2018 Skate Canada Ladies Short Program

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Liza finally delivered on 3A and other jumps in SP. Her TES is well-deserved. She was lowballed in pcs, though. I think her presentation has improved since 2015 although not dramatically. And she had 33-34 at the peak back then. I just don't understand the massive outcry here about the lack of choreo. Come on, it's Liza - it's her choreo as she skates like that for many years now. At the same time, no matter how dangerous at GS is to critisize Wakaba I saw no choreo in her program, in fact I think it was an awful program. And her pcs lead over everyone but Medvedeva does not look fair to me at all.

Mako has a weird music score. But she was well into it. Surprisingly I liked it may be because before she was for me the embodiment of the dull look-a like Japanese skating style. They are working on overcoming it. First Kaori and now Mako. And with strongly improved Satoko and 3A Kihira Japan has a powerful front line now.

Both Mariah and Starr were very solid. Both were imo pcs lowballed. If Mariah can deliver a clean FP I am not sure if Bradie's #1 US lady spot is secure.

Evgenija, sigh... I still don't get it why she tries to play Ashley Wagner's game. She does not have Ashley's sass and upper body fluidity. Anyway, she improved the presentation of this program. 2A was good - may be the only thing so far that has become better under Orser (or Borser). Interesting is the difference in opinions regarding her second mark. Judges from Spain and USA gave her "old Medvedeva" marks in 9+ range as if she did not fall and almost lost motivation in the last part of her program after the fall. Actually, Spanish judge at the same time was very critical about Liza with 6-7 marks and the infamous -1 for her 3A. But Italian judge scored Zhenya below 32. That's a red flag.

Lizbet was nervous. Not a good performance and the right score. My betting on Lizbet in predictions game might not work. Hope, she will concentrate and deliver a clean free performance.

 

[katymay]

Nah, TAT is being friendly.
She is upset, but she is being as supportive as an upset TAT can be.

She didn't even call Zhenya fat as she usually does when a skater bombs

You know what we really need? A separate thread that translates TAT's commentary. I'm sorry, love her or hate her, the woman is entertaining.

 

[MaiKatze]

Ooh, can you tell me the numbers for the lottery?

Sure, but the top two were wrong, hehe....let's just wait and see. This isn't decided yet.

 

[rachno2]

Finally caught up! I LOVE Wakaba's short program. I understand not liking the music, but I find the program exciting and creative, and I think her energy is fine. Either everyone else is blind or I have really bad taste (probably the latter )

Too bad for Med, but a bronze should still be in her reach. Other than the combo, it really wasn't a bad performance. Shocking, but hardly a meltdown. The dress needs to go.

Tuk is a boss and I live for the Mishin interactions.

 

[yume]

Finally caught up! I LOVE Wakaba's short program. I understand not liking the music, but I find the program exciting and creative, and I think her energy is fine. Either everyone else is blind or I have really bad taste (probably the latter )
.

Maybe because the music is too original. I bet the members of Soffi Tucker were surprised when they have have been told that one of their songs was used in figure skating.
I don't agree with those who say that she has no choreo. Sure, there can be more choreo between the first spin and the combo, but it's not as empty than Tuk's program.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Liza finally delivered on 3A and other jumps in SP. Her TES is well-deserved. She was lowballed in pcs, though. I think her presentation has improved since 2015 although not dramatically. And she had 33-34 at the peak back then. I just don't understand the massive outcry here about the lack of choreo. Come on, it's Liza - it's her choreo as she skates like that for many years now. At the same time, no matter how dangerous at GS is to critisize Wakaba I saw no choreo in her program, in fact I think it was an awful program. And her pcs lead over everyone but Medvedeva does not look fair to me at all.

Mako has a weird music score. But she was well into it. Surprisingly I liked it may be because before she was for me the embodiment of the dull look-a like Japanese skating style. They are working on overcoming it. First Kaori and now Mako. And with strongly improved Satoko and 3A Kihira Japan has a powerful front line now.

Both Mariah and Starr were very solid. Both were imo pcs lowballed. If Mariah can deliver a clean FP I am not sure if Bradie's #1 US lady spot is secure.

