2021 Rostelecom Cup: Free Dance

[LeReveur]

I just watched the Sinitsina/Katsalapov program since I wanted to see how they could get 2 points off. Two falls? In ice dance? Nope, but the fan cam was very well done, as it wasn't blurry or jerky. Overall, that team has not impressed me a lot through the years, but I also haven't been down on them. But. But but... I think the music is horrid, their skating was relatively slow, the messy comments I've read since forever applied, and it wouldn't have likely been even top five or six if performed at the Olympics/worlds and I were a judge. I like classical music, I like some reworking of famous pieces, I can get into tacky/fun, but that program does not deliver quality music, performance, or skating skills. Really disappointing to think it might lead to a big medal this season. It's not just about taste, mind you, but the execution. Shockingly poor.

 

[LadyB]

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.

 

[LadyB]

I love Khudaiberdieva! She looks gorgeous

… which is why she is perfectly matched with Egor Bazin!

 

[LadyB]

not part of our group even though we're trying to be more inclusive and welcome werewolves and leprechauns

No leprechauns and I’m out.

 

[Joe Mendoza]

Can I dress him, please Zhulin?

sure you do

 

[moonvine]

have i ever mentioned that kaitlin is another of my girl crushes?

And rightly so.

 

[moonvine]

that was more Olympic material than H/D and C/B put together

I see you are a person of great discernment.

 

[anonymoose_au]

OK catching up on the second group (although i should be cleaning my place so I can decorate my Christmas tree)

Doesn't Ilia A look thrilled to be there

Sara/Kirill - Well that started off very saucy! But hey the music calls for it

Top quality bringing it to the judges element

I quite enjoyed it to be honest? They do stand out nicely against the ice in their black costumes. I think it will be a close thing between the Spanish teams!

Having said that, Kaitlin and Jean-Luc should be ahead! They were incredible!

Laurence/Nikolaj - This program is weird...the voice overs are painful and the music itself is a nope. Like who thought this was a good idea? It's so hard to focus on them! Liked the lifts at the beginning though and they're such nice skaters!

Mark sure enjoyed it though and he probably knows He sure likes talking about retirements! Also professional ranks? Apart from a few ice shows what is that? Skating shows on a cruise ship? Actually, I've seen one of those shows and it was pretty awesome so maybe not so bad

And I noticed before, how is Nikolaj's mask staying up?! I'm befuddled!

Charlene/Marco - The voice over kills me, but they are magical! I lone them! I could watch them and Kaitlin and Jean-Luc all day long! Mark's not even saying anything he's so engaged!

Barbara F-P is also the best, she must be very exciting to have as a coach.

Vika/Nikita - Being a fan of these two on this board is an unpleasant experience. I rarely if ever read a nice comment about them, or rather about Nikita. I don't get it, if he wasn't enjoying dancing with Elena I why should he have stayed? He's not an indentured slave, you know. He and Vika look so happy skating together (though I even read people saying that was fake ) And I like Nikita's shirt, it's a nice shade and flows so nicely. I feel like people are determined to hate them because Elena I was such a star and how dare Nikita want to skate with someone else. It's been nearly 7 years.

Anyway, I hope they don't win gold because the nastiness and name-calling would make the Olympics horrid. (Also people said Nikita fell? I saw no such thing, now people are just making up BS, charming).

Well congratulations to them I say! I certainly hope the same people who are insisting on Gabby and Guillaume winning everything aren't attacking Kamila for her dominance, because they would be VERY hypocritical.

Also pleased for Charlene and Marco and Laurence and Nikolaj.

 

[cake]

Vika/Nikita - Being a fan of these two on this board is an unpleasant experience. I rarely if ever read a nice comment about them, or rather about Nikita. I don't get it, if he wasn't enjoying dancing with Elena I why should he have stayed? He's not an indentured slave, you know. He and Vika look so happy skating together (though I even read people saying that was fake ) And I like Nikita's shirt, it's a nice shade and flows so nicely. I feel like people are determined to hate them because Elena I was such a star and how dare Nikita want to skate with someone else. It's been nearly 7 years.

