I disagree with the judges' markings for the Pairs Short Program.
Judge's Rankings after the Short Program:
1. Totmianina & Marinin completed all the elements flawlessly but they skated like robots and showed absolutely no emotion. I know that emotion is not scored but it should reflect in the interpretation marks and these two do not "skate as one" but rather as two singles skaters skating on the same ice.
2. Zhang & Zhang made so many mistakes (bad unison in all their spins, no sit positions in the "sit" spins, lots of timing issues and lack of unison, poor positions in the the death spiral, poor posture period) that I simply cannot for the life of me understand how the judges could have put them in second place.
3. Petrova & Tikhonov have greatly improved their musicality and interpretation but he did badly under-rotate his 3-toe in the side by side 3-toes. The caller should have called it a double and the team should have only gotten credit for completing side-by-side 2-toes. If it were an American team, the caller would not have missed the under-rotated 3-toe. Bad judging. Petrova & Tikhonov do not deserve to be in 3rd place.
4. Pang & Tong have also greatly improved their musicality and interpretation. Their throw jump was high and spectacular but their side by side jumps were not in sync and their side by side spins were totally out of unison. So, how do the judges have them so high in the standings?
5. Shen & Zhao had far more passion and emotion than the android-like Russians Totmianina & Marinin. Shen & Zhao had wonderful musical interpretation too but they did make some glaring errors including the hand down on her 3-toe, the lack of unison in their side by side spins (a problem for all the Chinese teams) and the problems he had in the death spiral.
6. Inoue & Baldwin were simply perfect. Here we go again (think back to Sale & Pelletier). An absolutely perfect, history making performance with passion, speed and wonderful musical interpretation is judged only sixth by the judges??????? What were they looking at?????????? Inoue and Baldwin were flawless in every element, their unison and musical interpretation were the best of any team, they had more difficulty than any other team (which was reflected in the technical score) and they should now be sitting in first place. THEY WERE ROBBED BY THE JUDGES!! Evidently (and as usual) the judges had already decided how they were going to rank these teams no matter what happened on the ice because they evidently did not see or just completely ignored the perfection of Inoue & Baldwin. The judges are manipulating the PCS scores to prop up poor performances and punish skaters that they don't like. The USFSA should file a formal protest.
7. Savchenko & Zolkowy of Germany made one mistake but everything else they did was of the highest quality and the highest difficulty level. Their side by side 3-toes were simply awesome and they had transitions and connecting steps that many of the higher placed teams did not have. Wasn't CoP supposed to reward transitions and connecting steps????? If so, what gives????? The Germans also had the greatest musical interpretation and sense of connection one with the other of any team. They moved me almost to tears with the powerful and mesmerizing romance that they create with each other. Two shall skate as one. That's what Sale & Pelletier did in Salt Lake. That's what Savchenko & Zolkowy did in the Short Program in Torino.
The judging has been a sham so far.
Here is how I would have scored/ranked the teams in the Short Program:
1. Inoue & Baldwin
2. Totmianina & Marinin
3. Savchenko & Zolkowy
4. Pang & Tong
5. Shen & Zhao
6. Petrova & Tikhonov
7. Zhang & Zhang
Judge's Rankings after the Short Program:
1. Totmianina & Marinin completed all the elements flawlessly but they skated like robots and showed absolutely no emotion. I know that emotion is not scored but it should reflect in the interpretation marks and these two do not "skate as one" but rather as two singles skaters skating on the same ice.
2. Zhang & Zhang made so many mistakes (bad unison in all their spins, no sit positions in the "sit" spins, lots of timing issues and lack of unison, poor positions in the the death spiral, poor posture period) that I simply cannot for the life of me understand how the judges could have put them in second place.
3. Petrova & Tikhonov have greatly improved their musicality and interpretation but he did badly under-rotate his 3-toe in the side by side 3-toes. The caller should have called it a double and the team should have only gotten credit for completing side-by-side 2-toes. If it were an American team, the caller would not have missed the under-rotated 3-toe. Bad judging. Petrova & Tikhonov do not deserve to be in 3rd place.
4. Pang & Tong have also greatly improved their musicality and interpretation. Their throw jump was high and spectacular but their side by side jumps were not in sync and their side by side spins were totally out of unison. So, how do the judges have them so high in the standings?
5. Shen & Zhao had far more passion and emotion than the android-like Russians Totmianina & Marinin. Shen & Zhao had wonderful musical interpretation too but they did make some glaring errors including the hand down on her 3-toe, the lack of unison in their side by side spins (a problem for all the Chinese teams) and the problems he had in the death spiral.
6. Inoue & Baldwin were simply perfect. Here we go again (think back to Sale & Pelletier). An absolutely perfect, history making performance with passion, speed and wonderful musical interpretation is judged only sixth by the judges??????? What were they looking at?????????? Inoue and Baldwin were flawless in every element, their unison and musical interpretation were the best of any team, they had more difficulty than any other team (which was reflected in the technical score) and they should now be sitting in first place. THEY WERE ROBBED BY THE JUDGES!! Evidently (and as usual) the judges had already decided how they were going to rank these teams no matter what happened on the ice because they evidently did not see or just completely ignored the perfection of Inoue & Baldwin. The judges are manipulating the PCS scores to prop up poor performances and punish skaters that they don't like. The USFSA should file a formal protest.
7. Savchenko & Zolkowy of Germany made one mistake but everything else they did was of the highest quality and the highest difficulty level. Their side by side 3-toes were simply awesome and they had transitions and connecting steps that many of the higher placed teams did not have. Wasn't CoP supposed to reward transitions and connecting steps????? If so, what gives????? The Germans also had the greatest musical interpretation and sense of connection one with the other of any team. They moved me almost to tears with the powerful and mesmerizing romance that they create with each other. Two shall skate as one. That's what Sale & Pelletier did in Salt Lake. That's what Savchenko & Zolkowy did in the Short Program in Torino.
The judging has been a sham so far.
Here is how I would have scored/ranked the teams in the Short Program:
1. Inoue & Baldwin
2. Totmianina & Marinin
3. Savchenko & Zolkowy
4. Pang & Tong
5. Shen & Zhao
6. Petrova & Tikhonov
7. Zhang & Zhang