2015 NRW Trophy Single & Pairs 25- 29 Nov

Denis Ten: 4T 4T(fall) 3A 1A 3F+1Lo-3S 3Lz 3Lo 2A

Will easily be ahead of Voronov... but tbh... I'm not a big fan of Denis Ten and I don't like this program until the final step sequence.

Jorik Hendrickx: 3A+2T 3A 3Lz+3T(2footed) 3F 3Lz 3Lo 3S+2T 2A

Very good... should be ahead of Voronov... doubtful it will catch Ten...

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[edit]

Actually, he did beat Ten... and I have no problem with that but I'm not a big Ten fan.

Hendrickx 244.69
Ten 241.91
Voronov 223.95

Congrats to Jorik. Well done. Shame about the extremely annoying *spoken words* in the music, that really throws me out of the performance, but his skating has really progressed!
Voronov and Ten still just aren't where they are supposed to be. :noshake:

Thx Navi for carrying on, appreciated!

Only quick notes, day 5

I have to catch my train early tomorrow and something in football came up that I get paid for so this comes first, sorry!

Anyways, a quick day review, nothing fancy - the column can be expected in two or three days + I post stuff at the fan threads, something that I want to keep doing from now on, maybe it is something people like. Pictures I can not share here sadly and my FB I like to keep private, except for skaters and friends - I hope you understand this. Shy as I am, you know - its silly, but that's me.

Anyways,

We saw a wonderful Laurine, she is such a darling. By gaining above 170 points, she has "qualified" now for the Europeans, at least point wise. The French fed demanded a 170 skate this season, else she could not go as she mentioned. While I never understood these "min" scores, I am very happy that she reached it by performing a strong triple toe comb and 5 more triples including a triple Lutz - double Toe. Laurine, however, is not just about jumps, I love her ballet arms and upper body - she looks so in control, but I have to criticize the lose fingers at times, sorry Hopefully she doesn't mind, I really love her and it´s just a minor detail anyways, most people will never look at her fingers anyways, as she has such a beautiful face! And no, I do not look at fingers all day, just on the ice .... so, no I do not have a finger fetish or anything and you do not have to send me pictures of your fingers now

Two and three came the Czech Elizaveta Ukolova and Anna Duskova, both who have been on the podium at Dortmund before. Anna won the Jr. pairs with Martin last year and came second this year, while Elizaveta won the juniors in 2012, when Yuna Kim was skating here.

I was very pleased with Elizaveta, she is such a shy girl and she is working on that, lovely! She also landed her elements today, good job there! Anna, had a less fun day, many falls, but this girl doesn't feel pain and at the end, landed a lovely double Axel with huge ovations from us at the venue.

Niki Wories was unable to defend her third spot, it was so sad! She is such a star and is working so hard, but in competition, it just doesn't work out for her yet. Positive to say is once again her expression and these beautiful arms and hands. She is a performer and that dreamy middle passage, I so love that!

Last but not least, did you guys see my Inga? Wasn't she amazing?! Such a beautiful triple Lutz in the middle of her program and she has once again improved compared to the SP. I am so happy for her, she skated the 11th FS and improved her position to 12! Great girl! I so want her to defend the title at nationals, really she is just my Inga :luv17: Many of you might not know this, but Inga does also have a strong relation to Paris!

I also want to send a hug to the other girls, heads up girls and keep fighting!


Men:

Jorik has won with the titanic skate and he did not have any quads! I love his expression, I love what he does with his arms, it looks very intense and emotional! Denis has a great program, with a huge Drama potential and came second, Sergey only third, not his best day it was and I kind of like his SP more.
I will say more about this next week, but now I really have to start with my work, else I don't get paid :eeking: and we do not want that Alex can not buy food anymore, do we?

Alex D said:

Alina and Nikita did not lose their lift, it were Anna and Martin

As for the invalid lift, I think the lifting arm was not straightened out. The Russians lost points in their step sequence and DS, a whole level less than the Czech. But their triple twist was really nice, the Czech only did a double, the Russians a triple. As for the Russian lift, I enjoyed the entry into to it, what she did with her leg, that looked gorgeous.

Click to expand...

First of all, love your reports! I am glad you seem to have enjoyed the competition immensely! As for the 4Li of Anna and Martin, they start rotating clockwise and as the requirement is a Loop Lift take off for this season, she should then take off from the left foot which she didn't. It's explained in the latest Q&A on this element on the ISU website. Of course the coach and the pair are informed now so they will change it for the JGPF.

Great they posted videos, I was too caught up in the excitement of NHK, but now I'll be able to catch up.

GBR's Philip Harris is almost scoring 200 points?! Wow, I need to see...

YoenNL said:

First of all, love your reports! I am glad you seem to have enjoyed the competition immensely! As for the 4Li of Anna and Martin, they start rotating clockwise and as the requirement is a Loop Lift take off for this season, she should then take off from the left foot which she didn't. It's explained in the latest Q&A on this element on the ISU website. Of course the coach and the pair are informed now so they will change it for the JGPF.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for explaining! Again something I did not know, but I will read up on this now

Dank je wel!

I have started writing my column, I do not know if I can finish it today, but so far I have touched topics ranging from the Russian Sweep to Laurine Lecavelier and Kalina Lewicka, but I also reviewed how my kids did, gave some advice to a skater that I reviewed two years ago, spoke about three special skaters from "Asia" and will do the tattoo guy next. I am already at 8 pages and have hardly said anything, which makes me wonder if I should cut things, as it might become too much to read in the end.

Once done, I will also add proper results to the OP

Column is finished, I suppose tomorrow evening it will be online. Still not happy with the amount of pages 16, is way too much for anyone to read. :shocked:

cathlen said:

I'm glad NRW Trophy upload videos. Definitely will watch few of them after reading reports & comments here

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Thank you @cathlen for the link. I finally got to see a few videos at the men's event.

I am excited to find a familiar name here:Simon HOCQUAUX from France. He was one of my favorite men in the last season JGPs, then I lost a track of him. He grew up as a nice young man, struggling with jumps though. Good programs and great musicality,presentation as usual!
SP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNK5Vyegk7A
LP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBjHgZpYevs

Denis Ten Bravo Bravo!!!
SP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfM9Gl5J87Q
LP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ijJbp9jPdY
I think the SP is 90% done and the LP is still in the making.
I love Denis. He is an artist pushing the boundaries of figure skating to be relevant as an ART form.
Figure skating is neither jumping/spin nor dancing. It is something beyond. He is not afraid of music. He almost sings the song with his body and blades. It is fascinating! I am very very proud of him!

Jorik HENDRICKX
SP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CDWzm8gFQ
LP:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLgPEooEhOg
I am confused with his music choice. He is such a great skater and his skating tells it all, polished and expressive. But, WHY WHY this music? His Titanic is shocking, it almost makes Elena's Titanic tasteful and subtle. I do not want to be disrespectful. However, a skater needs to see himself as an artist, or a proud performer. He must not dumb down his works in order to fit into what one might regard popular. I may sound too harsh, but I have to. I am offended by his music and it is hard to take him seriously with his music.

