Figure Skating

[BlackberryJam]

11 minutes ago, fan94 said:

https://www.rt.com/sport/419808-zagitova-medvedeva-olympics-figure-skating/

Thank you.

 

Edit to say: What a classy young woman.

Edited February 26, 2018 by BlackberryJam

[Jeddah]

6 minutes ago, fan94 said:

https://www.rt.com/sport/419808-zagitova-medvedeva-olympics-figure-skating/

She’s right. Doing seven triples in two minutes is harder than doing it in four. If it’s in the rules, I can’t blame her for using it to her advantage. I think she’s handling the criticism remarkably well.

[CeeBeeGee]

Ashley specifically said she was not criticizing Zag, but the loophole that allows such programs. There's nothing to "be above." Zag is a gold medalist and a very public figure now--this comes with the territory. I doubt Elaine Zayak cared when her gold-medal winning program at '82 Worlds was likewise criticized for lack of composition.  Heck, maybe they'll revamp the Code and add the "Zagitova" rule, against backloading. And the idea (coyly advanced by the reporter) that unless you're competing at the Olympics, you're not allowed to have an opinion is just silly.

[HartofDixie]

The next season of DWTS is supposed to be all athletes. I think the Shibs, Adam, Mirai, Ashley would all jump at the chance to be on it but they will most likely choose 1 or take the Shibs and have them compete against each other. 

Phil Hersh is still going after Mirai.

[MostlyC]

I'd like to see some kind of figures brought back into the sport; maybe not quite as detailed or long as watching-paint-dry-boring, but something that will show some skating/edges technique and not just the impressive jumping skills.  if ice dancing has some kind of mandatory dance pattern that needs to be in every short program, then why not have something similar for the single skaters?

[displayname]

50 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

The next season of DWTS is supposed to be all athletes. I think the Shibs, Adam, Mirai, Ashley would all jump at the chance to be on it but they will most likely choose 1 or take the Shibs and have them compete against each other. 

 

Anyone but Ashley Wagner.

[selkie]

4 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Maybe to those who follow figure skating, but not to the rest of the USA. I can't tell you the number of people who remember Charlie White and particularly Meryl Davis from DWTS but have no idea they won the first USA Olympic Gold Medal in Dance. And I understand that DWTS pays well too.

Considering the cost of figure skating in North America, DWTS probably lets them knock back some accumulated family debt in some cases. 

[Mellowyellow]

I saw Meryl Davis on Top Chef and knew she was a medalist but didn't make the connection until I started digging around for gold medal performances in ice dancing. 

She was a good guest judge too! Fair critiques and not one of those useless celebrity guests judges who are all "I can't/haven't/won't/don't really eat that."

I really liked her on Top Chef so got quite a thrill when I watched her program in Sochi.

[doodlebug]

6 hours ago, fan94 said:

Really? Why must all of them want to go to DWTS?

 

I for one think the ShibSibs have greater celebrity than most people who go onto DWTS. And that goes for all the other Olympians on it, too.

Merly Davis did DWTS after winning a Gold medal as did Apollo Ono.  The Shibs aren't any bigger than them.

DWTS supposedly guarantees all participants at least $250,000 with additional payments for every week they stay on the show beyond a certain threshold.  If they manage to present themselves well and get pretty far in the competition; it can open the door to a lot of other opportunities.  And that is why they all would probably jump at the chance to do the show.

[HartofDixie]

49 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Merly Davis did DWTS after winning a Gold medal as did Apollo Ono.  The Shibs aren't any bigger than them.

DWTS supposedly guarantees all participants at least $250,000 with additional payments for every week they stay on the show beyond a certain threshold.  If they manage to present themselves well and get pretty far in the competition; it can open the door to a lot of other opportunities.  And that is why they all would probably jump at the chance to do the show.

Meryl Davis got some additional endorsements after DWTS as well as joining that dance tour plus that “Shall we dance on ice” tv special. 

ETA that Tonya Harding’s name has also been thrown out there for a future DWTS. 

Papadakis/Cizeron will appear on Dancing on Ice.

