It's a shame that B/S didn't win 2001 worlds.... | Golden Skate

It's a shame that B/S didn't win 2001 worlds....

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
with their city lights program.

I'm rewatching the 2001 worlds to kill the before worlds anxciety. Rewatching B/S's LP once again just felt again that the program was briliantly choreographed and interpreted. It is raerly seen the comidy number skated by pair and interpreted so briliantly. They have great speed and ice coverage than any other team shown. It is really a shame that they diddn't win world with this number. It was said that there was no rusian judge in the panel, there were canadian judge and US judge. I think no Rusian judge hurt them in this competetion?
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
mzheng said:
with their city lights program.

I'm rewatching the 2001 worlds to kill the before worlds anxciety. Rewatching B/S's LP once again just felt again that the program was briliantly choreographed and interpreted. It is raerly seen the comidy number skated by pair and interpreted so briliantly. They have great speed and ice coverage than any other team shown. It is really a shame that they diddn't win world with this number. It was said that there was no rusian judge in the panel, there were canadian judge and US judge. I think no Rusian judge hurt them in this competetion?

Definitely not having a Russian judge on the panel and 2001 Worlds being in Vancouver played into Sale/Pelletier's favour. Also, with both teams having a mistake (Sale singled the sbs 2axel; B/S had a collision coming out of the split 3twist), it really came down to the second mark and what the judges prefered. I always thought B/S's "City Lights" was one of the best pairs routines to come around. I remember being surprised initially at the result, but after watching S/P's "Tristan", I have come to appreciate it as a programme that really merited winning, although it wasn't the comedy of "City Lights"

I also thought that, perhaps, this was a little bit of NA giving the Russians a taste of their own medicine for the controversy over the Russians winning out over S/Z in Helsinki (1999) even though Yelena fell on one of the throws and S/Z skated flawlessly. This was the infamous "foot tapping" incident that got a Russian and Ukranian judge suspended for a while after being accused of signaling to each other.
 

skater85

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
S/P skated to Tristan&Isolde in 2001 worlds.

And, no I dont think having a Russian judge would have helped B/S. It wasn't a 5/4 split, it was 6/3. So even with a Russian judge(assuming they voted for Elena and Anton LOL) it still would have only been 5/4, with S/P still the winners.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
That was an amazing competition. Although Sale and Pelletier probably did benefit a little from "home cooking" on the part of the judges, still their Tristan and Isolde was perhaps the strongest program of their amateur career. The music was from Franz Waxman's Tristan and Isolde Fantasie for piano and orchestra. It was from one of Lori Nichol's all-time favorite CDs, Humoresque, featuring violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Nichols has used music from this CD for several of her skaters, including Michelle Kwan (Carmen Fantasy), Josee Chouinard and Fumie Suguri.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...1_10/102-0850690-9980932?v=glance&s=classical

At the time the buzz was that the judges favored the classical lyrical program of Sale and Pelleier (performed in the "Russian" pairs style, LOL) to the quirky, edgy adventure into comedy of "City Lights." I think it was only later that more and more people started recognizing City Lights for the astonishing masterpiece that it is, IMHO.

Anyway, this contest saw both of these pairs at their very best, IMO. It could have gone either way. At the time I thought it was the ISU's way of tossing a bone to the Canadian federation, with the understanding that Russia would get the Olympic gold the next year. Which is just what happened, sort of.

Mathman
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
skater85 said:
And, no I dont think having a Russian judge would have helped B/S. It wasn't a 5/4 split, it was 6/3. So even with a Russian judge(assuming they voted for Elena and Anton LOL) it still would have only been 5/4, with S/P still the winners.
I would thought if there was a Rusian judge at the panel, it would not be just 'one' vote, he/she could've impose the 'influence' on other judges at the panel.

Besides I read somewhere that there was one judge admmitted that he diddn't notice Jammie singled axel, had he notice that he would put Rusian at the first.
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Mathman said:
At the time the buzz was that the judges favored the classical lyrical program of Sale and Pelleier (performed in the "Russian" pairs style, LOL) to the quirky, edgy adventure into comedy of "City Lights." I think it was only later that more and more people started recognizing City Lights for the astonishing masterpiece that it is, IMHO.

Anyway, this contest saw both of these pairs at their very best, IMO. It could have gone either way. At the time I thought it was the ISU's way of tossing a bone to the Canadian federation, with the understanding that Russia would get the Olympic gold the next year. Which is just what happened, sort of.

Mathman

I tend to agree with on both account.

