Golden West (Sept. 3-6 in Culver City, CA)

LeCygne said:

Also, Rachael had the advantage with this being her second summer competition. I think she didn't do so well at Colorado Championships earlier this summer, similar to what Caroline and Mirai did here at their first competition of the season.

From the few reports we've gotten so far, I am a bit worried for Caroline. Rachael seems like she's in a good place and Mirai did pretty well here, but Caroline seems to be struggling. Looks like coaching changes and the injury have set her back, and there really isn't much time until TEB.

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IIRC, Flatt mentioned either in an interview or on Twitter or Facebook Fan page that she had returned from working with Nichol in early July on her programs. So, her Colorado Champs performances were probably all of 3-4 weeks old. Flatt has competed at summer competitions for years, with either Broadmoor or Liberty being her first competition of the season. Understandibly so that Broadmoor isn't the first competition for elite skaters very often as it is sooooooo early in the season. So, not a surprise that there is vast improvement in the past 4 weeks from her programs at CO Champs to Golden West. Just a another good reason, even as an elite skater, to put those programs out at summer comps!!

And from Red Dog:
"Rachel obviously is blessed with being a consistent competitor and she should take advantage of that while she still has her jumps. "

Flatt is incredibly consistent with her jumps for as long as we can remember as well as a very sound approach to competition as demonstrated in her first Worlds back in March. Watched the Canadian coverage of her programs from Worlds and Kurt Browning mentioned that he had skated at some shows with her and was taken by her focus...he said something about trying to get a rise out of Rachael...and couldn't. Perhaps Rachael is so shy that she was unable to reply to Kurt's witty remarks! ;-)

Flatt has also mentioned in interviews and press packet that her 3Lp was her trouble jump for a season or two, but I suspect that because it was the required solo jump during her international Jr season, it has become a very strong jump for her. She has sound consistent technique and I don't expect her jumps to be an issue for her any time soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOywaLmx7XI&feature=related

Caroline's long program.

Well, after watching that I must say she got an alright score for how many glaring errors were in that program-- the skating through the salchow...oh goodnes lol. Luckily theres no 20+ point divide between her and Rachael on clean-program basis. Also...why is that the EXACT SAME (or almost) program she always does?! I love her short program though, she actually kinda gets into character and it doesn't look like other shorts she's done!

Let's see I love Rachael's short but she's really going to have to polish some details to make that LP work. But I think the music is far more accessible to the average viewer than the Debussy piece, so there's hope that she'll find a way to perform it to an audience. This rough, early-season performance was rather boring. I really can't say from the video if she's gotten considerably faster. I like both her step sequences very much.
I actually find Mirai's Carmen quite nice, sure she could be more expressive but it's just a club competition. I liked her short program too, but I don't think it's a masterpiece of choreography. I don't her step sequence and the overall construction. But I just love, love, love her lines, ice coverage and speed.
As for Caroline, I think her SP has lots of potential, though she was musically totally off in this performance. Maybe she just had a bad day because it looked like she couldn't identify the beat of the music at all. If she's figuring that out I think this program will do her good, also with covering her speed issues. it's also very different from what we're used to see from her which is great to see. Kudos to her for stepping out of that comfort zone.The only enjoyable thing in her long program were the spirals though. I didn't like the music cuts or the overall construction of the program. It's really boring, I think I'd fall asleep if it weren't for her superb spiral and spins.

cornell08 said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOywaLmx7XI&feature=related

Caroline's long program.

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wow, I barely made it halfway through...hwell:

thank you for the video of caroline--but I also would like one of Mirai and Rachel especially because that is where the problem lies-- they cheated for alissa /overscored her at liberty so bad-a bit of ashley-probably of rachel and miria-
sorry i don't believe you-but what they have done--no benefit of doubt-
i need to see for myself-untouch videos (in other words--no speed up, etc.)
thank you if anyone can put them up.

fairly4 said:

thank you for the video of caroline--but I also would like one of Mirai and Rachel especially because that is where the problem lies-- they cheated for alissa /overscored her at liberty so bad-a bit of ashley-probably of rachel and miria-
sorry i don't believe you-but what they have done--no benefit of doubt-
i need to see for myself-untouch videos (in other words--no speed up, etc.)
thank you if anyone can put them up.

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If you're looking for videos of all three girls, just go to the previous page. They're all about 4 minutes long for the LP, so I'm sure there's no "speed-up" whatsoever because if there were they'd be shorter.

i can see what the problem was,the sp was kind of equal between rachel and mirai,but the lp rachel did was like 11 jumps all flawless,caroline did half the jumps and made a mistake like mirai.

okay i saw part of caroline and part of rachel,
to me they both skated about the same in speed(but that doesn't say anything with video)
what i saw i Rachel improved on her height in jumps ( so it doesn't look like she ur anythings) she did well and deserved her score.
Caroline jumped like rachel did her jumps were lower so that some look like could have been ur and maybe not--that is where benefit of doubt comes in.
caroline jumps (lower ones) were ur-rachel her first couple to me looked like could have been but because higher given benefit of doubt --no.

Red Dog said:

wow, I barely made it halfway through...hwell:

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Same!

When I heard Rachael's long program music I wistfully thought how great a choice it would've been for Caroline. Rachael does a lovely job though, good for her.

mmmm...I wonder why Caroline beat Mirai in the LP...I thought Mirai's LP was way better than Caroline's...

I APOLOGIZE
I was totally wrong.
okay this is what I saw, Rachel just skated her programs --but she did a great job, she needs to sell the long program a bit bet better-it was flat. no emotion or anything because just seeing how ready they were. Rachel is ready and will get better as season goes on. to me she just skated but as i stated okay being the type of competition.