NRW Trophy 2015 Column

Table of contents​

1.0 Introduction

2.0 In their eyes

2.1 Amy Lin

2.2 Joanna So

2.3 Thita Lamsam​

3.0 The Russian Sweep

3.1 Anastasia

3.2 Sofia and Varvara​

4.0 Sing when you're winning

5.0 Kids growing up

5.1 On the red carpet

5.2 Into the circus​

6.0 What my kids did

6.1 Inga Januleviciute

6.2 Tanja Odermatt

6.3 Niki Wories​

7.0 Not giving up

7.1 Anna Duskova

7.2 Paula Mikolajczyk

7.3 Denis Ten​

8.0 New Dutch Talents on the rise

8.1 Rosalie van Wageningen

8.2 The Basic Novice A Podium​

9.0 The guy with the tattoos

9.1 Quadless from the sun bank​

10. Medals for all

10.1 Best SP - Laurine and Anastasia

10.2 Best LP – Anastasia Gubanova & Anastasia Schneider

10.3 The Best Dress - Dominika Kraussova LP

10.4 Best Stepsequence - Kalina Lewicka LP

10.5 The Best Chemistry - Romeo and Juliet

10.6 Dortmunds Next Top Model – Alisa Ustimkina

10.7 The Biggest jump – Annika Hocke

10.8 The Best Coach – Silvia Marcella Rodriguez

10.9 Suomi Tears – Leena Laaksonen

10.10 Best Layback – Inga​

11.0 Final Note

1.0 Introduction

While records were broken at NHK, the up and coming champions, were presenting their programs at Dortmund, programs who mostly only their parents and friends could see, as sadly in Germany we quite often struggle with attendances, which is a real shame in my books. Quite often, you wonder why we can not have a few hundred people coming over, why we can not have TV stations broadcast our sport and why the press can not finally wake up and write about these amazing skaters once in a while. Last year, we had the TV in town, but only because we had two medal opportunities by Nicole & Franz. It makes me angry and sad, that our media coverage is so one sided these days. If you don't win a medal, the sport becomes uninteresting, not worthy your time and sadly, this is also how a lot of people think at home. Therefore, our audiences did consist mostly of the dutch, Scandinavian and local fans and of course, two photographers, the living book of figure skating - Klaus Reinhold Kany, members of the pair skating fan club and of course, myself.

In the following pages, I will therefore present to you, my favorite moments, sad but also happy fellows and of course a little sense of humor here and there. I hope you will enjoy the read and as always be warned about the massive fan chatter regarding the Ladies, but as Trankov said a few weeks ago at Nebelhorn, we have to be nice to the Ladies and exactly this is what I try to be, so ya – at least you do not have to read my huge analysis of Ice Dance this time, as sadly, Ice Dance is not yet present at the NRW Trophy for singles & pairs, but a separate event which unfortunately always clashes with my Birthday and my friends would kill me, if I do not stay at home for this.

2.0 In their eyes

Staying at home seems to be a new trend for figure skating fans, after all we have video streams and all of that, plus it does not cost any money. While I have the luxury to at least get in for free at German events, I feel your pain if you have to pay a lot of money, to visit some event, where you might only care about a few skaters.

Many people, just refuse to watch anyone who might not at least, come under the top 10 and with the current strong focus on the GP series, this attitude will only get worse over the years. Many smaller events can therefore no longer attract big names and therefore big crowds.

I have criticized this a lot and not everyone likes my view about figure skating as artistry and the support of underdogs or my general view that everyone´s performance is special and therefore worth your time.

While I am not in the position to say that people are wrong and I am right, I do wish, that these people could once or twice go to a figure skating event like at Dortmund or the JGP last year at Dresden, to actually witness what it can mean for a skater to be able, to skate in front of an audience. I told you the story about Maciko Audrey Chan and Priscilla June Chau last year at Dresden and I want to tell you another story today.

2.1 Amy Lin

Said story is starting at Fremont California, as this is where Amy was born in 1999. After picking up her skating boots at the age of four, she competed for team USA quite successfully with a second place at the novice in 2013 and just recently decided to compete for Team Chinese Taipei.

Therefore, she is not the usual “exotic skater” like the two above, yet, what I saw fits exactly under this category here. She was gorgeous to look at, as she enjoyed every moment on the ice and also smiled back when that fool in his blue jacket gave her a desperate look.

Even, if the Lutz was only a single and she lost some others due under rotation in her FS, she kept her heads up and just wanted to perform for us and landed an amazing double Axel – triple toe in the process. It is such a joy to see skaters enjoying their time on the ice, taking mistakes with a smile and not a grumpy face as this is so important I think. You should be proud to be able to skate, be confident and happy about having that opportunity and she grabbed that opportunity and scored 129.24 points. Of course, she did better before and if she had gone clean, who knows, her PB is 144 so it could had been gold, but in the end, isn't it great to just skate?

Honestly, I wish I could skate – but I can not, so I enjoy watching it and just like nobody can take this joy away from me, no matter what he or she might say about my “idea of the sport”, nobody can take the fun from these skaters either. Be proud, be confident and perform – no matter what.

2.2 Joanna So

Next girl in the list, is Joanna – this time a real exotic skater, as she is from Hong Kong, a country that opened up his skating program around the 1980s, when they established the Hong Kong Figure Skating Union. I am honestly impressed, that they do have a website + it´s available in English, most likely of course because of the British history of said country, but still – they do have a working website! Hello 21st century!

Honestly, I wish that more federations would offer that service, as at times, I find myself pretty lost without the help of friends that compete, who can give me results and stuff from their federations, especially in the eastern European countries, nations who have a much higher tradition, yet no real PR skills.

Skills, Joanna has for sure and I would say they are not only to be found on the ice, where she was able to score a new PB of 97.31 at Dortmund! No, she calls herself “chocolate monster” and has some very interesting pictures on her instagram. Let´s say, you can find anything there, blood, bruises, ducks and dogs and more, that I would rate as 18+.

Anyways, to not let this go into the wrong direction, Joanna did not have it that easy when she once started skating, as back then, they did not really have a reserved skating place for national skaters and they kind of had to go to the public skating facilities before they opened up, so that they could practice, which often lead to sleepless nights for the today, 16 years old.

Again, we are talking about determination, about wanting to skate, wanting to be on the ice and if you see her and these proud and happy eyes, then you realize that she is having a blast as a skater, while landing elements like the double Axel.

2.3 Thita Lamsam

Said Axel Thita had as well, plus a wonderful triple Sal and an absolutely gorgeous triple Lz – double Loop – double Toe combination, while her spins averaged between two and four. In total, she was able to do what many ladies could not do, she skated her program as good as she could, no falls and always trying to present her elements with pride. Others fell apart that afternoon, Thita, however, scored 110.84, a big score, and new PB for the 15 years old.

In general, she was very fun to watch during the trophy, as she wanted to make sure to get some lovely pictures for family and friends, so that she always smiled into our direction, holding eye contact, to make sure, that exactly this would happen. To me, she seemed to be a very open minded and friendly person, who is, as all the Thai´s very proud for having the opportunity to skate, thanking people for watching by the traditional “WAI” gesture, that shows respect to those around you.