Evgenija, sigh... I still don't get it why she tries to play Ashley Wagner's game. She does not have Ashley's sass and upper body fluidity. Anyway, she improved the presentation of this program. 2A was good - may be the only thing so far that has become better under Orser (or Borser). Interesting is the difference in opinions regarding her second mark. Judges from Spain and USA gave her "old Medvedeva" marks in 9+ range as if she did not fall and almost lost motivation in the last part of her program after the fall. Actually, Spanish judge at the same time was very critical about Liza with 6-7 marks and the infamous -1 for her 3A. But Italian judge scored Zhenya below 32. That's a red flag.

Lizbet was nervous. Not a good performance and the right score. My betting on Lizbet in predictions game might not work. Hope, she will concentrate and deliver a clean free performance.

I had to laugh at "Come on, it's Liza - it's her choreo as she skates like that for many years now." Which is why I was pleasantly surprised by this program, because there is some actual choreography that involves more than just her mesmerizing hands. She actually has a step sequence that has, well, several steps in it!

Am I the only one who misses the mumu? She was so Liz Taylor in it!

 

[Tolstoj]

I tend to give a pass to Elizaveta's lack of choreography because:

1) Mishin forces skaters to water down choreography in order to get the elements done.

2) She is one of those skaters like Mirai Nagasu and others previously, that she faced injuries, her body changed completely,... so she had to rework everything and unlike most russian ladies, she actually made that effort to relearn. (something i think skaters like Radionova should absolutely do)

But i find her presentation improved compared to previous seasons, she is committed to the performance, she has more attack, everything looks a bit more convincing, and even more than the presentation i think the spins are soo improved this season, which used to be her weakness.

Plus like i said previously, Mishin skaters are all well prepared this season.

My surprise of this SP event was Alicia Pineault: i don't understand the program (the lyrics are about love and death, so she shouldn't smile and be happy all the time during the steps sequence), but i can see major improvements in her skating, her jumps looked bigger here and the spins also were faster. I think she can fight for a place in the team for worlds this season.

 

[jenaj]

Liza: lack of choreo or lack of transitions?

 

[Baron Vladimir]

I watched ladies SP with my friends who know nothing or very little about figure skating and here are some of their impressions (regarding performance) - They didn't like Mariah's body movements, they found her kind of stiff and robotic. They liked Liza's movements better but they felt she needed to move more and with more variety. They said Wakaba needed to move her body much more, she looked as a speed skater to them. They found Mako, Star and Elizabeta performance a kind of juniorish/not mature enough. They enjoyed Evgenia's performance and interpretation the most!

 

[Jeanie19]

I watched ladies SP with my friends who know nothing or very little about figure skating and here are some of their impressions (regarding performance) - They didn't like Mariah's body movements, they found her kind of stiff and robotic. They liked Liza's movements better but they felt she needed to move more and with more variety. They said Wakaba needed to move her body much more, she looked as a speed skater to them. They found Mako, Star and Elizabeta performance a kind of juniorish/not mature enough. They enjoyed Evgenia's performance and interpretation the most!

Thank you.

 

[elektra blue]

What language is this in Mako's SP? Very nice performance!

the language of hell created to punish rossini for his many sins (and all of us with him).

btw, about the event, the skating gods are clearly messing with my prediction game, sorry evgenia it's my fault, i jinxed you (but i'm nailing pairs, and i know nothing about pairs )

here some comments (none wants to read )



Panenkova: she's struggling so much, it's almost heartbreaking watching her.

Alaine CHARTRAND: it’s nice to see her in a better shape than usual!

Mako YAMASHITA: -1000 and life for this outrage to everyone’s taste in music she’s a lovely skater but my ears are bleeding and I can’t enjoy her program.

Mariah BELL: wasn’t she on fire? +5 for the dress

Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA: great totally clean job for liza! I still don’t like the program, but she does and sell it!

