Dance - Free

[Nadine]

Lol, I couldn't wait for this competition to begin & was disappointed that the CDs weren't shown on t.v.

But, I was able to watch some of the ODs & FDs, most notably Samuelson & Bates. They did a good job their first time at Worlds (was hoping for 7th, but will take 11th). Everything is going the way I hoped/wished for them ~ I want to see them around for a long long time ~ they've been improving little by little each season, even capturing some medals along the way, how could anyone else ask for more at this point in their careers.

And Tanith & Ben were amazing, with a little more oomph they could be Olympic Champions next year, or at least on the podium, which would be a tremendous accomplishment to medal not once, but *twice* at two Olympics ~ unheard of, except when it comes to those extra special (e.g. Michelle Kwan, Nancy Kerrigan, Lu Chen, Irina Slutskaya, Anissina & Peizerat, Sonya Henie, Katarina Witt, G&G, Dick Button). Here's wishing them all the best ~ they did great!

Virtue & Moir had me & my sister awash in goosebumps, especially the second half of their awesome program ~ what guts ~ to skate to Pink Floyd at Worlds when everyone else is mostly skating to classical & playing it safe. Kudos to them!

Davis & White were lovely as ever, with not a thing amiss, kudos to them for keeping it together & skating with attack & power & technical precision!

The top two Russian teams were not as good as I was expected to believe. Just my humble opinion, of course. Though I do prefer the long lines of the winners. The second couple was just a little bit too dramatic & cheesy for me. I do love drama, but it has to be great ~ both the program & couple must be great to make it something special. JMHO.

Lol, the Italian couple made me laugh when he fell & brought her down with him. I felt sorry for him. Also, I was glad he didn't overdo it with the makeup this time, no mime tears painted on his beautiful botticelli face, thank goodness. Actually, I liked this program, both the music & the costumes (the same cannot be said for their OD, doesn't even come close to S&B). Better luck next time.

Hmm, who else, I really can't remember right now, have to watch the programs again when I get the time.

On a final note, I have to say that last month I was captivated by watching Summersett & Gilles over & over again on icenetwork ~ their FD was my favorite, touching, beautiful, artistic, it had everything ~ a newly discovered favorite ice dance couple of mine.

 

[Kinga]

Am I the only one here to think that that D/S's victory is outrageouse?

I might not be outraged about it, but IMO they shouldn't have won. Although they were a bit faster than earlier in the season, they were still shaky and scratchy. Also, there were far more crossovers in between elements than other couples had. And the spin?? OMG, it was soooo slow and ugly.... Grrrrr... I cannot believet that WCh get away with such ugly spins ALL the time (except of CoR).

Well here's my wuzrobbing...D/W for sure. It's just a travesty. They really deserved to be on the podium and that FD was sublime perfection. Great for them for the awesome standing O. They are US #1 and it's about time they got the acknowledgment for that. B/A did okay but they can't compare to D/W to me.

D/S winning was another travesty. Just no getting around the Linichuk politics here. I like D/S but they are simply not strong enough to be WC.

Ice dance politics is alive and well, sad to say. Makes me wonder how the Olympic year is going to be. Exciting, anyway. At least until the actual event! It's funny...placements were all over the place during the season this year and then come Worlds...business as usual.

Tessa and Scott weren't the reason D/W got fourth. Not really. We definitely need to look higher up on the podium for the real travesty.

I thought Virtue and Moir should have won the CD with B/A first in the OD, and D/W first in the FD. And I say this as a big fan of Virtue/Moir (who I hope win the gold at the Olympics). I thought the weakest of the top four FDs was D/S. A lot of it was probably lack of training time, but you could really see the seams.

QUOTE]

I so agree with all you guys. It annoys me so much that judges were not able to give D/W the highest score of the evening. They were clearly the best.
B/A had good OD and quite good CD, but the FD was flat.
I am sorry, but I clearly see politiks behinds all this. I was always trying to believe that there is no politics in ice dance. But I fear there is. The only thing I agree with is K/N in 6th. I found their FD so strange and cheesy. I loved them last year. This year not so much.

I have difficulties with giving my 'own' final result, because:

CD:
V/M
D/S
B/A
DW

OD:
B/A
D/S or D/W
V/M far far down

FD:
DW
V/M
D/S
B/A

Nevertheless:

D/W
V/M
D/S
B/A

 

[icedancedevotee]

Tessa and Scott weren't the reason D/W got fourth. Not really. We definitely need to look higher up on the podium for the real travesty.

Bingo! Tessa and Scott shouldn't have been in third, they should have been in second. . . .

 

[evangeline]

Bingo! Tessa and Scott shouldn't have been in third, they should have been in second. . . .