Edited February 27, 2018 by HartofDixie

[ChicksDigScars]

If DWTS is going for all athletes, they'll probaby not load up on so many figure skaters. Personally, I hope the Shibs go to World's.  With Ice Dance being so close with the three American teams,  I hate to see them fall behind H/D, and I assume V/M aren't going.   The rest really don't have much to worry about in that area. The SHibs are the only ones in the top 3 of their skating discipline.  

 

My guess is that DWTS will hit the figure skating well a couple times. They also know that skaters tend to do well. But they'll also put a couple NFL stars in the cast. 

 

I will laugh my ass off if they hit up the men's Curling team. I'd also vote my ass off for them..

[annzeepark914]

16 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

I will laugh my ass off if they hit up the men's Curling team. I'd also vote my ass off for them..

That would be so funny.  The guys in the bowling shirts dancing with the stars.  I can just see it.  I share your hope that the Shibs go to Worlds (and C/L, my other favorite team).

[SeanC]

If I was in charge of finding people for DWTS, I'd definitely want the Shibs out of the American figure skaters.  They're the only individual medal winners, for a start, and a brother-sister team now competing against each other is a great narrative thread.

[Growsonwalls]

Yeah plus they have the naturally bubbly extroverted personalities that work really well on a show like this. I remember a few years ago Nastia Liukin was on DWTS and she was a lovely dancer. However she had a sort of intense, introverted personality (not a surprise if you ever saw her competing elite gymnastics) and viewers didn't take to it. She wasn't bitchy or anything, but you could tell that the kind of burbly one-liners and bright smiles that DWTS audiences love just wasn't in her DNA.

[legaleagle53]

On 2/26/2018 at 1:11 PM, fan94 said:

Really? Why must all of them want to go to DWTS?

 

I for one think the ShibSibs have greater celebrity than most people who go onto DWTS. And that goes for all the other Olympians on it, too.

Davis & White and Evan Lysacek definitely did.

[BelleBrit]

The worlds entries are out. Adam withdrew (as expected), with Jason Brown subbed in. It will be interesting to see who is in the Kiss and Cry with him, since he is rumored to be changing coaches. 

[Good Queen Jane]

A friend of mine asked Jason Brown at Nationals if he was going to continue eligible skating. She said he was non-committal but gave her the impression that he would not. If he can get a quad or if the rule changes end up giving the "artistic" skaters more points, I hope Jason stays. But he never will be able to compete if the trend continues to reward only the Quad Kings. (No knock on Nathan; he truly is a wonderful skater.)

[Good Queen Jane]

53 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

A friend of mine asked Jason Brown at Nationals if he was going to continue eligible skating. She said he was non-committal but gave her the impression that he would not. If he can get a quad or if the rule changes end up giving the "artistic" skaters more points, I hope Jason stays. But he never will be able to compete if the trend continues to reward only the Quad Kings. (No knock on Nathan; he truly is a wonderful skater.)

ETA: here's the link to the entries to Worlds. Patrick Chan and Virtue & Moir are also staying home, but most of the other Olympians will be there.

[ChicksDigScars]

I'm looking at the World's ice dance entry list with SIX US teams listed (the Big Three, plus three substututes), so all three of the top teams must not have committed? 

 

Virtue and Moir are definitely not on the list at all.  They seem to be the only big names who are not on the list.  

 

I just think it would be foolish to not go and lose whatever foothold you have on your medal position. Too many good teams waiting to knock your ass off.  Without Virtue and Moir, there are two medals up for grabs for the three US teams.  And it looks like B/S are going for Russia, and S/B will be looking to redeem themselves for being denied a chance to participate in the Olympics.  C/L are on the list for Italy. 

 

In Pairs, all the big names are on the list, except Duhamel/Radford.  Not that it affects the medals at all, but the Knerims are on the list. The US gets to send two, right? I just wonder if they're taking their bronze medal and retiring to have cute babies.  The second entry is Kayne and O'Shea.  We really need a consistent pair to step up. One that will stick it out through the entire four years leading up to Beijing. No partner swapping. And hopefully no serious injury.  My money is on Kayne/O'Shea or Cain/LeDuc. 