Last but not least, she has a very unusual hobby for a skater, as she likes scuba diving and honestly, together with the frog breeding by Maria Poliakova, a very special thing to note and more than just cooking and reading, that so many skaters seem to enjoy – question however remains, who is eating all that food, as skaters are all so light, so who is eating what you cook, girls and why does none of you cook for me!

3.0 The Russian Sweep

Not sure if the following skaters have high skills in the kitchen, but they for sure have incredible skills on the ice.

As always, the NRW Trophy gave us the chance to see the little ones, the skaters who nobody seems to care about, not even the ISU, as those future champions, do not even have an ISU profile. Why is that, by the way? Are they not as important for the sport, as the world champions? Who do we want to cheer on and write about in 5-10 years, if not these skaters? Honestly, I just do not understand the mindset by the ISU, why these young skaters are not supported at all.

But, I also do not understand the general FS fan at home, why do they not come watch when the little ones skate, especially since it´s often for free or just a small charge.

You see, I am a bit disappointed, by the lack of support for the young ones, they just practice as hard as everyone else and they want to get feedback like everyone else. It saddens me at times, when a skater did compete and then there are just five people at the venue and those five are mom, dad, granddad, the blue jacket guy and one photographer...

Anyways, I really hope, that the OC´s around the world, will not stop supporting the kids, as we need them. We need everyone of them and it is wonderful to know that these youngsters have a stage here at Dortmund, but also in February at Oberstdorf, to present their beautiful programs.

Personally, I can get attached to a skater much better, if I see her or him right from the start of their career. Back in the days, I saw Gracie Gold, Adelina Sotnikova, Yulia Lipnitskaya and many more, as girls who just had something more than all the others and today, I write a lot about them and just feel much closer to them, than for instance to skaters that I only discovered around 18 or so.

Besides that, there is nothing more fun than having these kids smile into your camera, as this is what they love to do. They are free in their minds, did not yet experience all the bad that we elder people have and it is just refreshing to see young girls and boys enjoy their sport.

3.1 Anastasia Gubanova

That she enjoys her sport, is a given and at every second of her skates, you do see someone, who is proud to perform, grateful to those watching and a damn cool girl, as well. Anastasia won the advanced novice competition with flying colors and a combined total of 139.96 points before Sofia Samodurova, making it her second consecutive title at Dortmund.

If someone would write a book, about something like the perfect skater, then a lot that she does, would need to be featured there. Whenever the 13 years old comes onto the ice, she looks at everyone and shows how proud she is, to be able to perform today. During her skates, she is never upset, never angry – no she understands exactly, that people came to see her skate and she wants to give them something back for their money.

Gubanova stays in character and gives her skate an incredible smoothness, it looks like it would be nothing for her and there is no noise, no wrong footing or anything going on, no – she just does something that at least I, have not yet seen by a Novice girl.

Even Liza or Adelina, did not have this quality in their jumps, movements and in character skating, as young Anastasia has, not just today, but since many years. Back in the days, she was not even nine years old, when she landed the first triple flip of her career and with 13 today, she has every jump in her kit, except the triple Axel.

For me, she has an attitude that I want to see by a figure skater. I do love her representation skills, it is a joy to watch and what every skater should learn to do right from the start of their career. You perform and as a performer you have to keep some grace, even if it doesn't go that well, something I also had to learn when I stepped on stage, years ago. I love that attitude, I love her representation skills, it is such a joy to watch.

During her free skate, she nailed a triple Lutz and this time, even with the triple loop, that she was not allowed to show in the short due ISU regulations. In general, she has a lot more to offer, than she is currently allowed to show and it is also a big shame, that she will not be able to skate at the 2018 Olympics.

An Olympian or not, it is impossible to put her talent into words, the last skater so talented in Russia, ... honestly I do not know. She has the calmness of Liza, she has the jumps of the old Adelina, just 10x times more stable in the air, she has the grace of Butyrskaja, just 10 years earlier .... the truth is, she is just special and yes, I am a huge fan, because of this great personality and the crowds love her as well!

I know it sounds unfair, but if you are a young figure skater, this is what you should try to be. Not so much the jumps, or the whole TES department, no this depends a lot on your body and what god gave you, no this you can not demand from everyone. No, what I mean is the attitude on the ice, the actual gratitude that Anastasia has, gratitude that people came watching and she is so calm, it just makes me smile, still - after all these days. She is a LADY and a wonderful skater, who has a tremendous way of using music for her elements and making it look easy at all times.

3.2 Sofia Samodurova & Varvara Dyukar

To complete the sweep, two more Russian talents were needed and Sofia & Varvara both delivered, with excellent performances, once again showing, how much further ahead Russia is right now. The depth is incredible and whenever you think that you saw them all, someone else is coming and just puts a huge smile on your face.

I don't know about you guys, but I enjoy the Russian skaters a lot these days, they have incredible choreographies and very good skating skills and as mentioned above, they appreciate if we approach them, they are kind to us and smile and laugh, we can chat – it is so different to many other nations, where you often feel like a "not wanted" person.

As for Sofia, she does practice at St. Petersburg under the Star Coach Tatiana Mishina and was born in 2002 on the 30. of July at Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, which sadly also means, that she missed the first of July, as criteria for the next Olympics, just like Anastasia and Varvara.

The 13 years old, is off ice, fun and naughty, she is a real darling and it is fun doing pictures with her, a very kind young lady, who is incredible mature and charming with her dark eyes. On ice she is fire, like in the short, but also spooky and mysterious like in the Free and together with that variety and her incredible ability to perform, she can create something special. What I especially noticed are her hands and how they perform, all the time, also during the landings of her jumps.

You can see this in her short, when she lands her double Axel, - she lands it and instantly performs with her hands, accordingly to the music, but also in the Dracula free skate, she is using her hands, as a choreographic element at all times, while landing her six triples, such as the toe combination or Lutz and Loop. Again, we are talking about minor details, things that make a champion and I love that.

As for Varvara, she does also practice at St. Petersburg, but under Oleg Tataurov and was born at Jeisk, which is in the south of Russia, a place with some really cool beach life if I may add. The 13 years old, just recently had her birthday on the 1st of December, therefore happy birthday young lady ( с днём рождения).

As a skater with long arms and legs, she has incredible selling potential regarding grace and elegance, you just like watching what she does all the time, especially in the short with the strings and soft piano in the background. She has an amazing flexibility, that layback, wow! It is my favorite element in figure skating and she does the grace of said element, justice.

Both skaters while so different in their appearances - Sofia more naughty and fun, dark and mysterious, while Varvara more elegant and graceful and a bit shy, really added to the massive performance of Anastasia and I hope that both will think about coming over again, next season to show us their skills once again. In general, our Advanced are probably the best starter fields every year, as also a young lady from Southkorea (Yelim Kim) and the French Elodie Eudine / Aurea Furno, had massive programs.

Thanks a lot girls and please come over again next year, or maybe stop by at Oberstdorf in February to the Bavarian Open! This man here is a fan of you all!

