Figure Skating

[Mittengirl]

I’m watching on my Roku tv, seems fine, so far.

[healthnut]

I'm up working on a school assignment (but mostly just watching skating). Madi and Evan just lost to Fournier Beaudrey/Soerensen in the rhythm dance and I am really worried about them now. I don't think this song choice was a good one and its probably too late to scrap it. They seem way behind Guignard/Fabri and Gilles/Poirer and at this point Fear/Gibson and now FB/S are outscoring them. This is starting to look like a disaster. They should be the top team at IAM this year but it seems like other teams there have way better material. I don't know...They will probably still win tomorrow (tonight, actually, LOL) I guess but it's hard to see them really contending for a world title right now. They may not even make the podium. Or win Nationals. Does anyone else agree or am I being dramatic?

[annzeepark914]

It'll be interesting to see their score for what I call their Papadakis/Cizeron-wannabe FD. H/B are doing it too. *Now* I miss their snake and their alien free dances!

[justmehere]

An interview with Jason Brown about his future skating plans:

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/11/17/figure-skating-jason-brown-return-2023/

[ChicksDigScars]

11 hours ago, healthnut said:

I'm up working on a school assignment (but mostly just watching skating). Madi and Evan just lost to Fournier Beaudrey/Soerensen in the rhythm dance and I am really worried about them now. I don't think this song choice was a good one and its probably too late to scrap it. They seem way behind Guignard/Fabri and Gilles/Poirer and at this point Fear/Gibson and now FB/S are outscoring them. This is starting to look like a disaster. They should be the top team at IAM this year but it seems like other teams there have way better material. I don't know...They will probably still win tomorrow (tonight, actually, LOL) I guess but it's hard to see them really contending for a world title right now. They may not even make the podium. Or win Nationals. Does anyone else agree or am I being dramatic?

Nope. You're not. I agree with it all. They're up against a wall with the GPF being in Turin, which will give Guignard/Fabri a home ice boost, anyway. I'm also concerned that others have passed them, including H/B, even though I like them, as well. 

Maybe they should dig the snake out of mothballs. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by ChicksDigScars

[SeanC]

I'm so happy for Lolo & Nik, the biggest win of their careers so far. I definitely wasn't expecting that, and they clearly weren't either.

Another big surprise is Kim beating Sakamoto, the first Korean win on the circuit since 2009.

Rinka can count her blessings that the American ladies all tanked here, otherwise her Grand Prix Final hopes would be slim to none.

[specialj67]

Chock and Bates’ FD this season is just a miss for me. They have some cool lifts, but the music is a snooze and whatever the story is that they’re conveying isn’t hitting for me. I like their RD well enough, but even that doesn’t have the same zazz as others they’ve done in recent seasons. 

I was surprised and pleased for FB/S. Their FD is such a good vehicle for them! It reminds me of their Caravan FD from several seasons ago but doesn’t feel like a retread.

[annzeepark914]

Had to roll my eyes (while Kim was skating)  when Johnny gushed that she may not skate with much emotion, but she makes her audience come to her. Uh-hunh. I wonder if Dick Button was also watching this afternoon, and what his reaction was to JW's comment.

[Salacious Kitty]

C/B need to clean up the technical errors. Maybe then the programs will look better. Not to mention, they reworked the FD, so this was the first time performing it. 

But yeah, visible errors need to be cleaned up if they hope to even podiuat Worlds.

[KittenPokerCheater]

I loathe Johnny Weir when he gets all catty.  I would rather he commentate and stop with all his color commentary 

[absnow54]

So the US has a skater in every discipline for the grand prix final, except for Men's. I think between the points he earned, and his overall score, Ilia Malinin only has to place 4th or 5th to qualify for the final, since he has the edge in all of the tie breakers.

[Salacious Kitty]

Isabeau's in for certain? I wasn't sure. 

[absnow54]

19 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Isabeau's in for certain? I wasn't sure. 

Yes. There are only 3 skaters left who can out score her, and she's currently ranked 3rd overall, so she'll place 6th, at minimum, and the top 6 go to the final. 

[SeanC]

Kaori, Ye-lim and Isabeau are all guaranteed. Loena and Mai will be in as long as they don’t finish well off the podium this weekend. Rinka is on the bubble with her 1st + 5th, but as long as Anastasia Gubanova doesn’t place top two this weekend she’s also in.

[HartofDixie]

Grand Prix Espoo begins tomorrow 

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/gpfin2022/

[annzeepark914]

So...looks like every competition is via Peacock. 

[peachmangosteen]

20 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

So...looks like every competition is via Peacock. 

They've been showing 2 hour specials where they basically only show the Top 3 men and women's long programs and 1, maybe 2, other performances by Americans on NBC. It's awful lol.

