Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron

[Harriet]

Oh my gosh that was insanely good. Level 4s for everything, a world record score for the free dance and the total, and they were utterly in the music, not a sign that yesterday even happened. Except Gabi collapsing in tears on Guillaume's shoulder at the end, of course. 123.35 for the free dance, 205.28 total score, that's unbelievable! They are legends.

 

[Spot]

They were magnificent and I don't need the gold to tell me that. I am sad for them but happy they performed so well today. Long may they create art for us to admire and appreciate and be moved by!

 

[Michalina]

I can't stop crying.

 

[lucka]

it was breathtaking. . . for me absolute winners. if Gabi did not check in a short dance for the costume, they would have gold

 

[AliAle]

Heartbroken for them, especially considering they lost the gold in the short through no fault of their own. But the future is theirs and it sure is bright, I hope this experience frees them up to innovate and bring their own unique vision to ice dance. They brought me back to ice dance 4 years ago, I think they'll bring over many new converts with what they have to offer.

 

[Michalina]

I've got 86 minutes until my alarm clock but I probably won't sleep anymore. More than 121 points for T&S was a nightmare.

 

[Roast Toast]

Very proud of them for putting out a performance of this caliber after what happened yesterday. Tessa and Scott skated lights out, there just wasn't enough room to move up. I hope in the years to come they will be able to realize that it was out of their hands and that no one is to blame. They were so, so good tonight.

 

[teamgoldengeese]

I can't believe it. I can't believe it was a costume that took their gold from them. This is such a nightmare. That free was so amazing, I was sure that nothing could top it. It was ART.

 

[Harriet]

Very proud of them for putting out a performance of this caliber after what happened yesterday. Tessa and Scott skated lights out, there just wasn't enough room to move up. I hope in the years to come they will be able to realize that it was out of their hands and that no one is to blame. They were so, so good tonight.

And after all that, they still have the small gold in the free dance. Which they won convincingly in ice dance terms: by almost a full point, and in both TES and PCS. They are astonishing, it's an amazing achievement, and that FD world record is still all theirs! It's just a shame for them that the experience so closely parallels Helsinki last year (lose the SD, win the FD with a world record score, lose the gold overall by the skin of their teeth).

But man, the intensity they brought to Moonlight Sonata this time was unbelievable. I could hardly breathe watching them.

ETA: Protocols are up already. Look at all those gorgeous Level 4s! Two perfect 10s in PCS! Good grief, they got 27 invididual 10s across the PCS categories. That was a superhuman performance.

 

[Anyasnake]

The moments we love and wish to witness :luv17: A class of their own tonight. The best and no one could come even close

 

[Axela00]

Fist bump from Romania!

Yayyy i am from Romania too

 

[xzhang12]

Heartbreaking. Only lost once and it was big time.

 

[cocotaffy]

Congrats for their breathtaking performance with such an amazing score and so well deserved. I know they're young and can get it in 2022 but I'm still gutted. Everything was aligned for them and somehow they ended up jinxed by a costume. Gaby and Guillaume are in a class of their own, up there with Torvill and Dean as far as I'm concerned, they skate so neat, so light, no snow, no over dramatization or useless freneticism and a true personal artistic vision. So I just hope they take this experience and get even better, go on and take back their World title in Milan. Then rest, rest, and rest to come back and kickstart the next quad with their amazing self.
I'm also relieved we're done with this toxic fan war. I can't wait to go back to the pre-canadians come back where different fans of all those amazing teams were much much more civil. Because this stupid extreme irrational atmosphere with all those idiotic conspiracy theories actually took away a lot of the pleasure of following this whole season for me. So, I wish V/M the best for their retirement but I won't regret their fanbase.

Gaby and Guillaume, again thank you for your fantastic programs this season (which is not over), it's your best work yet but I know you're gonna keep pushing and growing in your artistry. Cheers to your guts and your graceful way to handle everything.

 

[xzhang12]

VM electrified audience and they peaked at the right time. Maybe previous Olympic experiences helped.

 

[StormyCloudss]

VM electrified audience and they peaked at the right time. Maybe previous Olympic experiences helped.