Evgenia MEDVEDEVA: watching this event the day after I looked at the results before the videos and I tought this would have been a total distaster, surely she got punished for that 3flip, but she’s just 6 points from the 2nd place, so the free skate could really be a totally different pair of shoes, she just needs to be clean (and not having me rooting for her XD)

Wakaba HIGUCHI: now that I’m seeing this program clean I kind of like it, it definitely suits her!

 

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I had to laugh at "Come on, it's Liza - it's her choreo as she skates like that for many years now." Which is why I was pleasantly surprised by this program, because there is some actual choreography that involves more than just her mesmerizing hands. She actually has a step sequence that has, well, several steps in it!

Am I the only one who misses the mumu? She was so Liz Taylor in it!

I even did not dare to say that she has become much more fun to watch after several dozen posts about no choreo or awful choreo.

 

[DanseMacabre]

Heartbroken over Evgenia’s placement but at least the gap between 2nd and 7th isn’t that big. She can overcome that with a clean free skate. I think the tango suits her style better than the jazzy SP so fingers crossed. Brian looked just as devastated in the K&C as she was.

I actually liked Wakaba’s music, especially for her. She has a contemporary style that works with it. And in a sport that sees 87,546 Phantoms and R&J’s and Carmens, it’s refreshing to see something completely new.

Liza’s personality is everything for me. Even though her choreography is a bit bare bones, she makes it work with her flair. I’m glad she’s doing well (though I wanted Evgenia to win this to silence the naysayers).

Mako’s jumps are gorgeous. So’s her skating in general. I’m not crazy about the song or packaging but I’m definitely looking forward to what she does in the immediate future in the free skate and in the long term future as she matures.

 

[LadyB]

Yay, a friend! I, too, curse everything I love :yes:

My heart goes out to Zhenya, will she ever come back properly? However, Liza is on fire!

 

[Metis]

Liza: lack of choreo or lack of transitions?

Nailed it.

Elizaveta absolutely has choreo. I’m not going to say her movements are the most interesting or graceful, but she commits to them (most of the time) and she sells a very sassy, dramatic package. In terms of transitions, no, she doesn’t earn a high mark here. She isn’t especially fast across the ice, her spins generally satisfy levels but are certainly not her best feature, and she doesn’t have remarkable skating skills. On the other hand, her jumps are in a league of their own and she is absolutely a performer — she exudes confidence, sexiness, and complete ownership of her movement.

There’s almost a 6.0 quality to Tuk — the jumps are clearly the meat of the programme, and while she goes into them with far more choreography and transitions than the endless crossovers we saw back in the actual 6.0 era, she doesn’t skate in the same post-CoP style that I think many of us associate with the Russian women. I think she deserves high marks in PE and to a lesser extent IE and CO (that was a tango), and lower ones in TR and SS; I’d put Med ahead of her in SS, TR, and CO, and then even in PE, with Med a tiny bit lower in IE. Med would still win PCS by a landslide, but I think that would be a more accurate reflection of why: Med has better SS, more complex TR, and a stronger programme overall. I think Tuk is the stronger performer and she can sell the tango exceptionally well, whereas Med still didn’t quite look comfortable with her programme and I didn’t buy her performance as much. (There’s also the issue of PCS caps for a skate with a serious error versus Liz’s clean skate.)

That being said, saying Liz has no choreo at all is definitely untrue. I love her to pieces and her free is one of my favourites this season — she works that sassy vibe better than almost anyone, and the programme is just so much fun; however, I’d be the first to admit that she has much “simpler” programmes than others, weaker basic skating skills, and does not deserve high marks in SS and TR, but that’s different from having “no choreo.” It may not be a lyrical, delicate programme with tons of transitions, but it does have choreo, and when Liz performs it, she lives it.

Liz is never going to be the most lyrical skater or have programmes like the Eteri students, but she is an amazing performer and that’s a programme component she deserves to be rewarded for. But she does have choreo, so let’s drop that talking point. I wouldn’t have her first in PCS, and I’d probably put her below average in some categories, but that’s different from “no choreo.” Her GOE on her weaker features is deservedly subpar, but she deserves huge GOE on her 3Lz combo, as she’s the only senior woman who can make the Lutz look effortless.