Dance- Well, an interesting upset here. Over both programs, I prefer Chock and Bates to the winners, but the technical panel really thought otherwise, as the Americans suffered some low level calls. For me, the highlight from Cappelini/Lannotte came in their free dance: Anna’s stunning dress and their lifts. We will likely see a rematch between these two at the Final and I will be interested to see if the technical panel scores them similarly to here. Chock/Bates already have qualified and I think we’ll see improved programs from them. The Italians skate again at Rostelecom Cup, where they face Weaver/Poje and Ilinykh/Zhigashin. Shoutout to Kaitlyn Hawayek for fighting through that short dance and I hope she’s feeling better! Men- Congrats to Javi on his win here and a good start to his season. His SP has a little too arm-ography for me, but it’s a good theme and a nice departure for him. I actually really like his Guys and Dolls free skate and am excited to see it develop over the season. Um, the quad lutzes from Boyang Jin?!?!?! WOW. Here’s hoping that the kid can survive puberty and remain healthy long enough to develop the skating skills, maturity and components that will get him to the next level of performance quality. Despite a subpar performance, I have to say that I loved Han Yan’s free skate after seeing it a second time- I really like what it does for him. Shoutout to Grant Hochstein for his fourth place- good for him! Javi looks to qualify for the Final at Rostelecom, where Ngyuen and Vornov are the other big names. Boyang and Hochstein will go up against Yuzuru Hanyu, Menshov, Vornov and Jason Brown at NHK Trophy. Pairs- What a close race this ended up being! I’m really not a fan of Kavaguti/Smirnoff’s SP, but huge props to them for that great free skate. You have to hand it to them for pushing themselves technically and it was so nice to see Yuka smile after that program : ) For Sui/Han, it had to be tough losing the gold over a time violation at their home event. Sui noted in an interview that she hurt her ankle in practice and that’s why they didn’t compete with two quads here. At the end of the day, though, they did qualify for the GPF and I’m really hoping we get to see those quads there! Kavaguti and Smirnoff skate next at their home event, where they will see Stolbova/Klimov and Peng/Zheng. Ladies- Ah, it feels SO good to have Mao back in competitive action. I respect that she’s upping the technical ante with her very difficult short program and her triple axel in the free program was absolutely stunning. She had a rough free skate, but this was the start to the season that she needed- she’s already my (and I'm sure many others') favorite for another World title. She skates next at home at NHK, where she will see Wagner, Leonova, Pogorilaya, and Miyahara.
Congrats to Rika Hongo on winning that free skate! I give her credit for including harder elements in her programs and for paying more attention to her choreographic moments- especially in the free skate footwork. Her consistency is what keeps her in medal contention and it would be great for her to make the GPF again this year. It looks like Elena Radionova is having some growing issues, but I kinda have faith that they will just be a phase for her. She pulled it together enough to land on the podium and I give her team a huge shoutout for MUCH improved costumes this year. We could really lose the voiceover in the free skate, though. Both Rika and Elena skate next at Rostelecom, along with Nagai, Sotnikova and Medvedeva. When will Karen Chen get the PCS she deserves? I think the judges need to see more of her and more jumping consistency before they’ll give her the green light. I really feel like she has what it takes to be a star- the speed, the spiral, the spins and her great performance ability. They made some interesting changes to her FS costume, cutting off the sleeves, adding some gray and a random white floaty piece- I kinda liked it the way it was! Overall, two top five finishes during her first year on the GP circuit is incredibly respectable. You have to think that Courtney Hicks is kicking herself for letting so many points go in that free skate. I like both of her programs this year, but honey- that mustard yellow dress needs to GO! It would’ve been interesting to see her scores versus Radio’s if she had skated clean, but she needs to string two solid skates together before she’s podium ready. I think Hannah Miller has two great programs and two great dresses this year. You could tell she was upset with her free skate performance, where she struggled technically, but overall, I thought she had good speed and did a solid job interpreting her music. We’ll see Miller and again at Rostelecom and Hicks at NHK. I’m sad that three events are already over! I’m looking forward to the rest, but I know I’ll miss having all of this skating to talk about later in the year.
