I know that I am now over a week behind the times, but the little OCD part of me insists that I write up my thoughts on the ladies free.
First off, I really felt for Kayla Howey, having to withdraw, and then for Christina-Maria Sperduto, unexpectedly having to skate first, and almost ten minutes before she would have been planning to. She did a good job, though, and she managed to pull up to 19th (and 14th in the free!), so I was happy for her. Rebecca Stern basically bombed the entire thing but she had the biggest smile at the end of her program, which was nice to see. Ellie Kawamura also definitely did not have the first senior Nationals performance that she probably would have wanted. I thought she was going to stop after her first fall, but she kept fighting, and her steps and double axel were really nice. There was a cute moment when she got off the ice, Laney Diggs came over to give her a hug and a stuffed toy. I really like Diggs, she seems to have a great personality and I like her skating style.
The third group looked great in practice, throwing off triples left right and centre, but most of them kind of fell apart when it came to it. Chelsea Morrow, Becky Bereswill and especially Kristiene Gong had a particularly rough time of it, but I still think that Gong has a lot of potential. I loved her choreography. Blake Rosenthal also didn't really bring her jumps, but I just love her skating. I could have watched her step sequence forever, and her spins and spirals are pretty nice, too. Apparently she's competed in dance before, I'd like to see her in that discipline. Melissa Bulanhagui and Samantha Cesario had good skates, both with nice power and attack, although I found Bulanhagui a little clunky in her steps and choreography, and Cesario must have been hit with downgrades, but again, I'm definitely going to watch out for her.
Caroline Zhang didn't have a particularly catastrophic skate, she held it together pretty well in the end. She just looks so miserable all the time, like she doesn't even want to be out there. I wonder if she's going to continue for the next quad. She's young enough to, definitely, but she'd need to figure out how to like skating again, and she'd have to fix that technique on the flip and the lutz, too. It's kind of weird because she had a lot of charisma and seemed like she had a cute personality in the KnC but that doesn't seem to translate out onto the ice very well. She needs to take lessons from Alissa Czisny on how to smile after a bad skate, because Alissa's skate was hard to watch. It's such a mental thing for her, and it's such a shame, because her spins and spirals are basically second to none. Bebe Liang, on the other hand, was definitely on form. She has so much power and attack and her jumps, if they're clean, are beautiful. I loved her first triple lutz and her double axel. She finished up seventh, which is definitely a decent placing for her. Emily Hughes didn't really do anything for me, but she's definitely a fighter, those two falls looked hard. I also loved how completely unimpressed Sarah looked when they cut to her after Emily's skate. I thought Alexe Gilles was gonna save her group and actually skate clean, because her first few jumps were lovely, but then she lost them about halfway through. I also felt like she didn't really connect with her music. She has a lot of charisma and perkiness in the KnC though, so maybe she can bring more of that to the ice next season.
Given that I already knew Amanda Dobbs' placement, I was kind of expecting her to have a perfect skate. It wasn't, but still, great for her that she managed to place sixth. There is definitely something I really like about her, I love her style and she looks like she has a really great time out there. I'm interested to see if she picks pairs or singles, I guess it depends on whether she can get all her jumps or not. The ones that she landed were gorgeous. I just love her in the KnC, too, it seems like she has a really good attitude. Christina Gao is definitely another one to watch and I'm excited to see what she does at Junior Worlds. She has pretty much perfect jumps, I hope she doesn't lose them as she gets older. Brian Orser is definitely the coach to have right now!
It seems completely unfair to me that Ashley Wagner does not get to go to the Olympics. I know that they have to put some kind of restriction on how many skaters the countries can send, but really, it seems kind of redundant not to send the best skaters in the world to the Olympics. Her program here was absolutely gorgeous, I loved it, and I loved her in the KnC and I love her, in general. What a fight.
Sasha Cohen looked beautiful, I actually liked her dress for the FS more than I did her short, and I loved the sparkles in her hair. She definitely wasn't 'on', but I'm just gonna echo what seems to be the general consensus of everything else I've read since the competition finished, and that is that, you know, good for her. It wasn't an embarrassing showing at all for her, the short was beautiful and the free was not exactly bad, considering. Plus, Sasha is just so watchable. Her face at the end said it all, it was like 'okay, I tried', and I think that's probably the best attitude she could have right now. I thought she was really graceful during the medal ceremony, too. I don't really know what I was expecting from her, she was hardly going to snatch the medal from Rachael's neck, but anyway, I thought she handled the whole thing really well.
I know that a lot of people find Rachael Flatt boring but I kind of like her. She's not the most exciting skater in the world a lot of the time, but I thought that she had really nice step sequences in both programs, she sold it. I kind of wonder, if she does well at the Olympics, if she won't retire and just go to college and carry on with her 'normal' life. I also think that it must be really, really hard for her, knowing that she is widely considered 'dull' and uninspiring, and I feel like her win has gotten kind of overshadowed by negativity, which is a real shame. Loved her in the KnC, too. I think that she really does have a cute and bubbly personality and for some reason, the media doesn't often let us see that, which I also think is a shame. Have to admit that I liked Ashley's program better, though.
As much as I wanted Ashley to get the Olympic spot, I can't deny that Mirai Nagasu seriously performed on the night. That girl was practically flying across the ice. I just wish so, so much that the US had three spots. But hopefully Ashley will get her turn, and I do love Mirai's skating and I like how much personality she has. I wish both her and Rachael the best of luck in Vancouver!
I really liked Tara Lipinski's commentating. And I love Frank Carroll. That is all.
xxx
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Friday, 29 January 2010
Johnny Weir
I feel like I say this a lot, but Johnny Weir is a skater that had never really appealed to me. I used to find the way he speaks Russian in the KnC extremely irritating, and I always found him pretentious and self-absorbed and just plain annoying, and his skating never really captured me enough to make up for that.
However, clearly I'd just not been paying enough attention to him, because this season I have done a total 180 on the guy. I listened to his pre-Nationals teleconference, I watched the post-Nationals press conference, I read Olympic article afterOlympic article, I watched the ESPN 'Johnny Weir is a Real Man' item and I watched the second half of 'Popstar on Ice', and I became a fully fledged fan of Johnny Weir.
On the one hand, he's so brilliantly camp, and ever-so-slightly crazy. His free this season is supposedly autobiographical; in the press conference after Nationals, he very matter-of-factly informed the media that the 'red things' on the back of his costume are 'supposed to be where the wings of this angel, because I'm a fallen angel, it's where the wings got ripped out.' When he watched back his performance, he says, he was looking at his costume, not at his technique, and he took the ESPN guy for a manicure. He skates his exhibition, which is sheer brilliance, to Poker Face, and I have also heard that he was accredited throughout Nationals as 'Johnny Gaga Weir'. He's hilariously outrageous (even if some of his brilliantly catty comments are contrived for the media), his catfight-esque relationship with Evan Lysacek never fails to crack me up, and he just generally comes across like a total diva.