4.0 Sing when you´re winning

Laurine Lecavelier, is a name to remember. It is, because the 19 years old, is super sexy and a real performer. I said it before, If I would be man enough, I would have brought her some flowers, I really think she deserved them after that wonderful short program of hers.

In said program, she does interpret the music to “fifty shades of Grey” lovely, her ballet arms and the upper body, the knee falls and desperate look in her face, it just all works together. My favorite part however, is her double Axel which contributed to the good score of 59.75 points.

As we all know, the toughest jump element is said Axel and only very few women dare the triple version of it, as you have that extra half rotation since you have to go into the jump forwards, while landing backwards.

The French, who was singing the Marseilles at the podium does not perform a triple, but the way she does her double, is marvelous. At first she is going backwards on her right blade, having the left leg stretched out, then she turns and almost instantly takes off into the Axel, followed by a smooth landing going into a ballet hop transition.

This ladies and gentleman are skating skills, those are transitions how you should do them as a skater. We all know, that jumps are hard, but please – make it look like Laurine does, make it look like it's a natural preparation and motion into the jumps, it will make your programs better and smoother and you might also not think too much about these elements in the future. For me, this double Axel and the whole phrase that it is in, is the best of all ladies this season. I love how Laurine links her elements, in both programs, I love how she goes from phrase to phrase, fluently and without too much hassle, always making it look graceful and at times sexy, like in the Free where she also landed a triple toe combination.

After two days of hard work, Laurine did not only win the competition by a large margin and 173.93 points, no she also managed to satisfy the French federation as they demanded a 170 point score to allow her, a potential ticket to the Europeans. While for me, sending a skater is always better than none, some federations in our skating world have weird idea´s of promoting the sport, by simply not sending athletes these days. Sure it costs money, but oh boy – how do you want to raise kids, if they can not see athletes compete for their country!

Second at the Seniors came Elizaveta Ukolova and third Anna Duskova.

5.0 Kids growing up

When you write about young skaters, you often pick those who you think have something special and quite often, I am surprised how fast they grow up and improve in things that you once criticized. The following two skaters, are all very different, yet stand out and feature my reports once again. They did not win anything at Dortmund, but I see progress and I see the future that could shine bright for both of them.

5.1 On the red carpet

Kalina Lewicka, is a young lady from the “MERC” that, I already wrote about last season when she came 20th at Dortmund and I called her the German Gracie Gold for a reason.

The 14 years old, looks like a million dollars, she is beautiful, has grace in her motion and a face, that you can look at for days. Besides being so gifted, she can dress up like she is going on to the red carpet and not the slippy ice, without to be sassy.

The jump from 2013 to 2014 was massive and I hardly recognized her last season when she showed up at Dortmund. Now another year has passed and she was surpassed by the super talent Annika Hocke from Berlin, who won the Juniors this year with 142,93.

Still, I saw something good in Kalina again and just like with Gracie once, I do think it will take time for her to fully understand her big potential. Where was Gracie at the age of 12-14 and where is she today with 20? She has never been better in her life and I think that Kalina will have a chance of a similar development in the next years, if she can get her jumps right. If she will win titles, go to worlds or even Olympics, I don't know – nobody does, but so far my predictions were not too far off, look at Adelina or Liza and of course Gracie herself.

What Kalina does so good is not just her million dollar look, because let´s be honest, Gracie Gold might be the most beautiful figure skater on our planet right now, but looks alone will not win you medals. In Kalina´s case, she does understand music pretty well, it seems like a natural understanding to me, as she tends to be right in rhythm and on beat with her motion and the interpretation skills. It will all grow more and more over time and while I saw a couple of things that I would have done different as example the timing on the flying sit spin, I think there is something going to happen with this lady in a few years, I am absolutely sure.

Her music choice is very mature for such a young girl and she can be sexy at times too, like in the short, but honestly, I was kind of digging the more dramatic piece of music in the Free, also because of the great progression and choreography there.

At first, we start with the soft vocal element by Jenny Lawrence, backed up by some strings and towards the end, the music becomes more busy with drums and layers, but also jump elements, that just come and go and do not delay or interrupt the actual Drama at all.

I see a lot of potential in future step sequences for young Kalina as well and was impressed how well the transition was done to hers and how she was still able to perform so clean on beat, even though she was a tiny bit tired in her legs and arms, yet not giving up, keeping it going, trying to be on beat and in rhythm.

What she had to offer at Dortmund looked very good, I loved how she was going with the flow of the music, her head, the arms and upper body it was all performing to the Drama of the music and for me she just has something in her skating style that I honestly like a lot.

It does not look staged at all, even if it´s a choreography made up in advance and that is the fine balance a skater has to find on the ice. While it is something that was made for you, you need to make it look like you just do this naturally every day, you are the character and not a figure skater.

Kalina, is still with Peter Scypa at Mannheim and I explained the situation last season and so far I have no new information about her future and if Peter will still be on her side after 2016. Nonetheless, whoever coaches this talent in the future, please keep her natural flair, let her skate to big music with lots of drama or quiet music, with just a piano or some strings. Clown programs and the like are nothing for her, but I guess the risk of seeing her with that, is pretty slim right now.

5.2 Into the circus

No clowns for her either please, even if the name Kalicanin might sound like directly from the circus.

I wrote about Marina two years ago and at first when I saw her on the ice, I did not really recognize her. There was a girl in a white jacket, who looked very mature and well developed for a young lady and while I remembered the name Kalicanin, I did not remember that face and body! It is quite astonishing, what two years can do to a girl and Marina is now a young woman with all the ups and downs to it.

Back in the days, I did criticize the “big music” that was just too heavy for her and honestly, I never ever thought that someone would pick this critique up and use it for her future development. But exactly this, has happened as I was told at Dortmund and it makes me a little bit proud I have to say, even though I still think that I write a lot of nonsense at times and it always surprises me that skaters actually find something in my reviews that is useful to them.

But yes, I see figure skating performances more from the aspect of the choreography, the flow and use of music and less the TES part, as in that regard there are more skilled people for it. As for Kalicanin, that name is so show, it has circus & performing all written over it! It is glamour, it is stage, it just is a name for a star. I really love that name, it is just so different and has a really good sound to it as well, similar to Lipnitskaya or Gold.

Its just one of many things that can open doors and make the difference between being mentioned or not. Just look at the girl Alexandra, who competed at Linz, nobody would have said anything about her, but she is a royal with a name, so she was mentioned.

But Let's go back to the ice, after all this is still a figure skating contest and ya what do I think about Marina in 2015. First of all, I think that her outfits and music work pretty well this year and that it was a clever move to give her said outfits and music. It´s sexy, while still in range of being not too hot, which is always something we have to consider about very young skaters, especially the dress police at Goldenskate does not like it sexy.

Personally, I just do not see Marina in programs yet, that need a lot of facial expression or eye to eye contact with spectators and judges, as honestly, she still struggles with that a lot.

At times, I felt that she was only looking down at the ice for her whole skate, which is a bit confusing I have to say. Don't skaters need to see where they skate to? I am pretty sure she did look up at times, but it is quite noticeable still. At the start of her program, the first 5 or so seconds, she looks up, but afterwards she is a bit in her own world, which is all fine when you are a young skater, but it will most likely become a big problem over the years, especially if programs become more complex and demand a strong facial expression or interaction with the crowd.

