2015 Finlandia Trophy Ladies SP and FS

[minotaurus]

Just returned from the rink. Cought up with ladies short and free dance. Missed mens competition, since I struck on Russian-Finnish border. It's been my first ever figure skating competition live. Hoped to see Radionova, Julia and some dance teams. I really liked Anne Line and Hanna Miller's programs, pleasant music choice and overall impression. Julia's dress is something unusual, didn't recognized her at first and though she didn't participated at all. Rika was the strongest today, hands down and I think she will win tomorrow. As I seat near the border, it's really funny to watch Julia's emotions after jump attempts (successful or not) during warmup By the way, I read somewhere Japanese TV had bought the rights and nobody is allowed to make photos or video. At least that is written in my ticket. My question is, am I allowed to film anithing or at least victory ceremony, or none at all?

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

Agree the dress is a little much; I won't criticize her on the gloves because I'm pretty sure she wears gloves because she grabs her blades a lot for spins and moves and is protecting her hands. The program is good, hopefully now that she's done the first competition some jitters will go away and she can add some spunk to it, and I like that it was something really different from what she's done in the past.

There was a lot more spunk if you watch the test skate video so I was just hoping she would get though the competion well enough and then worry about SA.

I really love the look for the program. The dress and the hair and the gloves are amazing. Everything just works with the music.

 

[jg2000]

Julia was robbed!!! Are you kidding me?

I don't think so... And I'm a huge fan. If she hadn't made the mistake on the combo, she would have a case for 1st, but not right now, esp. with Rika's higher BV, even though her combo was ur.
I just hope she can get more comfortable and perform more. I think she was very nervous about skating today.

 

[ruffledgrouse]

That would explain why I love it... no joke...

Oh thank goodness, I thought I was the only one

 

[firal]

Finally gotten around to watch So Youn's SP, have to say I love it! One of the better SP that I've seen so far and it kept my attention through out. Hopefully she'll land the jumps later.

 

[Plisskin]

Just saw Julia's SP. Honestly, I'd rather she kept Megapolis and just changed the LP. What an uninteresting program and happy/ cheerful doesn't seem to be her mo.

 

[koheikun90]

Julia for the win!
Rika for the silver!

Rika is like "the ugly duckling" of Japanese ladies skating. There are Mao, Satoko, so many great juniors and nobody gives her too much props, even after her gold in GP. She really impressed me as a fighter there and wish her all the best.

huge improvement on her lutz too. looks like she worked hard in the off season to correct her edge.

 

[FlattFan]

Holy crap, Rika fixed her lutz. Not deep outside edge yet, but good enough.

 

[sam0987]

So Youn's broadcasting version. Love her sp


https://youtu.be/z4Uc1LmQfjE

 

[Sabrina]

I saw Julia's program. I loved the dress, the colours in it fit the music. Julia has changed a lot. I also think she is taller and weights more. She is still thin, but not childish thin like she was. That does not help for jumps. In the combo, the first 3T was amazing but the second lost some power. She should move the flip and the 2A later in the program. But all around I am happy for her and the program looks nice.

 

[hippomoomin]

Rika's program is very well choreographed, and the exotic style suits her.
I like the fact Julia is trying a new style, though her performance could be better. She does not seem to feel the music. What I am worrying about is the height of her jumps getting lower. She is prone to more mistakes in the LP and Rika is quite consistent as long as she is no longer injured. So I think the gold is Rika's and Julia may end up third of even lower.

 

[Barb]

Well I am not surprised with Yulia´s dress after to see her apartment https://instagram.com/p/6k1WneELQA/?taken-by=sunnylipnitskaya but she is so cute they could to do a better style for that type of music/program. Anyway I prefer her LP, so I hope tomorrow for a better performance and dress.

 

[Layback11]

With all the complaints about Yulia's dress (not to mention the slight worry about her jumps), I'm hoping it turns out to be a false alarm. I was super excited to see her at SA because she's one of my favorites, but it would be really sad to watch her skate badly in person and I'm hoping this comes to pass before then.

Also, I saw the pics of her dress and good grief, it almost fried my corneas!

 

[qwerty]

To be honest, Julia's jumps could very well betray her and leave her off the world team. Spins are definitely slower, maybe just inevitable with body changes.

On the bright side, her SP footwork is one of my favorites this season!

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

To be honest, Julia's jumps could very well betray her and leave her off the world team. Spins are definitely slower, maybe just inevitable with body changes.

On the bright side, her SP footwork is one of my favorites this season!

I'm not so sure it's anything more than mental issues and uncertainty at the moment for her. There are plenty of videos showing her jumps and she physically is doing them quite well until the pressure is on. Personally I'd guess the media attention still haunts her and I suspect it is still weighing her down in terms of expectations and living up to it. I'm not confident that the FS will go better myself but I don't expect too much anyway. Marina said that they didn't have time to finish the FS yet so it will likely look both uncertain and not committed. Who knows how it will turn out but she is out there and continuing to compete and familiarize herself again with those feelings. We'll know if she is going to be a contender for the Worlds team after SA because she is going to go to America right after Finlandia and finish the FS with Marina and probably train harder than she ever has leading up to that. Any podium would be welcomed here obviously for team Julia but I don't expect too much from the FS myself. I've said my prayers and now I'll go to bed and be stuck at the rink all day tomorrow unknowing as to how she did just like today.

Good luck to Julia and everyone else!!! I hope So Youn can go clean because I'm looking forward to seeing her FS!! I wasn't a fan of Hannah's FS at Detroit but I'm curious to see what she has done with it. I just love Rika so if she stays up she should be in good shape to get the gold and wow us with her presentation.

 

[Kittosuni]

julia really changed a lot. She looks meatier and grew a lot. She is looking stunning now. Her whole program from the hair to the dress looks very awkward but come across as very charming and engaging. This kind of program usually ends up looking trashy but hers has a sophistication feel.

 

[georgiana]

I'm curious about why you guys don't like Elvis. Also, it would be interesting to know which part of the world you are. I'm from Romania and here we cherish Elvis and his songs. They make us smile and bring a good vibe so to speak, they are supposed to be cheesy, it's all about having fun and ignoring the rules, the conventions.

After reading some comments here, is ironic to see that some americans are embarrassed by him. He still is a huge part of your culture.

Well, I love Yulia's dress, the music, the hair and I hope that after she really gets back all the jumps she starts to loosen up and interpret better the music. I get it that is hard to smile and relax when you are stressed about the jumps

 

[ArcticMonkeys]

I just noticed Yulia's dress looks very similar to Ekaterina Mitrofanova's old dress... :think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQEhzQq2c8U

 

[Snow63]

Yulia I beg you, please, have a clean free skate! I NEED you to have a clean FS

 

[Lota]

I'm curious about why you guys don't like Elvis. Also, it would be interesting to know which part of the world you are. I'm from Romania and here we cherish Elvis and his songs. They make us smile and bring a good vibe so to speak, they are supposed to be cheesy, it's all about having fun and ignoring the rules, the conventions.

After reading some comments here, is ironic to see that some americans are embarrassed by him. He still is a huge part of your culture.

Well, I love Yulia's dress, the music, the hair and I hope that after she really gets back all the jumps she starts to loosen up and interpret better the music. A get it that is hard to smile and relax when you are stressed about the jumps

I don't think that anyone is dissing Elvis (or ar least very few are), it's more that Yulia is not really skating to the music here, she's not having enough fun (but she's trying)! You have to admit though that the cut for "Devil in Disguise" is AWFUL.