Monday, December 12, 2011

Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Review

Bobrova & Soloviev:
Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev during the Ice Dance short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final December 9, 2011 in Quebec City.I love to bash this couple. Because they deserve it. Ekaterina looked awful in the free dance as much as she looked flawless in short danceBut Bobrova and Soloviev are in nowhere a champions should be. In the SD they were fast and accomplished the pattern sequence very good but the way Ekaterina Bobrova uses her extremities is excessive and the fact that she leans foward literally all the time is disturbing. She lookes like she is hunched. Their FD was full of content, its not a bad free dance but she ruins everything by leaning foward all the time and with her disproportionate posture. It is so hard for her to stop this. They are dancing very apart from each other in linking footwork sequences which is a big flaw to me. They were not even sliding on the ice. Lost too much time writing about them. They didn't even deserve to be in the Finals of the Grand Prix
                                                                  Shibutanis:
They may be less experienced but their skating skills are superb and in terms of technicality it is undeniable that they were better than the Russians. Especially in the FD. The lifts were full of content and they were extremely difficult. But they gave us a solid performance. Shibutani's have amazing skating skills and this time I've seen this FD more polished and smoothed. They are more glowy and it is obvious that they have worket on their artistical side out of it. Their timing was impeccable and they were calm during the performance. But they still  lack something that does not take them in front of Weaver and Poje. They need a couple of years to settle some things down and figure out their style, because they are capable of everything
Weaver & Poje
Just perfection.. There was fire on stage and Kaitlyn really pushed hersef to the end because usualy she is not very strong in the end of their performances and she usualy looses her strength and power but this time she went all the way. It was adorable when she cried. This program has diversity, power, melancholy and drama. I love to see drama on the ice. Totally Bourne style choreography, they used all the lines in it fulfill fully. They were clean in all of the transitions there was not one moment connected intermittent there is no doubt about that. Especially Andrew blew my mind tonight. I can see that he is improving on usage of his extremities and body language. They were absolutely stunning and all of the lifts especially their rotational lift (second) was as fast as they could be. Well done Kaitlyn and Andrew. I'm so prod of you and how fast you have become an amazing ice dancers.
Pechalat & Bourzat
Ice dance bronze medallists Nathalie Pechalat, left, and Fabian Bourzat, of France, perform their free dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating FThey were fast and edgy on the Short dance. They have deserved to be the 3rd. But I believe that they should've been ranked 4th for the FD. The short dance, first of all it was full of content. This SD has been choreographed and tailored perfecly for the french. It suits them very well and takes you to another place. What a remarkable performance. From their clothes to little detailes fittet in the small bits of the program it is shiny, positive, hopeful and cozy. I love to see them in funny and refreshing programmes as much as I love to see them in the middle of the innovative and post-modern pieces. Egyptian theme is just mesmerizing. They were enchantedly fascinating and their stage posture is tremendous in this program. I don't need to tell you how amazing Fabian looks and how this theme even makes him more gorgeous. He could possibly the most charming and charismatic ice dancer in the ice dancing history. What a shame
 on that twizzles with loss of synchronization. They've opened very strong an made very deep edges, lift could have been better. I have seen them performing this particular lift, which is their signature lift, so much better than this, even in this program but it was ok. Linking footwork was admirable. See, this was one of their weak sides. Till last year they were never good in linking footworks and step sequences because they used to dance so distant but you can see the improvement. I personally hated the way they changed their straight line lift! Why on earth did they do that? I have seen this lift in almost every program they have performed. Straight line lift in this program was unique and innovative. It used to give you the vibe of the oriental side of it. This is a very big mistake. I loved the deep edges and transitions in this program. They are still adding some minor details in usage of extremities in an Egyptian Way. Their timing was impeccable. Overall, it was well done. Virtue/Moir and Davis/White comparison is coming up in the next few days ... I have decided to make this annual because  my comparison review from the last worlds is the most popular by far of my all posts..


Friday, December 9, 2011

Grand Prix Of Figure Skating Final - SHORT DANCE LIVE BLOGGING EVENT

Kaitlyn Weaver - Andrew Poje


- My sentimental faves this year opened a bit slower

- Pattern impeccable

- They were very slow I mean they were lack of energy I don't know what happened there.

SD Score 66.24


Nathalie Pechalat - Fabian Bourzat


- Very energic opening great lift positioning.

- Is there something on the ice surface? Nobody is sliding properly

SD Score: 68.68


Ekaterina Bobrova - Dmitri Soloviev


- Wow. Faster that the previous teams. Am I seeing right?

- Edgy entrance to the pattern sequence

- Loss of synchronization in twizzles


SD Score: 64.05

Maia Shibutani - Alex Shibutani


- Very strong opening, keeping the polished moves all the way

- I love Maia's aura, she looks amazing today!

- Fastest team on the sequence so far

- Technically the best by far and I believe that this is their best performance ever in this Grand Prix

SD Score: 65.53


Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir


- The perfect opening ever in the Ice dancing history.

- Oh my God. What a shame on that fall! Hope will not effect the jury

- Very sharp entrance to pattern sequences and they kept the edgy speed into it.

- What a temptation between these two!

- Amazing sequence entrance, just impeccable

SD Score: 71.01 with -1 deduction




Meryl Davis - Charlie White


- Their transitions were not good as Virtue/Moir in terms of technicality

- Impeccible twizzles. The fastest this season !

- I believe they were better but lets see..

SD Score: 76.01

What? My God what a gap between these two. I cannot believe it! Meryl was in shock did you see her face?
She couldn't believe her eyes they all stuck for a moment. There is no way Tessa and Scott can win this Grand Prix unless Davis and White don't fall of present a below an average performance in comparison to Virtue and Moir. I believe Meryl and Charlie were better which I usually don't because I always thought that Virtue and Moir were better then them in this season SD. I was right. It was obvious but this time Meryl and Charlie rocked.

But should there be a big gap between the points? Sure not.

I will be publishing my full and detailed review and fill everything in all the details later.