2015 Europeans Short Dance Jan 28

[Skater Boy]

C/B - I do not know what I am watching, but it is definitely not a paso. They totally lack character. Even her costume is not matching the character. Just the fact that it is red, it does not mean it looks right for that dance.

It is a British paso made for the Queen perhaps? I agree P/C are the clear favourites in the e yes o fthe judges and they have the programs and skill with this group. I do think the Russians I/Z could have been ranked first in the S/D but I doubt they will challenge in the free right now. They are too new and working on techniue and pcs. That being said the FD will be huge for the Italians. We aren't suppose to say this but I think the judges were far too lenient and generous with their SD. They were pretty lucky P/B screwed up at worlds and of course Davis and White and Virtue and Moir were gone plus all the personal problems of the Russians and injuries they really had everything lined up - they easily could have lost had p/b not screwed up nevertheless the scores indiciate that clearly they could have lost to Weaver and Poje it was really the matter of a fraction of a point which could be interpretation. I would have them fourth.

 

[Skater Boy]

Absolute nonsense. Nobody could pay me enough money to sprout such utter rubbish.

we get your point but I doubt what you said was true. A cheque for a million or two and you probably say quite a bit of rubbish

 

[WeakAnkles]

we get your point but I doubt what you said was true. A cheque for a million or two and you probably say quite a bit of rubbish

Why don't you send me a check for that amount and I'll be happy to test out that theory for you. When it clears the bank, that is.

Just sayin'...

 

[Skater Boy]

Crap, I spaced out and missed C/L. Must catch replay later. Surprised I/Z beat them.

ITA but I rewatched the programs I honestly would have the Russians first (my surprise) then the French. I know the French supposedly have THE freedance but their SD had some issues and I felt the Russiasn really captured the spirit of the paso moreso. I am really not feeling it for C/L and as for the british team I thought they were on the rise and destined for Euro bronze but I doubt that now. For some reason as much as we have quick rises P/C and Chock and Bates from the US and possibly even faster I/Z there usually are some teams that tumble and C and L really look like they should be that team right now and maybe the BRits who looked so good early on. An unfortunate error killed their GPF chances. I think they may have lost their window not to mention their mojo.

 

[Skater Boy]

Why don't you send me a check for that amount and I'll be happy to test out that theory for you. When it clears the bank, that is.

Just sayin'...

Sure I will do that when Jeremy Abbott wins an individual Olympic gold medal

 

[Mrs. P]

I have no skin in the game here, so I'll say that I Cappellini/Lanotte was much better than Cup of China, but not 69+ better, IMO. That's what they scored at Skate America for a pristine Finnstep last season.

And I couldn't stop looking at Anna and not in a good way. She just seem so...unpolished? After watching Maia Shibutani do paso all season with that stiff, postured back, Anna's paso looked really sloppy in comparison. And her posture seemed off? Or am I just imagining things?

So I guess I'm fine with the order, though I would have put C/L a few points lower.

 

[WeakAnkles]

ITA but I rewatched the programs I honestly would have the Russians first (my surprise) then the French. I know the French supposedly have THE freedance but their SD had some issues and I felt the Russiasn really captured the spirit of the paso moreso. I am really not feeling it for C/L and as for the british team I thought they were on the rise and destined for Euro bronze but I doubt that now. For some reason as much as we have quick rises P/C and Chock and Bates from the US and possibly even faster I/Z there usually are some teams that tumble and C and L really look like they should be that team right now and maybe the BRits who looked so good early on. An unfortunate error killed their GPF chances. I think they may have lost their window not to mention their mojo.

Pah, I completely disagree. I think the problem is more fundamental than that. They broke through with their MJ FD, which was more about tricks than dancing, though the balance between the two wasn't egregious. But this year it seems like they're all about the tricks and have forgotten to dance. So the balance is totally out of whack. I don't blame Platov for pushing the envelope--Coomes and Buckland's tricks are much better than their dancing, so why not go for it. But the balance this year is way off.

 

[Skater Boy]

I like it for that reason.

