The men's event at summer skate was overall relatively strong, but of course, there were a few standout performances. The standouts were Nam Nguyen, Andrei Rogozine, and Keegan Messing.
There was a huge crowd in the arena for the men's freeskate, more than any of the other events at summer skate this year. A large portion of the crowd was other skaters competing, but unlike the other events more people who didn't appear to be skaters were in the crowd, and with good reason. The men's event was exciting in the way that men's skating usually is.
Nam's new programs are much more mature than last years programs, the drama of the music and the choreography helps to solidify his position in the senior field. He has improved by leaps and bounds over the course of the off-season. His jumps are bigger, he has a second quad, and he has more speed. His skating overall is faster and more smooth across the ice.
I am a big fan of the new choreography, he could do with a little brightness in one of his programs, but striking the right balance between last year's young looking, upbeat programs, and this year's dramatic, serious skating will take time and will surely be worth the wait.
Nam landed two quads in the freeskate, and is quickly making himself a spot in the top ranks in the world. Assuming he can be as consistent as he was last year, with the two quads and better choreography, he will be a force to be reckoned with.
Andrei Rogozine only skated in the short program, and I'm sure he isn't thrilled with the competition. They started the warmup without him almost 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to start. He only got 4 minutes to warmup, but skated extremely well.
Rogozine then skated in the warmup for the freeskate and looked to be skating well, but withdrew from the event between his warmup and being called to skate.
Keegan Messing was the other standout at the event. He is a wow skater. He doesn't have great technique on any of his jumps or his skating skills, but he is extremely entertaining to watch. He clearly wants the spotlight, he knows who has it, and will try to take the spotlight from whoever has it, which was very obvious in the warmups.
His jumps are huge and fast, but they don't have the best takeoffs. You can almost completely forget about the flaws in his skating when you watch his programs.
Messing's short program is the same as last year, the most well known song from the Monty Python movie Life of Brian, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. It's very entertaining, but I don't know that he would measure up on the world stage.
