2016 World Championships Ladies SP

[topaz emerald]

for giving this eyewitness report! I felt Anna's reaction keenly, even through the computer screen. Her beautiful eyes seemed to be tearing up a little, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I do know that I saw her say "spassebo" several times to the crowd while she was taking her bows. (Sorry if I misspelled; and I don't know the Cyrillic alphabet either!)

I hadn't realized that people started leaving the stadium before Maxim's scores were announced. I sorta wish I could apologize to him for that. I never understand how people can be so rude. It's like leaving the auditorium during a musical number at, say, a high school concert. If it's an emergency, that's one thing ... but basic performance etiquette is important.

Yeah, maybe the traffic is bad in Boston? But still, no excuses, just plain rude to the performers. They do that in NBA games too, fans will start filing out during the last few minutes of the game to beat the traffic.

 

[karne]

Thoughts on the ladies' SP:

- Da Bin Choi and the traumatic "I'm A Big Girl Now" program. Oh my god. Whoever came up with this...I liked her skating well enough, she's a nice skater with good jumps but I want to find whoever came up with that idea for her and smack them one. Holy ****, completely inappropriate.

- NO MORE FEELING GOODS. PLEASE. By the fourth one, we just burst into laughter when we saw the music on the big screen. We couldn't help it. It was ridiculous. Jackie Wong was having a total meltdown in the press section.

- I was so disappointed to watch Mae-Berenice live. She seems like a skater with such tremendous power. And yet, she was underwhelming. I feel like almost she's regressing. A coaching change? Something?

- I loved Ashley live. She really projects to the audience and plays it up and that SP is perfect for her. Sassy and flirty and fun.

- I must have been one of the few people in the whole arena who didn't stand for Mirai. I was sitting at the other end of the rink and saw the giant hook on the combo in real time. When they showed the slo-mo replay on the jumbotron I was starting to think she might get << for it. And...I felt like that music could have had more done with it. JMO.

- Gracie was absolutely fabulous. Enjoyed every second of her. That said, not sure I'd have got her to 76...74 maybe.

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. Given that people were standing for flawed performances for other skaters (Mirai), I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

- I did a massive fistpump and YES! when Miyahara's score came up. FINALLY, FINALLY a tech panel dinged her horrid little jumps.

But pretty well the overwhelming thought of the event was:

KAILANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Her jumps are not tiny at all for her height. Satoko pre-rotates a lot, Elizabet - does not. She is by far the most petite skater out there, much smaller than Satoko. Skaters are all different, and I find Elizabet's petiteness supercute and charming (which also gives her an advantage of rotating and spinning incredibly fast).

Fully rotated jumps and I'd say on the day....better footwork than even Mao....who is the best in the buisiness. That isn't something I would say just for fun. Lil' Bet was a tiny gangsta with her footwork today

 

[topaz emerald]

Her jumps are not tiny at all for her height. Satoko pre-rotates a lot, Elizabet - does not. She is by far the most petite skater out there, much smaller than Satoko. Skaters are all different, and I find Elizabet's petiteness supercute and charming (which also gives her an advantage of rotating and spinning incredibly fast).

Yes, she is very cute. I don't mind her jumping even though she is tiny because unlike Satoko, it seems Elizabet actually gets some height on her jumps. Doesn't Brian Orser coach her? Maybe that's why. Is Elizabet half Asian, half European?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Thoughts on the ladies' SP:

- Da Bin Choi and the traumatic "I'm A Big Girl Now" program. Oh my god. Whoever came up with this...I liked her skating well enough, she's a nice skater with good jumps but I want to find whoever came up with that idea for her and smack them one. Holy ****, completely inappropriate.

- NO MORE FEELING GOODS. PLEASE. By the fourth one, we just burst into laughter when we saw the music on the big screen. We couldn't help it. It was ridiculous. Jackie Wong was having a total meltdown in the press section.

