2014 Rostelecom Cup Ladies Short Program11/14

I thought Rika and Mirai should have gone 1-2 to be honest. Rika had the cleanest skate overall, which I really enjoyed until she inevitably went to that horrible butt spin. Why?! I think these skaters should start watching their own videos on Youtube and realize that that butt spin is just really, really ugly. Mirai underrotated the 3T on her combination but the overall quality was quite something, better than Rika, Alaine or Anna for me.

That 3T from Alaine was most definitely underrotated. She has a nice layback though. And skates a bit like Joannie.

Anna was overscored IMO, she is a lovely girl but her jumps were truly quite ugly yesterday. Also, I can't believe she got +2 and +3's on her layback when she couldn't stay centred and had quite an ungainly position on her Biellmann... especially compared to Mirai that was quite yuck hwell:

So Youn was just disappointing. Seems like she can never have a SP where she lands both her combination and the lutz cleanly. :disapp: She could still medal with a strong FS but I wouldn't bet on it.

I think Pogorilaya will win it...but in the back of my mind I want Hongo to win! Amazing jumps and fun choreography. Mira to round out the top 3 for me. Surprising results all around though

Unite said:

I think Pogorilaya will win it...but in the back of my mind I want Hongo to win! Amazing jumps and fun choreography. Mira to round out the top 3 for me. Surprising results all around though

Click to expand...

Did you watch Rika's free skate? it's Carmen. And she is technically the worst Carmen of the season.

Meoima said:

Did you watch Rika's free skate? it's Carmen. And she is technically the worst Carmen of the season.

Click to expand...

Interpretation is just one of several components in the presentation mark. Rika is also good competitor and has a lightness and energy about her performances that makes her pleasant to watch. Given the ladies field in this competition, she is definitely one of the better skaters.

Meoima said:

Did you watch Rika's free skate? it's Carmen. And she is technically the worst Carmen of the season.

Click to expand...

What do you mean by "technically"? Her spins are not great and her posture is iffy, but she really improved a lot in the recent two seasons. If you go back and watch her Swan Lake LP (or even the one from the last season), there's a lot of improvement in posture, arm movement, jump take-offs, facial expression.

Her choreo is excellent, IMHO. Kenji Miyamoto did a great job building an engaging program. I love how the elements are placed within the music - esp. 3L, 3S and 2A-HL-3S
My one complaint is that she keeps going for classical/balletic music, which highlights her gangly posture. I think more voidy music would work better for her (for now) and highlight her strengths - great speed across the ice, long arms and legs, the ability to express music with her jumps. She reminds me of young Carolina Kostner a bit, or Lucinda Ruh (minus the spins).

^for the record I didn't say she's not a decent skater but Carmen is not for her in my opinion. Her style is more athletic IMO so I'd love to see her in something not classical. She is kinda tomboy-ish in her movements so I hope she can change style that suits her better. Just not Carmen.