On the other hand, in a weird way, he seems like he has his head entirely screwed on. He's articulate, witty and brutally honest, and a lot of the time, he actually speaks a lot of sense; the ease with which he fences questions about his sexuality, not to mention the logic of the argument he uses, genuinely surprised me. He even managed to make his odd attachment to Russia endearing to me when he earnestly explained to the ESPN interviewer that 'to be a citizen of America is also to be a citizen of the world' (that's paraphrased, sorry), because America is made up of every other country in the world. Written down, it still looks a little pretentious and ridiculous, but somehow, Johnny makes it work, because somehow, he really looks like he believes every word that he's saying.
In a similar vein, it is also blatantly obvious that he really loves skating; something that I don't get at all from someone like Evan Lysacek. I used to think that the passion he shows was contrived and exaggerated, but now I think that that really is just him. His costumes are a little out-there, but they're original and fun, and recently I have even found myself starting to think that he is pretty damn good-looking. And on top of all that, of course, there is the fact that the man is talented, even when he doesn't hit all his jumps. Really, anyone that starts skating so (relatively) old and does so well is someone worthy of my admiration.
This will likely be his last season, and I am kind of sad that I have only just come to appreciate him and his skating. I've been waiting impatiently for weeks to be able to get Be Good Johnny Weir on iTunes so that I can get a bigger fix of Johnny and, I suspect, grow to like him even more, and all of a sudden, along with Joubert, Johnny Weir has pushed himself almost to the top of my Very Favourite Skaters list. I'd advise anyone to watch the press conference from just after Nationals, because his explanation of his costume (which comes as a result of a question about the fox fur, which he has now removed) is genuinely funny, as well as the ESPN news feature.
I never thought I'd say this, but there is an increasingly large part of me that really wants him to medal at the Olympics. However, as there are now about six men that I really would like to medal, all I will say is that I hope he skates his very best and hits Vancouver in true Johnny-style!
xxx
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Euros - Men's Free
Well, this was an event.
First off, I have to say that I really, really don't like this new thing the ISU is doing at Euros and 4CC where only 20 (? I think it was 20 for the men) skaters get to go through to skate the long. It doesn't seem fair on the 'lower-tier' skaters (in this case, Matt Parr, Viktor Romanenkov, etc), who skate pretty much the best they can in their short, and yet still don't get to even skate their frees; I can't see how the ISU expect these guys (and girls, and dancers, and pairs) to develop as skaters, particularly their stamina, if they're not being allowed to skate the free programs in international competition. Of course that means that they're going to train their short programs harder, there's not going to seem much point rigorously training a long program they're barely going to use, and it just seems kind of disheartening. But I have to say, the 'mini shows' that the Euros organisers in Estonia provided us with were absolutely hilarious.
Anyway, that said, onto the action. We were sitting up on the second tier of the arena so we weren't as close to the ice as we were for other events, but at least our view was unrestricted. I was cheering for Viktor Pfeifer (Austria), who has been one of my 'pet skaters' since Nebelhorn, when he and Priscilla Hill (who I love, by the way) seemed to spend the whole competition sitting next to us. He managed 15th or so going into the free, but didn't have a particularly good skate, which was a shame, although good on him for trying the quad. I have my fingers crossed for him in Vancouver! I also definitely had a new 'find' in Paolo Bacchini (Italy), though, he was good. I'm not sure of his age but he looked quite young - definitely one worth watching. Contesti was 5th at worlds last year - does that mean Italy have two Olympic spots? Is Bacchini going? I should really find out!
I was surprised to see Voronov sitting so low. I don't remember all that much about his program but he pulled up a fair amount; unfortunately he ultimately ended up losing his Olympic place in favour of Artem Borodulin, who wasn't at Euros (did Russia only have two spots?). He has good jumps, landed (just) a 4T and two 3As, but he doesn't have great presentation, or maybe he just wasn't 'on' that night. He's probably another one cursing the return of Plushenko, either way.
The programs of the Swedish boys never fail to disappoint (Adrian Schultheiss skates to Smack My Bitch Up. That right there is genius) but neither of them skated particularly well, especially Kristoffer Berntsson, poor guy, who had a terrible skate and ended up 15th, with no chance of going to the Olympics. Apparently the Swedish Federation had originally stated that, in order to get the place, one of the two had to finish top ten at Euros? I'm not sure, but either way, Schultheiss, who ended up in 12th place, now has the place and will be in Vancouver for sure. I'm sorry for Berntsson, but definitely excited to see Schultheiss and his hilariously surreal program at the Olys!
It was nice to see Kevin van der Perren skate relatively well, he's not been doing too great lately - he had surgery some time last year, I think? - and it was also interesting that he's gone back to his Robin Hood program from a few years back, which I'd heard good things about. Loved the costume. KvdP always has the best costumes, they're just great.
I had heard a lot about Javier Fernandez and I liked his free at TEB, and wow, the boy did good! Pulled up from 13th after the short to 8th overall with his fantastic Pirates of the Caribbean program, complete with brilliantly drunken step sequence...he'll be at the Olympics this year and it'll be good to see him there but I am even more excited to see him (hopefully) join the Rippon/Brezina crew in 2014!
The way it worked out with the groups was really great, because the penultimate group was made up of the 'showmen', the ones that are fun to watch and really get the crowd going (think Contesti & Préaubert), which meant that the atmosphere, which was already good, just got even better, the audience were getting so into these guys! Weirdly, I'm just looking at my results sheet and I have just realised that I have no memory whatsoever of Stefan Lindemann skating, which is odd. He ended up in 9th though, which is nice for him, coming back after such a long time injured.
He's a fantastic performer when he's on and bless his heart, he kept selling it, but Verner was almost hard to watch. I know it's a long time since he was ill on the GP circuit but he still doesn't look healthy, he's really thin and he looks a little slow, it's almost like he just needs to take some time out and rest but of course, there's no way he'll do that until after the Olympics. The poor guy, his jumps were just not working. It's such a shame because I really think that when he's on form, and if he was slightly less of a headcase, he could definitely be challenging for a medal in Vancouver.
Like I said earlier, the French guys really brought it. Préaubert had a pretty good performance and I love that he skates his program in a Rolling Stones t-shirt, his program just suits him down to a T. He's never going to set the world on fire technically but he is definitely fun to watch and he seems to love being out there, and he looked absolutely devastated when he missed his quad, he obviously really wanted to do it.
I already covered Berntsson, so of that group, that just leaves Contesti (who actually skated first, but I'm saving my favourites till last). Wow, this was a brilliant performance. He landed everything, the crowd got right behind him, and I just love this program. He actually went 4th on the free, only behind Plushenko, Lambiel and Joubert, but since he'd been 7th after the short, he ended up 5th overall, but still, good for him! I really like this guy, and I love it that he is just sticking it to the French federation, who really must be kicking themselves right now (although God knows, what with Joubert, Ponsero, Préaubert and Amodio all pulling it out this season, they hardly need anymore men!)
The last group was always going to be intense. In skating order:
Yannick Ponsero. Honestly, given his track record this season, I was half-expecting this guy to bomb the long, but to his credit he didn't at all. I love his music, and I love his basic skating, and I love his big puppy dog eyes! He had an absolute beauty of a quad and a nice 3A, too, but he seemed to lost stamina or something and it all kind of fell apart a little towards the end, which left Brezina & Contesti to step up and leave him in 6th place, but hey, not bad!