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Round Three, here we go! After the third week of the Grand Prix, I think it gets a lille easier to pick for the events, because at least you have seen everyone compete once. So, here's to Cup of China getting us over the hill towards the Grand Prix Final : )
USFSA: Asada, Chen, Rajicova Fernandez, Balde, Hochstein Chock/Bates, Hawayek/Baker, Wang/Liu Sui/Han, Wang/Wang, Astakhova/Rognov TSL: Asada, Radionova, Hongo, Pogorilaya, Chen, Hicks Fernandez, Yan, Vornov, Balde, Dornbush, Ge Chock/Bates, Illinykh/Zhigashin, Capellini/Lannotte, Hawayek/Baker, Testa/Csolley, Wang/Liu Sui/Han, Kavaguti/Smirnoff, Astakhova/Rognov, Yu/Jin, Wang/Wang,Iliushechkina/Moscovitch Oh, Skate Canada was quite the event. Considering the ups and downs, I did not do as terrible as I thought I would.
USFSA: I ended up tied for 94th for Skate Canada with 2305 points. Overall, I am still tied for 98th with 2283 point average. I got none of the ladies picks correct- sad day! BUT- I did get two mens picks, and was perfect in pairs and dance. TSL: I ended up #130 with 160 points. I got 7/24 athlete picks correct and called that the Canadian home team would win the most medals. Ladies:
HUGE congrats to Ashley Wagner on an unexpected win here at Skate Canada! This result is a great start to her season and she can carry some good momentum forward. She had a moral victory by having a strong short program, as she usually struggles with nerves there. I love the SP music for her and I think she’ll do well with it this season. I’m still waiting for the story on her wearing Marissa’s dress, but mostly looking forward to seeing what her actual costume will look like. Speaking of costumes, I am SO happy she has a new one for her free skate. The red one from last year is my favorite of the two, but I think the repackaging was necessary when she’s reusing music. I give her props for also rechoreographing the free to make the transitions more difficult. I feel like she didn’t make all the changes that we saw from her practice video, but I expect those to come as the season progresses. She stood up in her free skate under pressure, which she has to feel REALLY good about. She wasn’t perfect, but she stood up, performed her little butt off, and got a standing O for that skate. She did herself a great favor in collecting 15 points here, as she has a tough field to face at NHK, with Asada, Miyahara, Pogorilaya, and Leonova. She looked in great shape for this event and I hope this is an indicator of the rest of her year. Reigning World Champ Elizaveta Tuktamysheva saved herself from disaster by winning the free skate to earn the silver medal. I expected some errors from her, just based on her preseason events, but I was shocked with that poor SP that left her in seventh. Not sure if she’s tired, if she’s feeling the World champ pressure or if some of her true colors are finally showing through. Ashley beat Liza in PCS in the free skate (rightfully so) and I think we’ll be seeing a dip in Tukt’s PCS this year- some of the shine of her comeback has faded and her true lack of PCS is starting to show through. When you compare the quality of her skating to a Mao Asada, well… there really is no comparison there. She showed some fire in that free skate, though, so I have this feeling she’ll have a lil chip on her shoulder for TEB- she could really make a statement there. She’ll face Gold, Lipnitskya, Daleman, and Murakami. Surprise bronze medallist Yuka Nagai made a fabulous Grand Prix debut here. I loved her free skate costume and music, but many (including myself) acknowledge the bad luck of choosing a Madame Butterfly short program in the same year that Mao is using that music and wearing a very similar costume. Overall, she skated very consistently and truly took advantage of the opportunity to skate in the last group and grab a medal in a deep field. She needs some refinement, which is understandable of someone so young. She skates next at Rsotelecom Cup, where she’ll need her consistency against a consistent field- Medvedeva, Radionova, Hongo, and returning Olympic champ Sotnikova. Kana Murakami finished in fourth after some technical struggles. I have to say I love her short program costume, but I’m not feeling the music cuts for her- I’m not sure they suit her style well. Her long program certainly does, though- I love that choice and costume for her. She was in third after the short because she made a costly mistake on that 2A, so I was hoping she could grab a bronze in the free, but it wasn’t to be after placing 