GPF Barcelona 2014 live thoughts / reports | Golden Skate

GPF Barcelona 2014 live thoughts / reports

FS_rrb

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I don't normally get the opportunity to see figure skating competitions live and I always appreciate those posters who let us know how particular performances or skaters looked like in the arena. Now that a figure skating competition has finally been held in my hometown I would like to share my experience with you! :) This was my second time watching figure skating live, first was TEB 2013.

I have loooooots of things to say so I'll try to make a summary of all. Today, only day 1, with senior SP (pairs and ladies)

DAY 1: PAIRS AND LADIES SP

I couldn't attend junior SP, just the seniors. Pairs were great to watch, ladies not so much but I had such a good time in the arena that I even forgot about the mistakes and the fact that our beloved veterans have retired or are taking a season off.

Pairs

The Chinese pairs have incredible twists and throws. I enjoyed Sui / Han very much but then Duhamel/Radford and Stolbova/Klimov made me forget what I had seen so far.

Duhamel and Radford skated very well and deserved their scores. They are quite fast and I believe Eric is a great skater with great skating skills and lightness of movements. Meagan is not a very elegant skater in my opinion, she's strong and does all the big tricks but lacks polishment in comparison to Eric. This is a pair I admire because they always skate to such difficult programs, but the quality of their elements is not top-notch. Very pleasant performance, though.

Stolbova and Klimov have superior speed, SS and elegance (as a pair). Their throws look beautiful live because she always lands with great speed and holds that position forever. Not very high twist or throws but good enough. Their SP is not my cup of tea, but the quality of their skating shines with such fast tempo. I enjoyed both pairs equally, but I prefer S/K skating (the quality, not this particular performance) over D/R, but they still lack more complex elements.

Ladies

As you know, ladies were not that good.

Rika's performance was enjoyable, I think she was a little undermarked but her positions look awkward sometimes.

Ashley didn't catch my attention...I admire her determination but she's not the kind of skater I like, sorry. I don't find her particularly fast, or light and her jumps don't look as good as they used to. Her LP was much better, though, I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Anna is a skater I enjoyed very much in person...she seems to be the least talented of the new Russian girls but the truth is that her jumps are big and she has very good speed across the ice. Such a pity that she seems to have some problems with confidence and always looks so sad when she fails. She needs to skate with more confidence and freedom, because she still lacks projection and the ability to connect with the audience.

Julia's performance was great. I saw her 3-3 from a very good angle (front view) and even in real time I thought her Lutz looked a little inside edge but, obviously, I cannot tell for sure. I think the call on the flip was a little borderline. She's not particularly fast but her SS are not as bad as some people say. The (in)famous axel is indeed low but has nice ice coverage and good speed in and out. She lacks projection too...she's pleasant to watch but her performance was not particularly engaging. Her spins are super fast and impressive, but we have got used to them, I believe ;-)

Elizaveta's jumps are impressive, her artistry not so much. Don't get me wrong, she is artistic in her own style but lacks beautiful lines and her skating skills are not that good. She's not slow, but she doesn't seem to generate speed effortlessly and this annoys me sometimes. Anyway, good and engaging performance.

Elena Radionova is my favourite from all this girls. Yes, she is not polished and looks a little frantic sometimes, but she has quite a character, projects really well and seems to be able to interpret a wide range of emotions (for her age). Polishment will come with time (I hope) but she at least has this innate qualities. Having said this, I don't know what to think about her SP which seems to be choreographed to make her look even less polished. Nevertheless, it was probably the performance I enjoyed the most because of her speed and attack. I like her personality on ice so I forgive her for having such a strange choreography. Such a shame that she fell on the loop. I think she should have been in 1st if she hadn't fell, or at least very close to Liza taking all aspects of their skating into account.

That's all for today. Please share your live thoughts too if you've attended this GPF live! :)
 
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dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Thanks so much for the report :love:
I so love to hear how people describe performances they saw live. You did a great job; I can't wait for the next installment!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for sharing your impressions. Everything looks different live, that's for sure!
 

rosacotton

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Thanks for your wonderful report! Looking forward to hearing the rest of your impressions. :)
 

Winnie_20

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
I already shared of my thoughts on this event, but fact is, don't have much to say. I had a wonderful time seeing all these skaters live in front of my eyes at near-touching distance. Guessing I won't get that chance again for a long time, at least not for that kind of money with such good seats, relatively close to home, and with the top of the figure skating world represented. Had been to one skating event before in my life, and it was nowhere near as impressive as this (and extremely cold, yuck). The speed at which these skaters glide across the ice is incredible. Ýou don't get that sense on television at all.

