Who is more artistic, Aliona Kostornaia or Anna Shcherbakova? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Who is more artistic, Aliona Kostornaia or Anna Shcherbakova?

Alex65

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 11, 2018
Country
Russia
It so happened that I watched the final of the GP with my new girlfriend, who was never interested in figure skating. After it was all over, because she did not understand anything in jumping and could not support me in talking about my beloved Trusova, I had to listen to her opinion about what she liked. She immediately said that Alena is beautiful, very beautiful. After some time, several repeated views of short and free (mainly on my initiative in an unsuccessful attempt to explain Sasha’s greatness to her all the same) and some red wine, she said out like Alena is like beautiful ABBA music (we are not young people), which everyone will surely like at first sight, and Anna is more difficult, it’s like a Tarkovsky film, that you need to feel it somehow, and then it will probably make you happy. I remember that then I thought “hell, what a faithful and beautiful metaphor” (as well as “hell, she is smarter than me”). I had already forgotten about it, and now I remembered, having come across this thread. Sorry for OT.
 

SkatingWithEdges

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
For me , Absolutely not!!!! I don't feel anna "Better Artistic" than Alena

Her skate look soft and beauty but she is so introvert skater while Alena at least she could connect her feelings with the crowd (even her expression is so child ,no maturity)

Alena better speed , more secure jumps layout , she feel the music better
 

readernick

Medalist
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
I am not sure why people are starting these threads. Not enough actual figure skating right now?

Anna is musical. She stays on her music better than Alena. I think her long program this year suits her well. But, her SS / ease of transitions are not nearly as good. I have a hard time appreciating skaters without wonderful skating skills. Anna appears to be struggling to gain speed and to turn. She has very little speed out almost all of her jumps. Alena maintains speed effortlessly, makes difficult transitions look easy. So, for me, the simple answer is definitely not. Others opinions will vary.
 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I might also point out the Anna has the benefit of better music. The Firebird is classic excellent skating music while Aliona is skating to.. The New Moon soundtrack. How can those two things compare really?

If Anna and Aliona skated to the same cut of music from anything you might get a better idea of who is the more artistic skater. Also.. who gets the better choreography?
 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I actually feel Anna has the best music for her free of all the Eteri skaters. Music matters in skating. The right piece of music will carry a skater through a performance while the wrong piece alienates audiences to the point that they just wish you'd get off the ice. Judges are people too. Skating to bad music has to have an influence on them.
 

believed

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 20, 2018
I might also point out the Anna has the benefit of better music. The Firebird is classic excellent skating music while Aliona is skating to.. The New Moon soundtrack. How can those two things compare really?

If Anna and Aliona skated to the same cut of music from anything you might get a better idea of who is the more artistic skater. Also.. who gets the better choreography?

I mean, imo, in and of itself, the songs that make up Alena’s free ARE good. It’s just the cut that’s horrendous, but even then, every time I watch her perform it, I’m suddenly convinced it’s good just because Alena is so good in it.
 

Globetrotter

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Both girls are awesome and have different strengths which they bring to the ice. Anna reminds me more of Sasha Cohen - innate feel for the music, expressive, very lovely but the relatively weak SS translates into a lack of flow and transitions that look more laboured. I can sense her stronger innate musical talent ur that potential has not been optimized (similar to Cohen) due to the lack of strong SS to carry it out.

Alyona I think is more MKwan like, perhaps not as naturally talented as Anna but with far superior blade and edge work on ice which allows her to maximize whatever she is given. I really dislike the whole cheesy Twilight stuff but Alyona still shines through it despite having the weakest programme (again my subjective feel), which suggests that she has the competitive instincts to be able to turn something mediocre into a semblance of a performance. My take is that her stronger basic SS enabled that. It also helped that her ice dance training in her younger days honed the edges and posture and awareness on ice that creates the floaty, flowing impression which is bound to find favour in judging.

Both girls are good in different ways. The way their PCS is scored reflects that Alyona is more sophisticated in playing to her strengths while Anna has not yet maximized her innate musicality. They are so young, give them the time.
 

jennapowers

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Anna reminds me a lot of Zhenya in that she has a very natural flow to her body, including her arms and hands where everything just seems to be placed in the right position aesthetically. This is what I personally think defines her as the most artistic, musical out of the Eteri juniors- it's natural beauty and grace.
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
I might also point out the Anna has the benefit of better music. The Firebird is classic excellent skating music while Aliona is skating to.. The New Moon soundtrack. How can those two things compare really?

If Anna and Aliona skated to the same cut of music from anything you might get a better idea of who is the more artistic skater. Also.. who gets the better choreography?

Wasn't it Kostornaia that wanted the New Moon soundtrack, turning her exhibition into the FS - the only part that I feel she is actually listening to and performing the music is the 20-30ish seconds of the Muse section at the very end; outside of that you could put any soft piano music to her skates and it would fit fine. Kostornaia has better skating skills than Shcherbakova and that helps her get the PE and IN scores she gets, but Shcherbakova has better performance and interpretation, in both her SP and FS you can look at her face and body movement and see her hitting the notes of the music.



But this is why PCS should be kept of lower importance than TES - TES is far less subjective than PCS.
 

hippomoomin

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Off ice, definitely Anna. You can watch the video in which all Eteri's young girls dance. In fact, Alena looked the most awkward. You could argue it was Alena's style, but Anna excels in many kinds of dance. Anna is overall a better dancer.

