Battle of the Blades - General Discussion

[aemom]

Quote

Combines athletes from two of Canada’s favourite sports — figure skating and hockey — as they pair up in a live, high-stakes figure skating competition for the charity of their choice.

I was really happy to see this show come back.

I confess that I zipped through some of the content, but I watched all the performances.

I was impressed that Kurt Browning can still do a back flip.

Some of the hockey players are really stiff, but I was initially impressed with Natalie Spooner.  I thought that she seemed really relaxed on the ice.

Edited September 23, 2019 by aemom
Formatting

[aemom]

Episode 2:

I didn't quite agree with the marks tonight.  I thought that Katia and Bruno were better than Kaitlyn and Sheldon.  I also thought that Amanda and Eric should have stayed over Amanda and Colton.  There is only one female hockey player now, which kind of sucks.  I like having the variety of different mixes of the skaters.

I thought that they started with the marks way too high.  I think Kurt and Barb were a bit taken aback by that.  Usually we only see marks that high later in the season as they build towards getting better.

But overall, I thought that the performances were very good and some impressive tricks are getting performed early in the season.  Looking forward to next week.

[Blackie]

17 minutes ago, aemom said:

I didn't quite agree with the marks tonight.

17 minutes ago, aemom said:

I also thought that Amanda and Eric should have stayed over Amanda and Colton

hah you could certainly tell that is not how Kurt wanted it to turn out, it looked like all of a sudden he was doing the math in his head because he didn't want Amanda and Eric to go.  Even Barb seemed to be calculating so I am not sure how the marks went for Amanda and Eric and then how then how Colby and Darcey marked Amanda and Colton because it was wack!  At least Eric had Amanda out there 'performing" and an improvement from last week.  Colton was just lumbering around like a big oaf and throwing Amanda who fell!!!  They will be gone after next week for sure, too bad because I think Eric could have really got a lot out of Amanda.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Blackie
didn't edit yet, is there really 2 Amanda"s

[aemom]

1 hour ago, Blackie said:

At least Eric had Amanda out there 'performing" and an improvement from last week.  Colton was just lumbering around like a big oaf and throwing Amanda who fell!!!  They will be gone after next week for sure, too bad because I think Eric could have really got a lot out of Amanda.

I totally agree with you.

[Blackie]

8 hours ago, aemom said:

I totally agree with you.

Did you record the show?  I didn't so I can't go back and look at the marks.  I was kind of shocked at how low they marked Amanda and Eric compared to how the earlier teams were marked. Then for Colton and Amanda, Colby and Darcy must have marked them quite a bit higher......sticking up for their male hockey player buddies????.........because Barb and Kurt seemed quite shocked when they were calculating in their heads how the final score will turn out.. If you are able to post the scores I would appreciate it, otherwise I will try to rewatch it on the GEM thingie.

[aemom]

1 hour ago, Blackie said:

Did you record the show?  I didn't so I can't go back and look at the marks.  I was kind of shocked at how low they marked Amanda and Eric compared to how the earlier teams were marked. Then for Colton and Amanda, Colby and Darcy must have marked them quite a bit higher......sticking up for their male hockey player buddies????.........because Barb and Kurt seemed quite shocked when they were calculating in their heads how the final score will turn out.. If you are able to post the scores I would appreciate it, otherwise I will try to rewatch it on the GEM thingie.

I deleted my recording but Amanda and Colton were marked .1 higher than Amanda and Eric by Colby and Darcy.

Barb went .1 lower for them and Kurt was .2 I think.

[wintrygal]

I was disappointed to see Eric and his partner eliminated so soon.  I thought they were much better and I too think the scoring is too high.  I wish they'd just go with the audience vote and be done with it, don't really like the face off stuff.

I don't remember ever seeing that Amanda girl who was in the face off and got to stay, who did she skate with? 

Rooting for Kaitlyn and Andrew to win or at least finish very well. 

[aemom]

48 minutes ago, wintrygal said:

I was disappointed to see Eric and his partner eliminated so soon.  I thought they were much better and I too think the scoring is too high.  I wish they'd just go with the audience vote and be done with it, don't really like the face off stuff.

