Ladies SP - 3:55 am Eastern Time Friday

**Medusa** · 10-30-2009, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by SerpentineSteps

right. i feel like this is degenerating into a case of the “let’s make fun of the pretty blonde girl”…

Tragic... Pretty blonde girls are such an endangered and bullied species.

We are making good-natured fun of most people here, Lysacek is now an overgrown raven flapping to Stravinsky and I could go through the Plushenko thread and look for all the metaphors we found for Mr. Mullet.

That said, I think she is highly overrated. By far inferior to the other Finnish ladies, especially Lepistö, in most areas of her skating.

**gourry** · 10-30-2009, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by cornell08

Where/how did you watch the 7 ladies? I can only find Mirai and Akiko's SP on youtube...links? Gracias!

If you go a few pages back, there is a link for Mirai's SP, and that same Youtube user also posted other SPs but Kiira's. (Ok, so I watched top 7 ladies except Kiira.

) De nada!

**amateur** · 10-30-2009, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Medusa

I think compared to Akiko, Nagasu looked absolutely juniorish, not in sync with her music, lanky, awkward, hesitant before her jumps - she also might have been fast, but fast and choppy, and not at all fluent like Akiko e.g. And not all of her spins are good, that camel during the combination spin was mediocre at best. I think she got very good marks for her performance.

my impression:
While Akiko certainly does have more flair and maturity, I don't feel like it is expressed on a consitent level throughout her performance. Her skating is probably smoother, but I wouldn't put what I saw today a complete tier above Nagasu. The footwork section is mighty impressive and where she really shines, but other moments then feel like a bit of a letdown in comparison, not everything she does is to the level of that footwork. Mirai is no slouch, has something unique in her style, and while there is certainly roughness all around, the charm still does come through loud and clear, and I think having better spins helps her carry a certain flair all the way through the program, which is what I appreciated more in her performance.

I'll have to rewatch though, I was typing PbP when I formed that impression.

**demarinis5** · 10-30-2009, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by Medusa

The judges should totally ignore the age. It would be like considering an injury. If Mirai needs another year to skate less awkward, less choppy and more to the music, then she needs another year. I found her performance to be by far inferior to Akiko's, and not just by the 0,32 PCS Akiko got more.

Mirai was scored higher than Akiko I believe only in TES. To be fair to Mirai imo her spins were superior to Akiko. I have to wait for the protocols but Mirai probably received level 4 not sure what Akika received today maybe level 2 because I thought her spins were off today. I agree that Akiko has more elegance and maturity on the ice than Mirai and imo her PC's reflected that
(could have been higher ) Also Akiko's program had excellent footwork section The best today..

**shallwedansu** · 10-30-2009, 01:50 PM

It wasn't Mirai who was overscored. It was Akiko who was underscored. BIG difference. IMO, there shouldn't be an issue between Akiko's and Mirai's scores, but it should be between Akiko's and Kiira's or even Rachael, who received higher PCS than Akiko.

**cornell08** · 10-30-2009, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by gourry

If you go a few pages back, there is a link for Mirai's SP, and that same Youtube user also posted other SPs but Kiira's. (Ok, so I watched top 7 ladies except Kiira.

) De nada!

Thank you!

**janetfan** · 10-30-2009, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by demarinis5

Mirai was scored higher than Akiko I believe only in TES. To be fair to Mirai imo her spins were superior to Akiko. I have to wait for the protocols but Mirai probably received level 4 not sure what Akika received today maybe level 2 because I thought her spins were off today. I agree that Akiko has more elegance and maturity on the ice than Mirai and imo her PC's reflected that
(could have been higher ) Also Akiko's program had excellent footwork section The best today..

I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of these skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.

**sjwh08** · 10-30-2009, 02:03 PM

Ooohoo Mirai. This is the first time I ever enjoyed your skating.

Caro! It's about time she gives us a clean SP performance. She was covering her chest area with her arms quite often (including the ending). Not sure if it's a part of the choreo or a bad dress..Either way it looked awkward. I hope she does something about the dress.

I expected the least from COC but it turned out to be a quite exciting event with lots of upsets. Much better than COR in terms of entertaining.

**Medusa** · 10-30-2009, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by janetfan

I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of the Japanese skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.

Can you now just go and watch Akiko before you keep judging her and her performance? Even if it doesn't change your mind, it makes me less furious.

I also have no idea why the Chinese audience was so cold to Akiko, normally Akiko is a big crowd favourite because of her outstanding interpretation and the best footwork in the business.

**skfan** · 10-30-2009, 02:06 PM

nobody is perfect. akiko's too horizontal to the ice posture bothers me, mirai's layback spin bothers me. i actually think the herky jerky nature of mirai's stroking and skating smoothed out a bit compared to last year.

i actually could care less about her UR's--they don't bother me that much aesthetically. i'm sure she cares where she places, however.

i like the choreography for mirai's short program. the long i already dread. carmen? can she switch music with ashley wagner, please? or better yet, cizny's. give me some flashbacks to nicole bobek at her best, mirai!

some things on the POSITIVE side:

kostner was glowing with happiness. the jumps weren't spectacular but they weren't splats. good confidence builder. i like the choreography of the program.

yan liu--nice program, choreography suits music.

akiko--i didn't see any inconsistency in how she presented herself--there were no 'breaks' in her presentation. like the footwork and maturity.

flatt--i like the improved posture with less crouching and slouching. i think the spark and consistency will return.

suguri--i still like the long smooth strokes, the posture. good choice of music and choreography.

nagasu--nice dress, good program to music that's not too hackneyed (to my ears), smoother, more ooze in her stroking and skating.

bebe liang--landed jumps! saw her pretty smile.

xiu--the chinese skater who skated to umbrellas of cherbourg--i like her posture and spins and program.

**npavel** · 10-30-2009, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by cornell08

Where/how did you watch the 7 ladies? I can only find Mirai and Akiko's SP on youtube...links? Gracias!

Akiko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqKb_A4CX6I
Carolina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FQOV5fbP_A
Mirai http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCaW4muvDg
Joannie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ltwzc-w0-Q
Rachael http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePR87KZcw28
Fumie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_etrNPFZoA

**demarinis5** · 10-30-2009, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by janetfan

I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of these skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.

I think you are getting me mixed up with someone else. I did not say Mirai was rough at all. As a matter of fact I liked her program very much.

**janetfan** · 10-30-2009, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Medusa

Can you now just go and watch Akiko before you keep judging her and her performance? Even if it doesn't change your mind, it makes me less furious.

I also have no idea why the Chinese audience was so cold to Akiko, normally Akiko is a big crowd favourite because of her outstanding interpretation and the best footwork in the business.

You are right - I will go watch Akiko, and check out Caro while I am at it.

Just a thing that bugs me - too, too much favortism for established skaters. I happen to like Miki - but she was lacklustre and rough looking to me at COR.
I think if she was newer her marks would have been lower.

Maybe that is a different situation - but I will go watch now. And sorry, I don't mean to infuriate you, and if I don't agree at times I still enjoy your posts.

**Medusa** · 10-30-2009, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by janetfan

Maybe that is a different situation - but I will go watch now. And sorry, I don't mean to infuriate you, and if I don't agree at times I still enjoy your posts.

Oh, I like disagreements, I just think one should watch the performances before judging them and starting disagreements.

Akiko is not an established skater. She came onto the scene ago a few years ago, then became very sick and had her comeback only last season at the Finlandia Trophy.