2018 US Championships Sr. Free Dance

[bramweld]

I think the exact same too. If everyone lay down their best, I'd have USA in 3,4 and 5 no questions. But I'm still wondering if they can reach something like a 77-78 SD and a 115 FD, because that will make their case. And since people are going to say, "it's in Russia, so we don't care..." not so much.

I honestly believe they can sneak in for top 5 again if others make mistakes but their SD just does them no favours. They have to rely on mistakes from everybody for both SD and FD to manage higher than that. And I just think neither of their programs come close to what C/B and H/D have. The Shibs just beat them hands down with their smooth as butter technique. Russia just needs to retrain the basics of their ice dancers, they're just not very smooth with few exceptions.

 

[SarahSynchro]

yes, they were; I often wonder if the Shibs can't make it to the top internationally because they are siblings

Madison H thankfully learned that lesson when she was younger and her brother slash dance partner retired.

 

[Barb]

it is different with Maia and Alex, they are not the typical brother and sister, if you follow them , you realize that they were really best friends all their life, so their partnership works,I have the typical sibling relationship with my brother and I know perfectly that it would never work, I can´t stand him. Actually, I notice that Maia and Alex take more advantage of their sibling relationship than the advantage that other teams could to take of any relationship that said teams have, I am surprised with real life couples with almost zero chemistry on the ice.

 

[synteis]

I would love to watch this competition listening to the boys on BESP comment.

For the past two seasons, they've been saying, "What are the judges waiting for??!!"

They are H/D ubers, for sure.

Yes, I'm sure they'll pleased. Presumably we'll hear a bit of their excitement come the Olympics when they finally get to say that they won Nationals with two wonderful performances.

 

[thoakun]

Good news to wake up to. Just when I was about to say that H/D is the best US team this season, and they won. Nothing feels as inspired as the good ones becoming even better thanks to a compeytitive environment.

 

[Artistry]

I haven't posted in years but coming back to closely following the sport this season. Shibs did not move me at all, in fact they remind me overall of when I last saw them compete with V/M and D/W: accurate, goody-goody, lacking passion but with polish. I would have expected more artistic growth. Look at Nathan Chen - how much his interpretation skills improved in a short time. Anyway, the right team won!

 

[klutzy]

Was in the arena today for the free dance. Had never found Hubbell/Donohue that interesting to watch on TV, but in person today, they were incredibly magnetic--gorgeous to look at. Even during the warm-up, I had the sense that they were going to be "on." Definitely the performance of the evening--even while waiting for the scores, I knew they'd beaten the Shibs--and I love the Shibs. It was just one of those skates--it just pulled you into the moment and the music. It was like watching a movie come to life.

H/B also stood out--they're small, but they skate big. Bradie Tennell could take lessons in port de bras from Jean-Luc.

ETA: Maia's stumble was, unfortunately, pretty noticeable--she was facing in my direction (toward the kiss and cry) and there was a group gasp--admittedly I was sitting above a bunch of skaters (and below either Hubbell or Donohue's mother--all these people congratulated her at the end), but we all saw it from the audience. Judges would have seen it from the side.

For me, it was an OMG--something unexpected has happened in ice dance!

And, yes, the Shibs and Madison Chock were clearly *really* unhappy at the end--not just their faces, but also their body language. The podium was strange that way--two very happy pairs--pewter and gold; and two really unhappy pairs; bronze and silver.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Hubbell/Donahue: YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Although they lost levels, still the best performance they've given of this free dance all season. Looks like the results of the GPF played a role here and allowed the judges the freedom to put their eggs H/D's basket PCS-wise. Madison has transformed herself into a leading lady this season--she's projecting a confidence, skating skills, and star-power that should elevate her into comparison with Tessa Virtue and Gabriella Papadakis. To me, while Tessa is queen, Madison is the second best female ice-dancer in the world right now. Will the Olympic judges allow 3 teams from the same country on the podium?

Shibutani's: It seems like they have been trying to capture the feeling behind their Fix You free dance in 2016 for the past two years. Adding some of the Fix You music to the Paradise free dance felt a little desperate. Because their greatest strength is their consistency, will the mistakes in the last two events accelerate the perception that they are being left behind? I'm also interested to see if we'll see them at another Nationals. I get the sense that they may continue, setting up an interesting rivalry with Hubbell/Donahue.

Chock/Bates: What exactly was the point, from a political perspective ( which seems to be all the judges at this event were interested in) in putting them in first in the free dance? While I thought they were moving in a better direction with their programs last year, they seem to be presenting a completely different story of themselves this year. I don't think they've ever had a free dance that says anything important or compelling. Since they've started dating, it doesn't seem like their emotional connection or Evan's skating ability has progressed.

