I watched the pairs and men in total, then went to sleep, and watched a few of the ladies' skates and Free Dances (well, just the top 3 of both disciplines)
Pairs
My favourite discipline, but some of the falls last night were really scary. I'll start with a big hurrah for Zoe and Christopher. I always love seeing them, and even though they were last, there's always much to admire there. Ekaterina and Harley looked better than in the short, mostly because they seemed to be friends a bit more. But those throws are really very wrong, with Ekaterina rotating on the wrong axis and then falling. She was in a lot of pain too. Assisted jumps these are not. I always like watching Camille and Andrew, if only because Camille can actually fall gracefully and then continue within the rhythm. That's a feat. They also show good skating in my view. It definitely wasn't Ashley and Tim's day. A real shame because I rather like this pair because of their nice lines and their height differential being small. They've improved on their lifts generally speaking, but botching one completely last night was really tough luck. Nasty fall as well. Jessica and Brian were a nice surprise, even if the SBS jumps were a disaster. Haven and Brandon were also a surprise because they landed all their jumps (if not perfectly) and they have amazing lifts and moves, and I'm referring to the choreographical ones, not the official pairs lifts which had some interesting entries and finishes too. Daria and Denis were, in my view that is, better in the short as they turned back to a more junior way of skating for the Free. Still, SBS 3F's are great to see. Peng also had a scary fall, but on the whole their Free was really nice to watch. And their chemistry has grown so much since they first paired up, a bit against their own wishes if I recall correctly. Great for them to get a Gold, but I do hope they will improve on their jumps and levels.
Men
First my beloved grandpa's: regrettably Michal did not deliver (never seen so many pops unless one also counts Romans skate in which the doubles looked intended) but Alexei did quite well. No bresnaissance it seems. I love the other Alex's skate too, his Dracula is just such fun. Junhwan is a graceful skater, but last night wasn't his night. Don't want to talk about Boyang. Keegan was not at his best, and he realised it too. Not concentrated, but there are reasons for that. Kazuki was a joy to watch (he always is). I was so pleased Dmitri did well. A bit of tiredness at the end, but still a good skate. Jason was sublime (again, in my view) and simultaneously I observed that he can do even better - even without introducing a quad. A big promise for the season. And Nathan had a fabulous step sequence - next to again showing his technical prowess. It was a pity the tech box and the scores kept falling away though...without commentary such things really are necessary even for somebody who has been watching FS for many years.
Ladies and Ice Dance.
Regarding the ladies: Bradie really has improved a lot, good for her! i liked her SP even better but this was good too. Anna is ethereal in some ways. Like she's made of glass, but of course that's nonsense. No weak poppet can jump 4 luzes like she does! I am a big fan of Liza's, but I have to admit that her FS is a bit empty apart from her wonderful jumps.
To be honest, none of the Dances made my heart beat faster. I only watched the top 3 and though there was good skating (Maddy and Zach for example are very solid), I did not get moved by any of the them. Perhaps I'll go and watch a few others to see whether there's more to feel there!
That's it for now.
Pairs
My favourite discipline, but some of the falls last night were really scary. I'll start with a big hurrah for Zoe and Christopher. I always love seeing them, and even though they were last, there's always much to admire there. Ekaterina and Harley looked better than in the short, mostly because they seemed to be friends a bit more. But those throws are really very wrong, with Ekaterina rotating on the wrong axis and then falling. She was in a lot of pain too. Assisted jumps these are not. I always like watching Camille and Andrew, if only because Camille can actually fall gracefully and then continue within the rhythm. That's a feat. They also show good skating in my view. It definitely wasn't Ashley and Tim's day. A real shame because I rather like this pair because of their nice lines and their height differential being small. They've improved on their lifts generally speaking, but botching one completely last night was really tough luck. Nasty fall as well. Jessica and Brian were a nice surprise, even if the SBS jumps were a disaster. Haven and Brandon were also a surprise because they landed all their jumps (if not perfectly) and they have amazing lifts and moves, and I'm referring to the choreographical ones, not the official pairs lifts which had some interesting entries and finishes too. Daria and Denis were, in my view that is, better in the short as they turned back to a more junior way of skating for the Free. Still, SBS 3F's are great to see. Peng also had a scary fall, but on the whole their Free was really nice to watch. And their chemistry has grown so much since they first paired up, a bit against their own wishes if I recall correctly. Great for them to get a Gold, but I do hope they will improve on their jumps and levels.
Men
First my beloved grandpa's: regrettably Michal did not deliver (never seen so many pops unless one also counts Romans skate in which the doubles looked intended) but Alexei did quite well. No bresnaissance it seems. I love the other Alex's skate too, his Dracula is just such fun. Junhwan is a graceful skater, but last night wasn't his night. Don't want to talk about Boyang. Keegan was not at his best, and he realised it too. Not concentrated, but there are reasons for that. Kazuki was a joy to watch (he always is). I was so pleased Dmitri did well. A bit of tiredness at the end, but still a good skate. Jason was sublime (again, in my view) and simultaneously I observed that he can do even better - even without introducing a quad. A big promise for the season. And Nathan had a fabulous step sequence - next to again showing his technical prowess. It was a pity the tech box and the scores kept falling away though...without commentary such things really are necessary even for somebody who has been watching FS for many years.
Ladies and Ice Dance.
Regarding the ladies: Bradie really has improved a lot, good for her! i liked her SP even better but this was good too. Anna is ethereal in some ways. Like she's made of glass, but of course that's nonsense. No weak poppet can jump 4 luzes like she does! I am a big fan of Liza's, but I have to admit that her FS is a bit empty apart from her wonderful jumps.
To be honest, none of the Dances made my heart beat faster. I only watched the top 3 and though there was good skating (Maddy and Zach for example are very solid), I did not get moved by any of the them. Perhaps I'll go and watch a few others to see whether there's more to feel there!
That's it for now.