Nobody fall over but I LOVED Fumie's SP! Skating to a string quartet version of the Stones' "Paint It Black," Fumie seemed to be skating with stronger dynamics and more "oomph" for lack of a better word and I thought it suited her beautifully, much better than the rather limp version, IMO, of last year's LP "Swan Lake." Fumie also looked as if she was really enjoying this skate. I thought her facial expressions were more open, her shoulders and upper body more relaxed and expressive, and in general she looked more put together and graceful. I still want to get a hold of her free leg on her spirals and layback spin and get her to turn it out on the spirals and layback, and also straighten the knee on the spirals. But all in all the best I've seen Fumie skate since her exhibition program at Worlds. Good for Fumie!
AP: One word: Stunning.
Yoshi Onda: Looks just a tad heavier than last year, which I think is mostly due to looking less like a little girl and more like a young woman. That's great, but unfortunately I think the more mature look in her body accentuates the lack of polish in her skating. Susie Wynn said something about how great jumpers tend to burst onto the scene and generate a lot of buzz because of their jumping, but it can also take them a while to realize they need a lot more than jumps--and I think that is especialy true with the COP. I've always liked Onda's spirit and athleticism and last season I thought she was able to get away with being unfinished on a lot of things because her jumps, energy, and speed made up for it. Plus she looked so young, there was a kind of tomboyish charm to her skating--kind of like watching "Scout" from "To Kill a Mockingbird" skate. But with maturity, I think Yoshie is going to have to work very hard to pull her style together or else the top of the pack is going to start to pull away from her, IMO. And I'd hate to see that happen because I do like her energy.
Vika: Put that girl in a "Victoria's Secret" catalogue this instant! Even I want to see that girl in a lacy teddy. Obviously ITA that the dress was a winnah and when Vika hits her jumps, there is a kind of stately elegance to her skating that makes me forgive a lot. However the COP does not forgive. Volchkova is amazing to look at on the ice, but somewhat like Onda, though for different reasons, I'm afraid if Vika doesn't make a breakthrough in her skating soon, the top of the pack is going to pull away from her.
MEN
Liked the leader after the SP, Song Gao. He's rough around the edges but I love his essential quality. Nice to see a more lyrical Chinese male skater. And that 4t/3t was one of the prettiest ones I've ever seen.
I think Brian Joubert may go through a "sophomore slump" this season. He's grown some, put on some muscle, and there are other reasons why guys can have trouble with coordination as they go from looking like a teenager to looking like a man. But putting all that aside, it's just very common in all sports that when someone young bursts onto the scene with a great season, they tend to have a tough time living up to that the next season. OTOH, he may be in just the right timeframe to peak for Turino in '06. We'll see...
Speaking of manliness, I think Goebel is looking more like a man now and skating like one too. Forgetting the fall on the 3Axel, I was very impressed by how musically he skated. He gets points with me just for using the Prokofiev version of "Romeo and Juliet." I know that was his SP last season but he hardly had a chance to use it. I'm hoping that now that he seems to have his boot problems under control that this SP will give him the opportunity to try skating with a strong dynamic quality. But even in this subpar performance, I can watch Tim now and see virtually no trace of the awful-postured Goebel of pre-'02 Olympics. And it's nice to hear a skater speak well technically (no garbled words or "South Park" accents) and also be articulate in terms of content. Not that it matters to the COP, but it's just nice not to have to turn the sound off during his interviews, as I do with some of other skaters, at least on tape.
Pairs: I like Pang & Tong and even though Qing lands the throw jumps and is pretty consistent on her triples, she just doesn't have a strong quality to her skating to really match Jian Tong, who I think is one of the most naturally beautiful skaters I've ever seen. Especially in the overhead lifts, I find her positions to look weak--not enough amplitude in the leg positions and not enough extension and energy going through the legs. I like them, but too often my eye is distracted by the weakness of her positions.
Shen & Zhao: Indeed they were going to retire from competition after last season but obviously they and/or the Chinese Federation changed their minds over the summer. I'm glad to see them, but I wonder how long they can keep up this level of competition, especially having worked so hard over the past few years to build up their artistry. I think this might be a slump year for them, relatively speaking, only because Tot/Mar are hungry and new and this is now S/Z's 11th year competiting at the senior level and they've been on the podium at Worlds or the Olympics every year since '98. Plus there's the pressure of representing China's emergence into the elite levels of the sport. Tough stuff. Of course I wish them well. After Xue's skate on that injured knee and what Hongbo said to the press about wanting to melt his medal with hers so he could give it all to Xue, how hard is it to not fall in love with these people?
Dance: I usually like people's hair natural, but I must say Rusalon Goncharov looks so much hotter with straightened hair. I think what Susie Wynn said about them being such nice people, which I've heard from others, and how it might be keeping them from being as competitive as they need to be is a keen observation. At some points in their OD I think, "Nobody better." At other points I think, "Not even close to podium material." Very up and down, yet clearly they have the technical ability to be medal contenders. Just something missing.
Navka and Kostamarov: Again, Susie Wynn's comment about how just physically and the way they carry themselves, they look like World champions. But they also skate like champs. I like the first part of their OD better than the second, but they are very, very good. IMO, the best dance team since Anissina and Peizerat. Interestingly, at least to me, they are puching 30 and apparently the Russian Federation didn't think much of either one back when they were in their early 20s. It also helps that she is one stunning woman.
Which brings me to my rag for the day: There is gorgeous Vika; stunning Navka; beautiful Michelle, AP, Jenny, and Sasha; basically stunning women all over the dance and pairs disciplines. We used to have hot, hot, hot Gwendal Peizerat; what a man, what a man, what a might good man John Zimmerman; temperamental but mmm-baby David Pelltier; and those are just the ones that come immediately to mind--or some other part of my anatomy. So where are the superhot guys this season?! Brian Joubert is a cutie but not a hottie; E-man is exotically handsome but he's not a hunk; Michael Weiss, well, okay, just not my type. It just seems like there is an obvious imbalance in the hot stud department between the men and the women. Is Speedy behind this too!? Where are our male skating hunks? Serious lack of drool factor when it comes to the guys this season, I'm sorry and I'm suspicious. Where have they taken them and more importantly, WHO has taken them?
Rgirl
What are you talking about? This is the worst mens short program of the year IMO because of the utter lack of choreography and transitions. All he is doing is going from element to element, not to mention that he still had the stiffest back in the competition. 
Let's hear it for the Midwest! No accent at all; just proper English. That's about all I miss from the IN/OH area though.
Fumie wasn't bad, either.
