Flutzing Around: A Figure Skating Blog by Tony Wheeler

Pechalat and Bourzat Withdraw from Skate Canada

2011-10-26T19:53:00.002-04:00

Skate Canada has confirmed on Twitter that the French team of Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat have withdrawn from the second stop of the Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Mississauga, Ontario. Bourzat was visibly fighting off bronchitis at Skate America last weekend, where the team was able to win the silver medal. Their third event of the series is scheduled to be at home at Trophee Eric Bompard, three weeks from now.

Skate Canada also announced that there is no plan to replace them; that leaves seven couples scheduled to compete.

ISU Recognizes Mroz Quadruple Lutz

2011-10-26T19:35:00.002-04:00

Today, the ISU has recognized that American skater Brandon Mroz became the first person to land a quadruple Lutz cleanly in sanctioned competition, doing so at the Colorado Springs Invitational a month ago.

Michael Weiss (USA) and Evgeny Plushenko (RUS) are among skaters who have unsuccessfully tried the jump in the past. Weiss came extremely close in his attempt at the 1998 US National Chamionships. Nearly four seasons later, Plushenko attempted the jump at the 2001 Cup of Russia-- something that he reportedly only started working on three days before the competition.

[Expand story for video clips of quad Lutz attempts and Mroz's successful attempt]

Mroz competes at the NHK Trophy in Japan and the Rostelecom Cup in Russia later in the Grand Prix series. He won a silver and a bronze medal in his events last season, as was the second alternate to the Final.

Skate America: The Good, the Bad, and Everything In-Between

2011-10-26T00:41:00.000-04:00

I'm welcoming myself back to blogging with my 'awards' from Skate America-- nothing goes unnoticed here, good or bad!

Click on the title to read the full article. Enjoy!

The Wow, You Might Just End Up Being my New Favorite..
I never imagined I would absolutely love both of Carolina Kostner's (ITA) programs! The short program is to a rare Shostakovich piece and the choreography is interesting and sharp, and the free skate to Mozart is a beauty. The first six jumping elements of the free skate, by the way, were just about as perfectly done as possible. I'm hoping for big things from her this year, and I think she should have won this competition.

The You Come Into This Season as Favorites and You're Still Pushing Yourselves..
Savchenko/Szolkowy (GER) continue to show their versatility, particularly in their new free skate. It's modern and interesting, and it's been on my YouTube replay list since the competition ended. My one complaint about the program? A friend pointed out the amount of 'running' choreography.. it is a bit much.

The Captain Obvious..
Davis/White (USA) have a great free dance. I think everyone knows that by now. I can't wait to see it grow throughout the season. Also, props to them for showing that you can skate to a relatively overused piece of music and still make it stand out.

The Other Surprises..
Douglas Razzano (USA) was the unfortunate skater during last seasons' amazing National Championship mens free skate that got completely 'meh'd by me after he surprisingly ended up in the final starting group. Not the case with his free skate here; I found it interesting and his skating seems to have really improved. Did anyone else see a Jeffrey Buttle resemblance not only from a distance but in the technique of some of his jump elements?

Florent Amodio (FRA) was also a surprise for me. Based on his second-to-last place result, I was expecting a complete disaster. His free skate was more enjoyable for me than at the Japan Open, and the middle section looks like it has some added choreography. I'm not really loving his short program, though. Bring back the Munich style from 2010 and ditch Morozov, please and thanks. He's too good for this.

Joelle Forte (USA) was quite enjoyable. Her basic skating quality could be better, but she performed well here. She gave us the memorable quote in the kiss and cry following her free skate of "As soon as I picked in, I was like 'oh.. crap'" after seeing the replay of her wipe-out on a triple Lutz attempt. You tell it how it is, girl.

The Your Programs Were Pretty and All, But..
Alissa Czisny (USA) has two nice programs this year. I like her free skate a bit more than the short program, but there's something about her skating that just doesn't move me. I wish she'd skate faster, too.

The You Used Deadmau5 in Your Program, So That Earns Some Points..
Michal Brezina (CZE) has some cool free skate music, including a remixed, strong-beat Untouchables theme and a Deadmau5 song towards the end. The program itself isn't terrible, but I wish it was as interesting as the music. His spins need to get on the level of his jumps (when they're done right).

The Eventually You'll Get the Marks You Deserve..
Viktoria Helgesson (SWE) has been one of my favorite ladies' skaters in the last few seasons. I love her choreography and the power behind her skating. She has some of the most difficult footwork (scored level 4 here) and she does it effortlessly, and her programs have constant movements in-between the elements. I think some of her program components scores should be among the worlds best, and if she ever can deliver a solid all-around competition, she could be a major contender. I was thrilled that she stood on the podium here.

The That Was an Absolute Marathon of a Program and I Quite Enjoyed It..
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch's (CAN) free skate to Henry V not only features some amazing-yet-not overused music, but the power and speed behind their skating gave me a real adrenaline rush. She might not be the most polished skater ever, but the style totally works for them. I'm glad the judges got it right here and that they ended up on the podium.

The Well You're 29, It's About Time You Improved..
I don't think anyone was expecting a silver medal out of Kevin Van der Perren (BEL). I have been extremely harsh on him in the past for constant two-foot skating, minimal choreography, and overall weak skating compared to the rest of the top men. He came into this season injury-free and with a new coach and choreographer, and I did see improvements. One-foot footwork sections in both programs that actually had some speed? I don't even know if he would have been able to skate on one foot for more than a second in prior seasons. The choreography, although not exactly intricate, is also more complete. His spins still need tons of work, though. If I were his choreographer, I wouldn't put two spins back-to-back as the final elements in his free skate. Just saying..

The You Finished Last But You Were Still Pretty Good..
Joshi Helgesson (SWE) delivered one of the best competitions I've ever seen for a last-place finisher. Yes, her jumps weren't as big as usual which led to her scoring problems, but she wasn't bad at all.

Hausch/Wende (GER) caught my eye last season as having been one of the most improved teams, and they continue to impress me this season. I loved their free skate, but I could have done without the repetitiveness in the second half of their Music short program. I don't know why skaters continue to choose that particular piece!

The Hmph.. What Was That?..
Richard Dornbush (USA) was so solid last year as he transitioned from a Junior Grand Prix Final winner to senior National Championship silver medalist. One of the last adjectives I would have used to describe him is 'flashy'. I thought I was watching Ryan Bradley during parts of his free skate, and the final section to the William Tell Overture sent me straight back to the 2000 Keri Lotion Classic, where Bradley debuted his program that included the same final music selection. I don't think this style fits Dornbush at all, honestly.

Ksenia Marakova (RUS). Her free skate. WHAT WAS THAT? Do I even need to go on? I watched a clip from the Russian test skate prior to the event and I was hoping there would be some major changes. I was sure wrong. Ksenia, won't you please dump this program? I absolutely adore her short program, though. I had to go find the MP3 almost immediately after the competition.

The You're Basically My Favorite, Get a New Short Program Please?..
Takahiko Kozuka (JPN). I really don't think I'll ever get into his new short program. Maybe I'd put it on my bedtime playlist, if I had one.

The You Were Great But Can You Get New Lifts?..
I'll get to the point with Denney/Coughlin (USA). Those lifts are UGLY. Can you either stretch more or learn some new ones to mask the flaws?

The Disappointments..
Armin Mahbanoozadeh's (USA) free skate performance at Skate America last year was among my top highlights of the season. This year, I don't care for either of his programs. He not only physically looks 13, but there are also choreographic moments in both programs that make them seem like they belong on the junior level. I almost wish he'd just return to his 2011 season programs.

I want to love Zhiganshina/Gazsi (GER) because they are always daring to be different. Her posture really bothers me for some reason, though, and they once again failed to deliver in the free dance here.

The Well, You Fooled Me for a Day..
I'm not going to go all Philip Hersh and suggest she just retire while she's young, but Caroline Zhang (USA) had a very good showing in the short program here, making just about everyone think that her growth spurt and technique troubles had gone away. The free skate was a mess, and she looked like she gave up after two different falls (think Johnny Weir sitting on the ice and SLOWLY getting up after a fall during his 2006 Worlds free skate). I'm hoping the free skate really was just a fluke and that she will have a decent comeback season. With that said, if I was part of the technical panel, I would never let her get away with a 'rotated' triple flip. The toe pick is still on the ice a 1/2 turn into the jump. I'm such a mean technical panel member, go ahead and say it.

The Let's Just Forget About That One..
Paul/Islam (CAN) had a short dance performance that I'm sure everyone would like to forget. Don't watch it if you haven't already.

That's all, on to Skate Canada.

Denise Biellmann Appreciation

2011-05-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

I have a feeling that the following video is one of those performances that you either love or really hate. I'm a total lover this time around, and I'd be thrilled if I ever get into the kind of shape that Denise is in-- even to this day. Watch the speed and power she maintains throughout the skate, and she was 31 at the time! And to think that I could have seen this competition live (1994 North American Open) in my hometown as a seven-year-old.

Denise ended up winning, but you can see the judges weren't quite sure what to do with it, and I believe this is the only time she ever skated this "Frantic" program.

Yankowskas/Coughlin Done

2011-05-04T13:22:00.001-04:00

I NEVER saw this one coming. I thought they showed the most potential of any US pair in a long, long time and they had a really successful season, finishing the year with a 6th place finish at Worlds. Former National Champions Denney/Barrett also went their separate ways earlier this year.

It sounds like Caitlyn is still interested in competing with a new partner, while John "wants to stay involved in the sport, which I'd interpret as becoming a full-time coach.

Tiffany and Johnnie Stiegler

2011-05-04T12:44:00.001-04:00

We are now into the summer months, meaning it's perfect time for me to continue catching up on a whole lot of skating I missed throughout the years. Expect many more of these brief history/video posts!

Among the 'treasures' I have found so far are the performances of brother-sister pair team Tiffany and Johnnie Stiegler from the 1995 US Olympic Festival (a now defunct competition that featured some of the top up-and-coming youngsters from the States). She just age 11 and he only 13 at the time, their choreography and her sense of style, in particular, was truly remarkable. How many of us have longed for a US pairs girl that really has 'it'? I'd say she certainly had it.

Unfortunately, the team never really achieved great success once they reached the senior level, although they were twice pewter medalists (4th place) at Nationals. This particular competition was broadcast before the days that I recorded any skating, and I believe some of the only performances I do remember of theirs are the Grand Prix series in late 1999. Lifetime covered the circuit back then and turned everything very soap opera-y, and the particular short program I remember to 'Nightmare' paled in comparison to these two programs.

Enjoy!

2011 Worlds - Ladies Wrap-Up

2011-04-30T16:01:00.001-04:00

Once again, I tried the whole live quick thoughts on Twitter for the final group of ladies today. If you aren't following me, please do so! Here is my summary..

1 Miki Ando - Much like with Patrick Chan, I like Miki, but I just don't really warm up to her programs very often. She skated an excellent short program, and aside from a step-out of a double toe, she delivered a strong free skate technically. What I don't care for is the relatively simplistic choreography and no real relation to the music. I'd say she's never been an "artist", but I also wish that one day she'd wake up and really connect to the programs she is given. Some of the jumps in the free skate looked questionable as to whether an under-rotation should have been called, but overall she was good. She has a great personality and always seems to doubt herself, so I hope she lets this second World title really sink in.

2 Yu-Na Kim - I loved Yu-Na's free skate music and choreography, but I wish she would have gotten more mileage out of it before Worlds, because it looked like she had to really focus on the program rather than sell it. The singling of the flip obviously cost her the gold medal (and technically a double flip would have probably been just enough for her to win, as in by 0.01), but I have a feeling if I score this myself, she'd be the winner. At least she'd win the free skate... I think. That might be a post for another day. I'm glad she is still around, and I think she has a lot more to offer in the sport in the next few seasons.

3 Carolina Kostner - Absolutely gorgeous, perfect jumps to start the free skate, but then it started to go downhill with a popped triple loop and then another that didn't seem to be all the way around (but still received full credit). I like Carolina and I like that she's had a decent season after a few poor seasons, but she used to be known for her amazing speed. Not anymore.. she crawls. The program is nice, but I think I would have had her behind 4th-place Leonova.

4 Alena Leonova - I've been so meh about her all season, but she was a very welcome change to the otherwise somewhat boring free skate. Her program was dynamic, she moved in interesting (if not quite the most refined) ways, and she skated extremely well aside from a doubled flip. The edge call on the triple Lutz was probably enough of a difference to keep her from bronze as less than a point separated Alena and Carolina. I used to be bothered by the over-the-top dramatics she would provide after every single skate, but it was really genuine here, and it was nice to see.

5 Alissa Czisny - Nice program, nice recovery after a nasty fall on the very first jump, a triple Lutz. She's made great improvements to her consistency this year, but I wish that she, too, would work on her speed. No downgrades or under-rotations here!

I haven't watched 6th-place Mao Asada yet but I sense that she's probably just relieved that this long season is over. 7th-place Ksenia Makarova started out strong and had a shot for the bronze medal, but a hard fall on a triple loop and being called for four combinations/sequences killed her score.

Rachael Flatt had a stress fracture that she didn't tell anyone about until after she finished 12th place (14th in the long program). I like Rachael and it's clear the judges were more than ready to boost her up into the top 3 in the short program if not for the doubled jump, but I think she's going to get a lot of scrutiny for her choice to go to Worlds now. She probably should have just said she had a bad day rather than reveal any details.

The Canadian ladies finished in 13th and 16th, and miss retaining two ladies for 2012 Worlds by one spot. Japan and Russia are the only countries that will have three ladies next year. The USA, for the fourth straight Worlds, will send two.

I'm so glad this season is over. My interest in ladies skating took a total nosedive as the year went on, and I'm hoping for a lot of fresh, dynamic and exciting programs in 2012.

Amodio Used Vocal Music Intentionally

2011-04-28T14:07:00.001-04:00

I don't know. I loved Florent last season but this year his attitude seems to have changed greatly (thank you Morozov, no doubt). I'm getting a Surya Bonaly 1998 "I'm going to backflip no matter what the rules are" vibe from him after listening to him explain why he intentionally broke the rules. But hey, he didn't even get deducted.

2011 Worlds - Mens Wrap-Up

2011-04-28T09:35:00.003-04:00

I decided to go the Twitter route for quick comments throughout the mens long program, and thanks to everyone that joined in and shared their own thoughts!

I'll start by saying this: if you didn't get to see the skating live, you might want to spare yourself the confusion and frustration by just watching the top two men, who were absolutely wonderful.

Patrick Chan definitely deserved his gold medal, landing two quads. His only mistake came on his triple Axel, which he stepped out of. The performance wasn't as solid as the short program, but it was still enough to give him the title by over 22 points. Crazy!

Takahiko Kozuka, who already skated his long program in the preliminary round on Monday, delivered a flawless performance including a fully-rotated quad toe loop. He gave Chan a bit of a run for his money in the free skate, besting him on the technical mark. It was enough to pull him up from 6th to the silver medal.

Artur Gachinski was the surprise bronze medalist to just about everyone except maybe himself and coach Alexei Mishin. He delivered an energetic free skate with solid technical content, including another quad toe/triple toe, just as he did in the short program.

And then the weird happened.

Michal Brezina landed two gorgeous quads only to later fall on both a triple flip and a triple Lutz. Still, he was able to move up to 4th place for the second straight year.

2010 World Champion Daisuke Takahashi had boot problems in the opening seconds of his free skate, and it unfortunately caused him to turn his planned quad toe loop into a single. A full restart was not allowed, so he kept the jumping pass, earning 0.16 points. Later, he had trouble with a triple Axel and fell on a triple Salchow. It was a mad rush to get his boot fixed in time before being disqualified (shades of Tonya Harding in 1994), and both he and his coach seemed satisfied with the effort he put out under the circumstances. There wasn't much he could do, unfortunately.

Nobunari Oda would be the bronze medalist if he'd learn to count. Seriously. I'm so frustrated that for the second time at a World Championship, he is off the podium because he does too many jumps. He lost 13.86 points when he repeated a triple toe loop for the third time, dropping him down to 6th place.

Even more odd.. Florent Amodio closed the show with his modern One Republic/Black Eyed Peas/Michael Jackson number, and his exhibition version, full with vocals, played through the arena. ~~It's unclear whether it was intentional or an error on the part of the music operator~~, (he said afterwards that it was his decision) but he received no music violation which makes me believe it was the latter. Still, a crazy way to end an already bizarre day. He ended up in seventh place.

Brian Joubert had a great free skate but his short program issues (not doing a combination when he had the chance) kept him down in eighth place. This is only the second time since 2004 that he is not on the podium. The last time it happened was also in Moscow, in 2005.

The American men finished 9th, 11th, and 13th, with Richard Dornbush leading the way. Respectable placements, and about as much as you could ask for from all three.

2011 Worlds - Mens SP Thoughts

2011-04-27T16:35:00.000-04:00

I didn't wake up to watch this event live, so I've spent my afternoon downloading all 30 performances and writing some quick notes. Here we go...

1 Patrick Chan CAN - I'm a fan of Patrick's, but there are definitely a few other skaters that I enjoy much more. However, he absolutely ran away with this short program by a mile. All of the elements were solid, and they fell right into place in the program without anything having long preparation or breaks. His ice coverage is amazing, and his weakest element (change-foot camel) was still pretty good. I'd even venture to say that comparatively speaking, his choreography and especially his transition mark seemed a bit low(!)

Sounds like a it'll be a really positive review after that, right? Hmph...

2 Nobunari Oda JPN - I keep mentioning how he is always my dark horse, and he's put himself in good position. Unfortunately today, though, he was totally flat to me, especially compared to the Grand Prix Final.. he was on fire there. Quad toe with a big step-out and then a wobble in the footwork. Everything else was alright, but again.. nothing remarkable.

3 Daisuke Takahashi JPN - Both his triple flip and triple Lutz looked like they switched edges, however that is possible. The flip at the very least seemed to take off from the flat, and he got called for it. His change-foot camel was poor at best (and I still hate that dumb flying upright spin), and I have an issue with the judges giving him +2 and +3 for his footwork sequence when his bobble was, in my opinion, just as noticeable as Oda's. It's a fun program, but I think the choreography and overall package was infinitely better in last seasons short. As much as I like him, his choreography mark shouldn't have beaten Chan, and his transitions mark shouldn't have even been close.

4 Artur Gachinski RUS - I've ragged on him all year, and I really want to like him since he is so young and progressing well. However, the choreography of this program literally consists of arm movements and maybe a single three-turn towards the beginning. He skates on the slow side so there is hardly ice coverage, and there was really nothing going on besides having a nice quad toe/triple toe. The loop had minimal steps into it and then he caught his heel on the way out.. at least he fought to stay up on it. I'd have all of his components down from what they were, but it is what it is..

5 Florent Amodio FRA - I like this program. I don't love that all of his jumps come so quickly in the beginning, but he really gets into it. The flip was definitely on the outside edge and he got called for it, and everything else was good, but I wouldn't say he's at that 'great' level yet. Still, I'd have him in front of Gachinski.

6 Takahiko Kozuka JPN - I've tried all year to get into this program, but it's just not what I want to see from my favorite skater. It doesn't showcase his gorgeous skating skills, and the whole 'fun' feel just doesn't fit his personality at this point in his career. The Axel was so crooked that he is pretty lucky that he just put his hands down. Choreography a whole .25 better than Gachinski? The judges are so generous. Sarcasm.

7 Michal Brezina CZE - He, along with Javier Fernandez, has one of the most effortless triple Axels I have ever seen. Gorgeous. Flip/toe was a little big and he had to step out of the latter. All three of his jumps were done in the first 30 seconds a la Amodio.. not such a fan of that. The program was good, but I feel like it could have had more intensity and built to a stronger finish.

8 Tomas Verner CZE - He went for the quad toe but went down.. the only fall in the top 14. Lutz/toe had a little hop around on the landing. I like the personality that comes through in his programs, but I just don't see the difficulty or speed that some of the men above him have. I feel like the changing coaches might have made him more consistent, but it also seems to have watered down the overall content within his programs.

9 Brian Joubert FRA - If you have been competing for as long as you have, there is no excuse to not add a triple toe on the end of the flip. He probably threw away four points right there, and then he'd be about five points off of the bronze medal heading into the long. Seriously, it infuriates me. Anyways, I think he was lucky with his score considering he followed Amodio who had the same music and a stronger program, and I still hate his flying upright spin, too. He doesn't have the skating skills to match Chan or the Japanese skaters, so he usually relies on his flair and intensity. It has never come through with this program (and the judges finally seem to be more accurately scoring him in PCS).

10 Denis Ten KAZ - Well I was sure wrong with my suggestion that he might be in danger of qualifying for the free skate! Axel was gorgeous, lutz/toe had a bit of a shake out of it. One of the few really nice camel positions in the event, and a great set of of spins. Stephane Lambiel did well choreographing this program, even if Denis is still a bit introverted on the interpretation. PCS should have been higher, but he skated very early in the day.

The Americans-- Richard Dornbush is 11th. His jumps really fly. I much prefer his free skate but he's put himself in a really good position after skating 3rd of the 30 men today. Ryan Bradley is right behind him. He did a quad toe/double toe that was hunched over between the two jumps, but he did a beauty of a triple Axel. Even so, He's one of the slowest men out there, he crawls through relatively simple footwork, his spins are poor at best, and he doesn't skate to the beat of the (moderately quick) music at all. I'd be a hater and go lower on the PCS. At least the judges had him third of the three American men in that regard. Ross Miner is 13th, and I haven't seen his performance yet. I heard a lot of talk on Facebook and elsewhere about the possibility of only one American man even making it to the later groups-- they've all done themselves well so far.

And some other comments down the line...

15 Kevin Van der Perren BEL - Another joke in PCS, nothing new. Almost 7 in skating skills and choreography? This was one of the most minimal programs of the night, and he spends most of the time skating around on two feet. The footwork and spins haven't ever been exactly great, either.

16 Peter Liebers GER - One of my personal favorites of the day, and probably the most screwed. Infinitely improved since last season, and I'd have his transition and choreography scores higher. There's no way skaters like Gachinski, Bradley, and Van der Perren deserved higher PCS than this effort.

19 Kevin Reynolds CAN - It's like all of the energy has been sucked out of him since Skate Canada to start the season. No quad, and nothing spectacular. His skating has improved, so I expected much more.

The Swedes both failed to qualify, with Adrian Schultheiss finishing 25th and Alexander Majorov 28th. Schultheiss didn't seem to be into his performance, and had falls on both the triple Lutz and in the middle of his footwork. Majorov was possibly the biggest shock performance of the day after such strong skates earlier his season and in qualifying. He fell out of his triple Axel and popped his combo to a single Lutz/single toe. Any pop just kills the score.

2011 Worlds - Mens Short Program

2011-04-27T02:44:00.000-04:00

Anyone going to watch this live? For now, here is the starting order.

Warm-Up Group 1
1 Viktor PFEIFER AUT
2 Min-Seok KIM KOR
3 Richard DORNBUSH USA
4 Nan SONG CHN
5 Denis TEN KAZ
6 Ross MINER USA

Warm-Up Group 2
7 Joey RUSSELL CAN
8 Paolo BACCHINI ITA
9 Maxim SHIPOV ISR
10 Peter LIEBERS GER
11 Misha GE UZB
12 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL

Warm-Up Group 3
13 Ryan BRADLEY USA
14 Kim LUCINE MON
15 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR
16 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN
17 Alexander MAJOROV SWE
18 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP

Warm-Up Group 4
19 Florent AMODIO FRA
20 Brian JOUBERT FRA
21 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE
22 Patrick CHAN CAN
23 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
24 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL

Warm-Up Group 5
25 Michal BREZINA CZE
26 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN
27 Tomas VERNER CZE
28 Artur GACHINSKI RUS
29 Samuel CONTESTI ITA
30 Nobunari ODA JPN

Ladies Short Program - How the Draw Will Look

2011-04-26T15:06:00.000-04:00

I know this interests some readers, so I grouped the 30 ladies into where they will fit in the short program start order based on current ISU rules.

Ladies that will draw anywhere from 1st to 15th to skate (first two warm-up groups, first three in warm-up group number three):

Lacoste (CAN), McCorkell (GBR), Glebova (EST), Lafuente (ESP), Meite (FRA), Vannut (BEL), Lee (AUS), Geng (CHN), Turkkila (FIN), Schonberger (AUT), Johnson (DEN), Grm (SLO), Pavuk (HUN), Movchan (UKR), Heim (SUI)

Ladies that will draw from 16th to 18th position to skate (final three skaters in warm-up group three):

V Helgesson (SWE), J Helgesson (SWE), Hecken (GER) -- so the odds of seeing the sisters back-to-back are very high

Ladies that will draw from 19th to 30th position to skate (final two warm-up groups of six):

Kostner (ITA), Kim (KOR), Ando (JPN), Korpi (FIN), Asada (JPN), Leonova (RUS), Czisny (USA), Flatt (USA), Makarova (RUS), Murakami (JPN), Phaneuf (CAN), Gedevanishvili (GEO)

Worlds Day Two; Mens Practice Videos

2011-04-26T14:31:00.004-04:00

The ice dance and ladies preliminary rounds took place earlier today. No surprises in the qualifiers in dance, but the Czechs Mysliveckova and Novak completely missed two elements and finished down in eighth place. Good thing all is forgiven on Thursday.

The ladies qualification also went pretty much as expected, but the surprise here was that Korean Min-Jeong Kwak failed to make it out of this round. I thought she was grossly overscored at Worlds last year, but I warmed up to her this season. Figures.

The start orders for the men and pairs short programs are now online. All three American men skate in the first half, and Dornbush and Miner unfortunately skate in the very first group. Frenchmen Amodio and Joubert skate back-to-back, which might really put the pressure on Brian, and Nobunari Oda ends the night.

Below the cut, Youtube user WinterForever2009 has published some videos of the mens practices from the last few days.

