Ladies Short Program | Page 8 | Golden Skate

Ladies Short Program

dlgpffps said:
I would make the same distinction. Liked her smile, her general skating, some of the choreo touches, but in general I find this program too cute. I stand by my opinion that last season's SP was better. That reminds me. I haven't seen her LP, but I know it's out. Does anyone have a link?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF45xu5m90s

I don't have a problem with the cutesy, and actually, the judges seem to like cutesy routines so long as the skater can pull it off. I mean, think back to Mirai's 07-08 SP and the huge scores she got for it at nationals and Jr Worlds, and then her LP last season and the huge score she got at the Olympics. Anna Ovcharova won the SP at Jr Worlds last season with a perky cutesy routine and Alena Leonova got high scores for her last season's SP, with the chicken dance spirals, when she skated fairly clean.

And to be fair, Kanako's not even 16 yet, and serious programs just don't suit her as well. She's a lot like Mirai in that respect. And she herself may look juniorish and it is a cutesy fun program, but her SKATING is not juniorish, she is fast with good basics and edge quality, tons of charisma, and great choreography and interpretation.
 
I did feel Kanako's programs were a bit too over the top. Love her but that dress has to go and it's not she's not yet 16 but that she's almost 16, which is young but not already senior age. Interesting that both Liza and Adelina are younger than Kanako and Gao but yet they have far more elegance in their styles.
 
snowflake said:
Agree about NA and Europe. Just thought about next worlds beeing in Japan with a huge crowd cheering for her. This was like a test and the judges also went with her.

And I know Kanako has good skating skills though I don't like her program.
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Kanako got a huge cheer at Junior Worlds as well which were held in The Netherlands. And for a junior she had very mature programs, her exhibition was fun!It is her first GP and in her country, give her a break:)

I forgot to say, no more jazzy stuff for Flatt. She does the same old like Singx3..
 
seniorita said:
Kanako got a huge cheer at Junior Worlds as well which were held in The Netherlands. And for a junior she had very mature programs, her exhibition was fun!It is her first GP and in her country, give her a break:)

I forgot to say, no more jazzy stuff for Flatt. She does the same old like Singx3..
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See I sort of liked that program for Rachael. I find when she uses soft slow music her programs just get a little bland, like her FS from last year. And that dress was beautiful - the cut and turquoise color were very flattering for her.
 
fairly4 said:
zhang was much improved. personally kanako's was more interesting, ashley skated to slow .but not bad. you could tell they speeded up video to make it seem like skated faster.
kanako just went out to skmate.
ashley not bad also to me looks like and old skate program of hers. score a bit high
but all scores kinda of close. still anyone ball game. whoever skates for it in long will \probably win it. sure kostner has about a 10 point lead, but still anyone ball games, with the inconsistency of all skaters.
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Same program but reworked because of the new rules. Loved it last...not so much with the new rules.
 
silverlake22 said:
See I sort of liked that program for Rachael. I find when she uses soft slow music her programs just get a little bland, like her FS from last year. And that dress was beautiful - the cut and turquoise color were very flattering for her.
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yes dress was much an improvement, this was better than her last season Lp dress by far, but I dont get why she wears so white leg thing, it is not a natural color at all, I remember last year at worlds i noticed it and then i was distracted in her performance by it a lot, it is on the borders of being grey.
If she doesnt like soft music or it is not her style, she could choose a guitar thing, a rock piece or something else as a style, this jazzy program again doesnt take her forward,she does same moves and same facial expressions like last season...
 
miki88 said:
I did feel Kanako's programs were a bit too over the top. Love her but that dress has to go and it's not she's not yet 16 but that she's almost 16, which is young but not already senior age. Interesting that both Liza and Adelina are younger than Kanako and Gao but yet they have far more elegance in their styles.
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I agree, that dress is too young for a 15-year-old. I might eliminate a couple of the cutsier moves in the program like that knee thingy but in general I was a fan. I though the last footwork sequence was original and fun.


i miss the spiral sequences, probably the only one but i do
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I would if most of the spiral sequences we saw were good but it's the opposite. A good majority were cringe-worthy yet somehow a lot of skaters with ugly, forced-looking positions got the levels.
 
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chloepoco said:
Just curious, but what is it about Kanako (other than that she reminds you of Fumie) that you don't like to the point where you wouldn't go to SA just because she's skating in it?
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Upon reflection, chloepoco, I automatically just didn't like her music, costume, choreography, bowed legs, et al, so I honestly didn't watch much of her skate. I turned away. But I've done this before with skaters over the years, as I'm sure other skating fans have as well, however I can pinpoint the moment I physically did not like her period, and that's when I saw the scores. Imho such a juniorish program shouldn't have been rewarded over a mature one. And then that dislike was reinforced by what I perceived as the over-the-topness of a couple of her fans. So therein came my visceral reaction.

