Ladies Short Program

[#1Kerryfan]

Didn't see it live - but I was sure Mao would be in 1st. What happened??????

I'm glad Carolina has the lead though - one of my favs

[cleopatra20042004]

Did anyone notice Caroline's footwork later in the program? She did it all on her her right foot

I've been noticing this with many of the new programs. Is there something new in the rules concerning footwork sequences?

[mskater93]

Yes - at least 1/2 the step sequence on one foot = a level

[dlgpffps]

I agree the skating itself is far from "juniorish" She finishes off every move and she's very sharp. Perhaps her costume and choreo make strike some as young but, I can see that, esp the costume, but she doesn't have the awkwardness or the lapse in performance that I associate with junior skaters.

I would make the same distinction. Liked her smile, her general skating, some of the choreo touches, but in general I find this program too cute. I stand by my opinion that last season's SP was better. That reminds me. I haven't seen her LP, but I know it's out. Does anyone have a link?

[Canastatango]

I really admire Caroline for fixing her jumps. I am sure it took a lot of time and effort. I can not imagine how frustrating it was for her to redo everything. I am sure she had a lot of moment of tears, too.
Whether one likes her skating or not, I think everyone should give her a credit for that. Sure there is a lot of things for her to improve but if she could fix jumps with bad habits, I am sure she can fix anything. I am not big fan of Caroline, but I really respect her and wish her the best for this season.

[silverlake22]

I would make the same distinction. Liked her smile, her general skating, some of the choreo touches, but in general I find this program too cute. I stand by my opinion that last season's SP was better. That reminds me. I haven't seen her LP, but I know it's out. Does anyone have a link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF45xu5m90s

I don't have a problem with the cutesy, and actually, the judges seem to like cutesy routines so long as the skater can pull it off. I mean, think back to Mirai's 07-08 SP and the huge scores she got for it at nationals and Jr Worlds, and then her LP last season and the huge score she got at the Olympics. Anna Ovcharova won the SP at Jr Worlds last season with a perky cutesy routine and Alena Leonova got high scores for her last season's SP, with the chicken dance spirals, when she skated fairly clean.

And to be fair, Kanako's not even 16 yet, and serious programs just don't suit her as well. She's a lot like Mirai in that respect. And she herself may look juniorish and it is a cutesy fun program, but her SKATING is not juniorish, she is fast with good basics and edge quality, tons of charisma, and great choreography and interpretation.

[miki88]

I did feel Kanako's programs were a bit too over the top. Love her but that dress has to go and it's not she's not yet 16 but that she's almost 16, which is young but not already senior age. Interesting that both Liza and Adelina are younger than Kanako and Gao but yet they have far more elegance in their styles.

[seniorita]

Agree about NA and Europe. Just thought about next worlds beeing in Japan with a huge crowd cheering for her. This was like a test and the judges also went with her.

And I know Kanako has good skating skills though I don't like her program.

Kanako got a huge cheer at Junior Worlds as well which were held in The Netherlands. And for a junior she had very mature programs, her exhibition was fun!It is her first GP and in her country, give her a break

I forgot to say, no more jazzy stuff for Flatt. She does the same old like Singx3..

[silverlake22]

Kanako got a huge cheer at Junior Worlds as well which were held in The Netherlands. And for a junior she had very mature programs, her exhibition was fun!It is her first GP and in her country, give her a break

I forgot to say, no more jazzy stuff for Flatt. She does the same old like Singx3..

See I sort of liked that program for Rachael. I find when she uses soft slow music her programs just get a little bland, like her FS from last year. And that dress was beautiful - the cut and turquoise color were very flattering for her.

[lavender]

zhang was much improved. personally kanako's was more interesting, ashley skated to slow .but not bad. you could tell they speeded up video to make it seem like skated faster.
kanako just went out to skmate.
ashley not bad also to me looks like and old skate program of hers. score a bit high
but all scores kinda of close. still anyone ball game. whoever skates for it in long will \probably win it. sure kostner has about a 10 point lead, but still anyone ball games, with the inconsistency of all skaters.

Same program but reworked because of the new rules. Loved it last...not so much with the new rules.

