Here it is. It's your turn to view the competition from the perspective of the technical specialist or the judges, when they assign technical levels and grades of execution for each element, if you'd like, play the videos. Each link is indexed to start just before the named element begins, but you'll have to hit the stop button yourself to move on.
You will notice the that teams finished in the same order by technical scores as they did overall, but within the elements, some teams were stronger at one, and some at another.
Meryl & Charlie scored the highest in every element this time.
Short Dance Technical Scores
1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 38.50
2 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 35.36
3 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 34.85
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 34.28
5 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 34.15
6 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 31.72
There are five scored elements in every Short Dance this year:
TWO SEQUENCES OF THE RHUMBA
Four of the six teams got two level 4's. Only V&M and B&S got a level 3 on one of the 2 sequences, which is why they are at the bottom this list. S&S didn't have the speed of either D&W or P&B or W&P. W&P do a very nice rhumba compared to their other elements. The deep edges of that first key point are very nice for D&W. The camera does you out of seeing them in the second sequence. D&W and W&P do the two sequences nearly back to back with a few transitional steps between, so there is only one link for them. The other 4 teams put other elements between the two sequences.
D&W Rhumba 16.00 R2Sq4 8.00 3D&W R1Sq4 8.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=1m26s
P&B Rhumba 15.28 R1Sq4 7.71 4P&B R2Sq4 7.57
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=1m13s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=2m7s
W&P Rhumba 14.86 R2Sq4 7.43 2W&P R1Sq4 7.43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=1m22s
S&S Rhumba 14.86 R1Sq4 7.50 3S&S R2Sq4 7.36
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=0m54s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=1m47s
V&M Rhumba 14.72 R1Sq4 7.79 1V&M R2Sq3 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=0m51s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m0s
B&S Rhumba 13.93 R1Sq4 7.64 3B&S R2Sq3 6.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=1m1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m4s
CIRCULAR NONTOUCHING STEP
This is where Meryl & Charlie blew the rest away, as the only team this season to get a level 4 on the new circular step sequence. In some ways, it's tricky to watch these because they are filmed from a single viewpoint, so the perspective on the circle causes the dancers to appear as if the distance between them changes when it doesn't. In any case, check out the deep edges and the unison, especially in those low twizzly steps. V&M had one or two steps that were on a flat. Even one drops your level to a 3. P&B had many failures of unison in this step; I could see them lower in it, except for their speed.
The Shibs had nice unison, but less speed than P&B or W&P They skated the closest together so far, but it's easier when you're going slower. W&P-Andrew had a tiny stumbly bit. Also ending the circular step with a transition of running on flats is a bad move, since if the techs were to think even one of those steps was included as part of the sequence, it would drop the level. B&S were clearly the worst, with the level two, due to shallow edges. They had some unison breaks, too.
D&W NtCiSt4 10.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=2m33s
V&M NtCiSt3 8.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m52s
P&B NtCiSt3 7.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=1m34s
S&S NtCiSt3 7.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=2m32s
W&P NtCiSt3 7.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=3m5s
B&S NtCiSt2 6.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m54s
LIFT
I could see either D&W's or V&M's lift in first-both are smooth, interesting, go up quick, exit smoothly and fit the character of the dance . Maybe D&W get back into the dance faster. Both teams 'dance', i.e. respond to the beat and emphasis of the music during the lift, so that the lifts are a seamless part of their dance.
Comments on some of these lifts: P&B's is complex, but ungainly and is flirting with the deduction for "gynecological" exposure. The Shibutani's lift is well executed, but seems more basic (though still level 4), B&S's lift doesn't look wholly secure, & W&P's is just really ugly. That's the way it's choreographed (and it echoes a step she does in their introductory moves), but I can see why the judges put it last.
D&W CuLi4 5.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=3m2s
V&M CuLi4 5.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m19s
P&B CuLi4 5.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=0m58s
S&S RoLi4 4.86
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=3m5s
B&S SlLi4 4.79
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m27s
W&P SlL4 4.71
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=2m1s
TWIZZLES
The camera angle was not great for filming these for some of the teams. A twizzle is good if it covers a lot of ice, if the rotations are very fast (regardless if that is right for the music), if the team is in good unison, and if the skaters seem to be on balance.
Even though D&W twizzled faster (rotationally) and got good ice coverage, I thought V&M had better control. I might have disagreed with the judges here, but not by much. The camera angle didn't help figuring it out either.
P&B did 3 twizzles, and Fabian looked off balance in the third set. The Shibutanis were slower across the ice and didn't get the ice coverage of P&B. B&S looked rather unsteady in the second set. W&P's unison was not good, and because they did 3 sets, you had plenty of time to pick up on it.
D&W STw4 7.21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=0m51s
V&M STw4 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=1m17s
P&B STw4 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=2m45s
S&S STw4 6.79
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=1m13s
B&S STw4 6.71
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=1m20s
W&P STw4 6.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=2m45s
I hope you have fun!
