2018 GP Helsinki: Thoughts, Analysis & Reviews
- Thread starter gsk8
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Had to jump in here even though I've only watched the Ladies in their entirety. Could not agree more about the Zagitova SP. I happen to love Phantom programs in general, and I like Alina, but half way through this mess I was wondering who hates this girl to give her such a god-awful program. And she's an OGM for cripes sake. I've often said that I know somebody's a great skater if they can make me forget that I hate their music. There is no skater in the history of skating that can make this music editing anything but a disgrace to the music and the skater. It sounds like something that came out of a fifth rate program...only worse. At first I was thinking, well, it's the beginning of the season... But music cuts are music cuts and in this case cannot be redeemed by the skating. I hope they redo this.
One other comment about the Ladies - if I see one more skater jumping with their arms over their heads I may have to gouge my eyes out with an ice pick. What used to be a surprising and pleasant variation has become and annoying constant. Done badly 90% of the time.
He usually starts slow. He never won any 1st GP assignment before this one. So he actually did better here in Helsinki. But it's still far from his best form.
Plus, per Yuzu, "Replying to ur issue of 4Lo, Yuzu stated he experienced the ice of arena not suitable for edge jumps when he did the first practice. As he has already done 4Lo very well in CC, so he felt a bit of shock about it and didn't adjust to this condition well." "Until the day at open practice before FS, he finally found a solution that if he slowed speed a little bit, he might do the edge jumps. So he did it cautiously in competition although it made his stsq less stunning and cost him ur at 4Lo."
https://twitter.com/echotpe/status/1059400501488377856
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- Jan 22, 2015
Man if Alina is the best woman in the world...consider me not impressed. I understand that Kaori had a terrible sp, and it was basically impossible for her to beat Alina at that point but for Alina to beat her by 6 points in the free skate is just ridiculous. Like we have eyes judges. I don’t remember her jumps being so labored last year. There was nothing effortless or free about any of her skating here. And I also don’t remember her having such atrocious posture last year! All in all to my eyes she seems like she has regressed...of course her terrible
Programs probably aren’t helping matters.
Programs probably aren’t helping matters.
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- Mar 30, 2016
Alina has grown, and I guess that alters her balance and aerodynamics. [EDIT] SNAP!
GP Finland felt very like GP Russia. Excellent camerawork compared to the North American Swing, and atrocious audience clapping on every beat.
It seemed like Japan must be empty - the entire population travelled to Helsinki to support Yuzuru. I wish I owned the licence to manufacture and sell Pooh paraphernalia.
GP Finland felt very like GP Russia. Excellent camerawork compared to the North American Swing, and atrocious audience clapping on every beat.
It seemed like Japan must be empty - the entire population travelled to Helsinki to support Yuzuru. I wish I owned the licence to manufacture and sell Pooh paraphernalia.
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- Apr 14, 2018
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I was in Helsinki and had tickets to the Sunday festivities so I have some thoughts on the Men’s Free.
Phillip Harris: I really hate Fix You and yet he sold me on it. I was at Helsinki to see him so I’m a little biased but artistically he was the second best in the first group in my opinion. On TV he looked slow but in actuality he really flew across the ice and skated very quitely. Helsinki won’t be seen as his best competition ever but he did himself proud because he fought for it.
Kenji Tanaka: My dad thought that perhaps half the crowd was Japanese and I’m not sure if that helped or hindered Tanaka because he was very tight and stressed. He’s lucky others made mistakes. In the Gala he was so much more relaxed.
Alexei Krasnozhon: My favourite of the group. Very musical and smooth (?) on the ice. I really enjoyed him.
Jin Boyang: He gave away bronze in my opinion. His jumps were (disregarding the falls) spectacular but I don’t know if he was nervous but he just couldn’t get in the zone.
Mikhail Kolyada: Heart breaking because he was so good! Amazing rhythm and he really got into character. Just kept making mistakes.