[HartofDixie]

Dance is not geo blocked

[Domenicholas]

Everyone going to the Grand Prix Final:

Men: Ilia Malinin, Shoma Uno, Kao Miura, Sota Yamamoto, Daniel Grassl, and Shun Sato

Women: Mai Mihara, Loena Hendrickx, Kaori Sakamoto, Yelim Kim, Isabeau Levito, and Rinka Watanabe

Pairs: Miura/Kihara, Knierim/Frazier, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps, Chan/Howe, Ghilardi/Ambrosini, and Conti/Macii

Ice Dance: Gilles/Poirier, Guignard/Fabbri, Fournier Beadry/Sorensen, Chock/Bates, Fear/Gibson, and Hawayak/Baker

[Salacious Kitty]

Wow, surprised for Chan and Howe. What great experience for them! 

[SeanC]

It looks like this might be Piper & Paul's season.

The ladies' event at the Final will be really interesting (and four nations represented, for the first time since 2017).

[KittenPokerCheater]

I really wish I could have seen the men's long programs

[healthnut]

2 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

I really wish I could have seen the men's long programs

The first few skaters were terrible but Camden  and Tsuboi had great performances and the last three were great. Definitely check out Ilia's skate if you can. It was nice to see Kevin Amoyz have a clean set of skates and get back on the podium. 

Piper & Paul are overscored IMO. Clearly the judges love their content this year, but their lifts are very basic. I feel like they watered down their program content this year after they had some struggles last year and they are being rewarded for it, it's weird. If they are going to get Papadakis/Cizeron type scores then they are clearly winning worlds. All of a sudden the ice dance chaos seems to be thrown out the window and it's predictable again. Piper/Paul win, Guignard/Fabri 2nd, fight for bronze between Madi/Evan and Laurence/Nik. Lilah/Lewis and Kaitlin/Jean-Luc for bridesmaids. I am just really cynical this evening.

Japanese Nationals is going to be quite the bloodbath, the men have four GP final qualifiers plus Yuma Kagiyama. The women have three GP finalists (Kaori, Mai, Rinka) plus a surging Rika, Mana Kawabe, and Rion. 

Meanwhile, ladies in the US will be cray, cray. Outside of Isabeau, who knows! Bradie is still not really ready and looks a mess. Lindsay was much better here whereas she was a total disaster in Canada. I'm here for all the drama 😈

[specialj67]

Aside from the pairs event, there was a lot of great stuff in the Finland event this week! I think my fave was Turkkila/Versluis rising to the occasions and getting bronze in the dance event. Their FD has a kind of soft elegance that feels like a throwback but is also refreshing. The Czech team, Taschlerova/Taschler were also wonderful because of their speed and power. And of course the unadulterated joy of Kevin Aymoz delivering 2 pretty clean programs and getting a podium finish!

[SeanC]

11 hours ago, healthnut said:

All of a sudden the ice dance chaos seems to be thrown out the window and it's predictable again. Piper/Paul win, Guignard/Fabri 2nd, fight for bronze between Madi/Evan and Laurence/Nik.

I wouldn't really call it predictable, especially since Gilles/Poirier and Guignard/Fabbri haven't competed against each other yet, and Chock/Bates have been dealing with errors thus far (they really need to turn the momentum around, though).

[annzeepark914]

Ilia does it again! And Mai Mihara too. I call her Little Michelle as her style of skating reminds me of MK. 

[SeanC]

[SeanC]

Jason and Alexa & Brandon are part of the preliminary Stars on Ice Canada cast that was just announced for the spring of 2023.

https://www.starsonice.ca/the-skaters?utm_campaign=2021-01-25 canda reminder pre-olympics&utm_content=The Skaters

[annzeepark914]

4 minutes ago, SeanC said:

Jason and Alexa & Brandon are part of the preliminary Stars on Ice Canada cast that was just announced for the spring of 2023.

https://www.starsonice.ca/the-skaters?utm_campaign=2021-01-25 canda reminder pre-olympics&utm_content=The Skaters

Wish I could go. Just the other day I was wondering what Elvis is doing today. Does he coach, or own a skating academy?

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Wish I could go. Just the other day I was wondering what Elvis is doing today. Does he coach, or own a skating academy?

He does seminars and touring, but I don’t think more than that. He lived in Mexico for a long time.

[HartofDixie]

Grand Prix Final starts tomorrow

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/gpf2022/

[ChicksDigScars]

UGH. I want to scratch my eyeballs and ear drums out whenever I hear "You'll Never Walk Alone." Cornball to the max. I think it's because I had to sing it in choir so much growing up. 

OF COURSE, Miura/Kihara got higher PCS scores than Frazier/Knierm with that dreck. Yucko.

[absnow54]

Holy cow, Shoma Uno! If Ilia sticks his 4A, he should still make the podium, but I don't think it's possible to top it. Shoma's free skate was only scoring 6-ish points behind Ilia's.

[ChicksDigScars]

Ilia was all over the place. Currently in 5th.

Shoma's short program TSS is 99.99?! Holy cats. 

[annzeepark914]

12 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Ilia was all over the place. Currently in 5th.

Shoma's short program TSS is 99.99?! Holy cats. 