I think it´s a bit unfair to assume that all negative comments are because of the split with Elena. I personally don´t care about that split, but I don´t like that wobbly twizzles and lifts by S/K are overscored again and again.

 

[anonymoose_au]

I think it´s a bit unfair to assume that all negative comments are because of the split with Elena.

Well that's the only thing I can think of that could lead to such vitorol. Nikita is not the first dancer to get away with dubious elements. Everyone's favourite Gabbi and Guillaume have had REAL falls, knees on ice and got off scot-free. People wanted a bad guy in the Elena and Nikita split and decided it was Nikita. It's far more likely it was Creepy Morozov who was involved with Elena at the time.

But sure let's blame Nikita and act like he can't skate at all. That's perfectly fair and reasonable.

 

[bramweld]

Well that's the only thing I can think of that could lead to such vitorol. Nikita is not the first dancer to get away with dubious elements. Everyone's favourite Gabbi and Guillaume have had REAL falls, knees on ice and got off scot-free. People wanted a bad guy in the Elena and Nikita split and decided it was Nikita. It's far more likely it was Creepy Morozov who was involved with Elena at the time.

But sure let's blame Nikita and act like he can't skate at all. That's perfectly fair and reasonable.

I think we just don't like the ice dancing. Nikita has always had a problematic character. But I think it irks many to see great speed and power combined often times with sloppiness, lack of creativity and innovativeness being so highly rewarded.

Objectively, people will always compare his previous couple with his current one because of the quality and potential they had. When you toss aside something as good as that it will always draw comparisons it has nothing to do with his character or lack thereof.

 

[peepsquick]

Well that's the only thing I can think of that could lead to such vitorol. Nikita is not the first dancer to get away with dubious elements. Everyone's favourite Gabbi and Guillaume have had REAL falls, knees on ice and got off scot-free. People wanted a bad guy in the Elena and Nikita split and decided it was Nikita. It's far more likely it was Creepy Morozov who was involved with Elena at the time.

But sure let's blame Nikita and act like he can't skate at all. That's perfectly fair and reasonable.

Why do you keep dragging P/C into this? You are doing the same thing you accuse people of doing toward S/K. Do not worry, they get enough BS thrown their way too! You forget that the judges are awarding the points, not the fans ...
We can all agree to disagree on taste: for example, you find P/C boring and I find S/K too often messy (not always ... I was a fan of their tango in 2019).

 

[litenkyckling]

I think the issue (with every discipline) is that people are very quick to assume that people don't like certain skaters because of x,y,z but in fact, like anything in life, you sometimes just don't enjoy something for no reason other than it's just not your thing? I can appreciate S/K for what they do skating wise, but their style isn't my thing - I find it messy and a bit unrefined (the tango was excellent however). I can appreciate P/C for what they do but I don't think that they exploit there talent enough (like they rarely try new lifts) and their programmes aren't always my thing (their 2018/19 programmes were great, and more my personal taste). I personally do like C/P and I know their SS need work, but I do see their potential, whereas other people don't like them and thats ok! We all like teams and dislike teams for different reasons, and I don't think who they are as people play into it half as much as people assume. Maybe its just an Olympic season thing and people are very quick to defend their faves, which fair enough totally get it, but I think we all need to remember sometimes that most of the time, people watch the skating and log off.

 

[WeakAnkles]

If you don't believe that we're back in the land of Pre-Salt Lake City Olympics Scoring, then take a look at the scoring here. It's like that last two decades simply did not happen. Shame on you judges. Shame on you ISU. Shame on you IOC.

And for the record, I am a HUGE fan of Vika. She should win some sort of prize for Most Improved Ice Dancer of this Olympic cycle. Still can't stomach Nikita.

 

[Joe Mendoza]

I don't understand the negativity here. Figure skating is a subjective sport, always has, and probably will remain subjective in the long-term. Nikita can dance, not top 3-level dancing, but the guy is proficient; otherwise, he would not be poised by the federation for that partnership to be in the running for ice dance gold. Politicking aside, which we have to accept, is the thing that happens in ice dance more so than the other disciplines, Sinitsina and Katsalapov are the best Russian ice dance team at the moment, so why be surprised and be all up and arms about that team being pushed to the top when we all know the strong political backing the team has in the Russian Federation.

