Figure Skating

[Shades of Red]

Just watched the top four dance pairs in the Cup of Russia and wasn't impressed with the one Russian couple finishing on the podium.  I figured the mistake on their spin would have dropped them enough for Paul and Piper to get on the podium.  Listening to the commentators though, it sounds like this wasn't a surprise given which country this took place in.

Piper and Paul were a joy to watch once again.  They always have some amazing, difficult, and original lifts.  The core strength all of these women must have is amazing to see and shows how athletic they are.

[Maelstrom]

Just finished watching the mens' FS, and I'm so happy Misha Ge finished fourth overall. I know that, like Jason, Misha will never make it to the podium without quads but I just love to watch him skate. He's developed into such a graceful, fluid skater, something which gets overlooked so frequently now that the focus is on jumps. I'm glad we get to watch him for another season. Go Misha!

I didn't realize Yuzuru was bringing the Seimei program back this year, but since it's easily my favorite of all of his programs, I can't say I mind (Ashley bringing back Moulin Rouge 3.0, on the other hand, is a different story...) Here's hoping he can get his mojo back to full strength by the end of the season because when he's on, IMHO there's no one better.

I think I actually liked Nathan's SP better than the FS, but he really has come a long way from just being the quad jump guy. It should be interesting to see how he grows in the future. Assuming his coach doesn't squash him before that can happen. ;)

[BelleBrit]

On 10/21/2017 at 10:03 AM, carrier76 said:

I don’t think Mirai deserves those low marks. After everything else I saw in that competition, no way.

 

I “WOO”-ed Chen’s opening jump pass while watching alone in my living room and felt like a total dork afterwards.

 

I can’t stand Evgenia (sp?) and her “skate faces,” no matter how great everyone tells me she is. 

To me, it's not so much that Mirai's calls are unfair, it's that the technical panel does not seem consistent or penalize others for more harsh errors? I could have sworn that Mariah Bell's slow mo's weren't very flattering either, but her TES only went down like a point, whereas Mirai's went down like 9 points.  Maybe Mariah gets the Raf Russian bonus. Unfortunately, Mirai is just one of those skaters who the tech panel is always going to review every landing no matter what.   And I still don't know how Karen Chen's combo was magically "rotated" at Worlds. 

[HartofDixie]

Bookmark

http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm

[MaryMitch]

I hate that NBC is moving almost all their figure skating from their NBC Sports channel to their Olympic channel. I'm not going to pay one more dime for another cable channel.

[honeywest]

Quote

Quote

 

 

Johnny said that the judges may be too harsh on Mirai, and I agree. And I want to smack Medvedeva's arm down.

[Maelstrom]

24 minutes ago, honeywest said:

And I want to smack Medvedeva's arm down.

Yes!!! Me too!

[displayname]

Her 'Tanos are really, really sloppy. I'd be much happier if she just invented the 'Deva by placing her hand on her head at an interesting angle.

Edited October 26, 2017 by fan94

[Shades of Red]

Information for anyone who can access TSN/CTV here in Canada.  Skate Canada International will be broadcast starting tomorrow from 3:00 - 6:30 pm, 8:00 - 11:00 pm on TSN.  Saturday both channels will show events from 1:30 - 5:00 pm and again from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.  Not sure when the Gala will be shown, but it doesn't look like it'll be shown on Sunday.  

[HartofDixie]

If you are unable to watch you can follow the results.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/gpcan2017/index.htm

Edited October 27, 2017 by HartofDixie

[displayname]

...Nice to see Sotskova trying to out-Tano Medvedeva.

Edited November 2, 2017 by fan94

[MostlyC]

I'm agog.  Happy for the most part.  And horrified for one skater, who, I think, needs to pull out completely.

And as great as they are, I'm over Virtue/Moir.  They're the Michael Jordon of Ice Dancing, can they please retire now?

[Mittengirl]

Is Ryan Bradley one of the announcers of the pairs skate?