Hi Kevin Van der Perren. I see that you have once again gone back to your favorite "Reflections of Earth" music... This is what, the fourth or fifth time? Eh, it brought you great luck at last seasons' Worlds, and I guess it's better than the 8+ cuts of "The Mummy" snooze of a program that you were using earlier this year. My question: why pay for a choreographer?

It's a bit ridiculous how much I have warmed up to Nobunari Oda's short program since I first saw it. I think it is one of my favorites of the year, and his overall performance at the Grand Prix Final was one of the best short programs I have ever seen-- all elements had such high quality. Dark horse?

Denis Ten's jump consistency still seems to be a problem, but he looks like he has grown quite a bit. Remember, he is still just 17! In any event, I like this Stephane Lambiel-choreographed program, but he skates very early on tomorrow and I think he's definitely questionable towards qualifying for the free skate.

Brian Joubert works out problems with the triple Axel, and Daisuke Takahashi skates to Justin Bieber (not intentionally) and struggles with the quad flip. I'd be surprised if he tries it in competition over the quad toe.

Here's Takahashi's run-through of his short program. He skates through the jump and early spin elements. Maybe he should practice the spins more and he wouldn't have to do that ugly flying upright spin? ;-)

ISU Championship Direct Entries: Skater or Country?

2011-04-26T01:08:00.001-04:00

Just a quick thought: in the event that the ISU keeps the procedure of having lower-ranked skaters/teams compete in a preliminary round before the "actual competition" in Championship events, should the policy be changed so that those skaters who earned a direct entry for their country in the previous season automatically retain that entry in the following year? Moreover, should only that skater or team be able to use the entry for their country?

If I've lost you, I'll give an example from today. Takahiko Kozuka ended up having to skate the qualifying round as Japan's third-best ISU World Standing entry in the competition (behind Daisuke Takahashi and Nobunari Oda), even though it was Oda who had one of the biggest implosions in the history of the sport at last years Worlds, causing him to fail to qualify for the free skate. Kozuka finished in 10th place, which, along with Takahashi and his gold medal win, earned Japan the two direct entries to the short program this week. By the way, Kozuka is the current Japanese National Champion.

In the same light, Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic finished the 2010 Worlds in 4th place, but since he has a lower ISU World Standing than teammate Tomas Verner, it is Brezina who had to skate in today's preliminary round, while Verner gets an additional two days of practice before his competition begins.

My thought is that a skater or team who earns a direct entry from the previous season should be able to keep that entry if they are once again competing. On the other hand, if that skater does NOT compete in the next season, then the spot is given up and the replacement skater would have to enter into the preliminary round.

This is a hypothetical because it did not end up happening, but imagine if Joannie Rochette returned to competition this season and was given the direct entry over Cynthia Phaneuf because of the World Standings. It's like telling Phaneuf, "Well, thanks for your amazing 5th-place finish last year! We are going to reward you with one extra day of competition for your efforts!" .... you get the picture.

Continuing, Viktoria Pavuk of Hungary had her best results some seven seasons ago, but thanks to Julia Sebestyen's top-18 World placement last year, she now goes straight to the short program. I'm not intentionally ragging on Hungary here, I promise, but ice dance team Dora Turoczi and Balazs Major also have a direct entry into the short dance thanks to the placement of teammates Nora Hoffmann and Maxim Zavozin last season. It's very likely that Turoczi and Major wouldn't have made it past the preliminary round had they been required to skate.

Brooke Frieling and Lionel Rumi of Israel are also direct entries thanks to the now-retired siblings Sasha and Roman Zaretski's 2010 World Championship placement. Frieling and Rumi were 20th at this years Europeans. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy have only competed in a few 'lower'-lever ISU competitions, but they also get the direct entry here after the retirement of 2010 World bronze medalists Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali.

German team Nelli Zhiganshina and Alexander Gazsi finished 7th at the European Championships this season, but they are forced to skate the preliminary round because they did not compete last season. I understand that, and I think that is how it should be. The 10th-place team at Europeans, Lucie Mysliveckova and Matej Novak of the Czech Republic, are also in the preliminary round. They did compete at the 2010 World Championships, but finished just outside of the placements that earned direct entries.

What do you think?

Mens Preliminary (Qualifying) Round Videos

2011-04-25T21:42:00.001-04:00

I've been searching YouTube all day in hopes that we'd get something from the event, and two videos have popped up so far: winner Takahiko Kozuka, and 11th-place qualifier Misha Ge.

(4/26: I've also added Michal Brezina's skate)

2011 World Championships- Which Ladies Will Advance from Qualifying?

2011-04-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

Well, I went 12 for 12 with the mens qualifiers, but who is really counting? Much more difficult to predict will be the 12 ladies that advance out of the preliminary round tomorrow; here are my guesses:

Ira Vannut BEL

Amelie Lacoste CAN

Karina Johnson DEN

Elena Glebova EST

Juulia Turkkila FIN

Mae Bernice Meite FRA

Roberta Rodeghiero ITA

Min-Jeong Kwak KOR

Dasa Grm SLO

Sonia Lafuente ESP

Joshi Helgesson SWE

Bettina Heim SUI

Vannut, Lacoste, Johnson, Glebova, Turkilla, Meite, Kwak, Lafuente, and Helgesson should all qualify fairly easily-- barring complete meltdown. Rodeghiero, Grm, and Heim would be my picks for the final three spots, but skaters like Ukrainian Irina Movchan might finally decide to pull it together here.

Many of these ladies have yet to actually skate a long program in an ISU Championship; it will be interesting to see if anyone takes advantage of not having to complete the do-or-die required elements of the short program.

Giselle: A Peek at Yu-Na Kim's Short Program

2011-04-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

I hesitated sharing this after seeing the original, choppy feed of her program, but I found a much smoother and clearer version on YouTube.

So, my verdict? I'm really liking it-- the middle slow section in particular. There are some nice, sudden movements to match the music and I like the way she exits the double Axel. As this is a practice session, I suspect her footwork sequence will have 5000 times the energy in actual competition. I thought James Bond was always borderline-gimmicky. Not the case here, and I'm excited to see it when it counts.

Photos from Mens Qualifying

2011-04-25T18:03:00.002-04:00

No summary here as, to my knowledge, the qualifying round was not broadcast anywhere. You can read the protocol on the event page for an idea of how everyone skated, but things seemed to go pretty much as expected right on down the line.

Anyways, here are some pics from the day (after weeding through tons of mid-jump face shots).

1st Place - Takahiko Kozuka

2nd Place- Alexander Majorov

3rd Place- Michal Brezina

5th Place- Viktor Pfeifer

8th Place- Kim Lucine

9th Place- Maxim Shipov

14th Place- Justus Strid

18th Place- Kutay Eryoldas

And (second-to-) last but not least, 23rd Place- Sarkis Hayrapetyan (seriously, who would ever think this is a good picture?)

2011 World Championships- Which Men Will Advance from Qualifying?

2011-04-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

The ISU has activated their 2011 World Championship start order & result page, and we now officially see which skaters will compete in the new preliminary round.

There are 24 men competing in the preliminary round, and half of them will end their competition here, while the top 12 finishers will advance to the 'actual' competition and skate in the short program. Which 12 will qualify? Here are my guesses.

Viktor Pfeifer AUT
Jorik Hendrickx BEL
Joey Russell CAN
Michal Brezina CZE
Peter Liebers GER
Maxim Shipov ISR
Paolo Bacchini ITA
Takahiko Kozuka JPN
Kim Lucine MON
Min-Seok Kim KOR
Alexander Majorov SWE
Misha Ge UZB

Justus Strid (DEN) and Bela Papp (FIN) could also potentially qualify.

Your thoughts?

He DOES Still Exist?!

2011-04-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

Much like the Easter bunny (Happy Easter, by the way), I still *do* exist! I know I up and disappeared two times in the last four months, but I'm really going to do my best to follow the World Championships and once again find the passion for the sport that I've had for the last 18 years.

Four Continents - The Ladies Short Program

2011-02-19T19:52:00.003-05:00

Here are my quick thoughts from the ladies short program. All other events to follow in time ;-)

1 Miki Ando - All three jump elements flowed well, particularly the Lutz/loop. The individual loop had some really nice footwork directly leading into it, probably the highlight of the program for me. The footwork sequence has some nice and difficult content, but it goes on forever and loses me by the time it is 3/4 done. On that note-- this program, while it works 5000 times better than her prior short program, seems to be a practice session where she is told to go from one element to the next with very little going on in-between. She received the highest transition mark (well, all five components actually), but she didn't even have transitions in all honesty. The program didn't fill the ice well at all, and her speed was at the "meh" level the whole way. The music might ask for slower skating than usual, but not that slow. Even though I'm sounding really harsh about her, I *do* like this program and I guess at this point in her career, designing a program that makes her confident in herself is a great idea. Clean skates in the ladies short program are so rare these days!

2 Mao Asada - Last year, I think she had a bit of Miki's above problem going on-- lots of focus on the triple Axel, crawling around the ice preparing just for one or two major moves, etc. This year she has changed that and made the 'announcement' of the triple Axel attempt much more subtle. Almost there this time, just a bit short but the rotation looked tight and at least she actually went for it. What is my problem, though? This is a tango with really dynamic and sharp music. The way Mao performed today, it seemed to be very 'another day at the office' to me with no real passion behind her movements. If she can take the intensity that she had last year and put it into this short program, I think it could be very effective. Anyways, you better believe I'm happy that she's seeming to get it together more and more as the season progresses.

3 Rachael Flatt - Well, what a surprise. I liked this program at Nationals, but I LOVED it here. I think everyone can agree that we were sick of seeing the typical jazzy, stop and do silly arm/hand choreography during the footwork that we were so accustomed to with Rachael, and this program surprisingly really works. Put the Michelle Kwan comparisons aside.. I doubt anyone will ever top her performance to this music at the 1998 World Pros. This is still a great effort. The jumps flowed more than usual, there were some quality transitional movements, and the speed and ice coverage were great as well. I'm a definite fan, and it was my favorite of the day. Who knew?!

4 Mirai Nagasu - Not much to say here. I'm not blown away by this short program, but I've warmed up to it much more since the Grand Prix. Lutz looked off and there was no flow out of it, and then her flip was done right up against the boards. The highlight of the program for me was the first half of the circular step that she seemed to do with such ease on one foot. I don't think it has sunk in for many people that she was the *winner* of the short program at Worlds last year, and she didn't even qualify this year. Talk about an inconsistent discipline all the way around.

5 Alissa Czisny - Back to the old problems with the Lutz. I adore this program but I wish she'd go about it with more attack and speed. The music is slow, but she can still go faster (a la Ando). Anyways, her musical sense and overall interpretation were definitely the strongest of this top five for me. The judges thought she interpreted the music fourth-best. Hmph.

By the way, Amelie Lacoste of Canada received credit for a triple loop/triple loop combination with the < (under-rotated) mark. She has received full credit for the combination in the past (all the way back to the 2005 Junior Grand Prix!)

First Things First.. Remember Walter Toigo?

2011-02-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

If you were following my blog back in late-August or September, you might remember my post about Italian judge Walter Toigo, and the videos I linked to from YouTube that made it seem as if he was copying the marks of the judges nearest him in the Junior Grand Prix Courchevel competition. Read part one and part two if you haven't yet been enlightened to the drama.

I was told today that Toigo has indeed received a two-year suspension by the ISU, and it also extends to being banned from judging national competitions during this time.

Maybe the ISU does have some sense after all? :-)

As if the US Nationals mens free skate wasn't already amazing..

2011-02-03T17:59:00.000-05:00

To recap quickly, we didn't see three skaters between coverage on IceNetwork and NBC of the mens free skate, because of NBC's decision to re-air short programs during group three of the long program. That meant the performances of Jason Wong, Grant Hochstein, and Jason Brown were skipped. While the former two fell a bit in the standings, Brown scored the seventh-best free skate on the unbelievable day of performances and finished in ninth overall.

First things first. I know I've commented so many times that this exact piece of music (Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot) is a very safe bet and no matter how lacking your choreography or interpretive skills may be, the music will help lift you and also get the audience excited if you deliver. That's my feeling, at least. This isn't the case with Jason Brown at all. What an amazing program in all aspects-- and he knows how to listen to the music! The critical side of me can note that he doesn't have a triple Axel yet nor does his skating have much power to it at this point. At the same time, there's such a seemingly genuine quality to him and the way he composes himself that made me become an instant fan. I hope you enjoy this program as much as I did. Another memory from Sunday, as if we didn't already have enough!

Bradley, Dornbush, and Miner on World Team

2011-01-30T19:28:00.002-05:00

As per a USFS Tweet that just got posted.

Abbott, Rippon, and Mahbanoozadeh are going to Four Continents.

Joshua Farris Broken Ankle During Skate

2011-01-30T18:29:00.001-05:00

I noted that he was crying and I believe he said he gave up in the kiss and cry after his free skate that dropped him to the bottom of the Nationals standings, but he updated his Twitter that he actually BROKE his ankle during the program and had to go to the emergency room following the skate. (I'm assuming he meant 4PM, not 4AM).

http://twitter.com/#!/joshdfarris

What does the USFS Do Now?

2011-01-30T17:57:00.001-05:00

We are going to find out soon enough, but what does the USFS do? Bradley wins by six points, Dornbush second, and Miner third. However, the point difference between second and fourth is 1.40 points, and the difference between Miner and Abbott (4th) is .20. Does the USFS give the nod to Jeremy based on his history, or do they let two newcomers in Dornbush and Miner go to Tokyo with Bradley?

I wanted Miner to do so well here and mentioned he was the underdog from the beginning of the event, so I really want him to be the third representative to Worlds. Do I think it's likely? Probably not. One of the major reasons is the unpredictability/ISU scoring of Bradley, and a complete newcomer in Dornbush. The USFS might consider Abbott the strongest shot in the USA keeping three spots for 2012.

US Nationals - Mens Free Skate Final Group

2011-01-30T16:56:00.014-05:00

Jeremy Abbott's smiles in warm-up frustrate me, because they usually disappear by the time of the performance.

Keegan Messing starts this off. I really, really enjoyed him in the short program. He's made huge improvements in his skating. 3A forwards but landed, 4T with a hand down but rotated. Huge air on flying sit and fast rotations but it's traveling more than any other spin so far in this free skate. Spread eagle and a reverse turn into a 2A, that was some nice choreography. 3Lz/2T. Flying camel not the best of positions into a change edge and it's again not amazing. 3A had to get way down in his knees/2T. Straight line step and how I want to be in the audience. The atmosphere there has to be ridiculous after all of these brilliant skates. Low sit spin into an upright twist variation/sit and this time it's well centered and the fastest of any spins so far. This music from The Hulk was on an episode of Family Guy I'm pretty sure. Just saying. Circular footwork step is a nice change of pace in the program. Still scratchy and not the best basics but there really is an excitement to all 5'3 of him. 3Lo, 3F/2T/2Lo, 3Lz at the LAST second. Wow. Program components won't be as strong as the previous three, but with two triple Axels and a quad that I think was all the way rotated, he might make this close. 76.56/66.94 = 143.50. 213.29 and he drops to fourth behind all three of the men in the previous group.

Douglas Razzano- 3A an absolute beauty. 4T that was rotated but he had to step out. 3A that he had but then lost balance and tried to fight it on his blades and fell backwards. 3Lz gets him back on track. Not much else going on so far in the program, though, and that should be reflected in his components scores. This is tango music but he's another one that seems a bit too focused on everything rather than letting muscle memory do the work and really sell it. 3T/3T. Spread eagle into 3S. 3Lo a good one too. 2A/2T/2Lo. He's a good skater and he's landed all of his jumps aside from the second Axel, but his focus really detracted from the audience involvement here and he could have capitalized from the energy of the previous four skaters. Still, he's been a really nice surprise in this event. Now that he knows what he is capable of, hopefully he's able to show his confidence. 206.76 and down to sixth. Pretty sure his coach said "my ass" when reacting to the components scores.

Ross Miner- Circular footwork to start. He has nice speed and great flow from one end to the other. Big 3A/2T. 3Lz/3T-- a beauty. 3A again and he holds on to it, curling the landing edge. Flying camel/fly over/sit/upright. My feed cut out for a second, but back for 3S/2T/2T. I actually think I missed a good minute of that program. 3F with nice height and distance. He's bringing it, too! I said he was the forgotten one at the start of the short program. 2A. Well, I missed two jump elements but if he went clean on those, he's sure going to make this interesting. Based on his reaction, I'm going to guess that he was clean. Another standing ovation. 81.80/74.56 and 224.something overall, so second by a point or so.

Jeremy Abbott- My favorite long program of the year. Please, no nerves this time around. 3Lz to open. 3F. 3A/2T. I'm already nervous for him, and I haven't felt nervous this entire free skate. Now he relaxes for choreography and hopefully paces himself for the rest of the program. Circular steps match the music and are complex. 3A with the same difficult entrance as the short program, and a hand down. Not a severe mistake. 3Lz which was completely underrotated and fell. Should be called a double. 3Lo/2T/2T-- the loop looked cheated and the last toe loop came to a stop and he hopped around. 3S is good. 2A. He's going to get high scores for components, especially in the choreography and interpretation marks, but this should not be the first place free skate at this point. Luckily for him, he has a comfortable lead over third place and the rest of the field coming in. Still a beautiful program, but those three jump elements in the middle killed it. 66.91 79.86 224.16 and he's THIRD. Wow. This is going to be tough to decide who goes to Worlds.

Brandon Mroz- All this talk about needing music that he relates to, and I'm surprised. I don't think this On the Waterfront does much for his skating. He's a very internal, technical skater to begin with and you can tell the choreography isn't natural. 4T cheated, probably called a triple and stepped out. Things are REALLY interesting now. Dornbush has at least bronze, Miner at least fourth. 3A/2T backwards on the Axel, causing only a double on the end. 3Lz is back on track. 3Lo. A big factor in his score is going to be that quad, if it's downgraded, he's only going to get about 2 points for it. 3A again, he's fighting. 3Lz/3T, second jump he couldn't hold on and put the hand down right away. 3S. 3F/2T/2Lo-- the third jump had a big pre-turn but the loop allows that, so he might be okay. I like Brandon and he's been one of the most consistent if not the most consistent US man this year coming into the event, but when you have the performances of Adam, Richard, Armin, and Ross, he just doesn't stack up. 73.66/68.22 141.88 and 213.49 and down into sixth. Dornbush will be no lower than second, and Miner no lower than third. Abbott and Rippon follow. Who would have thought?

Anyways, though, aside from not seeing Jason Brown, the top 12 here (well, depending what Ryan does) have all been amazing. This would have been an awesome competition to attend.

Ryan Bradley- 4T is messy and he steps out. Not sure about the rotation there. 4T two-footed and fall-out and he does a 2T on the end. This gets REALLY interesting now. My original thought was that if Miner held third place, Abbott would go to Worlds over him based on only being .20 behind him in the total score. If Dornbush and Miner stay 1-2, their spots should be guaranteed and then there would be a mess between Bradley, Abbott, and Rippon. 3A is a little wild but landed. 3Lz. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. Ryan can still win this. 3A/3T again shaky and but landed. 3Lo again a fight. He's landing the jumps but I think he's losing critical points on the GOEs. 3S/2T/2T-- again, first jump bent over. 3F. I don't know. His interpretation should be high, but his spins are definitely the worst out of these last two groups and his overall skating quality lacks. I don't hate him, I know some people seem to think I do after the short program comments, but I just don't think he did enough.. at least in my book.

151.51, he wins!

US Nationals - Mens Free Skate Group Three

2011-01-30T16:00:00.012-05:00

Here we go.. well not quite. Abbott and Bradley's short programs are being shown on NBC and that means no Grant Hochstein, who just moved into second overall behind Jonathan Cassar with 117.61 points in the free skate. Also not being aired is Jason Brown, who was in 11th after the short. 144.44 points in the free skate and into first by 20 points. See, NBC, you should have just showed the entire flight rather than airing short programs that happened two days ago. Jason Wong goes down into sixth overall.

So we start with Adam Rippon, down in 9th. 3A/stepout/2T. Not his jump this week. Spread eagles into 2A. I like this program much more than his short. Pumping his back up and down on the crossovers still, he really needs to work on that. 3Lz with both arms above his head, this time he gets it back. Circular footwork and a flying sit low position into twist. 3A beauty this time. 3F/3T and another good one. Another 3Lz/2T with both having a hand above the head. No three-jump combo here as he was too close to the wall. 3Lo-- he's increasing the energy now. Camel//y-spin/change/sit/variation. Straight line step and now he has the audience into it. I was worried in the first half, as I felt like it was going the same as the short-- somewhat boring. 3S and a combo spin to end. Well, he really redeemed himself after that first jump. It seems he's almost surprised that he was able to hold it together. Good for him. 76.36/77.42 = 153.78 and 220.40. Into first for now.

Richard Dornbush- 3F to start nice. 3A/3T and that was SIMPLE. 3Lz another simple jump. Remember his score last month at the Junior Grand Prix Final would have been competitive in the senior competition, and this first minute has shown why. Choreography has been complete and fun throughout so far, much better than the short program. Another EASY triple Axel. Wow. By Nationals scoring standards, they deserve +3's. 3S. 3F/2T/2Lo with a difficult edgework entry.. again simple. 2A/2A sequence. He reminds me of the Russians and how sometimes they choreograph arm movements or flashiness out of jumps to show control, but here there isn't flashiness-- there's just absolute perfect quality and control out of everything. Wow. This was amazing and you know I don't get that blown away by skating anymore. Absolutely amazing. 83.27/74.58 = 225.56 and first. I didn't know if the judges would go for it, but they did. I love Adam Rippon, but this was better.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh in 8th. Another one of my favorites. Walley and steps into 3Lz great. 3A crooked a bit but the landing is just fine. 3F/3T again great. What a group so far. 3Lo again nice and controlled. What I like about this Avatar is the variety of movements. It's not a classical straight-forward program, it's a more modern and abstract-y type soundtrack and his movements fit that. 3A/2T and he's fighting. Spread eagle into a 3F and again a fight. Camel with the cool position/sit/change/sit. He's still looking strong and 3S is good. Spirals into 2A/2T/2Lo and he's happy. Here comes all the energy for the choreographed step, and the crowd is getting behind him. This has been one of the most amazing back-to-back-to-back performances I've ever seen from these three. End combo spin with donut position and a scratch. Well, he couldn't have done anything more. Now he's probably asking himself what happened in the short. 215.05 and into third. What a strong third place though.

US Nationals - Mens Free Skate Earlier Groups

2011-01-30T13:36:00.020-05:00

For those that have nothing better to do besides read my comments ;-)

Scott Dyer- 18th after short- 2A- solid, flying sit/change/camel/a-frame type spin, good center and speed, that fit the music and set a nice beginning. Long prep for 3Lz/3T-- Lutz had a slightly rough run-out and the toe loop had a fall out, popped 1F, Circular step sequence has some nice long, comfortable edges. His skating reminds me of Paul Wylie in a way, and that's a compliment. Flying sit into donut. All of the elements in the program have really fit the music and pacing, we don't see that much anymore vs. just throwing elements in wherever they will fit. 3Lo nice. 3Lz maybe a two-foot but run-out was fine. 3Lo/2T again nice, and a 2A again solid. Walley into 3S/2T/2Lo.. all of those jumps came really close together. Choreographed step again has some nice toe pick work and solid content throughout. Camel- fast and decent position/sit/y-spin/change/lay-over broken leg spin.. again an awesome position. I really liked him this time around, and that's honestly one of the more likable On the Waterfront programs that I've seen. 61.65/59.72 = 121.37 and 177.15 overall. Good score to start out the night.

Lloyd Ting- 22nd after short- 3Lz/2T- you can tell her wanted to go for a triple there. 2A that had a long take-off on the forward edge and a fall. Flying camel/upright crouch/change/sit pancake. 3F. 3S had a turn-out. Flying sit travels/change broken leg.. spins are a bit on the slow side. 3Lz nice height. 3F/2T, not sure about that being fully rotated. Circular step. I'm not a coach or a judge, but my advice to him would be to loosen up in the face. From the minute he started he's had this very serious and cautious look and I think it really affects to feel of the program, because this slower middle could be very nice. 3T. 2A again can't quite hold it and he turns out a bit. Kwiatkowski also says not much connection to the music. Second footwork sequence still has nice speed through it at the end of the program. Flying sit/pancake held for the entire time-- almost too long honestly because the speed really died about 3/4 of the way through. Not bad.. problems with the Axel today, but two nice Lutzes. Could have done another combination to get some more points. 51.78/45.64 -1.00 = 96.42 and 140.92 overall. Way low on the components.

Sean Rabbitt- 21st after short- 3Lz/1T, not the best of air positions in his jumps. 3S/3T, really fought for that one and the free leg swung a bit but a clean combo. Back spiral turns into 2Lz. Flying camel/ugly sit that I hate/change sit which is a nice position/y-spin. 3Lo. 3F. I like this music, and while I don't think it fits him as well as the short program Michael Jackson music did, it's not bad. Circular footwork somewhat labored. I guess my comment about him would be that he seems too loose in the upper body, and not in an effective way. It makes him look off-balance a lot and generally unfinished. 2A/2T/2T-- that flowed well. 2S-- rushed the take-off. Footwork again a bit sloppy in my opinion and there isn't much content. Spread eagle turn 2A. Camel/outside/a-frame/ change/ sit twist/scratch. Out of steam at the end of that combo. He has some interesting qualities, I just think he needs something more upbeat or 'odd' (think Phillip Glass) to match his unrefined style. There are ways to work with it! 51.93/52.36 = 104.29 and 155.71 total. Second.

Parker Pennington- 19th after short- 3A leaned and a fall. 2A/3T-- short of rotation on the toe loop. 3Lo. Flying camel- nice position into a lay-over/catch-foot donut. Spirals into a 3F. Circular step actually has some really nice choreography to go along with the music, I really liked that. Spread eagle into a 3S. Walley 3Lz/2T/2T with a hand over the head on the latter. Two different styles between the programs, which he choreographed himself. I find him to be a lot more interesting now than in the past. 3Lz free leg took a while to get out and it was landed back on the blade. 3F was severely cheated. Camel again is a beautiful position. Unfortunately he's not going to move up much if at all without the triple Axel. He's talking a lot in the kiss and cry as he waits for marks. 51.99/58.20 -1.00 = 109.19 and 164.68 overall.