Cha Jun-hwan: Still not sold on his free (I adore his short) but in person I noticed something I didn’t notice on TV and that is he has great flexibility and upper body movement, especially his back. The use of their upper body in a focused way is why I like Phillip Harris (that and I’m British) and Kolyada so I hope hope he keeps going with that. His quads looked under rotated by my eye (at least the first one which he did right in front of me) but I’m no expert. I like him.
Yuzuru Hanyu: You could tell he was a cut above the rest even to my inexperienced eyes. Love his costume and especially his focus, that’s what I admire the most. The music was good. He really worked for those jumps and that’s what separated him from the rest. In the Gala, he really likes showboating doesn’t he? xD He made everyone wait for him to slowly skate round the back and get picked up. My dad and I actually had a blazing argument in the way home about his status as Greatest of All Time male skaters. It should be noted my dad didn’t know who Hanyu was until the evening before the competition. I’ll let you guys guess what side of the argument we were both on. ;-D
Michal Březina: He was awesome and like SA really got in the zone. After his first fall he just *click* got it. Hanyu was focused from start to finish but there was something quite magical about seeing that moment where it just suddenly falls into place. Does this second silver mean he’s a dead cert for the GPF? I hope so.
Gala: It was nice seeing Alina do her jump again after falling at the end of the Gala. Alexandra Stepanova seemed to be playfully telling her off as they left the ice.
I’m guessing that certain skaters declined to skate otherwise the invites were very odd, where was Lorraine McNamara / Quinn Carpenter?
It was very fun but if I get to go to IdF I’d probably give the gala a miss if it was the only event on a Sunday. The drama of competition is much more exciting.
Phillip Harris: I really hate Fix You and yet he sold me on it. I was at Helsinki to see him so I’m a little biased but artistically he was the second best in the first group in my opinion. On TV he looked slow but in actuality he really flew across the ice and skated very quitely. Helsinki won’t be seen as his best competition ever but he did himself proud because he fought for it.
Kenji Tanaka: My dad thought that perhaps half the crowd was Japanese and I’m not sure if that helped or hindered Tanaka because he was very tight and stressed. He’s lucky others made mistakes. In the Gala he was so much more relaxed.
Alexei Krasnozhon: My favourite of the group. Very musical and smooth (?) on the ice. I really enjoyed him.
Jin Boyang: He gave away bronze in my opinion. His jumps were (disregarding the falls) spectacular but I don’t know if he was nervous but he just couldn’t get in the zone.
Mikhail Kolyada: Heart breaking because he was so good! Amazing rhythm and he really got into character. Just kept making mistakes.
Cha Jun-hwan: Still not sold on his free (I adore his short) but in person I noticed something I didn’t notice on TV and that is he has great flexibility and upper body movement, especially his back. The use of their upper body in a focused way is why I like Phillip Harris (that and I’m British) and Kolyada so I hope hope he keeps going with that. His quads looked under rotated by my eye (at least the first one which he did right in front of me) but I’m no expert. I like him.
Yuzuru Hanyu: You could tell he was a cut above the rest even to my inexperienced eyes. Love his costume and especially his focus, that’s what I admire the most. The music was good. He really worked for those jumps and that’s what separated him from the rest. In the Gala, he really likes showboating doesn’t he? xD He made everyone wait for him to slowly skate round the back and get picked up. My dad and I actually had a blazing argument in the way home about his status as Greatest of All Time male skaters. It should be noted my dad didn’t know who Hanyu was until the evening before the competition. I’ll let you guys guess what side of the argument we were both on. ;-D
Michal Březina: He was awesome and like SA really got in the zone. After his first fall he just *click* got it. Hanyu was focused from start to finish but there was something quite magical about seeing that moment where it just suddenly falls into place. Does this second silver mean he’s a dead cert for the GPF? I hope so.