He's a macho Spanish butcher who, after a long day butchering, walks into a bar all sweaty and rugged and lo! there's his wife flirting with another man! He grabs her and leads her onto the dance floor into a fierce paso to show her that he's the man for her.

LOL

Oh...cause that was so clearly communicated lol. It's not like we needed a programme or a translation to get that.

 

[Alba]

Pah, I completely disagree. I think the problem is more fundamental than that. They broke through with their MJ FD, which was more about tricks than dancing, though the balance between the two wasn't egregious. But this year it seems like they're all about the tricks and have forgotten to dance. So the balance is totally out of whack. I don't blame Platov for pushing the envelope--Coomes and Buckland's tricks are much better than their dancing, so why not go for it. But the balance this year is way off.

I agree. Coomes and Bucland it's all about tricks, which I like by the way, but there is zero dance. They really do look 100% like Pairs but without jumps.

p.s. It seems that M&K are a bit dissapointed with the judges. I don't understand why tbh.

"We tried to put his heart and soul into our current rental - said Kirill Halyavin. - It is a dance of men and women. The judges have underestimated".
http://translate.googleusercontent....=89387&usg=ALkJrhjLglcbl-tTE0PespRBhPkWrtZH4A

 

[fleeting]

I have no skin in the game here, so I'll say that I Cappellini/Lanotte was much better than Cup of China, but not 69+ better, IMO. That's what they scored at Skate America for a pristine Finnstep last season.

And I couldn't stop looking at Anna and not in a good way. She just seem so...unpolished? After watching Maia Shibutani do paso all season with that stiff, postured back, Anna's paso looked really sloppy in comparison. And her posture seemed off? Or am I just imagining things?

So I guess I'm fine with the order, though I would have put C/L a few points lower.

Agree on her back. I think Anna (and Luca for that matter) were sacrificing posture for speed. They covered the ice well, but seemed very... Schlump-y the entire time. They were bending at the hips instead of the knees, and it showed.

Then again, Maia's posture is some of the best in the field right now, so I suppose it's not terrible. But the over scoring this season is insane just as a whole. Crazy scores given out left and right. I wasn't expecting this event to be all that different, though...

 

[WeakAnkles]

I agree. Coomes and Bucland it's all about tricks, which I like by the way, but there is zero dance. They really do look 100% like Pairs but without jumps.

p.s. It seems that M&K are a bit dissapointed with the judges. I don't understand why tbh.

"We tried to put his heart and soul into our current rental - said Kirill Halyavin. - It is a dance of men and women. The judges have underestimated".
http://translate.googleusercontent....=89387&usg=ALkJrhjLglcbl-tTE0PespRBhPkWrtZH4A

Oh pfft. It's not 1991. You can't hide a multitude of sloppy mistakes with "feeling" and "emotion." Skate better and the judges won't underestimate you.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Agree on her back. I think Anna (and Luca for that matter) were sacrificing posture for speed. They covered the ice well, but seemed very... Schlump-y the entire time. They were bending at the hips instead of the knees, and it showed.

Then again, Maia's posture is some of the best in the field right now, so I suppose it's not terrible. But the over scoring this season is insane just as a whole. Crazy scores given out left and right. I wasn't expecting this event to be all that different, though...

I think Anna and Luca are skating not to lose. It's very different from skating to win. Anna was selling that program so hard I wanted to make her a cup of nice soothing tea and tell her, you need to calm down a bit, dear. (No, Mrs. P, you're not imagining things at all--I completely agree).

And yes, fleeting, the scores are just insanely overinflated. But in the long run that means less than the actual placements. So I take them with a whole shaker of salt, nevermind a grain. LOL!

 

[FSGMT]

Reading the comments here makes me think that it is just because of national bias, but I really thought that Anna and Luca were underscored compared to I/Z: they both skated well with passion and fire, but for me, while you could tell that Elena and Ruslan were acting 100%, C/L "felt" it a lot more, the expression was a lot more natural and not forced. The intricacy of the programs of the Italian and French couples was lot better than the Russian too, for me... But then, it's just one point and a half

 

[Alba]

Agree on her back. I think Anna (and Luca for that matter) were sacrificing posture for speed. They covered the ice well, but seemed very... Schlump-y the entire time. They were bending at the hips instead of the knees, and it showed.