I totally agree with all of this.

48 minutes ago, wintrygal said:

I don't remember ever seeing that Amanda girl who was in the face off and got to stay, who did she skate with? 

Amanda Evora is a US pairs skater who placed as high as 2nd in Nationals and Top 10 at Worlds and Olympics.  She won the last season of Battle of the Blades which I have no recollection of whatsoever.

[crowceilidh]

Judging the judges' reactions, I thought that it must have gone very differently in dress rehearsal (do they watch all the routines in dress rehearsal?  Most reality shows do)  -- it seemed utterly obvious to me that Eric's team was better than Evora's no matter what kind of slack you're cutting people for their various personal issues or the female hockey player/non figure skater vs. the male.  That scoring was bizarre just about any way you look at it (for example, what Amanda was doing was WAY WAY tougher than what Colton was doing; both were a little sloppy but Colton actually blew a move etc.)  

Also, what was with the making Whoishewhatsits a permanent judge for the season by popular demand and changing the scoring system also by popular demand?  I thought maybe when I voted this week they'd be surveying my attitude on issues to come up with this "popular demand" data, but no.  Are they trying to say that people contacted audience services at the CBC to say stop scoring out of 10? Who is this populace who are creating this popular demand?

Lovely to see the show back.  It has all kinds of hokey charm and I love the prize system.

[statsgirl]

I'm glad to see support here for Amanda and Eric because I thought that they were the better pair.

I took my courage in hand and braved the wilds of Hamilton to go down with my daughter and see the show in person last week (something I highly recommend if you live in southern Ontario) and both of us thought Amanda and Eric were the better pair.

We also thought that Ekaterina and Bruno (?) were very good so were surprised fo see them in the skate-off. The viewers votes must have been very different from the judges'.

[aemom]

6 hours ago, statsgirl said:

We also thought that Ekaterina and Bruno (?) were very good so were surprised fo see them in the skate-off. The viewers votes must have been very different from the judges'.

Yeah, what the hell was that? Amanda and Colton were safe and Katia and Bruno were in the bottom two? ???

Thank goodness they were safe. I was watching her face the whole time that the judges were talking abot the marks and she was very nervous that she was out. 

Sheldon and Kaitlin were very good this week and I also really liked Natalie and Andrew.

I also think that Colby is kind of a terrible judge. He said some incredibly "what?" things last night. It was nice to see MFD in the judge's chair. She and Patrice were often in the shadows of Bourne and Kraatz, but they were also an outstanding dance pair.

I'm still impressed at how well Kurt Browning still skates at 53. I think that he can probably do all the tricks as well as he used to except for the big triples.

Edited October 4, 2019 by aemom
Typo

[statsgirl]

14 hours ago, aemom said:

I'm still impressed at how well Kurt Browning still skates at 53. I think that he can probably do all the tricks as well as he used to except for the big triples.

At the show last week, he did a whole routine before the cameras came on and it was whoa.

I'm also impressed at Sheldon Kennedy, who is 50 and learning all the new moves and doing lifts.

[crowceilidh]

Arg - it's annoying that Colton bottom 2-ing seems to have brought out his fans (who don't seem to have actually watched his skate) to save him and thus we lost McGrattan and Vanessa who were a much better pair.

Interesting that Ekaterina has bottomed again.  I believe the year she won, she bottomed out a number of times.

I think it's really lovely and funny that the crowd sheers uproariously for Ron Maclean doing that teensy jump and landing in a crouched arabesque (everybody in the audience knows how hard it is to do that, unlike some sports).  And it's funny that CBC knows it makes for good viewing to watch him and Kurt do routines together.  

Every third thing out of Ron's mouth is complete gobbledy-gook to me.  I notice Colby heading in that direction too.

Loved to see Marie-France.  She sure gave very specific and thought-out advice to each couple.  I was a huge Bourne and Kraatz fan, but when Marie-France and Patrice came along I just became totally conflicted.  They had such chemistry and such grace and style.  I'm so glad that they are still occasionally viewable doing this kind of thing.  I feel they were sometimes underrated and overshadowed in their competing lives, but that has come right now as they get so deservedly famous as choreographers and coaches.