There's something to say about Olympic audiences - they're different from all the other audiences in GPs and nationals. Many fans aren't necessarily hardcore figure skating fans like GS forumers; many are there because they're skating fans yes, but also for the Olympic experience since it's in their country, or because they want to support athletes from their country. They don't respond the same way. What grabs their attention is tends to be something dramatic (e.g. Scheherazade > the seasons in 2014.) Tessa and Scott have always been dramatic skaters, and they spent two years away from competition doing only shows, which really shows in terms of grabbing attention. They're extroverted skaters, whereas G&G are introverted and have beautiful, intricate yet minimalistic programs that can potentially be a disservice (exceptions include their FD from last year.) Moonlight Sonata seemed like a home run at the beginning of the year, and continued to seem so as the season went on, but the Olympics, with a diverse and potentially fairweather audience are a different beast.

 

[xzhang12]

https://youtu.be/sSI1-9VdBUE

 

[xzhang12]

There's something to say about Olympic audiences - they're different from all the other audiences in GPs and nationals. Many fans aren't necessarily hardcore figure skating fans like GS forumers; many are there because they're skating fans yes, but also for the Olympic experience since it's in their country, or because they want to support athletes from their country. They don't respond the same way. What grabs their attention is tends to be something dramatic (e.g. Scheherazade > the seasons in 2014.) Tessa and Scott have always been dramatic skaters, and they spent two years away from competition doing only shows, which really shows in terms of grabbing attention. They're extroverted skaters, whereas G&G are introverted and have beautiful, intricate yet minimalistic programs that can potentially be a disservice (exceptions include their FD from last year.) Moonlight Sonata seemed like a home run at the beginning of the year, and continued to seem so as the season went on, but the Olympics, with a diverse and potentially fairweather audience are a different beast.

I totally agree with you! I was there in the arena and I felt the same way. Many fans there are Canadians.

 

[floatingworld]

Since I am in the US, I could have watched P/C's performance here on prime time, but I just couldn't handle doing so live after last night's mishap (the SD, which I did watch live). I forced myself to do some of the work I needed to do tonight, but peeked in this forum every 15 minutes or so, and was elated to read the very first post on how they fared (Harriett's... boy, you are brave to watch live in faraway Australia!). I continued working for another 30 minutes or so until their overall standing was clear. After checking this forum again and knowing their fate, I finally watched their performance which I DVR'd on my TV. I obviously still felt the heart pumping and the overwhelming emotions upon seeing their brilliance. It was exactly what I wanted them to experience, gold or not. That brought me tears as I truly wanted them to feel good about themselves. And I was buoyed up to also find out that they broke another world record on their final dance! On NBC, Tanith Belbin was so generous in her praise of P/C. Not diminishing their competitiveness in any way, she said that P/C are first and foremost 'artists', and second 'competitors'. Every element of their final dance deserved a perfect score, she added. She referred to V/M as a Hollywood blockbuster like the movie 'The Titanic' and P/C as the Oscar winner 'The English Patient'. I couldn't agree more. 'The English Patient' is an all-time favorite artistic movie of mine that I have literally watched more than ten times in the past, and even have a DVD of the movie, as well as a CD of the soundtrack! I look forward to their gold in Milan next month, and their other golden moments in the coming seasons. I used to watch figure skating in the past, have lost interest in it for a few years until I saw P/C in their Mozart piece.

 

[lucyagogo]

That was an amazing program. They managed to hypnotize the audience even beyond the arena through our computers and televisions. I will always love the beauty of their ethereal movements, the fluidity of their bodies, and the electricity between them filling the space. I'm so glad we can all be watching a dance pair like them. Congratulations.

 

[eygh]

Cocotaffy, I'm with you on everything you wrote.

Huge respect for P/C and congratulations for their beautiful FD perfectly executed technically speaking and with such unparalled artistry and of course congrats for their silver medal which would have been gold if not for the costume problem. They performed so well despite a very lukewarm public.

I can't wait to see V/M retire. I'm not a fan of their style and especially not a fan of their awful fans with the constant conspiracy atmosphere, the fake informations/accusations and the hateful bashing of their opponents (D/W or P/C).