Good examples for such programs are Mao Asada´s SP but also Sotnikova or Gracie Gold – who always interact with people at the ice rink, but hey, they are women for a reason so we should give Marina the time that she needs, to develop something like that if she wants to, as it´s her skating and she has to decide what she wants to do and what is fun for her.

Personally, I would start skating for someone, maybe a friend or the parents, others from the ERWC ... because, if you can skate or perform for one person, then it does not matter if there are 100 or 1000. The amount of people do not make the difference, it is the step to perform for just one that is the hardest and Katharina Witt, did exactly this during her skates. She picked someone and then skated for this person, not caring if there are 1000 or 10000 others. That said, it needs to stay natural and it must feel good for Marina, else it will just look fake and that is even worse, than being “neutral” so to speak.

As for her skating in general, I like how smooth Marina moves over the ice, it looks fluent and easy, so that I do not have the feeling that it is hard work for her and while she struggled with her jumps, I do think she has the potential to present really beautiful programs, as her understanding of when to do what and how to time elements, is there. This is quite visual in both programs, when she is using the music for her skating, like the entries into elements or transitions. Besides that, she is pretty fast on one blade and has good flexibility in her knee, so there is still a lot of potential in young Marina, it just needs to be let out.

Ya, I can say that I definitely look forward to this girl in the next few years and maybe the Bavarian Open or some other event, will once again show some development in young Marina.

6.0 What my kids did

In case you wonder if there is anything that I should tell you then no, there is not. While I call a Dutch, Swiss and Lithuanian girl “my kid”, it does not mean they are actually mine and honestly, I would probably be a horrible dad. Just recently I was babysitting a girl as my friend was in hospital and already on the first day, she missed her bus to school, as I made breakfast and it was so much that she forgot about her bus and I did so as well.

Then we were buying her stuff to eat and she put all those chocolates in my basket and in the end, we had nothing else than chocolate but a $12 bill and no food for diner... So ya, as you can see I am most likely not suited for this type of stuff, therefore I am just referring to our Orphan system here at Goldenskate, where I did adopt Tanja, Niki and just recently Inga. I adopted these kids, as I felt they should be known, as all of them have great abilities and for sure make their parents very proud.

6.1 Inga

Proud I am of my Inga! She has improved so much over the past few years. A while ago, the triple Lutz was very hard for her and she fell a lot and today, she is landing it just fine. Maybe it does not look pretty, maybe it´s not the highest and widest jump ever, but she is landing it! Besides that, she has improved so much regarding her arm and handwork, just look how gorgeous her layback is and how her hand goes down on her chest, to cover the heart. This was such a wonderful moment for me and I am damn proud of Inga and what she has done at Dortmund by coming 12th.

Good luck for your nationals Inga, I believe in you!

6.2 Tanja

Tanja competed in the juniors this year, after coming 5th last year in the seniors and I know my Tanja, she wanted to get on the podium with her gorgeous smile and she had a chance and I guess she knew that very well, when she covered her head!

That said, I really think Tanja is on a very good way this season, she has a lot more to offer than she was able to show, I love her music choice this season, for me it just works a lot better with her appearance and the way how she puts the blade on the ice. Tanja and her sexy eyes, are not made for the big “boom – boom, carnival stuff” I think. Nah – she floats with the music and represents grace and beauty and for this a soft piano and some strings will work wonders. At times she is still the shy girl from years ago, but then she shows all that Lady like potential and that is wonderful to see.

As always, her outfits are gorgeous and not sassy, they have class and style and I really enjoyed how she was able to interpret the phrasing of her Free Skating music by Muse, especially when the music got more uplifting and the drums kicked in and she used that part to power through her final steps and later the Axel and Toe´s, while putting the spin when the music faded out slowly.

After only coming 11th in the short when she fell on her Axel, she fought back in the free skate and never gave up, coming 6th in total.

6.3 Niki

Last but not least, my little crash pilot and hurrah she did not kick me at Dortmund for that expression. Most likely, because she doesn't know yet, that she has a thread here phew. Anyways, the NRW Trophy started pretty well for Niki, she came third in the short at the seniors and I was quite confident, that she could pull this off. But, as always, Niki´s mind works different from mine and I believe knowing of that chance, was maybe a tad too much for her.

She wanted the big jumps, the triples of Lutz, Flip and Loop, but sadly only a tiny bit of what she can do, worked at Dortmund. But again, I see things that are better this season compared to last. Number one, the music. I loved her FS music in 2014, but it had some really weird cuts and it kind of threw me off at times. These cuts, are no longer so audible this season, so that is already one step forward.

Another step forward are her representation skills, since she went to Canada earlier this season, she really learned that she is the star, whenever she goes onto the ice, it´s her in the spotlight and she has to show this. Be proud and perform, this is your stage and the shy Niki from years ago, has gone and that is really impressive!

Really good are of course also her skills to interpret music, best seen at the transition to “on my own”, where she plays the role of the shy and innocent girl pretty well and of course also the ability to put at least some of her jumps on beat. While this of course also increases the difficulty level, it also helps selling the program and it is something that she used to do in 2014 already, best seen at her first Lutz at the Free in 2014, where she was right on beat, here at Dortmund.

I stick to my word, this girl is going to get better and better as time progresses, I am sure of it!

7.0 Not giving up

In life it is important to keep going, no matter what might happen to you. This is especially true in Figure Skating where a skater can fall many times, yet what matters is that said skater always stands up again. Our World Champion Liza said it right, there will also be better days again and mistakes can happen, even the Olympic champion does them. I do believe, that getting up on your feet is essential for becoming a champion and to be rewarded in sports and life. Next up are some skaters, who did impress me a lot, by their strong will to just give their best.

7.1 Anna Duskova

This young lady here, really needed a strong will, as she had to go through a lot at Dortmund. Duskova did compete at Pairs together with Martin Bidar and while leading after the short, the Free skate was a little disaster for the Czech and I honestly was afraid that this could end up in an injury, while both were constantly falling over each other.

Many of their elements did just not happen, as Martin was completely off at times, a situation that can be explained by the lack of practice in the morning, when Anna could not practice with him, as she also had to compete at the Senior Ladies that day.

The result was, him doing lifts and throws all alone, which of course is not the same, as skating with a young lady on your side, especially if she is so charming like the 15 years old. Yet, both finished their program and it was really wonderful to see, how they could smile about all of this at the podium.

Especially Martin is great, as there are a lot of male pair skaters who look like bus drivers these days, who never crack a smile while the lady goes all out and I am really pleased to say that Bidar is not like that.
It might also motivate them to know, that Maxim Trankov mentioned that pair at Nebelhorn when I spoke to him, as one of the future couples and besides that, they will also compete at the JGP final at Barcelona!

At said final, Anna is not going to compete at the junior ladies, so that she can focus on her job with Martin, but as mentioned, she is quite a decent singles skater too and I love her programs a lot. The big plus for her, is the experience of pairs skating, which I think can make a singles' skater a better performer. Pairs skating can be a lot about emotions, a lot about taking responsibility, as you have someone on your side, so that you can not be sloppy or wasteful with your power and I think it actually helps Anna to do both things.