She reminds me of Fumie Suguri because of the *bowed legs*, which I automatically detest, I hate bowed legs, or maybe hate is too strong of a word, rather severely dislike. And imho Fumie would get scores I didn't think she deserved; she had the jumps but nothing else. That's how she reminds me of Fumie. My opinion as a skating fan.

Since this morning though I've been thinking of Sonja (Henie, of course), and I recall how she was not well-received when she first entered seniors at the international level (particularly at the Olympics; she was 11 yrs. old at the time). The older skaters, et al, remarked "is this now a kindergarten"? So with that in mind I will *try* to keep an open mind, for Sonja's sake :) , and not judge her outright, especially things she cannot control like the judging, and especially fans.

Btw, I recall I had a similar milder reaction to Mao when she beat Sasha, et al, when she first debuted at seniors on the international level. I thought her skating was juniorish cutsie pie as well, and Tara Lipinski too, and might as well add Michelle Kwan when she skated at Worlds for the first time. Now that I think of it I just don't like junior cutsie pie skating. The only one I can recall that I actually *did* enjoy was Naomi Nari Nam ~ I thought she was phenomenal in every single way, especially her exhibition program to "Itty Bitty Pretty Thing". :)

Anyhow, I hate to miss Carolina, Rachael, Caroline, and Laura just because of one skater I consider juniorish. Better to just look the other way, don't read the boards when her name comes up, and block certain posters I don't enjoy reading.
 
KANAKO was the best here. Really silly criticisms about her skating being overly Juniorish. She is extremely youthful, yes, and the ending pose and some of her arm positions may have been immature, but that was a very good performance. She has lovely speed and edging. Her jumps were by FAR the best of the event; a fully rotated 3Toe-3Toe plus a huge Triple Flip.

Shockingly, I liked RACHAEL FLATT. She exudes more maturity in this performance than I've ever seen before (part of it is because of her new look, which suits her). The way she held her moves out at the beginning and the way she delivered some real sexuality in the choreography during the part where she mimics taking her shirt off...that was good. Unfortunately her spins are weak and she's still slow across the ice.

I think she deserved to be slightly ahead of CAROLINA KOSTER, though. Kostner has superior speed and edging, but the ending to the program is not satisfying and a 3Toe-2Toe combination, really??? That's not very competitive, considering her other tech elements aren't particularly great either (weak spins, small 2Axel, tentative 3Loop). Rachael Flatt's far more difficult 3Lutz-2Loop combination deserved to put her ahead.

Everyone else was forgettable.
 
:) A little bow in the legs make for good spring in the jumps,and soft landings. nadine - you don't seem to mind them on Plushenko ;) I really enjoyed Kanako's skating. Not only is there much to admire technically,but her expressiveness is a treat. I feel she's really one to watch for over the next a couple of years.
 
I don't really understand this "you have to skate to serious music to be mature" bent some folks have on here. I thought this program suited Kankano's personality. And as other people mentioned here, she shows how much she loves skating. I agree with janetfan that she is a lot like Akiko in that regard.

And the girl has managed to bring a little personality in a COP program. That trait should not be taken lightly!
 
Yuna's legs are slightly bowed...

Anyways I think people need to give Kanako a break. She's 15 and it's her senior GP debut and she went out there and delivered a great program both in terms of technicality and performance. The crowd loved it too. Kudos to her. And about the whole cutesy thing, to me, Yuna Kim's Bond SP last season was pretty cutesy and she deservingly broke World Records with it! I mean sure Yuna was sexy and cutesy at the same time in it, but it definitely was an upbeat, fun kind of program. I say if you can pull the cutesy thing off and still get the job done, then you might as well. Kanako doesn't have the flexibility and line to pull off a soft, graceful ballet program and her look is too young to do a sensual program, so cutesy seems like the best vehicle for her.
 
Mrs. P said:
I don't really understand this "you have to skate to serious music to be mature" bent some folks have on here. I thought this program suited Kankano's personality. And as other people mentioned here, she shows how much she loves skating. I agree with janetfan that she is a lot like Akiko in that regard.

And the girl has managed to bring a little personality in a COP program. That trait should not be taken lightly!
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Very well put. I also had the "juniorish" thought for a moment when I first saw footage of this program, but I think this is a brilliant choice of music for Kanako.

I think Yamada talked about the choice in a recent interview, that they chose to showcase her youthful energy and turn that into an advantage with an unabashedly cheerful program, rather than hiding behind some "conventionally mature" music (I'm not sure whether a newly senior skater's chosen this music in the past, but "Ave Maria" comes to mind), and that that would make her competitive against senior skaters.