Brian Joubert. My new favourite wasn't on form in the long, which I was sad about. He didn't fall (I don't think?) but he had several shaky landings and doubled a salchow, which probably cost him a silver medal - but then, as he said when we met him later on in the competition, there isn't really much between silver and bronze. That guy wanted gold :(.
Plushenko. I'm not a fan of Plushenko, but wow, the arena went crazy for him, and obviously you can't deny that the guy can jump. It just irritates me that he has taken the whole four years away from competition and will now likely just stride in and take the Olympic title once more. This wouldn't bother me much if I really liked his skating or if I thought that, in anything other than jumps, he was miles better than the other guys, but I really don't think that Plushenko has the 'full package', as it were. How his PCS for this program were only 2 marks below Stéphane's, I will never know. I didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry at the kisses he was blowing to the judges...I'm never exactly sure how much of his brilliant arrogance is tongue-in-cheek.
Michal Brezina. This boy is definitely shaping up to be one of my firm favourites. I absolutely cannot wait to see the battles he'll have with the likes of Adam Rippon at Worlds over the next four years, hopefully culminating in 2014 at the Olympics in Sochi, but anyway. He is just so lovely to watch. His jumps (for the most part) are absolutely textbook. He made a tiny error, but it hardly mattered. I just love him. I was actually convinced, after Stéphane put his hand down on the quad and randomly fell on the steps, that Brezina was going to take the bronze, but apparently the judges liked Stéphane just as much as I do!
Stéphane Lambiel. I am seriously glad that this guy came back. To me, he embodies everything that I like about figure skating, all in one incredibly good-looking, well-dressed, adorable little package. I love how he feels every single second of his music and of his performance. After his short program, I was so, so nervous for him, and like I said, I was convinced that he'd given his medal away with the mistakes, but I definitely should have had more faith in my boy, and he came through! Interestingly (or maybe not - everybody loves Stéphane, after all) the crowd were much more into him than they were Plushenko, not only during the program but before and afterwards - the arena just erupted after he finished, and I'm serious, when his marks and placement came up, I don't think I have ever heard such a collective scream of sheer joy. It was really an amazing moment. I actually haven't re-watched his long on YouTube since I got back, I've been too busy trying to catch up with school/US Nats and I want to appreciate it again, but I am definitely looking forward to that. Even more interestingly, he actually ended up finishing not even 4 points behind Plushenko (on the free), and that was without a perfect program, so maybe there is hope? If Stephane Lambiel nails his programs and wins Olympic gold, I genuinely think that I will probably die of joy.
Overall it was a fantastic event, I'm so glad to have seen it live. What a brilliant atmosphere. As much as I don't like Plushenko, the man is a legend, and getting to see him, Lambiel and Joubert skate for what will probably be the last time (although I'm kind of hoping that Stéphane will stay on another season to skate Euros in Switzerland next year!) is something that I am really, really glad that I got to do.
xxx
First off, I have to say that I really, really don't like this new thing the ISU is doing at Euros and 4CC where only 20 (? I think it was 20 for the men) skaters get to go through to skate the long. It doesn't seem fair on the 'lower-tier' skaters (in this case, Matt Parr, Viktor Romanenkov, etc), who skate pretty much the best they can in their short, and yet still don't get to even skate their frees; I can't see how the ISU expect these guys (and girls, and dancers, and pairs) to develop as skaters, particularly their stamina, if they're not being allowed to skate the free programs in international competition. Of course that means that they're going to train their short programs harder, there's not going to seem much point rigorously training a long program they're barely going to use, and it just seems kind of disheartening. But I have to say, the 'mini shows' that the Euros organisers in Estonia provided us with were absolutely hilarious.
Anyway, that said, onto the action. We were sitting up on the second tier of the arena so we weren't as close to the ice as we were for other events, but at least our view was unrestricted. I was cheering for Viktor Pfeifer (Austria), who has been one of my 'pet skaters' since Nebelhorn, when he and Priscilla Hill (who I love, by the way) seemed to spend the whole competition sitting next to us. He managed 15th or so going into the free, but didn't have a particularly good skate, which was a shame, although good on him for trying the quad. I have my fingers crossed for him in Vancouver! I also definitely had a new 'find' in Paolo Bacchini (Italy), though, he was good. I'm not sure of his age but he looked quite young - definitely one worth watching. Contesti was 5th at worlds last year - does that mean Italy have two Olympic spots? Is Bacchini going? I should really find out!
I was surprised to see Voronov sitting so low. I don't remember all that much about his program but he pulled up a fair amount; unfortunately he ultimately ended up losing his Olympic place in favour of Artem Borodulin, who wasn't at Euros (did Russia only have two spots?). He has good jumps, landed (just) a 4T and two 3As, but he doesn't have great presentation, or maybe he just wasn't 'on' that night. He's probably another one cursing the return of Plushenko, either way.
The programs of the Swedish boys never fail to disappoint (Adrian Schultheiss skates to Smack My Bitch Up. That right there is genius) but neither of them skated particularly well, especially Kristoffer Berntsson, poor guy, who had a terrible skate and ended up 15th, with no chance of going to the Olympics. Apparently the Swedish Federation had originally stated that, in order to get the place, one of the two had to finish top ten at Euros? I'm not sure, but either way, Schultheiss, who ended up in 12th place, now has the place and will be in Vancouver for sure. I'm sorry for Berntsson, but definitely excited to see Schultheiss and his hilariously surreal program at the Olys!
It was nice to see Kevin van der Perren skate relatively well, he's not been doing too great lately - he had surgery some time last year, I think? - and it was also interesting that he's gone back to his Robin Hood program from a few years back, which I'd heard good things about. Loved the costume. KvdP always has the best costumes, they're just great.
I had heard a lot about Javier Fernandez and I liked his free at TEB, and wow, the boy did good! Pulled up from 13th after the short to 8th overall with his fantastic Pirates of the Caribbean program, complete with brilliantly drunken step sequence...he'll be at the Olympics this year and it'll be good to see him there but I am even more excited to see him (hopefully) join the Rippon/Brezina crew in 2014!
The way it worked out with the groups was really great, because the penultimate group was made up of the 'showmen', the ones that are fun to watch and really get the crowd going (think Contesti & Préaubert), which meant that the atmosphere, which was already good, just got even better, the audience were getting so into these guys! Weirdly, I'm just looking at my results sheet and I have just realised that I have no memory whatsoever of Stefan Lindemann skating, which is odd. He ended up in 9th though, which is nice for him, coming back after such a long time injured.
He's a fantastic performer when he's on and bless his heart, he kept selling it, but Verner was almost hard to watch. I know it's a long time since he was ill on the GP circuit but he still doesn't look healthy, he's really thin and he looks a little slow, it's almost like he just needs to take some time out and rest but of course, there's no way he'll do that until after the Olympics. The poor guy, his jumps were just not working. It's such a shame because I really think that when he's on form, and if he was slightly less of a headcase, he could definitely be challenging for a medal in Vancouver.