[displayname]

4 hours ago, MostlyC said:

And horrified for one skater

Pogo?

[Harry24]

Quote

Pogo?

As I was watching the beginning of her long program, the thought flashed through my mind that she might be pregnant* (she just looks a little thicker in the waist than the last time I saw her).  And then of course she had that appalling fall right on her stomach and I'm praying that she's just a little heavier.  

Honestly, though, it really does take a lot of courage to put herself out there like that when she has the very reasonable fear of such disastrous meltdowns.  I hope she can come back from this.

*Based on absolutely no evidence.

[Jeddah]

That was an exciting Skate Canada!

• I didn't watch either Pairs or Ice Dancing, so no comments there.
• Poor Anna Pogorilaya. That fall on the spin had to be demoralizing. This program wasn't as bad as Worlds, but it was painful to watch. I remember Johnny Weir saying skaters learn how to fall. Why does Anna fall so hard every time? It's like she has no sense of self-preservation.
• Karen Chen choreographed her own program? It looked good! I hope she has a good season.
• I'm just totally over Ashley Wagner's skating. I wish she would stop mugging for the judges and just skate. Having done both of these programs before, there should be more substance there. I would have placed Courtney Hicks over her.
• I was so happy Jason Brown got second! He's a gorgeous skater, and his happiness is infectious. I can't help but smile watching him.
• Patrick Chan was a mess. Ending up in fourth place overall seemed far too generous considering how pathetic that free skate was. The announcers made excuses about how he missed his flight and his luggage got lost. A skater at this level should be able to put all that aside and muster up more than 2 clean triples. I am sick of his error-prone programs.
• Shoma Uno! He really has it all. I can't wait to see what he does this season. Based on this week and last, I am hoping for any combination of a Chen, Uno, Hanyu podium at the Olympics. I'm probably going to change my mind about that multiple times through the season, but for now those three are outstanding.

[displayname]

29 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

As I was watching the beginning of her long program, the thought flashed through my mind that she might be pregnant* (she just looks a little thicker in the waist than the last time I saw her).  And then of course she had that appalling fall right on her stomach and I'm praying that she's just a little heavier.  

Honestly, though, it really does take a lot of courage to put herself out there like that when she has the very reasonable fear of such disastrous meltdowns.  I hope she can come back from this.

*Based on absolutely no evidence.

YouTube comments indicate she's suffering from back injuries.

30 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

Chen, Uno, Hanyu podium at the Olympics. I'm probably going to change my mind about that multiple times through the season, but for now those three are outstanding.

Add Fernandez, Jin, and, yes, Chan to it. Men's skating is far more interesting ever since the ISU decided to not care about artistry in Ladies' skating anymore.  

[Jeddah]

26 minutes ago, fan94 said:

Add Fernandez, Jin, and, yes, Chan to it. Men's skating is far more interesting ever since the ISU decided to not care about artistry in Ladies' skating anymore.  

Right now I’d rather see the three I mentioned medal, but I do like Fernandez and Jin too. They all bring so much to skating, and it’s been great to see all of them get better and better over this past Olympiad.

I don’t agree about Patrick Chan. He doesn’t have the same technical content, and he’s not the only one with good component scores anymore. And he’s a mess. I will be very surprised if he can put together two good programs at the Olympics.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Jeddah

[displayname]

I believe in Patrick. I like his components a lot. My ideal podium would be Chen first, and then whoever else from the other five. I loved Hanyu's FS from last season (and would want him to win if he had done something similar), but I don't care for this one. 

 

If Zagitova or Miyahara or Honda won for the ladies, it would be great, but that's not going to happen.

Edited October 30, 2017 by fan94

[BelleBrit]

I only watched the ladies at Skate Canada, but woof, what a dreadful event. Both poorly skated and harshly judged. I read on a message board that Anna was wearing some kind of back contraption/corset for her injury that made her look heavier, but I have no idea if that is true. Watching her in the kiss and cry with her coach is so awkward and uncomfortable. Ashley Wagner really walked into a medal here and got lucky, but I can't say that others should have scored above her for the bronze, not even Courtney. Maybe Marin Honda was underscored in PCS in the long and the short, but it's tough when you dig yourself into a hole in the short to rise up enough for a medal. Hers was the only long that looked inspired and skated well, all of the Japanese ladies are really throwing it down this year. I'm guessing that this means Ashley will make the grand prix final, since her second grand prix is Skate America, and the field is not too stacked/she will probably get at least a silver since it's SA. 

[attica]

14 hours ago, MostlyC said:

I'm over Virtue/Moir.

I continue to think their twizzles are just okay, but even I have to admit that lift where she jumped backwards onto him blind? Dead cool.

Lorenz/Polizoakis did a lovely job skating to the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack. I love that music.

[carrier76]

My ladies’ free skate recording cut off before Anna P’s skate. ???? I am recording a later showing to see if they show it.

 

I have only watched the ladies’ in (almost) full, and I will be the lone dissenter in that I love Ashley’s skating, and her interpretation. I wish this wasn’t the THIRD season for it, but I love her Moulin Rouge program and was not mad to see it again. I’m a fan.

 

That Karen Chen program has the potential to be great.

[wintrygal]

When I recorded the skating on TSN, it said Men's and Pair's free, it cut off after the men's, frustrating.  I don't give a shit about the men's event, but I love pairs and dance.  I even recovered all the taped events that I'd watched, thought maybe I'd deleted it by accident, fast forwarded through them all, nothing. I assume they did show the pairs free, and I don't know how I missed it, went from the end of the men's to bull riding :(

Good event overall, some of the music tho, I wonder why they decide on some of it, it dosen't seem to have any connection to what they're doing on the ice, it's just background noise, and kind of annoying.

[Shades of Red]

1 hour ago, wintrygal said:

When I recorded the skating on TSN, it said Men's and Pair's free, it cut off after the men's, frustrating.  I don't give a shit about the men's event, but I love pairs and dance.  I even recovered all the taped events that I'd watched, thought maybe I'd deleted it by accident, fast forwarded through them all, nothing. I assume they did show the pairs free, and I don't know how I missed it, went from the end of the men's to bull riding :(

Good event overall, some of the music tho, I wonder why they decide on some of it, it dosen't seem to have any connection to what they're doing on the ice, it's just background noise, and kind of annoying.

It wasn't listed well in the guide, but the western CTV channels carried the pairs after the mens' event.  Brian announced it part way through that CTV would carry the pairs after the mens' broadcast.  I had to search for it though as it didn't continue on the same feed as the mens'.  I was fortunate I was at home at the time or would have missed this and would have been pissed off.  I agree that I generally don't give a shit about the men or the ladies for that matter, but I did catch Patrick's awful skate.  It looks like there was a very serious discussion being held between several people.  Wonder if we'll know what was said?  We'll likely know the outcome eventually.   

[Maelstrom]

I only watched the mens, since that's been the only event that's consistently held my interest. Though for the pairs I did look up James/Cipres' programs on Youtube because I loved their Sound of Silence FS last year. I thought they did well even though the new programs didn't grab me like SoS did.

Jason!! I heart him. He's been one of my very favorites since Riverdance, and I just love to watch him skate, quad or no quad. I'm so happy for him that he got silver, and hope that he continues to get better and better throughout the season. If he can get the quads added, he could be unstoppable - his grace, flexibility and elegance already make him must-see skating to me.

Shoma is another eye-catcher, and even though I'm not in love with his Turandot FS the way I was with his flamenco-inspired FS last year, he's such a dynamic skater. Talk about a big presence on the ice! He fills that arena like it's nothing. One of the things I love about him is that he's not one you have to worry about whether he's going to hit the routine or have a meltdown - you just know he's going to go out there and consistently kick ass. And he smiled this year! I don't really remember seeing him smile at all last year.

Poor Patrick. He can be so good when he's on, but I have to wonder if he even enjoys it anymore. Watching him during bad nights like the FS, I get the sense that he's unsure himself why he's still doing it. Hope he can get himself together.

I think in a few years, with some more experience under his belt, Jun Hwa Cha could be one to watch, too. (And I hope Brian Orser has a smooth and speedy recovery!)

Edited October 29, 2017 by Maelstrom

[MostlyC]

Pogo's falls were painful.  And this is not the first time she's had a full-on, scary looking splat fest. I'm thinking she either needs to skate with pads or retire.  I don't see how she can make the Russian Team if she continues to skate like this.

I disliked Ashley until 2012, now I am a huge fan.  Since she's probably aware she's not going to medal, why not skate the programs you love?

The scoring seemed to be all over the place for the women (I refuse to say ladies unless they start referring to the men as gentlemen).

Poor Patrick Chan.  I'd like to see him go out on a high note.

When Megan Duhamel is happy, she glows.  The woman should never, ever, play poker.

[Maelstrom]

^^ Seeing phrases like "splat fest" make me glad I didn't watch the womens. Ouch. For awhile I thought Pogo was shaping up to be a real standout, but it sounds like that's not the case anymore. At least not in a good way.

[WhitneyWhit]

How in the world did we end up with two programs set to Moulin Rouge in a 2017 competition?

I'm not sure I want to live in a world where V/M are two time Olympic champions, but I'm afraid it's coming to that. That programs is laughable, for all their talk of originality, they ended up with a love themed program set to Moulin Rouge.

[attica]

14 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Poor Patrick. He can be so good when he's on,

People keep saying this as if it's received wisdom, but I can't remember seeing a PC program in a big-time moment that wasn't a disappointment. Which, I have to say, I don't watch every competition he's in, so take my scoffing for what it's worth, but it looks to me like the thing he's best at is convincing people he's super good when all the evidence indicates otherwise.

I see Ashley hasn't improved her hand positioning in the off season. Pity.

[Libby96]

On 10/29/2017 at 8:57 PM, WhitneyWhit said:

How in the world did we end up with two programs set to Moulin Rouge in a 2017 competition?

I'm not sure I want to live in a world where V/M are two time Olympic champions, but I'm afraid it's coming to that. That programs is laughable, for all their talk of originality, they ended up with a love themed program set to Moulin Rouge.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....Virtue and Moir are pathologically incapable of skating a long program that doesn't somehow end up being about true love.  That being said, I enjoy watching them skate, but no more than I enjoy watching any of the top 10 or so dance teams in the world skate.  If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Shibs, but I think we all know that barring some sort of injury or twizzle disaster, the Olympic podium will be V/M for gold, Papadakis/Cizerone for silver (likely cursing the day V/M returned to competition), and some sort of blood bath of unknown result for bronze (likely an American or Canadian team).

[legaleagle53]

13 hours ago, Libby96 said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again....Virtue and Moir are pathologically incapable of skating a long program that doesn't somehow end up being about true love.

And they wonder where all the crazy-ass shippers come from!

[HartofDixie]

I, Tonya

[attica]

22 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

I, Tonya

...Calendar marked!

[HartofDixie]

Cup of China

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/gpchn2017/

[displayname]

OK, I like Zagitova better than Medvedeva, but Higuchi's PCS should not, ever be lower than hers. The Japanese lady skaters are being cheated (yes, all of them, with Miyahara, Mihara, Higuchi and Honda), IMO, because the judges like the Russian ladies more.

 

But at least she isn't getting 76.11 for "emoting" "well" to piano music with the theme of clinical death, or Anna Karenina, apparently.

Edited November 4, 2017 by fan94

[Shades of Red]

A little late notice, but CBC is showing part of the Cup of China.  Saturday afternoon (today) they started showing the pairs at 3 pm and the ladies to follow.  Also on tomorrow afternoon, I think it's the mens.  I don't think there will be any dance shown, but possibly we don't have any Canadians in the event?

I'm really enjoying David Pelletier's commentary.  He's concise, critical without being cruel and is very informative.

[Shades of Red]

Sharing for anyone who might want to watch the Skate Canada Gala.

[Moxie Cat]

Javi! What is going on there? 

Curses to "the Olympic Network" and the fact that it's not carried on my $180+/mo. Directv package. Annoyed that I have to wait to watch the recap programs on NBC and NBCSN.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Moxie Cat

[Moxie Cat]

On October 25, 2017 at 0:59 PM, MaryMitch said:

I hate that NBC is moving almost all their figure skating from their NBC Sports channel to their Olympic channel. I'm not going to pay one more dime for another cable channel.

Preach!!! I already pay for so many sports channels that I don't watch - why isn't this included?

[gatopretoNYC]

I'm selfishly happy, because I haven't been able to watch the Grand Prix in years. It was on the Universal channel, which I don't get. But I do get the Olympic Channel.

[alexa]

54 minutes ago, gatopretoNYC said:

I'm selfishly happy, because I haven't been able to watch the Grand Prix in years. It was on the Universal channel, which I don't get. But I do get the Olympic Channel.

I agree. I stream tv and have PS vue which has this channel. What is even better is if you have figure skating selected for their dvr you get all figure skating, so it catches all disciplines and airings without me even needing to know it is on. I have had limited access skating for years when I had my expensive cable package so this is a nice treat. 

[Maelstrom]

Much to my surprise Dish added this channel to the package I already had. Don’t know why NBC pulled skating from NBCSN, but whatever. NBC moves in mysterious, er, stupid ways.

Watched the men’s SP today (still have the free programs to watch at some point) and boy, not a good night for Javi. What happened, man? I’ve enjoyed Kolyada in recent years but never considered him one of my must-watch skaters - he was pretty damn impressive here though! If he continues to skate like this he could well break into the top tier of guys, and that’s saying something with all of the impressive talents in the men’s field right now. Jin Boyang has come a long way in developing his components (not that he doesn’t have a long way to go still), and Keiji and the Chinese fellow (his name just slipped my mind) were both quite promising, too.

[kitmerlot1213]

I actually have to give Charlie White a lot of credit for how professionally he handles giving commentary whenever Virtue and Moir skate--I know I'd never forgive my alleged friend for being such a bad sport and taking a huge crap over my Olympic gold medal win. How Scott Moir can look Charlie in the eye is beyond me.

I've been enjoying the Grand prix season thus far, but I think it's a mistake for Canadians to automatically assume that Patrick Chan's going to the Olys--I don't know if his federation is going to take a chance that he's going to be able to pull off a quad.  Artistry is important but getting the points for the big jumps is even more so.

That being said, who else loved it when all the girls catcalled Zach Donahue when he took off his jacket right after his and Madison Hubbell's free skate in Skate Canada and we all got a glimpse of his well muscled arms and then Patrice Lauzon pretended to take his jacket off too--that was awesome :):)

I know that I hope Elena Radinova makes the Russian team because I think she has more spirit and charisma than Medvedeva with her fake over the top facial expressions.

The Shib sibs twizzles will never not be gorgeous.

Also, I listened to Tracy Wilson's idiotic opinions on Gracie Gold's absence during the Cup of China's ladies short programs and I couldn't believe it--she thinks Gracie never recovered from her 4th place finish at Worlds and that's why she isn't competing this season?  Ah no Tracy, Gracie's depression and anorexia did not just stem from one event but from years of non-treatment over her mental disorders.  What a dismissive moron.

