can you add your fav programs by retired skaters and the old timeys pretty please?
I'd be delighted to! :D
Men
Javier Fernandez, Guys and Dolls. The performance from 2016 Worlds is just perfection. The music, the way he sells the choreography, the way the crowd is on its feet well before he's even done with his final spin. And the style of music suits him so well— he's just so charming with this material.
Misha Ge, Still Got the Blues. I remember watching this when Sochi Olympics were happening and just being mesmerized by his step sequences. I'm not the biggest fan of this kind of music, but Misha just put everything he had into this performance, and its enthralling.
Yuzuru Hanyu, Let's Go Crazy. There are so many stellar Hanyu programs to choose from, and my favorite is this one he skated to the same year that Prince passed, in homage (I believe). Its a fun, high-energy program, which I love. Nobody can command a crowd like Hanyu does here. Also, he's wearing the purple costume in the video, but I'm fonder of the less common white variation he wore at one point.
Women
Yohana Yokoi, Queen Medley. This is THE Queen program in my book. She opens with Fat Bottom Girls (one hell of an opening statement!) and ends with We Are the Champions. (The boldness! The nerve!) Her dress is styled after Freddie Mercury's yellow Webley jacket, and she ends the program with his iconic fist-raised pose. Its such a fun and refreshing take on Queen's music: high energy, crowd-pleasing, not-self serious.
Evgenia Medvedeva, Orange Colored Sky. This is my favorite piece of music that Medvedeva ever skated to, and its a pity she only skated it twice in competition. It checks every box for me: upbeat jazz, crowd-pleasing. I remember feeling optimistic watching this: she'd just switched coaches and moved to a new training camp in Canada, and this program felt like a move in a positive direction for her.
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, You Don't Love Me. There's a lot to love here: Tuktik's infectious charisma, the jazziness (notice a theme?). I have to shine a light on her jump technique: notice how she doesn't muscle her way through jumps. She hardly moves her arms at all in the 3A takeoff, its all in the legs. Notice how lightly she taps her toepick to the ice. But Tuktik's best feature is that she's... well, sexy. In an era of preteen Russian jumping beans, Tuktik was the only skater who could sell sex appeal as part of her package, and boy did she. (Check out her Toxic exhibition program for an example.)
Thank you again for sending me these asks, I so enjoy going back and rewatching these programs! <3