 

Patrick Chan is not on the Men's list, either.  Canada is taking their medal haul and sayin, "No thanks," to one more World's. Can't blame them.  It looks like everyone is in on the Ladies Entry list. Kostner probably wants to have one last performance on her home country's ice.  Then, I hope she gracefully exits. It's time. 

Edited February 28, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[SeanC]

Chan and Duhamel/Radford explicitly retired from figure skating at the Olympics.  Virtue/Moir begged off on any formal announcement, but I don’t think anybody is expecting them to come back; no reason to give the judges a chance to give Papadakis/Cizeron the final win in their contests.

[specialj67]

I’ll be curious in the pairs, if Tarasova and Morozov skate clean in their LP, will the judges reward that ill-suited program with a world medal?

[HartofDixie]

1 hour ago, Good Queen Jane said:

ETA: here's the link to the entries to Worlds. Patrick Chan and Virtue & Moir are also staying home, but most of the other Olympians will be there.

Looks to be an exciting competition though I'm predicting a few more will drop.  Many of the skaters are dealing with the jet lag and media commitments and may decide to end the season now.  I expected Adam to withdraw.  My prediction is that the Italians are going to potentially sneak in to medal in ladies, pairs, and dance.

I thought Lubov & Dylan were replacing Duhamel/Radford?

Edited February 28, 2018 by HartofDixie

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

I understand that DWTS pays well too.

The $250,000 cited earlier only goes to the WINNERS.  The teams get $5,000 per week for training before the show begins; $5,000 per week for each week they stay.  As it gets closer to finals, the teams get $15,000 a week.  

DwTS also would like the Shibutanis because they don't have a lot of Asian representatives.  Asian athletes have done really well too:  Kristi and Apolo both won.

[ChicksDigScars]

1 hour ago, HartofDixie said:

Looks to be an exciting competition though I'm predicting a few more will drop.  Many of the skaters are dealing with the jet lag and media commitments and may decide to end the season now.  I expected Adam to withdraw.  My prediction is that the Italians are going to potentially sneak in to medal in ladies, pairs, and dance.

The Shib's were making the rounds of the morning shows this AM. Skated at Rockefeller Center on Today. Makes me wonder if they're be able to get back to the grind. 

 

Home country advantage should give the Italians a boost. If Carolina stands upright, she'll medal.  C/L, perhaps, as well. 

[Good Queen Jane]

Poor Canada. Its top skaters in Men, Pairs and Dance all choosing to skip Worlds. I have always thought it selfish to skate in the Olympics but skip Worlds since the placement at Worlds determine how many skaters get to go to the next year Worlds. It's important to get as many of the next generation of skaters into Worlds to build for the next Olympics.

[jennifer6973]

2 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

The $250,000 cited earlier only goes to the WINNERS.  The teams get $5,000 per week for training before the show begins; $5,000 per week for each week they stay.  As it gets closer to finals, the teams get $15,000 a week.  

DwTS also would like the Shibutanis because they don't have a lot of Asian representatives.  Asian athletes have done really well too:  Kristi and Apolo both won.

That number is for the pros, not the celebrities.  The celebrities start off at 125k, and if all goes well and they win they may end up with a total of 350k.

[displayname]

5 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

A friend of mine asked Jason Brown at Nationals if he was going to continue eligible skating. She said he was non-committal but gave her the impression that he would not. If he can get a quad or if the rule changes end up giving the "artistic" skaters more points, I hope Jason stays. But he never will be able to compete if the trend continues to reward only the Quad Kings. (No knock on Nathan; he truly is a wonderful skater.)

He's maybe switching coaches.

[displayname]

7 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Then, I hope she gracefully exits. It's time. 

Kostner for 2022!

[Enero]

3 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Poor Canada. Its top skaters in Men, Pairs and Dance all choosing to skip Worlds. I have always thought it selfish to skate in the Olympics but skip Worlds since the placement at Worlds determine how many skaters get to go to the next year Worlds. It's important to get as many of the next generation of skaters into Worlds to build for the next Olympics.