On ice, I think Alena's movement look more defined, partly benefiting from her strong skating skills and command in the programs she skates too. On the other hand, Anna has longer arms and legs, which make her more expressive, but at the same time, easier to make the impression that they are not very refined.

Both of still very young and will continue developing.
 

Good Vibes Only

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
I think that both Aliona and Anna are great artists and are very different from each other. They each have their own styles that attract different fans. Personally, Aliona’s skating is more favorable to me because of her confidence and overall power when she is skating. I think that she expresses herself very well in her short program while her free program could be more expressive. However, as the season goes on I think that Aliona will start to emote facially a little bit more. During her last music cut she could be a little more spontaneous, but it is at the end of the program so it is understandable that she might not express as much due to being tired. I love both girls though and hope they both continue to grow in their artistry.
 

vincerooo

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Off ice, definitely Anna. You can watch the video in which all Eteri's young girls dance. In fact, Alena looked the most awkward. You could argue it was Alena's style, but Anna excels in many kinds of dance. Anna is overall a better dancer.

On ice, I think Alena's movement look more defined, partly benefiting from her strong skating skills and command in the programs she skates too. On the other hand, Anna has longer arms and legs, which make her more expressive, but at the same time, easier to make the impression that they are not very refined.

Both of still very young and will continue developing.

Could you link the video? I’m curious to see it.
 

ssminnow

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Anna reminds me of Mao Asada at around the same age--musical, light, but at the same time visibly juniorish. The choppiness and freneticism in her skating, particularly toward the end of her programs, really distracts from her artistry.

Alena is ethereal and refined, especially in the way she holds her upper body. You can't take your eyes off of her movements. At the same time, I can't think of any of her programs where she's really emoting the music.

They are both lovely girls with incredible qualities but also things to improve on as their styles mature. One thing is for sure--both could really benefit from a new choreographer.
 

Mirunna

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Anna reminds me of Mao Asada at around the same age--musical, light, but at the same time visibly juniorish. The choppiness and freneticism in her skating, particularly toward the end of her programs, really distracts from her artistry.

I do think that Mao had superior SS even at that age. Just watch her 2006 Nocturne SP. With that being said, Mao benefited from a much more comprehensive and appropriate choreography. She had time to finish her movements, was quite graceful and airy in the performance. Even balletic. I cannot see the same qualities in Anna because her choreography does not allow it. She probably can hit amazing balletic positions and actually hold them, as her posture is pretty well, and may even be a very musical skater, but all I see is rush rush rush, jump, jump, leg pull up, leg down, kick, jump and run. Between movements you can see the amazing quality there. But she comes across as sloppy in many sections of her programs because there is just too much going on. Too much content. I can see her capable of having performances similar to the young Mao because the quality is there and the has inner musicality, which cannot be taught. Too bad the people around her do not seem to appreciate the full extent of her qualities.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
i agree both these skaters are unique and artistic in their own ways- i wouldn't necessarily say one is better, although i prefer Aliona. Anna is very musical and knows how to emote with her face, where Aliona is more expressive with her body, and even her eyes i would say. she knows how to look into your soul. i also agree Aliona's skating skills and maturity are a huge part of what makes her artistic- Anna and Sasha don't (yet) have this. There is a finish, extension and detail to everything she does that sets her apart. every movement has a purpose. Aliona will learn to emote with her face as she gets older, and Anna will learn to express with her whole body as she gets older. for now, i appreciate them both for what they do :)
 

silveruskate

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
If it means emote with your face then yes, but I haven't thought about the definitions of what define artistic and musicality in the context of figure skating.

I think more importantly, Anna holds her emotive positions for longer which makes all the difference.
 

hb2010

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I do think that Mao had superior SS even at that age. Just watch her 2006 Nocturne SP. With that being said, Mao benefited from a much more comprehensive and appropriate choreography. She had time to finish her movements, was quite graceful and airy in the performance. Even balletic. I cannot see the same qualities in Anna because her choreography does not allow it. She probably can hit amazing balletic positions and actually hold them, as her posture is pretty well, and may even be a very musical skater, but all I see is rush rush rush, jump, jump, leg pull up, leg down, kick, jump and run. Between movements you can see the amazing quality there. But she comes across as sloppy in many sections of her programs because there is just too much going on. Too much content. I can see her capable of having performances similar to the young Mao because the quality is there and the has inner musicality, which cannot be taught. Too bad the people around her do not seem to appreciate the full extent of her qualities.

I really love Mao Asada.
Now she isn’t skating but I really love her
programs, her jumps.
Most of all I like that she could do together
difficult jumps and very emotional and good skating. --- Anna

https://www.olympicchannel.com/ja/stories/news/detail/スケ-トアメリカ優勝のシェルハコワ-浅田真央さんのことか本当に好き/
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
I do not feel remotely comfortable publicly comparing them, but I definitely think that Anna's artistry and musicality are heinously underrated.

I showed my mother all of 3A's free skates, and she actually ranked them the same as the judges! When I told her about the common opinion that Anna lacks artistry and musicality, I thought she was going to start throwing things. :laugh:
 

silveruskate

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
I do not feel remotely comfortable publicly comparing them, but I definitely think that Anna's artistry and musicality are heinously underrated.

I showed my mother all of 3A's free skates, and she actually ranked them the same as the judges! When I told her about the common opinion that Anna lacks artistry and musicality, I thought she was going to start throwing things. :laugh:

If you gave the impression people say she lacks artistry and musicality compared to Trusova then I don't blame her! :laugh:
 
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