Thoughts on the GP so far

Well now that I've seen both SA and SC, I just wanted to make a few comments on my thoughts so far. First of all I want to say that a lot of skaters are impressing me this year. I don't know if its because of the CoP, a result of it being the year before the Olympics, or if everyone just has some good chorography this year, but whatever it is I'm starting to like a lot of skaters that I didn't like or had no opinion of before. I'll have more comments about the skaters I'm impressed with below...

Totmianina/Marinin- LOVE thier SP, and thier long from what I saw looks pretty good too. This is coming from someone who has always found their skating to be extremely boring. I think thier new chorographer (who is it?) has brought new life into thier skating and for once I am actually looking forward to seeing them compete.

Shen/Zhao-Great as usual. I don't like the program as much as Turandot or Nutcracker yet, but it was only thier first performance, and I always love thier programs by the time worlds roll around. They look so confident!

Zagorska/Siudek-another team that has impressed me. I really had no opinion on thier skating before, but I loved thier program at SC. What awesome lifts they have!

Fumie Suguri- her Carmen was awesome! I think this new music that Lori Nichol is having her skate to is great. I love the chorography and I can't wait to see her Pink Panther short. I have a feeling that's going to be a fun program. (and btw Fumie looks awesome in black)

A few other short notes...
Sandhu-never really got into his skating before, but I like his long this year, andhe skated great at SC.
Sebeysten-again, never really liked her skating, but her carmen is decent. First program of hers that actually kept my attention.
Langois/Archetto-seem to have impoved a lot since last season
Inoue/Baldwin- ditto, love thier programs this season, especailly the short

I think it has been going very well.

Pairs:

Totmianina/Marinin - I loved the program to "Ave Maria." It was well choreographed and they showed alot of emotion. One of the best short programs I have evered seen.

Shen/Zhao - They are still dominant as ever. I think they are skating as if they are skating at worlds. They are that good. Enough said

Pang/Tong - Another elegant Chinese pair. Still needs to work on consistency in the free skate but other than that I enjoy watching them.

Obertas/Slavnov - They have really increased there difficulty on their elements. I love they "Quad Twist" that they do in the free skate. I also enjoy their lifts. You can really see Tamara Moskvina's influence.

Zagorska/Siudek - Very nice team. I really love the lifts they do in the free skate.

Men:

Brian Joubert - Very good programs. Still is struggling with inconsistency. Hope he gets back to top shape. A very nice skater to watch.

Johnny Weir - A VERY elegant skater who really knows how to entertain an audience. I really don't think he needs a quad if he is getting very high scores.

Timothy Goebel - Technically, he is strong but artistically, he still needs to work on his chreography. Hopefully Audrey can really help him there. A threat for the 2006 Olympic title.

Emanuel Sandhu - A "wild card" skater. You never know what you are going to get from this skater.

Jeffrey Buttle - Still struggles with inconsistency. Hopefully he can really rise to the top this season.

Ice Dance:

Belbin/Agosto - A shame they won't be able to compete at the 2006 Olympics. Really like there free dance to russian gypsy music. Should entertain the crowd at worlds this season.

Denkova/Staviski - Really pushing the envelope with difficult skills. Look forward to seeing them at worlds.

Navka/Kostomarov - Again, pushing the envelope with difficult skills but they are struggling somewhat.

Delobel/Schoenfelder - They have increased the difficulty of their programs. Hope to see them on top at worlds.

Gregory/Petukhov - A very consistent team. Hopefully they increase their difficulty in time for the 2206 Olympics.

Ladies:

Cynthia Phaneuf - The next best skater that Canada has ever produced. She really has potential. It would really be a joy to watch her in the future.

Fumie Suguri - Liked the fact that she moved to Chicago to train with Oleg Vassiliev. Hopefully she would get back towards the top this season.

Yoshie Onda - A joy to watch. Her artistry improving alot since she's been with Audrey.

Shizuka Arakawa - Hope she can get back to the form that won her the 2004 world title. I don't really care for her costume to "Romeo and Juliet".

Angela Nikodinov - Glad that she is getting back to top form. It will be joy to watch her in the future.

That is my analysis

I thought I would miss Kwan and Cohen but I didn't. It was just so much more for me to watch all those skaters without the tension of those stars. It was not only interesting, it was entertaining, too. Can't wait for 2007.

Joe

Can't wait for 2007

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I know what you're implying, but whats to say there will be no Kwan or Cohen in '07. After all no one thought there would be a Kwan in '03, and Cohen didn't think there would be a Cohen in '03. You never know.

