Results were ok. I think there could be a little give and take on Jourbert v.Dambier.
for me, Plush skated the best I've ever seen him. He was more serious for a change. Of course his music is mostly Adagio with some repetatives upbeats for his footwork. But well done. Some day he may even get all the way down in a sitspin.
I don't know how Lambiel gets through that music but his musicality is all there. It is a non-stop program and I saw nothing wrong with his posture. A great show of constant movement even with the boo boos. The 3A was sensational!!! and the spins are sensational regardless of the level. C'mon.
Brian is part celtic but that music is not easy to skate to. He gave it his all and it was a much improved skate for him. It seems he can feel music now and smile when it is called for. I actually thought his presentation was better than his technical
The Three Aces will meet in Torino. The outcome, imo, will be just like this.
Klimkin is special. Like Kwan he draws you into his program. He doesn't sell his program to the public. Every move has body language.
Most skaters skate the program as given to them by the choreographer. There is nothing much of their own style (if they have one). Klimkin needs only an outline by the choreographer. He'll do the rest.
I hope Piseev sends him instead of Griazev or Dobrin.
Wow, the men's programs were great. I like seeing Ilia again. Evgeni was almost frantic and wild but it was great. Lambiel spins are just out of this world and I wish Evgeni could spin as well. That is the only thing about Evgeni, he doesn't get down into the spin. Brian sure put a lot of effort into his skate and it was very good, probably the best that I've seen so far. What a great Olympics in the men's field.
I thought the men's portion was the most exciting of the night. I really enjoyed Lambiel's program. I was amazed at how well Plushy skated--while sick, nonetheless! I'm ready for the next round at the Olympics!
I enjoyed about 3/4 of Plushy's program. After that I became concerned when he was visibly tired. He slowed down, his spins became wobbly, and he barely finished the program. At the end he looked very pale. He was obviously sick (or had been sick). His spins have improved but you could not see it this time; he was really struggling in that program, believe it or not.
About getting low on the sit spin- Plushenko is not the only one that has that problem. Ilia Kulik could not do a decent sit spin either. Like Plushy, it was his only weakness. Every skater has at least one weakness.
I like Lambiel's overall program. His outfit is very distracting and does not add to the music. He would be better off even with a plain black or plain white outfit.
When Joubert lands his jumps well, they are beautiful. He had some of those. He is looking less like Yagudin this year, which is good news. I am still not sure we are seeing Joubert yet, but at least he is not Yagudin. If he lands the quads, he can definitely push both Plushy and Lamibel in Torino.
Dambier landed a quad salchow. Why are the European men so good at quads and why are the North American skaters struggling with them? Sandhu can do them but he is inconsistent in everything.
I really enjoyed the mens competition at Euro's. I wonder how the altitude in Torino will affect their stamina? Mens discipline is one of the most demanding, with all the difficult jumps and combinations.
I wasn't overly impressed... and Evgeni is just "eh" for me. I've never gotten into the whole "OMG he's the best" so *shrugs* (and no Joe it's not because he ranks very low on the hotness factor! So HA! I beat you to that LOL)
Joubert doesn't even rank at all on the excitement factor... I think Ice dance is the most exciting disipline anymore... not so much the mens or ladies... and pairs well... *shrugs*