yes, most of dancers wore really good outfits today - personally I'm a big fan of :
- Kaitlyn Weaver dress (gorg colour, nice details, great shape and skirt lenght),
- Anna Cappellini (very conservative but somehow 'flirty' dress which enlightened the music theme, despite 'conservative' shape the skirt worked gorgeous during her skating and she is just pure beauty and I think that she'll look good in most colours/shapes),
- Nathalie Pechalat (veeery 'French' - it's a compliment ofc, it screams sophistication, class, fashion and she is also very pretty so it helps definitely
- Sara Hurtado (she is just adorable and her dress was perfect fitted, lenghtened and coloured, also enlightened music, maybe I would get rid off that red gloves...)
- Madison Chock (she has very interesting, 'exotic' beauty and her dress shows that - great colour for her complexion, sexy but sophisticated shape but again that white gloves, something shorter and black/brown would be better I think)
- Tessa Virtue (personally I'm a big fan of her beauty and can be biased but that dress was stellar - fitting, shape, material, colour, everything was on the point IMO, and I can't even remind one single competition since Virtue/Moir do seniors where Tessa had bad outfit...)
Hey, not saying Scott is a bad ice dancer or anything. Just that he is more the "be her frame and show her off" kind of partner, while Charlie and Nikita also manage to really grab one's attention on their own. When V/M skate, I look at Tessa only. When D/W and I/K skate, I look at both partners equally. It's not a determinant of a good ice dancer, just the thing I like when I watch. I like guys who stand out, because usually it's the girls who draw more attention.
Frantic dancing is a bad thing. Having some frantic energy combined with technique and control, as I said earlier, is actually an amazing quality. But JMHO.
About Nikita's quotes: so Scott is the rock, the pilar, the guard. Exactly what I said. He's more of her frame than he is an individual dancer. Isn't "they skate as one" one of the favourite things V/M ubers say about them? Well, I prefer to actually have two individuals who dance TOGETHER than dance AS ONE. But that's just an opinion and like I said, not a determinant.
And Nikita might look up to Scott, but he actually does have many qualities of Charlie. But at the end of the day, I guess he's just something in between.
Do they get a chance to rehearse before the FD?
yes, most of dancers wore really good outfits today - personally I'm a big fan of :
- Kaitlyn Weaver dress (gorg colour, nice details, great shape and skirt lenght),
- Anna Cappellini (very conservative but somehow 'flirty' dress which enlightened the music theme, despite 'conservative' shape the skirt worked gorgeous during her skating and she is just pure beauty and I think that she'll look good in most colours/shapes),
- Nathalie Pechalat (veeery 'French' - it's a compliment ofc, it screams sophistication, class, fashion and she is also very pretty so it helps definitely
- Sara Hurtado (she is just adorable and her dress was perfect fitted, lenghtened and coloured, also enlightened music, maybe I would get rid off that red gloves...)
- Madison Chock (she has very interesting, 'exotic' beauty and her dress shows that - great colour for her complexion, sexy but sophisticated shape but again that white gloves, something shorter and black/brown would be better I think)
- Tessa Virtue (personally I'm a big fan of her beauty and can be biased but that dress was stellar - fitting, shape, material, colour, everything was on the point IMO, and I can't even remind one single competition since Virtue/Moir do seniors where Tessa had bad outfit...)
Yeah, I generally like them, but I think they should have brought in someone with more actual ice dancing knowledge. Didn't Tanith B. Do some commentary for the Grand Prix series? Of course she seemed kind of put out by the color guy trying to goad her into saying who was better between D&W and V&M.
I am expecting Heekin-Canedy/Dun to be done after Worlds, as long as there will be any decent partners available. They seemed to have been making decent enough progress last season but this season has been very disappointing for them and this is another performance (after Euros SD) where he completely choked. It was painful to watch.
For all of the positive crowd reaction particularly to his exuberence, the Turkish team were noted by the commentators where I was watching to have had very shallow curves in their pattern. They were not up to par skill-wise. I don't think it was bad political judging.
It is cruel thing to have some skaters not make the cut, though, with all the preparation that goes into having a long program ready to go (it's not like failing to make a cut in a racing event, where you would simply be repeating the same actions and skills in the next round)
A perfect example of why Belbin is doing the right thing to stay away from Olympic ice-dance commentary until White has retired.
Applause to her and/or to NBC for recognizing that she needed to recuse herself.
(ETA: Water under the bridge, but she never should have been doing any commentary for any ice-dance competition in the time that White and she have been a couple -- i.e., since her retirement from competitive skating.)
I think the scores of Virtue/Moir are a result of how very inconsistent they have been technically. They lost momentum due to all the mistakes they've made in the run up to this event. Davis/White have been spot on flawless for 2 entire seasons now and their impressive consistency is being rewarded. When 2 teams are so close, the judges are going to side with the most consistent skaters. As has been said too, it is very popular opinion that Davis/White by far have the best free dance this season, which is also swaying the judges in their favor. Tessa & Scott have the more intellectual and subtle, sensitive program, but it appears the judges prefer the excitement and passion of Meryl & Charlie.
I love Davis and White and if they can skate their best and take the gold tomorrow I would be over the moon for them. Needless to say I am always pulling for them in a head to head with V/M. That said, I honestly believe the V/M have the better programs this season, I find both of them, especially the free skate just beautiful and perfectly suited to their strengths. I do feel that there may be some politicking in the ever-widdening gap between the two teams, but also I just don't see the level of perfection and the attack from Tessa and Scott that I saw in 2010. Perhaps it was fueled by the pressure to win gold in their home olympics, not sure…maybe they know something we don't.