Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Men's ROUND 6

[Vagabond]

The tribe has spoken.

Brian Joubert (7th) has been voted off.

The original contestants were the last twelve men to win a World or Olympic title.

Previous eliminees are:

Jeffrey Buttle (8th)
Elvis Stojko (9th)
Evan Lysacek (10th)
Todd Eldredge (11th)
Alexei Urmanov (12th)

And now we get down to brass tacks.

Six skaters remain:

• Ilia Kulik: Olys 1998, Worlds Silver 1996
• Alexei Yagudin: Worlds 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, Olys 2002, Worlds Silver 2001, Worlds Bronze 1997
• Evgeni Plushenko: Worlds 2001, 2003, 2004, Olys 2006, Olys Siliver 2002, 2010, Worlds Silver 1999, Worlds Bronse 1998
• Stéphane Lambiel: Worlds 2005, 2006, Olys Silver 2006, Worlds Bronze 2007
• Daisuke Takahashi: Worlds 2010, Worlds Silver 2007, 2012, Olys Bronze 2010
• Patrick Chan: Worlds 2011, 2012, Worlds Silver 2009, 2010

Who is the weakest link? Use whatever criteria you want.

[judgejudy27]

Time for Ilia Kulik to go. Chan will be my next vote.

[misskarne]

Time for Ilia Kulik to go. Chan will be my next vote.

No way is the finest jump technique in the world going out before Sir Fall-a-lot.

I am voting for Patrick Chan. There is more to skating than just cramming in as many elements as you can with fine disregard to the music you're skating to. He is emotionless and has as much musical connection as a brick. He's ridiculously overscored and falls a ridiculous number of times for an alleged World Champion.

[Macassar88]

Had to choose between Chan and Lambiel. Neither of them had the entertainment factor for me that the others did.

[Cherub721]

Ohhh now it's going to get fun. I considered Kulik, but had to go with Chan.... the OGM has to be worth something. And while Chan has another chance to win gold in Sochi, Kulik did win on his first and only try, so I think their Olympic results are can absolutely be compared in this case. Chan was reigning world silver medalist, the Olympics were at home, he was wildly overscored, and I absolutely believe the judges would've given him gold if he had skated clean, but he could only manage 5th place. Chan had mistakes all over the place, not just in jumps but in non-jump elements like spins. Really sad to think that had Plushenko and Lambiel not come out of retirement, that would have been the bronze performance.

Kulik was not as good of a spinner and didn't have the transitions of Chan, but they both had first class skating skills and IMO, neither had a ton of musicality, though I'd rank Kulik ahead there. They were both inconsistent jumpers, but Kulik was the one who put everything together on the night, including the quad, to win the Olympics with a complete performance.

[RumbleFish]

Takahashi should be out.
Kulik had one of the most amazing jump technique and had audience drooling over his style.
I'm not totally sold on Chan, but at least he has consistently bested Takahashi these couple of years.

[judgejudy27]

No way is the finest jump technique in the world going out before Sir Fall-a-lot.

Kulik fell just as much as Chan even with his fine jump technique. Unlike Chan he was deducted for it, but unlike Kulik, Chan has years he looked like the top skater atleast one point in the season, some semblance of longevity, and a great variety of achievements even without an Olympic medal yet. Chan also is a far more complete skater than Kulik ever became as an amateur.

[Zokko!]

I guess it's finally time to go for the probably most overrated male skater in the history of figure skating. He's so full of himself, I don't see why, he has the "charisma" of a vacuum cleaner ...

I used my criteria, I voted for Chan.

[Zokko!]

Had to choose between Chan and Lambiel. Neither of them had the entertainment factor for me that the others did.

Lambiel - no - entertainment - factor??????

[l'etoile]

I'm leveling between Kulik and Dai. Ugh!

[shady82]

It's between Kulik and Chan for me.

Both skaters are strong jumpers with good skating skills. Chan is sorely lacking in the artistic side, Kulik is better but not outstanding in any way. Kulik wasn't a strong spinner, either.