Here at Dortmund, she came third with 135.16 and it is really amazing how this girl can stay so positive on the ice, no matter what might happen. There was a time in practice for the ladies, when she was trying to land her triple Lutz – double Toe combination, desperately, while crashing really hard and she just kept going for that element, no matter how much it might hurt.

In competition, however, she nailed it and her skate to “Larrons En Foire” was flawless and courageous. Anna, aligned her steps and movements, lovely to the various phrases of the music and she really enjoyed her time on the ice, with huge smiles and a reward of 54.21, the second highest score of the day.

Said second place, she lost on Sunday to a very strong Elizaveta Ukolova with two gorgeous triple Lutz and wonderful spins, as Duskova´s Free Skate to “Paquita” was a little disaster just like the whole Ladies competition in general. It actually is quite fascinating how the girls always have sympathy for each other, as whenever one of them falls badly, all the others just follow, so that said Lady is not alone in her “misery”.

As for Anna, she had my favorite moment of the day when she landed her double Axel, after falling a total of four times at her other elements. Skaters like her, have a lot that I enjoy, as they show how fun it is for them to skate and at no point, did I have the feeling, that she was upset or angry and even if she was like after the triple Toe, she did not show it for long and just went back to business.

7.2 Paula Mikolajczyk

This girl here, she really made my day at the juniors. You know, there are always competitions where you need a skater who can bring you back, as the days are long and at times, you see a lot of mistakes and falls or programs which might not be 100% your thing or your knee hurts, like mine did and then you are just incredible grateful for a skater like Paula who kind of gives you a wake up call and distracts you from said pain.

The teenager who does compete for the USG at Chemnitz, fell really hard in her short while still showing a throughout positive attitude with great emotes, coming only 37th in total, quite a disappointment for someone, who won the Bronze medal in 2013, at the German Juniors Championships at Oberstdorf.

Whenever I see Paula, I see a skater who just wants to perform, she is a very active and expressive skater and has lovely comeback qualities. While I did not yet visit her at Grimma or Chemnitz, I was told that she is not someone, who you need to push to practice, its something she enjoys and likes to do and it does not look like hard work for her at all.

Paula at Dortmund, was just great with her party program, she had all these little dance moves and emotes, that I like so much and while not offering a triple, her program felt very entertaining and joyful and I am pretty sure not the only person, who was glad that Paula came around to give us all a wake up call and I loved the pink dress, so sexy!

7.3 Denis Ten

This guy here, did not yet compete in a pink dress and most likely won't any time soon. That said, he did compete at Sochi and won a bronze medal, a medal hardly anyone had on the radar. After Sochi, he struggled a lot, injuries and health problems, maybe even some mental issues while facing all that pressure and attention of a medalist, as he also won the 4 CC and a bronze at Worlds.

His sign up for the NRW Trophy was quite late, yet not rejected by the OC, after all, when do you have such a champion in town? Our last big skater was Yuna Kim, but also Robin and Aljona came over and of course Mr. Joubert and I wish, more of these stars would find it attractive to skate at Dortmund. It is a very family like business and while there are things that I would like to change, it is a fun competition and the people work really hard for this event, to also make it more attractive to skaters and as I was told, there are some idea´s going around, to support exactly this.

Support, Denis has a lot and he mentioned at Dortmund, how grateful he is for all the positive vibes going on and that he does have a game plan and that people should not worry too much about his current performances, as it is all in schedule and going well for him. As for his skating, I love how much he puts into all his skates, the facial expression and strong arms, it just has something, that men should show on the ice.

Honestly, I do not like these “rip your shirt off” performances, that some of the big guys do, which most likely is due nature, as guys do not look at other guys in such a way, unless you have a thing for your gender, which somehow never occurred to me.

What Denis does, is showing his feelings on the ice, a good example are his spins like in the short, when he puts his hand on his heart, creating a wonderful message and again, we are talking about the detail in a skate, things, that might not occur to everyone watching, but these details make the difference, between a skater who competes and one that wins medals.

Ten came third at Dortmund with 241.91 and a total of three quads, that however were not really clean, but I know about the quad mafia at GS, so I still wanted to mention them. For me, Denis is more than the quads, it´s the atmosphere that he can create to his Tango programs and his transitions and skating skills, are smooth and very calm – he just skates very soft and in harmony with the music, something I personally want to see by a skater.

8.0 New dutch talents on the rise

If we talk about harmony and a good interpretation of music, then we also have to talk about a very young girl coming from the Netherlands and she really left her footprint on the ice, just like Kylie Loots or Zoe Zuidhoek did, last year.

8.1 Rosalie van Wageningen

Said skater, goes by the name of Rosalie van Wageningen. Rosalie does compete for Dordrecht (KRV.DDD), and I am so impressed how passionate the club supports its girls all the time. They do have a Facebook page and almost every hour, something new comes up there, which is something that we Germans still have to learn. What a support and what a noise these girls can make at an ice venue, it is fantastic!

As for Rosalie, she “climbed up” to 31.31 points while skating to Miley Cyrus and came 7th at the Basic Novice A. Her program, consisted of five doubles and wonderful interpretation skills. She landed a gorgeous double loop - double loop combination, but also and I felt this was extraordinary for such a young girl, a single Axel - double Toe, flawlessly.

But it´s not just the jumps that I really enjoyed, it was also the way how she used the music to her advantage. All those little turns and hops, always on beat, her arms - graceful and not lose, it was a real joy to watch, great choreography.

Rosalie does understand, the importance of PC´s well and this can be something that young skaters might forget, while they focus on the jumps and spins. A skater does skate for the judges, audience and of course also for us at the press and we love those “camera shots”, when a skater has a little pose or emote from time to time. It makes your heart jump if a skater knows this and performs accordingly, dank je well Rosalie!

I also want to mention Isabella Smit who came 4th while skating a very emotional program, with good arms and spins, while having her heads up and I loved the dress, it looked amazing – wish I could wear something like that!

8.2 The Basic Novice A Podium

Besides that, I also wish I could even do a single element, that these young girls show on the ice, but until Adelina gives me that practice session, I will just stay away from the action on ice.

A lot of action our winner had it was Romee Verbeke, from Belgium who also interpreted her music well while the program had lots of variety to offer. It just never got boring and she did no mistakes either, while landing her five triples, including double Flip - double Toe and Axel - double toe and hitting the maximum levels. (basic novice can only get two for their elements).

Alicia Schuster from Austria, came second with 37.21.

Fun about her is, that she has a practice jacket with “jumps” written on its back and she indeed is a really gorgeous jumper. I really like her flip and she is doing the tano with both arms up, which makes it even harder than the one arm tano. She had good footwork and understood to make it look effortless, which is exactly what the judges want to see at SS.

Third came Denisa Cimlova, a very charming girl from CZ, who achieved 35.54 and I love how she smiles after each landing, such a happy girl she is, great!

