Ladies Short Program

[museksk8r]

In PCSs, Carolina received the highest marks, followed by Asada and then Korpi.

. . . and justifiably so as Kostner is the strongest basic skater in this competition, yes, even better than Mao, IMO. It's always been the jump setups and landings that have stood in Caro's way. If she ever got a grip on her jump timing, she would be multiple time World champ and Olympic champ.

[prettykeys]

1. Carolina Kostner - love her SP, choreography (yeahhh I know, recycled music and all ), dress, the flash of a smile at the end. Wish she'd have incorporated a 3Lz or 3F into the program, but considering her injury--it was good.

2. Kanako Murakami - best performance. This girl has a lot of energy! There are a few cheesy moments, but it's really something different. I haven't seen a program with so much spunkiness in...ever, I think.

3. Rachael Flatt - I haven't been able to see the SP. Saw a picture of her dress (gorgeous emerald-turquoise), and her hair...! It looks SO good! For a second I wondered if I should get my hair cut like that, too...and thought, nah. It wouldn't work on my face. But it sure works on Rache

Mao - she looked quite changed. More mature and womanly. I saw a bit of worry on her face before her performance, and then we could see why. However, as others have pointed out, it wasn't entirely unexpected with the changes she announced she was putting herself through as far as technique goes. Lovely makeup and costume. All in all, I'm just going to keep my eyes on her to see how she improves. I remember when she said she wanted to put in 3 Triple Axels into her SP+LP last year and most of us were doubtful...and look what happened by the end of the year! There's a reason why she's the reigning world champion. Her general skating and footwork was still tops.