Gala: It was nice seeing Alina do her jump again after falling at the end of the Gala. Alexandra Stepanova seemed to be playfully telling her off as they left the ice.
I’m guessing that certain skaters declined to skate otherwise the invites were very odd, where was Lorraine McNamara / Quinn Carpenter?
It was very fun but if I get to go to IdF I’d probably give the gala a miss if it was the only event on a Sunday. The drama of competition is much more exciting.
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- Mar 3, 2018
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I thought the opposite about the camerawork. There were a number of times where the camera was way off centre, I thought, to the point of being distracting.
Oh, I forgot to mention about the pairs event: Stellato/Bartholomay’s popped single throw was the first time I can ever recall seeing that happen.
And I know this is not very nice, but how much longer are we going to be forced to watch Virtannen?It's not like he doesn't have anything else to fall back on...
LOL, my thoughts exactly!!! I think he (like any other skater from a country with only one slot for Europeans and Worlds) stays until some other Finnish guy will beat him at Nationals. Maybe that will take some years...?
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- Mar 30, 2016
The parts I saw were very good, both live and more notably, in the choice and presentation of slo-mos and close-ups of coach reactions while awaiting the scores.
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Or till he can afford the other half of his costume.
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- Nov 4, 2010
Alina wasn't up to par, but I thought the real gift on the Ladies podium was to Konstantinova
Some thoughts:
Alina; I thought the British Eurosport commentators told it like it is when they said they preferred Kaori's LP to Alina's. They also spoke for me when they said, about her SP, they liked it but didn't love it and that she didn't connect with the audience. How, by the way, did Alina score so high in the LP with under-rotations on both of her 3L-3Lo jumps in combo?
Sakamoto: Great comeback. Her LP held my attention all the way through. She isn't an artistic skater but doesn't try to be. The music/composition suited her perfectly. And her jumps are outstanding.
The rest of the ladies: Not impressed.
Hanyu--surprised at all of the praised heaped on him by the commentators for what was not a perfect performance in either the short or the long. I'm not disputing that he is a great skater or that he deserved a high score, just that he shouldn't be viewed with blinders on or through "rose-colored glasses" just because of his two OGMs and his enormous popularity.
Cha: I loved his presentation. He reminds me of when I first saw Denis Ten. I thought, this skater is going to be big. Hopefully, Cha will achieve better consistency than Denis, but he is definitely one to watch.
Jin: So sad to watch! I hope he gets it together.
Brezina: Fun to watch. Happy he received a silver medal--again!
Alina; I thought the British Eurosport commentators told it like it is when they said they preferred Kaori's LP to Alina's. They also spoke for me when they said, about her SP, they liked it but didn't love it and that she didn't connect with the audience. How, by the way, did Alina score so high in the LP with under-rotations on both of her 3L-3Lo jumps in combo?
Sakamoto: Great comeback. Her LP held my attention all the way through. She isn't an artistic skater but doesn't try to be. The music/composition suited her perfectly. And her jumps are outstanding.
The rest of the ladies: Not impressed.
Hanyu--surprised at all of the praised heaped on him by the commentators for what was not a perfect performance in either the short or the long. I'm not disputing that he is a great skater or that he deserved a high score, just that he shouldn't be viewed with blinders on or through "rose-colored glasses" just because of his two OGMs and his enormous popularity.
Cha: I loved his presentation. He reminds me of when I first saw Denis Ten. I thought, this skater is going to be big. Hopefully, Cha will achieve better consistency than Denis, but he is definitely one to watch.
Jin: So sad to watch! I hope he gets it together.
Brezina: Fun to watch. Happy he received a silver medal--again!