Andrew Gonzales- 20th after short- 3F off-balance and fell. 2A with nice flow coming out. 3Lo/2T again the loop leaned but this one is fine. Back camel/catch-foot. Circular footwork is nice. Flying sit, all of these guys in the first group have had pretty well-centered spins. 3Lz/2T/2Lo. He can work on adding some content into the jumps and not telegraphing them as much. 3F/2T maybe short? Kwiatkowski thinks so. 1Lz-- toe completely slipped off the ice. 3S again crooked but landed just fine. Combo spin-- the sit has amazing speed and the back sit also has great speed. Maybe a half second off time on the ending. 52.05/57.06 -1.00 = 108.11 and 162.52 overall. In comparison with Dyer and Pennington, I'd go a bit lower on the components. I didn't really have an opinion of that program overall.

No changes in standings after this group.

Wesley Campbell- 14th after short- Something I didn't realize.. as high as 7th at Nationals in the past. Nice 2A that came directly out of choreography. Solid, sturdy basics and posture. 3Lz/2Lo. 3A was close but fell. Camel/layover/ change/camel/donut change edge-- good spin. 3F/3T-- lean on the first jump but adjusted for the second. 3S. And when I saw Michael Nyman in the music info I wondered about this particular piece and whether we'd hear it-- the Memorial Requiem that Grishuk/Platov used so amazingly in Nagano. One foot step at the second half of his footwork sequence-- very strong. Footwork into a 2Lo/2T/2Lo. His flow is still amazing towards the end and he goes right into the choreographed step. 2A. 2Lz. Camel/upright variation/change/ sit pancake. Nice pacing, really good skating skills, and he kept the flow throughout the program. I really liked that. 57.84/60.50 -1.00 = 117.34 and 176.69 overall. Into second behind Dyer.

Christopher Caluza- 15th after short- Just like in the short, tremendous energy from the start. 3Lz goes down. 3T. Steps into 2A and a hand down. His body, much like Rabbitt's almost seems too loose and out of control at times. Footwork and we seem him taking his time there. 3S is the best jump so far. Spiral with a change of edge, actually well done. Into spread eagle, this middle section is a complete difference than the beginning and his short program. 3Lo/2T/2Lo with both hands over the head. 3F. Fan spiral into a 3Lz/2T.. no flow on either jump but complete. 2A/2T. Ina Bauer into a flying camel and he completely loses the edge and spins on his belly. Gets back into the spin and then a combination spin right after. Choreographed step has some wobbles too as the music picks up. I get the sense that when the music is really upbeat or powerful, he rushes everything just a bit or isn't quite comfortable with trying to keep up. The middle section showed that he can take his time, and it was really nice. Maybe he needs music that relaxes him rather than excites him to the point of making everything sloppy. Lots of cool and unique moves (Ina Bauer, spiral, spread eagles) but the points at which he does them don't really add up to much. 50.58/49.86 -2.00 = 98.44 and 157.72. Fifth for now.

Alexander Johnson- 16th after short- 3A/2T nice. First triple Axel of the night. 1A, rushed that. Flying sit in a low tuck position with good centering and into a variation. Spiral- nice position there too and then a 3Lz. 2Lo. Off and on so far. Camel that doesn't really find the strong point of the blade into a back camel/catch-foot change edge-- that half was good. 2F step-out. Another skater with strong basics. 3Lz/2T/2Lo-- first two jumps had a real fight on the landing. 2S. Seriously, a clean jump and then a pop this whole way through. That's frustrating. Singles and doubles kill the score so much more than step-outs or even falls, really. 2F/2T/2Lo-- another three jump combo, that won't even count since he's done one. Final combo spin ends in a nice position but the end lost me. His score is going to be really low, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's lowest on the technical mark so far, even with the triple Axel in the beginning. I always find these chats in the kiss and cry interesting. 48.70/59.50= 108.20 and 165.50 overall. Into third.

Joshua Farris- 3A almost there but a hard fall and right by the boards. 3Lo that he had but then had to really fight to hold a solid landing. 3A again a fall and again right into the boards. So, he needs to note that one of those will be called a +SEQ and therefore one of his three combo/sequences is now done. This music, much like with Rachael Flatt and many others that have used it, requires some personality to make it more interesting, and he's another one that seems more focused on the skate than selling it. 3Lz/2T-- forward on the Lutz. Footwork is a bit on the slow side. He holds himself well, though. Back spiral into 2A and he got lost in the air on that one too, putting his hands down. Axel just isn't working today at all. Music picks up and there's a look of concern on his face-- that's never good. 3Lz and he goes down on that too, looks like it went off from an inside edge. Choreographed step doesn't have much to offer and there are some attempts and making the choreography fun but he's not really into it. 2F/2T/2Lo got a bit stuck going up into the loop and hopped around on the landing. 3S that almost LANDED right into the board. Final combo spin has a nice pancake position. And he's crying, or trying hard not to. He's 15, there's plenty of time to develop. Tough skate here though. I notice that I question a lot of the packaging from Zakrajsek's students. I wonder if they have any input in what they want to skate to, or if they are just given the program and told what to do-- I'm really thinking it's the latter. He's crying in the kiss and cry and I'm pretty sure he said that he gave up during the performance. 43.24/50.58 -3.00 = 90.82 and 151.73 and down into eighth place, will probably end up second to last overall.

Jonathan Cassar- 17th after short- I got an Emanuel Sandhu circa.. 2001? vibe from him at first glance with the hair and costume, and his basics are just as strong. Starts with a serpentine step on a really slow part of the music that matches it wonderfully until the very end where he has a little wobble. 3Lz/2T-- that was nice. 3T. 2A, all three jumps good so far. 3S that had a delay on the take-off and again a great jump. Flying sit low position to twist. He's not the fastest or flashiest, but he's getting the job done. 3Lz with a hand down. I shouldn't have typed that. Inside spread eagle, about as deep as they come. He really feels the music and makes every note count. 3F/2T a bit eeked out the entire way, and a three turn out of the toe. 3Lo/2T. Beautiful camel position into a change edge /change camel catch-foot. There really is a lot to like about his skating. Choreographed step sequence, and here's a case of him making it just as elaborate as the first rather than taking the easy way out since every skater starts on the same value. 2A is nice and turns into camel/broken leg/change / y-spin. My favorite of the night so far and he has a standing ovation. Wow. I don't think his technical content was strong enough to move him up, but his components should be the best so far. Mocks not having a chain this time around in the kiss and cry after the short program incident. 63.28/68.50 = 131.78 and 187.76 overall. Well wow, almost 7's for that? I never thought they'd go for him THAT much but I'm glad they did. And I was wrong, into first by ten points.

Cassar, Dyer, and Campbell have been the definite highlights of this first half, and they sit in 1st-2nd-3rd- right now.

US Nationals Mens Short Running Thoughts - Second Half

2011-01-28T21:29:00.022-05:00

Here we go again. Ryan Bradley is back.. just saw a quad toe from him in the warm-up.

Ross Miner- Perhaps the forgotten one here? He was pretty solid in his Grand Prix events. Nice speed from the start and a GORGEOUS easy triple Axel. The best of the night so far. Triple Lutz/double toe. Looked like he got his feet stuck together on the Lutz just long enough to keep him from doing a triple toe, but still the combination was done just fine. Spread eagles and other moves in the field down the length of the ice. and the music picks back up. Triple flip. Back camel travels and the combination ends with an Emanuel spin of average quality. Flying upright spin-- travels and sloppy. Again, GET RID OF THEM! Fun program, not the most engaging for the audience but it was a good effort. That triple Axel was amazing. The Mitchell/Johansson coaching team look like they belong as a team competing on the Amazing Race. I don't know why I think that. LOL.

Grant Hochstein- While I wasn't loving Messing last year, I thought Grant should have ran away with the short program even more-so at the World Juniors than he did. Moves in the field and a very balletic feel from the start. Triple Lutz on the inside edge/triple toe. Definitely a Flutz. Thanks for making my blog name have relevance every once in a while. Double Axel-- struggled with the triple earlier in the year. Nice low, strong flying sit spin. Camel/change/camel catch-foot.. positions are so-so, and the spin goes on for a while because of the slow rotations. Nice triple loop out of three-turns. The elements really fit the music in this program, and he pays attention to all of the details. He was seventh I believe last season here with no triple Axel, I don't know if he's going to be as lucky this year, but I'm still a big fan.

Sean Rabbitt- A red head Michael Jackson.. who knew? Triple Lutz was shaky/triple toe and the hand goes down. Sloppy as a whole. Of course the audience is into this from the beginning. Triple flip. Flying sit in a nice low position and a twist. Good spin. Double Axel came right out of a low kind of lunge move and he stepped out, and then got too excited on choreography while standing in place and fell backwards. Well, that silenced the audience. Footwork is on one foot in the beginning and has some nice choreography in the middle which he has fun with but it's of average difficulty. Emanuel spin that he holds for the full back half of his combination spin.. nice stretch. Fun program even with the weird mistake. Components scores the lowest so far.

Scott Dyer- Triple Lutz/triple toe- second jump definitely cheated and right up against the boards. Nice double Axel. Flying sit with a twisted broken-leg position.. I liked that. Triple loop pre-rotated and not rotated all the way around and fell. I'd say his skating is very traditionally American-- clean lines, classical music and nothing really flashy. Nice camel position, the change camel goes to a strong catch-foot.. definitely a good spinner. Final combination spin is fast and centered as well. Good skating quality, he doesn't stand out though.

Ryan Bradley- First competition of the season. Quad toe/triple toe looked really wound up, I don't know that it really was a full four rotations but I bet he'll get credit for it. Triple Axel is well done. Camel/change/camel-- one of the few skaters who has been doing these his whole life and hasn't had to 'relearn' the camel for this years rule changes. Still, not amazing positions on his spins.. story of his career. Triple flip out of footwork. Flying sit with variations.. the beginning traveled. I really think he could skate to the most boring music ever and the crowd would still go crazy over the way he carries himself and sells the skate. Footwork for him always tries to have fun choreography that masks how weak he really is on the element.. I'd say that's level 2 at best. Aside from his so-so spins and lack of difficult footwork, his problem has always been the speed. Here, I didn't really notice it as much. Well done, I'm happy he's had a successful return. I just wish he would have addressed all of his weaknesses much earlier in his career. I saw him live at Nationals in 2000 in his senior debut and he was bringing down the house even back then. Quad toe was just fine in replay.

Over 7 for components? I really do like him a lot, but his skating skills, transitions, difficulty in choreography, and overall polish are nowhere near many of these men. It's US Nationals, though..

Christopher Caluza- Triple Lutz/triple loop to start. Looked good to me. I didn't expect that. Triple flip on the outside edge. He's excited but he has plenty of sloppiness as he flies around the ice. The footwork has complexity but he's wobbling and flailing through a lot of it. Cool move toward the end, like a sideways cartwheel. Nice Y-spin on the end of a combination spin. Spiral, too. He sure has some interesting moves but they aren't adding up to anything to make it effective. Clean on the jumps though now with a double Axel. Junior feel and all, he still can be really proud of his effort, and he most certainly is. He really attacked it from start to end.

Lloyd Ting- Back shoot the duck/hydroblade into a double Axel is good. Triple Lutz/triple toe.. the toe didn't have much height and he falls on it. Triple flip that he has to really fight for. So all the jumps done in about 40 seconds. He has a very focused look and his footwork isn't particularly difficult, as the commentators mention as I type it. Spins are all of average quality, and there is nothing really going on in-between the elements. Sloppy approach into his sit/change/sit.. almost like it was a practice session where he was doing it in isolation. Odd. Not much choreography, and not much ice coverage as the entire program seemed to consist of just the seven elements. He did have a nice spread eagle towards the end, but that's about it.

Joshua Farris- Another 16 year old. And my player completely stopped right as he started. Almost the entire night without a problem, we are making progress. And he comes back two minutes in. In replay, the Axel leaned off the start causing the fall. Sounds like the other jumps were strong though. His first basic camel position in the flying spin wasn't held long enough.

Jason Wong- I've always liked his skating. Triple Lutz/double toe- first jump was forward, second had no run-out but it's done. Triple Axel really close but still a big step out. Flying camel in a bent leg unique position into a change camel/catchfoot very similar to what Farris just did. Nice long powerful crossovers and nice lines, some good moves in the field. He did a Russian split right by the boards and it looked like he really had to put the brakes on to not crash, but then he went into a triple loop just fine. Everything nice, but he's another one that doesn't really do much to make himself stand out. I still really respect his overall quality and soft style.

Richard Dornbush- Triple Lutz/triple toe is all over the place but ends up alright. Triple Axel digs in deep with the toe pick and that one is landed too. He's attacking everything but those first two elements maybe had a little too much energy, causing it all to be sloppy. Another Russian split, we never see those anymore, and some other moves in the field... the triple flip had a hydroblade entrance and he goes into it from a curve-- most everyone who does that seems to get really wound up on the take-off.. here he had a step out. Footwork has some nice flair in the choreography, but he seemed too focused. I'm a little disappointed with this performance.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh- One of my new favorites, and I really want him to do well. His Skate America free skate was great. Triple Axel.. not the best flow out but it's done just like that. Triple flip/triple toe.. took his time and it was a nice one. Flying camel with an ugly change edge, into a donut position which is nice. BLAH crooked wound up entrance on the Lutz and he's down. Might even be called a double which gives him next to no points. Footwork is strong and has plenty of content, and then one of my favorite positions on a spin-- his camel that turns into a downwards-facing spin with a bent leg.. I love it. Frustrating. I still think this is one of the best short programs in the field.

Alexander Johnson- Triple Axel that he landed and then fell, spinning around a few times-- not a good way to fall. Triple flip/triple toe.. not spectacular but a good recovery. Triple Lutz looked two-footed and maybe cheated. The combination and flying spin had some nice changes of edge in them, but I wasn't blown away by the rest of the program. Too bad about the Axel. He's talking about staring one of the judges down during the performance and the judge kinda scuffed at him. LOL.

So Ryan Bradley leads the way after the short program. Who would have known? He skated well, but I never really understand why National federations really push skaters up when the international judges won't be as generous with scores. I really doubt Ryan would be able to receive a 7.0 average on components from the ISU, but who knows.. Ross Miner makes the final group.

US Nationals Mens Short Running Thoughts

2011-01-28T20:18:00.013-05:00

Hopefully a solid internet connection tonight. Favorite discipline by miles this year-- the men. I sure hope they don't disappoint!

Keegan Messing- First, a disclaimer about him. During last years World Juniors, I thought his skating exactly resembled Elvis Stojko-- posture, jump technique, style, all of it. I wasn't that thrilled. This year, though, what a change. His basics and posture have improved and the dynamic behind his skating is really exciting. All of his jumps not only have tremendous height, but they fly so far across the ice-- it's really something. The flip was done on the most severe of outside edges and probably scored -2's at best, but all of his other elements were good, and the spins rotated about as fast as they come. The footwork was done a bit heavily and down in the knees rather than letting it flow, but I'm nit-picking. Anyways, exciting start to the competition and he's definitely made a fan out of me.

Adam Rippon- Well, this is really something. The trek he's taken this year from the Japan Open (where he bested Takahashi and Plushenko in that free skate) to Skate Canada, to Skate America, to now, has been such a drop in confidence and spark. Axel leaned from the beginning and he stepped out, not a huge error but you almost saw it coming from the moment he started. Lutz, hard fall straight back-- I haven't ever seen him miss that jump, or at least in the last few years. The spins and the general program were so lackluster, but I've never really liked it. Skating after Messing and the energy he created didn't help, either. By the way, Brian Orser looks like he's put on some holiday weight.

Brandon Mroz- This is just a case of wrong packaging for me. You can see even in the preparation seconds before he started his program that his posture is way below the general quality of American men, and he has a really reserved style to his skating, yet he is skating to some Ryan Bradley-esque music. While he had moments of fun choreography, he still has a general tenseness and seriousness that make him a bit boring. Quad was there today, even if there was a bit of a fight, as were the rest of the jumps, and he had really nice camel positions-- one of the few I think we'll see. I question whether his change sit position was low enough.. it seemed slightly high. He's been top ten in the world before so he's not new to this, but I wish he'd just break loose and add some excitement to his skating.

Jonathan Cassar- Great posture and basics to his skating. The Lutz was at least a half turn cheated, causing the hard crash right from the beginning. I feel like that took a lot of the energy out of his program, but his choreography was strong and he has spread eagles to die for. He was late at the end of the program by about a second, and then he realized he lost his necklace or bracelet which caused a ten minute delay.

Jeremy Abbott- Oh, those arms. You know I think they look silly. But what I can appreciate is the choreography right into all of his jumps and the way this program built-- finally I see the good in it, I guess! What I didn't like so much was the ending cross-foot spin on the sit/change/sit-- I wouldn't consider it low enough to count and the position is just ugly. Also ugly is the flying upright spin, which goes down almost into an intermediate sit spin to begin (which helps the wind-up, but still..). I hope the ISU drops the option to do a flying upright spin after this season and everyone just has to suffer through doing a camel position in either the sit/change/sit or flying spin. Overall, though, I really enjoyed him.. tenseness and all. It works here.

Parker Pennington found Cassar's chain in warm-up and actually tripped over it. I guess all the "super sweepers" need to be fired. Kidding.. I know they are like five years old.

Wesley Campbell- Lutz/double toe had a nice kind of hydro-blade move into it, but the Lutz leaned and seemed slightly cheated, as did the following Triple Axel that he had three-turns out of. Another skater with very good camel positions, and a nice unique combination spin that kept good speed and perfect centering. Footwork went on forever and it also seemed a bit heavy to me, but he did pretty well. Need to check the first two jump elements in replay. Was 21st last year, I'm sure he will have a better outing this time around. 32 points for technical seems pretty high, so sounds like everything got credit.

Jason Brown- Just 16. Double Axel with a complex entry. This music is quick and powerful, I'd say he's trying his best to keep up with it. Lutz/toe-- again, have to check the toe loop. Flying camel travels and isn't a strong position but gets better with the catch-foot. Nice fan spiral for a second and some splits into the triple flip-- edge has to be checked, looks outside to me. Change sit has a bit of travel. Lots of comments on the specific technique of the elements, but he's actually having a good skate and he's having fun. One foot footwork comes towards the end of his sequence-- that's a nice change. Camel with a donut that is a unique position but travels. I like him.. the music added some excitement to the arena, I just think it made him a bit frantic. I like his classical free skate more.

Douglas Razzano- The Feeling Begins. Triple Axel didn't have much height compared to distance but it was one of the better so far. Quad toe! That was surprising, and kept up the speed out of it. Triple toe/triple toe- why not something more difficult? Maybe he wanted to play it safe after the first two elements. Two spins back to back.. both average. This is such good music but I really think it's only been done well a few times, Oksana Baiul among them. Most other times, like here, it's usually some generic choreography and the program itself is based on the music building so strongly. Final combination spin was nice. He's thrilled slash looks shocked with his effort! 40 points for technical-- best so far. I do agree with him going behind Messing, though.

Parker Pennington- Still skating! I remember him being in all the local Cleveland skating shows that were televised when I was growing up. Triple Axel leaned and fell. Already, though, his skating is so much more expressive than it was when he was producing decent results a few years ago. He did the choreography himself... maybe that's what he needed. Triple Lutz/double toe and triple flip are good. Sit/change/sit is strong and the combination spin also features a long nice sit spin in the first half, as well as a change sit with a twist variation. Fun, but I think the first half of the program was more interesting. He kinda lost me during the footwork. Into last. I would have had his components higher probably, but I don't know his exact scores for each of the five yet.

Andrew Gonzales- Long preparation into triple flip/triple toe, but a good combination. Double Axel, probably wanted to go for the triple but not solid off the take-off edge. Stroking from one end to the other so far. Double Lutz-- edge slipped on the take-off and then fell. Using Vanessa-Mae's Toccata and Fugue. I used to love this kind of music growing up, but now it seems like it's only used when you want to see the most generic of skating programs. There's been really nothing in between the elements, and the footwork doesn't have the speed of the others. He wasn't terrible by any means, just nothing really remarkable. He reminds me of Alban Preaubert from a distance. In the face, not in the wacky skating. With Phillip Mills and Frank Carroll as part of his team, I'm surprised this was so empty and flat.

Ice resurfacing. Second half will be in a new post.

US Nationals - Ladies Short Program Thoughts - Group Three

2011-01-27T21:42:00.001-05:00

The feed is getting terrible for me. I missed the first two skaters, but based on Khazova's 10 point technical score, I don't think I missed anything there. She's skating with injury, which sucks. I did see Morgan Bell and I loved her, probably my favorite skater of the night so far! She skated well and will be in the top twelve after the short at the very least, good for her. Keli Zhou used a terrible edit of Scene d'Amour that my favorite Butyrskaya used so successfully at the 2000 World Championships and even in this group, she looked a bit junior. Vanessa Lam also had a really good skate and I was impressed by the power behind her jumps. Outside chance to make the final group!

Did the In-House Announcer Really Just Say..

2011-01-27T21:08:00.001-05:00

Did the long-time US National PA announcer just say "Tatyana Khazkova started skating at the age of six, inspired by her mother's ass.... ice ballet.." ?

Ha.

And why is that commentator calling Tonia KWEE-at-kow-skee?

US Nationals - Ladies Short Program Thoughts - Group Two

2011-01-27T20:20:00.005-05:00

Another thought, the male commentator called Gao's stand-still landing on the Axel a fall. Nice to see they are always hiring commentators with a real good knowledge of skating :-)

Alexe Gilles-- Disaster showings with this program in the Grand Prix. I don't really care for it, it's too cute and I feel like she could pull off dramatic or something cool and modern really well. Toe/toe was nice and the second jump in particular was a beauty. Lutz was crooked from the beginning and didn't really ever have a chance. Layback position barely laid and she covered up the rest of the element with sideways positions-- probably a good call. I'm not a hater, I'll just be happy when she gets a new short program :-)

Agnes Zawadzki-- Okay, let's be real about her. This program fits her really well, but the problems with her skating are her overall speed and her sloppiness in-between the elements. It's not horrible, but she can improve a whole lot in those aspects. All three jump elements were great (Axel out of a good Ina Bauer!) but the spins (aside from the I-position in the combo) could also be just a bit more refined-looking. Still, I like her a lot and I like the energy she gives off. Behind Czisny by less than a point-- high on components, for sure.

Caroline Zhang-- Definitely looks like she's in better shape here than in the Grand Prix. Flip had a HORRIBLE lean from the beginning and she fell hard. I absolutely cannot stand how her toe pick goes in right in line with her other skate, rather than drawing back and then lifting (hence why she probably has so many problems). It's like she's doing a loop just off of a toe pick rather than the edge, if that makes sense. Triple loop/double toe was nice, though. Axel pre-rotated as always. Layback looks better and more memorable than in the Grand Prix, thankfully, but still not the wow that she had up until this year. I give her a lot of credit, though. She's grown and lost some of the qualities that really had people raving about her for a few years, but it's going to be a long road to getting the technique consistent and then being able to really command the performance and make her stand out. Right now, she's just 'there'.

Ellie Kawamura-- Cool Mishima music. Loop slightly cheated and came down on two feet, and only a triple toe/double toe as her combo. Layback has nice stretch and variations are all strong and well-centered. Nice flying sit entry and variation and good speed. This choreography is reminding me of Beatrisa Liang, who I greatly miss. She's interesting! Components were harsh!!!

Mirai Nagasu-- Lutz/toe nice, she has a nice smile as always. Seems like her World Championship short program was so much longer ago than 10 months, doesn't it? Flip was big and had nice flow out. She's looking light and faster than in the Grand Prix, when I found this program to be a total snooze. Little bobble on the beginning of her camel in the combination spin, but she recovered and held it forever in a nice position. Axel had nice flow in and out. Death drop had a little up-and-down bounce at the beginning to get into position that we see from so many. Layback obviously one of the best and up into a Biellmann. Well done. I liked that so much more than in the early months of the season. Not as much as last years short, but I'll take it. :) I don't know about the components vs. Czisny, but she skated with double the speed.

Katy Jo West-- Nice effortless double Axel. You can tell she's happy to be at Nationals. Triple loop rotated late and had a turn out, but I think it was rotated. Basics below the others in this group and somewhat wobby throughout the footwork. Triple toe with a hand down/double toe. She has a nice quality. The thing I noticed was the several instances of having to check herself and her posture throughout. I suspect that's her nerves and maybe rushing everything just a bit.

US Nationals - Ladies Short Program Thoughts - Group One

2011-01-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

What?! A post by me? Sorry for the disappearance, it's been a long month full of many changes for me. But you aren't here to read about me, so here we go.

Ladies Group One:

Kelsey Traunero-- Wearing Joannie Rochette's 2010 long program dress, or a very similar copy (including the hair piece)? Whatever the case, it didn't really match the music. Lots of muscle needed in the jumps elements, but she had some really decent spins. Strong edges, average (blah) choreography and interpretation.

Felicia Zhang-- Skating singles but no pairs here because of her rib injury? Lutz was cheated a bit and the toe loop crashed, and I felt like the entire program was lifeless. As noted, her elements (layback, combo spin) seemed watered down possibly due to injury, and her heart just didn't seem to be in the performance. Nice quality to her skating, but the overall finish could be greatly improved.

Alissa Czisny- Love this program, and I love how it's made her take her time. The one nit-pick I would have is that I wish she picked up the speed a bit, even if overall affect matches the music well. However, clearly no 'blah' choreography or interpretation here. In the opening seconds, you can see that she just 'gets' how to move her arms and fingertips, it's not forced in the slightest. The score makes me think one of the jumps was under-rotated (maybe the flip? it seemed like it landed on a really stiff edge), but still a great effort.