I'm going with Chan. Kulik pulled it off for Olympic gold. Chan won the 2011 Worlds deservedly, but I'm not counting his win in 2012 since Takahashi should have won that competition.

[Zemgirl]

I really don't like his skating much and think he's almost always overscored, but I feel Patrick Chan should outlast Ilia Kulik on the strength of having a longer and more consistent career results-wise; also for pushing it on the technical side in recent years, even if artistically he puts me to sleep.

I don't think Ilia should have even made it this far, considering he had a relatively brief competitive career and one short on major medals and wins outside of his OGM - not that superior to Urmanov or Sarah Hughes, both of whom are long gone in their respective polls. A good 3A isn't enough, and this isn't about who had a better pro career.

Sorry, Ilia. As far as I'm concerned Patrick lives to see another poll.

[centerpt1]

I'm no Chan fan, but I voted Kulik.

I just couldn't vote Chan yet- he does have great skill, even if he's overscored, has an asshat personality and next to no audience connection or musicality.

Wait a minute-can I have my vote back? just kidding. Kulik should be the next out.

[love_skate2011]

no one voted for False God Yagudin ?

[l'etoile]

no one voted for False God Yagudin ?

No One Votes off the God.

[invierno]

I voted for Ilia. And I'm regretting it.....

[lauravvv]

Voted for Kulik. Chan - no. Although he was overscored at the last Worlds, I think his win was not totally unfair - he simply should have won with a much smaller margin. I totally get why Takahashi is so much more popular - I like him much more too. I also understand why many people thought that Dai should have won, as he skated cleaner. But there are things that can't be ignored so easily if you look behind individuality (or the lack of it) and style (or lack of it). Many of those things were explained in the thread called something like 'What should Takahashi do'.

And I don't agree that Chan has no musicality and no connection to the audience. True, it seems that he has not had any personal connection to music used for his programs so far, but he can and is skating and moving to the music. As for the connection to audience, yes, Chan has not had it in competitions. But, when it comes to show skating, he is learning.

Plus, Chan has one fantastic and unquestionable Worlds win, two world silvers, which were not undeserved in each given situation, and is very likely to win an Olympic medal.

But I admit that after rewatching some Dai videos, I am tempted to go with my heart in the next round, and vote for Chan (if it will still be possible - doesn't look like it), although I think that objectively he should be voted out before Plushenko and Yagudin.

[os168]

It is a toss between Ilia and Patrick for me.. very hard pick. So I determine by seniority and OGM.

So I'd pick Patrick this year, but he could be one of my favourites in the future but not there yet. His artistry is improving leaps and bounds however, looking forward to see how he get on in the future.

By the way... where the hell is Kurt?!!!

[blue_idealist]

I voted for Ilia. Yes, he has an OGM, but he won it against a severely injured Elvis Stojko who could barely WALK five minutes after the performance. If Elvis had been functioning at full capacity, he probably would have done a 4-3, instead of no quad at all, and won the title. Ilia only has one world medal, not even a title. His OGM performance wasn't as impressive as, say, Yagudin's or Boitano's, either. People say that Lysacek's OGM winning performance was lackluster but Kulik's wasn't that much better. He also had this annoying habit of skating with his arms out. It looked so awkward. I was avoiding voting him out before this because he does have the OGM, but I think he's gotta be gone this time.

Lambiel and Chan are two time world Champions and Dai has one world title. Lambiel and Dai are also Olympic medalists. That combined with their better artistry and skating skills than Kulik makes them good enough to stay, IMO.

[blue_idealist]

It is a toss between Ilia and Patrick for me.. very hard pick. So I determine by seniority and OGM.

So I'd pick Patrick this year, but he could be one of my favourites in the future but not there yet. His artistry is improving leaps and bounds however, looking forward to see how he get on in the future.

By the way... where the hell is Kurt?!!!

I think Kurt's not one of the LAST 12 men to win a world or Olympic title, since his last world title was in the early 90s.