But isn't this Ilia's style? Screw up the SP, then come roaring back in the LP, including his quad axel? Sure hope so 🤞.

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

But isn't this Ilia's style? Screw up the SP, then come roaring back in the LP, including his quad axel? Sure hope so 🤞.

He has to make up 19 points. I think that's too much of a hole to dig himself out of. 

[absnow54]

Ilia just doesn’t have a strong short program. He’s a jumping bean who relies on all the jumping passes in the FS to rack up points. I figured he’d be in 4th though, and closer to the mid-80s. I also didn’t think Shoma would have scored so high. Ilia probably needed to be within 10 points of him if he wanted a chance of beating him in the long. 

[SeanC]

5 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

OF COURSE, Miura/Kihara got higher PCS scores than Frazier/Knierm with that dreck. Yucko.

M/K have noticeably better skating skills and were much smoother in presentation. Them receiving higher PCS is entirely justified.

[healthnut]

Alexa & Brandon got 1st from 5 of the 9 judges including the Japanese judge which is quite surprising. US judge gave the Japanese better PCS so no real bias from either judge. K/F got better levels on a couple of elements, too. Their SBS triple toes are still far apart and Alexa is a little forward and that was the difference in them being ahead or behind. But they’re in a virtual dead heat. It will probably come down to both team’s SBS triple salchows. Riku often under rotates hers and Alexa hasn’t landed a clean one yet this season. Everything else for them is pretty solid. 

In other news, it looks like Chock/Bates changed costumes again for their free dance. Maybe this will be the lucky combination…

Edited December 9, 2022 by healthnut

[ChicksDigScars]

Was it here that someone mentioned that Ilia looked taller this season? Maybe the struggle on the jumps yesterday was because he's hit a growth spurt. That was always my fear in anointing him to greatness so early.  He's a kid, and built like one. And he doesn't have a coaching staff plying him with drugs (we hope) to delay anything like this from happening (side eye to Noodle Head).  Quads will probably not come as easily if he's getting taller and filling out. 

No U.S. ice dancers in the Junior GPF. Kind of odd. Is the strong U.S. dance pipeline tapering off?

Edited December 9, 2022 by ChicksDigScars

[SeanC]

3 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

No U.S. ice dancers in the Junior GPF. Kind of odd. Is the strong U.S. dance pipeline tapering off?

The Browns and Wolfkostin/Chen both opted to move up to senior relatively early, so that has created a bit of a gap.

Mao 2.0 wins the junior women’s final. She and Jia look set for a rivalry over the next few seasons.

[Good Queen Jane]

Miura/Kihara eke out victory over Knierim/Frazier 214.58 to 213.28. Bobbled side by side jumps by K/F made the difference. Who would have ever thought that the Japanese and American pair skaters would be battling it out for Gold? 

[ChicksDigScars]

Alexa and Brandon win the silver. Brandon had a couple of stumbles, but it was still close because Miura/Kihara did not go clean, either. Even with the stumbles, Knierm/Frazier got a season's best score. The Italians jumped into bronze position. Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps fell down to fifth with a rough skate. It was the first time that Japan-U.S.-Italy pairs have each been on a GPF podium. 

Time for ice dance. Ugh. Both US teams in the first group. 

Why is it that I cannot take my eyes off Jean-Luc Baker when he's skating?? He's just personality plus.

Edited December 9, 2022 by ChicksDigScars

[Mirabelle]

I just recently learned that Ilia's mother is Tatiana Malinina. He has his mother's last name which is probably why I never made the connection.

[absnow54]

FYI, E! is doing a few hours of skating coverage tomorrow starting at 6:30AM (est) and then NBC will have 2 hours of coverage on Sunday (so obviously just a highlight reel) at 4PM. 

[Quof]

Quote

I just recently learned that Ilia's mother is Tatiana Malinina. He has his mother's last name which is probably why I never made the connection.

Not sure how you missed it, she's one of his coaches and he looks just like her. 

[absnow54]

Ilia will manage to get on the podium with a bronze. 

[Crs97]

Watching the ISU Grand Prix, and Isabeau Leviton’s SP was beautiful.  I don’t follow figure skating religiously.  Is she new?  She’s only 15 so I assume she is.  I look forward to watching her if she can continue to skate like that!

[annzeepark914]

21 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

Watching the ISU Grand Prix, and Isabeau Leviton’s SP was beautiful.  I don’t follow figure skating religiously.  Is she new?  She’s only 15 so I assume she is.  I look forward to watching her if she can continue to skate like that!

Isabeau won silver at the 2022 season's Nationals (but she didn't go to the Olympics). I just read somewhere that she's holding back on quads since the Russians are not allowed to compete (so...no need, yet). I think her coach is Russian.

[Good Queen Jane]

OMG! Chock & Bates changed their Free Dance and it is SO much better! They still came in second but once they get more reps with that dance, they will be unbeatable. It is so much better suited to their strengths.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Good Queen Jane