I remembered I diddn't like the 'City Light' myself when they first performed. I thought it was cheesy and 'cheap' but late when I rewatched the competetion I realised how briliant that program is. And how difficult to interprete it like that. They really branched their style. Though it's not my favorate style, but briliant is briliant. Even Peggy gave a majore prop to B/S.
 

Hikaru

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
In 2001 I couldn't watch the pairs event, so I downloaded the video from B/S and S/P (I'm still looking for S/Z's video of that world championship). Both pairs skated good, maybe S/P were cleaner than B&S (the 3twist and the throw3loop wich were not like completely clean, though Sale had the problem with the 2axel) and I liked S/P "Tristan und Isolde" the had a great presentation and skated with energy, but I enjoyed even more "City Lights", the music, and it's just that the choreography they had blended so well the technical elements, that it looked so efortlessly... I'm trying to find the right word, they just set a mood from begining to end, and really bring to live their characters. When almost at the end they get into the death spiral, and you see Anton's face, it is pure performance (and the camera just loved him, showing all the expressions he would make), I just got tears in my eyes in that moment, I liked it that much. It is a comedy, but is full of emotions.
 

aviva_dawn

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
I started watching that B/S video a lot over the last few days....and IMHO, they should have won in 2001.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I was at the 2001 worlds, and watching live, I had a definite feeling that the home field might have influenced the decision. When Jamie singled the double axel, the crowd ROARED with approval, as if she had in fact landed it clean. I heard that some admitted later that they missed that, which is easy to do, with the crowd noise (OK they are supposed to SEE, but some may not have the correct angle, and the slo mo had been turned off during S&P's skate, for some unknown reason). Both pairs skated great, and both programs were great but B&S were unmatched in the speed and ice coverage, interpretation of the character of the music, and unison. Choreographically the program was a masterpiece. B&S should have won on the presentation marks, even with a collision on the split triple twist (a mistake on that move rarely influences the marks) and a shaky but one foot landing on the throw triple loop by Elena. There were so many compensating factors.

Vash
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
aviva_dawn said:
I started watching that B/S video a lot over the last few days....and IMHO, they should have won in 2001.
Me too. Both their short and long were amazing. I rewind several times when I watched. Their ice coverage and speed is amazing too, there were times their boots almost touch the boards. Like Hikaru said I found Anton's expression in City Light is so characterized.
 

guinevere

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I loved the pairs competition at 2001 Worlds. I felt it could go either way, was happy for S&P when they won, but would have been happy for B&S too. I really felt it came down to aesthetics - and I wonder if B&S fell a bit victim to the "comedies don't win Oscars" syndrome. But I felt that those programs were probably the best programs of two teams at the height of their abilities, as someone else said earlier.

ps Although I loved B&S' "City Lights" program, I actually thought their accompanying exhibition program "The Kid" was even more brilliant. I could watch that one over and over again and never get tired of it.
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
guinevere said:
I actually thought their accompanying exhibition program "The Kid" was even more brilliant. I could watch that one over and over again and never get tired of it.

Was that the same program they skated in their COI tour right after that world championship?
 

boggartlaura

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I think S/P deserved this one. Tristan & Isolde was one of their strongest programs, and besides the axel, they were totally on. B/S were very good, but had a very bad crash on the twist, which I think is basically equivilant to Jamie singling the Axel.
 

RIskatingfan

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Singling a SBS jump is certainly a bigger mistake than a crash on the twist, especially if we think that there are very few pairs out there who do ocmpletely clean split twists.

I think this was S&P's best LP but B&S should have won this one. I'm sure they would have won it hadn't the competition taken place in Canada. When the competition is as close as this one, the home factor can be deciding.
 

JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
I was actually in the arena on that night, and I gotta say -- being there when S/P won, with the incredible energy and enthusiasm, was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Having said that, though, I was also quite surprised that B/S didn't win it, given that Jamie did single that axel; I thought for sure that that would put them in 2nd. But, there is a fair possibility that some of the judges may have missed the error -- as I recall, Jamie was on the non-judges side of the rink when she did that (I saw it quite clearly and I was on the non-judges side of the rink AND in the rafters to boot) and David may have blocked her, so some may not have caught it. It was a great competition, though, and it could have gone either way IMO. The quality of skating among almost all the pairs was incredibly high that night.
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I remember the competition. I loved B&S's program, and was just shocked when they didn't win.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I thought the both teams had their problems and both teams had interestng choreography. As usual with these two teams, it came down with one's preferences.

I've always liked both these teams. They were and still are first class, and with totally different styles. If one had a preference before the competition I doubt one could be objective in decision making.

I was in awe of someone skating to Wagner and skating so well, I went with S&P.

Joe
 
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