[Jeddah]

I watched Skate Canada on youtube, but I watched the NBC broadcast today. Tara seemed like she was trying to let us know that she does not like that Ashley is doing “Moulin Rouge” again, but she didn’t want to flat out say it. Anna Pogorilaya's program was just as hard to watch this time around.

As for Cup of China:

• Max Aaron! I was so happy to see him medal. He seems so nice. I still feel bad that he didn’t get to go to Sochi. I would be thrilled if he makes the Olympic team. However, I wish he hadn’t gone with “Les Mis” and “Phantom of the Opera” for his programs.
• Vincent Zhou- Nooooo, not another Moulin Rouge! I do like him though. I think he’s going to keep getting better and better.
• Oh, Javi. He just looked crushed.
• I never thought my love of Star Wars and love of figure skating would intersect, but good for Boyang Jin for making it happen!
• Mikhail Kolyada is having a great season so far.
• I like Zagitova’s tutu-esque costumes. It's sort of ridiculous, but she pulls it off. The backloading of the programs is annoying.
• Radionova seems to give it her all when she skates, and it’s refreshing.
• I love that Johnny thinks the Russian Nationals will be a “Mini Hunger Games.”
• Sui and Han are great. There spins are so creative.

I am really liking this Grand Prix season so far!

Edited November 6, 2017 by Jeddah

[Harry24]

Too bad NBC didn't show us more of Papadakis-Cizeron's exquisite free dance.

[displayname]

45 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

• I never thought my love of Star Wars and love of figure skating would intersect, but good for Boyang Jin for making it happen!

I like that he chooses music based on what (I think) he loves! Spiderman, and now Star Wars!

46 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

• Vincent Zhou- Nooooo, not another Moulin Rouge! I do like him though. I think he’s going to keep getting better and better.

He's good, but I think it's Nathan Chen's time right now. Still would be good for him if he made the Olympic Team, though!

[displayname]

55 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

• I like Zagitova’s tutu-esque costumes. It's sort of ridiculous, but she pulls it off. The backloading of the programs is annoying.

Her programs are so busy. I get that there are a lot of transitions, but they should be done well, too. They're just so packed that you just move from one element to another without a break, and you can't really revel in any one moment. And, of course, she has to immediately move onto the next element and everything starts to look rough, and she doesn't have a very good performance quality. Tutberidze's skaters don't really have a sweet spot of having everything down just right, to skate a really beautiful program really beautifully. It's either too over-reaching (and done sloppily) like Medvedeva, or too jam-packed (with too little performance quality) like Zagitova.

Edited November 6, 2017 by fan94

[Jeddah]

6 minutes ago, fan94 said:

I like that he chooses music based on what (I think) he loves! Spiderman, and now Star Wars!

He's good, but I think it's Nathan Chen's time right now. Still would be good for him if he made the Olympic Team, though!

I completely agree that it's Nathan Chen's time! He has proven himself many times over. I think Jason Brown will get the second spot as long as he doesn't implode on the Grand Prix or at Nationals. Max and Vincent going 1st and 2nd in the Long Program was a surprise for me. It'll be interesting to see what Adam Rippon does. I could see any of them getting the third spot, but my personal preference would be for Max to get it.

[displayname]

5 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

I completely agree that it's Nathan Chen's time! He has proven himself many times over. I think Jason Brown will get the second spot as long as he doesn't implode on the Grand Prix or at Nationals. Max and Vincent going 1st and 2nd in the Long Program was a surprise for me. It'll be interesting to see what Adam Rippon does. I could see any of them getting the third spot, but my personal preference would be for Max to get it.

I think Jason Brown is boring. :P

 

Chen should make it. It would be nice to see Zhou making it. Don't really care about who else does, but I'd choose Rippon. 

[carrier76]

Remember how much we hated it when Plushenko front loaded his programs and how boring that was? I think I hate backloading even more. It is a dull program to watch, just waiting for something to happen.

 

Every other program this season is either Moulin Rouge, Phantom, or Turandot.