I couldn't understand at first why Anna's posture was so bad here. I too thought maybe it was a wrong impression because I usually do like Anna's posture, but I think you made a good point. They did sacrifice posture for speed.

 

[turgon97]

I agree. Coomes and Bucland it's all about tricks, which I like by the way, but there is zero dance. They really do look 100% like Pairs but without jumps.

p.s. It seems that M&K are a bit dissapointed with the judges. I don't understand why tbh.

"We tried to put his heart and soul into our current rental - said Kirill Halyavin. - It is a dance of men and women. The judges have underestimated".
http://translate.googleusercontent....=89387&usg=ALkJrhjLglcbl-tTE0PespRBhPkWrtZH4A

Me neither. I really like this team and their free dance is one of my favorites, but I (and definitely Kirill) has to be objective and not overlook the several bobbles Ksenia made in the twizzles and the steps- they lost about 4 points in levels and goe's on those alone.

 

[YagsFan]

Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khaliavin, in this context. (Could mean Michelle Kwan in another context. ).

Thanks Sandpiper Maybe that was the reason for my mental block----MK is Michelle! Seriously, I don't think I even remember seeing Monko and Khailavin skate---were they shown on USN's coverage, do you know? Maybe I'm just having one of those "senior moments", lol.

 

[YagsFan]

Monko/Khalivan from Russia. Grrr, I meant Khaliavin. See? Initials help hide one's spelling errors and make you look Smarter and With It.

And yes, I often need a good brain fart to clean out the cobwebs when I try to remember things like which C/B or H/D is someone referring to. But there's only one thing you have to do: memorize every single Ice Dance partnership in history. See? Problem solved! and

Thanks also WeakAnkles, and Alba Yes, I really do get why it's much easier to just type the initials, believe me! I just can't think that way, so I guess I'll just have to make and keep my cheat sheet handy at all times. Or, I could follow your sage advice and start memorizing, lol!

 

[bramweld]

The question was put to him: What do you think about I&Z. Did you like their skating.

Bare in mind that his tone sounded absolute, and replied right away: No at all. They are nothing special, but you know they are the Russian no.1 so they were overscored. Ruslan in particular is not good, and he is diminished with this change.

Then again, later after M&K skated: You know in Russia there is nobody that good now that's why the FED are pushing so much I&Z, but they know that they are not good.

Again, after C&L, skated: I&Z scores are too much. It's so wrong, there is no comparison between I&Z and C&L. C&L are soo much better in the component aspect.

I have to say this for emphasis, what an extremely untrue, rude and unprofessional comment coming from him. His camp is clearly unglued by the progress of I/Z. He should never be asked to serve in such a capacity again. Ruslan was exceptional tonight, you can review that dance endlessly. P/C were lucky that I/Z skated early, that's the only reason IMHO, that I/Z are second. Actually C/L should be further behind.

 

[TarAncalime]

Nelli&Alex play a working class couple who dance in a simple street bar after work, that is what they tell on the ice. It is great ;-) Nobody else does something like that....They have changed the rules in costumes BTW so that the man can wear sleeveless if it fits to the choreo ;-) so Alex hasn't forgotten to put on a shirt......

P/C's dance is wonderful, they tell a completely different story of dance in a rich part of town in Madrid in an exclusive club with upper class costumes....just a different world on the ice. It is so geniuos that you can all transfer that onto the ice with a team like them! Same for Nelly&Alex ;-)

 

[viennaskater]

I think Anna and Luca are skating not to lose. It's very different from skating to win. Anna was selling that program so hard I wanted to make her a cup of nice soothing tea and tell her, you need to calm down a bit, dear. !

Good point - my impression was that they looked like they were trying too hard, unlike previous programmes. Certainly their free dances of the last few seasons have been a joy to watch. Technically difficult but not overwrought, the programme was allowed to 'breathe'. Not like this SD!