Eh. The top athletes push themselves to the brink (not saying those not in contention don’t work hard, but they don’t experience the pressure of the contenders) to make it to and compete at the Olympics, and as a result the Olympic Season is VERY long for them. Once it’s over, I’m betting many are exhausted mentally and physically. Thus they’d rather skip worlds than to compete without the proper prep time and have a poor performance (ala Sasha Cohen in 2006). 

Regarding earning spots, it may sound harsh, but I say let the new crop of skaters earn their keep. If they’re halfway descent they’ll earn at least one spot for Worlds the following year. I think the challenge of having to earn that spot/s will inspire the up and coming generation to aim higher and be stronger competitors. 

Wasn’t there discussion at one time about either not having a Worlds in an Olympic year or having it before the Olympics? 

Edited February 28, 2018 by Enero

[healthnut]

30 minutes ago, Enero said:

Thus they’d rather skip worlds than to compete without the proper prep time and have a poor performance (ala Sasha Cohen in 2006). 

Umm Sasha Cohen always had a poor skate at Worlds. She’s famous for never skating two clean programs. It wasn’t her lack of prep time. 

I used to get annoyed when medalists would skip works after Olympics but it doesn’t bother me anymore. Most skaters want to peak at the Olympics, after medaling, or not medaling in some cases, Worlds is probably a huge mental letdown. 

[specialj67]

2 minutes ago, healthnut said:

Umm Sasha Cohen always had a poor skate at Worlds. She’s famous for never skating two clean programs. It wasn’t her lack of prep time. 

I used to get annoyed when medalists would skip works after Olympics but it doesn’t bother me anymore. Most skaters want to peak at the Olympics, after medaling, or not medaling in some cases, Worlds is probably a huge mental letdown. 

I’ve come to enjoy them more as time goes on. For some skaters who maybe had disappointing showings at the Olympics, it can be an opportunity for personal redemption. Mao Asada’s 2014 win felt all the sweeter after what she went through in Sochi. And I kinda like the WTF nature of some of the medalists, like Kimmie Meissner?!

[gingerella]

Bringing this over here from the Pyeong Cheng Skating thread for continuation of discussion:

Quote

Here's the thing I like about compulsories (I'm not trying to change naysayers minds because its clear that's not gonna happen!)...I like that a skater has to be more than a good jumper or a good artist. Compulsories showed that at the very least, a skater had mastered the basic fundamental elements of skating. Today, it seems like a lot of people come up quickly, and they're either 'artistic' or 'good jumpers' but they haven't necessarily gone through a thorough learning process, which compulsories force one to do. Quite honestly, since Michele Kwan's days, I'm tired of the cooing over triples and quads when the skater looks like a robot the rest of the time. I'd rather watch a Michele Kwan skater any day. I think if jumping - which not everyone can do in terms of triple triples or quads at all - is to be so important, then just have an Olympic ice skating branch off called "Skate Jumping" where the only thing being scored is jumps - number of and difficulty of. Period. And let the other skating be more artistic. That's what I'd prefer.

I've seen a lot of discussion over there, and now over here about scoring, placing more emphasis on artistry and less on jumping. The backloading a program to gain extra points should, IMO, be limited to maybe 2 jumps, no more, though I'd like to see it eliminated altogether because the reality is, one skater can backload his/her jumps into the last half of their program but be far less compelling a performer, while another skate can be mesmerizing and wholly compelling but we know they wont score as well simply because they didn't backload their jumps. I say remove that benefit entirely. As for compulsories, sorry, but IMO if you cant do the basics of fundamental forms, use of blades, etc, then you should go back to square one. The Skating Federations and whomever it is that makes statements about "viewership dropping because we all wanted higher, bigger, more jumping" are full of shit. Maybe they have brain freeze from spending too much time in ice rinks. To me the problem was initially the very and obvious scoring bias back when there was cheating and collusion between country judges and we all knew it but it couldn't really be proven. The newer scoring deals with that in terms of dropping the highest/lowest scores, yes? But still, there is now no such thing as a perfect score. I miss the 6.0 scoring system, this current one is confusing. In addition, to adding back compulsories, I would like them to have to do two completely different programs for long and short. This Olympics I felt like it was just a longer version of the short program, with the same music for everyone. Didn't they used to have to use different music/program/costumes in the past? I was so sick of the musical choices by the time the ladies FS came along that I could barely watch any of the performances from start to finish.