Christina Gao-- Obviously growing a ton since we saw her at last years Nationals. I'm still not thrilled with her posture and slow carriage, but the triple flip/triple toe was there as was the Lutz right out of steps. The Axel landed on a stiff edge as well and it sent the free leg flying around, making it look really rough. It was nice to see her put a lot of energy in the footwork towards the end, and she seemed to be really relaxed after the jumps were over. The score still gives her a shot to be competitive here.

Kristiene Gong- I liked the first part of the music with the slower pace, and I thought she set the mood extremely well. Didn't love the second part until the footwork sequence. Flip was majorly cheated. All of the spins seemed to die out by the time the final variation was achieved, with always drives me insane. Still, a nice quality to her.

Japan Needs Six Mens World Championship Entries

2010-12-24T13:17:00.002-05:00

I think the title of this post is enough said. My favorite Takahiko Kozuka has quite a lead after the short program at the Japanese National Championships, while reigning World Champion Daisuke Takahashi is in fourth place after stepping out of two jump elements. World Junior Champion Yuzuru Hanyu is a surprise second, and Nobunari Oda once again went for the quad in the short here, but he was unsuccessful and finds himself in third.

Here's sixth-place Takahito Mura. I raved about him during the Grand Prix, and he's another skater that I could watch all day for the quality of his skating. I really like him!

Catching Up on the Last Week

2010-12-23T07:45:00.000-05:00

National Championships Galore

Finnish Nationals
Kiira Korpi continued her successful season, winning the ladies competition by nearly fifty.. yes, fifty points over Beata Papp. Cecilia Torn won the bronze medal. Laura Lepisto is still out with injury. Long-time mens champion and Olympic participant Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari fell to third this year, behind Bela Papp and Valtter Virtanen.

I'm loving Korpi once again this year. Here's her winning free skate:

French Nationals
Brian Joubert finally pulled it together and won the title over Florent Amodio, who had extreme troubles in his short program. Alban Preaubert was third. All three men will go to Europeans, and the top two will likely go to Worlds. There was a tight battle between the top three in the ladies competition, with Yretha Silete winning gold over Lenaelle Gilleron-Gorry by just over a point. Right behind was Mae-Bernice Meite. Meite will go to Europeans, and Silete is the likely entry for Junior Worlds. I really liked Gilleron-Gorry at the JGP Courchevel that began the season, so I'm thrilled with her result.

Here is Joubert's free skate (Yagudin 2001 short program costume resemblance, anyone?):

Italian Nationals
No surprises here as Carolina Kostner and Valentina Marchei went 1-2 in the ladies competition, both will go to Europeans and surely Worlds. Italy has a third spot for Europeans, which will likely? go to bronze medalist Amelia Schwienbacher. Samuel Contesti and Paolo Bacchini were the top two in mens, while both Faiella/Scali and Cappellini/Lanotte withdrew from the ice dance competition.

Spanish Nationals
With Sonia Lafuente withdrawn from the ladies event, you'd think this would be a pretty boring competition as a whole, right? However, Javier Raya was able to best Javier Fernandez for the title by just over a point. Fernandez is still recovering from injury, but Raya is still a very decent skater. Spain has two spots for Europeans and just one spot for Worlds. Here is Raya's winning free skate:

Grand Prix 2011/2012

Back to 'normal' next season, with the order being USA, Canada, China, Japan, France, and Russia. This year, things were switched up (I assume) to give skaters chances to compete in events closest to home without having to compete two weeks in a row. I felt bad for coaches like Tom Zakrajsek, who was at all six events.

Alexander Majorov Apologizes for Facebook Tirade

2010-12-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, Swedish National bronze medalist Alexander Majorov went on a bit of a rampage against his Federation after not being named to the European Championship team. Majorov, up until Nationals, had been the most successful Swede internationally this season; however, a poor short program left him in too much of a deficit behind champion Kristoffer Berntsson and runner-up Adrian Schultheiss.

The tirade occurred as a Facebook wall post, and he used several expletives in English to vent his frustrations. I had the chance to talk to him about the situation, and here are his own words:

I was mad the second that I got the call from my Federation about the team for Europeans, and I had my laptop in front of me-- even worse, no one else was home. I hit the keys with such frustration as I wrote the wall post, and the sad thing is that I didn't care what I wrote, or if it was or was not correct.. it was all what just came to me in that second.

When I calmed down, I read what I had written and I saw that it was not good, even if some friends had expressed a sadness to me. I removed it not long after I wrote it, and I just hoped that no one from my Federation had seen me in that stupid moment.

The next day, I woke up and my mother yelled to me, "What have you done?" I knew right away what it was. I thought the Federation had seen everything and that I was in big trouble. When she told me that I was in one of the biggest gossip newspapers in Sweden, I began to shake and cry, because my post was just full of words I hit on my laptop. I really didn't mean any of it, and I hope people believe that. I have friends from all over the world and from all walks of life, and I don't have a problem with anyone.

I have learned my lesson from all of this, and the obvious advice I can give from this is no matter how upset you are about something, writing about it on something like Facebook for the whole world to see is never a good idea. You become completely responsible the second anyone else sees it, and again I am really sorry that this happened.

The Swedish Federation has issued Majorov a warning, telling him that no other behavior of this nature will be accepted. I've spoken with several of his competitors from earlier events this season, and all of them have great things to say about Alexander. He made an obvious error in judgement even if it was at the heat of the moment, but hopefully this will pass and we will again be able to focus just on his skating ability.

Roster Watch: ISU Championship Events

2010-12-15T14:30:00.000-05:00

I created a Roster Watch page to keep track of all of the likely entries into the ISU 'Majors', notably the European and World Championships.

So far I've updated the page with projected entries in the mens competition at the 2011 Europeans. Check it out, and please feel free to add any details you may know that I've skipped over or forgotten!

Swedish Nationals: Three-way race for the men; Which Helgesson sister will go to Euros?

2010-12-15T11:51:00.001-05:00

The Swedish National Championships. Who would have thought it had the potential to be so exciting?

Adrian Schultheiss, Alexander Majorov, and Kristoffer Berntsson are fighting for the two entries to the European and World Championships. Schultheiss, whose high placement at last years' Europeans and top-ten finish at Worlds allowed the country to send two representatives in 2011, has had a rocky start to his season. He's changed coaches, been dealing with a groin injury, and hasn't skated near the level that earned him his success last year.

Alexander Majorov, on the other hand, has been on fire in the early months of this season. He won the NRW Trophy in Germany and the Ice Challenge in Graz, and also has a bronze medal from a Junior Grand Prix event in the Czech Republic. He looks to be the favorite heading into the event.

While Majorov won the competition in Austria, teammate Kristoffer Berntsson finished with the bronze medal. He made the decision to stay in the amateur ranks at the age of 28, and is known for his audience-friendly programs (his free skate this year is a Michael Jackson medley). Kristoffer won the silver medal at the Finlandia Trophy earlier this year, although he narrowly held on to a podium place after winning the short program.

Who do you think we will see at Europeans?

The ladies event also features what should be a close battle, between sisters Viktoria and Joshi Helgesson. Both ladies have earned moderate results this season, and in the most recent head-to-head battle at Skate America, Joshi finished 4th overall while Viktoria finished 6th.

The rare situation here is that only one lady will be able to compete at the European Championships, but both (in the event that they are the gold and silver medalists) can compete in Tokyo for the World Championships after Viktoria finished in the top ten at the event last season.

Here are both of their great free skates from Skate America.

French Nationals: Amodio has a free ticket to Euros, and can Joubert get it together?

2010-12-15T08:45:00.002-05:00

The French National Championships begin this weekend, and this post will focus on the mens event.

Grand Prix Finalist Florent Amodio has already secured one of the three entries to the European Championships after his successful start to the season, while a handful of other men are competing for the remaining two spots.

Reigning World bronze medalist Brian Joubert doesn't have much to show yet this season: he was off the podium at the Cup of China, and he withdrew after the short program at Trophee Eric Bompard. Joubert has tried to work with new styles for his programs this season, particularly his long program in which he skates to Beethoven. I'm not convinced that he is fully comfortable with either program just yet, but Brian seems to always be one who pulls it together in the second half of the season. It is no fluke that he's been on the podium at six of the last seven World Championships, and all nine European Championships that he has attended.

Alban Preaubert has to be one of the biggest models of consistency I have ever seen. He delivers clean programs nearly every time out, but his overall skating quality and lack of polish hold him back. Alban had consistent outings on the Grand Prix, but only finished 5th and 6th in his events. He is another skater that has strayed away from his usual comical programs for the free skate, and instead skates to a Schubert piece that remains at the same dynamic throughout. Another consistent outing here should probably be enough to get him on the podium, where he'll most likely have to battle it out with Amodio and Joubert at the European Championships for the two Tokyo Worlds berths.

The aforementioned Trophee Eric Bompard short program found Joubert not only behind Amodio, but also trailing Chafik Besseghier. When he is on, he has absolutely huge jumps and an excitement behind his skating. However, he showed just a day later at Bompard that he still is new to this level of skating and completely fell apart in the first half of his free skate. If he can pull two solid programs together this weekend, he may have a chance at challenging Preaubert or a completely-off Joubert.

Thomas Sosniak and Romain Ponsart both competed on the Junior Grand Prix this season, showing very respectable results. They should most likely round out the top six.

Johnny vs. Bethenny Throw-Down-- one reason to still watch Skating With the Stars?

2010-12-13T23:17:00.003-05:00

Fast forward to 5:20 to see the throw-down begin. Things start off sweet from Mr. Weir, but ten seconds later he's singing a different story.

All things that happened in the past aside, I thought Bethenny did well to keep her mouth shut this time around while Johnny instigated things during his review. Partner Ethan Burgess seems to be over all of the cattiness.

I know Bethenny has made comments that she really doesn't care what the judges think, but we've seen actual competitive skaters say they care more about making the audience happy than pleasing judges-- do those skaters get told that there's essentially no point in watching them anymore? I don't think so. It's a stupid television show that won't come back for a second season, and it isn't going to make Johnny any more famous. I wish he would have just shut his mouth this week.

By the way, if I had only skated for two months and was trying to make the best of this disaster of a show, I'd probably be a little upset with hearing how bad I was every week, too... especially when other skaters can fall and be dragged all over the place and be told how fun and great they are (see Vince in week two).

Hey, How About We Lay off Rachael Flatt a Bit?

2010-12-12T16:22:00.001-05:00

This post basically serves as a reply to the article I just read by Philip Hersh, who discusses how brilliant Alissa Czisny was en route to winning the Grand Prix Final this weekend and how miserable Rachael Flatt was in her last-place finish of the six qualified ladies.

First of all, note the bold term above. Only six ladies make it out of the Grand Prix regular season events, and Rachael Flatt earned silver medals at both the NHK Trophy and Skate America en route to qualifying her spot in Beijing. Her overall total score from the two events was 323.90 points. Whatever you think about comparing scores across events aside, that total was good enough for fourth-best of all the ladies that skated in two events. She finished higher than eventual Grand Prix Final silver medalist Carolina Kostner at Skate America, and she finished on top of bronze medalist Kanako Murakami at the NHK Trophy.

You want more stats? Mirai Nagasu finished with 314.02 points, Ashley Wagner 310.75 points, and Agnes Zawadzki with 308.13 points. It wasn't earth-shaking when Nagasu dropped from first in the short at Cup of China to fourth overall, and it wasn't a big deal when Wagner earned just 90 points in her free skate at NHK Trophy, her first event. Those three, along with Czisny and Flatt, figure to be among the front-runners for the two World Championship spots up for grabs at the National Championships next month.

Rachael will not be the next Michelle Kwan or Sasha Cohen in terms of popularity in the United States, but this event was one of the worst (if not the absolute worst) of her life and already it's the end of the world in Philip Hersh's eyes. Flatt did her part at the 2009 World Championships in hopes of earning the US three spots to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but then-National Champion Czisny finished outside the top 10 at the event. She may not have had the best Grand Prix season the following fall, but she did best Yu-Na Kim in the long program at Skate America. It seems like everything I read about her lately just focuses on all of the negatives, but we seem to forget how Rachael was the model of consistency for some time while plenty of other American ladies were either crashing and burning all over the ice or under-rotating every other jump (and some still continue to have this problem).

By the way, Philip Hersh: "dead last" is such a dramatic way of describing the situation. There's six-- yes, just six of the supposed best ladies in the world competing in the event. It's not like she finished 25th in the short program at the World Championships. Give me a break. Yes, I'm aware that the scores she posted may very well have her 25th or lower in the event that it was Worlds, but it wasn't.

In all honesty, I'm not that wowed by Rachael Flatt. But if you read my comments about most of the other ladies this season, there's not much a difference. The discipline itself is just not that interesting anymore, and Flatt is not a severe unique case by any means. However, comments such as these

Unless Flatt's fortunes improve dramatically the rest of the 2010-11 season, she would be wise to consider ending a competitive career that will be judged as an impressive success, with the U.S. title, the world junior title, an Olympic appearance and two world team appearances.

Flatt has so many other good things to do with her time - and the intelligence to do any of them.

The temptation is to tell her there still is time to enroll at Stanford for the winter quarter.

honestly make me want to root for her even more when she shows up to Greensboro. One bad event should hardly make one suggest that she should give up. If anything, preaching about Czisny just paragraphs above those statements, while reminding readers that she went from 3rd to 9th to 1st to 10th at Nationals in the last four years, should show that everyone has a bad day.

Grand Prix Final Pairs/Dance Finals..

2010-12-11T06:28:00.000-05:00

Reviews will come later. I need to catch up on sleep before I officially start my day, and hearing the first notes of Bobrova and Soloviev's free dance is going to put me in a depression now when I think of my favorite Maria Butyrskaya's less-than-memorable program to the same music in her final competitive season.

Grand Prix Final - LADIES LP Review

2010-12-11T05:17:00.016-05:00

Here we go..

Rachael Flatt starts things off. Double Axel/triple toe that looked clean, but both jumps had such a twist on the take-off. It's always all muscle with her. Triple Lutz that looked like an inside edge take-off and she sat down on it. Camel change camel.. positions eh. The choreography of this program is so similar to the short program, and the music is similar too. Nice triple flip. Flying camel with little fly and then a sit position with an ugly free leg and up into a y-spin. She looks so much slower here than usual-- maybe she's always this slow and I never noticed. Second Lutz doubled, second flip doubled. Where is this coming from? She's usually such the model of consistency. Loop doubled. About six points total for those last three jump elements-- that will kill her score. Footwork is crawling and heavy-looking. Triple Salchow/double toe/double loop. Camel in the opposite direction with a donut position-- that, oddly enough, was one of her better positions in the spins. Somethings up with her-- total lack of energy, no speed at all, and lots of mistakes we usually don't see from her. She has to rely on her consistency to gain energy from the crowd, but when she's off, there's really nothing left. 82.38. Nearly 30 points below her seasons best, and I think that alone tells the story well enough.

Miki Ando skating second after her disappointing short. Triple Lutz/double loop this time. Nice turns into the triple loop and nice flow out. Flying sit with that ugly twisted stretched free leg-- I could do without it. Camel is actually a good position but then a weak sit/y-spin is stretched but slow. It disappoints me in moments like the one in the middle of this program where she's told, 'okay now this is your place to breathe', so she does actually listen to the music. But then as soon as the elements come back it's all business without any attempt to listen. Double Axel/triple toe looked rotated. Nice second triple Lutz, and a triple Salchow. Triple toe at the other end is also good and then a double Axel/double loop/double loop-- typical Morozov to have all of those jumps clumped together with not an ounce of choreography or transitions. Great technical effort and then the footwork is listless and a bit slow. Flying camel with a change edge and illusions that get her traveling/change/ sit again not the best position and a layback catch-foot that is a weak effort. No building of energy in that program. WHY? When you skate well, show it. And then of course when she comes off the ice she is all smiles for coach Morozov. I don't get it. 122.70 is her seasons best for the free skate. 7.25 for choreography and 7.29 for interpretation. Oh I see.

Akiko Suzuki skating to Fiddler on the Roof. Nice triple Lutz. Double Axel/triple toe loop looks good to me. Her jumps this week look bigger to me than they have in the past. Triple loop with the long telegraphed entry but the jump is nice. Flying camel with a weak position into a sit/change layback catch-foot-- nothing was amazing there. Her speed and pacing is already a million times better than Ando, and I just know I'm going to be mad when the components scores don't reflect that. Triple flip/double toe loop. Double flip. Triple loop/double Axel sequence is gorgeous on both jumps. Triple Salchow. Another flying camel with the weak stretch and a bent-leg variation to catch-foot. Now the program picks up and the crowd claps along for the footwork-- the definite highlight of her skating. She's emoting now but I would have liked to see her get into the performance a bit earlier. Final combo spin with a nice y-spin but that camel really needs some work. She gets a partial standing ovation and there are tons of Japanese flags in the audience. I love her skating, and I'll reiterate that she's now 25 and it looks like she's just getting stronger and stronger. Total credit to her. This SHOULD be enough to stay ahead of Ando. 115.46 on the free skate, and she's in first overall but just barely. Same score as Ando for interpretation, and she was lower on the choreography mark. Ha.

Kanako Murakami rounds out the three Japanese ladies in a row. Triple toe/triple toe solid as always. Triple Lutz that takes off on the inside edge. Sit positions are the best we've seen so far, and the speed on her spins is very good. Flip where the toe-pick went in wrong and she singles it. Layback/catch-foot/Biellmann and the final position was nice but it made the spin slow down a great amount. Triple flip/double toe loop. She reminds me of Yoshie Onda on these jump exits where it seems like her arms don't really know what to do so they just flail around a bit. Triple loop is nice. Double Axel. Triple Salchow looked two-footed/double loop/double loop. Combination spin to end is her best and the y-spin has tremendous speed. This program has more spark than prior in the season, but I still don't think it's the right vehicle for her. I felt her components scores were very generous in the short program and I suspect it will be more of the same here. Her overall skating quality isn't bad, but she has to use so much power in between and leading into the jumps, that it gives off a real sloppy and rushed feeling. Still, more going on in her program than Ando had and she at least has flashes of skating to the music. 117.12 for the free skate, first overall by 5 points and she's shocked that she stayed ahead of both of her teammates-- doesn't that mean she might have a ticket to Worlds already? Way too high of a score.

Carolina Kostner of Italy now. Triple toe to start. Double Axel. Surprised she didn't go for a triple/triple again but she only has so much she can do with only attempting three different kinds of triples in the program, I guess. Another double Axel. Remember when she used to fly around the ice? This music doesn't ask for it, but she seems so slow. Triple Salchow. Single loop/double toe loop. Recovers with a triple loop/double toe this time. Nice pacing and choreography with spirals leading right into a nice footwork sequence. Triple Salchow/double toe/double toe muscled out at the end. Flying camel/donut/catch-foot trails off into the ending pose. Eh. The lack of technical content worked earlier this year, but her spins are slow and the most difficult thing she did was a loop/toe combination. The judges loved her from a components aspect in the short and I'm sure they'll love her again, but this really should be behind all three Japanese ladies. Bloody hand-- she must have clipped her blade. 116.47 for THAT? I mean, if she adds two flips and a Lutz back, she's going to score 130+. Well, whatever. Into first. Suzuki has once again been royally screwed in my opinion. By the way, .01 ahead of Murakami overall.

Alissa Czisny closes the show. Triple Lutz/double toe to start. Triple flip/double toe. As always with her, probably going to need to check the jumps in replay to make sure they got all the way around. Triple toe goes up crooked but lands fine. Flying camel in a great position and then a donut spin to catch-foot. Perfect centering, good speed. Not carrying much speed around the ice, though. Triple loop lands with a deep curving edge. I-spiral and then she drops down into a traditional position. Second triple Lutz that she really fights for, again questionable rotation. Double Axel was tiny and she stepped out. Triple toe, all of these later jumps are being really fought for. One-foot combination spin with all excellent positions. Circular step is nothing special but her ending layback is a million times better than any other spin in this ladies competition. She's happy with that, and if she rotated both Lutzes and the flip, she should EASILY win this competition. 116.99 and she wins overall by two points. Ando wins the free skate, but stays in fifth overall.

When You're Already Marked So High...

2010-12-11T05:02:00.000-05:00

Is a 9.00 for interpretation really that needed or deserved? Chan and Takahashi both had 'off' performances in my opinion, and while the latter might have made more severe mistakes, he should have topped the interpretation score easily. What did he earn? 8.25.

I commented on the live review that Chan's interpretation was the weakest component that he has, yet these judges gave him the highest score there.

Grand Prix Final - MENS LP Review

2010-12-11T04:02:00.013-05:00

Rolled over and got out of bed just in time. Probably staying up just for the men and ladies.

Florent Amodio of France- triple Axel to start, same perfect deep-knee landing and extension he's had on most jumps all year. Second triple Axel/double toe right away, shaky landing on the first but still done. Rushed the loop and it became a double. Choreography starts for the circular footwork and if you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the program, he definitely gets into it. 18 seconds of standing around and selling some more 'choreography' and then a triple Salchow/triple toe, two triple Lutzes (one in combination with a double toe), a triple flip, and a double Axel all within about 30 seconds with nothing else in between and really nothing but skating from one end to the other. All of the jumps were landed, but none of them had the greatest flow coming out. Choreography picks back up for the straight-line footwork which goes on for a while, and then he ends with spins. I love Florent, I think this program is fun for the audience and casual fans, but I can't get past how much time he stands around and how none of his jumps have anything going on into them. Transitions mark should be extremely low, the set-up of the elements (those five jumps all so quickly together) is bleh and should affect his choreography mark, but his performance mark should be high. He only interprets the music when he's standing around or doing the footwork. Sorry, I'm not a hater. Just keeping it real! 140.26-- not quite a 7 average on the components. Don't get me wrong-- he's extremely exciting. Just this program is everything that the judging system doesn't ask for and it should be scored accordingly. Nice effort with the jumps once again, though.

Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic and we get back-to-back Michael Jackson. Triple toe, easy to start. Triple Axel/double toe and then right into a triple loop. Circular step is nice but moves somewhat slow, and then he does a combination spin on one foot which has nice positions until the final scratch travels. Second triple Axel, triple Lutz, triple Salchow, triple flip, triple Lutz/double toe with a turn-out in between-- all of those jumps were done in about 45 seconds, too, and the only transitions were some three-turns and simple movements into the jumps. I know he and Florent are hardly the only two to have a program set-up like that, but I hate it. Second footwork sequence once again has good content but once again he just doesn't have the power and speed off of his pushes that the next four men will do so effortlessly. Okay, tough for me again here. The concept is once again fun, but there really isn't that much going on in the program. He doesn't stand around, but he also is doing a lot of crossovers to link everything together. However, everything being watered down a bit this year and not attempting the quad has done wonders for his consistency-- I guess that's the trade off. He poses for the crowd in the kiss and cry. 148.27 for the free skate, 73 on components and he's in first place.

Takahiko Kozuka of Japan starts the final four and the likely race for the podium. Quad toe comes to a bit of a halt on the landing but it looked rotated to me and on one foot. Triple Axel with gorgeous flow coming out. Triple Lutz/double toe. Camel with a layover-- that's a decent effort, into a sit with variation and upright-- average speed. Now we see some transitions.. the first of the night honestly. One foot steps for the first part of his circular sequence and you see how easily he gains speed and flows. Triple Axel/double toe-- Axel was pitched forward a bit and the toe loop took a while to get the free leg back. I'm sure he wanted a double loop on the end but couldn't get it off. Triple flip, triple Lutz/triple toe with a wild run-out but it's done, triple loop, triple Salchow-- again all the jumps close together but at least he has some variation to what he's doing leading into the jump rather than stroke, stroke, stroke. Circular footwork sequence.. for skating clean so far he's not really getting into this or showing the excitement that he should have. Combination spin to end and the camel with a change edge could use work on the position but the rest of the positions are nice. Well, once again a clean free skate and he's going to put the pressure on big-time for the other three. Sato looks happy with that effort, smiling and clapping at the boards. I think he can do even more to the transitions and choreography of this program, but the difficulty level is seriously double that of what Amodio and Verner just performed. 159.89 for the free skate, just 77 for the components. Eh. Some of the jump landings weren't the best, but I'd still have him higher on components, especially comparing with the first two.

Daisuke Takahashi follows with Invierno Porteno. Quad flip comes down after 3.5 and on two-feet. Nice triple Axel, though, showing total control on the edge-work coming out. Triple loop lands on the flat but he gets the leg back. Combination spin with the first few positions somewhat thrown away (especially his camel), but the latter upright was nice. Circular footwork doesn't seem to have the speed that it usually does but he's an absolute master at using his full body, and the difficulty-level isn't easy in the slightest. Triple flip/triple toe and he can't hold the second landing after total curving the edge. Second triple Axel and he falls hard on that. Takes a second to get up. Triple Lutz, triple Salchow landing with no run-out, another triple Lutz that he thinks about for a second and then slips off the edge on that one and falls again. So his second Axel and second Lutz will both be called sequences because the first attempts were not done in combination-- lots of points lost right there. The straight-line step at the end doesn't have the normal spark, but the program itself has the best pacing so far and his ability to listen to the music remains among the best. Sorry, though, this was totally flat, especially the second half with the mistakes. 137.20-- they hit him hard but it's fair. He goes into second, but he's last on the free skate. Kozuka will medal.