Edited October 6, 2019 by crowceilidh

[Diane Mars]

5 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

... Loved to see Marie-France.  She sure gave very specific and thought-out advice to each couple.  I was a huge Bourne and Kraatz fan, but when Marie-France and Patrice came along I just became totally conflicted.  They had such chemistry and such grace and style.  I'm so glad that they are still occasionally viewable doing this kind of thing.  I feel they were sometimes underrated and overshadowed in their competing lives, but that has come right now as they get so deservedly famous as choreographers and coaches.

#GadboisPowaaa (Papadakis & Cizeron fan here ❤️ And I loved her while skating with Patrice too)

[Blackie]

OMG I typed this reply out twice on my phone and it wouldn't post for some reason.

On 10/3/2019 at 10:58 PM, statsgirl said:

I took my courage in hand and braved the wilds of Hamilton to go down with my daughter and see the show in person last week (something I highly recommend if you live in southern Ontario)

I am going on Thursday, what time would suggest I get there to see any pre-show?

Glad to see one big oaf gone, even though it may be the wrong big oaf.  Sheldon seemed like was really ice dancing so I really liked that.  Bruno may not be that well known?  My son and husband had never heard of him.  But it seems it is about who can rally supporters the most to vote, hence Colton being saved.  MFD is great, obvious why she is such a great ice dance coach now.

On 10/5/2019 at 9:05 AM, crowceilidh said:

Ron James

Ron McLean  haha! I wish it was Ron James, Ron McLean drives me nuts and it will take a lot for me not to heckle him on Thursday.

[crowceilidh]

Ooops I'd better go fix that.

[statsgirl]

On 10/6/2019 at 12:22 PM, Blackie said:

I am going on Thursday, what time would suggest I get there to see any pre-show?

There wasn't much of a preshow; mostly the early competitors warming up and practicing. Kurt Browning did a short skate around which was fun to watch. He and Ron McLean did some stuff to warm up the audience.

We had to be at the stadium by 7:30 and in our seats by 7:45. Hamilton had reserved seating so it didn't matter if we got there at 7:30 or earlier. But other places like Oshawa and Toronto have general admission so you have to get there early to get a good seat. The skating fans are really passionate.

I hope you have a great time!

[Blackie]

I was at the live show tonight. It was fun watching Kurt and Elladj Balde warm up.  The were both great and the performance was fun.  Elladj is freaking awesome to see live !! Watching the first 2 pairs warm up, right away I was struck how well Sheldon was ice dancing, he looks great out there.  As soon as they announced that PJ and Violetta and Katia and Bruno were the bottom 2 teams, I know they were going to end up keeping them both.

Sheldon and Kaitlyn were fantastic, like I said Sheldon was really ice dancing plus playing his role, he was right into it and having a blast.

Natalie and Andrew were fun,  Andrew is an amazing skater, I loved watching him warm up.  Natalie really improved and has loosed up and was having fun, maybe too much fun, a lot of her skating steps were sloppy.  It is very hard to play a role, have fun, and skate with good technique at the same time.

Amanda and Colton, I was surprised Amanda didn't look so much smaller in RL.  Their tricks were good, but Colton's skating skills are not good, although he has improved, he still looks like a hockey player out there.

PJ and Violetta,  when PJ kind of stumbled in his first dancing sequence and then they went to set up there first lift, PJ was skating really fast and it made me so nervous, I think he was lifting her backwards  YIKES!  I need to watch that one again,  Their routine was fun and the crowd was getting into it.

Katia and Bruno...in the warm up they were beautiful, Bruno looks like a real figure skater just like Kurt said.  His posture and stroking is wonderful.  Their performance really fell flat though.  Maybe because they didn't have enough time to practice it together, Bruno seemed really tight during it.  And the music got too complicated with the clapping sequence and the choreography couldn't keep up with the music so as my husband said "that was really boring, I vote for PJ".  also PJ's "is PJ my dad?" joke was the highlite for my husband.

