- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
The conspiracy theory was that last year at the opening reception, Piseev was overheard by half the room screaming that the Russian Federation gave Denkova a partner, she shouldn't ask for anything else, and that he'd knock D&S off the podium -- presumably in response to Denkova's statements that Navka should be ashamed to compete last year with such an inferior program and that the fans liked Den/Sta better. Funny how a year later, that's exactly what happened.
Bach was much better in person than on TV, where the flow and ice coverage is lost completely. I thought that Grushina/Goncharov deserved fifth, with such a hackneyed free dance, deflated presentation, and the lack of balance between them -- even Chait/Sakhnovsky were more balanced this year -- and that Delobel/Schoenfelder should have won the free skate, but didn't, due to undermarked presentation scores. They flowed and transitioned more effortlessly than any other couple, and the ice coverage in their program was second to none. That they got lower performance/execution, choreography, and interpretation scores than G/G was, in my opinion, wrong. I would have had Del/Sch in third, Den/Sta in fourth, and G/G in fifth overall, although it's hard not to imagine what the team of Grushina and Sakhnovski could have achieved. That man can skate.
Gregory/Petukhov looked like they got a hand-me-down program from G/G, via Morozov. Wing/Lowe clearly out-classed them in both the OD and FD segments. (I only saw some of the CDs on Eurosport, as our 2-hour subway tour turned into a 5-hour event.) However, Gregory/Petukhov have a polish, line, and smoothness that the Kerrs and Kulikova/Novikov couldn't match, although Fraser/Lukanin, who are 50% improved over last year, nearly overtook them for 11th place. Still, that means three dance spots for the US team for the Olympics, where, given the state of the partnerships, we'll probably end up sending Gregory/Petukhov, senior pair #4, and junior team #8. Worlds will be better, with Belbin/Agosto back in the mix; I thought they were quite wonderful in the FD.
Domnina/Shabalin are the ones to watch. They both tall, with fine line, and while they share unusual choreography -- their coach is Gorshkov and their choreographer is Petukhov, like Den/Sta -- Gorshkov and Petukhov have not tried to turn them into Den/Sta clones, but have extended their capabilities. Their free dance was a stretch for them, but they did a wonderful job with it. They are going to be mighty competitors for Del/Sch and Belbin/Agosto once the post-Olympic dust settles.
Navka/Kostomarov were incredible in the OD: they skated as if they owned the world, and on top of being authoritative, they were simply fabulous. I had only seen their FD once this year, in their weakest performance, and listening to the broadcast relatively late on a Monday night, I had the volume low, and never realized that there was a waltz rhythm playing under the orchestration. I know they added to the program as the year went by, and by Worlds, it was a great program, particularly the sequence with the constantly interweaving arm holds. Much more dancing and much less diva-osity. Still, I thought that the magical program was Delobel/Schoenfelder's Frida, with Zazoui and her choreographic team conjuring up a program that Del/Sch could express with their bodies.
Bach was much better in person than on TV, where the flow and ice coverage is lost completely. I thought that Grushina/Goncharov deserved fifth, with such a hackneyed free dance, deflated presentation, and the lack of balance between them -- even Chait/Sakhnovsky were more balanced this year -- and that Delobel/Schoenfelder should have won the free skate, but didn't, due to undermarked presentation scores. They flowed and transitioned more effortlessly than any other couple, and the ice coverage in their program was second to none. That they got lower performance/execution, choreography, and interpretation scores than G/G was, in my opinion, wrong. I would have had Del/Sch in third, Den/Sta in fourth, and G/G in fifth overall, although it's hard not to imagine what the team of Grushina and Sakhnovski could have achieved. That man can skate.
Gregory/Petukhov looked like they got a hand-me-down program from G/G, via Morozov. Wing/Lowe clearly out-classed them in both the OD and FD segments. (I only saw some of the CDs on Eurosport, as our 2-hour subway tour turned into a 5-hour event.) However, Gregory/Petukhov have a polish, line, and smoothness that the Kerrs and Kulikova/Novikov couldn't match, although Fraser/Lukanin, who are 50% improved over last year, nearly overtook them for 11th place. Still, that means three dance spots for the US team for the Olympics, where, given the state of the partnerships, we'll probably end up sending Gregory/Petukhov, senior pair #4, and junior team #8. Worlds will be better, with Belbin/Agosto back in the mix; I thought they were quite wonderful in the FD.
Domnina/Shabalin are the ones to watch. They both tall, with fine line, and while they share unusual choreography -- their coach is Gorshkov and their choreographer is Petukhov, like Den/Sta -- Gorshkov and Petukhov have not tried to turn them into Den/Sta clones, but have extended their capabilities. Their free dance was a stretch for them, but they did a wonderful job with it. They are going to be mighty competitors for Del/Sch and Belbin/Agosto once the post-Olympic dust settles.
Navka/Kostomarov were incredible in the OD: they skated as if they owned the world, and on top of being authoritative, they were simply fabulous. I had only seen their FD once this year, in their weakest performance, and listening to the broadcast relatively late on a Monday night, I had the volume low, and never realized that there was a waltz rhythm playing under the orchestration. I know they added to the program as the year went by, and by Worlds, it was a great program, particularly the sequence with the constantly interweaving arm holds. Much more dancing and much less diva-osity. Still, I thought that the magical program was Delobel/Schoenfelder's Frida, with Zazoui and her choreographic team conjuring up a program that Del/Sch could express with their bodies.