[seniorita]

See I sort of liked that program for Rachael. I find when she uses soft slow music her programs just get a little bland, like her FS from last year. And that dress was beautiful - the cut and turquoise color were very flattering for her.

yes dress was much an improvement, this was better than her last season Lp dress by far, but I dont get why she wears so white leg thing, it is not a natural color at all, I remember last year at worlds i noticed it and then i was distracted in her performance by it a lot, it is on the borders of being grey.
If she doesnt like soft music or it is not her style, she could choose a guitar thing, a rock piece or something else as a style, this jazzy program again doesnt take her forward,she does same moves and same facial expressions like last season...

[enlight78]

i miss the spiral sequences, probably the only one but i do

[Layfan]

I did feel Kanako's programs were a bit too over the top. Love her but that dress has to go and it's not she's not yet 16 but that she's almost 16, which is young but not already senior age. Interesting that both Liza and Adelina are younger than Kanako and Gao but yet they have far more elegance in their styles.

I agree, that dress is too young for a 15-year-old. I might eliminate a couple of the cutsier moves in the program like that knee thingy but in general I was a fan. I though the last footwork sequence was original and fun.

i miss the spiral sequences, probably the only one but i do

I would if most of the spiral sequences we saw were good but it's the opposite. A good majority were cringe-worthy yet somehow a lot of skaters with ugly, forced-looking positions got the levels.

[Nadine]

Just curious, but what is it about Kanako (other than that she reminds you of Fumie) that you don't like to the point where you wouldn't go to SA just because she's skating in it?

Upon reflection, chloepoco, I automatically just didn't like her music, costume, choreography, bowed legs, et al, so I honestly didn't watch much of her skate. I turned away. But I've done this before with skaters over the years, as I'm sure other skating fans have as well, however I can pinpoint the moment I physically did not like her period, and that's when I saw the scores. Imho such a juniorish program shouldn't have been rewarded over a mature one. And then that dislike was reinforced by what I perceived as the over-the-topness of a couple of her fans. So therein came my visceral reaction.

She reminds me of Fumie Suguri because of the *bowed legs*, which I automatically detest, I hate bowed legs, or maybe hate is too strong of a word, rather severely dislike. And imho Fumie would get scores I didn't think she deserved; she had the jumps but nothing else. That's how she reminds me of Fumie. My opinion as a skating fan.

Since this morning though I've been thinking of Sonja (Henie, of course), and I recall how she was not well-received when she first entered seniors at the international level (particularly at the Olympics; she was 11 yrs. old at the time). The older skaters, et al, remarked "is this now a kindergarten"? So with that in mind I will *try* to keep an open mind, for Sonja's sake , and not judge her outright, especially things she cannot control like the judging, and especially fans.

Btw, I recall I had a similar milder reaction to Mao when she beat Sasha, et al, when she first debuted at seniors on the international level. I thought her skating was juniorish cutsie pie as well, and Tara Lipinski too, and might as well add Michelle Kwan when she skated at Worlds for the first time. Now that I think of it I just don't like junior cutsie pie skating. The only one I can recall that I actually *did* enjoy was Naomi Nari Nam ~ I thought she was phenomenal in every single way, especially her exhibition program to "Itty Bitty Pretty Thing".

Anyhow, I hate to miss Carolina, Rachael, Caroline, and Laura just because of one skater I consider juniorish. Better to just look the other way, don't read the boards when her name comes up, and block certain posters I don't enjoy reading.

[Blades of Passion]

KANAKO was the best here. Really silly criticisms about her skating being overly Juniorish. She is extremely youthful, yes, and the ending pose and some of her arm positions may have been immature, but that was a very good performance. She has lovely speed and edging. Her jumps were by FAR the best of the event; a fully rotated 3Toe-3Toe plus a huge Triple Flip.

Shockingly, I liked RACHAEL FLATT. She exudes more maturity in this performance than I've ever seen before (part of it is because of her new look, which suits her). The way she held her moves out at the beginning and the way she delivered some real sexuality in the choreography during the part where she mimics taking her shirt off...that was good. Unfortunately her spins are weak and she's still slow across the ice.

I think she deserved to be slightly ahead of CAROLINA KOSTER, though. Kostner has superior speed and edging, but the ending to the program is not satisfying and a 3Toe-2Toe combination, really??? That's not very competitive, considering her other tech elements aren't particularly great either (weak spins, small 2Axel, tentative 3Loop). Rachael Flatt's far more difficult 3Lutz-2Loop combination deserved to put her ahead.

Everyone else was forgettable.