I am glad they kept both because I enjoy PJ and I think Bruno is turning into a real figure skater so I want to see more of him.  And they are both better then Colton!!!

Overall it was fun, the crowd was a bit subdued, the commercial breaks were kind of boring because they played terrible in house dj music.

Edited October 11, 2019 by Blackie
there/their

[aemom]

11 hours ago, Blackie said:

Sheldon and Kaitlyn were fantastic, like I said Sheldon was really ice dancing plus playing his role, he was right into it and having a blast.

They were very good, but I was really surprised that all the judges gave them a 6.0 and they were the first team out of the gate.  You don't normally do that with figure skating.

11 hours ago, Blackie said:

Katia and Bruno...in the warm up they were beautiful, Bruno looks like a real figure skater just like Kurt said.  His posture and stroking is wonderful.  Their performance really fell flat though.  Maybe because they didn't have enough time to practice it together, Bruno seemed really tight during it.  And the music got too complicated with the clapping sequence and the choreography couldn't keep up with the music so as my husband said "that was really boring, I vote for PJ".  also PJ's "is PJ my dad?" joke was the highlite for my husband.

I think that Kurt was trying to get the message out to the viewers that they shouldn't keep marking Katia and Bruno so low, because they make everything look easy.  I'm glad that both teams were kept, but does that mean that they'll have to eliminate two teams another week?  Colton was much better this week.  I found that there was a lot less "lumbering around" the ice by him, so good on him for improving.

On 10/5/2019 at 11:05 AM, crowceilidh said:

I think it's really lovely and funny that the crowd sheers uproariously for Ron Maclean doing that teensy jump and landing in a crouched arabesque (everybody in the audience knows how hard it is to do that, unlike some sports).  And it's funny that CBC knows it makes for good viewing to watch him and Kurt do routines together.

It's called a waltz jump.  I really enjoyed the opening number by Kurt and Elladj.  I used to absolutely love watching Kurt back in the day.  He's my all time favorite and he's still so very good.

[crowceilidh]

I'm still disappointed that McGrattan went rather than Colton.  I thought he had a lot more potential.  Because I know NOTHING about hockey players, I wonder if there's a popularity edge between the two that I don't understand.

[Blackie]

22 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

about hockey players, I wo

I think it has a lot to do with  the charity and how well they are able to organize and rally folks to vote for them. 

I rewatched  the show on tv. The first lift PJ did where he was going backwards and lifted Violeta backwards over his head looked way scarier live because of his speed. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Blackie
typos

[Blackie]

Cross overs! Ha, if you knew how much I practice crossovers, I am glad to see them showing PJ practicing, and I was trying to pick up some tips from Elladj .  But I did notice how much better Coltons and PJ 's crosscuts were tonight.  The only one that still skates like a hockey player is Natalie, I wish Kurt would tell her to get those shoulders down!  I am glad Katia and Bruno get to stay but Kurt read my mind again, they need more footwork.

I barley recognized Meghan and I guess we now know why she wasn't on the show 🙂

[aemom]

Boy, Kurt REALLY doesn't want Katia to be eliminated.

I think that I've figured out why Amanda and Colton are never in the bottom two: it's because they do the throws and twists and that really impresses people. I do wonder how much of the throw relies on the man and how much is the woman just getting the momentum she needs for the rotation.

Sheldon and Kaitlyn were good, but better last week. I also thought that Natalie was better last week.

I enjoyed Meagan's comments and Colby just gets more insane every week with the craziness coming out of his mouth. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by aemom
Fixed Meagan

[crowceilidh]

I found Meagan completely unrecognizable, even once I figured out who she was.  She gave great commentary though, she was truly interesting to listen to.

Bruno and Katje were so beautiful.

Sheldon and Kaitlyn seemed to have fallen a notch - I felt that he was missing a lot of details from his performance.

[perkie1968]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:48 AM, crowceilidh said:

I found Meagan completely unrecognizable,

She's 9 months pregnant so she doesn't look like the buff athlete she usually does.  I thought she was crazy to be out there in skates at 9 months!

