I would have liked to see some vertical stuff, too… but I watched the whole performance without really getting bored, which is more than I can say for some of the top-3 performances I’ve seen lately in this and other competitions.
“Low” finish (hey, 10th! Not bad!) partly for lack of variety… but partly for a judging system that isn’t set up to reward new styles like this. This is how innovation happens, though… someone will see this and realize that fingerspins in horizontal play can be a major component, and they’ll start to add it to their routines. I for one am glad to see chances like this being taken!
It’s bound to support C3, so I don’t think you’re totally off the mark there… but this is also the style Ethan is developing and breaking ground in. It’s not like C3 said to him, “Go and do all fingerspins… let’s make some cash!” They developed a yoyo to suit his style, not the other way around. I believe he’s throwing in a genuine “unscripted” Ethan Wong way. And despite incidental benefits to C3, that doesn’t count as mere advertising.