Grand Prix Final Preview: Seniors | Golden Skate

Grand Prix Final Preview: Seniors

gsk8

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Jun 21, 2003
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Tatjana Flade has created a brief preview for the upcoming Grand Prix Final!

What are your thoughts? What would you add? What do you agree or disagree with?

 
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IndiaP12

iliabot wakabot gumennikbot team korea stan
Final Flight
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Apr 29, 2018
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New-Zealand
Ok but since when did Anna Shcherbakova have SUBTLE expression? She even skates to classical musical and is more expressive than Kostornaya. I stg people don’t even bother to watch her properly apart from her quads. Kostornaya is only expressive in the end of her FS because it’s like rock music or sth.
 

Leelee425

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Ok but since when did Anna Shcherbakova have SUBTLE expression? She even skates to classical musical and is more expressive than Kostornaya. I stg people don’t even bother to watch her properly apart from her quads. Kostornaya is only expressive in the end of her FS because it’s like rock music or sth.

I think they meant subtle expression as a compliment...the wording is open to interpretation but I take “subtle” to mean less “theatrical” and more “natural” (ie she isn’t making gestures or facial expressions to indicate a character in the music and more letting her body flow with the tempo of the song). Like in her Firebird when she “transforms” and the music picks up, she has the costume changes but also ups her performance energy to show she has strength and power to the audience, which is more natural than a gesture like flexing muscles to show “I’m strong!”. In contrast, I’d consider Hubbell and Donahue to be an example of “theatrical” interpretation with the winking and pointing they do to sell the flirty vibe they are going for. I don’t think “subtle” was a dig at her, more like a way to say natural movement with the music.
 

gsk8

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United-States
I think they meant subtle expression as a compliment... I don’t think “subtle” was a dig at her, more like a way to say natural movement with the music.

Exactly. Thank you!
 

IndiaP12

iliabot wakabot gumennikbot team korea stan
Final Flight
Joined
Apr 29, 2018
Country
New-Zealand
I think they meant subtle expression as a compliment...the wording is open to interpretation but I take “subtle” to mean less “theatrical” and more “natural” (ie she isn’t making gestures or facial expressions to indicate a character in the music and more letting her body flow with the tempo of the song). Like in her Firebird when she “transforms” and the music picks up, she has the costume changes but also ups her performance energy to show she has strength and power to the audience, which is more natural than a gesture like flexing muscles to show “I’m strong!”. In contrast, I’d consider Hubbell and Donahue to be an example of “theatrical” interpretation with the winking and pointing they do to sell the flirty vibe they are going for. I don’t think “subtle” was a dig at her, more like a way to say natural movement with the music.

Ok, good. It could mean either way.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
The Men's capsule commentaries are pretty spot on and very helpful for the more casual fan. I might mention Aymoz is known for his musicality and emotional expressiveness. Same with Pairs--it's lucid and on point. Ice Dance, well... So much of it comes down to taste. What your reviewer called S/K's SD "delightful" strikes me as overly manic and lacking in charm. Or that their FD has been called "boring" by a number of participants here. I found this section tended to rely more on such cliched hoary phrases as "the Canadian silver medalists have gone through many ups and downs and have faced tough challenges." So has my Mom. I would be more likely to note that Piper and Paul have successfully mediated their previous penchant for quirkiness with a more accessible approach. Just a thought. Oh, and the scoring summaries for Chock and Bates' GP performances is missing. I don't follow the women closely enough to comment on the summaries.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I liked the preview on all disciplines. It was obvious that there was more to mention about some athletes/couples than others, but I thought especially the Pairs was spot on. I am hoping for Sui/Han to finally get a GPF title, but of course they still have to skate and ice is slippery. And Alexandra and Dmitrii are very close (and also very good). I'm very much looking forward to the pairs event especially....
 

Leelee425

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Overall I think this is a great preview, the author really broke down most of the strengths and weaknesses and how the season has progressed for most skaters, especially for the singles, even listing the quads they are capable of. If I were to add anything I might say for ice dance, 1st seems like a lock but I do think 2-6 will basically be decided by which teams get their levels especially in the pattern of the rhythm dance. The judges seem split on which team they like best (outside the French) and as someone pointed out what divides the rest seems to be mostly personal taste. For example Chock and Bates beat reigning silver medalists Sinitsina and Katsalapov in their free dance in China, which was a bit of a surprise, but the judges love a snake dance! However, despite the enormous score in the free it wasn’t enough for Chock and Bates to win because they missed levels on their pattern dance.

I would say something that stuck out for me about Boikova and Kovlovskii is that they’ve been the only pair to be clean all season! No wonder they have really risen up the ranks as quickly as they have, clean dependable skating and those interesting Moskvina transitions and lifts. It’s proving to be a winning combination so far. All the other teams struggled with cleanliness, especially on the sbs jumps, including veteran favorites Sui and Han.
 