Like I said earlier, the French guys really brought it. Préaubert had a pretty good performance and I love that he skates his program in a Rolling Stones t-shirt, his program just suits him down to a T. He's never going to set the world on fire technically but he is definitely fun to watch and he seems to love being out there, and he looked absolutely devastated when he missed his quad, he obviously really wanted to do it.
I already covered Berntsson, so of that group, that just leaves Contesti (who actually skated first, but I'm saving my favourites till last). Wow, this was a brilliant performance. He landed everything, the crowd got right behind him, and I just love this program. He actually went 4th on the free, only behind Plushenko, Lambiel and Joubert, but since he'd been 7th after the short, he ended up 5th overall, but still, good for him! I really like this guy, and I love it that he is just sticking it to the French federation, who really must be kicking themselves right now (although God knows, what with Joubert, Ponsero, Préaubert and Amodio all pulling it out this season, they hardly need anymore men!)
The last group was always going to be intense. In skating order:
Yannick Ponsero. Honestly, given his track record this season, I was half-expecting this guy to bomb the long, but to his credit he didn't at all. I love his music, and I love his basic skating, and I love his big puppy dog eyes! He had an absolute beauty of a quad and a nice 3A, too, but he seemed to lost stamina or something and it all kind of fell apart a little towards the end, which left Brezina & Contesti to step up and leave him in 6th place, but hey, not bad!
Brian Joubert. My new favourite wasn't on form in the long, which I was sad about. He didn't fall (I don't think?) but he had several shaky landings and doubled a salchow, which probably cost him a silver medal - but then, as he said when we met him later on in the competition, there isn't really much between silver and bronze. That guy wanted gold :(.
Plushenko. I'm not a fan of Plushenko, but wow, the arena went crazy for him, and obviously you can't deny that the guy can jump. It just irritates me that he has taken the whole four years away from competition and will now likely just stride in and take the Olympic title once more. This wouldn't bother me much if I really liked his skating or if I thought that, in anything other than jumps, he was miles better than the other guys, but I really don't think that Plushenko has the 'full package', as it were. How his PCS for this program were only 2 marks below Stéphane's, I will never know. I didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry at the kisses he was blowing to the judges...I'm never exactly sure how much of his brilliant arrogance is tongue-in-cheek.
Michal Brezina. This boy is definitely shaping up to be one of my firm favourites. I absolutely cannot wait to see the battles he'll have with the likes of Adam Rippon at Worlds over the next four years, hopefully culminating in 2014 at the Olympics in Sochi, but anyway. He is just so lovely to watch. His jumps (for the most part) are absolutely textbook. He made a tiny error, but it hardly mattered. I just love him. I was actually convinced, after Stéphane put his hand down on the quad and randomly fell on the steps, that Brezina was going to take the bronze, but apparently the judges liked Stéphane just as much as I do!
Stéphane Lambiel. I am seriously glad that this guy came back. To me, he embodies everything that I like about figure skating, all in one incredibly good-looking, well-dressed, adorable little package. I love how he feels every single second of his music and of his performance. After his short program, I was so, so nervous for him, and like I said, I was convinced that he'd given his medal away with the mistakes, but I definitely should have had more faith in my boy, and he came through! Interestingly (or maybe not - everybody loves Stéphane, after all) the crowd were much more into him than they were Plushenko, not only during the program but before and afterwards - the arena just erupted after he finished, and I'm serious, when his marks and placement came up, I don't think I have ever heard such a collective scream of sheer joy. It was really an amazing moment. I actually haven't re-watched his long on YouTube since I got back, I've been too busy trying to catch up with school/US Nats and I want to appreciate it again, but I am definitely looking forward to that. Even more interestingly, he actually ended up finishing not even 4 points behind Plushenko (on the free), and that was without a perfect program, so maybe there is hope? If Stephane Lambiel nails his programs and wins Olympic gold, I genuinely think that I will probably die of joy.
Overall it was a fantastic event, I'm so glad to have seen it live. What a brilliant atmosphere. As much as I don't like Plushenko, the man is a legend, and getting to see him, Lambiel and Joubert skate for what will probably be the last time (although I'm kind of hoping that Stéphane will stay on another season to skate Euros in Switzerland next year!) is something that I am really, really glad that I got to do.
xxx
Euros - Men's Press Conference
Just a really quick one. First, just look at that picture. Look at Brian's face. That poor guy, he was just like a sulky little kid in the awards ceremony.
I'm going to write about the Men's Free in a little while, but I am halfway through watching the press conference from just after it and I have fallen even more in love with Stéphane Lambiel and a lot in love with Brian Joubert. The two of them are too cute! Stéphane's sheer love for skating really shows through, his little face just lights up when he's talking about how much he loves it, and I really think that that is what sets him apart from the rest. And Brian, of course, looking a little sulky and a little upset in the background. It must be hard to have worked solidly for four years and then all of a sudden, Plushenko and Lambiel (Plush especially, since he hasn't competed at all this quad) just pop right back up and slot ahead of him again. I would really, really love him to medal at the Olympics, but then I also desperately want Stéphane and Jeremy to at least medal, and I have no doubt that Plushenko will medal, so I guess I can just hope that they all three skate their best and see what happens!
xxx
Euros - Men's Short
We literally got to Tallinn/the rink just in time to see the last group of the men's short, which we had to buy tickets for on the door, but I am so glad we did, because what a group! It was Lambiel, Contesti, Verner, Préaubert and Joubert (I think that's the right order), which is basically all my favourite Euro skaters besides Brezina, so that was really exciting. I was kind of surprised to get in and see Ponsero sitting comfortably in second, because he's not had that good of a season this year, but definitely good for him! I saw him a lot around the rink at Nebelhorn and have been feeling kind of sorry for him all season, so it was nice to see him skate well.
Stéphane was skating first, and because of the rush from the airport to the hotel to the rink, as well as getting into our seats just as the warm-up ended, I kind of feel like I didn't get to appreciate and enjoy the program as much as I would have otherwise, but it hardly mattered, I loved it anyway. I think that program is possibly my favourite SP this season, especially the step sequence, which is just fantastic. It was so obvious that probably 95% of the audience were massive Stéphane fans, too, the collective gasp when he went down on the combination was pretty funny and the crowd were yelling/screaming pretty much right through his final spin, which, of course, was gorgeous. That boy really is something else.
Contesti has been a favourite of mine since last season, his free at Euros last year was brilliant, but I have to say I was kind of underwhelmed with him in the short, he seemed kind of slow and the audience didn't get behind him as much as I thought they would have. Apparently, though, he didn't go to the press conference afterwards because he didn't feel well, so maybe that was the reason, since he was definitely much more engaging in the free. He skated pretty well though, clean as far as I can remember. I know he skates for Italy now, but these French guys definitely brought it this season!
I was really nervous for Tomas, he has not had a good season at all this year and I just really felt like he needed to do well going into the Olympics. He didn't exactly meltdown but he definitely didn't skate clean, either, which is such a shame because I love his choice of music and his program in general this year. I just feel really bad for the guy, it must be hard enough to have had Brezina suddenly taking all the limelight in Olympic year (not to mention Lambiel & Plushenko's comebacks), and then to be ill all season, as well, it's got to be tough! Tomas has always seemed like such a fun person, too, I just really want him to get it together in Vancouver.
