I watched the broadcast of Fantasy on Ice last night and for the first time I am disappointed with the Russian ladies, all three of them. Compared to the other skaters in the show, they seemed less prepared. While Javi made a huge flamenco spectacle involving a singer and a dancer, Yuzu and Plushi gave 100% on the ice, Satoko and Rika showed their new and quite original programs, etc., etc, the Russian ladies looked as if they learned about the show two hours earlier and had to quickly think of something. I love Liza but I don't even know what she skated. There was mainly "hand choreography"; nothing special. Alina's version of Carmen seemed half baked. The live violin was amazing, but her performance seemed underrehearsed and not thought out well enough. Medvedeva probably performed best, but I really dislike the Ariana Grande program, the costume, the choreography, everything. She is a great artist, but even that doesn't save the choreo or the lack of it. Besides, she skated this program tens of times already in Canada and Korea, so she didn't have anything especially prepared for Japan.
I was very surprised, because at competitions it is quite the opposite - the Russian ladies have the most rehearsed performances, the most thought out costumes, hair, details, etc. Here I just had the feeling that they perceive the show as a vacation with some skating. That's ok, I know they need a break, but there was a huge audience, which probably bought expensive tickets and they deserved a little extra effort or something special. I don't watch figure skating for a long time, only for a year and I follow the ladies only, especially the Russian ladies. Yet, last night I enjoyed all the other performances but theirs.