U.S. Coverage - Cup of Russia
- Thread starter SailorGalaxia518
- Start date
My impressions on Cup of Russia:
Men
Plushenko : I take back every bad thing I said about Plushenko's FP. That'll teach me to say stuff about a programme before seeing it. The programme hd great energy and surprisingly, choreography and wild hand gestures that actually pertained to the music. I agree with Joe, however, in that there is still something missing from his spins (and I went online to the ISU website to get the judges' marks; all his spins are graded at Level 1). He needs an extra position or SOMETHING to mix it up
Shawn Sawyer : Finally! I don't feel in the dark when all of the Canadians on this forum start waxing poetic about Shawn Sawyer, b/c US TV coverage actually showed him for once. Very impressive choreographically (prolly the best Cirque du Soleil themed programme I've yet seen) and my jaw is still on the floor after his spiral and combination spin
. If he can get more consistency on the jumps, he could be a real GP force. He's only 19, so he has time
Lysacek : I'm really warming up to this guy. I saw bits and pieces of this programme earlier in the year in Cambridge, MA and it looks like he's just gotten more comfortable with it as the year goes on. His 3axel has gotten a lot more consistent. He still has an issue with stamina in this programme, but he's really nice to see doing well. I thought he was a little undermarked.
Women
Slutskaya : This woman missed all of last season with a life-threatening illness !!!!! It's amazing to see her not only skate well but skate arguably better than she ever has. I have not been a fan of Slutskaya's at all until this year. It's nice to see her using the CoP wisely and to her advantage in the way her programmes are arranged (e.g. her Level 3 spiral, spins, the 3sal-3loop-2toe). The one thing I will say is I wish her spins weren't everything-into-a-Biellmann-position and that she could incorporate a bit more variety into her spins.
Arakawa: What happened?!?! Arakawa was so consistent last year and now she's unsure of herself and making mistakes. I imagine the whole business with her essentially being coached by Platov, while TT coaches her by phone is prolly unnerving and adding to a lot of her problems. The programmes she has are okay, though.
Sokolova : Really nice to see her back and skating well after disappearing for a while (she's lost weight, too, I think). Her choreography has improved quite a bit; maybe that's a reflection of her move back to Kudriavtsev (how long has that been?)
Pairs
Obertas and Slavnov : I think Moskvina is trying to be too creative with these guys. I like the quad twist; she's got the rotation, they just need to work on the catch. But sbs 3toe-3toe and sbs 3sal? A throw 3flip (although they're doing okay with that one)? They've not been together for that long; IMO, work on getting their consistency and relation as a team down and then add in all the other crazy, wild stuff
Dance
Grushina and Goncharov : I really like their FD....maybe I'm a sucker for both Vivaldi and techno music, idk. They've got the usual G&G frantic, omg-we're-skating-to-really-REALLY-fast-music choreography, but this one seems like more "controlled chaos" in comparison to some of their other dance
Navka and Kostomarov : I'm sorry......I'm a Tosca purist.......their FD.......no
Faiella and Scali : aka "that Italian team", lol....this FD was another one of my favourites. They are a very energetic team, and a criticism of them is the past is that they were too energetic and tend to make mistakes. They seemed to be more in control with this one. Love the music, the costumes, and the role-reversal lift will always be a favourite of mine (I've been on the receiving end of one of those in dance.....lemme tell you....they're a lot of fun)
Men
Plushenko : I take back every bad thing I said about Plushenko's FP. That'll teach me to say stuff about a programme before seeing it. The programme hd great energy and surprisingly, choreography and wild hand gestures that actually pertained to the music. I agree with Joe, however, in that there is still something missing from his spins (and I went online to the ISU website to get the judges' marks; all his spins are graded at Level 1). He needs an extra position or SOMETHING to mix it up
Shawn Sawyer : Finally! I don't feel in the dark when all of the Canadians on this forum start waxing poetic about Shawn Sawyer, b/c US TV coverage actually showed him for once. Very impressive choreographically (prolly the best Cirque du Soleil themed programme I've yet seen) and my jaw is still on the floor after his spiral and combination spin
. If he can get more consistency on the jumps, he could be a real GP force. He's only 19, so he has timeLysacek : I'm really warming up to this guy. I saw bits and pieces of this programme earlier in the year in Cambridge, MA and it looks like he's just gotten more comfortable with it as the year goes on. His 3axel has gotten a lot more consistent. He still has an issue with stamina in this programme, but he's really nice to see doing well. I thought he was a little undermarked.
Women
Slutskaya : This woman missed all of last season with a life-threatening illness !!!!! It's amazing to see her not only skate well but skate arguably better than she ever has. I have not been a fan of Slutskaya's at all until this year. It's nice to see her using the CoP wisely and to her advantage in the way her programmes are arranged (e.g. her Level 3 spiral, spins, the 3sal-3loop-2toe). The one thing I will say is I wish her spins weren't everything-into-a-Biellmann-position and that she could incorporate a bit more variety into her spins.
Arakawa: What happened?!?! Arakawa was so consistent last year and now she's unsure of herself and making mistakes. I imagine the whole business with her essentially being coached by Platov, while TT coaches her by phone is prolly unnerving and adding to a lot of her problems. The programmes she has are okay, though.
Sokolova : Really nice to see her back and skating well after disappearing for a while (she's lost weight, too, I think). Her choreography has improved quite a bit; maybe that's a reflection of her move back to Kudriavtsev (how long has that been?)
Pairs
Obertas and Slavnov : I think Moskvina is trying to be too creative with these guys. I like the quad twist; she's got the rotation, they just need to work on the catch. But sbs 3toe-3toe and sbs 3sal? A throw 3flip (although they're doing okay with that one)? They've not been together for that long; IMO, work on getting their consistency and relation as a team down and then add in all the other crazy, wild stuff
Dance
Grushina and Goncharov : I really like their FD....maybe I'm a sucker for both Vivaldi and techno music, idk. They've got the usual G&G frantic, omg-we're-skating-to-really-REALLY-fast-music choreography, but this one seems like more "controlled chaos" in comparison to some of their other dance
Navka and Kostomarov : I'm sorry......I'm a Tosca purist.......their FD.......no
Faiella and Scali : aka "that Italian team", lol....this FD was another one of my favourites. They are a very energetic team, and a criticism of them is the past is that they were too energetic and tend to make mistakes. They seemed to be more in control with this one. Love the music, the costumes, and the role-reversal lift will always be a favourite of mine (I've been on the receiving end of one of those in dance.....lemme tell you....they're a lot of fun)
Longhornliz said:
