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Short Program & Dance Free Skate from Nagoya, Japan (Oct 23).
3:00a - 4:00a Figure Skating: Grand Prix Pairs Free Skate from Nagoya, Japan (October 23).
3:00p - 5:00p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Short Program & Dance Free Skate from Nagoya, Japan (Oct 23).
6:00p - 7:00p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Free Skate (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY.
10:30p - 11:30p Figure Skating: Grand Prix Men Free Skate (From Nagoya, Japan) EARLIER TODAY.

Note: All times ET

[Isk8NYC]

www.universalsports.com will be streaming live over the internet.  Their annual subscription fee is $15.  Portal requires a high-speed internet connection and viewing software installation.  Check requirements before purchasing.

http://www.universalsports.com/premium/index.html?systemId=aaafe019-fb67-407b-ab64-91276ca8d2ed&playerContextId=7adf4b94-5c87-4fee-915d-83bb8223cbd1

[Artemis]

CBC broadcast schedule:

Women's & Dance Free Programs
  Sat 10/23 1:00-3:00pm PST

Men's Free Program
  Sun 10/24 1:00-2:00pm PST

Looks like they're not showing the Pairs event, probably because there are no Canadian teams entered.  But I imagine they'll show highlights at least.

[Isk8NYC]

NBC will air broadcasts of recorded events as follows:

FRIDAY, Oct. 22  
6 – 7:30 p.m.  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: NHK Trophy – Pairs Short Program and Original Dance  Nagoya, Japan  
10:30 – 11:30 p.m.  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: NHK Trophy – Ladies Short Program  Nagoya, Japan  

SATURDAY, Oct. 23  
3 – 4 p.m.  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: NHK Trophy – Pairs Free  Nagoya, Japan  
5 – 7 p.m.  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: NHK Trophy – Men's Short Program and Dance Free  Nagoya, Japan  

SUNDAY, Oct. 24  
6 – 7 p.m.  ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: NHK Trophy – Men's Free Skate  Nagoya, Japan  


Note: All times ET

[Isk8NYC]

Thanks for adding to the schedules, Artemis!  Any one else want to chime in?

[Artemis]

Wow, that's a lot of coverage from NBC for an out-of-continent "minor" event. In past years they've relegated coverage to cable. Dare we hope it's a sign of things to come?  :pop

[Isk8NYC]

I hope so!  Most of the NHK isn't being shown live, but that's because of the time difference. 

I'm glad we're not seeing a two-hour highlight montage two weeks after the competition!
(Starting late, of course, because the football/basketball/badminton program before ran over by 40 mins.)

[singerskates]

Canadian Coverage of the NHK Trophy

[/u]

3:50 PM Sat. CBC.ca Pairs, Dance and Ladies Freeskate Programs.
4:00 PM Sat. CBC TV Pairs, Dance and Ladies Freeskate Programs.

11:50 AM Sun. cbc.ca Mens Freeskate Programs
12:00 PM Sun. CBC TV Mens Freeskate Programs

http://www.skatebuzz.com/ Free online streaming as it's happening covereage for those residing or visiting in Canada.
SkateBuzz schedule for Japan's NHK Trophy

Friday, Oct. 22
2:00 a.m. : Ice Dance Short Program
4:05 a.m. : Pairs Short Program
6:05 a.m.: Ladies Short Program
11:20 p.m.: Men's Short Program

Saturday, Oct. 23
1:30 a.m.:  Ice Dance Free Skate
3:35 a.m. : Pairs Free Skate
5:30 a.m. : Ladies Free Skate
11:00 p.m. : Men's Free Skate

[Isk8NYC]

I watched the Ice Dance and Pairs events on Universal Sports today.  The Ladies Short program is being recorded as we speak.  With only one TV in the house right now, we have to take turns choosing programs.  *sigh*

I chose not to subscribe to UniversalSports.com or Ice Network.  I spend enough time on the computer and I don't think my DSL connection will be fast enough, based on some of the feedback I've read so far.

The Universal Sports over-the-air feed is fine for now.

[Isk8NYC]

Starting Order / Results:

http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn2010/


LADIES SHORT:
FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS
1 Carolina KOSTNER   ITA  57.27 1 
2 Kanako MURAKAMI   JPN  56.10 2 
3 Rachael FLATT   USA  53.69 3 
4 Ashley WAGNER   USA  52.93 4 
5 Kiira KORPI   FIN  52.60 5 
6 Caroline ZHANG   USA  50.71 6 
7 Jenna MCCORKELL   GBR  49.07 7 
8 Mao ASADA   JPN  47.95 8 
9 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI   GEO  44.51 9 
10 Viktoria HELGESSON   SWE  43.66 10 
11 Lena MARROCCO   FRA  41.67 11 
12 Diane SZMIETT   CAN  31.90 12

Kostner had a clean skate and Flatt surprised a lot of people.  Glad to see Wagner close to the top; she's repeating last year's short program.

[Isk8NYC]

ICE DANCING - "SHORT DANCE"  (That looks so strange)

FPl. Name Nation Points SD FD
1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE   USA  66.97 1 
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE   CAN  58.69 2 
3 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV   RUS  56.89 3 
4 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE   ITA  55.68 4 
5 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI   USA  53.68 5 
6 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK   CZE  45.20 6 
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED   JPN  44.90 7 
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND   GBR  43.52 8 
9 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG   CHN  43.50 9 
10 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR   HUN  32.68 10

I liked Davis and White's performance.  I expected the Shubatanis to place higher, but they're still in the top tier.

[Isk8NYC]

PAIRS:

FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS
1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG   CHN  67.10 1 
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV   RUS  60.16 2 
3 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN   JPN  57.23 3 
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT   USA  55.03 4 
5 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL   CAN  54.28 5 
6 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN   USA  54.19 6 
7 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE   GER  50.49 7 
8 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG   CHN  49.72 8

Pang and Tong were good.  Denney and Barrett looked really tired but happy when they finished.  Takahashi and Tran were awesome - I didn't know that he was a Canadian skating for Japan with a Japanese partner.  I wonder if the citizenship issue will be a crisis in a few years, as we near 2012?

[Schmeck]

I'm not liking how the techspec is giving full credit to the 3lutz when it has a wishywashy entrance - the ankle snap and fishtail should be considered poor technique, IMO.  I guess it's up to the judges then?   I wish an entrance edge would have to be true for a certain distance or length of time!

[techskater]

Those got e's still. 

[Query]

I've only seen the first day, but I loved Kanako Murakami's performance. She is so fun!

If you get Universal Sports (aka, the NBC Sports channel) on cable, they are showing most of the events several times over the next few days.

Unfair! Universal Sports streamed the Olympics video over the Internet for free, for the most part. Why does the Grand Prix cost money?

You can see a lot of the Grand Prix at http://youtube.com for free if you search for

 "grand prix" 2010 skating

Not everything on Youtube is legit. The quality is spotty too.

If you are in the U.S. and have a local NBC TV station, Universal Sports is probably broadcast in the same band as the main NBC channel. I think U.S. cable TV companies have to provide all local broadcast stations, but they often provide some as Clear QAM channels, which many TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders and DVRs can't receive. For example, we have NBC on cable box channel 4. I have a DVD recorder with a clear QAM tuner. If I bypass the cable box, or split the signal before the box, and send the direct signal to the DVD recorder, I can receive NBC on analog channel 4, and on clear QAM channel 4-1. 4-2 is NBC weather. 4-3 is Universal sports. (Most clear QAM channels are HD. My DVDR only produces old-style standard resolution, but it still looks cleaner than the analog signal.)

I think if you receive an NBC station through an antenna, and you have an ATSC (digital) tuner, and you get the extra channel #'s (like 4-1, 4-2, 4-3), you can receive it that way too. But some new fangled TVs don't get those extra channel #'s (or they get 4-1, but not 4-2, 4-3, etc.), just as some can't tune the clear QAM channels from cable.

As it so happens, I can also get Universal Sports on channel 207 of the cable box. But by splitting the signal as described, I can record one channel on the DVD recorder while I watch or record another from the cable box.

[Isk8NYC]

yup - that's how I've been watching.  NBC 17.2.

The difference is that the online stream is live.  The local broadcast is recorded. 

Which is why the Men's LP is just coming on TV now, but I already know that Dice won.  Yay Daisuke!

[Schmeck]

Those got e's still.  

Flatt's didn't.  

Florent Amodio was fun to watch, but he had a lot of 'dance rests' and a very, very simple (called level 1) step sequence.  Could have done without the crotch grabbing - he did it twice, once was enough to get the point.  Still, it was entertaining, and he had a lot of jumps at the end of his program.

[Isk8NYC]

I thought the 15-year old skater from Japan was channelling Weir and Dice at the same time.

Sawyer was impressive: he put the jump error away  and finished his program clean.  I respect that a lot!

[Sk8tmum]

Sawyer only got contacted a week ago to compete; thus, hadn't the time to prep it properly, or get a final costume together (looked like he adapted his Amadeus one). He's a nice person, too.

In Canada, don't know about the ROW, we can get archived and live streaming of the Grand Prix events on www.skatebuzz.ca for free. Just finished watching Daisuke's LP again, and I so don't like it compared to last years - it's rather, well, uninspiring. All of the Men's SPs and LPs are up on Youtube already, BTW.

[FigureSpins]

While I appreciated the difficulty of Daisuke's LP, it wasn't that fun to watch.  It might grow on me as the season progresses.

Truthfully, most of the singles skaters' music choices were boring and the routines were dramatic.  I miss the fun routines of Ryan Bradley and Alban Proubert.  Maybe the judges like the dramatic over the comedic and humourous.

The only exception was Kanako Murakami, imo.  She looked like she was enjoying herself and wanted to entertain the audience as well as the judges.  I guess that's easy when you're young and not watching the clock tick.

I liked Rachael Flatt's music and I liked her skating, but I didn't like it on her and I'm a big fan of Flatt's.

[singerskates]

I think the judges just didn't get Sawyer's free program this year. It's like Shawn's got to wear the full Mad Hatter outfit and hit the judges over their heads for them to get it. Here's hoping that Shawn has more of the Mad Hatter costume for GP Skate Canada this week.

[Isk8NYC]

Sawyer's supposed to be the Mad Hatter?  I don't see it in the skating or the costuming.  I didn't get that connection, either, so the judges are not alone. 

Speaking of costuming, just looked up Jeremy Abbott's LP music because I didn't understand his costume.  (La Vita e Bella by Nicola Piovani)  "Life is Beautiful" ... split-personality outfit ... yeah, I don't get it.  I liked his skating, but the grimace on his face from taking the ice to the kiss-and-cry was a little out of context.

When I saw the disconnected jacket collar and the black-vs-white bodice, I expected some sort of tango-with-myself routine.  Who was it that used to do the exhibition or show routine where he skated as a woman when viewed from the left and as a man from the right?

Abbott's back still doing his mime routine in the K&C.  Uh, Jeremy?  There are microphones - just say "Hi and I Love You" instead of trying to get out of the shrinking box.  One of my kids yelled at him to "sit on his hands."


Final ISU Protocols are here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn2010/gpjpn10_protocol.pdf