Ladies Free from TV | Golden Skate

Ladies Free from TV

SailorGalaxia518

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
IRINA IRINA IRINA

Seriously, They just need to change the sport of figure skating to a " From Russia With Love" Theme :laugh:


She's your gal....definitely was dominate here and not suprising that she broke Sasha Cohen's record considering her success thus far.

Ando has improved immensely with her artistry.....she could be Japan's best hope for a medal in Torino

Onda......personally needs to retire....she is just not showimg the passion for the sport anymore

Hughes.....contender for a spot in Torino but the least likely at this point
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Irina was awesome. She seems to skate REALLY well before the Russian fans.

Miki- very good performance, and she is improving. I would love to see her and Shizuka skate well in Torino, and at least one of them on the podium.

Yoshie- I feel really sorry for her. What does she have to do to improve? She is not even landing jumps consistently anymore.

Vash
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
What Carol Heiss has done with Miki, all of Onda's coaches, and now especially Josee Choinard, have done the opposite. Nothing against any of Onda's coaches, I just think they tried or are trying to make a lyrical skater out of her and Onda just ain't.

If a coach could do with Onda with what Irina basically did with herself since '04, then I think the spark and sizzle would be back in Onda's skating. IMO, Onda is the Japanese Irina--if they would let her be and coach her that way.

Hey, if Irina retires, she may have her first elite student.

Seriously, if I were Onda, all my love for skating would be dead by now too. Onda=Square Peg. Style her coach and choreographer are foisting on her=Roung Hole. Poor thing.

OT, but have Japanes Nationals happened already? If so, what was the outcome? Although I do like Japan's way of choosing World and Olympic teams based on overall performances rather than just one skaate. If JN haven't happend yet, when will they?

Man, I see a potential Olympic squeaker between Miki, Sasha, and Shizuka. Of course, that means I'll be completely wrong, LOL.

Rgirl
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
The only skater I saw on TV who impressed me, was Miki. Last season, she was just so hum hum. Now she looks like a contender for the gold in the Olys.
The transformation has been incredible. She flows like a Michelle Kwan in all her stroking. There are nuances there in the head, arms, fingers. There is body language. Just remarkable. Carol has to be congratulated. Did Wilson do the choreography?

The Japanese Nationals will be something else.

The other skaters were true to form. Nothing surprising. Nice to see Emilie fully recovered from that horrible disease. Irina was Irina. Yoshie was somewhat better than her typical self.


Joe
 

emma

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Joesitz said:
The only skater I saw on TV who impressed me, was Miki. Last season, she was just so hum hum. Now she looks like a contender for the gold in the Olys.
The transformation has been incredible. She flows like a Michelle Kwan in all her stroking. There are nuances there in the head, arms, fingers. There is body language. Just remarkable. Carol has to be congratulated. Did Wilson do the choreography?

The Japanese Nationals will be something else.

The other skaters were true to form. Nothing surprising. Nice to see Emilie fully recovered from that horrible disease. Irina was Irina. Yoshie was somewhat better than her typical self.


Joe

Joe, I couldn't agree with you more about Miki. I was totally like: is THAT Miki???? She was amazing last night....and yes, Wilson did the choreography....another genius truly (like Moskvina with pairs).

I must agree with Rgirl too...I feel bad for Yoshie because it seems like she could be such a wonderful athletic skater but is being or is holding herself back. too bad.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Emily Hughes - what the crap????? My husband (a European) commented, when she fell during her SP: "She has too-big ***." [hubby used not-so-genteel word for posterior body part] Sorry but I can't believe that this is the best ladies skater that the US federation could have dug up to represent us in St. Petersburg. As an American, I felt embarrassed. Sorry to be so blunt but that's how I felt.

To add insult to injury - ESPN most likely chacked beautiful Susana Poykio (4th-place finisher) to show us "Hughes Sister."
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Back at 2003 Worlds, I watched a practice that Yoshie skated at. In practice, she was one of those skaters you couldn't help but watch. She was alive, every inch, a little dancing teddybear, zipping around the rink. AFAIR, she was in the same group with Sasha, and it was Yoshie who stood out.

