Sasha Cohen was breathtaking | Golden Skate

Sasha Cohen was breathtaking

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Even given the couple of small errors and the fact that she was obviously fighting off the flu, Cohen was absolutely breathtaking.
Her program is Olympic. The music is beautiful and audience-friendly - it inspires a standing ovation. The choreography is absolutely exquisite. She hits every note of music and the whole thing flows as if it couldn't possibly go any other way. Even her costume was gorgeous - loved the one for the short as well, by the way.
This was quite possibly the most inspiring ladies skate I've seen this year. Others have had good skates, certainly - Slutskaya, Asada, Rochette - but none have touched me the way Cohen's skate did Saturday. It was just utterly beautiful to watch.
After her being almost totally absent all season with injuries, I was a little concerned she may not be up to snuff, but it looked like she's in good shape heading towards Torino.
I'll be cheering for her at the Olympics.
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Glad Sasha's program captured you so much, Rain. Did you see it live or on TV?

I saw it on TV and was impressed, though I found it hard to know how much to ascribe to her illness. I'm hoping to hear from folks who were there how it played "in real life." Having seen her skate live and later watched the tape I made, there sure can be a big difference--the audience energy, how well the skater connects with the audience, all that stuff.

But I do think this is definitely the best LP Sasha's had since Tarasova's black-and-white "Swan Lake." Maybe better. Though I'm still biased toward Prokofiev. But with the changes to Rota's music, the score was infinitely improved. Kudos to David Wilson!

Rgirl
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
All fine, but just remember this: Although both the 1998 and 2002 Oly champions were Americans, in neither case was the winner the reigning US champ. So, if an American wins the Olympics...would it be Kwan or Meissner? :scratch:
 

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Didn't get to see it live - don't I wish, but that was my impression from T.V.
Thought she looked head and shoulders above the other skaters in how she presented herself - I often find that's where you can see the biggest difference between the younger skaters and the more experienced.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
rain said:
Thought she looked head and shoulders above the other skaters in how she presented herself - I often find that's where you can see the biggest difference between the younger skaters and the more experienced.

Yeah, very true. I was a little skeptical at first, but after seeing everyone else it was clearly obvious to me that SC is in a class by herself. I don't think she was 25-30 points better than everyone else but she did stand out. Even Meissner with TWO 3-3's couldn't beat her with that cautious, rather careful performance. (And assume she didn't fall on the 2A- the 25-point discrepancy between her and Cohen clearly indicates that it wouldn't have made a difference.)
 

Ogre Mage

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
I also saw it on TV. In terms of Sasha's overall performance, I think there is room for improvement, but given she was recovering from illness, I'm not too concerned. What I find most encouraging is that the layout, music and choreography of the program is wonderful and brings out Sasha's best qualities. People are right that compared to the other ladies skating at 2006 U.S. Nationals, she is absolutely in a class by herself. If Sasha skated her best, this program could be an Olympic Gold worthy program.
 
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Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
What's her music? Looking forward to seeing her skate. She was awesome at the Marshalls - where she got short-changed. I too will be cheering for Sasha at the Olympics.
 

JaeJ

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Red Dog said:
Yeah, very true. I was a little skeptical at first, but after seeing everyone else it was clearly obvious to me that SC is in a class by herself. I don't think she was 25-30 points better than everyone else but she did stand out. Even Meissner with TWO 3-3's couldn't beat her with that cautious, rather careful performance. (And assume she didn't fall on the 2A- the 25-point discrepancy between her and Cohen clearly indicates that it wouldn't have made a difference.)

I totally agree. SC's performance was magnificent (despite the minor problems), and completely compelling, but I'm still trying to puzzle out the reason for that enormous point discrepancy between Meissner and SC's performances -- especially with regard to the technical ability scores ...
 

Ogre Mage

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Ladskater said:
What's her music? Looking forward to seeing her skate. She was awesome at the Marshalls - where she got short-changed. I too will be cheering for Sasha at the Olympics.

Sasha is skating to "Romeo & Juliet." The current version of the program was rechoreographed by David Wilson.
 

