Monday, May 2, 2011

Thoughts on Worlds

We finally had the 2011 World Championships after it was moved due to the tragedies in Japan.

Here in Canada we were blessed with free, complete coverage of all post-preliminary skates on the CBC streaming video. Unfortunately it was a bit choppy for me and commentated by PJ Kwong but I endured it. I stayed up late a couple of nights getting through it all! As usual there was plenty of intrigue. Here are some of my thoughts.

  • Patrick Chan! He skated brilliantly and truly deserved to win here. Not quite as good as his skate at Canadians but so thrilling anyway. Feels like ages since a Canadian won anything, so very exciting.
  • I wish his competition had been a bit better though. The men's freeskate was a bit of a gong show with Takahashi losing a screw, Oda having a combination disallowed, and generally a disappointing number of wipeouts.
  • Brian Joubert's FS outfit is so pretty, I want one for myself. Also I thought the camera was shamelessly zooming in on his package after his skate, but later I realized he had cut his hand and I guess the intention was to get a shot of that. Shows where my brain is I guess! Also Joubert didn't put a combination into his SP and did not do very difficult spins which generally left me disappointed.
  • Speaking of the Frenchmen, Florent Amodio skated his 'Once upon a time in Mexico' program right before Joubert's, and I thought Amodio's was really superior. Then Amodio dropped my jaw not with his great FS but with the vocals he apparently chose to keep in the music. I actually think it was kind of a cool move but wish he had chosen better vocals with which to make his statement...I mean, the Black Eyed Peas really deserve this honour? meh.
  • I didn't watch Artur Gachinski's programs because I had this impression from GP season that he was some kind of nobody in pink gloves. Looks like I have to go back and watch his bronze-medal performances...oops. In my defence I was trying to get through all those programs at 2am and I had to skip some performances.
  • Adrian Schultheiss missed the cut for the FS, which I thought was kind of a shame.
  • Michael Brezina was 4th. WTF?
  • Richard Dornbush actually making me root for an American man. WTF?
  • Peter Leibers really fun to watch.
  • The other Canadian boys not having great skates. For Joey Russell it was his first trip to worlds so I cut him some slack. But Kevin Reynolds needs to step it up. If I understand correctly we will only get to send 2 men next year?
  • In pairs, I didn't see all the performances yet but the real winners in my mind were Vol/Trank and their stunning triple twist. It looks like she is going to hit the rafters! Almost as stunning as SavSzol's huge triple flip. The pink bodysuit is a bit much for me but there is no denying that they nailed every single element including those pesky SBS spins they missed at Europeans. The other two Russian couples were a bit lacklustre in my opinion but maybe I'm just distracted by how hungry the girls look, it's just not a look I'm into. Pang and Tong were also a bit off in their FS with jumping errors and just not a lot of wow factor bumping them down to bronze.
  • The Canadian pairs skated well but small mistakes were enough to keep them out of contention. In fact they even came close to qualifying 3 teams for next year but it was not to be. Eric and Meaghan were fierce competitors, she accidentally broke his nose early in the SP on a triple twist but they finished their program and even brought in a great score. Serious competitiveness to push through that! Anyone that thinks figure skaters are not tough as nails should watch the video.
  • I actually really enjoyed the American team YanCoughlin and they skated very well and placed surprisingly high in 6th place.
  • Takahashi/Tran really surprised me by placing so well in the SP, I didn't know they were actually contenders.
  • Really like some of the choreo in the other German FS from Prince of Persia even if the outfits are a bit over the top.
  • Miki Ando put together two clean programs to win. Yawn. Watching her programs I got the feeling it is like watching her practice, only there happens to be some completely unrelated music playing. Kudos for her for really nailing the technical content though.
  • Overall I thought the ladies really brought it in the SP. Lots of those elusive 3/3 combinations that we just did not see on the GP season.
  • Amazed at who beat out the Canadian ladies. They did not bring their best performances, but I thought PCS would hold them up. Mae-Bernice Meite and Sarah Hecken, seriously? Ok, in the FS the Canadians really imploded. It's a bit saddening that that is the best our country can produce, when you look at how popular figure skating is in Canada. We have top coaches, top facilities, tons of participants, and a sad lack of 3Lutzes, 3flips, and 3/3 combos in world-class competitions. JoRo, when are you coming back? And the Americans think their ladies were a disappointment, pshaw.
  • To Sarah Hecken's credit, she has a 3/3 combo and clearly loves to skate, she brings a real exuberance to the ice.
  • Pleased to see a couple of girls with actual boobs skating at this level and even placing well. Elene G is a real sassy one, fun to watch.
  • Shocked to see the Russian ladies do so well. Not because they are Russian, but just because of their inconsistent GP seasons. Wow! Leonova and her new hairdo really sold the Witches of Eastwick. I have to say, it's not fair that the guys get to do footwork with attitude, drunken footwork, and Sherlock Holmes while the girls have to look pretty in their footwork/characterization. It's kind of refreshing to see someone do something slightly out of the ordinary (is Stephanie Rosenthal ever going to come back? Sigh)
  • Mao Asada smiling! Hate the new SP dress. Love her FS, dress and all. Wonky entrance to the camel spin made me feel better about mine.
  • Kanako Murakami changed her SP dress and look which really did not do it for me, shame because she is a sheer delight.
  • Kiira Korpi did not skate well, and Carolina Kostner skated forgettably but well enough for bronze. Her SP is good, but I just can't get into her FP and I'm tempted to blame it on that awful dress. Why do the dresses impact my opinion so much?
  • The return of Yuna Kim! Ok, she wasn't perfect, but it was really exciting to have her back. It was sad to see her tearing up on the podium, maybe it will inspire her to , um, actually compete next year?
  • Voir are back! And they brought a sassy FD with them which was amazing to watch in its entirety. I thought the ice would melt! It was thrilling and should have won over Marlie's snoozefest of a tango. Yeah, I get that it's difficult, but it looks difficult, and I just don't get the feeling that they need a chaperone the way Voir do. They didn't even look pleased afterwards, bah.
  • Fabian Bourzat fell on a bracket turn. Stupid bracket turns! On the one hand I feel a bit vindicated for finding them so difficult. If Fabian Bourzat can fall on a bracket turn, they must be hard. On the other hand I thought it was really tacky of him to get so mopey in the KNC and then walk away leaving Nathalie looking like a limp pile of bones.
  • Ok I love the Shibs, but since when is it possible to medal in ICE DANCE in your first trip to worlds? Where was this kind of love for Bourne and Kraatz? I absolutely adore their Nat King Cole FD but apparently it's not that difficult....dunno. However I'm very pleased that they took the bronze and not one of those awful Russian couples. At least Bobroviev got rid of Tom Jones!
  • Did Cappelinni and Lannotte change their FD music? It was a classy selection and they just seemed to float in the air, it was beautiful. We didn't see them for a while, glad to have them back and skating so nicely.
  • Crone and Poirier were fun to watch yet again but they just weren't getting any love from the judges, leaving them in 10th. But Weaver and Poje skated their little butts off to place 5th overall! Their SP is sensational and classy. Their FD feels 'messy' to me with all the musical cuts and I just want to pull her hair back into a bun already but it didn't bother the judges. Ice dance is definitely the strongest discipline in Canada.

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