So happy for Michal Brezina, honestly 
While it is always very exciting to see younger talents flourish, isn't it just marvelous to see the 'oldies' doing well, especially after some more difficult seasons? I'm sure that performances such as the ones he had this GP make all those hardships worth it. Overall, I'm really happy with this renaissance of sorts that older Men skaters seem to be experiencing now. Brezina, Alexei Bychenko (not this season, last, but I hope he recovers), Keegan Messing, Sergei Voronov, Alexander Majorov, some others... their skating just brings me joy 
Was rather unhappy with how Rika Hongo was treated here. While she's still not in her best shape and has some issues to work out, and in no way skated her programs perfectly, I think she was treated too harshly by the judges, especially in comparison to some other skaters whose mistakes were overlooked. Sadly, as I've been following her skating journey for years now, I've come to expect this treatment from the judges, but it nevertheless hurts to see the same thing happen over and over and over. I'm happy that she's continuing to skate, however. Her programs this year are quite good and the audience was very supportive as well, which was lovely to see.
From Pairs, it was a well-deserved win by Zabiiako/Enbert in my opinion. It's very weird seeing this new 'look' that they have, as I enjoyed their lovely and soft skating and chemistry in the previous seasons (as best exemplified by their 2016/17 and 2017/18 SPs), but everyone needed a change I guess and I do like the direction in which they went, although it may take some getting used to. Their SP is... :think: unique is a good word for it I guess, but I like such daring and high-concepts programs. They don't always work but I feel like Z/E get into their characters well enough for viewers to accept a program like this. I think it's quite interesting and cool :confused2: The LP I really like. It's dramatic, powerful and a good vehicle for them, and I think it'll work especially well if they nail the technical stuff. Now they just need to nail the technical stufff :scowl: If they do, I think they're definitely podium contenders, but confidence is everything.
For Ice Dance, come onnnnnn, Stepanova/Bukin were just straight FIRE
I love their confidence, I'm sure the fiasco with the Olympics only made them even more fired up to improve and do well. Both of their dances are amazing and I hope that they have a meteoric rise to the top this year. Finally loving them for all these years is paying off 
(I mean, they didn't always make loving them easy, some of their programs were... not the best (LOoooooooOVE, oh Loooove~), but I'm happy that more people seem to like them this year). I remember when they won against P/C at Junior Worlds 2013 and thinking that this might be a great rivalry in the future, but then things didn't exactly pan out this way, with P/C super quickly rising to the top in their 2nd senior season (as far as I'm concerned, they are VERY welcome to return to the 'Woodkid' FD style from their 2013/2014 season (please :sad21
). But now if the judges allow some actual competitiveness and don't immediately start boosting some teams up, and if S/B keep improving, I think we may see a very interesting fight for medals this season.
While it is always very exciting to see younger talents flourish, isn't it just marvelous to see the 'oldies' doing well, especially after some more difficult seasons? I'm sure that performances such as the ones he had this GP make all those hardships worth it. Overall, I'm really happy with this renaissance of sorts that older Men skaters seem to be experiencing now. Brezina, Alexei Bychenko (not this season, last, but I hope he recovers), Keegan Messing, Sergei Voronov, Alexander Majorov, some others... their skating just brings me joy Was rather unhappy with how Rika Hongo was treated here. While she's still not in her best shape and has some issues to work out, and in no way skated her programs perfectly, I think she was treated too harshly by the judges, especially in comparison to some other skaters whose mistakes were overlooked. Sadly, as I've been following her skating journey for years now, I've come to expect this treatment from the judges, but it nevertheless hurts to see the same thing happen over and over and over. I'm happy that she's continuing to skate, however. Her programs this year are quite good and the audience was very supportive as well, which was lovely to see.
From Pairs, it was a well-deserved win by Zabiiako/Enbert in my opinion. It's very weird seeing this new 'look' that they have, as I enjoyed their lovely and soft skating and chemistry in the previous seasons (as best exemplified by their 2016/17 and 2017/18 SPs), but everyone needed a change I guess and I do like the direction in which they went, although it may take some getting used to. Their SP is... :think: unique is a good word for it I guess, but I like such daring and high-concepts programs. They don't always work but I feel like Z/E get into their characters well enough for viewers to accept a program like this. I think it's quite interesting and cool :confused2: The LP I really like. It's dramatic, powerful and a good vehicle for them, and I think it'll work especially well if they nail the technical stuff. Now they just need to nail the technical stufff :scowl: If they do, I think they're definitely podium contenders, but confidence is everything.