- I was so disappointed to watch Mae-Berenice live. She seems like a skater with such tremendous power. And yet, she was underwhelming. I feel like almost she's regressing. A coaching change? Something?

- I loved Ashley live. She really projects to the audience and plays it up and that SP is perfect for her. Sassy and flirty and fun.

- I must have been one of the few people in the whole arena who didn't stand for Mirai. I was sitting at the other end of the rink and saw the giant hook on the combo in real time. When they showed the slo-mo replay on the jumbotron I was starting to think she might get << for it. And...I felt like that music could have had more done with it. JMO.

- Gracie was absolutely fabulous. Enjoyed every second of her. That said, not sure I'd have got her to 76...74 maybe.

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. Given that people were standing for flawed performances for other skaters (Mirai), I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

- I did a massive fistpump and YES! when Miyahara's score came up. FINALLY, FINALLY a tech panel dinged her horrid little jumps.

But pretty well the overwhelming thought of the event was:

KAILANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

This!!!!!!

 

[Tinymavy15]

Trying to catch up now. Wow Gracie!! So proud of her after an awful 4CC. Way to shut it down.
Ashley too. American ladies holding their own, i'm loving this.

 

[skylark]

Do you honestly expect, that she would say the crowd was crap?.

Of course not. I think you may have misunderstood my post. I'm sorry about that.

In the part of the press conference I was referring to, Anna wasn't asked about the audience at all. She volunteered that they were very supportive; and it seemed to me she communicated it in a very heartfelt way. I can't say for sure; and you were at the event, while I wasn't. I guess perceptions of people who were at the event were not all the same either (see winky's posts on these couple of pages). But I apologize. I didn't mean to misrepresent Anna in any way. I was very touched and moved by her skating and by her statements at the press conference.

 

[lyndichee]

Ok, I can do this for you

The real MVP right here.

 

[topaz emerald]

Thoughts on the ladies' SP:

- Da Bin Choi and the traumatic "I'm A Big Girl Now" program. Oh my god. Whoever came up with this...I liked her skating well enough, she's a nice skater with good jumps but I want to find whoever came up with that idea for her and smack them one. Holy ****, completely inappropriate.

- NO MORE FEELING GOODS. PLEASE. By the fourth one, we just burst into laughter when we saw the music on the big screen. We couldn't help it. It was ridiculous. Jackie Wong was having a total meltdown in the press section.

- I was so disappointed to watch Mae-Berenice live. She seems like a skater with such tremendous power. And yet, she was underwhelming. I feel like almost she's regressing. A coaching change? Something?

- I loved Ashley live. She really projects to the audience and plays it up and that SP is perfect for her. Sassy and flirty and fun.

- I must have been one of the few people in the whole arena who didn't stand for Mirai. I was sitting at the other end of the rink and saw the giant hook on the combo in real time. When they showed the slo-mo replay on the jumbotron I was starting to think she might get << for it. And...I felt like that music could have had more done with it. JMO.

- Gracie was absolutely fabulous. Enjoyed every second of her. That said, not sure I'd have got her to 76...74 maybe.

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. Given that people were standing for flawed performances for other skaters (Mirai), I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

- I did a massive fistpump and YES! when Miyahara's score came up. FINALLY, FINALLY a tech panel dinged her horrid little jumps.

But pretty well the overwhelming thought of the event was:

KAILANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

To be fair, Evegenia's sp music doesn't grab the audience. I find her sp music rather boring. And she was skating without any power, flow, speed. On the other hand, Elena's music is passionate, but cheesy. So I think it has a lot to do with their program and music choices.

 

[nolangoh]

Mao skating second in the 3rd group might help her ease the nerves, but not sure how the scoring will be

And YES Elena skating first after Warm up! She usually does super well after warm up!

And Ashley the last to wrap things up, I am really looking forward to that!

