Unpopular Opinions

[SkateSkates]

had she won over Yuna and Adelina, there would not have been such an uproar as Caro's performance was stunning!

Caro was my 2014 oly champion as well

 

[WhiteProphet]

Pineapple DOES belong on pizza! :luv17:

In my humble opinion, outside Italy (or, I should say, outside Naples and province) people don't even know what pizza really is. So, you can put whatever you want on that thing you call "pizza". Don't get me wrong, it's about taste, but I'm quite sensitive on the topic

-Neither Yuna nor Adelina should have won the Gold in Sochi. Carolina should!

Now fight me.

Agree :agree:

 

[chopinskate]

I find it hilarious that people often quote Kostner's 2013-14 version of Bolero as an example of great artistry. She changed it up so more of her difficult jumps were frontloaded, changed the order of the spins and made it a worse interpretation, dropped transitions so she could have longer set-ups to her jumps and even slowed down into them a little, and even removed her solo 3S at the end which made for a far more dramatic closing. EVERYTHING about it was worse, and it wasn't great at 2013 Worlds to begin. She deserved to be behind both Sotnikova and Yuna Kim on the PCS mark, and that has been one of the few times I've ever agreed with the judges on the PCS ordering for the podium places. The actual PCS gap between Yuna and Sotnikova should have been larger though. She deserved to be third behind Yuna and Sotnikova too, because her jumps weren't cleaner than Yuna's and had lower difficulty than Sotnikova's, her spins were worse than Sotnikova, and her footwork technique was worse than Yuna's on the day.

Kostner, while very good, is a technical skater, not a particularly artistic one. Her refinement is great, not her performance or interpretive instincts.

I would have been fine with a Sotnikova victory had she just kept her 3Lz+3Lo combo in.

---

Yuna Kim is the best skater the CoP has seen.

 

[NymphyNymphy]

I think that's a general issue of judged sports, though some manage to clamp down on subjectivity and politicking much better.

Agreed. ISU definitely does not have that ability to clamp down on subjectivity. I still remember that one article ISU posted saying that Yuna agreed with the Sochi results. Welp the already triggered skating community went crazy and clocked ISU. And.. mysteriously that section on Yuna agreeing with the results disappeared from the article.

 

[jenm]

- I never really liked Yulia's spins (except for the broken-leg sit spin, that one was great). She had mind blowing flexibility but her spins looked stiff IMO.
- YUNA'S SEND IN THE CLOWNS DESERVED A WORLD RECORD. Kthnxbye

 

[NymphyNymphy]

- YUNA'S SEND IN THE CLOWNS DESERVED A WORLD RECORD. Kthnxbye

Yuna's send in the clown gave me goose bumps. It was truly a masterpiece. I just wished she had skated Lark Ascending at one of her skating shows.

 

[Ducky]

Something that I've literally never seen mentioned and that has been bothering me so I'll say it at last:

Karen Chen's arabesque spirals are majorly overrated and not at all aesthetically pleasing. Not so visible from the side but seen from the front, her free leg is weirdly off to the side and it makes for an unattractive position hwell: Not a personal attack on her or anything, I know it's like her fave move, but it shouldn't be compared to whatever golden standart - Sasha, Mao, Yulia etc.

Her upper body is so turned to one side that it destroys any semblance of balance, if she kept her torso in neutral the position of her free leg wouldn't be so jarring BUT it's a position that is meant to be viewed from the side so a front view is almost irrelevant.

 

[hanyuufan5]

Hopefully this won't be something I should get life insurance before posting, but with very, very few exceptions (e.g. rock programs like Ivett Toth's AC/DC), I don't like pants or bodysuits on the ladies outside of EX's, and I really don't like how they seem to be getting more popular. I can't imagine the men are going to be wearing dresses any time soon, so if fewer and fewer ladies wear dresses, then the lack of variety will be just plain boring IMO.

 

[bostonskaterguy86]

An unpopular opinion about unpopular opinion threads: I find that most of them end up devolving into people criticizing other peoples’ unpopular opinions. I think these threads should be limited to people stating their unpopular opinions, and agreeing with the unpopular opinions of others. If you post to disagree with someone else’s unpopular opinion, it should be deleted. Those of us with unpopular opinions are used to getting criticized/shot down, and it’s nice to have a thread where that doesn’t happen for a change.

That being said - figure skating-related unpopular opinions:

- The Edea Ice Fly and Piano are weird-looking boots. I think the Pianos look particularly weird on Zhenya because they’re so bulky-looking and she is so petite.

- Tara deserved the OGM over Michelle in 1998; not only was her technical content better (excepting her noticeable flutz), but she skated with more intensity and passion than Michelle, who really phoned in what at other times was a stunning LP.

- Nathan Chen is one of the least interesting male skaters to watch - though I’m not sure how much of it is him and how much is poorly-designed programs with little to no choreography.

- Alena Kostornaia is currently the most complete skater of any of the Russian ladies, Junior or Senior.

- Prerotation of more than 180 degrees on toe loop, salchow or loop, or more than 90 degrees on flip or lutz, should earn negative GOE.

- Any step or choreographic sequence including more than one set of finger-guns should be invalidated.

- The short program should be made even more technical - maybe parts of the step sequence could be standardized every season and the BV increased to reward good skating skills in a more concrete way than assigning levels to each skater on the fly.

- A-spins are extremely unattractive and inelegant and I wouldn’t complain if no skater ever performed one again.

 

[Ducky]

Wham!'s "Last Christmas" is a terrible holiday song. The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" is the best contemporary Christmas song.

The new "live action" Lion King is 100% CGI and therefor animated.

The tights half over the boots look is quite cute.

 

[Silvia451]

Hubbell/Donohue are overrated.

 

[moonkat]

Jumps are art

 

[DaNiCG]

I dont know if its unpopular, but the Shibutanis was one if not the best thing Ice Dance had. This season is lacking without them

 

[xeyra]

- A-spins are extremely unattractive and inelegant and I wouldn’t complain if no skater ever performed one again.

I don't think this is unpopular at all. Now if you'd said you loved them, that would be different.

 

[draka]

Her upper body is so turned to one side that it destroys any semblance of balance, if she kept her torso in neutral the position of her free leg wouldn't be so jarring BUT it's a position that is meant to be viewed from the side so a front view is almost irrelevant.

Ah, I disagree. I really don't think having her torso in neutral position would benefit the whole look and I also don't think it would be physically possible without changing the leg. I actually don't mind the tilted corpus, it's the leg that totally throws the line and makes it look unattractive. @oatmella quoted me earlier and linked to this thread where someone else describes it quite well.

 

[DaNiCG]

Alright, unpopular here? in this website?

Russians are overscored.
Quads are not that great, especially if it takes away the artistry.
Men field is more interesting than the ladies.
I like Cha free program, it suits him.

 

[Nathan13]

I love hearing tango music, so this season's Rhythm Dance theme is right up my alley!

:yes2:
I also love Exogenisis, POTO (though I think there are more songs that have never been used i.e. the ballets that would make better programs), and Je Suis Malade.

 

[hanyuufan5]

I don't think this is unpopular at all. Now if you'd said you loved them, that would be different.

Haha, okay, I'll say it, then. I love them! They look very difficult athletically and impress me a lot.

 

[xeyra]

Haha, okay, I'll say it, then. I love them! They look very difficult athletically and impress me a lot.

You're cancelled!

 

[TallyT]

Thankfully Australia doesn't have a Thanksgiving as a whole turkey is a nightmare to cook just right!

Probably unpopular opinion.... Boxing Day is much better than Thanksgiving and Christmas combined...