CM - I take your point about the high-alpha stuff bleeding off energy (which of course it does) but it leaves me with one doubt:
The Sovs/Rooskies didn't/don't design fighters for air shows but have nevertheless spent the past 40 years (since the genesis of the MiG-29/Su-27 designs) trying to make fighters that are predictable and controllable at high alpha and low speed, culminating in the Su-35, which is going to water people's eyes at Paris if the plan to display it stays on track.
Why?