Chapter 126 Good things in Jinsha know no nationality
Xia Yuezi wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but after the ice show, the other skaters in her group started looking at her strangely.
She stood with one hand on her hip, watching Feng Simai do the final chorus for the upcoming B-level competition, but she had a feeling that something was off about him.
He used to be quite confident in his program, but after finishing "Killer Tango," he unusually put away his smug expression and skated over to his coach to ask for her opinion.
Xia Yuezi looked like she'd seen a ghost, and after a long pause, she finally managed to utter two words: "Pretty good."
Feng Simai, who had been waiting for a long time to hear the coach's evaluation, was stunned for a moment: "That's it?"
What other feedback would you like?
Feng Simai's piece took the longest to refine; he just kept repeating it to her for two seasons.
Through his brief performance last season, Feng Simai obtained a lot of useful information from fans and referees. As soon as the off-season started, he covered the expenses for the choreographer to go abroad and invited him from Canada to refine the details by watching the competition videos.
Even with the most prominent relationship problems, techniques have gradually been found.
Xia Yuezi commented that it took one or two years to polish a program, and with the help of musical actors, she even acted opposite female actors to get into character.
Even if he's a blockhead, he should have figured things out by now.
However, Xia Yuezi was more worried about Yan Rui than his show.
When she first started looking for music for the ice performance, she was just searching tentatively. She actually found a suitable instrumental piece for Yan Rui. It sounded like an ancient pentatonic scale, but it was very short and seemed to be just a fragment.
Xia Yuezi thought about it for a while, but she was still unwilling to give up. Finally, she followed the clues and found a dance drama that happened to be adapted from traditional Chinese literature.
She watched the entire series and found that there were many similar scenes with background music that could be used. If the editing was done well, it could be pieced together into a story with a beginning and an end.
Yan Rui didn't show any particular emotion and accepted the piece, which wasn't even a half-finished product. However, it seems that the collaboration hasn't gone particularly well so far.
But seeing Feng Simai's expression at this moment, she tapped the barrier in front of him and reminded him, "You should focus on the competition first. The B-level competition is in China in a week. Lin Ye is not here this time, so you have to hold the fort."
At the request of the Skating Association leadership, most Chinese athletes, except for a few who had no other choice, stayed in their home country as much as possible. According to the information Xia Yuezi gathered, it seemed to be to attract more investors.
However, it's not all bad. After all, during this off-season, two Chinese brands signed agreements with the International Skating Union (ISU) and became new major sponsors of the ISU.
Judging from the youth group, which has been competing for some time, the treatment of Chinese athletes has increased slightly, but not by much. However, Chinese figure skating fans have long suffered from the lack of variety in the programs, and even a small improvement makes them start to look forward to the treatment of the adult group.
Feng Simai responded, picked up the thermos next to him, took a sip of water, and turned to continue training.
On October 17, the China leg of the Grand Prix kicked off in Shanghai.
Except for Zhang Mengyi, who departed from the Canadian club, the entire Beijing team was on the same plane.
As the team leader for this event, Xia Yuezi looked at the several singles skaters sitting together and began to explain the participating athletes for this leg of the competition to them.
"There are no players who can surpass the C-rank in women's singles, but there are Nina from the United States and Karolina from Russia. They were quite consistent last season and received good treatment from the referees. However, Nina has suffered a lot of injuries and has already said in an interview that she will retire after this season."
"Xiao Yan's difficulty level has recovered well. I don't need to tell you, you're aiming for the gold medal. Xiao Rui is only in her second year in the adult group, so just perform to your expected level."
"There aren't many strong opponents in the men's singles. There's Anthony from France, Kevin from the United States, and young players like Diaz who have just been promoted. However, he managed to finish fourteenth in his first World Championships last season, so you can't underestimate him."
Anthony finished sixth in the World Championships last season, a complete upset as he dropped to twentieth in the short program. However, his juniors withstood the pressure, and the two almost secured all three spots.
Xia Yuezi glanced at the two who had their heads down: "Simai, although Anthony had the 4LZ satellite, he almost never missed out in the main game, so his actual configuration is similar to yours and Kevin's, so there's no need to feel pressured."
She glanced at Song Ziqi again, her voice softening: "You're in the same adjustment period as Xiao Rui. Your coach probably told you that you should just relax this time."
Song Ziqi is a top-15 player in the World Championships, but in the B-level competition half a month ago, her overall score didn't even make it into the last group.
His coach wasn't surprised. Due to the difference in their physiological structures, male singles players naturally find it harder to adapt when they first move up to the senior level than female singles players.
Many well-known male singles players did not achieve much in the youth group or in the two years after they were promoted to the adult group. The key is how the players adjust.
