The 2024 NHK Trophy! The fourth Senior Grand Prix event of the 2024 season! On this episode of the podcast, our hosts talk about the top 6 skaters from the Women's event at the NHK Trophy. Our last episode talked about everything that happened at the Grand Prix De France! Amber Glen gave us an amazing start to her Senior Grand Prix assignments with a stunning short program. She walked away with the gold last week. On this episode we journey to Japan for the NHK Trophy. We got to see a mix of stunning programs, costumes, and skaters. Contrary to last week in France, the Men's event was one of the strongest we've seen on the Senior Grand Prix this season so far. The senior women had strong skates, with some improving their score by over 20 points since the last Grand Prix competition. Ye-Lim Kim improved her scores dramatically since Skate Canada. However, she ended up in 12th again resulting in the end of her Grand Prix season. Ekaterina Kukarova gave us a short program filled with energy and everything this program was missing at Skate Canada. When it came to her free, she unfortunately made some mistakes, also resulting in the end of her Grand Prix season. Both were great to watch and we were sad to see they would not be making it to the finals. Lindsay Thorngren made a return to the Grand Prix with the same short program music as last year. Our hosts were not impressed with the music choice but thought she delivered a lovely short program. Her lines, edges, and consistent jumps are what wowed us at the NHK Trophy. Lara Naki Gutmann from Italy gave us a unique short program that left our hosts split on how they felt about it. Some liked the unique idea while others felt it fell flat of what it could've been. Regardless we all agreed that she is a great skater to watch. The height Lara gets on her jumps really showed at the NHK Trophy throughout both the short and long program. Bradie Tennell had an amazing long program. Her fall on the double axel might have cost her a spot on the podium but she still delivered an even stronger program than what we saw at Skate America. Our hosts agreed the short program is her weak spot this season. We don't think it is the best choice for her as a skater and wish it was something different. Alysa Liu came back for her second event in the series, giving us to lovely programs. We were in awe with how excited the crow was for her long program. That energy fueled her passion throughout the program and it showed! Yuna Aoki secured the bronze medal at this event and gave us the all of the smiles. Her radiant energy throughout both programs made us fall in love with her. This event was much stronger than her skate at Skate America. Yuna's kiss and cry moment was one of our favorites. Mone Chiba gave us disco perfection for her short program. The dress, the music, and the elements worked together perfectly. Her air position is extremely captivating and she jumps with such power. A well deserved silver medal at this Grand Prix. Finally the gold medalist of the NHK Trophy was no surprise to any of us. Kaori Sakamoto had the best long program we have seen yet, securing her win and a spot in the Grand Prix final. Our hosts were not a huge fan of the Chicago program when we saw it at the Skate Canada event. We felt it was lacking something. Kaori expressed in her interview that she was extremely nerves for Skate Canada which is what caused some of her mistakes. She talked about feeling excited for this event and that energy helped her connect to the program better. Our hosts agree, Kaori Nakamoto's long program grew on us at this event. We love it more than we did when we first saw it at the Skate Canada event. Join us next week for the Finlandia Trophy! Who do you think will make the podium? Instagram: @lutztalkaboutskating TikTok: @lutztalkaboutskating