LADIES:
YOU GO, POGO! Who in the hell would've thought that Anna Pogorilaya would be looking so confident and so consistent after the way she started her year last season? My goodness- the turnaround of her career is nothing short of astounding. After that World bronze, she was able to keep her momentum going with solid preseason results and an incredibly great win at home in Moscow. I really think the music choices this season fit her and are helping transform her place in the ladies field. She has a great chance for gold at NHK if she can keep the consistency on track and get to the Final. I also think teammate Elena Radionova made strides in music selection this year. As much as the Titanic was a fan favorite last season, it showed the weakness in her skating. It's nice to see her working with different choreographers this year and I think the music choices are a step up in maturity level. She had some mistakes here and still has improvements to make in the overall skating quality if she wants keep herself in the mix of the skating factory that is the Russian women's field right now. Courtney Hicks was able to grab a second Grand Prix medal here, winning bronze. I think I liked her music choices better last season, but seized a good opportunity here. I am a Julia Lipnitskya fan- she showed some great improvement in her jumps, but it's tough to watch her compete injured. I hope she takes some time to heal and rest. Radionova skates at Cup of China next week and Hicks the week after at NHK. DANCE: Home team Bobrova/Soloviev grabbed their spot at the Final with a gold medal here. While I think they've made strides with their musical choices this year, the end of their free dance was lacking greatly in energy for me. Though their scores would be lower anywhere else in the world, they were the most consistent over the two days of competition. Had it not been for Evan's twizzle fail in the free dance, the gold would likely have gone to Chock/Bates. Having to skate two weeks in a row may have caught up with them, but they have to take confidence from their GP results. After a good start, they should likely make the Final. I'm a fan of Weaver/Poje's concept for their short dance and a HUGE FAN of their costumes. I thought some of the music cuts were abrupt, but overall, found it fun to watch. This team is under seemingly huge pressure this year, after a disappointing Worlds finish and with Virtue/Moir back in action, and you can tell how much they feel that. BUT-It's an incredibly packed dance field right now, and it's not getting any easier. They have a tough matchup with the Shibutanis at Cup of China next week. Three down, three to go... I think this is about the time that I start saying I'm going to be sad to see the craziness that is the Grand Prix go!
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November 2017
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