2017 GP Internationaux de France Ladies FS

[NAOTMAA]

My opinion on Mai is that she could improve her delivery because there wasn’t much excitement or wow to speak of in the FS and she could add a bit more emphasis in her movements. This beautiful style she has doesn’t need to lack the power and wow that others have. Look at Wakaba for example. Some of her jumps lacked secure landings and overall her skating just seems safe in relation the competitors who are edging her out. No she doesn’t need a transition packed program or acrobatic skating skills. She just needs to sell those movements a little better to entice the judges the same as anyone else.. Just my two cents

I said it before (I think the cup of china thread) that the Japanese ladies may skate pretty but they lack the extra wow that makes one stand out. When a competition is close that little extra counts A LOT. The girls who finish above them may have some issues and aren't perfect but they certainly project out more then the Japanese do. In comparison the Japanese look conservative and lack a sense of urgency. Watch Mao, Yuka and Shizuka or even Fumie and Miki and you'll see what this current crop of Japanese girls lack. You can't call the reserved like feeling cultural in this instance :confused2:

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

In general this event showed that Ladies skating is simply not interesting anymore. There really isn't a single program worth being very excited about this season.

Maybe you should give Skyfall another watch. One of the best programs this season in any discipline in my opinion.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Higuchi's Skyfall has been the most exciting LP of the Ladies field so far, but it's still not something amazing. :confused2:

 

[thegreendestiny]

This is the last time I am replying to a bait post like this, btw. The difference is Yuna Kim has never simply skated for the points like most skaters do these days. Every single program she skated was an artistic masterpiece and she became one with the music - every single movement was a fluid, precise, technically perfect expression of the music, aesthetic and meaningful.
The sport is dead.

Literally the biggest BS myth in FS. For me, Yuna is boring and has the SAME expressions in almost all of her programs. But then again, having an about-to-cry face all the time apparently translates to artistry for a lot of people.

And yes, I can only imagine how she would fare against Alina. That's why she retired I guess.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Lark Ascending and Les Mis will never be matched by what the ladies are doing these days.

 

[jenm]

Literally the biggest BS myth in FS. For me, Yuna is boring and has the SAME expressions in almost all of her programs. But then again, having an about-to-cry face all the time apparently translates to artistry for a lot of people.

And yes, I can only imagine how she would fare against Alina. That's why she retired I guess.

I can only imagine how this post is made to trigger people.

 

[Roast Toast]

Yeah, that's an obvious troll.

 

[quadrupleaxel15]

After watching Mai three times now I don’t think she is on the same level as Wakaba and has an even less dynamic presentation than Masha. Maybe there is a case that she could have placed ahead of Kaetlyn but good luck with that because it can only lead to a Kaetlyn PCS conversation. No thanks.

Even though judging doesn’t work this way I went ahead and compared the PCS for Masha and Mai and they virtually tied in the SP and Masha topped her in the FS by about 3pts. That doesn’t seem that off to me and there were no judging anomalies I noticed. We probably differ here but Alina averaging ~8.75 vs Mai averaging ~8.0 doesn’t upset me.

My opinion on Mai is that she could improve her delivery because there wasn’t much excitement or wow to speak of in the FS and she could add a bit more emphasis in her movements. This beautiful style she has doesn’t need to lack the power and wow that others have. Look at Wakaba for example. Some of her jumps lacked secure landings and overall her skating just seems safe in relation the competitors who are edging her out. No she doesn’t need a transition packed program or acrobatic skating skills. She just needs to sell those movements a little better to entice the judges the same as anyone else.. Just my two cents

I completely agree. Sometimes people just want to say underscored!!!! no matter what. Mihara always makes a mistake in the SP and finds herself in the first group. Recovering from that is really hard, you need to deliver your absolute best. I think her PCS are quite right at the moment, she skates too carefully and distant. I really liked her with the Cinderella because I was simply forgetting the time or points and just watching her elegant moves. Of course the program was juniorish but none of her current programs makes me feel anything remotely similar.

I think her points were right and she is placed correctly here. However she shouldn't have lost the bronze to Elena. That doesn't make sense to me. The same with Wakaba losing to Carolina.

 

[Aino]

I have noticed that there may be a connection with the skaters behaviour in the kiss and cry to the much spoken maturity. I like that Kaetlyn always smiles in the end although she didn't skate well. I also admire the behaviour of the japanese ladies.

 

[OS]

I said it before (I think the cup of china thread) that the Japanese ladies may skate pretty but they lack the extra wow that makes one stand out. When a competition is close that little extra counts A LOT. The girls who finish above them may have some issues and aren't perfect but they certainly project out more then the Japanese do. In comparison the Japanese look conservative and lack a sense of urgency. Watch Mao, Yuka and Shizuka or even Fumie and Miki and you'll see what this current crop of Japanese girls lack. You can't call the reserved like feeling cultural in this instance :confused2:

Plastered on big smile "look at me! I am doing an amazing jump drill" would be EXACTLY THE WRONG way to interpret Gabriel's Oboe. You are suppose to interpret the music, not music complement your limited range and points whoring. That is the difference between a Junior and Senior approach. Mai may be young, but what she did is good enough for a bronze, instead they have to punish her in GOEs and PCS in order to prop some people up. She should have been 2nd or 3rd in the FS at the very least.

And seriously... why should the Japanese ladies be judged to a different standard. This is a competition with a junior Alina with a junior program while Maria is not exactly a contender for the Xfactor based on her snoozy programs.
Fake score, fake reason.

 

[Ender]

Plastered on big smile "look at me! I am doing an amazing jump drill" would be EXACTLY THE WRONG way to interpret Gabriel's Oboe. You are suppose to interpret the music, not music complement your limited range and points whoring. That is the difference between a Junior and Senior approach. Mai may be young, but what she did is good enough for a bronze, instead they have to punish her in GOEs and PCS in order prop some people up.