Someone I met at the event insisted the practices were better than the competition itself, and he was right. Especially the men's practices were awesome. Jump after jump after jump (which made Machida's FS such a surprise to me, he was so good in the practices!). If I have learned one thing from the past week, it's that the practices are great and if you get the chance to go to them, even if you don't have tickets to the actual competition, *go*!

I still have a hard time telling all the jumps apart, because aside from never having paid much attention to differences in edges etc., I also get confused with the differences in names of the jumps between Dutch and English (the toeloop is called a spot in Dutch, and the loop is a rittberger). Hopefully by the time I go to another event, I'll have mastered recognizing the jumps. ;-)

Last but not least, I still love Barcelona. This was my third holiday there, and I'm betting there will be more at some point in the future. Lovely city; where else can you watch figure skating and walk on the beach between the palm trees two minutes later? (never mind do some seriousply good shopping)
 
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YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
FS_rrb, you didn't get to see the junior SP's on Thursday? We arrived too late to see them - but Shoma Uno's FS the next day was one of the stand-out performances of the competition for us. He finally nailed that FS... standing ovation!

I agree that practices are very interesting. They are usually unallocated seating, so it's possible to get a much better seat than you have for the competitions, or at least you can watch from some different angles.

Here, some of the skaters seemed to do really well in practice, but were not able to do the same in the competition... while others were so-so or even poor in practice, but really delivered when it mattered. Clearly, much can change in a short amount of time! Plus, a lot rides on how each skater deals with pressure - and of course Hanyu put a great deal of pressure on everyone, right from the start. He skated first in the SP and set a monster score...

I'm not one to chase/bother skaters, other than to smile and maybe say say "hello" and "good luck" in passing. But we were in the Princess hotel, and it was great to spot so many of them at the breakfast tables, at the lifts etc. One morning we were sitting near Sara Hurtado and Adria Diaz, and since they didn't seem too pre-occupied, I did introduce myself (because a load of my "phantom kabocha" photos of them from TEB 2014 are on their official website).

Sara said my photos were beautiful which was very gratifying! But of course, beautiful photos are easy, when they are such a beautiful couple with spectacular costumes, choreography and lifts. What a lovely, charming couple they are! I love their skating, and I have high hopes for them in the future. So pleased they were guests in the gala, and Sara interviewed Yuzuru after his FS.

Also interesting to see the interactions between some of the skaters, who sits with who at breakfast, which skaters "hang out" together etc. eg. everyone seems to like Voronov! :-D (you could see this at the rink too). Paul Poirier is a very funny guy... Andrew Poje is like, a REALLY big guy... etc etc...

Oh, and we got a TV closeup. Yet again...! Seems to happen at every competition...
 
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FS_rrb

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
No I couldn't see the junior SP but I attended the finals. In spite of the GPF I couldn't avoid some of my obligations and had to work in the morning and study a little bit in the afternoon :bang:. I didn't attend practices either otherwise I would have spent the whole day there ;)
 

Rissa

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Also interesting to see the interactions between some of the skaters, who sits with who at breakfast, which skaters "hang out" together etc. eg. everyone seems to like Voronov! :-D (you could see this at the rink too). Paul Poirier is a very funny guy...

Oh, share the gossip! Who hangs out with whom? :popcorn:
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Also interesting to see the interactions between some of the skaters, who sits with who at breakfast, which skaters "hang out" together etc. eg. everyone seems to like Voronov! :-D (you could see this at the rink too). Paul Poirier is a very funny guy... Andrew Poje is like, a REALLY big guy... etc etc...
Oh, and we got a TV closeup. Yet again...! Seems to happen at every competition...
So you are one of the people we see on screen. :popcorn: I wonder who...
And yes, Voronov is a very likable guy. Same age as me. I root for him. So happy he's on the podium. :cheer:
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
So you are one of the people we see on screen. :popcorn: I wonder who...
And yes, Voronov is a very likable guy. Same age as me. I root for him. So happy he's on the podium. :cheer:

From all that I've observed and read, he seems like one of the nicest people in skating. I am thrilled that he is finally getting some recognition and respect. :yes:
 

gnom

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I was live there, too. Here are some brief impressions.

Atmosphere in the venue was very good. The rink was quite empty during the junior events, it was mostly people from abroad (at least in my area) with all-event-tickets. The Spanish crowd arrived when it was seniors time.

The best part:
To me pairs free skate was the best segment at the Grand Prix Final although otherwise I'm not that much into pairs. No messy skate at all. I was especially impressed with the twists and throws of Sui/Han and Peng/Zhang. Massive & high. Really outstanding. Furthermore Ksenia Stolbova's 3T is outstanding and can compete with every single skater.

Shoma Uno's free skate was another breathtaking moment. I was wow-ed by him. Really fast on the ice and already quite mature skating. Hope he can keep up his jumps once he grows since his technique is at least questionable (very tilted in the air).

Most annoying thing
Russian junior girls doing multiple jumps with their arms over the head. Please, girls, lift your arms once or twice a program, but not 8!! times per program (as Serafima Sakhanovich in her free skate).

Most sad skate
The most sad skate was definitively Tatsuki Machida's free skate. So heart broken for him. I had big hopes for him. Really like his landings once he hits his jumps. Super soft, super smooth and super silent. One can not hear a single scratch when he lands because his edges are so clean. To me those landings almost equal Oda's soft landings.

All in all: I love competitions in interesting cities. I admit I only travel to competitions once they are in Europe and once they are in a city I wanted to visit anyway (like Turin, Nice). The good thing with the Grand Prix Final is that it is so compact and competition does not start before afternoon. So plenty of time to do some sightseeing.
 

FS_rrb

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
DAY 2 (1st part): JUNIOR FREE SKATING AND SENIOR SHORT DANCE

Junior

If you don't mind, I'll skip pairs and dance junior events, since I was not particularly interested in them. Pair skating and dance need some qualities that junior skaters have not developed yet, which is perfectly understandable.

Ladies event was great. I was impressed by Wakaba Higuchi's speed and powerful jumps. Needs no work on her artistry, but she's already quite an interesting skater, not only a jumping bean.

Seraphima showed beautiful lines and elegance but her jumps are weird. I think she tends to prerotate her jumps a lot, especially the toe loops in combination. Those arms were annoying, I agree. It loses all the interest when you keep rising your arm on every single jumps. It looked too "ornamented" for me. Apart from this, she showed good speed and performed quite well.

I didn't enjoy Evgenia's performance as much as Seraphima. She kept rising her arm all the time too and I found her less polished and slightly slower. Her skating looked smaller to me, but hers was definitely a good performance. I can agree with the overall results.

I won't talk much about junior men but I have to mention Shoma Uno. It's impossible not to talk about him and I know you would kill me if I didn't ;). He was simply spectacular: fast, showing good edges, good jumps (although not very high) and great character. What stands out is that there's nothing awkward about his skating, he moves effortlessly (he's quite tiny, though) and his movements are elegant and look extremely natural. He certainly has great future if he can keep all his jumps and, hopefully, get a little more height in them. We went crazy after his LP!

Short Dance

Not sure what happened but many pairs had problems in their SD.

Lena and Ruslan are a very interesting team. She is fascinating and has great SS. Ruslan matches her very well and is trying really hard not to be eclipsed by her charisma. This time he looked tense and made some mistakes, so the performance was not as effective as it could have been.

I enjoyed Gilles and Poirier more than I expected. Her dress looks stunning in person and they really know how to sell that program. They attacked every element with conviction and her movements were sharp and matched the music really well. They created quite an atmosphere and I believe the audience really enjoyed their program.

The Shibs are, as many of you have stated, slower than other teams and in general their skating is smaller too. However, they sold that program extremely well. Not exceptional in terms of SS or ice coverage but a really good performance, it really worked for me.

Papadakis and Cizeron are awesome skaters. Their ice coverage and SS are quite superior to the Shibs, and they are really, really elegant. Quite a different program from what one would expect in a pasodoble SD, but they made it work. Such a shame that they made mistakes too. They are extremely talented and they have a very bright future. Hope they skate to programs with more personality to see if they can connect with the audience a little bit more.

Weaver and Poje have some technical issues with their twizzles and their skating skills are not as good as V/M or D/W. In fact, they were neither the fastest nor the skaters with the best SS in the competition, but they have great personality, good choreography and their projection is really good. I found them to be very expressive, and their character certainly make their performances extremely exciting.

Not sure what to think about Chock and Bates. Ok, they had a very big mistake at the end but even without that I think their interpretation lacks passion. Technically, they know what to do to get all the points (thanks to Igor, I suppose), but in my opinion they still have to work in their projection to make their performances memorable. Enjoyable skate with good speed and basic skills, but a little dull to my taste.

That's all for now. I wanted to talk about men's SP too but it's a little late and I'm tired :biggrin:.

I'll try to be back as soon as possible ;)
 

FS_rrb

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Here I am again! Today I'll only talk about men's SP because I have lots of things to say about Yuzuru and what an unforgettable experience watching him skate live has been for me. In fact, I had already seen him live at last year TEB back to back with Patrick (who was unbelievable, BTW) but this year has been completely different, He's simply awesome! :cheer2:

Well, let's start...

Day 2 (2nd part): Men's SP

I admit I was nervous when the event started. Nervous for Yuzuru after his devastating performances in COC and NHK and nervous for Javi because of the big amount of pressure he had to carry. The warmup started and everyone was already acting like crazy. Pressure was on for Javi, but Yuzu looked very calm and focused. I noticed something different in his skating at first sight, a lightness and easiness of movement that I hadn't perceived to such an extend last year in Paris.

Yuzuru's performance started and from the beginning he created an incredible atmosphere. The first strokes already indicated much better skating skills as he moved across the ice effortlessly to prepare his 4T. Perfect jump, incredible position in the air and especially an unbelievable soft landing which seemed unreal. Great spins and awesome triple axel without preparation (as always). The triple Lutz didn't start well and when he went for the triple toe I already had the feeling that he was not going to land it. Never mind, he carried on with an exceptional step sequence. His edges might not be as good as Patrick's but I can't imagine any skater other than Hanyu performing that sequence with such speed, fast movements and musicality. When he's on, he really knows how to sell his programs. At the end I had the feeling of having witnessed something exceptional. I agree with the scores, absolutely. One can argue that a fall should be punished more, but according to the system that we have now, the score was fair.

After Yuzuru, Voronov's skating looked worse than it really is. I'm a Yuna fan so you won't convince me easily with Danse Macabre after her performance at Worlds 2009. Anyway, the quality of his skating is not bad, but he doesn't "float" as Hanyu and he seems to move across the ice with much more effort than Yuzu. Jumps were good, had good height but distance and flow were not there, so the overall impression was that his skating was correct but rough. I think 84 was a little too harsh because he landed his jumps quite well, but I wouldn't have given him more than 87 or 88 points. I know it may sound unfair or even hard to understand, but he was simply on a different class. At least for me (and a cousin of mine who only watches figure skating from time to time and was not very familiar with Hanyu) there was no contest.Choreography was not exceptional either, and the program looked rather empty, with lots of arm waving. Sorry if I was too harsh :eek::

Mura has very high jumps but lacks good flow in and out. Projection is also lacking and seemed not to be able to make justice to such a powerful score as Carmen. When he's on, he can score quite well because of his huge jumps. When his jumps are not there, his scores drop dramatically since other aspects of his skating are not that good.

Machida's SP is really good despite the posing. Sometimes it seems he's trying too hard to project and express, but it worked for me. His posture looks quite beautiful live and his SS were the best of the competition after Hanyu. He's quite short compared to the other men and sometimes his skating might look a little small (only a little).

What can I say about Javi? Pressure was on and I think that he wanted to do well so desperately that he ended up messing it up. Javi's program is great, powerful, intricate and with lots of personality, but the mistake on the first 4S drained his confidence. It was scary, he jumped with such power and his axis was so off that it looked as if he was going to have a a very hard crash. The fall was nasty indeed and the program from that moment lost attack and power. His step sequences have improved, but he still needs to work on SS because he sometimes looks labored and slow.

Finally, Maxim Kovtun. He's a skater I don't usually like. This competition didn't change my opinion, but I at least enjoyed his SP because he skated with great speed (more than I expected) and really attacked all his elements with conviction. His jumps are powerful but not beautiful...he jumps high but they look very "up and down" without much ice coverage. I have a problem with the emptiness of his programs, though. I think he's a good skater with many qualities, but also many flaws (rigidity, lack of flow, bad posture) that his team should try to correct.

At the end of the day Yuzuru was still in first place, and deservedly so! I'm afraid I may sound like a fanboy by praising him so much but his performance impressed me so much that I can't help it :biggrin:

At this point I want to say that I love figure skating and I find all these athletes incredibly talented. Forgive me if my descriptions sound too harsh sometimes, I'm just trying to be as objective as possible....but I'm also human you know :laugh:
 
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Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Thank you so much FS_rrb! A very comprehensive recap of the men's SP.
I wondered why Vornov should be so underscored in the Short Program, but you give a very good explanation.
Skating after Fernandez and Yuzuru is a tough ask for anyone.
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Thank you so much FS_rrb! A very comprehensive recap of the men's SP.
I wondered why Vornov should be so underscored in the Short Program, but you give a very good explanation.
Skating after Fernandez and Yuzuru is a tough ask for anyone.

The problem I had with Voronov's judgment were not the scores but placing him behind Kovtun in SP:
Although I have not seen the two live, so maybe Kovtun is faster and perhaps covers more ice.
 
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