I was unfortunate in that so far all of the French Masters I've been able to see is Brian Joubert's long program, and even that was without sound. Hopefully the videos will make Youtube soon. Anyway, I comment on this because I think Joubert is going to do well this season. He's definitely got the drive, as this will be his last Olympic shot. His performance from French Masters may show a lack of consistancy (he falls on the quad toe, for example) but in terms of a program it seems fantasic. It is choreographed by Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, which might have been a controversial choice given Staviski's recent "troubles" but the choreography is great. Joubert seems to have got some really graceful, almost balletic choreography which, apart from his "Hallelujah" exhibition, is a bit of a departure from his usual macho style. Furthermore, his spins have really improved, which is undoubtedly a result of his recent coaching from Lucinda Ruh, the spinning expert. Joubert may not have the jumps completely solid, at least in that performance, but past seasons have shown that he starts off the season weakly and then peaks at Worlds (like many skaters do), so I believe he can do the same this year. I love this program, and I hope my opinion doesn't change once I actually hear it with the music,which is the piece "Overcome", a previous Yagudin exhibition program. It's known that Joubert is a Yagudin fan and one could deduce that he is trying to emulate Yagudin's Olympic success, perhaps? Either way, tell me your comments on the program.