And seriously... why should the Japanese ladies be judged by a different standard. This is a competition with a junior Alina with a junior program while Maria is not exactly a contender for the Xfactor based on her snoozy programs.
Fake score, fake reason.

Totally agree. Zagitova is somewhat memorable but people who watched her live all say she is quite slow.
Sotskova on the other hand... she put me to sleep. I don’t know how she is more memorable than the Japanese girls.

 

[Lester]

Zagitova's going to be a real star! Even though she is younger than Med she seems somehow more mature because she doesn't make stupid facial expressions.

However, she still does that where you go through all your choreography as specified and in order and you never take the moment to invest in any of the movements emotionally because it was just choreographed and it doesn't mean anything. Hopefully she can grow as a performer.

 

[Eclair]

Didn’t Wakaba get higher PCS than Alina when they skated head to head? Virtually the same but Wakaba did score higher in CoC by about a point when adding up both long and short programs.

I’m more concerned about her scores compared to Caro who is being spotted close to 10pts when they faced each other and you add up both programs in PCS. Wakaba clean vs Caro skating messy. She hasn’t faced Kaetlyn yet but Masha has and I consider Masha and Wakababy to be on pretty equal footing in the scheme of things.

Alina got 1 point more in PCS than Wakaba at CoC in the FS.
in the SP, Alina fell and place 4th receiving 31 PCS (I thought that was fair) and Wakaba was perfect, skated lights out, performed lights out and scored 32. Less than Elena (not perfect in the SP) and less than Gabby ..

 

[Icey]

Vicrory Ceremony
https://youtu.be/MHpJ0YTCEmE

Gee, that crowd wouldn't even fill the high school gym in my small town.

 

[NoNameFace]

had some time to re-watch (finally, but as always late for the party...) and what a revelation Elizabet was! I received her performance so soundly, with so much purpose in it - I feel like she did not treat the program 'instrumentally', as a series of movements/elements to execute, but she truly grasped the essence, harmony and peacefulness of the music, translating it into the emotion given out. Iloved how focused she was at the same time, but the focus was not only on clean execution, but to carry on the other aspects of the program in the same, stron manner: expression, musicality, attention to detail etc.

I think that this program is just perfect for her, even more than 'appropriate' - Elizabet has time there to execute, but also to perform, interpret, engage within the music; her timing was truly exceptional, on all jumps, transitions, little hand movements and she showed a lot of elegant musicality in her movement overall, resembling for me Yuna Kim at some extend, this delicate manner of carriage on ice, yet making an impact and leaving a lasting impression on audience.

I love how clean and polished her skating looked this time and that she was rewarded for that - I hope that this will be a huge confidence boost for her going forward; she is such a talent and I wish her nothing but the very best in developing further. She matures so nicely into conscious performer and more 'rounded' skater in all areas, maybe not sky-rocket tempo, but steadily and with great effect. And her mom is just a star - so much enthusiasm and joy shown from the Lady!

 

[quadrupleaxel15]

I have noticed that there may be a connection with the skaters behaviour in the kiss and cry to the much spoken maturity. I like that Kaetlyn always smiles in the end although she didn't skate well. I also admire the behaviour of the japanese ladies.

I agree that Kaetlyn's little smile shows her respect to the sport and maturity. I always think she is a really nice human being off the ice too when I see that.

 

[millie]

I don't recall EVER seeing two clean programs in one competition from Kaetlyn---when has she ever had a clean FS? So truly, "a clean Kaetlyn" is an oxymoron.

OTOH, Medvedeva rarely makes mistakes. That she's had a few this season is very, very unusual.

With all these little Russian Robots, with the money and Russian Federation behind them, would never compare to the hardworking Katelyn Osmond. "Oxymoron" what!!!

 

[mhu714]

A few thoughts on the ladies skating: I'm sure this has been debated extensively but I HATE the proliferation of this hand over the head business on jumps. Once in a while, ok, using 2 hands, sure, looks pretty. But EVERY jump? Maria S and Alina Z are great skaters and I like watching them, except for that. I totally agree w/Tracey Wilson and hope the ISU does something about this. I also dislike the extreme backloading of jumps, whether in the SP or FS. I totally get wanting to maximize points but IMHO doing this just takes away from the overall flow and beauty of the program as a whole.

That being said, I have no quibble w/the results, though perhaps Osmond should've been 4th not 3rd. The overall skating quality of the entire final group was outstanding. As a New Yorker who roots for the USA, I'm green w/envy, as the overall state of American ladies skating is perhaps the worst it's been in the 40+ yrs I've been following this sport.

 

[Osmond4gold]

I don't recall EVER seeing two clean programs in one competition from Kaetlyn---when has she ever had a clean FS? So truly, "a clean Kaetlyn" is an oxymoron.

OTOH, Medvedeva rarely makes mistakes. That she's had a few this season is very, very unusual.

The only oxymoron I see here, is this constant dim view of a hard working and talented skater, who is the current world and an Olympic silver medalist. She may not always be clean, but she's got the Bling, and another trip to the GP final! Most of the men currently do not go clean and still get a free pass. Get over it! Let's be fair, the sport is tough, and others have shown, not a single qualifier for the GP ladies final to date, have had 2 cleans so far in GP comps this season.

Funny how some people, went on the GS missing list for 5 months post Worlds 2017, but after Kaetlyn has 1 fall out of 9 attempted triples, bounce back like a cat!

 

[russianfan]

With all these little Russian Robots, with the money and Russian Federation behind them, would never compare to the hardworking Katelyn Osmond.

like only Kaetlyn works hard :scowl: