Ladies Free Program 19:00 pm Eastern Time Saturday, November 21

[R.D.]

Thanks folks for the explanation

Honestly, all this talk about the who are now the front-runners for the U.S. Olympic team ... I think the truth is we are right back to where we started at the beginning of the season with a completely unpredictable competition.
Rachael Flatt is the closest thing to a lock but not quite. Same as last year. The judges will want to put Czisny on the team but she will have to prove herself. Same as last year. Mirai is an eratic dark horse. Same as last year. The only thing that's maybe changed is that Ashley and Caroline have switched places from last year, with Ashley much more a contender than Caroline. Poor Caroline ... she is in real trouble.

I guess you could say kudos to Czisny and to a lesser extend Mirai for showing they can't be counted out despite their struggles last year. And even more kudos for Ashley for showing she must reckoned with. Flatt ... she certainly proved she remains deifficult to beat among the Americans. But she didn't knock it out of the park or send a statement that she MUST be on the Olympic team.

It is a toss-up in the end. But we know who has momentum going into nats and who doesn't. Still, two months is quite a bit of time. A lot of stuff can happen...

[mishieru07]

Awwww.

You know, I wish Mao and Yu-Na could be as close as these two and give each other a comforting hug when they need it. Their lives are so similar and they can each understand the amount of pressure they have is unlike all the other ladies. If their countries hadn't set them up as mortal rivals, I bet Mao and Yu-Na would totally get along and be really good buddies. Sorry for being off topic and silly.

That's true. Call me silly but I like it when skaters are gracious and nice to each other (Shiz, Miki, Mao, V/M & D/W, for example). I rather they be nice than all snarky and a pain in the a**.

This has been a terrible competition so far. So many skaters bombed or did badly, including lots of my favourites, Patrick, Caroline, Akiko, Denis Ten, V/M, Alissa (okay not really bombed, just a typical skate from her) et al. Makes you wonder if there's something really off today. Thank heavens for Jeremy, Dice-K and S/S.

Oh Caroline ... there goes my dream team of her and Czisny for the Olympics. Someone needs to send her to a coach like Artunian or Tarasova now. Her scores are worse than ever ... she REALLY needs to go back and rework those basics. Forget the artistry for now; she needs to work the technical or she'll never be a competitive contender for 2014. In fact, I think it would be good for her to simply have a short season this year (ie up to Nationals) and maybe ask for later GP assignments or even skip GP circuit to work on her technique.

Well congrats to Rochette, Czisny and Lepisto for medalling and Akiko for making the GPF but overall a very lackluster night for the ladies. Hopefully everyone works harder and we'll see better performances as the season progresses.

[Sasha'sSpins]

Someone from the San Fernando Valley, immortalized in a song by Frank Zappa. I wouldn't be surprised to find it somewhere on Youtube. Caroline is from Orange County, so technicallly she isn't a Valley girl. But she does kind of talk like one.

ETA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnVE3UTIgEM

Lol! I remember this song! The late Zappa's daughter Moon Unit was the girl doing the ValSpeak. The Hilton sisters always remind me of this song.

I'm going to rewatch the competition today on NBC. It will be fun to listen to the commentator's 'spin'. Hopefully there will be another update on Cohen.

[ks777]

I am so happy for Mirai for fully rotating all the triples here!! I haven't seen her LP yet but her jumps were very impressive in SP. I am glad Mirai went to Frank. I still think her PCS were too low. She has beautiful lines, good skating skills, speed, etc.

As for Akiko, I am not sure if her PCS were too low, it seems to low but she really needs to work on better body lines and positions on all of her spins. Not pretty or beautiful to look at. Akiko is not a big jumper like Yuna or Miki so she needs to have strong non-jump elements if she wants to be more competitive, IMO.

[koongpa]

I used to really enjoy Joannie's skating, but this competition just totally gave me a bad impression about Canada in general.

I know that no lady skater had the skate of their lives, but the audience reaction was too cold! I felt bad for Mirai when she was doing her bows after the program and almost nobody was clapping for her.

Of course SC takes place in Canada, but it's still an international competition. And It was a little too obvious, especially with the rediculous PCS for Joannie's terrible performance, that this competition in general was favoring Canadian skaters. This is a BIG problem, when the olympic games will take place in Canada.

Some say home advantage is natural, and it's okay that it is reflected in the scores. I totally disagree because home advantage should only work to skater's mental state. It's wrong that home advantage directly affects the scores JUST BECAUSE. If Joannie skated her lights out in Canada, I'd be very happy for her receiving a little higher PCS than usual. But NOT when she skated with lots of doubles and shaky landings which disturbed the whole flow of the program.

[kalle]

I wonder if Mirai was told to not worry about performing tonight - and was told to rotate her jumps.

She is typically much more animated than she was tonight

Agree!I
t was even a bit strange to see her so completely focused on her jumps but I think it is totally understandable after her LP scores in COC..Anyway, she is steady working her way up and I still beleive she will give the other girls a good fight at Nationals.
She did not even maximize her jump layout did she?I remember her going for 3Z/3T a few times 2 years ago but after her grow spurth, it seems that she has better speed out of the 3F or the 3T to add another 3T..Mabye to much to ask for and in the end, I would be more than happy if she could do a clean 5-6 triples program with a 2A3T..
Well done Mirai and good luck at Nationals

[Bennett]

Kiira is nice eye candy but it just DOES NOT translate to the ice. I find her a rather bleh performer actually. She doesn't have enough on-ice personality IMHO or any standout moves or style. Just looks.

