Figure Skating

[Good Queen Jane]

I’m here too, watching on Peacock. I’m doing these Olympics commentary free (except for those here, of course).

[absnow54]

Aw, Shaun White is there, and some of the pairs are sneaking into the stands to get a picture with him. 

[Vanderboom]

1 hour ago, GeminiDancer said:

Some of these teams have a very… interesting view of what “street dance” is. 

Yeah. I'm not sure Aretha Franklin is "street dance" music . . .

[Lady Whistleup]

Chinese Elvis was weirdly awesome.

[Jeddah]

Yay, Hawayek and Baker! Kaitlyn looks so happy!

[Good Queen Jane]

Kaitlyn was right. That was fun! Lots and lots of speed. 

[absnow54]

I like that the same coaches have been parked in the kiss and cry for pretty much the entire event, and have stopped trying to wear the country gear for each team.

Montreal must have hade a hell of a time interpreting “street dance” so many times. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by absnow54

[healthnut]

Japanese team won’t make the free dance, at least they got to participate in the team event. But had they sent Kana & Daisuke they definitely would’ve made the free dance (and gotten Japan a silver which could’ve become gold with all this mess). 

I know you can’t always compare scores across international competitions but Green/Parsons got a 80.62 in their rhythm dance at Four Continents (compare to H/B 74.58). G/P are actually only one of eight dance teams to score over 200 points this season. 

[GeminiDancer]

27 minutes ago, Vanderboom said:

Yeah. I'm not sure Aretha Franklin is "street dance" music . . .

Oh she definitely counts as street dance music. The Finnish team looked more like a free dance that happened to have a popular song on it. 

[Lady Whistleup]

What I find with ice dance is that theres a HUGE difference between the bottom two groups and the top groups. 

[GeminiDancer]

I love Marie-France’s haircut. 

2 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

What I find with ice dance is that theres a HUGE difference between the bottom two groups and the top groups. 

I don’t like her, but Hubbell has the best edge work in the game. I’ll give her that. 

[Good Queen Jane]

I think that’s true of all the disciplines. When you watch the lower ranked skaters, who are often the best skaters in their country, and then watch the top skaters, you really appreciate how good they are. 

[absnow54]

2 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I think that’s true of all the disciplines. When you watch the lower ranked skaters, who are often the best skaters in their country, and then watch the top skaters, you really appreciate how good they are. 

To an extent. I think earlier groups in figure skating can be more visually appealing than the later groups sometimes, because they aren’t bobbling through quads, and doing easier elements. Meanwhile, ice dancing is so dependent on graceful transitions and strong skating, which is very aesthetically pleasing. 

[healthnut]

Laurence’s body in that dress…I mean come on 🔥

[GeminiDancer]

2 minutes ago, healthnut said:

Laurence’s body in that dress…I mean come on 🔥

Her arms! That’s goals right there!

[Lady Whistleup]

I like Stepanova/Bukin. IDK why SinKats gets all the love from TPTB.

[GeminiDancer]

4 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I like Stepanova/Bukin. IDK why SinKats gets all the love from TPTB.

Same, especially when Kats has a reputation for being a huge asshole to his partners. 
 

I like that P/C are doing waacking, but I don’t like the John Legend track they use. They could have used a really fun song, and they choose… this. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by GeminiDancer

[Lady Whistleup]

Well I liked P/C's waacking. I definitely think they're the class of the field.

[GeminiDancer]

Just now, Lady Whistleup said:

Well I liked P/C's waacking. I definitely think they're the class of the field.

I agree! I wished that it was to a fun club anthem. 

[GeminiDancer]

I still wonder what was behind Evan’s split with Emily Samuelson. She was so beautiful of a skater, I didn’t like C/B for a while once they paired up. 

[Jeddah]

Gabrielle looked relieved! I hope they win!

[GeminiDancer]

Was I the only one who gasped when Madison slipped?

[Lady Whistleup]

Wow a boo-boo from Madison. 

[healthnut]

2 minutes ago, GeminiDancer said:

Was I the only one who gasped when Madison slipped?

No…was hoping for a replica of nationals but not to be. 

[absnow54]

I don’t think they’re topping SinKat again. 

[GeminiDancer]

Wow. Those costumes are so… orange. 

[Chaser]

Unless there are some large errors I think that takes them out of contention for a medal. 

[Jeddah]

Oh no. That score was too low! Chock and Bates better bring it in the alien dance!

[GeminiDancer]

2 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I don’t think they’re topping SinKat again. 

I think they’ll sit in 4th. They need to skate lights out again. I think they can overtake S/K again in the free. 

[Lady Whistleup]

Too bad about Madison and Evan. Their entire RD looked a bit tense.

[CherryMalotte]

Street to me should be energetic, a feel for the beat, and a nice helping of come hither.  