Hawayek/Baker: Lovely. Receiving essentially the same score in the FD as the Shibutani's will be a huge confidence boost. They have star power, but are inconsistent and emotional, which means their fans are in for a roller coaster over the next 4 years.

Parson/Parson: They should break up and find partners they aren't related to. The girl has star potential.

Tanith Belbin: Could she be more of a pleasure to listen to?

C&B are a couple off the ice?

 

[Anyasnake]

but they came in first in the free skate

Yes, I don't think that if H/D skated that well in intl competition, C/B would have been above. Personnal opinion based on GOE and PCS given.

 

[Bcash]

ARE YOU EVEN KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW
I'm so done
THAT DID NOT DESERVE TO WIN

They deserved to win a long time ago. S/S the flattest dance team in history.

 

[klutzy]

Yes, I don't think that if H/D skated that well in intl competition, C/B would have been above. Personnal opinion based on GOE and PCS given.

Yeah, I think that was a bit of gamesmanship--the Americans want all their teams to be considered bronze possibilities.

 

[moonvine]

OMG! How does anyone watch NBC's coverage? It was advertised as 3 hours of ice dance competition. Instead we got a rehash of the women's, rehash of the men's, rehash of Tara's OGM (with bonus scream), two ice dance performances, interview with Andrea "I Can Make Anyone Cry" Joyce and the 3 men's Olympic team members, rehash of CALGARY Olympics!!!, now it is finally getting into the final group so maybe I will see 8 performances in THREE HOURS. God forbid I should ever have to give up my icenetwork.

 

[Anni234]

I couldn't watch live, because waking up at 4 a.m is too much before workday, but I was really sad to see Shibs didn't win. However all the teams were really close and the level of all the teams is just incredible. Congratulations to everyone.

 

[elysium8]

OMG! How does anyone watch NBC's coverage? It was advertised as 3 hours of ice dance competition. Instead we got a rehash of the women's, rehash of the men's, .

I can somewhat understand the rehash of the men’s FS because that broadcast got bumped from nbc to nbcsn due to nfl football on nbc.

So, for those folks without nbcsn, nbc probably wanted to get it out there for them.

 

[moonvine]

Are H/D a couple? He got down on a knee and kissed her hand at the end of the performance and I thought it was going to be a proposal.

 

[moonvine]

I can somewhat understand the rehash of the men’s FS because that broadcast got bumped from nbc to nbcsn due to nfl football on nbc.

So, for those folks without nbcsn, nbc probably wanted to get it out there for them.

There were EIGHT ice dance performances (I think, might have been 7) in THREE HOURS. There's no excuse for that.

 

[sekhmets]

This is a corrrect result in my opinion.

When comes to FD, passion and emotion plays a big part. H/D were 'smouldering' from the start of the 'Rhumba' in the Short Dance, didn't stop and carried all the way to the Free Dance. Also, technically Maddison Hubbell has the best edge quality and the better skater of the 3 ladies and Zach just presented her so so well.

The Shibutanis - Presentation wise - their eyes were looking down a lot in this Free Dance. Alex presented Maia well but just lacking in that 'passion' factor which is crucial in a Free Dance. Their twizzles are always a highlight of their programs but in a long program (3 1/2 minutes?), once that is done, there is nothing else.

Chock/Bates - This season, their programs are the weakest I have ever seen. It doesn't help that Maddison Chock is the weakest skater of the 3 ladies. 'Imagine' just feels archaic and the program itself is rather bland. H/D should have won the FD overall by 2 points and definitely higher PCs than both C/B and Shibs.

I'm curious how you think the Shibs could exhibit more passion in their FD. It seems quite difficult to do so without a romantic angle to the program, which obviously isn't a possibility. I agree that passion is important and I'm concerned that the lack of it hurts them, but I also don't really see a solution.

 

[moonvine]

I'm curious how you think the Shibs could exhibit more passion in their FD. It seems quite difficult to do so without a romantic angle to the program, which obviously isn't a possibility. I agree that passion is important and I'm concerned that the lack of it hurts them, but I also don't really see a solution.

I thought their 2016 FS in Boston was very passionate. I also wonder why this is a problem in ice dance and not ballroom, where brother/sister pairs compete and display passion. It isn't real, it's a performance.

 

[tzazu]

And, yes, the Shibs and Madison Chock were clearly *really* unhappy at the end--not just their faces, but also their body language. The podium was strange that way--two very happy pairs--pewter and gold; and two really unhappy pairs; bronze and silver.

That's so true, it's really evident. But I think the reasons were different: Shibs were unhappy with their performance, you were able to see that the moment they left the ice and when they're sitting in the K&C waiting their grade. C/B were unhappy with their grade

 

[Anni234]

Are H/D a couple? He got down on a knee and kissed her hand at the end of the performance and I thought it was going to be a proposal.

They were, but now they are both dating different people.