I feel that she could have better dresses and more interesting music and programs. I think that the Team Laura Lepisto, the Team Carolina, and the Team Sarah Meier are a lot more tasteful and better at creating a whole package.

Mirai seems like she is so hard on herself... She struggling to find her herself and her motivation. I just find it very touching and refreshing the way she is so open with the world about her internatl struggles.

ITA.

IMO caroline has good reason to feel bitter.

Yeah, her scores were a bit pathetic, esp. PCS.

Akiko is not a big jumper like Yuna or Miki so she needs to have strong non-jump elements if she wants to be more competitive, IMO.

I wish if she didn't have edge problems with Lz and Flip. She has big jumps that don't translate into points.

it was even a bit strange to see her [Mirai] so completely focused on her jumps but I think it is totally understandable after her LP scores in COC.

Mirai is usually a great performer and I am sure that she could do both tech and performing aspects of skating well. After all, rotating and landing jumps is most important. Other than that issue, she is technically fantastic, with superb skating skills, exquisite lines, excellent spins, steps, and spirals. But if the jumps are not there, both TES and PCS suffer. Not the other way around.

[hikki]

Judge #8

For Joannie
SS: 8.0　TR: 7.75 PE: 9.0 CH: 9.25 IN: 9.25

For Alissa
SS: 6.0 TR: 5.5 PE: 6.0 CH: 6.25 IN: 5.75

For Mirai
SS: 6.5 TR: 5.0 PE: 6.75 CH: 6.0 IN: 5.75

(Edited to add)
Sorry these are SP scores. I wrote without checking. SP Protocol

[Bennett]

Judge #8

For Joannie
SS: 8.0　TR: 7.75 PE: 9.0 CH: 9.25 IN: 9.25

For Alissa
SS: 6.0 TR: 5.5 PE: 6.0 CH: 6.25 IN: 5.75

For Mirai
SS: 6.5 TR: 5.0 PE: 6.75 CH: 6.0 IN: 5.75

9.25? Wow! How come PE, CH, and IN are so much higher than SS and TR, too? Mirai's TR can't be 5.0, either.

I have had an impression that the judges in this comp were a bit extreme in the score gaps both in SP and LP. This kind of trend is observed in relatively a smaller comp like Regionals and Nationals where there are actually wide gaps in skills among skaters and the # of skaters is large. So the top skaters receive inflated scores. But it was a senior GP event and we only had a bit more than ten skaters.

[hikki]

9.25? Wow! How come PE, CH, and IN are so much higher than SS and TR, too? Mirai's TR can't be 5.0, either.

I have had an impression that the judges in this comp were a bit extreme in the score gaps both in SP and LP. This kind of trend is observed in relatively a smaller comp like Regionals and Nationals where there are actually wide gaps in skills among skaters and the # of skaters is large. So the top skaters receive inflated scores. But it was a senior GP event and we only had a bit more than ten skaters.

I deleted my entry as I wasn't sure if it was by the same judge. In other words, can we at least tell from the protocols what one judge has given to different skaters or is it 'concealed' too?

Either way, those scores do stand out in a bad bad way.

[PftJump]

Joannie and Canada reminds me of Saltlake pair affair.
They seriously wanna lady's single OG.
Go! Canada!!
Let's remove Figure skate in Olympics forever!! Go!

[katakwan]

9.25? Wow! How come PE, CH, and IN are so much higher than SS and TR, too? Mirai's TR can't be 5.0, either.

I have had an impression that the judges in this comp were a bit extreme in the score gaps both in SP and LP. This kind of trend is observed in relatively a smaller comp like Regionals and Nationals where there are actually wide gaps in skills among skaters and the # of skaters is large. So the top skaters receive inflated scores. But it was a senior GP event and we only had a bit more than ten skaters.

When the judge #8 watched joannie's performance
he/she must have thought like this ;

" Oh~ Mind-boggling. I ve' never seen a single skater skate to the music as well as that. Her jumps are so difficult, almost impossible.

Brilliant,elegant the step sequence, she hit every beat of the music.

Brilliant program, superb choreography! What a feel she has.
Just amazing."

[bigsisjiejie]

Honestly, all this talk about the who are now the front-runners for the U.S. Olympic team ... I think the truth is we are right back to where we started at the beginning of the season with a completely unpredictable competition.
<snip>

Actually, I think with the conclusion of the 6 GP competitions, we do know more--we know which skaters the international judges have indicated they will potentially "support" with decent scores for this season, and they've pretty much telegraphed it clearly to USFS, if anyone there is reading the signals. And those skaters are Flatt, Wagner and Czisny in no particular order. Message to Mirai is "not yet" and message to Caroline is "forget it" at least for this season. My belief is we will not see Sasha at Nationals or at any other eligible competitions ever again, so I've discounted her as a factor.

[yelyoh]

ITA with the post above this. Pity as I think Mirai is the best/most complete skater of any US woman. I hope she continues to improve with Frank (like Evan; not like Bebe) and wins Nats. Nothing against the other three top women (I like all three a lot) it's just that I think MN has it all. Oh and I miss Kimmie. And don't think Sasha will show up at Nats.

[Trewyn]

Has anyone found Laura's performance on youtube? My boyfriend who is a complete skating newbie just called me to say he actually stayed up until 3am (while I was fast asleep) and he enjoyed Laura Lepisto the most! Which I approve of, of course, because I used to really like her. I was a bit underwhelmed by her short; but since he was enthused by her LP artistically, I'm curious!