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State of US Ladies in skating III: 2014-15 Season
- Thread starter R.D.
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- Feb 26, 2014
I actually like Gracie very much but this is spot on.
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- Dec 21, 2011
Gracie: Still not "Golden" yet. Maybe we should call her Gracie Bronze...it's much more fitting. I think she's lucky she landed on the podium; both Cesario and Park out-skated her. She'll have to win NHK in order to have a shot at the Final. IDK what will happen if she misses the Final for the third year in a row.
Honestly probably nothing happens if she misses it again. The USA has no one better to push. We are deep in one sense- a lot of talented skaters- but none of them are truly elite at this time. Gracie could be maybe if she could pull it together but it appears she can't. As long as she is with Frank Caroll and there is no one clearly better to push, USFSA will keep pushing her.
I do think she SHOULD be able to win NHK- Sotnikova should be her only real competition there based on what we know right now. Maybe Murakami but not likely.
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- Dec 25, 2012
I think Satoko will probably be more of a threat than Murakami. She doesn't have big jumps, but she is extremely consistent, not to mention, she has 7 triples in her LP that she has landed in exhibition and at the Japan Open.
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- Dec 21, 2011
Yeah but like Park at this competition I think it's highly unlikely she'll get the PCS to be able to compete with Gracie, even if Gracie implodes. IF Murakami is on, she definitely could get PCS comparable to Golds.
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- Dec 25, 2012
Satoko also has a previous medal (Silver at 4CC) that will give her a PCS boost opportunity. I don't like to say this, but probably home court advantage that everyone goes on about will stand her in good stead like Gracie had here in Skate America.
If Gracie is 100% clean she can depend on very high scores, but the same also goes for Satoko. So in my mind, since Satoko is the more dependable performer, she has a higher chance to win. --But the ice is slippery and anything could happen.
Russian commentator at 2:47 mark:Gracie: Still not "Golden" yet. Maybe we should call her Gracie Bronze...it's much more fitting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqG6...ACjNBHeDwddww&feature=player_detailpage#t=155
Gracie Gold third at Skate America
http://espn.go.com/olympics/figures...9/gracie-gold-us-finishes-third-skate-america
http://espn.go.com/olympics/figures...9/gracie-gold-us-finishes-third-skate-america
Gracie is receiving high PCS scores, but I think that has more to do with her currently being the US #1 than her actual skating/programs. The programs and persona Frank has given her do not work. Her image comes across as fake and forced. She has no emotional connection to the programs she is being given. Her interpretation of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is awful. It's a solemn song about loss, and Gracie portrays none of that. She skates the program expressionless or with a pageant smile that is inappropriate for the song's lyrical content plastered on her face. I didn't really like Gracie's "Shake It Off" exhibition program either, but at least you could tell that Gracie picked and liked the music she was skating to. There was an obvious connection to the music. I think that performance showcased the real Gracie, and her programs showcase Frank's outdated idea of what a female skater must be. And I'd rather see the real Gracie than this artificial image she is projecting.
The impression that I took away from Skate America was the opposite - that she was nowhere near close to competing with the Russians. Her programs and interpretation of them are awful. Her jumps are not consistent and are landed very hard. Honestly, she was lucky to place third at Skate America. I thought she deserved fifth place. Park and Cesario were way better than her.
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- Feb 26, 2014
I agree.
I'm sorry, but I don't really buy that the "pretty princess" thing, at least as it relates to Gracie, is misogynistic. That criticism started last year when she was portraying an actual princess in her long program. Not to mention she skated to the Frozen (another story about a princess) soundtrack when she toured this summer. Remember Sandra Bezic's commentary during the Olympics? This isn't verbatim, but she said something along the lines of, "She looks just like a porcelain figurine of a figure skater in a music box." Gracie is being very deliberately packaged as the generic, inoffensive idea of what a female figure skater is supposed to be, which is exactly the way to use the term "pretty princess," according to your definition.
It doesn't matter whether the type of packaging she and Frank Carroll are going for is actually authentic to her personality; it doesn't appear authentic to a lot of people (Johnny Weir included, and he's actually met her). She's got a powerful skating style and tons of speed; soft, lyrical movement don't look good on her. It doesn't look authentic when she smiles her way through a song like "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," because it indicates she either doesn't understand the music or just has no personal connection to it.
I haven't seen her Taylor Swift exhibition yet, but if the reaction on these boards are any indication, people respond to her far more positively when she's given something more youthful and fun to work with. I feel the same way -- her competitive programs leave me cold, but I loved her "All That Jazz" EX. She comes alive and looks far more natural and comfortable with a program like that.
Agreed. Now can someone please give her some powerful, driving music to skate to?
Russian commentator at 2:47 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqG6...ACjNBHeDwddww&feature=player_detailpage#t=155
Yeah i noticed that too. What does he say when Gracie hugs Liza and Radio?
He laughed that Gracie was able to hug Elena from a floor level, almost like they were standing next to each other.
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