I missed the beginning. Nathan Chen s a spitfire, I wonder if they showed Karen Chen in the beginning.
I missed the beginning. Nathan Chen s a spitfire, I wonder if they showed Karen Chen in the beginning.
No, they didn't. They showed Nathan and also Gracie Gold, because they're the Junior Champions. Both amazing. I didn't realize Nathan was so young, and so small. Wow, he's got such talent! And Gracie also. Amazing control and finesse.
And Scott said he expects gracie to make an "immediate impact" when she hits seniors next year. It would be something if she is the one to beat next year.
Gracie also impressed as being able to talk to an interviewer and juggle at the same time.
I wonder whether she can juggle while skating?
I liked her choice of music; very appropriate for a teen ager in juniors, I thought.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-show-lyrics-lenka.html
The Show, by I think, Lenka
part of it is:
Yeah, I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why
I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Just Enjoy the show
If they gave points for juggling while skating under CoP she'd learn fast, lol. Oh, God, the news is making me terrified as usual...thank heaven for fs and f boards!
I hope everything's OK! As for the COP awarding points for juggling, don't give the ISU any ideas! They already have plenty of level features that don't directly pertain to skating ability, or aesthetics, or audience enjoyment at all. Although, I think audiences would actually enjoy juggling on ice more than seeing yet another pairs lift with a skate grab.Originally Posted by skateluvr
I think Gracie should consider incorporating juggling to her exhibition routines, at least. Her current gala number, though, is actually miles better in concept, music and choreography than her competitive pieces. I hope to see better programs from her in coming seasons.
Additional thoughts on the gala:
Nathan Chen was ridiculously cute.
I gasped (not out loud, just in my head) when Sandra called Adam a "skater's skater". Maybe I'm misunderstanding the term, but I used to remember it being applied constantly to Yuka Sato and Kurt Browning based on their great edges and stroking. And while Rippon has a thousand great qualities, edging and stroking aren't among them.
Total Adele overload. I remember at least 3 uses of Adele. Someone skated to Adele's cover of Make You Feel My Love, Davis/White used Someone Like You, and Jeremy Abbott used Hometown Glory. I like Adele and all, but the only song of hers I liked here was Hometown Glory.
I was pleasantly surprised that Davis/White got the last spot, a reasonable acknowledgement of the fact that they are the US' leading skaters across all the disciplines (they are the reigning World Champions and undefeated in soooo long).
Sandra and Scott need to keep quiet while skaters are performing. It's not the competition any more, you don't have to critique them. Just let us enjoy the music.
It was a pretty great gala (at least what they showed). The only two performances that stood out as a bit lacking to me are the ones from the two top pairs teams. But I suppose that's just a symptom of how miserable the US pairs program is.
Gracie seems to have a good head on her shoulders. She actually seems more mature them someone like Mirai. She's going to need that next season when so much is expected of her.
Yes, I was equally impressed by Gracie's choice of music. It had just the right zing for a young skater, yet it showed her ability to express subtleties in rhythm. Because she's not a little kid, and this is in its way her debut into senior ranks.
Not that we need to say anything more about the wonderfulness of Davis/White, but isn't their exhibition skate gorgeous? I could watch them for the whole two hours. The Shibutanis are splendid to behold also. But the couples routine that really laid me out was Evora/Ladwig's pairs exhibition. It was one of those moments when I felt I was seeing what skating really is for the first time.
All three skates were wonderful.
Along with Nathan Chen and Gracie Gold, they were my highlights of the day.
Agnes Zawadzki's sit spin had a very interesting pretzelish position. I have to watch again to see how she gets into it.
I was sad that they didn't include Donlan & Speroff, and instead gifted us with the sight of the Denney girls Tebowing (not a surprise, aren't they from FL originally).
However, IN should be putting this on demand some time later this year. There were a number of quite good performances.
The Shibs, Davis & White and Evora & Ladwig were my three favorite performances as well. I hope we don't put too much pressure on Gracie this season. Nathan Chen is talented and as cute as can be but he is so tiny at 12, that he looks 9 and will eventually grow. I just can't get too excited about him yet.
It's a pity they didn't show Karen Chen (I was at the exhibitions in SJ) because she did a gorgeous exhibition to some Chinese music where she had a huge fan in each hand. The announcers also mentioned her grandparents had flown all the way from Taiwan especially to see her compete.
Everybody did well in the exhibitions, but I especially like Alissa and Evora and Ladwig's programs.
I enjoyed the Gala. Highlights for me were:
Mark and Amanda who I think are miles ahead of the other US pairs teams but alas
failed to deliver the technical requirements at Nationals.
Meryl, Charlie, Alex, Mai and Alissa IMO are in a class of their own, loved their performances.
The Jr. champs were delightful and Caroline's skating looked much better on TV than in the poor quality video that was posted in the Caroline thread.
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