For Ice Dance, come onnnnnn, Stepanova/Bukin were just straight FIRE
I love their confidence, I'm sure the fiasco with the Olympics only made them even more fired up to improve and do well. Both of their dances are amazing and I hope that they have a meteoric rise to the top this year. Finally loving them for all these years is paying off (I mean, they didn't always make loving them easy, some of their programs were... not the best (LOoooooooOVE, oh Loooove~), but I'm happy that more people seem to like them this year). I remember when they won against P/C at Junior Worlds 2013 and thinking that this might be a great rivalry in the future, but then things didn't exactly pan out this way, with P/C super quickly rising to the top in their 2nd senior season (as far as I'm concerned, they are VERY welcome to return to the 'Woodkid' FD style from their 2013/2014 season (please :sad21). But now if the judges allow some actual competitiveness and don't immediately start boosting some teams up, and if S/B keep improving, I think we may see a very interesting fight for medals this season.
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2018
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the FEET yet! By mid-competition, I was cracking up every time the skater(s) whizzed past that ad on the boards and the FEET made their appearance!
As if the bizarre music cuts (even by figure skating standards!), Halloween-y costumes, ghostly appearance of the wrong free dance music, etc., etc., weren’t enough...
As if the bizarre music cuts (even by figure skating standards!), Halloween-y costumes, ghostly appearance of the wrong free dance music, etc., etc., weren’t enough...
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- Dec 25, 2012
In the competition threads, it was mentioned often. --For those of us who are NOT fans of enlarged feet, it was a trial!
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- Apr 23, 2018
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Actually someone mentioned the commentators - I noticed a couple of Yuzuru-related things that made me giggle. Firstly, the way Johnny Weir was trying so hard to be humble and cool-and-objective-commentator-here when you could tell that inside he was dying to yell IT'SFORMEIT'SFORMEALLMYCHRISTMASESJUSTCAMECOZIT'SFORMEMEME!!! which was oddly adorable. And also pretty much all of them on all the videos are just loving the words "two time Olympic, two times Worlds champion" and we are gonna hear it a lot before some of them (hi, CBC!) get tired of saying it...
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- Apr 5, 2018
This was the event I was looking for - cue in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
THE BEST - FROM WHOLE EVENT: Alina, I love her, I was kind of impressed that at Nebelhorn she did so amazing and that her FS at Japan Open was a tour de force, so I approached this event curious to see how she would do at her first GP. Last season her first GP had her worst SP performance of the season, she won but she had room for improvement. Well, she already got a higher score at her GP Helsinki SP than she did at IdF last year (her lowest scoring SP of the season). I'm not worried at all, she proved something very important to me, after making the most costly mistake you can make on the SP (let go of your 3-3 and end up with what amounted to less than the value of doing a single 3), she did the rest of her program as perfect as she could make it. Nailed her 2A and her 3F (and got the second highest scoring - with GOE - 3F of her career right there). The most common mistake anyone can make in a 3Lz+3Lo combo is having an UR, she's had this before in 2016, 2017 and even 2018, she did it flawlessly many other times after that and she will do it flawlessly again. Since this is the season of the UR shake down better to get that on her radar here, with a win under her belt, than later. Her FS was already better than her SP but she had to fight for everything, and fight it she did, also impressed me a lot with that. Alina on a so-so day is already super great, she will get better, she will work on what needs to be worked on (like she is already doing) and she will reap the rewards of all this hard work. She is, as is plainly visible in my avatar, the skater I love and adore to watch so having her get that all important confidence boasting first win of the season was great.
