LADIES LONG PROGRAM Thread | Page 7 | Golden Skate

LADIES LONG PROGRAM Thread

Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Ashley was indeed pretty much robbed of the bronze :s I really hate to see Alena's PCS so high! Jump-wise a really good performance for Ashley; now if she can manage that 2A-3T and keep the other jumps as steady as they look now (she's good at loops, I'm sure the mistake on the loop today will be easy to fix).. She should be set to have a good Nationals!!!! Too bad she won't be at the GPF; I will miss her!
 

hikki

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Country
Japan
Not a deserved win for Akiko...she got the same score here as she did at Skate Canada when there were less mistakes and a better performance. It doesn't matter, though, as long as Mao wins TEB next week. I'm quite certain she will win as long as she just does a clean SP and LP and forgets about the Triple Axel. She doesn't need it to win (that goes for Worlds this season too).

Really disappointed with Mao's choreography though, sigh. The program was so beautiful at Japanese Nationals last season (her best LP ever) and the watered down version she has been doing since then really does not allow her to show what she is fully capable of.

The discussion on Liebesträume pre vs. post 4CC last season was interesting and my view remains that the post version is better, mainly and importantly for synchronicity to music. And just as well, the judges' consensus this season seems to value connection to music more than ever before. The moves that pro pre-4CC people miss are actually there such as the spiral at the end, also the "running" move has been added back here.

As for 3axel, Mao did say she wants to try it in Russia!
 
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Morning Glory

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
I'm so proud of you, Mao-chan!!

She underrotated 2 jumps (3f, 2lo) and her 3lo is not good today, so this means she can get near 130 without 3A? Anyway, soooo happy for her performance and smile :)

Congratulations to Akiko and Alena, too!
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
I usually don't watch the Awards Ceremony, but his time I caught the ending with all three medalists standing on the ice together, and I just couldn't believe (from the camera's side angle) how thin Mao is. Akiko & Alena appeared to be twice her size, with breasts to boot, whereas Mao has even lost the little bumps she used to have on her chest. It just looked totally odd, like she's an ice dancer instead of a singles skater. :confused2:

Anyhow, just a little triva, lol. :biggrin:

Approximately 16 more hours to go until the Mens FS - YEAH! :cool:

Night everyone, sleep tight & comfy as a bug. ;)
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
Isn't Mao skating in Russia for her next GP? But I guess your point still stands, her only real competition there is Adelina Sotnikova, and Sotnikova has not looked as strong as she did last season.

Ugh....agree about the axel. Mao would've won if she went for a 2A in the SP.

Er, yeah, Cup of Russia rather.

It was great to see Mao hit the 2Axel-3Toe and 3Sal. She does not at all need the 3Axel this season. She will win everything if she just focuses on doing clean SP's and LP's and continually improving her technique and consistency on all of the other jumps. The 3Axel can come back next season after she has entirely conquered the standard 7-Triple LP.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
How exciting that Mao did so well! I hope I get to see it. I'm thrilled about Akiko, too. I hope both of them just keep improving.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
The discussion on Liebesträume pre vs. post 4CC last season was interesting and my view remains that the post version is better, mainly and importantly for synchronicity to music. And just as well, the judges' consensus this season seems to value connection to music more than ever before. The moves that pro pre-4CC people miss are actually there such as the spiral at the end, also the "running" move has been added back here.

The post version has less synchronicity to the music, though. She used to have a Spiral Sequence that blazed across the ice with the crescendo of the music and a flying sit spin that went so beautifully with the delicate part afterward. The running move at the end of the step sequence is back, but it's not in time with the same fleeting part of music where it was formerly so perfect. Similarly, the 3Loop and final combination spin also miss the beats of the music where they'd be most effective. The updated version of the program is about putting jumps earlier in the program to the detriment of the entire choreography/interpretation after the second 3Flip pass.
 

ayayukiituka

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Mao doesn't need 3A neither in SP nor FS,however her main goal is not to win competitions but to do what she has done.
Mao must think her perfect FP is with a 3A.
 

christinaskater

Medalist
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Akiko deserved her win especially for her amazing program.

Do remember she made the double axel-triple toe combination, triple salchow-double toe combination and made a single loop-double-double combination to seal the win together with her huge score for the SP! I am just so happy for her.

I love Mao more than ever, this is the first time (along with the SP) that I really felt she was connecting with the music and really selling it. I love it! Her programs are both glorious!
 

hikki

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Country
Japan
The post version has less synchronicity to the music, though. She used to have a Spiral Sequence that blazed across the ice with the crescendo of the music and a flying sit spin that went so beautifully with the delicate part afterward. The running move at the end of the step sequence is back, but it's not in time with the same fleeting part of music where it was formerly so perfect. Similarly, the 3Loop and final combination spin also miss the beats of the music where they'd be most effective. The updated version of the program is about putting jumps earlier in the program to the detriment of the entire choreography/interpretation after the second 3Flip pass.

Really? At 2:09 and 3:36 in the video provided in this thread, the spin combos go so well with the music it seems. A lovely match. And ditto the step sequence proceeding. And I actually LOVE how it doesn't end with the rushed spin combo at the end, and instead she 'holds' the music.

It's good that we obviously care enough about this program though!
 
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Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
Her combo spin wasn't "rushed" at the end in the old choreography, though, and she now has a spiral with virtually no speed or ice coverage. Gah. I guess we'll never agree on this.

However, this version is at least way better than Adelina Sotnikova's program to the same music this season. Mao is going to utterly embarrass Adelina at Cup of Russia in a couple weeks.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
She wasn't slow. Her speed is probably the best it has been since 2008.

And I want to add to those who favor white boots! :)
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
I never had doubt that Mao would regain her skating confidence and glory. She's not all there yet but undeniably on her way. However, this competition raises two questions for me. One is about her 3A. Wouldn't it have been a better strategy, as per conventional wisdom, for her to attempt it in the LP rather than the SP, where any mistake is more unforgiving as well as having a negative mental impact on the LP? She went against her coach's advice and did it in the SP as if to prove something to herself and then played it safe in the Long. As it was, she couldn't afford the risk in the LP either, seeing the errors even without a 3A attempt.

Secondly, I too have some concerns with her weight. I have no idea if it reflects her health because being a little underweight can actually be very healthy, contributing to longevity if not the impression of fitness or current beauty or social ideal. However, esthetically, for a rather tall and long limbed skater, being thin does make Mao somehow gangly, deminishing her usual grace and etherealhess on ice. Unlike a Pairs girl whose low weight confers an advantage, power is more important to a Single skater. Health wise, my concern is with the cause of her weight loss, especially if it were psychological. This is not the same case as Christina Gao being thin as Mao is 21 and not growing and her weight should have been stabilized, unless she is growing (like Dan Zhang) as the thinness does make her look taller.
 
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