Watching the program in competition, I think this choice was absolutely genius on Yamada's part. This is one of the few CoP programs that I've seen, where the skater really "breathes" the program that it would even be an outstanding exhibition number. Definitely deserving of her (relatively) high PCS marks. :thumbsup:
 
Just finished watching all the programs twice...I thought everyone was flat and had little life in them except for Kanako.
Gotta remind myself that it's still so early in the season.
 
SerpentineSteps said:
Very well put. I also had the "juniorish" thought for a moment when I first saw footage of this program, but I think this is a brilliant choice of music for Kanako.

I think Yamada talked about the choice in a recent interview, that they chose to showcase her youthful energy and turn that into an advantage with an unabashedly cheerful program, rather than hiding behind some "conventionally mature" music (I'm not sure whether a newly senior skater's chosen this music in the past, but "Ave Maria" comes to mind), and that that would make her competitive against senior skaters.

Watching the program in competition, I think this choice was absolutely genius on Yamada's part. This is one of the few CoP programs that I've seen, where the skater really "breathes" the program that it would even be an outstanding exhibition number. Definitely deserving of her (relatively) high PCS marks. :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the insight. It's a good point. If she had chosen Ave Maria or some such probably the criticism would have been that she doesn't have the maturity for the music and doesn't compare to so-and-so who skated it :sheesh:

So, this is really her first senior debut, as Silverlake said?? Nice debut coming second in the short program. I know we have to see what happens in the free skate of course.

But her's was the only program I really feel like re-waching. The others seem rather self-conscious. I guess to an emerging skater like Kanako this competition would be more exciting than to the veterans. It showed.
 
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Layfan said:
Thanks for the insight. It's a good point. If she had chosen Ave Maria or some such probably the criticism would have been that she doesn't have the maturity for the music and doesn't compare to so-and-so who skated it :sheesh:

So, this is really her first senior debut, as Silverlake said?? Nice debut coming second in the short program. I know we have to see what happens in the free skate of course.

But her's was the only program I really feel like re-waching. The others seem rather self-conscious. I guess to an emerging skater like Kanako this competition would be more exciting than to the veterans. It showed.
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I agree, everyone except Kanako was cautious. Even Mao seemed a bit cautious to me as well. And yes, the more I re-watch Kanako's program, the more I love it. My favorite moment is at the beginning when she flashes that beautiful smile of hers as she starts the program.
 
Blades of Passion said:
Shockingly, I liked RACHAEL FLATT. She exudes more maturity in this performance than I've ever seen before (part of it is because of her new look, which suits her). The way she held her moves out at the beginning and the way she delivered some real sexuality in the choreography during the part where she mimics taking her shirt off...that was good. Unfortunately her spins are weak and she's still slow across the ice.
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Pleasantly surprised at what Blades of Passion is saying.:biggrin: Yes, I mildly liked Rachael's program and some part of it made me smile. She has been trying to correct her flip technique which was the down factor at the oly and worlds and it seems to work a little bit if not fully.

Very impressed that Caroline could get rid of her mule kick. Kudos to her.:thumbsup:

IMO the 3 best performances of the night : Carolina, Murakami, Rachael. I don't care too much of the order. They were overall good with different strenths and no one really stood out than the others. But I would not put Rachael higher than Carolina.

Better speed : Carolina, Murakami(very energetic ;) and good height of jump), Kiira. But Carolina seemed to be cautious and her jumps were smaller with less speed than what she used to be able to do some seasons ago. Would Carolina pull 3Lz or F off in the LP?:confused:

These skaters can listen to/feel the music : Caroline, Rachael, Kiira(better expressiveness with some grace than before but can she not have higher jumps?).
 
Layfan said:
Thanks for the insight. It's a good point. If she had chosen Ave Maria or some such probably the criticism would have been that she doesn't have the maturity for the music and doesn't compare to so-and-so who skated it :sheesh:

Thank for put the word out of my mouth. Kanako deserved scores she get, her psc is even a bit too low for me. I don't understand why someone think senior skaters should not have a youthful and sheerful program.
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Layfan said:
But her's was the only program I really feel like re-waching. The others seem rather self-conscious. I guess to an emerging skater like Kanako this competition would be more exciting than to the veterans. It showed.
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I definitely agree, her exuberance is so refreshing to see. The smile at the beginning says it all. The audience even chuckled, making her laugh just as her music started. It reminds me of her LP at senior Japanese Nationals last year where she was so happy for Akiko that she stopped at the wrong spot on the ice for her program and had to side hop a bunch of steps. :laugh: No sign of nerves at all. She's like the joyful junior Mirai without the mental fragility.
 
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