I for one miss Michelle Can't wait for Nationals

What I find interesting is that Belbin & Agosto's point total at SA was higher than what Denkova/Stavisky have received at either of their competitions so far -- almost 4 points higher than D/K at SC, and almost 8 over D/K's NHK score. (Needless to say, this means they have also outpointed Navka & Kostamorov so far as well). And this is with them doing "Level 1" elements (as Tanith mentioned at SA), which they are planning to upgrade. However -- this could be a meaningless statistic at the end of the day since they did the same thing last year, not being outpointed until Navka & Kostamorov won Cup of Russia. (Which was the only dance performance in the GP last year to outpoint B & A). Still, it's food for thought.

One factor in particular has been noticeable at all 3 GPs so far---the "home ice" advantage. Belbin/Agosto's high scores at SA in 2003 and this year are examples, as are Buttle's high PCS scores in the SC FS (despite the missed jumps) and Phaneuf's high PCS scores with two falls at SC. Miki Ando received MUCH higher PCS marks at NHK than she did at SA.

That's one reason why you can't compare scores from one event to the other. We may see lower scores for B/A at CoC, but the same may be true for Dubreuil/Lauzon, too.

Ita!

Joesitz said:

I thought I would miss Kwan and Cohen but I didn't. It was just so much more for me to watch all those skaters without the tension of those stars. It was not only interesting, it was entertaining, too. Can't wait for 2007.

Joe

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I'm with you in terms of thinking I would miss watching Kwan/Cohen, but not missing them after all. Don't get me wrong - I always love watching both of them skate. But with limited TV coverage and not being able to go to any events live this year, it's been a treat to see some of the up and coming skaters that we otherwise might not have seen.

As for 2007....who knows??

DG

One thing that I have found really, really fascinating this year is that the pairs have finally decided to try to add new skills. For some years, the trick list for most of the pairs have been much the same. This year there is real change:

I&B have decided to finally go for the SBS 3lutz's and landed them once! And they have added an ice dance like S/L sequence choreographed by Peter Tchernyshev to their LP. At SA, they still didn't have it down pat.

Obertas and Slavnov added a 4Twist

T&M added the axel entrance to their lasso lift, with disastrous results. Seeing their SP the other night on TV, you could see they had a problem with it there too.

Ding and Ren are doing 4Twists or throws, I forget which.

Pairs has gotten exciting again!

DORISPULASKI said:

Ding and Ren are doing 4Twists or throws, I forget which.
!

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I think it was throw 4 toe.

I am most impressed by the men. If there is ever a good thing to come out of COP, this is it.

I can't believe no one mentioned Susanna Poykio. I love her style, a bit reminiscent of Michelle's skating. IMO, her R & J was better interpreted than Shizuka's. She was gentile, light and elegant throughout. Hopefully she can get her consistency on those jumps and fix her spirals. I really would like to see her make the GPF finals, but with her SA finish I doubt she'll make it.

I'm so mad that they couldn't even air her LP, the only clean one during SA.

Thoughts on GP

ITA that it is good to see the new or lesser-known skaters, which we probably would not see if the "big names" were participating.

Crizzy said:

I can't believe no one mentioned Susanna Poykio. I love her style, a bit reminiscent of Michelle's skating. IMO, her R & J was better interpreted than Shizuka's. She was gentile, light and elegant throughout. Hopefully she can get her consistency on those jumps and fix her spirals. I really would like to see her make the GPF finals, but with her SA finish I doubt she'll make it.

I'm so mad that they couldn't even air her LP, the only clean one during SA.

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Absolutely, but I think it is because they didn't air her LP at Skate America. Her jumps are consistent but I think she gets a bit nervous which should lessen as the season goes on. Her Dortumund Worlds was exceptionally good. By the way, she did win the LP at Skate America. Angela was second and Cynthia was third. Of course, ABC would not let us see the best of the LPs.

Joe

I agree that what stands out most this season is the home ice advantage. This does not speak well for the scoring system. It implies that it lacks objectivity just as I suspected. Just like last season, comparing scores from event to event doesn't tell us a thing. There are different judges on every panel and , therefore, differing opinions. Phaneuf shows alot of promise, but I don't see her competitive with the likes of Michelle, Sasha, & Shizuka. Fumie didn't perform well at SC, but if she can improve on her jumps, she'll be at the top with the other 3. I really like Fumies' programs and can see the brilliance in them once she can get the jumps down. I thought Ando was improving until Cup of China. She has an injured shoulder, so that may explain some of her problems. However Ando needs more complexity in her footwork & inbetween stuff to be competitive with the other women. I see that she's improved a little in her spirals with better extension, but she still needs more control. I see that Onda has improved, but she's still far below the others in her presentation. I guess I'm just not fond of her style & probably never will be. I don't know what's up with Yukina Ota, but I'm terribly disappointed. I was hoping to see alot of her this season, but I think she's pretty much eliminated from the Japanese World team. Yukina Ota has been the biggest disappointment for me this season. She's also my favorite among the Japanese women. Yukina was replaced by a struggling Yukari Nakano at Cup of China. Does anyone know what's going on with her?