Patrick Chan of Canada with Phantom of the Opera. Nice quad toe and it looked like he had time on the way down to stop rotating and adjust to the landing-- amazing. Triple Axel/double toe-- not a huge amount of flow between the jumps, but it's fine. Triple Lutz. Edge work on one foot and then his serpentine step-- just absolutely effortless and the speed he gets out of the pushes is ridiculous. Steps into his second triple Axel and he falls out. More steps all the way down the length of the ice and a Triple Lutz with a turn and step/ 1/2 loop/ double Salchow. I don't know if the second part of that will count-- there might have been a step too much. Triple flip/triple toe, triple loop-- none of these later jumps have very much flow and he looks extremely tight. Double Axel. Spins once again are fast and well-centered and all three have strong positions. I totally respect the amount of content in between everything, but like pointed out so many times before-- he skates to the music and does exactly what the system wants, but is there a lot of feeling behind anything he does? Not really. This performance started to fall flat in the second half when the jumps started losing their flow. It should still be enough to lead by quite a few points in the free skate, even with the two mistakes and rough landings. His coach and her preaching in the kiss and cry every single time annoys me. 174.16 and 87 points on the second mark. Haha.. here we go again with haters, I'm sure. He's 22 points ahead of Kozuka. I think this is one point behind the world record, and he's not even clean.

Nobunari Oda of Japan finishes the night. Quad toe and he's down. UGH. Well, at least I got the winner of the event right in my predictions. Triple Axel/triple toe that was cautious going in, perfectly fine landings but not the ease of rotation that is usual with him. Three-turns on one foot leading into a triple flip/triple toe-- again done, but muscled out more than just letting it happen. Footwork is much more of a non-highlight than the last two men. His spins between Skate Canada and now have become much more centered.. they were a mess there. Beautiful triple Lutz with steps leading in. Second triple Axel. Triple loop. Triple Salchow/double toe/double loop. Double Axel that he had and just slipped off the edge after a second. He looks like he's totally disoriented in the steps following, and this performance has had no energy. After having that brilliant short that I think he obviously really likes, this choreography looks really junior at times and he's not into it at all. So disappointing. I'd think he still gets silver after his lead over Kozuka in the short, but if he were to fall to third, I will have predicted the podium exactly right here. 156.22 for the free skate, he's third in the long and second overall. Highest-ranked Japanese man here. I think the components were a bit generous for as flat as he was and the program is. And there goes my dream of predicting the podium right by about five points ;-)

Khoklova and Andreev: The Debut

2010-12-10T09:16:00.002-05:00

Jana Khoklova and Fedor Andreev made their debut representing Russia at the Golden Spin of Zagreb earlier today. Thoughts?

Grand Prix Final - PAIRS SHORT Review

2010-12-10T07:45:00.010-05:00

Sui and Han of China start off the pairs competition to a medley of country songs. They qualified for both the senior and junior Grand Prix Final but elected to skate in the former. Nice side by side double Axels and what I really appreciate about their skating is the amount of content in between and leading right up to the elements. Nice big triple twist, so easily done. Throw triple flip and her skate really had to dig deep to stop her from flying forwards-- so tiny, yet so powerful. Mirror side by side footwork again has difficult content, but it also shows that they still can do plenty as far as their basics go. He was ahead of her on every change in the side by side spins. Lift goes into the full split as he holds her with one hand, and they end with a nice solid death spiral. Off on the spins and through some of the footwork, but still, I could watch this program over and over and not get tired of it. 61.49-- seasons best by two points. I'd say that's on the high side, but we will see how it compares to everyone else.

Iliushechkina and Maisuradze of Russia are next, with a much more traditional program. Side by side triple toes-- hers looked short on rotation and he had a wide swinging free leg on the landing. Throw triple loop lands a bit pitched forward but she keeps the flow. Death spiral and he changes hands-- she's in a nice position. Side by side spins-- nice unison on the first half but off on the change foot. I love them (her in particular) but I do not love this program. The music is big, they don't really skate fast enough to it, and I just don't think it's really their style. Their lift also goes into a really cool position as he holds her back up and she faces the ceiling in an arched position. Compared to the Chinese, hardly an ovation, but there's hardly anyone in the stands. Eh. I wish they had a better program. 60.06.

Moore-Towers and Moscovitch of Canada are skating to Zorba the Greek and it's full energy from the start. The triple twist doesn't get very high, and I wouldn't say the air position is very pretty. Right into side by side triple toes and those are done well. Lift has a bit of trouble at the start as it looks like her hand position was slightly off but once it's up, it's fine. Throw triple loop that has a really solid landing. Death spiral where she faces the ice. Music picking up for the footwork and I think the thing that bothers me about them so far is their lack of finishing off the moves-- for example, the way she leads into the throw jump with the measly back spiral. Everything is rushed in the same way the previous Chinese fly through everything, but it doesn't look particularly good with this team. At the very end, after the footwork, he fell straight forward after tripping on his toe pick and she right away counted off to him to get them back in timing for the end side by side spins-- good for her. 58.73, third for now but not really far off of the other teams.

Bazarova and Larionov of Russia skating to Adagio by Secret Garden. Her side by side triple toe is tiny as always, while his actually has a little bit of a wobble this time around. Beautiful split triple twist. Throw triple flip with an absolutely perfect landing. Death spiral in which she changes hands-- probably could go down just a bit more. Side by side spins are a little far apart but they stay in unison throughout.. she has much more stretch than him. Another cool lift variation. Much like Mukhortova/Trankov skating to Secret Garden last year, I don't think some of this choreography matches the music especially the footwork sequence. But when you skate to slow music and you have to pack plenty of content into the steps, I guess there has to be some kind of contrast. Anyways, nice program. I prefer it to their free skate. 63.86, good enough for first but close enough that it's really anyones game for bronze.

Pang and Tong of China have returned to their short program from last season-- I kinda liked the Nocturne, but I also like this so I don't mind. Side by side triple toes that she's had trouble on earlier in the season, not the case here. Well done. Split triple twist good as always. Nice throw triple loop, and they are looking much faster than usual. Close on the start of the side by side spins and then he wanders off a little. Unison on and off and the final y-position isn't particularly great, but as a whole the spins were good. Overhead lift and her variation is pretty ordinary when you compare it to all of the other teams-- she also doesn't really stretch fully or point her toes. Footwork and death spiral to end. Gentle, yet aggressive when they needed to be. Maybe going back to this program is what they needed, because that was far better than anything else they've done so far this year. 68.63, new seasons best by a point and a half.

Savchenko and Szolkowy of Germany end the day, skating to Korobushko. I never make costume comments, but what is up with hers, seriously? It gives the appearance of seeing her bra and underwear through the costume, but it's really just a darker white at those spots, I think? Maybe it really is her undergarments. Throw triple flip, split twist, and side by side triple toes were all well done. Footwork has some deep edges and difficult content in the steps and the arm holds. Flying side by side spins and you can see her watching him to make sure they stay on unison, which they do. You know, my issue with this program the first time around is that I thought it was incredibly sloppy, but it was their first competition of the season and I figured it would get better. It doesn't look sloppy here, but I'm just not feeling the gimmicky vibe of it. I much prefer Send in the Clowns or even their Jean-Michel Jarre program from several seasons ago. However, I think they were the best today on both the elements and components, even if I prefer Pang and Tongs program. 74.40! Well, I'd say the judges definitely prefer this as well!

Grand Prix Final - LADIES SHORT Review

2010-12-10T06:32:00.016-05:00

Keeping it going..

As with all disciplines, the sixth-ranked skater in the standings starts things off. Here, it's American Rachael Flatt. Her music is Summertime and Oh, But on the Third Day. Triple Lutz with the usual swing back and forth into it/double toe-- looked like she thought about a triple. Triple flip comes out forward after 2.5 rotations and will be called a double with -3 GOE. Layback and the program so far seem slower than usual. Change of music into flying camel with a layover and catch-foot. The last position was not great. Double Axel wasn't big but it was fine. Straight-line step and this performance seems much more introverted than usual for Rachael, even if she has the cute choreography in the middle of the element. I don't know what is up but she's still looking slow and labored to me. Combination spin to end with a nice upright y-spin variation that changes edges-- that's not easy to balance. Sigh. No spark here whatsoever, and she's over it. 45.19. Well, this panel certainly isn't playing games today.

Akiko Suzuki of Japan is up next. Jalousie by Jacob Gade. Triple flip/double toe is good.. she sometimes has a toe Axel going on. Triple Lutz isn't directly out of steps but this is one of the bigger ones I've seen her do. Flying camel isn't fully stretched but the positions on the latter half are decent and the spin kept up the speed. Layback is really good until the final Biellmann-type one hand catch-foot that kills the speed. Clean double Axel so good on the jumps. Straight-line step is of course one of the best in the business and it gets the crowd going (by Chinese standards). Nice applause for her. Her posture isn't the greatest, but she's one of the few ladies that still gets into their program and listens to the music rather than focusing on the elements the entire time. Jumps were all rotated. She's 25 and only getting stronger-- good for her. 58.26, seasons best.

Her teammate Kanako Murakami is next. What an impression she's already made this year. Music is Swing Kids and she has the crowd already clapping in the first few seconds. Triple toe/triple toe looks alright, and there was even a delay on the first jump. Triple flip with the slight pause in steps but that is also good. Layback that goes up into a Biellmann at the end and it's rough-- she kind of stumbles out. Double Axel is good this time around. Geez, her smile is just amazing. Flying sit that is right at the wall-- I don't care for choreography like that. Straight-line step keeps up the performance level and she uses her entire body. Final combination spin has strong positions. So, as expected, she's good through the short program. I think everyones' big worry is the free skate, which I don't think suits her skating at all. However, great start here aside from the trouble coming out of the layback. Triple/triple looked good to me in replay. 61.47... hmmm. Her program is really fun but I prefer Suzuki. She really had the crowd going, though.

Carolina Kostner from Italy, skating to Galicia Flamenca. Triple toe/triple toe and I question the rotation on the second jump there-- both jumps went up crooked. Double Axel is nice though. She's really improved that over the years. Flying camel again not particularly strong positions but she stretches higher than most. Triple loop with a lack of direct steps into it but that's always a good jump for her. Layback doesn't have much lay to it and it seems to just get the required revolutions. Circular footwork again her strong element and it's well done, and a combination spin to finish. Again here, the upright position is really just the finishing up of the spin, doing two quick revolutions. I'd rather see something held for a long time, but I suspect she was a bit behind the music. Second triple toe should get the under-rotation call, but not a full downgrade. 62.13. Over it. That's a lucky score.

Alissa Czisny of the USA. Triple Lutz/double toe is good. Triple flip-- looks like the landing edge got a little bit stuck, which makes me think it might have slightly been short. Double Axel, well she got through the jumps here. Flying camel in a beautiful position into a donut and catch-foot-- a million times better than anything else we've seen so far, seriously. Combination spin again brilliant. If some of these other spins are getting +1, then she deserves higher than a +3-- they are that much better. Layback that ends in a Biellmann and she holds it. Okay, I'll stop raving about her spins. That was excellent. Now, just the question of whether the flip was rotated. In replay, it seems about 1/4 short-- the same as Kostner's triple toe just was. If she gets an under-rotation call, I'm going to be furious at the inconsistencies. 63.76. Well, Kostner and Czisny both should have gotten the call but if one wasn't going to get it, then I suppose I'm happy they kept it the same for the next. Suzuki was (still) robbed.

Miki Ando from Japan finishes the ladies event, skating a new short to The Mission. I still love this score and I'm hoping I like this program. Triple Lutz/triple loop-- wild free leg on the landing and I have no idea about the rotation. But if they are going to be lenient with the others, I guess now is as good a time as any to go for it. Triple flip though and it's too delayed at the start and she falls, definitely cheated there. Nice double Axel. Flying sit spin that is ALL off at the beginning and she just has to pray and muscle it to make sure she gets around eight times-- still, it should be negative on the GOE. This is a really nice footwork sequence and it matches the music. Combo spin with a change-edge camel-- the whole spin is nice but a bit slow. Layback to end and none of the positions are great-- the last one was barely held. She's trying to listen to the music, and I think the music itself will help her. Much better than her previous short. 50.45 and she's in fifth.

Czisny - Kostner - Murakami: who would have thought?

Once again, I think Gusmeroli and company were extremely generous on the rotation calls for some of those jumps.

Oh How I Miss You, Vanessa Gusmeroli

2010-12-10T06:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry, bad timing on the screen shot.

Nice to see Vanessa Gusmeroli as part of the technical panel here for the senior and junior ladies. If you're newer to skating, she was the 1997 World bronze medalist and finished in the top five at the event two more times (1999, 2000). Among her greatest moments were back-to-back brilliant performances of her Legends of the Fall free skate at Europeans and Worlds (in her home country) in 2000. Her trademark element was always the split onto the ice and pushing herself right back up, as you will see towards the end of these programs.

Grand Prix Final - MENS SHORT Review: Japanese Sweep or Will Chanada Step it Up?

2010-12-10T05:31:00.011-05:00

If you're here, say hi!

Florent Amodio of France was the final qualifier to the event, so he skates first. His music is from Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Single Axel, didn't get lift at all. Didn't see that coming-- he's had the jumps so easily this year. Triple Lutz/triple toe with an ever-so-slight pause in between. Triple flip looked to take off from the outside edge and he had to balance his arms just a bit on the landing. Flying camel with a catch-foot variation is rather listless and slows-- even if it matched the pacing of the music well. Circular footwork and an attempt to get into the program now.. moves nicely. Combination spin and his sit/change/sit to end-- the first sit position traveled a bit too much but all of the positions themselves were on the decent side. Well, the mistake on the Axel took all the air out of the program from the start. It really didn't have a wow factor this time around. 61.64-- 14 points below his seasons best.

Nobunari Oda of Japan is up next. He's my dark horse to do big things in this event-- and that better not be a jinx because I want him to get his confidence back and let it show. Music is Storm and this has definitely grown on me since my first viewing at Skate Canada. QUAD TOE/triple toe- absolutely perfect. Good job Nobu! Triple Axel with brackets directly into it-- another gorgeous landing. Wow. He's bringing it now. Flying camel in the typical male manner with ugly bent-leg and catch-foot variations. Triple Lutz didn't get a great amount of height but he flew into it with his footwork and landed it just fine. Straight-line step on one foot for the first 2/3-- he has such great rise and fall to his knees. The sit positions in his combination spin and sit/change/sit look much more well-centered than before. Seriously, excellent job here! He looks relieved and genuinely happy for once. 86.59. That's a HUGE short program score. Everyone else is going to have to bring it big time.

Now transitioning from dramatic to a fun program by Czech skater Tomas Verner, skating to Singin' in the Rain. Triple Lutz/triple toe with both-direction edge work leading into it, nicely done. Single Axel for him as well-- just rushed the take-off. Triple flip out of steps is completed, couldn't tell about the edge but it might have gone to the flat out outside edge as well. Flying camel sticks to the basic position and it is nothing remarkable. Straight-line step moves well but he doesn't have the ease and flow that the Japanese skaters and Chan are able to carry throughout their programs. Camel in the combination spin can be more stretched and the upright requirement is just a simple upright spin that trails off. The three jump elements were all completed right at the beginning and then from that point, the final four elements were done all in a row with no transitional work or skating at all. Where did all the time go?! He asks how he could miss a jump-- he "never do[es] that anymore". Haha. 65.37 and into second.

Patrick Chan of Canada now, Take Five is the music. Quad toe and he wants to reach for the ice, but doesn't. No combination and the steps into it were just turns-- as he planned to do the combination there I'm sure. Should drop the GOE. Triple Axel is low but he lands this one just fine. Combination spin is the best so far-- all strong positions and fast rotations, and he is centered perfectly. Triple flip/triple toe is also well done, and he kept the three-turns into it. Flying sit and camel/change/camel-- he keeps those camel positions basic and it works much better than trying some odd position that he (and all of the other men) can't do. Straight-line footwork to end reiterates how easily he flows and how solid all of his edges are. This should score extremely well, but the lack of steps into the quad should put him right about where Oda is, I'd guess. 85.59. I think that's the right decision. He "wow"s the fact that he is in second, but there's no injustice there. Oda's jumps were better and his skating skills are just as strong as Chan's (even if the judges didn't agree). Chan rightfully caught up in the other components.

Daisuke Takahashi of Japan. Triple flip/triple toe loop. He has the most natural sense of listening to the music. Triple Axel is a beauty-- they ARE really bringing it tonight. Flying layback spin that hits an intermediate position that isn't really upright (a la Joubert), but he centers it well when he actually gets into position. I still say get rid of the option to do a flying upright spin-- I know some skaters can't do camels on both feet but why not learn now? Triple Lutz out of steps that was on the inside edge. Sit/change/sit slows on the variation at the end. Music builds and like I've suspected all year, this really gets the crowd into it. He has a stumble about 1/3 of the way through, though. All of the spins in the program don't really have the speed or stretch that Chan just had, and they seem to be done as an afterthought. He's definitely going to have to catch up in the free skate. 82.57. Now I don't know. Seems a bit high.

Takahiko Kozuka of Japan rounds out the field with his Soul Man medley. Triple Lutz is forward/triple toe that winds up on the landing and it looked like he had trouble getting his free leg out. Triple Axel probably landed on the flat rather than on the outside edge and it doesn't have the best flow out. Triple flip-- all three jumps have looked a bit unsure and tight compared to the usual beautiful flow he has. Camel/change/camel-- he holds it but the positions are ugly and of average speed. Footwork is fun but the fact that he is skating right after Takahashi definitely shows that he doesn't have the command or spark in his skating just yet. At the very end of the sequence, he slams right into the boards and then scratches his head as to say, "HOW did that happen?" This will most certainly be fourth on the day, and probably a few points back from Takahashi. The speed and amazing quality to his skating were still there at least. 77.90 points and I was right. A seasons best for a messy performance, interesting.

Grand Prix Final - SHORT DANCE Review: Teach Me How to Twizzle

2010-12-10T04:50:00.003-05:00

Hoffmann and Zavozin of Hungary started things off skating to Sleeping Beauty and The Skaters Waltz. Their mid-line step sequence was performed well besides slight unison issues on the twizzles, and then the actual twizzle sequence itself was extremely sloppy and mirrored- surely this is a weakness for the team and that is an attempt to mask it. The timing seemed slightly off during the compulsory pattern, and his extensions were barely there. Overall, this is one of the better short dance programs in my opinion, but their blades scrape across the ice an awful lot. It seems like I was so much more impressed with him in his US days, anyone else feel the same? 55.98

Weaver and Poje of Canada skated second, using At Last and Cheek to Cheek. Right away you can see that their flow and skating quality is much higher than that of the previous team, and their compulsory pattern was well-done-- the first part of the program is much better than the second in my opinion. All year I have commented that their twizzle sequence seems so simple compared to pretty much every other team, and she had trouble this time around on the first set. 55.51

Bobrova and Soloviev of Russia concluded group one, skating to Tom Jones' Delilah. I like this team, but I don't like the music and what a mess it all was today. He was a bit back on his blade in the first twizzle sequence and then completely lost his balance on the second and got stuck on the toe pick. They skated right up to the corner of the boards several times and it looked like they really had to check themselves-- not good when they were already stiff and unfinished. At the end, they seemed off-placement on their lift and there was a little struggle to get it up. Just not good today. 54.33 and they are in third.

Crone and Poirier of Canada began group two, skating to the cheesy version of Fallin'. I have to say, it's not as irritating as it was the first and second times around. They are really progressing so quickly and this performance flowed beautifully from start to finish. They also were the first team to really get through the twizzles, making them the very last element of the program and being perfectly on time throughout. 54.82 for that, they obviously did something wrong somewhere.

Pechalat and Bourzat of France chose to begin with their twizzles and they were also in perfect unison. This team has came into the season so prepared and really serious about getting onto the podium. The only slight glitch appeared to be Fabian running into the boards right before the shoot-the-duck portion of their compulsory pattern, but it didn't affect them at all. 65.66 and they shoot into first place. I really like this program and they make the two different parts blend together well.

Davis and White come in as the obvious favorites here, even with their struggles earlier in the Grand Prix. Their first portion to Musetta's Waltz is probably my absolute favorite part of any of the short dances this year. Their second twizzle pattern seemed off balance from both and he really fought to keep it together, but they at least stayed in unison. The mirror footwork at the beginning of the mid-line step is gorgeous and matches the music well. The Golden Waltz flowed and didn't get right up on the boards which was nice, and the program overall was performed extremely well. 68.64 and into first place by just under three points. I don't know that it was that much better than the French.

Hoffmann and Zavozin in third at this point. Who would have guessed? There's 1.65 points between third and sixth right now-- I guess that leaves much more excitement for the free dance than previously anticipated.

Takahashi and Kozuka Collide in Grand Prix Final Practice

2010-12-09T16:50:00.001-05:00

We can see in the first clip of the collision that Takahashi has a smile on his face almost immediately after hitting the ice, while poor Kozuka looks terrified and seems to make sure Daisuke is alright. Takahashi's music was playing so he has the right-of-way, but Takahiko obviously didn't do it intentionally. I think he'd wait until AFTER he was done rotating in the air if he was trying to be vicious ;-)

I don't know that I've ever seen a skater rotate RIGHT into someone in a crash. Usually they catch the other person out of the corner of their eye and the result is some wonky fall out to avoid a collision.

Luckily, both skaters are alright and will compete in the short program later tonight. Thanks to Yumiko on Facebook for the link!

Six Skating Bloggers: Grand Prix Final Predictions

2010-12-09T16:19:00.002-05:00

Six figure skating bloggers have come together to share their last-minute predictions and general thoughts about the Grand Prix Final, which begins tonight for the senior skaters.

The image is too large to display in the post, so please click on it to view it in a new window.

Which Program Worked Better? - Part Two

2010-12-07T23:48:00.007-05:00

This is part two of a series that focuses on top-level skaters throughout the last few Olympiads who have changed at least one of their competitive programs during the course of a season. If you missed part one, you check it out here.

The second part features the following skaters: Stephane Lambiel, the Kerrs, Takeshi Honda, and Surya Bonaly. For each case, I have embedded YouTube videos of both performances, as well as a poll asking which program you personally preferred. Voting ends on December 31st, and each day I will add new programs for you to decide between.
Stephane Lambiel 2007 Short Program
Geissel Drama ==> Blood Diamond

Stephane had the unfortunate fate of having his skates lost at Skate Canada, and his short program was nothing short of a disaster. He dropped Geissel Drama after the event and showed up to the World Championships skating to the soundtrack from Blood Diamond.

Sinead Kerr & John Kerr 2010 Original Dance
I've Been Everywhere ==> Auld Lang Syne

After dropping in the standings at the European Championships and Vancouver Olympic Games, the Kerrs decided to return to a fan-favorite program from the past for the World Championships.

Stephane Lambiel 2010 Long Program
Otono Porteno ==> La Traviata

Lambiel retired from skating for a year only to return in the fall of 2009, competing at the Nebelhorn Trophy to earn a last-minute spot for Switzerland at the Vancouver Olympics. As the case with him in many previous seasons, he switched his long program from the tango to the more traditional La Traviata for the rest of the season.

Takeshi Honda 2002 Long Program
Rapsodia Cubana ==> Concierto de Aranjuez

Honda dumped both of his programs in the middle of the 2002 season, bringing back his Concierto de Aranjuez free skate in between Grand Prix assignments. He finished 4th at the Olympics and won the bronze medal at the World Championships.

Surya Bonaly 1998 Long Program
Samson and Delilah ==> The Four Seasons

Bonaly started the season with Samson and Delilah, but injuries throughout the year caused her to return to Vivaldi's Four Seasons for the European Championships and the memorable Nagano Olympics, when she performed an illegal backflip towards the end of the program.

Which Program Worked Better? - Part One

2010-12-07T00:57:00.000-05:00

(Apologies to those who might have seen this post TWICE in the last hour and then saw it disappear-- it deleted all of my polls as soon as I published it!)

This is part one of a series that focuses on top-level skaters throughout the last few Olympiads who have changed at least one of their competitive programs during the course of a season. I have about fifty total instances I am going to highlight, and the order in which they are featured is completely random.

The first part features the following skaters: Alexei Yagudin, Michelle Kwan, Shizuka Arakawa, Miki Ando, and Evan Lysacek. For each case, I have embedded YouTube videos of both performances, as well as a poll asking which program you personally preferred. Voting ends on December 31st, and each day I will add new programs for you to decide between.

Have fun, and as always: feel free to discuss!

Alexei Yagudin 1999/2000 Long Program

Broken Arrow ==> Tosca

After Yagudin lost the European Championship to countryman Evgeny Plushenko, he decided that the Broken Arrow soundtrack was "too difficult for the public" and showed up to the World Championships two months later skating the traditional Tosca. He won his third straight title.

Michelle Kwan 2000/2001 Short Program

Rush ==> East of Eden

Christopher Dean choreographed the Eric Clapton soundtrack, but Kwan wasn't happy with it and returned to a familiar piece of music, East of Eden. She had used it as part of her long program (1994) and two different times as an exhibition (1996 and 1999), but this was the first time she used it as a short program. She received seven 6.0's at the US Nationals.

Michelle Kwan 2000/2001 Long Program

Miraculous Mandarin ==> Song of the Black Swan

This wasn't a ditching of a program, but rather a second free skate created to compete under the rules of the Grand Prix Final at the time. The Miraculous Mandarin was choreographed by Peter Oppegard, current coach of Yu-Na Kim and now-husband of Michelle's sister, Karen. After the event, she decided to keep Song of the Black Swan and won her fourth World Championship, delivering a flawless performance.

Miki Ando 2008/2009 Long Program

Giselle ==> Symphony No. 3

Ando and teammate Yukari Nakano both chose Giselle for their free skates in 2009, but Miki decided to drop her program for the Saint-Saens Symphony. She would go on to win the bronze medal at the World Championships, while Nakano dropped from first to fifth overall at the Japanese Nationals and failed to qualify for the event.

Shizuka Arakawa 2005/2006 Short Program

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini ==> Fantasie Impromptu

Arakawa dropped Rhapsody before the Olympic Games and converted her Fantasie Impromptu free skate into her new short program. She was 0.71 points behind leader Sasha Cohen after the first night of competition in Torino.

Shizuka Arakawa 2005/2006 Long Program

Fantasie Impromptu ==> Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot

Another change of programs in the Olympic season for Shizuka, as she would return to Vanessa-Mae's rendition of Turandot for the third time in her career. She first skated to it in 2002, and then again in 2004-- the season she was the surprise World Champion. The program once again brought her luck in 2006, as she became the Olympic Champion.