Edited February 28, 2018 by gingerella

[SeanC]

18 minutes ago, gingerella said:

The Skating Federations and whomever it is that makes statements about "viewership dropping because we all wanted higher, bigger, more jumping" are full of shit. Maybe they have brain freeze from spending too much time in ice rinks. To me the problem was initially the very and obvious scoring bias back when there was cheating and collusion between country judges and we all knew it but it couldn't really be proven. 

No, the compulsories very much were a problem, because they were not interesting to watch and thus never televised, but when assigned any weight at all they would often tip the contest, and thus people had a hard time understanding why some people lost when they were clearly better in the free skate.

Quote

In addition, to adding back compulsories, I would like them to have to do two completely different programs for long and short. This Olympics I felt like it was just a longer version of the short program, with the same music for everyone. Didn't they used to have to use different music/program/costumes in the past?

Huh?  They do do two completely different programs with different music and different costumes.

[Enero]

59 minutes ago, specialj67 said:

I’ve come to enjoy them more as time goes on. For some skaters who maybe had disappointing showings at the Olympics, it can be an opportunity for personal redemption. Mao Asada’s 2014 win felt all the sweeter after what she went through in Sochi. And I kinda like the WTF nature of some of the medalists, like Kimmie Meissner?!

 

1 hour ago, healthnut said:

Umm Sasha Cohen always had a poor skate at Worlds. She’s famous for never skating two clean programs. It wasn’t her lack of prep time. 

I used to get annoyed when medalists would skip works after Olympics but it doesn’t bother me anymore. Most skaters want to peak at the Olympics, after medaling, or not medaling in some cases, Worlds is probably a huge mental letdown. 

True. But Sasha’s 2006 World skate was a mess. Her skate at the Olympics was a 1000x better with two falls IMO.  Her performance at worlds had numerous under rotations, two footed landings and a fall. I think all of her jumps had issues. It was an uninspired performance IMHO. Hence why Kimmie won. 

2006 was Sasha’s world gold to lose. I think she could’ve won even with the fall, but with all the other jump issues and lack of fire in her performance she lost to Kimmie. At the time, when watching Sasha’s skate I thought she was just not fully plugged in. I think she was still reeling from her loss at the Olympics and was just tired in general from the  long season.

[doodlebug]

7 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

The $250,000 cited earlier only goes to the WINNERS.  The teams get $5,000 per week for training before the show begins; $5,000 per week for each week they stay.  As it gets closer to finals, the teams get $15,000 a week.  

DwTS also would like the Shibutanis because they don't have a lot of Asian representatives.  Asian athletes have done really well too:  Kristi and Apolo both won.

Obviously, we don't know exactly what they make, but, based on Shawn Johnson's contract, which was made public because she was a minor and it had to be revealed in court (and also Heather Mills, whose contract was revealed in her divorce from Paul McCartney); the stars are paid a lump sum initially and then get weekly payments which escalate if they make the cut week after week.  The winner would make somewhere in the neighborhood of $365,000 it appears.  Since Shawn Johnson was an Olympic medalist, presumably any figure skaters would probably get about the same amount. Shawn was guaranteed $125,000 no matter how many shows she did.  The show makes a big deal about how there is no specific cash prize for winning; but the escalating payments based on weeks on the show means those who make the finale are much better compensated than those who don't.

The $5000 a week quoted above is more likely the salary received by some of the top pros on the show as noted in the article.

http://americanprofile.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars-money/

In 2006, Howard Stern revealed his then-fiancé, Beth Ostrosky, was offered $125,000 base pay with weekly payments that increased if she made it to subsequent weeks and would top out around $245,000.  This is pretty consistent with the info above. However, she turned it down, probably because Howard makes a whole lot more than that.