Can't we just enjoy figure skating for what it is - it cannot be a completely objective sport, just like gymnastics. Just saying.

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.

 

[labgoat]

Vika. She should win some sort of prize for Most Improved Ice Dancer of this Olympic cycle.

I agree. She has progressed beautifully and is very elegant to watch.

 

[anonymoose_au]

You forget that the judges are awarding the points, not the fans ...

No I don't forget that.

By the same token maybe the Nikita haters could remind themselves HE doesn't award his own points either.

I try not to bring other skaters into it, but it's damn annoying when one team can apparently do nothing right, while others can repeat programs, do iffy elements and just generally be human beings and are excused. It certainly doesn't help that as far as I can tell, on this board, the "chosen ones" are chosen quite arbitarily. But once a skater gets the "Don't like" tag it's open season - look at how people react to Moris's win - you'd think he went out with a sack full of cash and dumped it directly on the judges table rather than skate a difficult and entertaining program.

I may not enjoy P/C's Free Dances but I never ever deny that they are excellent skaters with difficult programs, that's the difference. If you hadn't seen Vika/Nikita's dance and just gone by the comments here? You'd think they spent the entire program flailing around on the ice, falling constantly. Is it too much to ask for a bit respect? All these teams work hard, ALL of them, even the favourites. It's offensive in the extreme to accuse this or that skater of cheating simply because you don't like their style.

 

[peepsquick]

No I don't forget that.

By the same token maybe the Nikita haters could remind themselves HE doesn't award his own points either.

I try not to bring other skaters into it, but it's damn annoying when one team can apparently do nothing right, while others can repeat programs, do iffy elements and just generally be human beings and are excused. It certainly doesn't help that as far as I can tell, on this board, the "chosen ones" are chosen quite arbitarily. But once a skater gets the "Don't like" tag it's open season - look at how people react to Moris's win - you'd think he went out with a sack full of cash and dumped it directly on the judges table rather than skate a difficult and entertaining program.

I may not enjoy P/C's Free Dances but I never ever deny that they are excellent skaters with difficult programs, that's the difference. If you hadn't seen Vika/Nikita's dance and just gone by the comments here? You'd think they spent the entire program flailing around on the ice, falling constantly. Is it too much to ask for a bit respect? All these teams work hard, ALL of them, even the favourites. It's offensive in the extreme to accuse this or that skater of cheating simply because you don't like their style.

I think we agree on the essentials: the skaters all work very hard to achieve their goals in this artistic sport and their work should be respected. I do not think that anyone accuses the skaters of cheating (at least on this forum and I avoid Twitter and co. bc I just can't stomach the self-righteous and/or rabid comments). It's more the politicking that gets to some of us.
On a different tack, I am actually worried that many skaters are "pushed" beyond what is healthy for them. Nikita's and Sasha's back problems come to mind here. Kevin (Aymoz) is another example ... . It's a problem that is prevalent in elite sports. I worry quite a bit when I see them perform that they are going to get seriously injured.

 

[anonymoose_au]

I worry quite a bit when I see them perform that they are going to get seriously injured.

Indeed, Kevin in particular was concerning, although he seemed OK in his FS in France.

Injury is definitely a dark side of the sport.

Sorry for jumping all over you before...I take stuff too personally, it's a bad habit of mine. It's hard to remember that someone saying "That skate was bad" doesn't equal "That person is bad".

I do agree that the scores themselves are often very confusing. I for one don't get Kaitlin and Jean-Luc's score, they skated beautifully and I thought they looked really solid considering this was their first big event. I hope they can get closer to the top teams in time for the Olympics.

 

[peepsquick]

Indeed, Kevin in particular was concerning, although he seemed OK in his FS in France.

Injury is definitely a dark side of the sport.

Sorry for jumping all over you before...I take stuff too personally, it's a bad habit of mine. It's hard to remember that someone saying "That skate was bad" doesn't equal "That person is bad".

I do agree that the scores themselves are often very confusing. I for one don't get Kaitlin and Jean-Luc's score, they skated beautifully and I thought they looked really solid considering this was their first big event. I hope they can get closer to the top teams in time for the Olympics.

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.