I feel like the first failed megaminx attempt was probably due to the assistant giving the puzzle in the wrong orientation, or possibly Maxim messing up the inverse scramble. The 11x11x11 direct solve was infuriating to watch, as you could see he was building from the bottom up with various forms of the sexy move and 2-gen maneuvers. I didn't see the mural part at the end.
I was trying to give Maxim the benefit of the doubt with the 7x7x7 solves from a previous round, but this performance really is incredibly misleading. He's allowing the audience to fill in the blanks that these solves are done legitimately, when to a cuber they are obviously staged. This is taking advantage of the ignorance of the audience more than it is showcasing the talents of Maxim as a cuber (and he does have talents as a cuber).
I really feel bad for the other acts (2nd and 3rd place) who did not advance because of Maxim's performances. If these judges were more educated about what Maxim was doing then I don't feel they would have advanced him as far as they did.
Maxim, you give a wonderful performance, and I suppose this is the point of the show on some levels. However, I really feel upset at how misleading your performances are in this video.