I'll have to check out some of the replay but I agree on the first group/second group differences, but I have a lot of love for anybody that gets on the ice.

Oh Canada...it's too early in the morning for the orange and glitter...my eyes!  

  

[healthnut]

8 minutes ago, GeminiDancer said:

12 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

 

I think they’ll sit in 4th. They need to skate lights out again. I think they can overtake S/K again in the free. 

They’re not making up four points. Unless Madi & Zach mess up they’re done. 

[GeminiDancer]

1 minute ago, healthnut said:

They’re not making up four points. Unless Madi & Zach mess up they’re done. 

I’m hoping… I don’t want H/D to medal… 

[Chaser]

Come one H/D!

[Lady Whistleup]

Madison's deep edges are amazing.

[Chaser]

That documentary made me like Madison more and the Team Event improved on that that with all the GO TEAM. 

[Good Queen Jane]

Did Zach put his foot down too soon in that last twizzle?

[Jeddah]

That was really good. I still hope they don’t medal. 

[healthnut]

2 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Did Zach put his foot down too soon in that last twizzle?

No, he got a level 4, Madi got a level 3, she messed up 

[GeminiDancer]

1 minute ago, healthnut said:

No, he got a level 4, Madi got a level 3, she messed up 

Yeah. She was out of synch in the 2nd set of twizzles. 

[Jeddah]

Chock and Bates are so cute staring into each other’s eyes while talking to Andrea Joyce.

[Souris]

So bummed about C/B. 

[Chaser]

Hopefully Chock and Bates still skate away with a *Gold medal. 

[HartofDixie]

Diana Davis in 14th place

[Jillibean]

I wish we had seen scores closer to the team competition, but I'm not surprised. I remember reading that the judging panel for team was more favorable for North American teams as opposed to the panel for the individual event, and while Johnny said it was the best he'd seen H/D skate their rhythm dance, I thought the team competition RD was stronger. They looked a little less precise this time around. I'm disappointed about Madi's little slip, though it was placed almost perfectly so that you almost didn't see it if you weren't familiar with the program.

I'm really curious to see what C/B decide to do. I think, unfortunately, they're probably looking at a fourth place finish here, though they'll have a medal of an indeterminate color from the team competition. I wonder if it might be worth it to them to stick around to be the uncontested top American team going into the next quad. The last four years they've been so plagued by injuries and have had to take a lot of involuntary time off. Maybe they have another four in them. 

2 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Aw, Shaun White is there, and some of the pairs are sneaking into the stands to get a picture with him. 

This was really adorable. Nice to see him taking in some ice dance. Also, Shaun was sitting right in front of Jason (and the mystery Nathan hug guy who I think is some sort of physio). 

[Jeddah]

21 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Diana Davis in 14th place

I have no idea what she’s like as a person, so I know I shouldn’t want her to do poorly. But her mother is just so evil.

[absnow54]

I thought Chock and Bates segment was cute, where they were like “we spend 24 hours together, 7 days a week, and I guess we could do this for the rest of our lives…” They do work very well together as a pair. Evan is a strong skater, but he’s kind of dull, and Madison isn’t the best skater but she really brings the personality. I’m never bored while watching them skate. 

[Bessiesue]

Watched the event live on Peacock, and now re watch on USA channel.  Our technical eyes are not advanced enough to see all the missed elements.  Thanks to those about C/B, and M/D help.  Now we know what to rewatch for.  

I do find it very sad that we are pounded with the twizzles, lift, and dance sequences are the quads of the singles, and the results are the lows for the mens's technical in short.  I wish these elements were scored much higher to reflect the quad level.  Same for the pairs.  

ETA:  I love how the French coaching team decided not to do the jacket dance (except Beijing).  I love their Halston look.

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Bessiesue

[healthnut]

1 hour ago, Jillibean said:

I'm really curious to see what C/B decide to do. I think, unfortunately, they're probably looking at a fourth place finish here, though they'll have a medal of an indeterminate color from the team competition. I wonder if it might be worth it to them to stick around to be the uncontested top American team going into the next quad. The last four years they've been so plagued by injuries and have had to take a lot of involuntary time off. Maybe they have another four in them. 

I’ve heard they said on their podcast they plan to continue. I’m sure not for another quad, though. Maybe like Bourne/Kratz, Dubreil/Lauzon, Delobel/Shoenfelder, Weaver/Poje, or Denkova/Staviski. They all stuck around for 1-2 years after Olympics and won some competitions and then retired. 

[Mirabelle]

3 hours ago, GeminiDancer said:

I still wonder what was behind Evan’s split with Emily Samuelson. She was so beautiful of a skater, I didn’t like C/B for a while once they paired up. 

Didn't Chock and Bates fall in love and decided they wanted to skate together? Basically the same thing that happened with Jenny Meno and Todd Sand. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Mirabelle