9.0 The guy with the tattoos

While Hanyu broke the world record, we saw a guy with tattoos, breaking hearts. I am surely not the biggest men´s skating fan in this world, but! I have my moments and on Saturday, I had them twice. What a beast of a performance did Voronov have. It was amazing and one of the best skates by a man that I saw in quite some time, maybe since Plushenko at Sochi in the team event. His performance to Muse had everything I expect of a man on the ice.

He looks bad ***, he skated bad *** and had a huge amount of power - opening up with his quadruple - triple toe combination and later Axel and loop, both receiving the 10% bonus, while showing a clean exit and landing. There is no cheating or shaky exit, it is clean and stable, he really presents those elements and does not try to just get away with them.

If men do quads and jumps like that, then be my guest and do them. If, however, the jumps are cheated and maybe even falls, then please do stay away of them, as it will only ruin the program. Maybe I am too hard, but that is just how I feel. As soon the men all tried to go for “harder, faster, stronger”, their PC´s suffered – maybe not in the scores, but visually and I agree with Plushenko in that regard. If you make a jump then really do it and don't skate like an empty milk bottle.

While his FS was less perfect and clean, I just think that the bronze medalist of Dortmund, really deserves to be mentioned here. What a cool guy and how powerful he was! My favorite male skater was Plushenko and when he kind of disappeared and all those “next generation skaters” came up, where programs often suffer under the huge technical difficulties, I lost my belief in mens skating somehow. It just does not look good anymore, but I am sure this is just a generations conflict now, I am pretty sure that especially very young skating fans enjoy the massive quad invasion now, but for me (not even that old), it just doesn't work that well if I see a man fall three times and win medals with it.

Therefore, I am glad to see skaters like Sergei, Denis Ten but also Jorik, as I believe they do mens skating justice, even if Denis and Sergei had the faulty Free Skates.

9.1 Quadless from the sun bank

Not too faulty, but very emotional was his performance to Titanic and the day before to “you raise me up”. The skater from Belgium, did not have any quad elements and yet won the competition at Dortmund with two excellent skates and 244.69 in combined total.

Personally, it does make me very happy, to see skaters win, without the quad as this is what in my opinion has a symbolic message for all the skaters out there, who might struggle with the quads. If you have good SS, CH and Interpretation, if you can use the music for your elements and make it look smooth and effortless, then you can at least outscore those who mess up on their quads and this is how it should be in my books.

If someone is confident and clean with the quad, like Plushenko + has strong qualities in Components (I know Plushys TR are horrible), then you deserve to win. But if you fail, then those with strong PC´s and clean triples, must advance and beat you!

Jorik added a lot of choreographic elements in both performances, as example the knee falls and strong arms, that always came out at the most emotional phrases in the music or when he impersonated the waves, during the start of his Titanic journey.

A minor critique are the vocal chops, dubbed over the music, as I feel that he does not need them at all. His expression, for instance during the iceberg sighting was more than enough to make everyone understand what was going on at this point.

I understand, why choreographers add the vocals and cuts from the movie, Elena Radionova has them too and it makes sure to reach everyone, even those who might not be paying attention as you use very loud and dominant parts, always together with more quiet ones in music and theater, to not lose peoples attention, but ya – it can be disturbing to those, who´s attention you already have.

Nonetheless, was his sinking ship, going down and him onto the podium, well deserved!

10. Medals for all

Before I start with the reward ceremony, I want to point out, how hard it was this year to crown my own winners at Dortmund. So many programs and skaters were outstanding, so many performances, impressive. Still, I tried to pick a few categories and I do hope, that those champions will enjoy their medals and you guys the read.

10.1 Best SP - Laurine and Anastasia

I usually do not nominate someone as best SP or FP, if I already spoke about said person, but I just have to mention Laurine´s SP here, just like Anastasia´s – both programs were so massive, that even today, I still check YT once in a while to just drool over them. Both Ladies, did absolutely amazing – Laurine with her huge passion and that incredible double Axel and Anastasia, with so much grace and charm, it were just very special moments and I want to thank both ladies for these incredible programs at Dortmund.

If a skater is able to make you re watch their program and every time you do, you find something new and beautiful, then you just did it – at least for me by, making the perfect program.

10.2 The Best LP´s – Anastasia Gubanova and Anastasia Schneider

Here I want to mention two programs, number one is Anastasia Schneider, who I already mentioned last year. She did compete in the juniors and is 14 years of age. She did skate to Blessed Spirits just like the year before and I just love how for the crowd she skates. You really see these smiles and her program is very busy and original, she is adding a lot of things that you do not see that often in figure skating and while it was not flawless, she has something special, she is not a copy of another skater and I like that a lot. Together with Matilda Algotsson, who came 4th in the juniors, she will make sure that Sweden stays in business, also after 2018.

You can probably guess it already, but yes it is true, we do have another medal for Anastasia Gubanova. The way she finished her LP, with giving everyone her heart, it is so massive, how is it possible that this girl was just 12 and is now 13?

The last time that a skater so young got to my heart was Adelina and she was not even half that good. I so pray for this girl, pray that she will keep skating, that her body will allow it and that she does not lose the interest and passion – what a girl!

Also, to note are Kalina Lewicka and Dora Hus, latter by the way has qualified for the youth nationals at Berlin in January, an event I might attend and what I love about Dora is how she always goes onto the ice with a big smile and of course her dad! He is probably one of the proudest skating dads I have ever met, he could tell you things about his Dora for hours and his eyes, if you could have seen how happy he was, about his girl! I am not a dad yet, so I do not know how it must feel, but skating parents can be incredible to talk to, but based on my own experience as a soccer coach for young girls, you might at times collide with them, if you after their opinion, do not treat their precious right.

Anyways, the passion that Dora´s dad has, you can also see in her skates and I already wrote about her last season and she is definitely someone we should keep watching, great jumps and a lot of expression can be found in her programs.

10.3 The Best Dress - Dominika Kraussova LP

There were a lot of amazing outfits, Sofia Samodurova was dark and mysterious, Marina Kalicanin and Aurea Furno were sexy, Kalina Lewicka was elegant, but one girl had that million dollar dress, it was golden and the reward goes to Dominika Kraussova – who not only had a million dollar dress, but also a million dollar face. The 17 years old, was incredible fun to watch, she is really into her programs and she is not afraid to look up either. No matter what happened to her elements, she kept her heads up, what an enjoyable skater and beautiful at the same time.

10.4 The Best Stepsequence - Kalina Lewicka LP

Matilda Algotsson the winner of 2014, was again at Dortmund and again, she delivered wonderful step sequences, especially in the Free, which was the second best of the day. That said, I have to admit that no step sequence did beat the Archangel from 2014. It is still, my favorite step sequence and final minute of a ladies FS since then. Still, I want to encourage everyone out there, to go for it, to not hold back during that element it is one of my favorite parts in figure skating programs, look at Adelina Sotnikova how she can sell hers – it is just as important, as jumps or spins and I wish it would see a higher reward by the ISU scoring system.