[email protected]

Medalist
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
It's a positive and balanced analysis - I read through pairs and ladies. There are just 2 things that I don't fully agree with.

In pairs I would not say that M/G style is much more juniorish than that of B/K. The latter have a long way to go to rise to the level of smoothness and overall excellence of V/T and even T/M. But B/K not only skate without mistakes, they jump, and spin in sync. This is something I have not seen since V/T. T/M could not get to this level of consistency no matter with whom they worked and work. This amazing execution is the most striking thing about B/K. If they develop the "it" factor and keep their consistency they can become the GOAT.

In ladies speaking about Alina's URs I would not pass Bradie's URs. That there was one particular competition SA when she somehow managed to escape her usual calls does not reflect the reality. And overall, in the review like that I would stay clear of UR and edge topic especially this season when there has been so much controversy.
 

lariko

Medalist
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Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
I enjoyed the summary analysis, but this here being figure skating I am not discounting an impossible outcome that might propel one of my favourites to the podium or to a gold medal. I think it is a great final by comp alone & the programs that will be performed, but the surprises might make it even more enjoyable.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I didn't realize Bradie and Alina had scored so closely this season on the Grand Prix. The American is definitely within striking distance, but it will come down to edge and rotation calls.
 

skateluvr

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Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Bradie is more fun to watch. Better programs. Mentioned last Tatiana seemed to have not much to say about a very complete skater. Well she may surprise you Tatiana.
 

truthbooth

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Bradie is more fun to watch. Better programs. Mentioned last Tatiana seemed to have not much to say about a very complete skater. Well she may surprise you Tatiana.

I believe she just went in descending order of average score this season.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
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Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Thanks for the articles! And a reminder that the JGPF is not on Sports Gold, so all the junior events will be viewable on the ISU livestream!!!
:clap:

I am so looking forward to seeing what happens in places 2-6 in senior dance and all of the dance juniors!!
 

lariko

Medalist
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Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
Thank you for the analysis, and :bow: pairs analysis would be so lovely! :pray:
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Mar 3, 2014
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Thanks for the previews and for the quick summaries in the OP. I found the table of scores for each of the participants to be very helpful as a reminder of the GP season.

Between this and Golden Spin we will have quite the skating weekend. :clap:
 

evasorange

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
I didn't realize Bradie and Alina had scored so closely this season on the Grand Prix. The American is definitely within striking distance, but it will come down to edge and rotation calls.

if mistakes are made by both skaters, i don’t think the judges will throw Bradie a lifeline in the form of high goe and overly generous pcs like they will Alina. However if Bradie is mostly clean and sharp, and Alina messy and struggling with jumps, then Bradie should be able to overtake her. I can’t believe I’m out here rooting for Bradie Tennell, but her improvement can not be denied
 

Amei

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Joined
Nov 11, 2013
if mistakes are made by both skaters, i don’t think the judges will throw Bradie a lifeline in the form of high goe and overly generous pcs like they will Alina. However if Bradie is mostly clean and sharp, and Alina messy and struggling with jumps, then Bradie should be able to overtake her. I can’t believe I’m out here rooting for Bradie Tennell, but her improvement can not be denied

Free Skate:
GP France - Alina's messy FS she got a TES of 68.85 and PCS of 72.97
GP USA - Bradie with a clean FS at home got a TES of 71.88 and PCS of 69.16

So at home with a clean FS Bradie was still almost 4 points behind Zagitova's PCS on a messy skate.

Short Programs:
GP USA - Bradie with a clean SP at home got a TES of 41.33 and PCS of 33.77
GP Japan - Alina had a bad skate got a TES of 31.15 and PCS of 35.69

Yet again at home with a clean SP Bradie's PCS was several points lower than a messy Zagitova. Zagitova has messy skates but rarely does she have both a SP and FS that are disasters at the same competition and frankly that's what Bradie needs because the judges aren't knocking Zagitova's PCS down for bad skates.
 

lariko

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Jan 31, 2019
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Canada

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Free Skate:
GP France - Alina's messy FS she got a TES of 68.85 and PCS of 72.97
GP USA - Bradie with a clean FS at home got a TES of 71.88 and PCS of 69.16

So at home with a clean FS Bradie was still almost 4 points behind Zagitova's PCS on a messy skate.

Short Programs:
GP USA - Bradie with a clean SP at home got a TES of 41.33 and PCS of 33.77
GP Japan - Alina had a bad skate got a TES of 31.15 and PCS of 35.69

Yet again at home with a clean SP Bradie's PCS was several points lower than a messy Zagitova. Zagitova has messy skates but rarely does she have both a SP and FS that are disasters at the same competition and frankly that's what Bradie needs because the judges aren't knocking Zagitova's PCS down for bad skates.

Zagitova is still the reigning world champion, so she will probably continue to enjoy a PCS advantage in the near future. If she continues to get surpassed by her teammates and fails to make the World team, I don't think she'll have the highest PCS scores next season.
 
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