Song Ziqi nodded, indicating that he had taken it to heart.
The stadium was packed to capacity on the day of the match.
Since the competition is being held on home soil, the cheers for their own athletes are naturally the loudest. In addition, many figure skating fans are drawn to the B-level competition by the program.
Yang Yiyan and Feng Simai's free skate for the Olympic season had already been showcased last season, but there was no word about their short program performance, not even from the "rumors" within the skating community.
Unable to contain their curiosity, skating fans started a guessing thread on the forum. Based on past experience, all sorts of guesses were made. Finally, the International Skating Union released the season's music selection on the skater information page, and the forum immediately erupted in excitement.
What happened to the promise that the Olympic music selection would be conservative?
Why are the short programs all composed of pieces that are not well-known internationally?
Young ice hockey fans also pointed out that these two pieces are either incredibly old or incredibly niche, and that they might not even be known domestically, let alone internationally.
But after the B-level match, the forum returned to calm, and some people quietly deleted their previous inappropriate comments.
When Meng Xin told Xia Yuezi about these things, Xia Yuezi didn't show any particular emotion on her face; in fact, she found it somewhat amusing.
These two pieces don't seem as bad as they say.
After the ice dance competition, it was time for the men's singles event, with Feng Simai competing in the last group.
His Costume was still a shirt style, which looked like linen from a distance, but upon closer inspection, the texture was very soft. The color and cut were deliberately distressed, the sleeves were made with ruffles, the cuffs were worn, and the fibers of the knitted fabric had become rough.
Feng Simai's song is considered a niche selection by ice skating fans, but this is only for those who are not interested in musicals. If someone is interested in musicals, they definitely won't miss this song.
"Jinsha" is a Chinese musical based on the Jinsha Site in Chengdu. It was composed and directed by the famous composer Sanbao. The short program by Feng Simai is the most well-known piece, "Beyond the Horizon".
He stood in the middle of the ice rink, head bowed, until the music started, then he looked up at the stands, his eyes filled with confusion.
The musical's male protagonist, Sha, suffers from amnesia and experiences the chaos of time travel and separation from his lover, Jin. When he wakes up in a snowy landscape, he is filled with confusion and a sense of alienation from his own identity.
Feng Simai's first jump was 4S+3T.
His legs were in a V-shape, and he stood up very cleanly, with almost no ice chips around him. After landing on the ice, he used the opportunity to balance and stretched his upper body forward as much as possible, as if trying to grab something.
The male actor's soft chanting echoed in the stadium. Feng Simai raised his hands and glided in a three-step motion, then increased his speed and entered a combined spin.
Xia Yuezi pursed her lips and looked at him without saying a word.
Actually, she initially chose another musical for Feng Simai, but his grandmother passed away at the time, and he took a leave of absence. Xia Yuezi didn't bother him during this period. Unexpectedly, after he returned, he directly chose this song.
Although the theme and content did not quite match, Xia Yuezi always adhered to the idea that "all emotions have commonalities" and, according to her own ideas, had the choreographer complete a program of very high quality.
She knew in her heart that for Feng Simai, this program was more about expressing emotions than performing.
Accompanied by music, Feng Simai completed another set of upright spins. He straightened up, his eyes filled with doubt and pain, yet he was like a child, constantly searching.
He skated in with a split on his skates, then smoothly completed a 3A on the tiptoe.
Anthony, the next one to take the ice, stood at the entrance, watching the young man on the ice with great interest. He said to the bald coach next to him, "I remember he chose Chinese music this year. Sure enough, good things don't discriminate by nationality."
The coach watching Feng Simai's footwork noticed that he added many hand movements to the transitions between steps, making the blade changes very clear.
He stated frankly, "Feng's performance has always been excellent. His video from the B-level competition last time has already surpassed his previous YouTube views. Moreover, his icing rate this time is also better than before. I have a feeling that this piece will become a popular Chinese-style song among many foreign players, just like 'The Butterfly Lovers'."
After all, the piano piece "Butterfly Lovers" is not only famous in itself, but also associated with the legendary Chinese women's singles player who won an Olympic bronze medal with it. Even now, people are still moved by that program.
After saying that, he raised an eyebrow and glanced at his student: "You don't mean to use Chinese music either, do you?"
Anthony touched his hair, his smile unchanged: "Can't it be used for performance skating or ice shows? After all, I'm getting on in years."
The French coach looked speechlessly at his disciple, who was still young but had grown a beard for the show and was now deliberately acting older. The next second, he took a step back and put some distance between them.
He was afraid that if he didn't leave soon, he would be driven crazy by Anthony.
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