So, who has won in 2015? My vote goes to the wonderful Kalina Lewicka from the MERC. Again, the last minute of the whole program, just stands out. I love the big emotions on the ice, I love how she transitions into the sequence, the music is awesome, the drive and flow – the power, it just works so lovely, it is big music for a big skater. Of course, she was already a bit tired in her legs, so that it was not as explosive as it could be and I would love see her improve there, but oh boy – what a thriller that last minute was and she was not even at her best. The idea behind the whole program, first with Jenny Lawrence and afterwards the big drums and huge chorus – I like that a lot! Just amazingly done by the choreographer and of course the skater.

10.5 The Best Chemistry – Romeo & Juliet

Minerva, Fabienne Hase who does also compete as a single skater and Nolan Seegert, won this category with flying colors. To me, there is hardly a pair on the ice right now, which has such a lovely way of skating together. Their free skate to Romeo and Juliet, really gave you the feeling that these two characters would be on the ice.

I find it magnificent, how this couple works out on the ice and this since they started skating together in 2014. Of course, you can see that Fabienne is not as confident as long time pair skaters, she still looks a lot into the direction of Nolan, like if she wanted to ask him, what´s next. But then again, if you watch the way they touch each other, go in hold and come together, it all seems to be so real to me and they are my favorite German couple right now and I am just a big fan of harmonic pairs who are able to really tell you a story on the ice and this these two are absolutely capable of.

I am not 100% sure if Paul is behind the choreography, but it really works wonderful for these two, especially the middle part with all that passion. They have wonderful synchronicity at times, are well balanced and offer greatly choreographed elements that tell the story further like when he holds her on his arms, or when they skate in hold as the strings kick in, its just so romantic!

In my opinion, they have a huge potential and while there is still a lot to improve, also regarding the timings and transitions, they have the right chemistry on the ice and this you can not learn anywhere, it's either there or its not.

10.6 Dortmund´s Next Top Model – Alisa Ustimkina

This is a more fun category, but there is one girl who just made the camera´s click more than any other. Her name is Alisa Ustimkina and she did compete in junior pairs with Nikita Volodin, a discipline that both skaters won. Besides having a gorgeous look, she is incredible flexible and it does create some wonderful transitions and entries for the pair. The 15 years old, can pretty much go into a split at any time and the couple is using that ability a lot in their programs. Besides that, she can really rock her outfits and these blue eyes and that overwhelming smile, oh well ... if I could just be 15 again.

10.7 The Biggest jump – Annika Hocke

No guys, I did not join the “jump faction” at GS, I still believe in PC´s as I always did. This award here, is more a recognition for a very hard working lady from Berlin, who managed to win the juniors' competition in her second year. While coming 15th in 2014, she won the competition in 2015 and made the biggest jump of all skaters here. Annika was introduced to me several years ago, as a girl with a bright future ahead and I agree, when I first saw her as a kid, she had something. Her appearance was light and funny, she did not think a lot about stuff that happens around her and she is incredible kind and friendly. Even if you do not know her, it is like you do since years, such an open minded personality she is, always up for a chat or some joking around. At Dortmund, she achieved two new PB´s while skating a very mature version of Carmen. In total, Annika performed three different triple jumps on both days, Flip and Toe in the short and as addition the Sal in the free.

Always impressive is, how she can go out on the ice and put a show, she is really going for the interaction with the crowds, it is very similar to Katharina Witt, which I do not just say because of Carmen, but in general. You just see, that Annika is having a good time and especially in Germany, when a lot of the girls wave goodbye in puberty as boyfriends, their horse or something else becomes more important, having someone around who really loves the sport is very important.

10.8 The Best coach – Silvia Marcella Rodriguez

There was one special person at Dortmund and she was the coach of a Mexican skater called Maria Paula Dieck, who came 24th in the juniors with really nice programs and good expression. Said special person, however, was her coach and at times I actually looked at what Marcella was doing, instead of Maria – as I felt it was so amazing how she was pushing her skater forward all the time. I believe, every athlete want´s to have such a passionate coach and it was also wonderful to see, how both of them supported and watched other skaters on the ice, such a passionate duo!

10.9 Suomi tears – Leena Laaksonen

Passionate I am about my Fins, wherever they go, I am as well and last year we had a lot of Drama with Sera and her music, but we also had a wonderful second place for Anni and this year... we have unfortunately, no Karoliina, no podium for any Fin, but we had once again, beautiful programs, gorgeous presentations skills and someone, who always puts a smile on my face if she is there, Leena Laaksonen!

Leena, is not a skater, but she is a very charming judge and official and she did "compete" a total of nine times during the NRW Trophy, quite busy she was and therefore she is crowned the Suomi Championess of Dortmund!

But on a more serious note, I said it during the days already, what has happened to Finland and figure skating? Was it the ice, do you want me to hit some people, or should I carry your bags next time, do you want me to kidnap the other skaters, I will do almost everything, to just see a Finnish girl or boy for that matter, on the podium again.

10.10 The Best Layback – Sara & Inga

Sara Tuominen, showed an incredible layback, I so loved it in her short, but there is no way that I can not give this medal to my Inga. When her hand went down to her heart, I was in tears, she did it so beautiful with so much passion! It is my absolute favorite spin, I really love it and could watch a skater do it for hours.

11.0 Final note

So, that´s it folks, this is the NRW Trophy from my perspective. There are still things in my head and on my notepad, that I did not write about, as example Jennifer Schmidt and how much worth she put into the details of her programs or Elisabeth Kremer and her smiles, Alessia Hägg and her steps and interpretation skills …. but honestly, we are already at page 36 and I need to find an end, seriously – nobody will ever read all 36 pages, so it is better to stop now!

My biggest moment was of course Inga and how well she did, but also Laurine and her amazing SP, the development of skaters like Hus, Lewicka and Hocke is a real pusher, to keep going to these events, to see how the kids go on from here and it is just great fun, to see them skate and how they mature over the years. My Fins were sadly a bit unlucky, but I still believe in them and I will not stop supporting said skaters.

While I ask myself every summer if I should do another season as a figure skating columnist, I have written more columns in 2015 than I did before, including the GP events with Barcelona coming next and I want to thank everyone who took the time to read them and maybe give me an advice, as nobody is perfect and I guess there are a lot of things that I could do better or different and as for this column here, I tried to work more at the programs than give you all these details about biographies, or do tons of interviews like at Nebelhorn.

As for my next stops, I am thinking about the youth nationals at Berlin as it´s just a short drive for me and then of course, I will be at the Bavarian Open in February. Europeans are sadly not possible, as I won't get a press ID there, else I would have given you a nice column for that event as well.

I hope you can find something useful in my write up, either as a skater or a fan and I am sure we will run into each other soon again and until then, stay strong, stay positive and work hard for your goals.


P.S. I apologize for any spelling Errors and the huge wall of text, but I was in a good mood yesterday.

Great Column

Alex Merci , Merci for a great Column ......

Congratulations on your first post, Ivica, and welcome to the conversation at Golden Skate!

For those looking for videos, I finally found time to create a Videos/Results thread for NRW Trophy
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...amp-Pairs-Videos-amp-Re&p=1385940#post1385940

dorispulaski said:

For those looking for videos, I finally found time to create a Videos/Results thread for NRW Trophy
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...amp-Pairs-Videos-amp-Re&p=1385940#post1385940

Click to expand...

Thank you!