THE OTHER BEST - LADIES: Kaori, seeing her sadness after that SP was hard, she is such a happy girl and has a great positive attitude, so FS was really a redemption. She let the bad feelings go, got out there and gave her show. I'm excited that she got on the podium and I'm hoping we get to see her at the GP Final. She deserves to be there.
Loena, since Nebelhorn she became a skater I really enjoy watching, I was super sad for her WD from Skate America after the SP which essentially ruined her chances for making it to the GP Final so I was hoping she'd have a great showing here. She did super well in the SP and could have done better in the FS but I'm happy I got to see her skate and hope to see even more of her.
Yuna, her press conference, explaining the motivation behind her SP and FS was just so funny. She got laughs out of everyone and was just so happy to be there. Wish she could've gotten a higher score at the FS.
Konstantinova, she can perform really well and in that deep Russian figure skating field, it is easy to get lost in the conversation, I'm glad she made a statement and got everyone's ears perked up. I really liked her FS.
THE OTHER BEST - FROM WHOLE EVENT: Yuzuru, seeing him skate is like seeing magic happen. He was also not in his perfect form but what a guy. He can give a performance that draws you in and makes you forget to even check the technical accuracies. He's got the jumps and he's got everything else. I feel privileged to be able to watch him skate in yet another season. He makes the sport better just by being in it. Long live the king.
THE OTHER BEST - MEN: Brezina, what a rediscovery for me, seeing him skating like this at 28 brings hope to my heart. Shake it and make Mr. I'm happy I'll get to see you at GP Final. JUNLIEEEEEEET, bronze boy is having his breakout season, and is doing it in this packed male field, I'm happy to watch even if I have to listen to that FS music cut from bizarre land (at least you can tell he is so into it that it makes you smile).
THE HEARTBREAK: Kolyada and Boyang. The first I really wanted to see at GP Final and now that looks impossible, the second I wanted to see having a great skate to shake off the WC. Not happening. Kolyada needs to get calm and let it happen for him, he has a lot of great qualities (his posture for one is perfect, his 3A, the height on his jumps), let it happen boy. Boyang needed to improve his skating skills, you can see he did some of that, but his jumps are now even more in "boardland", and his 4Lz is a thing of beauty, but it keeps getting ruined by his need to shave off the board ads, seeing that traumatizing feet ad I can totally understand him but still GET AWAY FROM THE BOARDS.
THE UGLY: The feet ad (what product was that?), seeing skaters ending their programs spinning away in front of these feet is something I'll never forget
THE CHERRY ON TOP: that awesome gala!!! I love Alina's and Hanyu's EX numbers and they were both as great here. Plus I got introduced to a few new favorites, honorable mention to the Russian power rangers, I think they need to be invited to every gala, that was simply the best.
THE BEST - FROM WHOLE EVENT: Alina, I love her, I was kind of impressed that at Nebelhorn she did so amazing and that her FS at Japan Open was a tour de force, so I approached this event curious to see how she would do at her first GP. Last season her first GP had her worst SP performance of the season, she won but she had room for improvement. Well, she already got a higher score at her GP Helsinki SP than she did at IdF last year (her lowest scoring SP of the season). I'm not worried at all, she proved something very important to me, after making the most costly mistake you can make on the SP (let go of your 3-3 and end up with what amounted to less than the value of doing a single 3), she did the rest of her program as perfect as she could make it. Nailed her 2A and her 3F (and got the second highest scoring - with GOE - 3F of her career right there). The most common mistake anyone can make in a 3Lz+3Lo combo is having an UR, she's had this before in 2016, 2017 and even 2018, she did it flawlessly many other times after that and she will do it flawlessly again. Since this is the season of the UR shake down better to get that on her radar here, with a win under her belt, than later. Her FS was already better than her SP but she had to fight for everything, and fight it she did, also impressed me a lot with that. Alina on a so-so day is already super great, she will get better, she will work on what needs to be worked on (like she is already doing) and she will reap the rewards of all this hard work. She is, as is plainly visible in my avatar, the skater I love and adore to watch so having her get that all important confidence boasting first win of the season was great.