Of all the men in that group, I was expecting to like Préaubert the least, but that wasn't the case at all, I loved him! Hilarious program, he hardly ever looks like he stands a chance in hell of landing any of his jumps but somehow he does, and I officially think that it should be compulsory for all male skaters to do their step sequences to the William Tell overture. Great program, the audience were really into it.
Joubert! I'd never really liked him, I think partly because he's always seemed a little arrogant and I didn't like his comments after Jeff Buttle won Worlds in '08, and then he didn't skate too well when I saw him in the free at TEB so he didn't particularly endear himself to me then, either. This season, though, he's been growing on me. Eurosport showed a hilarious fluff program on him just before we flew out to Estonia, it was an interview all in French and it showed him talking about how he used to want to be a bus driver and how he has kept these little action figures he used to collect, and he came across so genuinely lovely that I couldn't help but like him, and then wow, seeing him live this time really made a difference. He has amazing charisma that has just never come across to me before, and his short was brilliant. I really wanted it to go ahead of Plushenko (I'd want almost anyone to go ahead of Plush, really, but Brian really skated lights-out), and I cracked up at the Plushenko-esque 'number 1' hand gesture at the end.
Overall, it was definitely worth the ticket price just to see those guys skate, it definitely set up the competition for the long, which was just amazing, and which I will write about in a separate post!
xxx
Stéphane was skating first, and because of the rush from the airport to the hotel to the rink, as well as getting into our seats just as the warm-up ended, I kind of feel like I didn't get to appreciate and enjoy the program as much as I would have otherwise, but it hardly mattered, I loved it anyway. I think that program is possibly my favourite SP this season, especially the step sequence, which is just fantastic. It was so obvious that probably 95% of the audience were massive Stéphane fans, too, the collective gasp when he went down on the combination was pretty funny and the crowd were yelling/screaming pretty much right through his final spin, which, of course, was gorgeous. That boy really is something else.
Contesti has been a favourite of mine since last season, his free at Euros last year was brilliant, but I have to say I was kind of underwhelmed with him in the short, he seemed kind of slow and the audience didn't get behind him as much as I thought they would have. Apparently, though, he didn't go to the press conference afterwards because he didn't feel well, so maybe that was the reason, since he was definitely much more engaging in the free. He skated pretty well though, clean as far as I can remember. I know he skates for Italy now, but these French guys definitely brought it this season!
I was really nervous for Tomas, he has not had a good season at all this year and I just really felt like he needed to do well going into the Olympics. He didn't exactly meltdown but he definitely didn't skate clean, either, which is such a shame because I love his choice of music and his program in general this year. I just feel really bad for the guy, it must be hard enough to have had Brezina suddenly taking all the limelight in Olympic year (not to mention Lambiel & Plushenko's comebacks), and then to be ill all season, as well, it's got to be tough! Tomas has always seemed like such a fun person, too, I just really want him to get it together in Vancouver.
Of all the men in that group, I was expecting to like Préaubert the least, but that wasn't the case at all, I loved him! Hilarious program, he hardly ever looks like he stands a chance in hell of landing any of his jumps but somehow he does, and I officially think that it should be compulsory for all male skaters to do their step sequences to the William Tell overture. Great program, the audience were really into it.
Joubert! I'd never really liked him, I think partly because he's always seemed a little arrogant and I didn't like his comments after Jeff Buttle won Worlds in '08, and then he didn't skate too well when I saw him in the free at TEB so he didn't particularly endear himself to me then, either. This season, though, he's been growing on me. Eurosport showed a hilarious fluff program on him just before we flew out to Estonia, it was an interview all in French and it showed him talking about how he used to want to be a bus driver and how he has kept these little action figures he used to collect, and he came across so genuinely lovely that I couldn't help but like him, and then wow, seeing him live this time really made a difference. He has amazing charisma that has just never come across to me before, and his short was brilliant. I really wanted it to go ahead of Plushenko (I'd want almost anyone to go ahead of Plush, really, but Brian really skated lights-out), and I cracked up at the Plushenko-esque 'number 1' hand gesture at the end.
Overall, it was definitely worth the ticket price just to see those guys skate, it definitely set up the competition for the long, which was just amazing, and which I will write about in a separate post!
xxx
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
US Nationals - Ladies Short
Because I'm watching it. (This is something of a work in progress - I am so busy right now, catching up with school after Euros, I just don't have time to watch hours of skating!)
Tatyana Khazova & Rebecca Stern - ouch for Rebecca Stern, fell on two out of four jumps and only managed a single to squeak out a combo. Sweet to see the audience getting behind her though. Khazova was just kind of blah.
Rachael Flatt - Go Rachael! I like Rachael a lot and she seems like an absolute sweetie as a person, but I always find her skating a little flat - no pun intended - next to the other girls. Not tonight, though, I've never seen her sell a program like that before, that was great! I love Sing, Sing, Sing as a piece of music. That dress works for her a little better than some of her other dresses, too.
Alissa Czisny - Oh, Alissa. I have a soft spot for Alissa, mostly because she is absolutely beautiful and she seemed really sweet at Nebelhorn, always around the rink, and her spins and spirals are to die for. Gorgeous new dress, she always has gorgeous dresses. Her axel was nice, and she has the loveliest layback. It's such a shame about those first two jumps, and the missed combo...and wow, that is an unflattering angle in the KnC!
Samantha Cesario - That has to be the gentlest fall I've ever seen. It almost looked choreographed. She has nice fluidity and she's nice and easy to watch, and she has a pretty dress, it looks like it was designed by Tiffany. Although she is skating to some sort of muzak-y version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Nice debut, though.
Christina Gao - Cute! I liked her a lot, hopefully she can keep it up as she gets older and keep on developing her stuff, she has a nice presence.
Mirai Nagasu - I kind of almost resent Mirai's doing so well because I really wanted Ashley Wagner to get an Olympic spot, but I have to admit the program was really, really good and she deserved her marks. If only there was a third Olympic spot, I probably would have really loved her. And her reaction in the KnC was really cute. Good for her!
Chelsea Morrow - Nice speed and nice spins, especially the layback, a little blah, especially after Rachael, Christina, Mirai etc. She looks happy with her skate though. As an aside, I'm really liking Tara Lipinski doing the commentating!
Alexe Gilles - I like Alexe. She had a really nice skate, except for the doubled lutz. I feel like she just needs more attack or something. Seems really sweet in the KnC/general life, anyway.
Ellie Kawamura - I'm interested to see her skate, never seen her before. Rough start though, and I have to say I kind of tuned out after she fell on the first two jumps. Nice spin at the end - did she just put her blade to her nose? Never seen that before. The not-so-subtle costume/music combination makes me smile, and I love her name, which is not a good reason to like a skater, but there you go. And she gets slammed on the scores, poor girl.
Caroline Zhang - I'm convinced that almost half of the skaters I've seen have skated for the All Year FSC in Culver City, CA. Anyway I find it kind of hard to like Caroline. She just looks so very, very slow out there, and she doesn't ever really look like she's having a good time. Gorgeous spins and spirals though, of course. Nice dress, too. Oh, she looks devastated in the KnC. Did she cut her hand? She's such a pretty little thing. "There's always next year," she says. I always forget she's still young, it seems like she's been around forever.