Edited October 20, 2019 by perkie1968

[perkie1968]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:48 AM, crowceilidh said:

I found Meagan completely unrecognizable,

She's 9 months pregnant so she doesn't look like the buff athlete she usually does.  I thought she was crazy to be out there in skates at 9 months!

Before this started, I thought Katia or Vanessa would win.  But now I believe Kaitlin should win.  I think her partner is the strongest of the hockey players  and she's been kicking butt since day one.  

[Medicine Crow]

Kudos to the strength of Andrew Poje!!!  It's amazing how well he manages the difference in height/weight of his partner in The Battle compared to his regular partner.  Wow!!!  (No shade.)

[crowceilidh]

I sort of gathered there was a weight difference with Meaghan, but actually I was not shocked by that, it was how different her face looked.  I missed her intro, but when they said her name I'd been staring at her thinking I'd never seen this person in my life before and then I thought that's not the Meaghan Duhamel I know, there must be another one.  Anyhoo, kudos to her for the insightful commentary no matter whether she is a space alien masquerading as Meaghan Duhamel or not.

[Rachel RSL]

Hi gang!  I'm late to the party because life has kept me busy but I finally got a chance to binge-watch the season so I'm all caught up now.  

I'm so psyched this show is back!  I went to quite a few tapings in the first two seasons and it was always a blast.  

I'm not surprised (or the least bit sad) that Amanda Kessel was eliminated first.  She would have had to skate perfectly for the judges because no way are most Canadian hockey fans going to vote for her.  The wounds are still too fresh lol.

Sheldon Kennedy is my sentimental favourite but I'm really loving Natalie too.  She just always seems to be having so much fun.  That being said, I'm having the same issue I had in the season where Tessa competed.  It's really difficult to compare her to the male hockey players because the moves for male and female figure skaters are different so it's like trying to compare apples and oranges.

Colby Armstrong turned out to be a delightful surprise.  Yeah, some of the stuff he says doesn't always make sense but he's just so damn enthusiastic about it all.  I'm glad they kept him around.  (I'm also impressed that they actually listened to what the fans wanted and changed the scoring back to the 6.0 format.)

Sorry for all the random thoughts, I just watched the entire season at once so it's all jumbled up in my head. Looking forward to watching live!

Edited October 22, 2019 by Rachel RSL

[tracyhmcd]

Colby Armstrong's enthusiasm is infectious.  I hope he comes back as a competitor next year.

My family has had enough of Ron McLean's ramblings though.  

[aemom]

I thought that the performances were quite good tonight.  Natalie's emoji performance was excellent and her lifting Andrew was well done.  They also had excellent speed throughout that performance.  The second performance was fine, but I think that they should have brought out a newer one which would have had some harder tricks in it.

Katia and Bruno were really good today.  They are just so smooth on the ice.  Both performances were very good and they make it look so easy.

Sheldon and Kaitlin did a good job, but I still think that the I'm Still Standing program they did tonight is not as strong as the Smile program.  They were very smart to bring it back.  I think that they've actually lost a bit in the last two weeks - they peaked too soon.

Judges: Tessa's lipstick was so distracting to me.  It needed to match her blouse and she's not a very good commentator.  Scott was ok.  Colby still brings the crazy and I missed Kurt skating tonight.  😞

[Blackie]

On 10/21/2019 at 2:29 PM, Rachel RSL said:

It's really difficult to compare her to the male hockey players because the moves for male and female figure skaters are different so it's like trying to compare apples and oranges.

You can still compare basic skating technique and Sheldon and Bruno have transformed themselves into figure skaters and Natalie still skates like a hockey player, and I wish someone would have said that to her at least once

20 hours ago, tracyhmcd said:

My family has had enough of Ron McLean's ramblings though.  

who hasn't

9 hours ago, aemom said:

I missed Kurt skating tonight

I missed Elladj, they could give him his own tv show and I would watch it every week.

Hard decision between Bruno and Sheldon.  Sheldon was really looking like an ice dancer a few weeks ago and then it didn't really progress.  Bruno and Katia really progressed this week, even with the injury.  But I predict Sheldon wins! 

