2021 Rostelecom Cup: Free Dance

[sworddance21]

I cross my fingers for Kaitlin and Jean-Luc as well and hope they make it to the OG. I love their FD and I really dislike the status quo in ID. Why not judge the performance on that specific day vs momentum and reputation. Let the skater skills speak for themselves.

This is something I really don't understand, either. In singles and even pairs, you can have wild placement differences. A skater can finish 1st one day and 10th the next. That NEVER happens in ice dance - it feels like everyone must go to a competition mostly knowing where their placement will be and there is no room for movement. I'm really kinda asking for an explanation. Ice Dance isn't EASY so there must be fluctuations in how skaters perform on a given day, no?

 

[peepsquick]

This is something I really don't understand, either. In singles and even pairs, you can have wild placement differences. A skater can finish 1st one day and 10th the next. That NEVER happens in ice dance - it feels like everyone must go to a competition mostly knowing where their placement will be and there is no room for movement. I'm really kinda asking for an explanation. Ice Dance isn't EASY so there must be fluctuations in how skaters perform on a given day, no?

yeah, I don't get it either! I also hate that the order in which you perform has an impact on how you will be judged. It seems unfair and reminiscent of the way judging was done in the previous system. Would H/B have gotten better results if they had been in the last batch of performers at Rostelecom? imo, probably!

 

[LadyB]

And if @LadyB does get to dress Nikita, I would be more than happy to be the assistant / guy that takes the 'measurements' / fluffed - whatever you need or most especially, he needs. Lol.

Thanks very much, love, I think I could handle that myself!

 

[Joe Mendoza]

This is something I really don't understand, either. In singles and even pairs, you can have wild placement differences. A skater can finish 1st one day and 10th the next. That NEVER happens in ice dance - it feels like everyone must go to a competition mostly knowing where their placement will be and there is no room for movement. I'm really kinda asking for an explanation. Ice Dance isn't EASY so there must be fluctuations in how skaters perform on a given day, no?

If I were to guess - the main driver is the type of elements being done and how volatile some of those elements can be if just poorly executed (or not executed at all), specifically, I think of jumps, twists, throws, lifts. I am not saying that ice dance does not have hard elements, coz judges can still deduct for "falls" - e.g., actual falls, or extended times in lifts or other dance elements, but I think the propensity for mistakes are much more evidence in singles and pairs than in dance. I think.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Looking forward to SinKats at GPF! They’ve really got two great performances put together this season.
But what was Nikita doing bumping his nut into Vika? Senior moment? I love him dearly, but Nikita is one of those people who always wear costumes that are not a proper fit. Can I dress him, please Zhulin?

Really sad for Khudaiberdieva/Bazin, I like them a lot and hope they can step up a gear at RusNats.

I thought Nikita's shirt at NHK RD couldn't be outdone in the tacky department, but I don't know what dollar-thrift shop bargain bin they fished that atrocity out of for their Rostelecom RD It's like aggressively tacky... and I know Nikita doesn't have the physique of Guillaume, but that shirt is doing him zero favours.

As for the FD, they improved the front part but the elements were still so sloppy. And even though the score was off of NHK, it was not low enough. Huge stumble (I know it wasn't a fall but as far as ice dancing goes, that's a "serious error" in my books)... and them STILL getting 9.75/10.00s for interpretation?!? And 9.5/9.75 for PE? Clearly out of sync on their slide move and getting plus 4's?!?! Still an awkward opening lift and +5s? LOL, god bless Rostelecom judging. To echo Carol Lane: "Well, it's RUSSIA!" The biggest shock for me was that the tech panel actually called out their extended lifts.