Evan Lysacek 2005/2006 Long Program

Grease ==> Carmen

Lysacek started the season skating to a medley from the Grease soundtrack, but decided that "the music didn't put [him] in the right frame of mind to compete." He made the switch to the ever-popular Carmen, and placed fourth at the Olympic Games in his first trip to the event. He repeated as bronze medalist at the World Championships a month later, coming back from an eighth-place short program finish that left him outside the final free skate group.

Belgium's Heir Apparent

2010-12-06T08:41:00.002-05:00

Jorik Hendrickx. Heard of him? He made the final cut at the European Championships last year and finished 20th overall, but that is as far as his senior international experience goes-- until now.

Besting the likes of Samuel Contesti, Alexander Majorov, Ivan Tretiakov, and Kensuke Nakinawa, Jorik scored 130.52 points in yesterdays NRW Trophy free skate to win the segment, moving him up from 12th to 5th place overall. I noticed the link to his program this morning and on top of the excellent effort with the jumps, look particularly at the circular step sequence in the middle of the program. That edge-work in both directions (especially in his opposite direction) is beyond complex!

The score of 130 is even more impressive when you consider he did not attempt a quadruple jump or triple Axel. I asked Jorik if there was progress on either, and he tells me that the Axel was close in the summer; however, an injury a few months ago has made him focus on delivering consistent programs. I'd say that worked this time!

Belgium has two mens entries to the European and World Championships thanks to Kevin Van der Perren's high placements at the events last season. At just 18, Hendrickx will definitely be someone to watch in the future.

In the Event that I Had a Favorite Skater in the early 90s..

2010-12-05T23:20:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned countless times that my fandom in figure skating began as a six-year old one random night when the 1993 World Championships happened to be on television, and I've.. obviously.. been hooked ever since. Through the years of learning more about the technique and edges and thanks to YouTube, I'm quite confident that Yuka Sato would have been my favorite skater back in the day. I do remember her 1994 Worlds win (and it being overshadowed by Surya Bonaly's podium show), and I also remember watching her dominate the pro scene for a few years after (and my mom commenting that "she wins everything"-- ha), but I never realized just how good she was until much, much later.

While on the topic, I was looking for some of my favorite music that I've heard used in skating when I came across a mentioning that Yuka used the soundtrack from Slow Dancing in the Big City early in the 1994 Olympic season, only to dump it and return to her previous free skate for the big events, including her Worlds win.

Thanks to the amazing 3Axel1996, though, her performance from the early-season Piruetten is on YouTube and I have to say that I really love it, especially the middle section to the previously mentioned soundtrack. I wish she would have let this develop throughout the year rather than tossing it so quick!

Grand Prix Final Poll Results and Discussions

2010-12-03T17:37:00.000-05:00

First, I want to thank everyone for the tremendous amount of poll responses I received when I asked which skater or team would win each of the four disciplines at the Grand Prix Final next week (760 votes for the mens event!)

Here are the final numbers, and as always-- discuss whether you agree or disagree, and share your own thoughts!

Mens Gold Medalist Votes
Daisuke Takahashi 55.66%
Takahiko Kozuka 28.95%
Patrick Chan 8.03%
Nobunari Oda 3.55%
Tomas Verner 2.89%
Florent Amodio 0.92%

So, an overwhelming majority goes for Takahashi. Yes, he's the current World Champion and yes he has yet to really deliver yet this year.. I suppose Beijing is as good as any time to do so. Kozuka in second after his great Grand Prix showing, also not surprising, but I do think the gap between he and Patrick Chan is interesting. Also, I personally am predicting Nobu Oda to be the dark horse in this whole thing, and he just barely received more votes than Tomas Verner. Interesting.

Ladies Gold Medalist Votes
Miki Ando 58.16%
Akiko Suzuki 24.88%
Carolina Kostner 4.52%
Alissa Czisny 4.36%
Rachael Flatt 4.36%
Kanako Murakami 3.72%

No surprises here, as Ando was the high scorer overall. My question is, even though the poll asked for the winner, does the closeness in numbers between Kostner, Czisny, Flatt, and Murakami suggest that there will be a tight and exciting battle for the podium?

Pairs Gold Medalist Votes
Pang/Tong 50.13%
Savchenko/Szolkowy 46.44%
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch 1.32%
Sui/Han 1.06%
Bazarova/Larionov 0.53%
Iliushechkina/Maisuradze 0.53%

Surprising that the Chinese came out on top here after the way the Germans have scored so far this year, honestly. I suppose Pang/Tong do have the home-country advantage, but we shall see. Also, I realize that the votes for the other teams were most likely votes for favorite teams rather than actual gold medal picks, but is there really a four-way battle for the bronze medal?

Dance Gold Medalist Votes
Davis/White 85.56%
Pechalat/Bourzat 11.81%
Crone/Poirier 1.05%
Bobrova/Soloviev 0.79%
Weaver/Poje 0.79%
Hoffmann/Zavozin ..I swear they were an option.

Obvious favorites here, but they have had their share of mistakes so far. Do the French have a chance if this happens again? Also, the battle for bronze probably comes down to Crone/Poirier and the Russians. Who has the edge?

Dube/Davison-- Once Upon a Time..

2010-12-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

I was clicking around YouTube and came across the magical free skate that was The Blowers Daughter by Canadians Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison. He's out for the season (and possibly for good), so let's remember back to this happy time when they skated superb and ended up with the World bronze medals. His absolutely horrifying skates during the lifts aside, this is really something special.

Unfortunately, both video links I found have embedding disabled, but seriously go enjoy this program!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWD2L1qRSLo

Mukhortova/Blanchard and Volosozhar/Trankov: Who Goes Further?

2010-12-02T16:06:00.001-05:00

Thoughts on these new pairings? My verdict is still out there, although I'm a little bit disappointed to see Mukhortova skating to a Secret Garden song again this year. On the other hand, I think this style fits Blanchard more than it worked for Trankov. Volosozhar, as always, is amazing.

Mukhortova/Blanchard new free skate (click here to watch their short program)

Volosozhar/Trankov new free skate (click here to watch their short program)

"The Unwritten Code in Figure Skating"

2010-12-01T23:01:00.001-05:00

With Yu-Na Kim's recent announcement of her 2010/2011 season programs, I've seen plenty of articles popping up stating that former coach Brian Orser broke "the unwritten code in figure skating" by revealing part of her free skate music (to Arirang) in interviews directly following their split. In 2005, I was involved in a debacle of my own when I mentioned Brian Joubert's Olympic-season music choices before he had wanted them to become public. I had no idea it was such a sensitive subject!

So.. I'm curious to know how everyone else feels about this topic: is something as simple as the title of a song really that important to keep secret? On one hand, I see plenty of comments across skating message boards and websites that proclaim a program is either a masterpiece or a complete disaster--- before anyone has even seen said program; the only basis is from the music listing. On the other hand, I don't think a particular piece of music of selection of pieces being announced ahead of schedule does anything in terms of other skaters' own plans, but I suppose I could be wrong.

Sometimes, it just so happens that skaters choose the same music in a season. Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya both chose the same piece of music for their 2006 short programs-- Totentanz by Maksim Mrvica. Of course, Kwan withdrew shortly after arriving to Torino, but she kept the program even though Slutskaya was easily dominating the field earlier in the season. In 2009, Miki Ando and Yukari Nakano both chose selections from Giselle for their free skates. Ando ended up dropping her program half-way through the season, but she really wasn't comfortable with the choreography. Let's not forget Debi Thomas and Katarina Witt both choosing to skate to Carmen for their 1988 free skates. Neither dumped their program, and they were the previous two World Champions (Witt in 1987 and Thomas in 1986) heading in to the Calgary Olympic Games. There have been plenty of other instances of music being shared by top competitors, and revealing it first or not revealing it at all prior to the first competition of the season has done absolutely nothing in terms of helping or hindering a skater. I'm sure there have also been cases (all of which are escaping me at the moment) of skaters choosing the same music in the pre-season only to have one switch it before the fall competitions. But how often does that happen? In the same light, I can't see any skater rushing to choose a certain piece of music just because someone else has already gone public with their choices.

With many skaters taking advantage of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter these days, I'm sure that they would like to be the first to let people know about the details of their own skating.. completely understandable. But, in the event that the news shows up somewhere else first, is it really the end of the world?

My Scoring System in Play: Skate Canada Mens Short Program

2010-12-01T16:26:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I'm using the Skate Canada mens short as an example once again. I kept all of the program components and spin/footwork GOE's exactly as they were scored in Canada as I haven't really thought of any ideas on re-tooling those aspects of the system, but I did convert all of the jump element scores using the system I came up with in my previous post.

The results..

1. Nobunari Oda 80.02 Points (-1.35 points) Technical Score- 42.02
2. Kevin Reynolds 78.91 Points (-1.18 points) Technical Score- 44.85
3. Adam Rippon 76.75 Points (-0.78 points) Technical Score- 40.32
4. Alban Preaubert 69.05 Points (-0.66 points) Technical Score- 34.91
5. Patrick Chan 68.48 Points* (-4.72 points) Technical Score- 30.01
6. Javier Fernandez 65.61 Points (-1.13 points) Technical Score- 33.19
7. Artur Gachinski 63.55 Points (-3.02 points) Technical Score- 31.12

* Includes the 1-point deduction for the footwork fall as I haven't figured out how, if at all, I would adjust the scoring for spins and footwork.

What does my system tell me? Gachinski had an unsuccessful quad which ended up being his combo attempt, and Chan (you know by now) had two falls on jumps. Obviously my system hurts skaters that attempt the difficult jumps more severely than how the actual scoring works.

Everyone else lost right around a point, which has to do with the percentage being the factor for GOE on jumps rather than equal increments in the real system.

More ideas? Suggestions?

My Own Ideas for the Judging System

2010-12-01T14:48:00.006-05:00

Oh, what do we have here? I played around with some numbers and came up with my own concept for the judging system.. well, at least the jumps.

Some concepts I have come up with are to remove the +3 and -3 from the options when marking the elements, and rather just have everything scored -2 up to +2. The column to the far right is the fall, or completely failed column, which essentially takes the place of the -3. However, I would remove the 1.00 deduction for falls on jumps (but keep the deduction for other falls in the program), and just use these set values for whenever a skater falls on a jump. Harsh? Yes. But a failed jump is exactly that.

The single Axel and doubles through the Lutz earn 33% of what the double Axel/triples through the Lutz are worth (I rounded on a few, but it didn't change the numbers that much), and the double Axel/triples through the Lutz are worth 40% of what the triple Axel/quads are worth. Most of this lines up with the current ISU base values for the jumps, anyways. I underlined the ones that have slightly changed in base value.

What would these changes mean? For starters, you'll notice that a 'excellent' double Axel, triple toe, and triple Salchow earn the same amount of points as a 'very poor' triple Axel, quad toe, and quad Salchow. This still would encourage some skaters to go for the difficult elements, yes? However, a fall on any of the most difficult jumps, and the skater would end up with less points for the element than the base value of the same jump with one less rotation (example: fall on quad toe earns 3.42 points, a base value triple toe is 4.10 points).

I haven't figured out if I want to also add an under-rotated column into this chart.. I have to play around with the numbers some more and see how everything turns out in a mock-competition.

One more aspect to think about is that many of these numbers are really random (6.63, 5.83, etc.). If a judge is going to try to cheat or figure out which components scores they must give Skater B to beat Skater A, their job might end up that much more difficult in trying to add up all of the numbers in their head. Not saying it happens all the time, but I'm also suggesting that it might happen every once in a while ;-)

In the case of jump combinations (example 3F+3T), a +1 for the element would result in the skater earning the +1 GOE for both jumps (5.83+4.51). That gives the skater more credit for the combination than just applying one single GOE to add to both jumps.

More later..

The 'Patrick Chan System' Part Two: How Much Did the New Scoring Help Oda and Rippon?

2010-11-30T21:25:00.001-05:00

My first post focused on Patrick Chan's programs at Skate Canada, as I scored them using the Code of Points from the 2009/2010 season. The end result was that he scored 8.28 points higher than he would have if the old system was still in place. I didn't think that seemed like too huge of a difference considering some of the more fine changes that were made, but then I scored Nobunari Oda and Adam Rippon's programs from the same competition to see if they also followed the trend..

If any of you want me to write out all of the exact numbers, let me know. However, I figure that most of you are just interested in the final totals so that is what I'm going to present. First, the silver medalist from Skate Canada, Nobu Oda.

Short Program

Total Element Score = 44.20 (compared to his actual score, 43.37)
Program Component Score = 38.00

Total Segment Score = 82.20 (compared to his actual score, 81.37)

So he LOST 0.83 with this new system. Continuing on..

Long Program

Total Element Score = 82.84 (compared to his actual score, 81.87)
Program Component Score = 74.28
Deductions = -1.00

Total Segment Score = 156.12 (compared to his actual score, 155.15)

Total Competition Score = 238.32 (compared to his actual score, 236.52)

So once again, he lost almost a point in the free skate with the new system, and he lost 1.80 points overall. Keep in mind that Patrick Chan was able to GAIN 8.28 points with the new system.

Here are Adam Rippon's scores.

Short Program

Total Element Score = 41.59 (compared to his actual score, 41.10)
Program Component Score = 36.43

Total Segment Score = 78.02 (compared to his actual score, 77.53)

See a trend here? Rippon also LOST 0.49 points under the new system.

Long Program

Total Element Score = 81.57 (compared to his actual score, 80.35)
Program Component Score = 75.16

Total Segment Score = 156.73 (compared to his actual score, 155.51)

Total Competition Score = 234.75 (compared to his actual score, 233.04)

Following a similar pattern to Oda, Rippon lost 1.71 points overall.

Remember that the second footwork sequences are all started on a 2.0 base value, but for purposes of this study, I've thrown in the level and GOE received at Worlds last season for Chan and Rippon, and the Grand Prix Final for Oda. If I would have kept that 2.0 and worked the GOE off of it, Oda and Rippon would have ended up with just about the same total scores in both systems.

So now the major question, where did Patrick Chan make up all of these points? This small study obviously suggests that errors are counted much less severely this year-- but are they now too small of a penalty?

For what it's worth, the final standings of Skate Canada scored under the 2009/2010 system would have looked like this:

1. Nobunari Oda 238.32 points
2. Adam Rippon 234.75 points
3. Patrick Chan 231.24 points

Surprise, Surprise: Seasons Top Free Skate-Scoring Lady Won't Compete Rest of Year

2010-11-30T19:17:00.001-05:00

If signing on for the full Stars on Ice tour wasn't a big enough hint for you, Skate Canada has made it official that Olympic Bronze Medalist Joannie Rochette will not compete the rest of 2010/2011. The only competition for Rochette this season was the Japan Open team competition in early October, where she posted a free skate score of 122.71 points-- a number that has yet to be bested by any other lady this year.

Joannie debuted a new exhibition to Cyndi Lauper's True Colors at the Stars on Ice opener in Lake Placid this weekend, and she will also work on another new program with long-time choreographer David Wilson to unveil at later tour dates. Visit the Stars on Ice website for the full American tour schedule.

The 'Patrick Chan System': How Much is the New Scoring Method Really Helping?

2010-11-30T18:34:00.004-05:00

We all should know the story by now. Following last season, there were plenty of figure skating fans who felt that risking difficult jumps (Quads for the men and Asada's triple Axel, for example) were too much of a risk, as skaters would often be down-graded for their efforts and they'd end up losing even more points than doing a simple triple toe or double Axel would earn them. So, what did the ISU do? They came up with a re-worked Code of Points (or IJS), one that increased the value of the more difficult jumps, and also decreased the negative grade of execution scores, so the penalty for taking risks wouldn't be as harsh. They also implemented an under-rotation penalty, one that docked some points from the base value of the jumps-- but not nearly the severeness of the full downgrade that they'd previously incur.

Everyone that was complaining before about skating taking steps backwards last year should now be happy, right? Not exactly. We have Patrick Chan falling all over the place in his Grand Prix events and still managing to score among the top skaters. We also have the "Mao Asada rule" (as many seemed to think the triple Axel changes were only to benefit her) not even playing a part yet this year as Asada has had extreme difficulties while changing her jumping technique.

Back to Chan. I thought it would be interesting to compare his scores from Skate Canada this season under the system used last year, to see if he really is getting plenty of help from the re-worked system.

First, the short program from Skate Canada. Remember, this year there is one less element in the program, as a second step sequence has been dropped. Another aspect to remember is that the GOE for the triples and quads have changed a bit. The scores have been factored to reflect the old system (for example, a +1 on a 3toe now earns 0.7 GOE, compared to 1.0 last season). Let's see how he scores.

The elements are not in table form (sorry), but they are listed by their code, their base value, their GOE, and then the total points earned for the element.

4T 9.80 -4.80 GOE = 5.00 (fall)
3A 8.20 -4.20 GOE = 4.00 (fall)
CCoSp4 3.50 +1.00 GOE = 4.50
3F+3T 9.50 +1.57 GOE = 11.07
FSSp4 3.00 +0.86 GOE = 3.86
CCSp3 2.60 +0.57 GOE = 3.17
SlSt2 2.30 -0.60 GOE = 1.70 (fall)

Total Element Score = 33.30 (compared to his actual score, 36.73)
Program Component Score = 39.47
Deductions = -3.00

Total Segment Score = 69.77 (compared to his actual score, 73.20)

Now, for the free skate. Two more changes in the system are reflected and factored here. The 1/2 loop in between two jumps is now scored as a single loop, and counted as part of a skaters three-jump combination. Last year, the 1/2 loop was not worth any credit, and the total jump sequence was started at 80% of its base value points. Second, the second footwork sequence in the free skate is now scored on a fixed start value (2.0). Last year, Chan received a level 4 for his second footwork sequence at Worlds (with the same program), so I have used the GOE scored there as a reference here.

4T 9.80 +2.00 GOE = 11.80
3A 8.20 -4.20 GOE = 4.00 (fall)
3Lz 6.00 +0.43 GOE = 6.43
SlSt3 3.30 +1.00 GOE = 4.30
FSSp4 3.00 +0.79 GOE = 3.79
3A+2T* 10.45 +0.29 GOE = 10.74
3Lz+2S+Seq* 6.42 +0.43 GOE = 6.85
CSSp3 2.60 +0.57 GOE = 3.17
3F* 6.05 +0.43 GOE = 6.48
3Lo+3T<* 6.93 -1.00 GOE = 5.93
2A 3.85 +1.00 GOE = 4.85
SlSt4 3.90 +1.80 GOE = 5.70
CCoSp4 3.50 +0.79 GOE = 4.29

Total Element Score = 78.33 (compared to his actual score, 83.18)
Program Component Score = 84.14
Deductions = -1.00

Total Segment Score = 161.47 (compared to his actual score, 166.32)

Total Competition Score = 231.24 (compared to his actual score, 239.52)

A difference of 8.28 points.

In all honesty, with all of the smaller scoring changes (the way the sequences are scored, etc.), I don't think that 8 points is really a huge number. Most people were probably thinking he would score about 15 or more points lower than he did, yes?

So, what do you think now? Was the old system better, or does the new system work just fine? Those of you that feel Chan was over-scored for what he did complete successfully at Skate Canada, what would you do to make the scoring more accurate for what we see?

And for those of you that thought skating was going "backwards", is the new method of scoring what you wanted to see?

Obviously, it would be nice to see what other skaters would score (Oda and Rippon at Skate Canada) under the old system for direct comparison-- that might come eventually as a part two to this analysis.

8! I Mean 7! Brooke Wester! The Footwork "Season"! Our First (and Second) Fall! Skating With the Stars Week 2

2010-11-29T21:19:00.003-05:00

I know hardly any readers are watching this, but I'm still giving it a shot :-P

So, some changes for week two. Johnny is in yellow with a whole bottle of gel stuck to his head and his fingernails painted black, Tanith has come out of her "nest" and not only does the replay commentary now, but she also interviews the skaters right before they receive their marks. She still sounds like she's reading from a script, and the way she enunciates everything doesn't help. Oh well. Vernon Kay, who most people seemed to loathe in week one, had a much smaller part: introducing the couples and the judges comments-- that was basically the extent. I don't think he's too bad. Laurie bothers me with some of her comments. I know she's a dance choreographer, but most her thoughts don't have any relevance to figure skating.

The show wasn't without its faults, though. Dick held up a 7 and exclaimed "8!" for Jonny and Brooke, and then a few minutes later Kay called Jennifer Wester "Brooke Wester!" and corrected himself about ten times afterwards. We saw our first fall from Vince while holding Jennifer, but it was pretty uneventful and they recovered quickly. Tanith said the footwork "season" instead of sequence for one of the replays. It happens.

I have to say that I think the judges are really harsh on Bethenny, especially compared to Vince who came right before her. I found Bethenny and Ethan's program much more fun, and while still stiff, not any more than the former. The scores were low, and dare I say it looked like Ethan was in the middle of saying "bullshit" as they walked to talk to Tanith and probably didn't think the camera was on them? I could be wrong, but it sure looked like it.

Keauna and Brandon were fun and I'd say very "modern", but I don't know that their program was much of a tango. Still, it was good enough for 8's and 9's from the judges as far as the presentation goes. By the way, he's quite the roller skater.

We saw two mistakes from Sean and Denis, the first had her tripping over her toe pick, and the second was a fall that sent her straight down-- however, she sure laughed it off and kept up the energy. All of Laurie's technical scores seem like they are 5's or 6's-- falls or not. She sure knows how to differentiate between and rank the different couples.

Rebecca and Fred close the show and once again he's sleeveless. Hello again, Fred. You are looking quite good at 35 years old! Hello clear favorites, and on top of that they get to work with a Dancing With the Stars professional? How much skating history does she have? Her crossovers are effortless-looking and certainly better than mine. Definitely the best once again, and by the way-- her body is amazing. Johnny and Dick comment that she needs to act the part better. She's already way ahead of everyone else aside from Brandon.

Bethenny shakes her head in disgust in the background right after Tanith says that Rebecca and Fred are back in first place. Hmm.. she just lost some points with me.

I don't get the whole elimination of the first team this week. Why tell people to vote all night AFTER the show when one of them will be gone before we can even vote? Rebecca/Fred, Jonny/Brooke, Brandon/Keauna, (this is like a Miss Universe pageant the way they are dramatizing it), Bethenny/Ethan are all safe. Vince/Jennifer and Sean/Denis are the bottom two, and Sean/Denis are last place. They had the 4th-best judges scores, so obviously no love from the home audience. They both looked shocked by the decision, and it looked like she had to ask him if they were the ones that were leaving.

Oh well. Only a few more weeks of this.

Giselle for Yu-Na Kim's New Short Program

2010-11-29T18:16:00.003-05:00

Do we love it or hate it? I have to say that Angela Nikodinov, Yukari Nakano, and Ekaterina Gordeeva have come up with some gorgeous programs to the music, so I am looking forward to seeing Yu-Na's take, with choreography by David Wilson.

Note the similarities in costuming and choreography between Gordeeva and Nakano's programs-- both were choreographed by Marina Zoueva.

Adrian Schultheiss and Coach Evgeni Lutkov Separate

2010-11-29T17:00:00.007-05:00

Swedish skater Adrian Schultheiss and long-time coach Evgeni Lutkov have gone their separate ways, Schultheiss tells me.

You may remember the scene from the short program at Skate America when Adrian walked around in the kiss and cry looking extremely confused without his coach or a team leader. Schultheiss says that it wasn't uncommon in the past for Lutkov to miss at least part of the off-ice warm-up, but he started to worry when Evgeni still hadn't shown up towards the end of the six-minute warm-up on the ice. He does recall in his earlier skating days that his coach would show up late to a practice session and then tell the skater that it was just a test to see if he would continue working without him. Confused about whether his coach was somewhere in the arena or just running late, Adrian made the decision to skate the short program. We later learned that Lutkov had blacked out in his hotel room and was found by security after Schultheiss told competition organizers of his absence directly after he skated. The coach woke up startled by the whole incident, and at the strong advice of Schultheiss, finally called 911 after an hour of insisting that he did not need to be examined. The doctors suggested that he be kept overnight for observation.

Lutkov was released the next day and was able to attend the free skate with Schultheiss, and he very kindly thanked the American doctors and others for their help while sitting in the kiss and cry area.

However, directly following the competition, things started to get shaky. Lutkov grew distant and told his pupil that he needed a rest from "big" figure skating for two weeks, which would be understandable given his health situation. There were no words exchanged between the two on an awkward plane ride back to Sweden, and to make matters worse, Schultheiss was informed by other officials from his skating club that Lutkov had actually gone to Finland to host a skating camp for some of the country's top skaters in the time that he was taking his "break". Schultheiss had two planned competitions coming up in a few weeks (the NRW Trophy in Germany and then his own National Championship), so obviously this was a slap in the face.

Schultheiss says that over the years, like with anyone you are around so much, there were plenty of disagreements and arguments between the two, and even with some of Lutkov's family. He knew that if he was going to continue to be happy with his skating, he needed to make a change. He now works with Maria Bergqvist and Johanna Dalstrand and says he feels very happy about the new set-up, but will unfortunately skip the NRW Trophy due to a groin injury and focus on making Nationals a success. His placements at the 2010 European and World Championships give two spots to Swedish men for this seasons competitions.

Oh, Great Britain Media... Apparently, Only the Short Programs Count Now

2010-11-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

Does anyone see anything wrong with this article? I guess skating isn't exactly that important in Great Britain anymore, even on a big website like Eurosport. Then again, there were only three senior ladies, eight senior men, two senior pairs, and two senior dance teams (minus the injured Kerr/Kerr) registered to compete..

(By the way-- the competition is over but final results have yet to be published to the event website.)

Can the Japanese Men Sweep in Beijing?

2010-11-29T09:33:00.000-05:00

Looking at the statistics of the six men qualified to the Grand Prix Final got me thinking: is it possible that the Japanese team of Kozuka, Takahashi, and Oda could sweep the podium?