Edited March 1, 2018 by doodlebug

[gingerella]

1 hour ago, SeanC said:

No, the compulsories very much were a problem, because they were not interesting to watch and thus never televised, but when assigned any weight at all they would often tip the contest, and thus people had a hard time understanding why some people lost when they were clearly better in the free skate.

Huh?  They do do two completely different programs with different music and different costumes.

Compulsories were indeed televised, I've seen them many times during Olympic coverage over the years. And while you might personally think they're not interesting, and you are of course entitled to feel that way, plenty of us do find them quite interesting. I'd rather watch compulsories and see how very difficult a lot of seemingly simply looking movements really are, then watch a program where someone jumps endless quads but looks sloppy but gets higher marks even if they fall simply because they tried a jump they've not yet mastered. YMMV.

It felt like I'd watched the same program with the same costuming and music like 3 times over the course of the Olympics, and that's not including the Skating Finale. What I meant was that people use the same music/costumes/program for Team, Individuals, and it seemed in some cases like I'd heard certain songs 3 times, so I assumed they used the same music for their short and long program. Maybe I'm mistaken but it sure felt like the music and routines were repetitive. And if one skates in team, I think they should have a different routine for individual. Make it more challenging for them to not re use programs within one overall competition. Again, YMMV.

Edited March 1, 2018 by gingerella

[Jeddah]

5 minutes ago, gingerella said:

Compulsories were very much televised, I've seen them many times in the Olympic coverage over the years. And you might think they're not interesting but plenty of us do find them interesting. I'd rather watch compulsories and see how very difficult a lot of seemingly simply looking movements really are, then watch a program where someone jumps endless quads but looks sloppy and gets marks even if they fall simply because they tried a jump they've not yet mastered. Diverse opinions are what makes the world go round, YMMV and all that.

 

It felt like I'd watched the same program with the same costuming and music like 3 times over the course of the Olympics, and that's not including the Skating Finale. What I meant was that people use the same music/costumes/program for Team, Individuals, and it seemed in some cases like I'd heard certain songs 3 times, so I assumed they used the same music for their short and long program. Maybe I'm mistaken but it sure felt like the music and routines were repetitive. And if one skates in team, I think they should have a different routine for individual. Again, YMMV.

Mileage certainly does vary. I can’t imagine wanting to watch people do figure eights for hours and hours, but then think it’s too repetitive to watch someone do the same 2 minute routine in the team event and then days later in the individual event.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, Enero said:

Eh. The top athletes push themselves to the brink (not saying those not in contention don’t work hard, but they don’t experience the pressure of the contenders) to make it to and compete at the Olympics, and as a result the Olympic Season is VERY long for them. Once it’s over, I’m betting many are exhausted mentally and physically. Thus they’d rather skip worlds than to compete without the proper prep time and have a poor performance (ala Sasha Cohen in 2006). 

Regarding earning spots, it may sound harsh, but I say let the new crop of skaters earn their keep. If they’re halfway descent they’ll earn at least one spot for Worlds the following year. I think the challenge of having to earn that spot/s will inspire the up and coming generation to aim higher and be stronger competitors. 

Wasn’t there discussion at one time about either not having a Worlds in an Olympic year or having it before the Olympics? 

There has been discussion about either skipping Worlds or combining it with Olympics or something, but it never went anywhere, presumably because the skating federation hosting Worlds can make some money even in an Olympic year and nobody wants to give that up.

Another good reason why skaters skip Worlds after an exhausting Olympic season is because of the risk of injury.  The top skaters who are getting ready to embark on their professional careers are finally poised to be able to profit from their skills, they've got a limited time to do so and this time, while they're basking in the afterglow of their Olympic success, is key to them.  We all remember how Nathan Chen suffered a serious hip injury in the EXHIBITION after Nationals a couple years ago causing him to miss Worlds.  For many of them, it's not worth the risk for a World medal that won't be half as meaningful as whatever happened at the Olympics, as far as their professional careers go.