Really? Even with the mistakes in their OD? (I assume you meant 2nd overall)

 

[life684]

I am surprised by North American posters, they live in the false pretext that if their team gives a clean routine they deserve the medals, they absolutely don't care what others have done or not.

They quickly forget want a mess V/M made in their OD, not everyone like High School Musical Kind of Skating, Some do, and i respect that. But, to cry foul when your favorite team don't win the title is ludicrous.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I finally got around to watching the freedance last night and let me tell you I have never been so upset with the judges. Both american teams were robbed. For davis and white to have been off the podium for .04 was nausseasting, especilly since they skated better than Tessa and Scott in the freedance and in the OD (did not see the cumplosories so i can't say).

But the worst part was when they took the gold away from Tanith and Ben. That performance made me cry. Anyone who has actually seen the opera Tosca knows how right on thier interprtation was. The chemistry was there, the passion, the tragety. They knew they had won, and so did everbody else. Then NBC is so unclassy that they have to keep showing Tanith and Ben when Domina/Shabalin were waiting for the scores and when the later were placed ahead. Tanith looked absoultely crushed. I felt so sorry for her. It seems like all that hard work was for naught because just like 2005/06 no matter what they do, the russians will always beat them.

i have nothing against domina and shabablin, and I really was impressed with some moments of the freedance, but they did not have the passion of tanith and ben and thier OD was a waltz for heaven's skates.

My podium would have been:
Tanith &Ben
Davis White
Domina Shabalin

I just feel like crying. DOWNGRADED twizzles????? please. they were better than they have been all season. Domina and Shabalin's twizzles were painfully slow and no in-sync.

sorry for the rant guys. I had to get it off my chest.

 

[icedancedevotee]

Really? Even with the mistakes in their OD? (I assume you meant 2nd overall)

Sorry to be unclear with my post! Yes, I meant V/M should have been second overall. I agree with you that their OD was, um, not good, and 6th place was deserved there. But their CD score should have been a lot higher. Couple that with the fact that the overall 1st place team shouldn't have been nearly that high in the standings, and I think V/M should have been 2nd, with D/W nipping extremely closely and uncomfortably (for V/M) at their heels in 3rd.

 

[Lucky Star]

It seems like all that hard work was for naught because just like 2005/06 no matter what they do, the russians will always beat them.

I can understand that you're feeling sad for Tanith and Ben, but don't forget that Oksana and Maxim worked hard for this too and it was not easy for them too. After all of their problems, Maxim's injury, new coaches, withdrawn from Wolds last year they just continued to work hard and the title was not a gift for them. Tanith and Ben had their chances after Olimpic Games in 2007 when bulgarians (not russians!) beated them and last year when Del/S got the title. So just take it and wish luck for B/A next season. As for me I would like to see D/S as the new olimpic champions and I'm sure they will be even stronger then now.

P.S. Linitchuk said that D/S are the most talented team that she've ever worked with

 

[MissIzzy]

P.S. Linitchuk said that D/S are the most talented team that she've ever worked with

Way to insult about a zillion teams!!

 

[Medusa]

I can understand that you're feeling sad for Tanith and Ben, but don't forget that Oksana and Maxim worked hard for this too and it was not easy for them too. After all of their problems, Maxim's injury, new coaches, withdrawn from Wolds last year they just continued to work hard and the title was not a gift for them.

Whhheee, what are you saying? The Russians also work hard for their achievements? And here I thought they can barely do a cross-over and only get their medals and titles through politicking... You must be mistaken for sure, the Russians get their medals through politics and the French through charming the female judges with their hip movements. :yes:

 

[fairly4]

personally
i would have davis/white win free skate and domina/shablin 2nd and belbin /agosto third.
why
belbin and agosto didn't skate fast/ skated disconnect a little less than the rest.
b/a twizzles was a bit slow, off center/
virture and moir was a bit slow and i personally didn't like their program. it was slow and not good. likes last years better

 

[LeCygne]

Both american teams were robbed.

This pretty much sums it up. I agree with everything else in your post and have nothing else to say.

 

[Lucky Star]

Way to insult about a zillion teams!!

She said it in her interview after D/S withdraw from Euros, I just repeated her words

Whhheee, what are you saying? The Russians also work hard for their achievements? And here I thought they can barely do a cross-over and only get their medals and titles through politicking... You must be mistaken for sure, the Russians get their medals through politics and the French through charming the female judges with their hip movements. :yes:

Yeah ))) Seems like no matter how many quards you did (I'm about Joubert who is my favorite skater after Yagudin and Plushenko) or how hard you work, if you're not american you're don't desereve the title

 

[MissIzzy]

She said it in her interview after D/S withdraw from Euros, I just repeated her words

It's still insulting. I really want Oksana Grishuk to take a plane to Pennslyvania and have a word with her(at least, I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that scene)

 

[LaLola]

This pretty much sums it up. I agree with everything else in your post and have nothing else to say.