[wintrygal]

I'm hoping for a Sheldon/Kaitlyn win, but would be ok with either of the teams also, as I like them all. 

[Medicine Crow]

Although I like/love them all, I'm leaning toward Natalie & Andrew.

[Rachel RSL]

6 hours ago, Blackie said:

You can still compare basic skating technique and Sheldon and Bruno have transformed themselves into figure skaters and Natalie still skates like a hockey player, and I wish someone would have said that to her at least once

Very true on all counts.  I was thinking of other elements like the lifts and the throws.  

6 hours ago, Blackie said:

I missed Elladj, they could give him his own tv show and I would watch it every week.

I love that guy!  I've never heard of him before but I would totally watch that tv show too.

I'm rooting for either Sheldon or Natalie to win.  As good as they are, I just can't seem to warm to Bruno & Katia.

Edited October 25, 2019 by Rachel RSL

[crowceilidh]

Annoyingly, I just discovered that my PVR recording of BoB was some episode of Dragon's Den, so whichever CBC channel I was recording did something strange with their sched.  I can't bear the ads, so I only watched 4 skates and didn't get to see anything else or hear the judges.  

Gotta say that I was more impressed with Natalie than I have been, but she does still skate like a hockey player.  That is an excellent characterization.  I wonder how Andrew felt about being on that side of a lift.

I wish Bruno were more personable in his skates, because he is a very graceful skater and I wish people had warmed up to them as a couple more. I find them very impressive.

Sheldon still blows me away with his ability at his age and with his body type.  He's a real performer.  I wonder what injuries he's battling (they all must be at this point) because I would also say that he's treading water a bit.

Haven't cared about the other couple at all throughout the show and still wish that McGrattan was here instead of him.  As I don't know either of them, this is pure superficial feelings about which one I like more.

[crowceilidh]

Oh and can someone tell me who B2ed with Colton? 

[Blackie]

That final was a let down.  I remember Halloween shows in previous seasons, the costumes and the routines were amazing!!  This year it is almost like they forgot they had one more show to do, realized they really didn't have the budget for one more show and then got Disney to sponsor it so we could see Kurt and Elladj skate (the good part), re-listen to all the clips from previous shows ( the new clips about the charities was good), and let the judges blather on (ff through all of that).  I knew Sheldon would win, he gave it his all. Bruno should keep on figure skating, he could really become good.  Natalie can go back to hockey and they should bring Amanda K back for next year, I think she could have been better then Natalie, it was nice to see her and Eric tonight,

[crowceilidh]

I just skipped through the show (I boycott Disney wherever possible) and watched the ending.  One thing that seemed funny to me, maybe it was a demonstration of the super small amount of time between seeing and hearing? - was that Kaitlyn seemed to react to their announcement a millisecond before it happened.

It was nice seeing the show back, but somehow it lacked excitement for me this year.  That may be on me and not on the show because I can't think of any big reason why.

[aemom]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:16 PM, crowceilidh said:

One thing that seemed funny to me, maybe it was a demonstration of the super small amount of time between seeing and hearing? - was that Kaitlyn seemed to react to their announcement a millisecond before it happened.

I was surprised that Natalie wasn't 3rd, and once she wasn't, I think that we all knew (including Kaitlyn) that Sheldon was going to win.  They were never in the bottom two either.

I was disappointed that they had so much damn filler in the episode, and then they rushed through Natalie and Andrew being able to talk and thank people etc. and then the group shot at the end.  Seriously, the pacing and direction was way off.

Overall, good stuff and I'm sorry, Tessa Virtue is an outstanding ice dancer, but I think that she is a terrible judge.  Scott is somewhat better.  Meagan and Barb were much better, and I hope to see them again in the future.

[Rachel RSL]

23 minutes ago, aemom said:

I was disappointed that they had so much damn filler in the episode, and then they rushed through Natalie and Andrew being able to talk and thank people etc. and then the group shot at the end.  Seriously, the pacing and direction was way off.