 

[lyndichee]

Thoughts on the ladies' SP:

- Da Bin Choi and the traumatic "I'm A Big Girl Now" program. Oh my god. Whoever came up with this...I liked her skating well enough, she's a nice skater with good jumps but I want to find whoever came up with that idea for her and smack them one. Holy ****, completely inappropriate.

- NO MORE FEELING GOODS. PLEASE. By the fourth one, we just burst into laughter when we saw the music on the big screen. We couldn't help it. It was ridiculous. Jackie Wong was having a total meltdown in the press section.

- I was so disappointed to watch Mae-Berenice live. She seems like a skater with such tremendous power. And yet, she was underwhelming. I feel like almost she's regressing. A coaching change? Something?

- I loved Ashley live. She really projects to the audience and plays it up and that SP is perfect for her. Sassy and flirty and fun.

- I must have been one of the few people in the whole arena who didn't stand for Mirai. I was sitting at the other end of the rink and saw the giant hook on the combo in real time. When they showed the slo-mo replay on the jumbotron I was starting to think she might get << for it. And...I felt like that music could have had more done with it. JMO.

- Gracie was absolutely fabulous. Enjoyed every second of her. That said, not sure I'd have got her to 76...74 maybe.

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. Given that people were standing for flawed performances for other skaters (Mirai), I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

- I did a massive fistpump and YES! when Miyahara's score came up. FINALLY, FINALLY a tech panel dinged her horrid little jumps.

But pretty well the overwhelming thought of the event was:

KAILANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

How was Li Zijun? Do you think judges lowballed her on PCS for skating early?

How was Anna Pogorilaya's performance in person?

How was Mao Asada?

Elizabet looked like she was having so much fun with the program; do you think her score was low for such a lively presentation? The crowd seemed to like it.

 

[kiara_bleu]

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. Given that people were standing for flawed performances for other skaters (Mirai), I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

Not appreciating Evgenia's or Elena's skating is not necessarily because of anti-Russia feeling...I mean what if some in the audience liked other skaters more than them? I mean you only look at this discussions to see how wildly everyone differs in terms of taste. Everyone is bringing up Mirai getting a standing ovation...no one is under the illusion that she is the best skater out there. People know her story and her struggles this past few years, including being passed over for the Olympics, so I guess the audience was just happy to see her skate with joy and having a strong performance. I'm not a fan of hers but I understand that some people just feel sentimental about her because, like the Shibutanis, she showed such promise early on but seemed to have lost her way since. Hell, she wasn't even supposed to be at this Worlds.

 

[aa456]

Do you honestly expect, that she would say the crowd was crap? No offence, but what are you thinking?... She is a professional skater and not the Terminator!

What I was referring to in regards of the crowd is simple.

Elena put her soul and heart on the ice, a good crowd would have picked it up and helped her through her skate, same with Evgenia who was very tight today. But no reaction came, this was not nice. If I sit in the stands and see a skater struggle then I clap or cheer for him or her, so that they don't feel alone. The same thing happened with the Shibs at ice dance, the crowd saw they needed help and supported them, this is how a crowd has to react, but the Americans only remembered this for their own kind.

Elena and Evgenia skated very lonely today and this I criticize, if you like it or not. :dev2:

Your Sochi experience I can not share, I was at the venue and did not experience shouts for Russia while Americans were skating, or anyone for that matter. To chant Russia after a own skater competed is not unusual and very common in the US as well. USA, USA is probably the most used phrase in the history of sports.

But I do not want to fight about such nonsense, can´t agree with everyone in this world. I did expect more of the crowd, much more.

May I ask if you were at the venue for the ladies SP?

 

[Perdita]

I just finished watching the final 2 groups and I'm crying for Anna. Ahhh finally. She showed what she's capable of. Everyone was fantastic, I really liked the fact that all girls looked so prepared and confident, showing how much they have skated to their programmes to be at the Worlds. But Anna won me. That lutz and that passion!!

 

[kimganos]

Even TAT noted that the crowd seems to mostly support US and JP skaters.