You will notice the that teams finished in the same order by technical scores as they did overall, but within the elements, some teams were stronger at one, and some at another.
Meryl & Charlie scored the highest in every element this time.
Short Dance Technical Scores
1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 38.50
2 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 35.36
3 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 34.85
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 34.28
5 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 34.15
6 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 31.72
There are five scored elements in every Short Dance this year:
TWO SEQUENCES OF THE RHUMBA
Four of the six teams got two level 4's. Only V&M and B&S got a level 3 on one of the 2 sequences, which is why they are at the bottom this list. S&S didn't have the speed of either D&W or P&B or W&P. W&P do a very nice rhumba compared to their other elements. The deep edges of that first key point are very nice for D&W. The camera does you out of seeing them in the second sequence. D&W and W&P do the two sequences nearly back to back with a few transitional steps between, so there is only one link for them. The other 4 teams put other elements between the two sequences.
D&W Rhumba 16.00 R2Sq4 8.00 3D&W R1Sq4 8.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=1m26s
P&B Rhumba 15.28 R1Sq4 7.71 4P&B R2Sq4 7.57
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=1m13s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=2m7s
W&P Rhumba 14.86 R2Sq4 7.43 2W&P R1Sq4 7.43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=1m22s
S&S Rhumba 14.86 R1Sq4 7.50 3S&S R2Sq4 7.36
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=0m54s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=1m47s
V&M Rhumba 14.72 R1Sq4 7.79 1V&M R2Sq3 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=0m51s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m0s
B&S Rhumba 13.93 R1Sq4 7.64 3B&S R2Sq3 6.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=1m1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m4s
CIRCULAR NONTOUCHING STEP
This is where Meryl & Charlie blew the rest away, as the only team this season to get a level 4 on the new circular step sequence. In some ways, it's tricky to watch these because they are filmed from a single viewpoint, so the perspective on the circle causes the dancers to appear as if the distance between them changes when it doesn't. In any case, check out the deep edges and the unison, especially in those low twizzly steps. V&M had one or two steps that were on a flat. Even one drops your level to a 3. P&B had many failures of unison in this step; I could see them lower in it, except for their speed.
The Shibs had nice unison, but less speed than P&B or W&P They skated the closest together so far, but it's easier when you're going slower. W&P-Andrew had a tiny stumbly bit. Also ending the circular step with a transition of running on flats is a bad move, since if the techs were to think even one of those steps was included as part of the sequence, it would drop the level. B&S were clearly the worst, with the level two, due to shallow edges. They had some unison breaks, too.
D&W NtCiSt4 10.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=2m33s
V&M NtCiSt3 8.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m52s
P&B NtCiSt3 7.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=1m34s
S&S NtCiSt3 7.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=2m32s
W&P NtCiSt3 7.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=3m5s
B&S NtCiSt2 6.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m54s
LIFT
I could see either D&W's or V&M's lift in first-both are smooth, interesting, go up quick, exit smoothly and fit the character of the dance . Maybe D&W get back into the dance faster. Both teams 'dance', i.e. respond to the beat and emphasis of the music during the lift, so that the lifts are a seamless part of their dance.
Comments on some of these lifts: P&B's is complex, but ungainly and is flirting with the deduction for "gynecological" exposure. The Shibutani's lift is well executed, but seems more basic (though still level 4), B&S's lift doesn't look wholly secure, & W&P's is just really ugly. That's the way it's choreographed (and it echoes a step she does in their introductory moves), but I can see why the judges put it last.
D&W CuLi4 5.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=3m2s
V&M CuLi4 5.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=2m19s
P&B CuLi4 5.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=0m58s
S&S RoLi4 4.86
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=3m5s
B&S SlLi4 4.79
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=2m27s
W&P SlL4 4.71
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=2m1s
TWIZZLES
The camera angle was not great for filming these for some of the teams. A twizzle is good if it covers a lot of ice, if the rotations are very fast (regardless if that is right for the music), if the team is in good unison, and if the skaters seem to be on balance.
Even though D&W twizzled faster (rotationally) and got good ice coverage, I thought V&M had better control. I might have disagreed with the judges here, but not by much. The camera angle didn't help figuring it out either.
P&B did 3 twizzles, and Fabian looked off balance in the third set. The Shibutanis were slower across the ice and didn't get the ice coverage of P&B. B&S looked rather unsteady in the second set. W&P's unison was not good, and because they did 3 sets, you had plenty of time to pick up on it.
D&W STw4 7.21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hpoOQ5KlM#t=0m51s
V&M STw4 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LcF10B1c#t=1m17s
P&B STw4 6.93
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R5BO0SgQ0#t=2m45s
S&S STw4 6.79
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnx0XZuYY50#t=1m13s
B&S STw4 6.71
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEvSSjP8cc#t=1m20s
W&P STw4 6.64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMGFyKCTN0#t=2m45s
I hope you have fun!
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