Lucy25

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Well, the "minor problems" are the same kinds of problems she has had whether she has been sick or healthy. She has got to stop making them if she wants an Olympic medal. Choreography was great, but she has got to do the jumps. The other top guns are going to have much more difficult jump content than Sasha so can't afford any mistakes.I wish Sasha's score hadn't been so inflated because it would never have scored that high internationally. That said, I hope she can stay uninjured in her preparation for the Olympics.
 

flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Yes, she is such a beautiful skater. I am really going to miss Sasha and Michelle if they both retire. We don't have any up & comers who have the potential to be like them.
 

show 42

Arm Chair Skate Fan
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I have a feeling that Sasha knows, via her coach a least, that the National championships of any country tend to inflate the scores. Aside from that, she was totally deserving of the National title and was absolutely, among those who skated last night, in a level of her own. Good job Sasha......42
 

alicelouise

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
music for skating

The music for Sasha's skating is great for the Olympics. Kimmie Meissner's music, "Queen of Sheba" is Olympic quality as well. It probably won't hurt that Miss Meissner's music is by an Italian; Respighi. Michael Weiss' LP and SP music were enjoyable. I like "Night on Bald Mountain" well enough but it is overused.

As for the rest of the field's music..... Why these music choices? I was watching with another person whose taste in music is quite different from my own. We both agreed that the choices were at best "blah" or "huh?". This was in the Men's and Ladies field.

Since this thread is about SC, her music is made for the Olympics.:rock:
 

dancindiva03

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Sasha was clearly more polished than the rest of this very young field, but I'd say far from being breathtaking. She leaves me feeling very cold.
 

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Lucy25 said:
Well, the "minor problems" are the same kinds of problems she has had whether she has been sick or healthy. She has got to stop making them if she wants an Olympic medal. Choreography was great, but she has got to do the jumps. The other top guns are going to have much more difficult jump content than Sasha so can't afford any mistakes.I wish Sasha's score hadn't been so inflated because it would never have scored that high internationally. That said, I hope she can stay uninjured in her preparation for the Olympics.


Yeah, the scores for the American championships were incredibly inflated, and makes it difficult to tell where the skaters actually stand at this point in the season compared to others in the world -particularly skaters like Weir, Cohen and Belbin/Agosto who haven't competed much internationally so far this year. I found the Canadian championships marks much more realistic - still slightly inflated, but in the ballpark. The U.S. Championships marks were a bit of a joke, with them handing out all-time COP highs for flawed performances etc.
As for Cohen's jump content, I actually think she's right in the ballpark with the other top names. They are really well laid out COP-wise to give her bonus scores and things like the triple/double/double and the triple/triple sequence which was the one that gave her trouble Saturday are exactly the kinds of things the other ladies are doing. She had the big triples - lutz and flip in combination - I wouldn't be surprised to see her perhaps try to make one of her combos a triple/triple, but on the whole, I thought her technical content was very competitive. Besides the jumps, her spins and footwork were all given big levels.
 

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Sasha was great but those little mistakes will be the difference between a potential gold and relegation to a silver or bronze for her. It wont cut it if she wants Oly gold. Still I liked her music and costume, and how the overall program went together, very nice.
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
slutskayafan21 said:
Sasha was great but those little mistakes will be the difference between a potential gold and relegation to a silver or bronze for her. It wont cut it if she wants Oly gold. Still I liked her music and costume, and how the overall program went together, very nice.
You talk like as if Irina has had history of put together clean SP and LP in ONE competetion. :biggrin:
 

donnar0226

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
slutskayafan21 said:
Sasha was great but those little mistakes will be the difference between a potential gold and relegation to a silver or bronze for her. It wont cut it if she wants Oly gold. Still I liked her music and costume, and how the overall program went together, very nice.


i think we would all agree that this isn't what we want to see at the olympics, but given not doing a run through for a week, having the flu and it undoubtedly effected her endurance, with the pressure, this was a great skate for her to get out of the way. The pieces are all there, needs a few less minor mistakes and more selling, but it is a program constructed to win the Olympics if performed to the best ability--and depending on how others perform the same night.
 

show 42

Arm Chair Skate Fan
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Hi Kerryfan.....welcome to GS.........I thought Sasha did a nice job too......42
 
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