All that spark appears gone. Josee seems to be trying to get Yoshie to skate like Josee. And as Rgirl said, square peg in round hole. Yoshie is not a Comme Ci Comme Ca sort of skater.

Who should be her coach? And what should she skate to? And what should she wear as a costume? I'd like to see her in a bright colored, very simply cut costume, skating to something where the music is not too deep, kind of happy & bubbly, and really moves out.

Maybe go to Doug Leigh, Elvis's coach? Maybe go in for pairs? I can definitely see Yoshie hitting a quad throw sometime, or flying high in a twist with an assist from a good partner.
 

jesslily

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Yoshie skating is worse than the time she was with her Japanese coach. Before at least she was herself. She did not have the polish, but she skated her own style. Not she was changed to no power and speed, and no style. I feel she should go back to her old coach.

Emily Hughes is not yet an international competitior. She needs to work on jumps, presentation, and sliming down a little bit. However, she does have a lot of confidence.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
This is Hughes' first GP series. I'd give her a break. Maybe five seasons from now we can jump on her, like we do all the other skaters on top anyway.
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
The worst thing with Emily is that she is skating to BALLET music. Emily looks like a TENNIS PLAYER, not a ballerina. All those arm movements look as if she should be swinging a racquet.

She's loaded with power and confidence, but she's out of control, like a car with no brakes. She hurls herself around the rink with such abandon that when she falls, you expect to hear a THUD and feel the earth shake. She should be skating to powerful music, not tinkly ballerina stuff, and wear simply tailored costumes that don't emphasize how not-little she is.

The thing is, after she's finished skating, all you can think of is the falls she had (even if it was just one) because she falls with such AUTHORITY!

I would MUCH rather have seen Susanna Poykio.
 
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jesslily

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
How many elite skaters doing five seasons' Grand Prix? The real gold contenders probably only need to do two or three. The skaters who have been competed years after years at Grand Prix will never make anything big.
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree with everything you said about Miki, Joe. I can't believe I'm watching the same person. I am wondering when, or if, this young lady will ever have her 3/3 ratified. Probably not, that might put her a little too close to Irina. It's too bad the ladies gold medal is already spoken for, because I think Miki would have had a real shot at it. But there's still silver and bronze!!!
In fact, I predict that Miki will be on the Olympic podium!
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Ando's program is a David Wilson program. In an interview earlier in the year, he said that Ando showed up and performed the beginning of Rochette's Firebird and said that she wanted to skate like that. I thought she was already on that path with her guitar LP last year, which she dumped for a repeat of her Firebird, which made her look like a Junior skater. All she need to do with the original program was fix the entrance into the first spiral, which was too difficult for her and which she bobbled repeatedly during the GP.

I thought Ando was quite gorgeous in "My Funny Valentine" in CoR.

My two cents about what Onda needed was about three years of stroking practice with Audrey Weisinger, but a choreographer who didn't confuse proper edging with soft, pretty ballerina. But I also thought that Midori Ito was put in a straightjacket with horrendous romantic piano concerto programs instead of sunny music with driving rhythms.
 
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JOHIO2

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Ease up on Emily, please. The teen finished top 6 in the last US Nationals and won the bronze medal in her first international competition, the World Junior Championship, last season. Her 5th place finishes at Skate America and Russia are actually quite respectable for her first season competing on the international senior GP circuit. :rock:

When I saw her at Skate America, I really wondered whether she was a one season wonder, but then found out she had been ill and was just getting back to training. Also, after a fairly miserable sp, she came out and skated much better in the long prgram. She is out there "paying her dues." Some people complain that some skaters are too hyped (i.e., Kimmie) and some have high expectations (Emily DOES have a sister who won OGM. And Sarah was on the senior circuit earlier than most because she too medalled at Jr. World). This is her time to get used to senior competition and see where she needs to work harder. And I expect she will.

As for her size, shape and musical choices -- she is not the experienced competitor that Irina is. She'll find what works for her if given some time to develop.

Good job, Emily. And best wishes for US Nationals.
 
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