Takahiko Kozuka leads the way after his impressive 170-point free skate at Trophee Eric Bompard. Daisuke Takahashi is the reigning World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist, but he's shown flaws in both of his events. Nobunari Oda might seem like the odd man out, but his short program scores actually lead all of the men this season. Trouble with figuring out the judging system on the fly once again cost him a gold medal, this time at Skate America-- versus Takahashi.

Patrick Chan of Canada will be the biggest threat to split up this party, but his Grand Prix showings featured eight (yes, eight) falls between the two competitions. He still scores extremely well on every element he does successfully complete, and his components are deservedly among the top scores of all the men. I'm not completely discounting Tomas Verner and Florent Amodio from their own spoiler party, but their numbers don't quite stack up to what the other four are capable of, at least not yet this season.

So, the big questions: Can Kozuka continue to build on the great season he has started, or will his nerves sink in when he realizes his position? Can Takahashi finally deliver a World Champion-caliber skate in Beijing? And can Oda once again rock the short program, and if he does-- can he hold it together for the free skate? Nobunari frustrates me so much when I see a perfect quad toe/triple toe/triple loop in warm-up, only for him to crash on the first jump when it actually counts. But then again, we all know the ice is slippery.

Discuss!

Anyone Else Say "Finally!" To Themselves?

2010-11-28T20:14:00.003-05:00

I had the rare chance to actually watch skating on American television today, and I got to again enjoy Takahiko Kozuka's amazing Trophee Eric Bompard free skate as well as the final few ladies free skates from the event that I more-or-less missed due to connection problems during the live webcast yesterday.

I was so impressed with Kiira Korpi here. She might have severely under-rotated her triple Lutz and popped a flip, meaning she completed nothing more difficult than a triple loop in part of her three-jump combo (a la Kostner this season), and she did lose some steam towards the end, but I was just blown away by the way she presented Evita with such passion. Now, don't get me wrong. You will notice in one of my Formspring answers from a few weeks ago that I named this free skate as one of my favorite ladies programs so far this year, but this performance took it to a whole new level. I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one who thought "Wow, finally, a program that really shows off what a star Kiira can be!"

In all honestly, this is probably my favorite performance of the entire ladies Grand Prix season. In a year when I have been totally bored by 95% of the discipline, this was a much-needed pleasant surprise. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think we see nearly the amount of performances post-6.0 that really just go all out rather than have the skater worry about their running jump and combination count and every other little aspect to bring up the point totals.

Sui/Han Won't Do Double Duty, Will Only Compete in Senior Final

2010-11-28T12:54:00.000-05:00

The ISU entry page for the junior and senior Grand Prix Final events has been updated to reflect the decision that Chinese pairs team Sui and Han will give up their Junior Final spot to first alternates Jones and Gaskell of Canada, and they will focus their energy solely towards the Senior Final. The ISU allows pairs skaters to compete at the junior level and senior level Grand Prix circuits within the same season, but this is the first time a team has done well enough to earn berths to both events. Starting a few seasons ago, The Senior and Junior Grand Prix Finals were combined to take place in one arena over the same weekend.

American ladies skater Kiri Baga has also withdrawn from the Junior Final due to injury, giving first alternate Zijun Li a chance to skate at home in the championship.

You can find the up-to-date entries for both events by going here: Senior | Junior

Alissa Czisny Qualifies for the Grand Prix Final

2010-11-27T13:58:00.003-05:00

Alissa will be on the podium at Trophee Eric Bompard, which is enough to get her to the Grand Prix Final along with Ando, Kostner, Murakami, Suzuki, and Flatt. Congratulations!

Trophee Eric Bompard: Ladies Free Skate Quick Thoughts

2010-11-27T12:37:00.020-05:00

Lena Marrocco started off well with a triple toe/triple toe and triple Lutz, but then had hard falls on a leaning triple Lutz and triple flip, and popped both of her Axels at the end. She already has a strong personality on the ice, smiling right at the judges several times, but the second half of the program had next to nothing to offer in terms of racking up the points. The triples, when she does rotate them, are really whipped around and all over the place in the air.

Mae-Bernice Meite is next. I saw a triple loop in the warm-up that looked identical to the way Bonaly used to go into hers-- arm and hand positions included. We get some Michelle Kwan Romanza music to start. Triple loop/double toe/double toe to start, but she also goes down on the triple Lutz. She does the footwork to a slow section of music which I think attempts to mask her lack of flow in general. She's getting it back together with the jumps, landing a triple flip, a second triple loop, and gets the Lutz this time in combination with a double toe. Nice triple toe double Axel! And she uses the second half of Kwan's 1996 short here, too. Double Axel and she's into it. I wrote in the short program highlights that I had a feeling she'd come back strong, and she's done it. Good job!

Candice Dider now has the pressure of hearing that score in this mini-French Nationals we have in the first three ladies. Triple flip to start, and in the opening seconds we see that the overall quality to her skating is the best of the three. Nice triple loop, too, and then doubles a Lutz. Flying camel hops around on the toe pick before it finds its centering. She's looking down and really focusing. Triple toe and she can't hold on to the edge and falls. Double Salchow/double toe, and a triple toe again in the same spot as the first, and again leans forward with a hand down and she falls out. Double Axel. The program goes from slow to fast and again slow to fast, but she's not changing her speed or energy in any of it. The footwork at the end just drags along and she trips a bit in the middle. Promising start (much like Marrocco), but nothing there at the end.

Sarah Hecken. Nice dress, pretty packaging, and she smiles to start. Triple toe/triple toe and the second jump definitely was bigger than the first. Stroking and all the in betweens still on the weak side. Triple Lutz and she's THRILLED even though it was telegraphed forever (and she looked at the ice the entire time). Double Axel and I think she's still smiling about the Lutz. Double loop rushed her upper body. Triple Salchow is cheated and she falls-- usually a really good jump for her. Another rushed Sal that is singled into a double toe/double toe, and then a double Axel/double toe. Looks like she used all the energy up on the Lutz. End of the program kinda fizzles off for her, too.

Sonia Lafuente. There's the triple flip again! Down to the other end and a triple loop/double toe. Triple Salchow is whipped around but landed fine. Big triple toe/double toe. Solid start, as usual. I really wish she'd go for the triple flip in the short or at least attempt another in the free skate. It looks pretty good. Slow section and a tiny but complete double Axel. Spread eagle into another double Axel/double toe and a triple toe... all of her jump elements have been spot on today. Circular footwork is on the slow side but she's giving it more energy than the rest of the program has had. She should be skating like she's elated! Lots of points left on the table, though. I suspect she should be able to do a triple toe/double Axel sequence because her toe is so big, and that gives room to add another triple in there somewhere.

Alright, come on Mao. SINGLE Axel after cheating the landings of several triples in the warm-up. Grr, she needs to just go for it. Triple flip this time in combination with a double loop-- her first this year, yes? I'll take it. Cheated triple Lutz that comes down on two feet.. maybe downgraded, not sure. Nice flying camel to a change edge and then makes it a combo with the nice split spin at the end-- very good. Single Axel again and you could see from the hesitation going in that she would probably do that.. and now a single flip too. Skating and in-between moves/spirals are gorgeous, but she's again leaving way too many points out there. Recovers with a nice triple Salchow, the best jump of the program so far. Footwork sequence is difficult and moves lightly, and she does a triple loop at the end. So three clean triples, a fourth cheated and maybe downgraded. Improving, but maybe the triple Axels just need to go.

Cynthia Phaneuf starts the second group. Triple toe/double toe/double loop, and by the way she picked in for the second jump, I thought maybe she was going to go for a triple. Lutz leaned from the start, and once again a fall. Triple loop landed a bit on the heel but she held on and combined it with a double toe. Slow section for spins and in-betweens. Nice triple Salchow. Another triple loop/double toe with a bit of a heel landing, but still good. Triple toe scratchy on the landing.. she's doing well, and then of course a single Axel. She has a nice style about her and her presentation has always been strong, but this program is just ordinary.

Here comes Fumie Suguri and her odd free skate. Triple f?Lutz is a good one, combined with double toe. Lots of power off of the toe pick. Triple flip looks good, too. Now I know Mao is having a mess of a start, but what if even Suguri tops her? And then she goes and comes out of a Salchow after about 1.5 rotations. Choreography in place and nothing too difficult in between. Second triple flip? doubled, fought for the triple toe. Lots of skating back and forth with nothing going on. Triple flip again and she goes down. Double Axel/double Axel sequence with a slight pause to check her balance in the middle. My feed died at the end but this whole thing has been hot and cold. I guess I'll still have to remember back to the good days for her. She drops behind Phaneuf, Asada, and Lafuente.

Alright, Czisny's turn and obviously the most important part of the Grand Prix Final puzzle. If she moves into first, she's basically guaranteed a ticket. Triple Lutz/double toe to start-- she took her time. Triple flip/double toe that again looked like an outside edge take-off but I thought the same at Skate Canada only to be proven wrong in replay. Good start. Triple toe. Triple loop leaned and she put her hand down and turned out. Spiral still remains a highlight move. Triple flip and she goes down. She's going to make this interesting I see. Double Axel with a big step out. Toe loop that picked in weird and she did about 1.5 rotations I think. Blah. She will still score high on the components, and let's hope that all of the triple she did do were all the way around or she's in trouble. She gets a strong applause even with the mistakes.. I still really enjoyed this program.

So she's into first, which means Haruka Imai can NOT make the Grand Prix Final, and the rest of the ladies are going to need scores over 120 in the free skate. Czisny looks strong for the Final.

Now Haruka Imai. Double Axel landed forward so no combination this time. Triple flip. Another triple flip? I must have gotten one of the two jumps wrong, probably the former. I was too busy typing the scenario for Czisny in a new post. Triple loop/double toe. Flying camel almost loses it at the beginning but she finds her center. Triple Salchow is cheated and will definitely be downgraded. Another triple loop/double toe. Double Salchow gets lost in the air and she falls out. Hot and cold. Disappointing really.

I missed most of Nagasu's program as my feed completely froze when I wrote a new blog post, but I did see the beginning and end and it looks like she had a decent skate. Maybe someone reading can fill me in. The double Axel/triple toe looked good.

Grand Prix Final Ladies Qualification: Figuring the Numbers Out Ahead of Time..

2010-11-27T12:02:00.002-05:00

.. so you don't have to.

Who is definitely in already? Five ladies: Miki Ando, Carolina Kostner, Kanako Murakami, Akiko Suzuki, and Rachael Flatt.

Remember, if Alissa Czisny is on the podium here, it doesn't matter what anyone else does as far as the Grand Prix Final. A top three finish means she is in.

However, in the event that Alissa finishes 4th and one of Cynthia Phaneuf, Mirai Nagasu, or Kiira Korpi wins, here are the total amount of points that each skater must beat Czisny by in the free skate here:

Phaneuf: 21.13 points. She's a long shot, sitting in sixth place after the short program.
Nagasu: 22.93 points. Still, a long long way to go and probably too many points to make up just in one free skate.
Korpi: 18.05 points. The best shot in the Czisny 4th situation, but again, that's quite a bit to make up.

If Czisny finishes 5th or lower and one of the three win, that skater will qualify to the Grand Prix Final.

If Czisny finishes in 5th place and Haruka Imai wins, she has to best Czisny in the free skate by 14.96 points. You see that she actually has the lowest difference in total points, but more work to do after being 5th in her first Grand Prix assignment.

If Czisny finishes 6th or lower and Imai wins, then she will (surprisingly) qualify herself to the Grand Prix Final (making four Japanese ladies in the group of six).

So, how is it going to end up?

Well, This Definitely Made My Day

2010-11-27T11:19:00.002-05:00

With Kozuka's win, he's recorded the best score in the free skate this season (170.43), he goes to the Grand Prix Final as the number one qualifier, 15 points better in his two-competition total than the next highest skater (Patrick Chan), and I believe he was just five points off of Daisuke Takahashi's world-record free skate score from Four Continents a few seasons ago.

Congratulations, Takahiko!

Mens Grand Prix Final Qualifiers; Americans First, Second, and Third Alternates

2010-11-27T11:12:00.001-05:00

1. Takahiko Kozuka JPN 30 Points (1st, 1st) 481.58
2. Daisuke Takahashi JPN 30 Points (1st, 1st) 461.86
3. Patrick Chan CAN 28 Points (1st, 2nd) 466.73
4. Tomas Verner CZE 26 Points (3rd, 1st) 445.12
5. Nobunari Oda JPN 26 Points (2nd, 2nd) 462.61
6. Florent Amodio FRA 24 Points (3rd, 2nd) 443.15
---
7. Jeremy Abbott USA 24 Points 435.40
8. Brandon Mroz USA 24 Points 431.11
9. Adam Rippon USA 20 Points 436.16

Florent Amodio Qualifies to the Grand Prix Final

2010-11-27T10:59:00.000-05:00

You can follow all of the numbers in the post below, but he's done enough to qualify himself into the Grand Prix Final along with Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan, Tomas Verner, Nobunari Oda, and almost certainly Takahiko Kozuka. Jeremy Abbott becomes the first alternate.

Mens LIVE Grand Prix Final Watch: Mroz, Amodio, and Abbott

2010-11-27T10:47:00.007-05:00

(Full thoughts of the mens competition after the event is over)

Brandon Mroz needs at least third place here, and at least 146.15 points in his free skate to best Jeremy Abbott in total points and have a chance at the Grand Prix Final..

141.85. He's out unless he finishes with the silver medal or wins the competition.

Florent Amodio needs at least second place here, and on top of that, he needs 146.02 points in his free skate to beat Jeremy Abbott on the tie breaker.

AMODIO IS IN THE GRAND PRIX FINAL. He beats Jeremy Abbott on the tie-break by seven points. Brandon Mroz is out.

Pairs Grand Prix Final Qualifiers

2010-11-27T08:45:00.002-05:00

Savchenko/Szolkowy, Bazarova/Larionov, Pang/Tong, Sui/Han, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, and Iliusechkina/Maisuradze qualify, as expected. Remember that there are rumors that Sui/Han will only compete in the Junior Final, and Takahashi/Tran, who are the first alternates, are also in the same position of qualifying to both. If Sui/Han withdraw and then Takahashi/Tran do as well for some reason, then Yankowskas/Coughlin would be next in line.

Trophee Eric Bompard: Pairs Free Skate Live Thoughts

2010-11-27T07:54:00.014-05:00

I woke up without my alarm at 7:40. I must have really wanted to watch this pairs free skate!

Kadlecova/Bidar-- A long way to go with the elements, but they weren't quite the disaster I expected. Only side-by-side doubles and a fall on the throw triple Lutz/flip, and also the unfortunate fall on the third lift that was aborted right away and they ended up tripping each other. They both have some nice flexibility but they don't really finish anything off and their posture can be better. I was typing about how there was a decent amount of content going on in between the elements and then he fell on some of the choreography. Kadlecova keeps a smile nearly the entire time and Bidar doesn't have much emotion. They still look happy with their efforts, which is nice. It's not their fault they got invited!

Khnychenkova/Magyar- Joannie Rochette's free skate music for two seasons a couple of years ago. Side-by-side triple toes were big, but he stepped out and she did a combo with a double toe. Much better posture than the Czechs but they are not as soft or fast over the ice. Throw triple toe has a hand down. Lifts are basic and slow. The side-by-side spin stayed in unison until the change foot. Throw triple Salchow with maybe a hand down. Those lifts are really scary-- he crawls as he tries to turn and there's nearly nothing by the time of the dismount. There's some arm choreography right in place which is the first sign of such, and you can tell (as they zoomed in on their faces) that they are doing it but not understanding it or listening to the music at all. Eh. Transitions and interpretation mark should be lowest here. They've topped their seasons best by 17 points, but they seem a bit disappointed that they drop below the Czechs and will most likely finish last. They might need a lot of work (especially the lifts), but they weren't that bad, either.

Zhang/Toth- Better twist than Skate America (which was the start of a disaster beginning) Side-by-side triple toe/double toes in nice unison but a bit far apart. Side-by-side spins are far enough apart that there's no almost incident this time and they kept them timed decently. Big throw triple Sal and she has to step out. Lift that goes to a one-armed carry and then a split variation-- that is nice. Little speed into a throw triple loop and she falls. Double Axels are done at different times, but they are really running out of gas so they'll be happy they got through them. They don't leave an impact on me (like next-to-every other American pairs team), and I wish he in particular would try and give more to the performance. She definitely stands out while he's just "there".

In the second warm-up, the Russians came close to the edge of the boards on a split twist, where the Canadians were standing and talking to their coaches. I've never seen replays of the warm-up, but we are getting plenty of them this week and we definitely saw that incident again almost instantly.

Brodeur/Mattatall are a team I enjoy, but I don't really care for this particular Gershwin free skate. She doubled the side-by-side triple toe, I'm not sure what he did. Side-by-side spins stayed in great unison. Side-by-side double Axel/double toes were also nice. Throw triple loop was slow to start rotating and she fell. Lift that goes in both directions with little difficulty-- he's so strong. She gets the throw triple Sal towards the end. Lifts are a highlight and the choreography and their interpretation is good, I just don't think I'll ever be blown away by this music. Not their best skating this week, and it sucks because the door for that bronze medal was wide open. Then again, the Germans haven't skated yet, but they do have a comfortable lead..

Hausch/Wende- I love this program, and picked it as my favorite pairs free skate of the year a few weeks ago. Already a bobble in the beginning at the end of the split twist, she got a bit far back on the blade and had to check herself. They recover for the side-by-side triple toe/double toes, though. SBS spins in good unison. She looks so relaxed, I don't remember that in previous seasons. Playing it a bit safe with SBS double Salchows. Nice throw triple flip! They've really gotten it together this year, and I must really like them because I'm actually nervous for them. Awkward dismount out of a later lift where she gets a bit stuck on his shoulder and then the set down is rough, but they are keeping it together. Good for them. It wouldn't be music I would sit and listen to on my Ipod or anything, but there's something about the program as a whole that really makes it work. The bronze should be theirs... and it is, easily.

Bazarova/Larionov- SBS triple toes-- she with a hand down. Beautiful, big split triple twist. Throw triple flip was crooked and she sat down on the landing. SBS double Axel/step/triple toes-- that double Axel always has questionable rotation on her part because she has the Lipinski-whip into it. Nice spiral sequence, one of the first that actually stands out. She recovers on the throw triple loop and lands it nicely. Here's another team with great lifts, but I realized that I almost NEVER look at him, but I'm not really missing much. He lets her do all the emoting and presenting of the team. SBS spins are close together and keep in unison throughout. I like them, but I'm indifferent towards this program.

Savchenko/Szolkowy-- I'm really going to try to like the program this time around. Easy throw triple flip. SBS triple toes/step/triple toes-- second ones muscled out but they got them. Okay, here's what I think it is about this program. Points are really gimmicky and flashy, and that works for some teams that don't really have an ounce of artistic quality in them. This team, however, very much does as showcased by both of last seasons programs, so I wish they would have went a different direction than this Pink Panther. Yikes. Split triple twist from the difficult entry and she has to step out on the landing, and then they play it safe with SBS double Sals-- not like they need the triples here. Everything is looking paced much better than at Skate America where I thought both programs were frantically skated. Ugh, their faces and the music at the end when it goes techno-- just not a fan at all. Nice lifts at the end and of course, the throw triple Sal at the very end as usual. Not bad, but I'm quite confident that I'll never get chills or excited over this like I did with several of their programs in the past. One quality I did enjoy was their variations on some of the elements (lifts, spirals, death spiral) that matched the quarkiness of the music.

Trophee Eric Bompard Pairs and Dance

2010-11-27T00:31:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately no reviews of the pairs short programs and short dances. My sleep schedule is a bit off after visiting with the family for Thanksgiving, and I'd rather (attempt to) get up early in the morning and watch all of the free skates and free dances live. I don't think I'm missing too much by skipping over those reviews ;-)

Trophee Eric Bompard: Ladies Short Program Quick Thoughts

2010-11-27T00:26:00.004-05:00

Part two of my thoughts from today at Trophee Eric Bompard.

I just love this photo of Kiira Korpi

The French ladies currently sit in 10th, 11th, and 12th places. Candice Didier (10th) was the first skater of the competition, and it's nice to see her back (seriously seems like this was the last time we all saw her). The jumps were landed, the spins are decent, but her overall speed and content could be improved. The program as a whole was all business, with little effort in listening to the music.. I suppose that has to do with the lack of competing lately. A 46 seems like there was a down-grade or major deduction somewhere, but the Lutz looked fine to me in replay.

Sonia Lafuente (9th) made it through the first few seconds of her program without incident this time (she fell on the opening steps at Skate Canada and had to restart). She has a new dress, which is fine in itself, but then she has a weird black print on her shoulder/down her arm and also down the side of her leg.. I could do without it there. She showed her usual jumps here. I wish she'd go for the triple flip that she's added to the free skate. Flying camel didn't have much speed and the double Axel didn't really lift up, and overall I felt like she skated through the music until the end footwork sequence. She's improving, but not enough to make a huge impression in the World standings just yet. The camera did a split-screen of her coach in the last few seconds of the program for some reason. I guess he's nice enough to look at.

Lena Marrocco sits in last place after falling on an under-rotated triple Lutz and triple flip. She bombs into everything with no fear, and she didn't give up on the program after the mistakes. Still, I question her moving up into the senior Grand Prix with being just 15 and only having competed in one Junior Grand Prix event in her life (and a respectable 11th at World Juniors). It's not that she's way below all of the other seniors here, but I'm not sure what getting lost towards the bottom of the standings in her events is going to do for the overall picture. I guess France is desperate to find their next top lady, which I suspect will be Yretha Silete. Mistakes aside, I still enjoyed Lena.

Mae-Bernice Meite is in 11th. She also had a fall on a crooked and under-rotated triple Lutz to start her program, and a fall-out of her triple loop. When I first saw her, I saw a million comparisons to Surya Bonaly when she was a young skater, but she's really smoothed out this year and lost many of those similarities. She's powerful, but I thought the soft Forrest Gump music still worked for her. A disappointing skate, though, as she did well with the short program at Skate America. I suspect she will come back strong in the free skate.

Fumie Suguri got herself up into 5th place completing a nice triple fLutz/double toe loop but then doubling the triple flip out of steps. Her flying sit slowed to a near halt on the end, and I found a lot of her choreography to be really dramatic for the Adagio music and somewhat irrelevant. She used to be such an expressive skater in her days as a top contender, but now I get no such feeling from her. There were people standing in the crowd for her efforts. Maybe they were standing because they saw her compete here eleven years ago (and also in 2004) and they are amazed she's back. All jokes aside about her still being around, this program didn't make her look too far past her prime. I just wish she still had that spark about her.

Sarah Hecken is in 9th place and competing in her first Grand Prix event this season after withdrawing from a few early competitions due to injury. She looks like she's grown even taller which doesn't help that she's never exactly been polished or graceful, and she struggled on both the triple Salchow which she stepped out of, and her double Axel didn't have a strong run-out. Her interpretation comes from her face lighting up when she skates well more than interpreting the music itself, but it makes me want her to do well. By the way, she's grown into a beautiful young woman. Remember last year at this time, she still hadn't found what make-up was!

Haruka Imai is in third place, and I knew it was a mistake to not include her in my preview thread. I love the Don Quixote Gypsy Dance music, and I really enjoy this program. Triple loop/triple toe! covered great distance and the second jump was just as big as the first. She had nice pacing throughout the music changes, and while the first (basic) position in her flying camel wasn't ideal, she went into a Nakano-quality donut position. The triple flip might have been two-footed, but this was still a great effort. Remember, if she wins and Czisny is fifth or lower, she has a chance to get herself into the Grand Prix Final. Unlikely, but she's well on her way to being a World team contender this year.

Mirai Nagasu leads after the short, and if you read my Cup of China thoughts, you know I'm not blown away by this program. She did look much lighter and faster this time around, and her spins as always are great highlights and maybe even the best in the world with Czisny (aside from the trouble she had getting into the flying sit position), but there's something still missing for me with this pretty piano music. It gets better with the second half and she skated well to earn a loud applause from the crowd, but I can't exactly say what is missing with it. Hopefully, as the leader, she can deliver a strong performance in the free skate and reverse history where she tends to drop off the podium.

Alissa Czisny is in fourth place. A podium finish guarantees her entry to the Grand Prix Final, and a strong fourth place should also be enough. The Lutz didn't have much height and she had a big step-out on the landing. She fought for the flip and combined it with a double toe, but it looked to be like it might have been on the outside edge on the take-off. Sato was shown several times in this program.. I don't know how I feel about all the shots of the coaches. You can tell they notice it on the big screen and they all look up for a split second to check if they really are on camera. Anyways, nice flow and ice coverage, and great posture. The program is beautiful.

Cynthia Phaneuf is 6th. She has a new dress with a deep, deep V down to about her belly button. I think I prefer the old one better. The triple Lutz was landed forwards with a hand down, and she was wise enough to combine the triple toe later on with a double toe. I really like this program and genre on Cynthia, but I get distracted with her arms when she's doing crossovers. She seems to ALWAYS have at least one arm bent out in front of her with her fingers all spread out.. I'd like to at least see some classic arm positions (to the side) every once in a while. Two of the spins looked a bit weaker than usual today, and the crowd wasn't there to go nuts in the last 15 seconds as they did at Skate Canada. Still, this is a million times better than her snooze of a free skate.

Kiira Korpi is the somewhat surprise of a leader after the short, but how many times have I and many others said that the judges are ready to give her the top marks if (and when) she delivers? She did a triple toe/triple toe combination and a triple loop with a turn-out, and her components scores were nearly two points over the next highest lady. I agree with the high scores for all of the components aside from the skating skills, as she's not particularly fast or completely smooth with her stroking. Nice edges, though. Shae-Lynn Bourne and David Wilson have given her two really strong programs this season that I think have a lot of people saying, "Finally..". Well done here. More numbers. If she can hold on for the win and Czisny stays in fourth place, Kiira is going to have to beat Alissa by 18.05 points in the free skate. If she wins and Czisny drops below fourth, then Kiira will go to the Grand Prix Final. We mustn't forget how inconsistent most of these ladies are, though..