[SeanC]

10 minutes ago, gingerella said:

It felt like I'd watched the same program with the same costuming and music like 3 times over the course of the Olympics, and that's not including the Skating Finale. What I meant was that people use the same music/costumes/program for Team, Individuals, and it seemed in some cases like I'd heard certain songs 3 times, so I assumed they used the same music for their short and long program. Maybe I'm mistaken but it sure felt like the music and routines were repetitive. And if one skates in team, I think they should have a different routine for individual. Make it more challenging for them to not re use programs within one overall competition. Again, YMMV.

Literally nobody used the same music, and I don't think anybody repeated costumes, though given that costumes cost money, it's vaguely possible somebody did.

Making people develop 4 programs will majorly decrease skating quality in both competitions.  There's a reason that skaters don't vary their performances over the course of a season (unless things aren't going well); the idea is to refine a single routine to its optimal form.

[doodlebug]

25 minutes ago, gingerella said:

Compulsories were indeed televised, I've seen them many times during Olympic coverage over the years. And while you might personally think they're not interesting, and you are of course entitled to feel that way, plenty of us do find them quite interesting. I'd rather watch compulsories and see how very difficult a lot of seemingly simply looking movements really are, then watch a program where someone jumps endless quads but looks sloppy but gets higher marks even if they fall simply because they tried a jump they've not yet mastered. YMMV.

It felt like I'd watched the same program with the same costuming and music like 3 times over the course of the Olympics, and that's not including the Skating Finale. What I meant was that people use the same music/costumes/program for Team, Individuals, and it seemed in some cases like I'd heard certain songs 3 times, so I assumed they used the same music for their short and long program. Maybe I'm mistaken but it sure felt like the music and routines were repetitive. And if one skates in team, I think they should have a different routine for individual. Make it more challenging for them to not re use programs within one overall competition. Again, YMMV.

 

I think you may be thinking of the compulsory dances in ice dancing, which were televised, and can be very interesting.  However, compulsory figures in singles skating is a very different animal.  Anytime I've seen it on TV, it's been as a brief excerpt, certainly not an entire 'performance'. Here's some video:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=figure+skating+school+figures+video&view=detail&mid=3877F261F806063DF1073877F261F806063DF107&FORM=VIRE

All of the skaters have both a short and a long program each season. They generally don't work on more than one of each a season, so they'd use the same programs for both the team and individual competitions; and usually also wear the same costumes for each short or long but not the same for both.  Costumes are generally designed for the specific programs and cost thousands.  The top skaters are often dressed by top designers, Nancy Kerrigan rather famously got costumes from Vera Wang who was a competitive skater as a kid. Vera also did Nathan Chen's costumes.

Edited March 1, 2018 by doodlebug

[alihart41]

I'm curious how many Olympians DWTS will go with since it is an all-athletes season. In regular post-Olympics seasons, they cast just one "star" from the preceding games, except for Meryl and Charlie, but they're technically one team and the whole narrative was that they'd be competing against each other, and Laurie Hernandez and Ryan Lochte after Rio, but we all know why Lochte was cast. And the one Olympian has almost always been a newly minted Olympic gold medalist (Misty May-Treanor, Shawn Johnson, Evan Lysacek, Aly Raisman, Meryl and Charlie, Laurie, Ryan, Simone Biles). The only one who wasn't was Lolo Jones, but she's another controversial figure.

Mirai has been campaigning hard for it and I feel like they'll offer it to her, but I'm not sure if they'll go for more skaters; it's a shortened season, so I don't think they'll wanna OD on one sport. I could see them going after Chloe Kim.

[HartofDixie]

55 minutes ago, alihart41 said:

Mirai has been campaigning hard for it and I feel like they'll offer it to her, but I'm not sure if they'll go for more skaters; it's a shortened season, so I don't think they'll wanna OD on one sport. I could see them going after Chloe Kim.

Access is send Mirai to the Oscars. As for DWTS I think she still has a shot but honestly it would not surprise me at all if Ashley is the one that ends up on the show.