THE OTHER BEST - LADIES: Kaori, seeing her sadness after that SP was hard, she is such a happy girl and has a great positive attitude, so FS was really a redemption. She let the bad feelings go, got out there and gave her show. I'm excited that she got on the podium and I'm hoping we get to see her at the GP Final. She deserves to be there.
Loena, since Nebelhorn she became a skater I really enjoy watching, I was super sad for her WD from Skate America after the SP which essentially ruined her chances for making it to the GP Final so I was hoping she'd have a great showing here. She did super well in the SP and could have done better in the FS but I'm happy I got to see her skate and hope to see even more of her.
Yuna, her press conference, explaining the motivation behind her SP and FS was just so funny. She got laughs out of everyone and was just so happy to be there. Wish she could've gotten a higher score at the FS.
Konstantinova, she can perform really well and in that deep Russian figure skating field, it is easy to get lost in the conversation, I'm glad she made a statement and got everyone's ears perked up. I really liked her FS.
THE OTHER BEST - FROM WHOLE EVENT: Yuzuru, seeing him skate is like seeing magic happen. He was also not in his perfect form but what a guy. He can give a performance that draws you in and makes you forget to even check the technical accuracies. He's got the jumps and he's got everything else. I feel privileged to be able to watch him skate in yet another season. He makes the sport better just by being in it. Long live the king.
THE OTHER BEST - MEN: Brezina, what a rediscovery for me, seeing him skating like this at 28 brings hope to my heart. Shake it and make Mr. I'm happy I'll get to see you at GP Final. JUNLIEEEEEEET, bronze boy is having his breakout season, and is doing it in this packed male field, I'm happy to watch even if I have to listen to that FS music cut from bizarre land (at least you can tell he is so into it that it makes you smile).
THE HEARTBREAK: Kolyada and Boyang. The first I really wanted to see at GP Final and now that looks impossible, the second I wanted to see having a great skate to shake off the WC. Not happening. Kolyada needs to get calm and let it happen for him, he has a lot of great qualities (his posture for one is perfect, his 3A, the height on his jumps), let it happen boy. Boyang needed to improve his skating skills, you can see he did some of that, but his jumps are now even more in "boardland", and his 4Lz is a thing of beauty, but it keeps getting ruined by his need to shave off the board ads, seeing that traumatizing feet ad I can totally understand him but still GET AWAY FROM THE BOARDS.
THE UGLY: The feet ad (what product was that?), seeing skaters ending their programs spinning away in front of these feet is something I'll never forget
THE CHERRY ON TOP: that awesome gala!!! I love Alina's and Hanyu's EX numbers and they were both as great here. Plus I got introduced to a few new favorites, honorable mention to the Russian power rangers, I think they need to be invited to every gala, that was simply the best.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
Really? Watch again, it was all there. Probably just disguised by the tutus. And also none of her moves, and honestly none of her moves, is ever finished. I don’t really watch or care that much about ladies figure skating because of the hopeless state it is in, but her PCS and the margin she has over the other skaters these days is simply a disgrace to figure skating and I honestly don’t know why not more skaters/coaches/fans are mad about this kind of judging. It’s unfair and unethical.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
To me this is more about how they judge everybody now than her personally. In this case she probably did get some +++ because she is OGM, but who ever gets better scores because they finish moves nowadays? The only person who I've felt benefited from excellent skating beyond the completion of jumps was Patrick Chen. The rushing from move to move style of skating has been going on since 6.0 went away, and Russian ladies and Plushy at the end excel at it. Pairs this season is a hideous mess with ugly lifts, splatted triples, out of sync spins, and botched throws. It's just four minutes of tricks, mostly badly done. R.I.P. artistry.
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