Agreed.  Everything seemed to have an element of awkwardness to it.  Like Ron telling Sheldon & Kaitlyn to take their victory lap around the rink while he was talking to Natalie and Andrew.  Maybe the viewers would like to hear what Natalie and Andrew have to say AND see Sheldon & Kaitlyn celebrate with the trophy?  And the group hug at the end seemed so forced.  Plus, the staging (is that the right word?) was awful.  Every shot had full sections of empty seats.  I'm sure it was just the camera angles but it made it seem like hardly anyone was there.  I don't know.  I still enjoy the show a lot but I agree that, for some reason, I wasn't as into it this season as in past seasons.  

[surreysmum]

CBC is inviting applications to be part of their "virtual audience" for this year's Battle of the Blades (which will have no in-arena spectators).  Members of the virtual audience will be on camera during the live shows, and may be asked for feedback. My quick scan suggests that the invitation extends to all Canadians.

More details in this article:

https://www.cbc.ca/television/battleoftheblades/join-the-virtual-audience-for-battle-of-the-blades-1.5716352?fbclid=IwAR0vC6z2AIVrYB3JOhl7kCEP146U5-78zBadiXpFIgFpOLiiWN-P5SHH_LU

The new season starts on Thursday, October 15.

I don't work for CBC - I just thought some folks might be interested.  (I myself prefer to watch without being watched!)

 

[LakeGal]

Season Premiere Tonight!

[Bunnyette]

Yay!  Not who will be first out, but those judges sure are sugery 

[surreysmum]

They had to pad a bit to fill it out to two hours (wasn't sure why we needed an extra host), and I was disappointed not to see Kurt on his skates - or doing much at all, to be honest.  Other than that, though, I quite enjoyed it, and thought all the hockey players acquitted themselves very well for the first week. 

[Medicine Crow]

2 hours ago, Bunnyette said:

Yay!  Not who will be first out, but those judges sure are sugery 

You think tonight was "sugery"???  Obviously you haven't watched previous seasons ... LOL.

[Blackie]

9 hours ago, surreysmum said:

hey had to pad a bit to fill it out to two hours (wasn't sure why we needed an extra host), and I was disappointed not to see Kurt on his skates - or doing much at all, to be honest.  Other than that, though, I quite enjoyed it, and thought all the hockey players acquitted themselves very well for the first week. 

 

I thought the extra host would mean less Ron, too bad that wasnt the case.  I love Eladj as a skater (hope we get to see him) and as a judge, WAY better then Kurt in both cases.  Scott good as a judge as well. I guess they had to go for the 2 hour opener because of their COVID delay because it wasn't listed as such on the TV guide and my PVR missed half.

 

The camera work was weirdly terrible considering the didn't need to work around an audience. They probably have a limited crew due to COVID.  

I thought they talked up Eric and "Botts" too much, I guess they don't want Eric voted off so soon as last year. Her cross overs were good but their program was too dull. Jessica and Asher were fun, actually performing and she already has good edges do I think they can win it.

 

 

 

 

[aemom]

On 10/23/2020 at 7:33 AM, Blackie said:

I guess they had to go for the 2 hour opener because of their COVID delay because it wasn't listed as such on the TV guide and my PVR missed half.

Same here.  I was not happy that my PVR chopped off half the show. 😡

So, I just caught up on the CBC Gem website.  Overall, I think that most pairs had a really good first outing.  Most of the newbies look quite smooth.  For sure, every team is far better than Season 1 when they still wore hockey skates for the first couple of weeks.

Edited October 25, 2020 by aemom
I saw the rest on CBC Gem

[LakeGal]

I enjoyed all the couples.  They all looked good for the first outing.  Next week is when we start to get more critical.

[Blackie]

Wow I am impressed. First of all that Halloween show was WAY better then last season's which was pathetic. Also the quality of the skating and the variety of tricks in this only the 2nd week was very impressive. Better then some previous seasons when it was just a big guy lumbaring around lifting a small woman.

I LOVE Violetta, so sad for her to go, but I love Andrew Poje too ..... but I think in the long run Violetta and Anthony would have been a better team. I wish it wasn't elimination, just cumulative scores over 8 weeks so we can see who really can improve over the weeks.

I wish  could improve my back cross cuts that much in one week!! I 

 

.