I love how the camera just focuses right in on Sasha while her group wait to take the ice for their warmup. She looks so totally focused, and wow she is skinny. Love the screams when her name is announced, too.
Amanda Dobbs - I loved her in the pairs competition, I am definitely championing her. She doesn't really have the more difficult jumps but the ones that she does have look really easy and secure, and she looked like she was having a great time out there. Her music (The Mission) is used a lot but I like it. She seemed really sweet in the KnC too, great smile.
Laney Diggs - Wearing full-on gloves, for some reason? Hands shaking like a leaf while she waited for her music to start. Fell on her lutz and double-footed the first half of her combo but she has nice enough presence and musicality and things. Nice attitude in the KnC, too, loved Frank Carroll looking totally bemused at her shout-outs and hand gestures.
Melissa Bulanhagui - She seemed a little slow at times, especially in her spiral sequence. I thought her music suited her steps well, but she just looked a little sloppy out there. She seemed really happy at the end though, which is always nice to see. And it was cute how she tried to get off the ice the wrong way! I know a lot of people like her, I can see why, she seems really personable.
Sasha Cohen - Wow. That comeback was Plushenko-esque, for sure. She has the most gorgeous split jump. I love it. I was so excited when I first heard that Sasha was coming back and then when she missed both her GPs I was sceptical (and sad - we were supposed to see her skate at TEB!), but I always hoped she would come back and skate perfectly, and I'm so happy that she did (at least in the SP!). Just beautiful.
Christina-Maria Sperduto - Pretty girl. She was so slow going into her 3Loop, I thought she was going to stop before she even took off. Kind of bad luck for her, having to skate after Sasha anyway, and then doing Sasha's trademark spiral move. I liked her step sequence though, it was nice with the music. I love it when they don't really know what they're doing in the KnC, like she asked where her scores will be shown, and in the men's Keegan Messing was asking his coach if his scores were good. Wow, apparently she was worse than Rebecca Stern. Poor girl!
Bebe Liang - This is one of the skaters that I have always liked based entirely on how fun her name is to say. Nice 3Lz-2T to start, and then a fall, but she had a gorgeous layback. I loved her dress, too, with the red flower in her hair. Wasn't she supposed to be the Next Big Thing at one point?
Emily Hughes - I like Emily Hughes in general, but somehow, even though I watched her whole program, I completely missed her axel. So I guess she didn't exactly capture me with her performance.
Becky Bereswill - What always strikes me most about Becky is how tall she is! I think she has a really nice style, she's elegant and pretty but she still looks kind of 'free'. I liked her spins, and her dress; if she could get the jumps clean, I think she could be pretty good.
Blake Rosenthal - She's another girl that I just kind of inherently like. She's lovely to watch, ouch on the splat on the flip though. I don't think the music really suited her, especially on the step sequence, it was really speeding up and she just wasn't, but it was nice enough. Oh, andshe cut her hand. She has a great smile, and she seems like a real sweetie in the KnC, it was cute when she saw Ashley on the screen; "Oh look, there's Ash!" and Priscilla Hill was like, "oh good, now I know when to find her." I love watching the skaters with their coaches in the KnC, it's one of my favourite parts.
Kayla Howey - I thought Alissa had come out for a second try when she first took the ice! She had quite a nice, easy style but she was just a little blah. She's only sixteen though, so she definitely has time to develop.
Kristiene Gong - I liked her! Is she another up-and-comer of the Christina Gao-Ellie Kawamura set? She had a really pretty 3Lz-2T combination. Cute in the KnC, trying to remember who to shout-out to, she looked really tiny next to her coaches!
Ashley Wagner - Oh, Ashley. I am such a fan of hers, and apart from the fall on the lutz, that program was gorgeous. Beautiful layback. I loved her footwork into the lutz, too. I just really, really love her skating, and she's such an absolute sweetheart.
It only took me about a week, but I finally got through every girl! Overall, I think that Rachael, Mirai and Sasha deserved their places in the top three. I would have loved to see Ashley get higher and skate clean, but she did such a good job otherwise. And yay for Amanda Dobbs for placing 6th! I am definitely going to keep my eye on that girl.
xxx
Tatyana Khazova & Rebecca Stern - ouch for Rebecca Stern, fell on two out of four jumps and only managed a single to squeak out a combo. Sweet to see the audience getting behind her though. Khazova was just kind of blah.
Rachael Flatt - Go Rachael! I like Rachael a lot and she seems like an absolute sweetie as a person, but I always find her skating a little flat - no pun intended - next to the other girls. Not tonight, though, I've never seen her sell a program like that before, that was great! I love Sing, Sing, Sing as a piece of music. That dress works for her a little better than some of her other dresses, too.
Alissa Czisny - Oh, Alissa. I have a soft spot for Alissa, mostly because she is absolutely beautiful and she seemed really sweet at Nebelhorn, always around the rink, and her spins and spirals are to die for. Gorgeous new dress, she always has gorgeous dresses. Her axel was nice, and she has the loveliest layback. It's such a shame about those first two jumps, and the missed combo...and wow, that is an unflattering angle in the KnC!
Samantha Cesario - That has to be the gentlest fall I've ever seen. It almost looked choreographed. She has nice fluidity and she's nice and easy to watch, and she has a pretty dress, it looks like it was designed by Tiffany. Although she is skating to some sort of muzak-y version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Nice debut, though.
Christina Gao - Cute! I liked her a lot, hopefully she can keep it up as she gets older and keep on developing her stuff, she has a nice presence.
Mirai Nagasu - I kind of almost resent Mirai's doing so well because I really wanted Ashley Wagner to get an Olympic spot, but I have to admit the program was really, really good and she deserved her marks. If only there was a third Olympic spot, I probably would have really loved her. And her reaction in the KnC was really cute. Good for her!
Chelsea Morrow - Nice speed and nice spins, especially the layback, a little blah, especially after Rachael, Christina, Mirai etc. She looks happy with her skate though. As an aside, I'm really liking Tara Lipinski doing the commentating!
Alexe Gilles - I like Alexe. She had a really nice skate, except for the doubled lutz. I feel like she just needs more attack or something. Seems really sweet in the KnC/general life, anyway.
Ellie Kawamura - I'm interested to see her skate, never seen her before. Rough start though, and I have to say I kind of tuned out after she fell on the first two jumps. Nice spin at the end - did she just put her blade to her nose? Never seen that before. The not-so-subtle costume/music combination makes me smile, and I love her name, which is not a good reason to like a skater, but there you go. And she gets slammed on the scores, poor girl.
Caroline Zhang - I'm convinced that almost half of the skaters I've seen have skated for the All Year FSC in Culver City, CA. Anyway I find it kind of hard to like Caroline. She just looks so very, very slow out there, and she doesn't ever really look like she's having a good time. Gorgeous spins and spirals though, of course. Nice dress, too. Oh, she looks devastated in the KnC. Did she cut her hand? She's such a pretty little thing. "There's always next year," she says. I always forget she's still young, it seems like she's been around forever.