Mao Asada rounded out the short program with more troubles and she is down in seventh place. She went for the triple Axel and fell onto her knee but it wasn't a complete disaster, and then did a triple loop/double loop combo. However, story of her season so far.. the flip goes up crooked and she goes down hard. If my memory serves me right, I think she's fallen on every single attempt of that jump so far, except for one that she maybe popped to a single? So frustrating, especially when I was sent a link of her practice and she pulled one off just fine. Her basics are definitely improved and her crossovers now have actual pushes to them rather than just dragging her free skate just above the ice.. I suppose we can thank Sato for that. I still don't think this was the best choice of a short program for her but maybe it could be really intense and commanding if she skates it well. I think I'd be just fine if she didn't have any more programs choreographed by Tarasova, though.

Trophee Eric Bompard: Mens Short Program Highlights and Thoughts

2010-11-26T20:21:00.002-05:00

I lied on my Formspring. Ice Network actually does have the short programs and short dances up from Trophee Eric Bompard. I'm going to start with the men and hopefully get to the other three disciplines (well, pairs will be quick-- that's for sure), but I'm not promising anything. I'm tired!

Without further rambling, the mens short program..

Zoltan Kelemen (10th)- First things first. Out of all of the last-minute qualifiers to the Olympics, I was most happy about Zoltan making it. I watched the entire mens short program at the 2009 Worlds, and even though he didn't qualify for the free skate, he was one of my favorites of the day. However, it seems like ever since his surprise Vancouver qualification, the skating hasn't risen to that next level. He has some interesting choreography and nice use of his upper body, but I don't like this program as much as the previous. Still, it's not too bad. Without going for a triple Axel, you can't expect a high score (unless you're Stephane Lambiel).

Chafik Besseghier (4th)- Well, I said in my preview that he'd probably turn a few heads this week. I think he's already succeeded with that! He packs the transitions in, but they all seem to be done hastily and they look a bit disjointed from everything else. He doesn't command the ice yet (even with the huge jumps), but rather has this reserved, relaxed look in his face the entire time. Edges and posture can definitely use some work, and the spins were average at best, with a big travel on the last sit. Great jumping effort, though.

Peter Liebers (6th)- This program is 5000 times better than anything he's done prior, and he's also made great improvements in the quality of his skating. Clean on the jumps (nice deep edge, low landing on the Axel), but there wasn't nearly the interpretation here that he's capable of (and showed earlier this year). Everything was far too serious. The choreography is great and he shows a lot of movement with his entire body, which is nice. The flying camel struggled and the last scratch spin was off balance, but I'm happy he was clean on the jumps.

Anton Kovalevski (9th)- Nothing new from my comments at Cup of Russia, really. No speed into the triple Axel and he still struggles with it. All of the jumps looked heavy and really muscled rather than just letting them happen. Once again, I prefer the second half of the program and especially the footwork sequence. Everything else is just bleh. He hasn't taken it to the next level since he came on to the senior level, and it seems like he's destined for that first of second Worlds free skate start group (as he has been) once again this year.

Nan Song (8th)- Again, the same story here as at Skate America, where I thought he was tremendously over-scored on components. Jumps are alright today, but the spins are poor to average at best, and his arms can't figure out what to do when he is doing crossovers, so they kinda just flail around. Skating to this dynamic music doesn't work for him, and it hasn't ended up a masterpiece for anyone, honestly. I like his free skate much more.

Florent Amodio (2nd)- Morozov has definitely done something to his jumps-- all of them were absolutely gorgeous at NHK and it continues here. Fun, and he gives it that extra oomph with the confidence that he always carries. Very good performance but I'm missing that special something from him in this particular program. He had it in last years short, which was obviously very different.

Kevin Reynolds (7th)- I didn't read anything about the performances before watching, so I was willing to bet big money that the triple Axel was again his problem spot. Obviously I would have lost. I think all of his jumps looked like they could have been a little short here. This is a good program for Kevin, but there wasn't nearly the help from the crowd that he received in Canada. He still had plenty of energy after the fall and didn't give up on the performance, but the audience just really wasn't that into it. He was certainly confused by the low score in the kiss and cry.

Brandon Mroz (3rd)- High score for the small jump problems in my opinion. Quad toe looked to be a bit pre-rotated and obviously the Axel didn't have a run-out edge. Flying camel traveled (which the camera nicely zoomed in on). This music doesn't work for his all-business style of skating. Ryan Bradley, yes. Not Brandon. None of his other elements really stood out, either. Decent basics, average speed, but flat performance. Sorry. Anyways, not that we are counting that closely, but if he stays in third place and Kozuka holds the gold medal, a free skate score of 146.15 would qualify Brandon to the Final over Jeremy Abbott. He scored 146.96 in China. Interesting indeed! By the way, totally unrelated but Tom Zakrajsek has to be running on empty. He's been at every single Grand Prix stop.

Takahiko Kozuka (1st)- His skating skills blow everyone else out of the water so far. Jumps not effortless like he is capable of, but I think it's good for his confidence to keep landing the triple Axel. He had flashes of getting into the program, but I still don't care for the arrangement or some of the choreography, particularly at the beginning. It's like: I'll stand in place and do these movements, and then skate a few feet back and then stand in place some more. Eh. I expect a lot out of him I guess. LOTS of Japanese flags in the audience.. who knew?!

Brian Joubert (5th)- Not sure why he tried to make a combo out of that quad toe, he could have done it later and saved some points. The flying spin drives me crazy still, yes, and so does some of the choreography. It doesn't help when someone as interpretive as Amodio is using the same music (well at least part) for their short program, and on top of that he skated just about twenty minutes before Brian-- makes the comparisons almost unavoidable. I think Brian has good skating skills, but the problem is that he doesn't move as effortlessly as many of the other men once you start involving edge work and turns, and then his skating slows down greatly as well. I miss the intensity and fun of last years short, silly (and lacking) choreography aside. This program has no intensity behind it, and I think that is one of the things that really makes (made?) Brian stand out.

Why the Evgeny Plushenko Situation Gives Me a Headache

2010-11-24T22:34:00.003-05:00

So Evgeny Plushenko and his Olympic eligibility status are back in the news. How many times is this since the World Championships? I'm honestly getting a little fed up with the whole situation, and I'll explain why after the jump.

First things first before I get some accusatory hate mail. I have nothing wrong with Russian skaters. I've always liked Plushenko, and I think it's really admirable that he came back so strong in 2010 after being out of competition for three and a half years. He was on his first World Championship podium when I was 11 years old-- that says enough in itself that he is still very well near the best male skater in the world.

However, here's my huge issue. Evgeny withdrew from the World Championships due to injury, and instead participated in exhibition shows during that time WITHOUT permission. We remember that Joannie Rochette withdrew from the World Championships as well due to personal matters, and was almost not allowed to skate in a show that took place the weekend before Worlds until the last minute, when her Federation (Skate Canada), allowed a sanction to Thin Ice.

To make matters even worse, Plushenko was given the option to file a petition over the ruling of him being ineligible up to three weeks after the initial announcement. Did he? No. And that alone drives me absolutely crazy. Universal Sports mentions in this blog from June that there might have been some confusion over paperwork-- I haven't read far enough into the situation since to know if that means the initial needing of a sanction during the World Championships, or if it refers to the Federation attempting to protest the ban. Either way, I know Evgeny and plenty of other people in his camp have enough knowledge of the English language to be able to read this communication from the ISU (not to mention that it was probably translated into Russian 5,000 times in the few minutes after it was posted). If the "confusion" came over what paperwork the Federation had to fill out in order for Evgeny to skate in the exhibition, then why didn't he just explain that in the appeal period? It doesn't make any sense that he would just ignore it, as if it were going to disappear on its own.

The Universal Sports blog I linked asks if Evgeny thought he was above the rules, and I have to ask why there would be any doubt of him thinking that. Plushenko had his chance to attempt to solve the problem and didn't take advantage, and now even months later he might still be able to have his eligible status reinstated. He says he really wants to compete in Sochi in 2014, and I'm fully aware that the next Olympics are in Russia and he would most certainly be one of the most focused-on athletes of the entire Games, if not the most, but once again-- rules are rules.

No need to tell me all about his illustrious achievements throughout his career (which, yes, I can name that he has three Olympic medals, three World Championships, and six European titles off the top of my head). However, his record shouldn't play into whether they can be broken or not. Rochette was willing to withdraw from her show if she didn't get proper authorization, and every other skater knows what is at risk when they put themselves in a situation like this one.

Are we saying that because Evgeny Plushenko took more than a minute to prepare himself after his name has been called to the ice, that the ISU shouldn't start his music because he is Evgeny Plushenko? Are we saying that if he does four combinations or repeats more than two different types of triples in a free skate that we should just ignore the mistake and give him full credit for everything because he is Evgeny Plushenko?

Extending the rules and showing that everything will be okay in the end for one skater means that the ISU would have to do exactly the same with every other instance. Why start that now?

Happy Thanksgiving; Key Stories at Trophee Eric Bompard

2010-11-24T17:26:00.002-05:00

First off, Happy Thanksgiving weekend to everyone. I will be heading to my home town tomorrow morning and then spending the wee hours of Friday morning out shopping with a bunch of other crazy people. Yes, I am one of those people!

Anyways, I'll unfortunately miss the first day of skating at Trophee Eric Bompard, which is the final regular-season event on the Grand Prix. I have already gone over the current standings for each of the four disciplines in previous posts, but I thought I'd tie those in with a preview of each of the events. The competition begins on Friday.

THE MEN
Current World bronze medalist Brian Joubert started his Grand Prix off with a fourth place finish at the Cup of China. The competition wasn't a disaster, but the only way he will make the Final is with a win at home. For those that rely on history, it doesn't bode well for Joubert. He's finished in fourth at Bompard the last two seasons while winning his other Grand Prix assignment. Maybe he plans to switch it up this year?

While Joubert was finishing off the podium in China, Japanese skater Takahiko Kozuka was rising to the occasion, winning the second Grand Prix gold medal of his career. A top four finish here should be enough for Kozuka to earn a trip to the Final, but another gold medal could help further push his name as one of the top contenders in the world.

Two more competitors enter Bompard already with podium finishes on the Grand Prix this season. Florent Amodio won the bronze medal at the NHK Trophy, while Brandon Mroz was the surprise silver medalist at Cup of China. If Amodio can bring the house down and win the competition in front of his home country, he will make the Grand Prix Final. Another silver medal for Mroz, and he's also going to Beijing. Not likely? You never know. I don't think many people thought he'd end up second in China.

One more name you can't count out is Canadian Kevin Reynolds. The two quads in the short program isn't just talk anymore-- he did them at Skate Canada and found himself in second place. If he can find the triple Axel that was non-existent a few weeks ago, he might also be another major contender.

Chafik Besseghier might be a long-shot for the podium here, but he absolutely bombs into his quad. I have a feeling he will turn a few heads this weekend.

Unfortunately, this mens competition sits at ten entries-- as it was a week ago.

THE LADIES
You know, I look forward to this event being over so I can write something other than, "Wow, what an unpredictable field of ladies we have here!" Seems like I've written that for every single competition so far this year. What we do know is that Miki Ando, Rachael Flatt, Carolina Kostner, Kanako Murakami, and Akiko Suzuki are five of the six Grand Prix Final qualifiers, with a handful of skaters fighting for the last spot.

While there is no clear favorite, American Alissa Czisny looks to continue her success after winning the gold medal at Skate Canada. A top four finish for her here should be enough to make it to Beijing, but that placement is anything but a given. Czisny says that her re-working of jump technique leading into this season has made her more consistent.. laying down two solid competitions would be a good indicator that this is (finally) true.

And then there is a battle of the previous competition fourth-place finishers: Cynthia Phaneuf of Canada, who was fourth at home, Kiira Korpi of Finland (fourth at NHK), and Mirai Nagasu of the USA, who was fourth in China. Phaneuf and Nagasu were the short program leaders in their events, and any of them could honestly come away with a win here. If any of these three do win, the only way they will make the Grand Prix Final is if Czisny finishes fifth or lower (yes, a fourth place would go to a tie-break).

Oh, Mao Asada. You are a complete non-threat to the Grand Prix Final after your eighth-place finish at NHK, but have you gotten it together enough in the last five weeks to find yourself on the podium? Based on her own reaction to the disaster in Japan, I think she understands and accepts that her whole situation of changing coaches and going back to basics on some jumps WILL take time. Hopefully we at least see some improvement from NHK.

THE PAIRS
Definitely the easiest event to predict (or so I think..), and two-time World Champions Savchenko and Szolkowy of Germany lead the way. They won Skate America and should have to problems winning here. On a personal note, I hope I get into their programs much more than I did two weeks ago.

Bazarova and Larionov of Russia should have no problems earning another silver medal here, and that would also put them in the Grand Prix Final. The fight for bronze will most likely come down to Brodeur and Mattatall of Canada, and Hausch/Wende of Germany. At the NHK Trophy, these teams finished sixth and seventh overall, with only three points separating their final scores.

Not a single French pairs team here, even though up to three were allowed.

THE ICE DANCERS

Well, it's no joke to say that half of the field withdrew from Cup of Russia last week--- they really did. Withdrawals have affected the ice dance rosters at every Grand Prix stop this year, and we again find only eight entries in France.

Pechalat and Bourzat already have won Grand Prix win this season (in China), and they should blow the competition away here at home. The only way they aren't getting to the Final is if they have to withdraw, too (and I'm begging them to please not do that).

The silver medal race should be exciting between three teams: Carron and Jones of France, Riazanova and Tkachenko of Russia, and Chock and Zuerlein of the USA. If you compare final scores of all three teams from their first events, there is about as little separation between them as possible. A silver medal by the Americans means they will qualify for the Grand Prix Final, while a silver medal for any other team means that Hungarian couple Hoffmann and Zavozin make it to Beijing instead.

What the Buck?! Highlights Skating With the Stars

2010-11-23T23:11:00.002-05:00

You want a laugh about last nights snooze fest? Look no further.

Flutzing Around-- Now on Facebook!

2010-11-23T20:55:00.003-05:00

Oh, won't you please become a fan of Flutzing Around on Facebook? Now, while you are clicking around and stalking all of your favorite people and their super-interesting lives and thoughts, you can also see my face pop up on your news feed with all of my latest blog posts.. the minute they go up! Fun.. right?!

Click Here to Join, or conveniently click the "Like" button on the Facebook app at the top right of the blog!

Skating With the Stars: The Numbers ALREADY Aren't Good

2010-11-23T13:34:00.003-05:00

For those of you into this type of data, TVByTheNumbers.com is reporting the first viewership totals for last nights broadcast television shows. Skating With the Stars had big numbers for the first thirty minutes because of Dancing With the Stars running (as scheduled) 13 minutes over, but by the end of the night, Skating was down to just a 1.9 share in the all-important 18-49 year-old category. As a comparison, Dancing With the Stars earned a 4.7 and Two and a Half Men a 4.5 last night. With just short of 7 million viewers throughout the 10 PM hour (compared to Dancings 23 million at 8 PM), these numbers are going to get more and more miserable in the next few weeks. I thought the Dancing fans would at least give it a chance, but you can see that the ones who did stick around already gave up on it by the second hour. Ouch.

Battle of the Blades: Oops, Katia!

2010-11-23T00:53:00.001-05:00

Katia Gordeeva and partner Valeri Bure were announced as Canadian Battle of the Blades 2 winners tonight, but check out what happens at the 2-minute mark. HA!

Skating with the Stars Night 1- "The Fact That You're Not Gay Might Be Alarming to My Husband"

2010-11-22T23:18:00.004-05:00

Who will/did you vote for after night one?

Okay, let's get something out there right away. I HATE show skating! I try to watch it and I feel like most of what I see is cheesy and so contrived that it drives me insane. However, I was very, very surprised with how decent tonights premiere of Skating With the Stars was.

First things first.. the commentator, Vernon Kay, gives me a Dylan Moscovitch vibe. Anyone else see that? I have no idea where Kay came from, but he did an alright job. Unfortunately, they stuck Tanith Belbin up in a room all by herself, only to show a side view of her face during the replays of the highlight moves after the performances. I bet she feels a little bit silly. All of her wording is a little too stressed and rehearsed for my liking, and I wish they'd have her doing the interviews with the skaters afterwards. Oh well.

Now, the skating. I predicted that Brandon Mychal Smith and partner Keauna McLaughlin would be the early favorites. They sit in third place after their performance, and I was really surprised at how comfortable he looked on the ice-- he held his own rather than being dragged around like many of the others. His spiral really wasn't that bad either.. definitely better than mine!

Denis Petukhov is paired with Sean Young. They skated slow and didn't really have any content, but it's nice to see that she already understands the more delicate aspects of skating. All of her positions were strong.

Jonny Moseley is paired with Brooke Castile, and I think it's pretty obvious they have a really strong connection. Just as in the Thin Ice show earlier this year, I thought they skated more individual than trying to relate to each other during the performance, but he's also doing a really decent job for just having five weeks of training.

Johnny Weir skated in the intermission. Before anyone complains how he's still just doing triple toes, I remind you to take a look at the size of the ice. Nothing new here, but he was still entertaining (although I would have ditched that heart accessory that was around his neck at first). He was much tamer as a judge than I thought he'd be, but he seemed to get a kick out of giving Jennifer and Vince such low scores, who I'll highlight in a second.

Rebecca Budig and Fred Palascak were next. Oh hey, Fred! Never noticed him before, and he's from the same area that I'm from. They had great connection and her spiral was gorgeous. She said in her pre-skate fluff that she and her sister used to play pairs when they were little, which was cute. They are a very, very good looking couple if you didn't figure out I already thought that ;-) They are the leaders after the judges vote.

Vince Neil and Jennifer Wester are in last place. Vince skated when he was little, but unfortunately he looked really out of his element compared to the other five celebrities here. A lot of standing in place and not much difficulty, but honestly I expected more of this from everyone else. They've just advanced much quicker than usual.

I thought I was going to be so annoyed by Bethenny Frankel, and I wasn't at all. She really did look like she was enjoying every minute of being there, and she took the judges' criticisms well. She and partner Ethan Burgess had the best lifts of any of the skaters, but she also looked a bit awkward at times when she was skating on her own. Still, not nearly as bad as I envisioned. Funny moment (which I titled this post) in the pre-skate fluff where she meets Ethan and says, "The fact that you're not gay might be alarming to my husband, so we might have to pretend you are." Ha. Oh, figure skating.

No falls, only a few slight stumbles from Vince. Pretty enjoyable, honestly. Dick Button stumbled much less over his words than he did in his last few years of competition commentating, and I thought he had some really quick-witted and funny comments. "Remove the girdle", anyone?

Why Couldn't the Competition Have Gone This Way?

2010-11-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

I hadn't seen this until today.

Sigh. A quad and two effortless-looking triple Axels only to end up dropping to 12th in the portion when it really counted.

Even Though 2/3rd's of You Think It'll Be Silly..

2010-11-22T11:22:00.001-05:00

Skating With the Stars starts tonight, airing on ABC from 9-11:00 PM. I'm expecting huge numbers for the first hour (and maybe the whole show) because of the Dancing With the Stars lead-in, but we will see how the show fares in the next few weeks without the help. That might get scary.

Anyways, who do we think will be the early favorites? Based on the small clips we have seen of the celebrities practicing, it looks like teen star Brandon Mychal Smith is already a decent skater (or a very fast learner), and his partner Keauna McLaughlin might be the most recognizable name for those that just started following skating in the last Olympic cycle. I suspect they will be the front runners.

Grand Prix Final Dance: What, There's Still a Final After all of the Withdrawals?

2010-11-22T11:14:00.002-05:00

I've done my Grand Prix Final predictions/scenarios for the other three disciplines, so I might as well do one for ice dance.

Here are the standings after five events:
1. Davis/White USA 30 points
2. Crone/Poirier CAN 28 points (303.50 total score)
3. Bobrova/Soloviev RUS 28 points (299.72 total score)
4. Weaver/Poje CAN 22 points (2nd and 4th, 283.91 total score)
5. Hoffmann/Zavozin HUN 22 points (2nd and 4th, 272.91 total score)
6. Shibutani/Shibutani USA 22 points (3rd and 3rd)

And, holding true to what seems like all of the other events this season, Trophee Eric Bompard features a completely watered-down field that gives several teams the opportunity to (surprisingly) qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

Here are the teams competing with their current Grand Prix point total:
Pechalat/Bourzat FRA 15 points
Chock/Zuerlein USA 11 points
Riazanova/Tkachenko RUS 7 points
Carron/Jones FRA 7 points

Pechalat/Bourzat are in as long as they don't withdraw from the competition. It's pretty much as simple as that. Seriously. They can finish fifth and still qualify. But as far as the other three teams go, this might actually be the most exciting race for the final spot in all of the disciplines.

If Chock/Zeurlein win the silver medal here, they will qualify themselves to the Grand Prix Final, no matter what any of the other teams do (unless, in some crazy world, Pechalat/Bourzat do not win). A bronze medal means they are out.

If Riazanova/Tkachenko or Carron/Jones win the silver medal, then they would only have 20 points total and not enough to make the Grand Prix Final. The silver will only mean that Chock/Zuerlein do NOT make the Grand Prix Final, and Hoffmann/Zavozin will.

Will Pernelle and Lloyd have the advantage with skating at home? Or will the Americans best them again, as they did at Skate Canada? Or will the Russians sneak in for silver?

I have to admit that with the lame short dances I've been pretty bored by ice dancing this year. At least this adds some intensity to the competition!

Grand Prix Final Ladies: Flatt is IN for Sure, Czisny Should Join Her

2010-11-21T23:39:00.001-05:00

I've posted the mens and pairs likely Grand Prix Final qualifiers, and briefly alluded to the situation with the ladies heading into the final event: Trophee Eric Bompard.

Here are the standings after five events:
1. Miki Ando JPN 30 Points
2. Carolina Kostner ITA 26 Points (1st and 3rd, 319.48 points total)
3. Kanako Murakami JPN 26 Points (1st and 3rd, 315.09 points total)
4. Akiko Suzuki JPN 26 Points (2nd and 2nd, 335.60 points total)
5. Rachael Flatt USA 26 Points (2nd and 2nd, 323.90 points total)

Skaters competing in Trophee Eric Bompard:
Alissa Czisny USA (15 Points from Skate Canada)
Cynthia Phaneuf CAN (9 points from Skate Canada)
Kiira Korpi FIN (9 points from NHK Trophy)
Mirai Nagasu USA (9 points from Cup of China)
Mao Asada JPN (3 points from NHK Trophy)

What does all of this mean? The top five in the standings are all definitely in, because a win by any of the ladies aside from Czisny doesn't give any of them enough points to beat the 26 that Rachael Flatt has earned.

Czisny, on the other hand, will definitely qualify to the Final with a medal finish here. However, there is some potential for strong skating in the field, and Alissa has never exactly been known for her consistency.

If Czisny finishes in 4th AND one of Phaneuf, Korpi, or Nagasu wins, here are the totals that each of the ladies would need to beat Czisny by in order to win the tie-break and pass her in the standings for the sixth qualifying spot:

Phaneuf = 16.14 Points
Korpi= 23.94 Points
Nagasu= 26.15 Points

If Czisny finishes 5th or lower AND one of Phaneuf, Korpi, or Nagasu wins, then that lady will be the sixth qualifier to the Grand Prix Final.

If Haruka Imai can somehow sneak in for the win here (while Czisny finishes 5th), then she would have to beat Czisny by 17.84 points overall to win the tie-break and become the sixth qualifier to the Grand Prix Final.

So, discuss. Will Czisny medal in France? She looked very good at Skate Canada, but the pressure might have been off with a somewhat watered-down field. I'm sure her camp has gone over these numbers the same way I have just posted them. On the other hand, are Phaneuf, Korpi, Nagasu, Asada, and/or Imai capable of even knocking Alissa off the podium after their first event issues?

Setting up the Grand Prix Final: The Men

2010-11-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

I woke up late and watched the last four men. When I get home later, I'm going to watch all of the short programs that are now archived and probably have to wait a day again to see the free skates that I will miss. Oh well.

Anyways, here's the Grand Prix standings after five events for the men:

1 Daisuke Takahashi JPN 30 points
2 Patrick Chan CAN 28 points
3 Tomas Verner CZE 26 points (1st place/3rd place)
4 Nobunari Oda JPN 26 points (2nd place/2nd place)
5 Jeremy Abbott USA 24 points
6 Adam Rippon USA 20 points

Rippon will obviously be pushed out of the top six following Bompard.

Skaters competing next week to try to qualify for the Final:
Takahiko Kozuka JPN (already with 15 points)
Brandon Mroz USA (already with 13 points)
Florent Amodio FRA (already with 11 points)
Kevin Reynolds CAN (already with 9 points)
Brian Joubert FRA (already with 9 points)

So, a lot of things could shake up who makes the Finals. Kozuka looks good with at least a 4th place finish, Mroz will probably need another 2nd place finish, which seems unlikely (but how unlikely was his Cup of China silver?), Amodio has a small shot with a VERY strong silver medal but would probably need to win, and Reynolds/Joubert's only shots are really if they win the competition.

In my opinion, who does the Final spot come down to (assuming Kozuka qualifies)?
I think it's going to be a three-way race between Abbott (already at 24 points), Amodio, and Joubert. Brian doesn't particularly skate well at Bompard, but he usually has one strong Grand Prix regular-season showing. That definitely wasn't Cup of China.

Thoughts?

Who Wins the Ladies Competition at Cup of Russia?

2010-11-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

I haven't seen any of the short programs yet (waiting on IceNetwork archives), but the results make me want to skip work tomorrow and watch the free skate-- it might actually be exciting with eight ladies only separated by 4.50 points! Let us pray...

So, who is going to win the event?