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 I think that performance showcased the real Gracie, and her programs showcase Frank's outdated idea of what a female skater must be.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.
ITA...with pretty much all of that. I don't see them changing the program at this point in the season b/c it is a solid program albeit a boring/generic one. What it comes down to is if she skates it well, she'll score well. In the end that's all that matters...however, the general consensus (from people on this forum to FSU to Dave & Jenny on The Skating Lesson to Johnny and Tara) is that the program isn't a good fit for her. Everyone seems to see it and, unless Frank is getting senile, he sees it too.
In terms of Miyahara at NHK, I do think she'll go in as a co-favorite (if not heavy favorite, depending on how she does this week) to win gold. Adelina can definitely win but no one knows what kind of shape she's in right now. Comparing what we've seen so far from Miyahara and Gracie, Miyahara is a clear threat. She routinely delivers clean programs and, now as Japan's #1, she'll likely get a small boost from skating at home. Gracie won in PCS at SA but her TES was so weak, she didn't have a shot. I don't expect her to make those same stupid mistakes she made so I do think she'll be better at NHK...but she'll need to be
much better if she wants to get by Miyahara. Gracie will likely be in the top 2 in PCS (along with Adelina), but Miyahara could dust
both of them in TES b/c of how consistent she is with her jumps.
Re: the Park/Miyahara comparison, people forget that despite how lovely Park is and the fact that she's been to the Olympics and worlds, she's a
newbie newbie...this is her first year on the GP. I definitely think she deserved higher PCS than what she got but the fact of the matter is she's going to have to earn them. She's got enough content to be competitive but she has got to stop flubbing her SP. She rarely skates cleanly in the SP. Also, she was the only one who fell in the FS...personally I don't think it took anything away from her performance, but she did fall.
Park can (and most likely will) end up on a podium but, without the political backing, she's going to have to get herself there by skating cleanly and not giving the judges a reason to hold her back (i.e. mistakes). She's on the right track. With TES like she earned at SA, if she can keep that up, eventually the PCS will catch up as well.