I love how the camera just focuses right in on Sasha while her group wait to take the ice for their warmup. She looks so totally focused, and wow she is skinny. Love the screams when her name is announced, too.
Amanda Dobbs - I loved her in the pairs competition, I am definitely championing her. She doesn't really have the more difficult jumps but the ones that she does have look really easy and secure, and she looked like she was having a great time out there. Her music (The Mission) is used a lot but I like it. She seemed really sweet in the KnC too, great smile.
Laney Diggs - Wearing full-on gloves, for some reason? Hands shaking like a leaf while she waited for her music to start. Fell on her lutz and double-footed the first half of her combo but she has nice enough presence and musicality and things. Nice attitude in the KnC, too, loved Frank Carroll looking totally bemused at her shout-outs and hand gestures.
Melissa Bulanhagui - She seemed a little slow at times, especially in her spiral sequence. I thought her music suited her steps well, but she just looked a little sloppy out there. She seemed really happy at the end though, which is always nice to see. And it was cute how she tried to get off the ice the wrong way! I know a lot of people like her, I can see why, she seems really personable.
Sasha Cohen - Wow. That comeback was Plushenko-esque, for sure. She has the most gorgeous split jump. I love it. I was so excited when I first heard that Sasha was coming back and then when she missed both her GPs I was sceptical (and sad - we were supposed to see her skate at TEB!), but I always hoped she would come back and skate perfectly, and I'm so happy that she did (at least in the SP!). Just beautiful.
Christina-Maria Sperduto - Pretty girl. She was so slow going into her 3Loop, I thought she was going to stop before she even took off. Kind of bad luck for her, having to skate after Sasha anyway, and then doing Sasha's trademark spiral move. I liked her step sequence though, it was nice with the music. I love it when they don't really know what they're doing in the KnC, like she asked where her scores will be shown, and in the men's Keegan Messing was asking his coach if his scores were good. Wow, apparently she was worse than Rebecca Stern. Poor girl!
Bebe Liang - This is one of the skaters that I have always liked based entirely on how fun her name is to say. Nice 3Lz-2T to start, and then a fall, but she had a gorgeous layback. I loved her dress, too, with the red flower in her hair. Wasn't she supposed to be the Next Big Thing at one point?
Emily Hughes - I like Emily Hughes in general, but somehow, even though I watched her whole program, I completely missed her axel. So I guess she didn't exactly capture me with her performance.
Becky Bereswill - What always strikes me most about Becky is how tall she is! I think she has a really nice style, she's elegant and pretty but she still looks kind of 'free'. I liked her spins, and her dress; if she could get the jumps clean, I think she could be pretty good.
Blake Rosenthal - She's another girl that I just kind of inherently like. She's lovely to watch, ouch on the splat on the flip though. I don't think the music really suited her, especially on the step sequence, it was really speeding up and she just wasn't, but it was nice enough. Oh, andshe cut her hand. She has a great smile, and she seems like a real sweetie in the KnC, it was cute when she saw Ashley on the screen; "Oh look, there's Ash!" and Priscilla Hill was like, "oh good, now I know when to find her." I love watching the skaters with their coaches in the KnC, it's one of my favourite parts.
Kayla Howey - I thought Alissa had come out for a second try when she first took the ice! She had quite a nice, easy style but she was just a little blah. She's only sixteen though, so she definitely has time to develop.
Kristiene Gong - I liked her! Is she another up-and-comer of the Christina Gao-Ellie Kawamura set? She had a really pretty 3Lz-2T combination. Cute in the KnC, trying to remember who to shout-out to, she looked really tiny next to her coaches!
Ashley Wagner - Oh, Ashley. I am such a fan of hers, and apart from the fall on the lutz, that program was gorgeous. Beautiful layback. I loved her footwork into the lutz, too. I just really, really love her skating, and she's such an absolute sweetheart.
It only took me about a week, but I finally got through every girl! Overall, I think that Rachael, Mirai and Sasha deserved their places in the top three. I would have loved to see Ashley get higher and skate clean, but she did such a good job otherwise. And yay for Amanda Dobbs for placing 6th! I am definitely going to keep my eye on that girl.
xxx
Euros - Pairs
Pairs has always been my least favourite discipline. I've always found it kind of boring, mostly because unlike the other events, it is very rare that you get a fun program or anything different from Dramatic or Soppy, and it has also always kind of scared me; it's always seemed to hold the most potential for absolute disaster.
But I have to say, after having watched Europeans live, I have definitely come to appreciate pairs more and I even have specific teams that I like now, as opposed to a bland indifference to all pair teams. Here are my thoughts on the Euros free:
xxx
But I have to say, after having watched Europeans live, I have definitely come to appreciate pairs more and I even have specific teams that I like now, as opposed to a bland indifference to all pair teams. Here are my thoughts on the Euros free:
- Our second pair, Risseeuw/Paxton didn't have a particularly great skate but I do like them, she's really pretty and they look good together and they seemed to have a good time. And her name is fun to say. I'm not entirely sure I'm remembering correctly, but I think these two had some really nice lifts. They did pretty well, too, they ended up 12th, just behind K/K, so that's good. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the future!
- I have a feeling that I wouldn't be particularly fond of Kemp/King if they weren't British, but they are, so I like them automatically. They have nice pairs elements, lifts and things, and these definitely have nice lifts. I also kind of like them because they spent a lot of time watching the events back in September at Nebelhorn. They did a good job of pulling up after their kind of disastrous short, though!
- I liked the Estonian pair, Sergejeva/Glebov. They looked pretty good at the beginning and then kind of seemed to run out of steam or something towards the end, but nice nonetheless.
- I loved Morand/Dorsaz, from Switzerland. They were one of the teams that changed my entire outlook on pairs, I think. They looked good together and she looked really cute in her little Burberry-esque shorts, although they were kind of overkill on his trousers.
- Bazarova/Larionova - I can't really remember much about their program but I know I liked them. She's little and pretty, which endears me to most any skater, and they have nice lines.
- I've seen James/Bonheur skate at every event I've been to this season (Nebelhorn, TEB, and now Euros) and I think this was the best I've seen them. I feel like I have some sort of loyalty to them because I've seen them so much, hard to say if I'd actually like them if not. Yannick doesn't really seem to land all that many jumps ;).
- Mukhortova/Trankov. Wow, it took me like three times to spell her name right just then. Anyway, she is known for looking miserable all the time but, like the Swiss, there is something about this team that I just love. I took a whole load of pictures of them and in every one, they are perfectly in unison. I definitely thought they deserved their medal.
- Kawaguchi/Smirnov had an absolutely magical performance, it was probably the only one that really swept the crowd up. When I was there, it seemed like they were absolutely perfect, except for what we thought was a bit of awkward choreography and was actually her popping her dislocated shoulder back into place seconds before landing two 2-axels, and it wasn't until afterwards when I watched it back that I saw a few mistakes, but anyway, I was really happy they won. Smirnov on the podium was just too cute. Also, anyone that wears a tiara in each of their programs deserves a gold medal in my eyes.
- I just love Savchenko/Solkowy. I've seen them skate at every event I've been to, too, and their new FS is very lovely, and I was kind of sad they didn't win but I did think that K/S did better. They're not having too great of a season, I hope they can get it all together in time for the Olympics.