6th in that portion of the event. Kana is at a pivotal point in her career, considering the heavy talent in Japan right now and the return of Mao Asada. I’d love to see her make another World team, but Japanese nationals will be a really tough field. Huge moment for Gabrielle Daleman in the free skate, placing third and moving up in the standings to finish fifth. I love both of her costumes this season and I think she made some good music choices. She really pulled together a great free skate, and it was nice to see her have such a happy moment in her home country. I’m sure she feels incredible pressure to keep her national title, even with the return of Katelyn Osmond. She often gets compared to the U.S’s Courtney Hicks because of their prevalent athleticism, but in my opinion- Gabby moves with so much more fluidity and shows much more artistic potential. I really like her and I hope she can follow up this performance at TEB with a strong skate there. Polina…okay, she’s not my favorite but I’ll *try* to be fair. TSL can say all they want about Ashley “thinking she’s better than she is”- but if you ask me, the U.S. lady that thinks most unjustly highly of herself is Polina. And apparently, international judging panels agree. I feel Moonlight Sonata is a good choice for her short, but I think they missed the mark on the costume again- it’s far too busy, which really takes away from the maturity of that music. (I do think the spin call in the SP was too picky, though- she just has long legs!) The long program- like last year’s- put me to sleep. The braids and bows of her packaging just need to go, people, they need to go! Whatever her team is trying to put together for her, it just isn’t working. I want to say that she’s young and needs time, and maybe she’ll be a Carolina Kostner by the end of her career. However, the world of figure skating often doesn’t give you that opportunity. I think this Nationals will either be the year she solidifies her spot as the third U.S. lady- OR (more likely IMO)- the year she gets passed up for good. I tried to be fair, okay, I tried. Elizabet Tursynbaeva finished in sixth after some mistakes. Everyone was talking about her at the beginning of the season- was it just much to do about nothing?? I see lots of potential, she just needs to grow and refine with time. I would think we should probably see her again at Four Continents before Worlds. DANCE Honestly, outside of the Shibs, this was kind of snoozy event for me. Maybe it’s all of the waltz music luring me to sleep. It was expected that Weaver/Poje would win- and so they did. It was a good choice for them to switch from their Elvis short dance to a new one and their costumes looked great. This music is unoriginal, but much more on their level. Their free dance costumes are also fabulous, and I appreciate the more edgy music choice. Overall, I don’t personally connect to this team, but you can tell that she especially has a hunger this season after getting bronze at Worlds. They skate next at Rostelecom Cup, against Capellini/Lannotte and Ilinykh/Zhigashin, where they will most likely punch a ticket to the Grand Prix Final. The Shibs made me have A MOMENT in their free dance. Maia tweeted that they thought this Coldplay free dance would be really special, and already-it is. They had a rough start at a preseason event, so to see them get the marks they are capable of here was really fantastic. They had the highest technical score in both segments of the competition- and rightfully so. I mean, those Twizzles are the best in the world, hands down. Seeing Alex’s reaction to their free dance literally made me tear up, and that does not happen often. I give them huge props for not giving in to the politics of ice dance and continuing to improve their skating. I think they made a bit of a statement here, and they have a great start towards getting to the Grand Prix Final. They skate again at NHK, where they will see Babrova/Soloviev again and the reigning World Champs, Papadakis and Cizeron. I never really followed the skating of Babrova/Soloviev, so for me- this was kind of the first time watching them. I liked her dresses and overall, they seem to be a well matched team. Grabbing a medal in their first event back on the ice bodes well for them, but it will be interesting to see how they will fit into the Russian ice dance scene. They skate next at NHK. I may do a men’s/pairs recap later, but I did not catch most of those events live so I have to catch up. Stupid social life : ) |
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