Me too. Eurosport didn't show Tanith and Ben's reaction but I'm sure it would have broken my heart.

 

[icedancedevotee]

Yeah ))) Seems like no matter how many quards you did (I'm about Joubert who is my favorite skater after Yagudin and Plushenko) or how hard you work, if you're not american you're don't desereve the title

I don't want to speak for other people who post on this board, but I don't think this is a case of fans pushing for the American teams to win just because they're American teams; I think it is more likely a case of fans wishing for the Russian team NOT to win solely on the basis of their being Russian. It just so happened that two American teams and one Canadian team were second through fourth. I'm sure if those second through fourth spots were filled with Estonian, Egyptian, and Costa Rican teams who skated well and were deserving of a win, fans would push for them to do just that.

 

[icedancedevotee]

Linitchuk said that D/S are the most talented team that she've ever worked with

She doesn't necessarily believe this to be true; it's called P.R. Any coach would say that about her current team, provided that that team was in a position to win a major title. I don't think it should be construed as hurtful to any of the PAST teams she worked with; but for her other current teams, it's something of a slap in the face. But that's the politics of it all, it seems. :scowl:

 

[evangeline]

I don't want to speak for other people who post on this board, but I don't think this is a case of fans pushing for the American teams to win just because they're American teams; I think it is more likely a case of fans wishing for the Russian team NOT to win solely on the basis of their being Russian. It just so happened that two American teams and one Canadian team were second through fourth. I'm sure if those second through fourth spots were filled with Estonian, Egyptian, and Costa Rican teams who skated well and were deserving of a win, fans would push for them to do just that.

But isn't it, well, kind of unfair to simply assume that the Russian team solely won on basis of their being Russian?

 

[oxade21]

Ice Dancing is a very shallow sport. By shallow I mean that the presentation, looks, ranks, and the "whole package" matter a lot in the final outcome. I would even say more than "technical aspects" of the skating. That has been since the discipline was introduced and it will take a lot to change it.

Hence, when I look at the top 5 teams at this Worlds competition, I can't help bur agree with the winners here. Whether you like it or not, slow, in-sync or whatsnot, D/S blew off the competition by selling themselves.

Before people start accusing me of bias, I will state that my personal favorite team is V/M (despite them being Canadian) LOL. I like them for their technical abilities. However this season all their technicality is gone due to injury BUT the presentation is not there. Of course it is a matter of taste but in the end even I agree that their programs, their look, ice presence are all too small compared to WOW factor that D/S provide. Ice Dance is OVER-THE-TOP, subtlety rarely works. I was hoping this season Shpilband could package them properly but I am not seeing much of effort in that front.

Now comparing B/A and D/S, I would say that B/A benefited a lot from going to Linichuk. Especially it showed in Tanith, whose knees are starting to do what ice dancers knees are supposed to. They become technically stronger and finally Tanith is trying to get rid off that Barby smile. However, it is work in progress. They are still in search of that image suitable for them. And I believe they are in right direction.

This season, I really enjoyed D/W. However they are again the victims of in-team rankings, just like K/N. If they keep it up, I am sure they are going to be at the very top soon. I am not big fan of them mostly because Meryl is not classically ice dancing looking partner. I have a lot of problems with her postures. And that matters a lot, but Shpilband found way to hide that and that kinda works. However, when the competition is close, that shallow side of the sport would hurt a lot in comparison.

All in all none of the top 5 teams were absolutely clean and flawless, everyone left some room for the competitors. In the end the team that managed to appeal to shallow side of the judges won.

 

[icedancedevotee]

But isn't it, well, kind of unfair to simply assume that the Russian team solely won on basis of their being Russian?

I may not have spoken as clearly as I could have, and for that I apologize. I was trying to say that I think (at least I HOPE) that the vast majority of the people who post here want to see the best skaters with the best performances win, regardless of which country they are representing. I know that this is not totally the case, for there are certain posters who won't support any team that's not American, and certain posters who won't support any team that's not Russian. Not exactly objective in either case, but I think it's unavoidable and has always been true. We ALL, I think, recognize that this is a subjective sport.

I'm not going to say that D/S won because they're Russian; that's a big charge to level, and I'm the first to admit that I don't know all the ins and outs of the technicalities of ice dancing. That said, however, it seems to me that they won on the basis of something OTHER than what they displayed on the ice.