Piper and Paul were definitely faster than Chock and Bates in the FD. On top of that, not only Chock and Bates were slow most of the times, but also, they did stay in the center of the ice, posing, quite a lot. Sure, they were doing some interesting things but yeah.. The French CBC commentator was getting antsy on air and said "we would like to see them dance more".
You could see their lack of ice coverage clearly with the fan cam. I find this program looked better on television, as some of the tricks are cool, and you don't see as much the lack of flow in between them. I kept wanting to see them just
move across the ice, but there wasn't any point in the program where this happened.
The fastest teams overall, to the naked eye (and mine on top of that LOL) would be LaLa and the Mrazek.
Speed has always been one of LaLa's calling cards, even as juniors.
I loved Piper and Paul's opening One foot ... it was amazing.. It's not only the speed and the ice coverage but it was also that the steps chosen seemed to have a purpose... not just like a cookie cutter let's get these over and done with. Kudos to the Italians for saving that element at the end. LaLa's were FANTASTIC !
Absolutely, LaLa's one foot step was very impressive. And Piper and Paul's was divine. Sooo much speed.
I didn't mind the music. The music I didn't like apart from the obvious Rocky was the Lithuanians and the music cuts from the Italians...
Don't mind the music of Rocky, hated the music of the Lithuanians (in both programs), and felt the music for the Italians was so generic as to be almost unnoticeable — so it was OK, I guess? Not objectionable?
Without looking much at protocols and without being a specialist, I thought that the Italians should have won the RD by a small margin over C/B who were a bit more projecting there. Piper and Paul would have been a very close third. In the end, it would have been a maximum of about 2 points from 1st to 3rd. I would have put LaLa in 4th and Lopareva Brissaud in 5th. I have always liked Allison and Saulius... but these two programs were snooze fests... And well, it's clear Lilah and Lewis do nothing for me. Their free legs are not matching at all and I just cannot unsee it.
I would have had Piper and Paul in first, because I just think their dance is the best and they skated it well, but I would not have been upset if all three teams had been about even after the RD. It was the handing of the gold medal to Chock and Bates in the RD that was so totally out of line. Not to mention that if Chock and Bates were 3+ points better than Piper and Paul in the RD, then Piper and Paul were
at least that much better than Chock/Bates in the FD and should have been able to make up the difference and then some.
Then, in the FD... to me Piper and Paul should have won by a large margin.
Yup, ditto.
I am not sure whom I would have put in second and third really. If I only go with beautiful program, flow, speed, emotional performance I think that LaLa did extremely well... I am tempted to give second to CB and reward their choreographic research and the power of some of their acrobatic moves... though I was not very thrilled with their steps at all and the lack of flow. The Italians had a good performance (I don't even care about the dress thing... it was just at the end) but it was uneven... Sometimes. I just was wondering what they were trying to do.
I would have had LaLa second in the FD. Then a toss up between Chock/Bates and the Italians.
What is the most impressive in the way Piper and Paul's FD is constructed is that elements are interwoven harmoniously... It is mesmerizing... they deserved way more points for Choreography. Seriously. Carol Lane does extremely wonderful work and underrated work in that sense. She is not always able to do this for all her teams, and she has had misses even with Piper and Paul (Olympic season) but for having seen Starry night and Wuthering Heights live... WOW ! She certainly can create masterpieces, programs that will be watched and rewatched forever. I don't think I will rewatch many of the other dances except LaLa's and perhaps Lim and Quan's which finally clicked for me (saw it earlier this season and couldn't care less about it...
Carol Lane is a choreographic genius. I've said before on this forum that she doesn't get nearly enough credit for it. You're right that there are misses, of course. I tried my hardest to like Piper and Paul's programs in the Olympic season but they were forgettable and generic, with horrible costuming in the RD that could not be taken seriously. Unfortunately, it was their worst work, maybe ever.
Carol has done really nice work with Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus and really given them a new lease on life, and her work for Bashynska and Beaumont is also top notch. I often really question their choices for Lanaghan/Razgulijevs (which is so weird, since you'd think they'd be a priority).
Also, I'd give the biggest improvement award to CPOM. I saw them at CQÉ.. and it was a big MEH. This was much much better. I think Cristina is improving fast... I think Pono needs better posture though.
I came to love their programs this season and I was really rooting for them. So happy for them that they placed so well.
youtu.be
My FD scores would be 9.25/9.25/9.25 for G/F and 9.50/9.50/9.25 for C/B and G/P (and then 9.00/9.25/8.75 for F/G, and 8.75/9.00/9.00 for L/L).
