Let's Dance!
Well we all know now that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir withdrew from the event. On the one hand I'm disappointed that I won't get to see them and whoever wins the competition will forever have an asterisk next to their name (figuratively speaking) that the top team didn't compete. On the other hand, nobody wants to watch Tessa and Scott come out on to the ice and suck because of all the time off of training they've had and if there is nothing at stake (is there? do they really need to qualify for worlds? anyone?) why compete before they are ready?
So, onward to the competition. Here are the top contenders:
'Rank' Pair GP best 2010
1 Vanessa Crone/ Paul Poirier 154.42
2 Kaitlyn Weaver/ Andrew Poje 142.32
3 Kharis Ralph/ Asher Hill 121.39
4 Sarah Arnold/ Justin Trojek 107.64
5 Alexandra Paul/ Mitchell Islam 138.16
I'll admit that I'm not such a great judge of dance at this level. I'm one of those people who thinks all the teams are exceptional skaters and I find it really hard to differentiate who deserves the highest scores. At least this makes it a delightful event to watch because every team does a great job unless they make an obvious mistake. Fortunately I have some past scores to go by!
Let's start with Crone and Poirier. These Olympians had a great GP season receiving all the colours of the podium rainbow at their three events. I've heard a lot of negative review of their short dance, but I actually quite like it. Not only does it start with a breathtaking upside-down lift, it features one single piece of music and not weird combinations of cheesy tunes or tangos like so many of the short dances have this season. In contrast, everyone seems to love their free dance to Elenor Rigby but I complain that it has too many crossovers, so go figure. Otherwise I like the program and it has some tough lifts. If they can avoid silly falls and stuff like that they will be fighting it out for top spot. Oh, and I'm not sure if it factors in to the judging but they're an attractive pair in my opinion!
Weaver and Poje also had a pretty good season and are probably the biggest threat to an easy gold for Crone/Poirier. They won a silver medal at NHK trophy this year and slipped to 4th at Skate America. They qualified for the GP final and finished less than 4 points behind Crone/Poirier. They've been on the podium the last 4 years at this event and while they've never won it, it should be an exciting battle.
Ralph and Hill are positively adorable in their short dance (which is totally cheesy) but bring a more elegant look to their free dance which is a unique rendition on 'Summertime' by Senie. Umm plus he's totally hot. Anyway as for their skating their scores indicate that they are a bit outclassed by the other teams but that's not too surprising because this was their first GP season at the senior level. They raked in 4 silver medals on the JGP circuit in two seasons and are the Canadian Junior champions in 2008, so they are a real team-of-the-future.
Arnold and Trojek: They competed at Skate Canada and while their scores weren't great I admit I am a real sucker for their Amelie free dance music and think the program is really nice. Looking at the Protocol sheet from Skate Canada, some of the difficulty levels are not that high and GOE's are mostly neutral. Also their components are low which I'm learning to interpret as the judges saying "you need to spend more time at the senior level before we will give you higher PC Scores!" And, just like many of our pair teams they are a new pairing. Last year was their first time at this event and they placed tenth.
Paul and Islam are nice to watch. They have a fun tango in their short dance (and yes, I'm sick of tangos). I think they are a good calibre team but just had some bad luck this GP season. A fall in their short dance at the Cup of Russia cost them big time and then they withdrew from the event. I don't know why, but if it was because of injury I hope they are recovered from it. Based on their score from Skate Canada though they will challenge for 3rd or even 2nd place. At Skate Canada they had a slip on the Golden Waltz and received only level 2 for it as well as negative GOE (harsh for one slip, no?) which really hurt them but they came back big time with the second-best free dance, a rather elegant one and they got a standing ovation. Watch for their unique arm movements in their synchronized twizzles!
And that's a wrap! I wish I had time to review all the competitors but there just aren't enough hours in the day. The competition starts tomorrow at 1:15 PST and I'll be there!
No comments:
Post a Comment