Mirai--was overmarked in the short--she should got nailed for the 2nd jump--it was two-footed. she didn't however she speed up in the short as she went along.
in the long program toward the end she ran out of gas, maybe a bit overmarked in the long but not much. I don't think she was hurt-maybe not the score she liked but she is improving. Mirai to me--fought the long more than caroline and rachel.-but needs to keep it up all through her program, good speed and height on jumps.


Caroline--okay need to improve height on jumps both long and short, improve speed in short. long to me just skated but okay for type of competition.
the injury has hurt her with maybe coaching changes with no coach helping her during summer(i don't know).
otherwise programs looks good.

all three girls should get better as season progress,

Musings on Mirai’s programs:

1) She interpreted her SP better than her LP. That said, this Carmen is more of a girlscout. I don’t think Mirai, Rachael or Caroline can really pull off sultry/sexy at this point…Ashley’s probably the only young up and comer who can get away with it for now.

2) The theme (and best part!) of the Pirates soundtrack for some reason does not show up in the cut shes uses until the last part near the beginning of her footwork sequence. Why does she use that obscure, boring part of the soundtrack for the first 2/3rds of her program?

3) She does a funky knee move at 2:47 of her SP video that I’m sorry, is more hysterical than what she’s going for I’ll bet.

4) Not sure why she placed behind Caroline in the long...

5) I really love watching this girl skate! Pure joy on ice Great start for her.

I'm really disappointed by Caroline's LP. If she wants to skate to music that has already been used so memorably by skaters like Sasha Cohen and Shen/Zhao, she needs to bring something new to it, and I'm afraid she doesn't. The construction of the program, with four jumping passes in a row with no choreography, is just bad. And the slow music just emphasizes her still unimproved lack of speed across the ice. Even if she cleans lands all of her jumps, I can't see how this will be a good vehicle for her to make the Olympic team.

Rachael's SP was exciting, cute and truly entertaining for once! Especially where she fans herself Great choreography.

Her LP was.......signature Rachael. Shrug.

I wonder what happened to Rika Inoda as the reigning Junior National Figure Skating Champion,this feels disappointing not even making it to the finals.

madibe said:

I'm really disappointed by Caroline's LP. If she wants to skate to music that has already been used so memorably by skaters like Sasha Cohen and Shen/Zhao, she needs to bring something new to it, and I'm afraid she doesn't. The construction of the program, with four jumping passes in a row with no choreography, is just bad. And the slow music just emphasizes her still unimproved lack of speed across the ice. Even if she cleans lands all of her jumps, I can't see how this will be a good vehicle for her to make the Olympic team.

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I feel the same way. She also needs to add something new to her own long program from the past two years! Because thats what it is. I think her short program has alot of potential though, the 'having choreography' part helps...

I'm loving all the SP's from the top 3 ladies, especially Rachael's, I've never seen her emote so much in a program.

Rachael was great. I personally didn't love her short, but it did have much more personality than her programs usually do, so good for her. I liked her long though. I agree with whoever said that this music is much more accessible than Debussy was, and I don't feel like this program was as flat as her usual. She's doing great, I look forward to seeing how she improves throughout the course of the season.

I actually liked Mirai's POTC more than I thought I would. I liked the beginning slow part because it's not the overused POTC we all know. It's not princessy but it does have some sensitive parts to it. And I like how she used a variation of the main theme at the end. Not as dramatic as the original, but I don't think that was what she was going for in this program.

Carmen was so so.. Again, appreciate the lesser-known cuts but the program didn't stand out in my mind. I think she knows she's not ready for full-on Carmen, so she tried to do a unique version of it. Unfortunately, it left the program in a kind of awkward middle. Overall I like that Mirai's getting away from her cutesy stuff but she should have waited until she was ready for full-on Carmen. As far as her jumps, I can't see any significant improvement but it at least looks like she's back to her old self.

Caroline's short has tons of potential. Loved parts of the choreography and her black dress is soo pretty. She used a lot more of the slow part, understandably. I was hoping for a faster footwork sequence, but what she has is really nice too. But the final two spins have got to be faster with that music cut. Someone said on YouTube that her lack of speed is making her spins look bad, a hard thing to do. She was definitely off here, but this program could really be great if she just gets going...

Nutcracker...sigh... it was exceedingly similar to Ave Maria... and every other long she's done. Liked the spirals but that was about it. I was really hoping she could build off of the great crescendos in the music but even her spirals kinda fell short there. She could potentially do fine with this program like she did with Ave Maria, but we're all tired of fine...

So yeah, after seeing all four girls' early programs, I'd probably rank them:

1. Rachael
2. Ashley
3. Mirai
4. Caroline

LeCygne said:

She could potentially do fine with this program like she did with Ave Maria, but we're all tired of fine...

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Indeed we are.

My ranking:

1) Ashley (both programs)
2) Caroline's short
3) Rachael's short
4) Mirai (both)
5) Rachael's long
6) Caroline's long

Also gonna throw in that I loved Ellie Kawamura's SP to 'Over the Rainbow' but that dress is...four shades too literal.

cornell08 said:

My ranking:

1) Ashley (both programs)
2) Caroline's short
3) Rachael's short
4) Mirai (both)
5) Rachael's long
6) Caroline's long

Also gonna throw in that I loved Ellie Kawamura's SP to 'Over the Rainbow' but that dress is...four shades too literal.

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My ranking was more for the actual skaters' conditions than their programs, but I pretty much agree with your ranking of the programs. Except maybe switch Rachael's short with her long...

Haha I love Ellie, she's so cute. Her short is great but I loved her tango LP actually, and her LP dress is quite stylish.