[Growsonwalls]

Mirai got a new gig it appears:

[redpencil]

Quote

The backloading a program to gain extra points should, IMO, be limited to maybe 2 jumps, no more, though I'd like to see it eliminated altogether because the reality is, one skater can backload his/her jumps into the last half of their program but be far less compelling a performer, while another skate can be mesmerizing and wholly compelling but we know they wont score as well simply because they didn't backload their jumps. I say remove that benefit entirely.

They added the bonus specifically because some skaters were doing the opposite and front loading. I'm fully on board modifying the rules so that only a certain number of jumps will qualify for the bonus. Out of 6-7 jumping passes, I'd probably allow 3-4. Most skaters aren't going to stick more in the back half if they don't get the bonus for them; might as well do at least a couple on fresh legs instead. Chucking the bonus altogether would be just as bad as what we have now. Strive for balance, I say.

Edited March 1, 2018 by redpencil

[alihart41]

28 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Access is send Mirai to the Oscars. As for DWTS I think she still has a shot but honestly it would not surprise me at all if Ashley is the one that ends up on the show.

Meryl and Charlie went to the Oscars before DWTS. :) Ashley went to the Oscars after Sochi too (and brought Adam as her date).

DWTS will definitely look at 2018 Olympians first, so I only see Ashley on the show if Mirai, Shibs, Adam et al pass and they go to her as a last resort because, for some reason, they really want a figure skater. But even then, I think they'd first ask Tonya Harding or Michelle Kwan, who has said she's been asked multiple times but always had scheduling conflicts. Tom Bergeron also tweeted this story last week, so they won't have a problem filling the Olympian quota.

[MostlyC]

I don't think the Shibs or Mirai will go to Worlds.  They are on the big post olympic press tour and their agents are mulling through offers and I am sure they are exhausted.  I don't think they will have the time to stick to a training schedule like they would need to have peak performances at Worlds.  If the Shibs don't medal, then it will tarnish their "Q" rating or whatever it's called these days.  They will have plenty of time in the coming months to decide if they want to continue skating competitively,

I'd like to see the end of backloading programs.  a) It's not fun to watch b) clearly it's not the crazy hard feat that it used to be.  I'd rather see well balanced programs. 

Personally, I would like to see Chock and Bates, and Nathan do well at Worlds. I fear Nathan may be done with skating. I think the USA is going to take a drubbing at Worlds this year.  I hope the Japanese make a big impact.

Is Gabrielle Dalman going to Worlds?

[NUguy514]

11 hours ago, gingerella said:

To me the problem was initially the very and obvious scoring bias back when there was cheating and collusion between country judges and we all knew it but it couldn't really be proven. The newer scoring deals with that in terms of dropping the highest/lowest scores, yes?

The new scoring system has not fixed judging collusion and bias in any way, shape, or form.

[Jaded]

Dorthy Hamill was on The Talk Tuesday to shill Nature's Bounty. In the first couple minutes they talked about her winning at the Olympics.
 

[herbz]

I would quite like one of the US teams to drop out of Worlds just so Hawayek and Baker get a shot. Frankly I think they're already better than Chock and Bates, but with ice dance hierarchies being as they are, they're not going to be able to set themselves up for 2022 unless they can get out there. He is especially good and she's improved heaps. 

Canada should be fine securing spots for now even with V/M 99.9% done. I look at that list of entrants and I wonder if the Danish pair of Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen are going to make the country switch. It's looking like the only way they'll make the Olympics at this point because they'll never meet the Danish residency requirements. Going forward- I don't know. They've got one very promising junior team in Lajoie/Lagha, but it's going to have to be a rebuilding process post Virtue and Moir. 

ETA: Clearly I gave my crystal ball a good polish this morning, because it was literally just announced that FB/S will now compete for Canada. I knew their absence from the entry list was suspect. That's a boost to their dance ranks, particularly as I'm not sure how long W/P have left in them.

Edited March 1, 2018 by herbz

[Crs97]

Quote

 The newer scoring deals with that in terms of dropping the highest/lowest scores, yes?

The old system also dropped the highest and lowest marks.