I was in section 13 row 18. I gave a standing ovation to Amy Lin, Zijun Li, Satoko, Rika, Anna, Gabriel, Gracie and Ashley. So did a lot of people around me. There were so many great performances! The scores can be argued til the end of time and 3 or 4 of the girls could have been 1st. The ladies brought their A game tonight! If I had to pick one lady, I would have Anna in 1st. Her StSq was fabulous!

 

[peachblossom]

I love the American ladies, but I think Gracie was overscored. I would have given her a 74. I do not like her windmill arms and in my opinion she should have received a lower PCS score than Ashley. Did Gracie even get an edge call on her flip? Anyways, I'm proud of the American girls. Hopefully, they can continue this momentum towards the free program.

I would have ranked the SP like this:
1. Anna
2. Ashley
3. Gracie

 

[sowcow]

He didn't skate well, but he was the last skater so people were already filing out before he finished his program.[/

Then that is extremely rude. Is traffic that bad in Boston? lol

If memory serves me, ½ the arena walked out in Sochi after Plushi pulled out of the competition. Apparently not one of the other 30+ men yet to compete were even worth watching; (never mind clapping & cheering for)...

What I was referring to in regards of the crowd is simple.

Elena put her soul and heart on the ice, a good crowd would have picked it up and helped her through her skate, same with Evgenia who was very tight today. But no reaction came, this was not nice. ... Elena and Evgenia skated very lonely today and this I criticize, if you like it or not.

...and apparently not worth sticking around for to offer "reaction" to those who inevitably struggled through their short program, yet also poured their "soul and heart on the ice"! Just sayin'...

____________________
​

I think the American crowd has been great! Very responsive to all nationalities (including 'booing' the judges in several instances for low scores received by non-American skaters).

Maybe those who feel otherwise about the Boston audience should try a different broadcaster!?! Often the crowd will be noticeably louder (or quieter) depending on where the commentators are sitting in the arena and how much ambient crowd noise their headsets pick up!

I heard & witnessed a lot of this:
:hap85::clapper:
​

 

[Alex D]

Thoughts on the ladies' SP:

- I was decidedly unimpressed with the crowd responses (or lack thereof) for Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. I thought Medvedeva's program deserved more than what it got from the crowd. I couldn't help but think oh come on, let's not do this anti-Russia thing here too.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that statement. I was about to question my own observations since so many disagreed with my thoughts. Now I know I am not crazy and the "complaint" was justified. Anyways, thanks as always the Aussies safe the day.

In the end, I find it sad that these things come up all the time, I might have started it, not sure. It should be all about the skating and not politics, but if you are disappointed with something, you just have to let it out...

 

[karne]

How was Li Zijun? Do you think judges lowballed her on PCS for skating early?

How was Anna Pogorilaya's performance in person?

How was Mao Asada?

Elizabet looked like she was having so much fun with the program; do you think her score was low for such a lively presentation? The crowd seemed to like it.

I liked Li Zijun, thought she skated well, but didn't really have that x-factor tonight. The score seemed about right for me.

Enjoyed Anna once we got past the jumps and I could stop worrying that I was about to see a concussion in person. She really sold it. I totally agreed with her being second and was pleased. She suffered somewhat of the same fate as Kovtun last night, where people got up and left after Gracie.

Mao - she was fun and playful - I enjoy skaters who obviously enjoy skating. The jumps weren't quite there for her. I thought her score was about right too.

To be honest I just felt really awkward watching Elizabet. Even though the big screen said she was 16, it's hard to assimilate that number with her. She looks 12 and skates like 12 except for the jumps. She was good, but I thought the score was fine.

 

[yyyskate]

Boston audience is really good.
even after Gracie, for Anna, majority of the crowd did NOT leave at all, they all sit down and be quiet (very quickly) for Anna's performance, and gave her loud cheer! SO or not, I cannot remember.

Boston WC so far has been fantastic.
from opening ceremony to lady's FD medal ceremony now.