- Volosozhar/Morozov mostly just make me laugh, because he looks basically the complete opposite to what you'd imagine a figure skater to look like. And, of course, he messed up every single jump, which left me feeling sorry for Tatiana. They don't really do anything for me but I still felt kind of bad that they didn't get a medal, but then, I love all three teams that did medal, so what can you do?
xxx
US Nationals - Men
This is the first year I've watched US Nationals and it was really interesting to get to see skaters other than the 'big names' - Jeremy, Evan, Johnny, Adam etc - and to see guys whose names I've seen mentioned lots but never actually seen skate, like Parker Pennington, Alex Johnson, etc. It's been kind of a long time since the competition and I have watched a lot of skating since then, so instead of anything structured I'm going to do a list of the things that stood out to me:
I'm definitely willing Jeremy on to Gold in Vancouver, hopefully he can skate as perfectly as he did here!
xxx
- Jeremy Abbott. Everything about him. His short, his long, his reaction to his programs, his parents jumping up and down in the stands after he skated...he was just amazing. I love this guy and I really, really hope he can hold his head together in Vancouver!
- Johnny Weir. I've never really gotten into him but this season I've completely done a 180 on him, and the more I read about him the more I like him. It was kind of a shame that he had a few mistakes in the free, but his incredibly detailed explanation of his costume in the press conference afterwards had me laughing out loud and he really just makes me smile.
- Adam Rippon. His face after his short was just heartbreaking. I was so, so sad for him. The first 3/4s of the program was absolutely gorgeous, and then the crash into the boards and the fall...I'm kind of already really excited to see him skate over the next four years, I reckon he's a future world champion for sure!
- Ryan Bradley. I've loved Ryan since I went to the Nebelhorn Trophy this September - he's another one I'd never really seen skate before - and his performance in the free last week is one of my favourite performances I have ever seen. It was practically foot-perfect and he looked so, so happy right afterwards, and his little bow to the flower girl was just lovely, and I am heartbroken for him that he missed the Olympic team because of his short program (although his 4-3 in that was a thing of absolute beauty). The moment where he waved and mouthed 'bye bye' to the camera after Jeremy, Evan and Johnny went 1 - 2 - 3 was way too sad, and his expression in the medal ceremony was just as bad. I really hope that he at least gets to go to Worlds this season, and if he retires - what an incredible performance to go out on!
- Keegan Messing. There is definitely something about this guy that I like, I think he has great power and attack. I also loved him in the KnC after his short; "Is that good?"
- Jonathan Cassar's spreadeagle. Enough said!
- I also really liked Parker Pennington's spins, in the short, and Jason Wong, also in the short.
- The medal ceremony. I don't know what Johnny said, but as the four guys gathered together on the podium to have their photos done, he said something that made Jeremy's jaw drop and Ryan giggle like a little kid, and it was just super cute. I also liked Johnny & Ryan having a little conversation, because Ryan looked so sad otherwise, and Jeremy's coughing into his elbow just as they were having pictures done made me smile, too.
- Evan's attitude in the KnC really rubbed me up the wrong way. Also his comment that Nationals is 'just a practice', which I thought was just disrespectful and unnecessary.
- The sheer tension of that last group in the free! I could barely even breathe watching Ryan, Adam and Jeremy, I was so nervous for them all, and then I was so, so excited for both Ryan and Jeremy when they both skated so gorgeously, and getting to watch it live - even if we had to watch it on, like, Japanese internet streaming or something - was definitely really exciting!
I'm definitely willing Jeremy on to Gold in Vancouver, hopefully he can skate as perfectly as he did here!
xxx
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Europeans - Pairs Short
I'm heading to Tallinn tomorrow morning, but the Pairs SP is on right now and Eurosport is showing the last two groups so here are my thoughts, as it happens:
Yuko Kawaguti / Alexander Smirnov
Last season, she wore tutus for both programs, and this season, she is wearing a little white dress with a frothy little skirt and a tiara. If I was a figure skater, I would definitely wear costumes like that. Anyway, the program was nice, I wish I'd paid more attention because the commentators are saying that it's basically the best thing they've ever seen. Also, he looks kind of a lot like Brian Joubert.
Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morosov
They are dressed in shiny blue catsuits with silver piping-y bits, which is interesting. They were just kind of blah. I wish I liked pairs more.
Stacey Kemp / David King
This is kind of a terrifying group for these two to skate in! They're dressed in purple and sequins. I like. Nice double flips but apparently they were supposed to be axels. Absolute disaster on the spins though. Oh, bless him, he looks gutted.
Aliona Savchenko / Robin Solkowy
Oh, Aliona has little sparkly hearts on her boots! These two are one of the only pairs I actually really like to watch. The music is lovely too, t's twinkly and pretty but somehow not boring, and oh, that was just gorgeous. Into first, of course.
Maria Sergejeva / Ilja Glebov
Oh, these only look about twelve! They have cute black and yellow outfits and they started with a really nice triple twist, a lutz triple twist apparently. Nice throw as well, but then sbs jumps were off in timing. I quite like these two, actually, they're nice and light. And now that we can see them in the KnC, she's a pretty little thing. Good job guys!
Maria Murkhortova / Maxim Trankov
She has a pretty pink dress but he has a hideous brown/peach thing that is just horrible. Nice triple twist. That was really nice, too.
I missed the last two pairs; they obviously didn't make that much of an impression. Full thoughts on the rest of the competiton coming soon!
xxx
Yuko Kawaguti / Alexander Smirnov
Last season, she wore tutus for both programs, and this season, she is wearing a little white dress with a frothy little skirt and a tiara. If I was a figure skater, I would definitely wear costumes like that. Anyway, the program was nice, I wish I'd paid more attention because the commentators are saying that it's basically the best thing they've ever seen. Also, he looks kind of a lot like Brian Joubert.
Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morosov
They are dressed in shiny blue catsuits with silver piping-y bits, which is interesting. They were just kind of blah. I wish I liked pairs more.
Stacey Kemp / David King
This is kind of a terrifying group for these two to skate in! They're dressed in purple and sequins. I like. Nice double flips but apparently they were supposed to be axels. Absolute disaster on the spins though. Oh, bless him, he looks gutted.
Aliona Savchenko / Robin Solkowy
Oh, Aliona has little sparkly hearts on her boots! These two are one of the only pairs I actually really like to watch. The music is lovely too, t's twinkly and pretty but somehow not boring, and oh, that was just gorgeous. Into first, of course.
Maria Sergejeva / Ilja Glebov
Oh, these only look about twelve! They have cute black and yellow outfits and they started with a really nice triple twist, a lutz triple twist apparently. Nice throw as well, but then sbs jumps were off in timing. I quite like these two, actually, they're nice and light. And now that we can see them in the KnC, she's a pretty little thing. Good job guys!
Maria Murkhortova / Maxim Trankov
She has a pretty pink dress but he has a hideous brown/peach thing that is just horrible. Nice triple twist. That was really nice, too.
I missed the last two pairs; they obviously didn't make that much of an impression. Full thoughts on the rest of the competiton coming soon!
xxx
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