Kwan or Chen, 96 Worlds? | Golden Skate

Kwan or Chen, 96 Worlds?

Michelle or Lulu?

  • Michelle Kwan

    Votes: 47 47.5%
  • Lu Chen

    Votes: 48 48.5%
  • Don't know

    Votes: 4 4.0%

  • Total voters
    99

icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
This poll has probably been done before, but I'm interested to know how many people think Michelle should have won and how many people think Lulu should have won in the 1996 Worlds LP. It was very close between them and both gave a beautiful performance. Personally, I like both skaters but I would have given the gold to Michelle.
 

flutzilla

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
icenut84 said:
Personally, I like both skaters but I would have given the gold to Michelle.

I third that! Lulu's 1996 LP is my all-time favorite Lulu program, but I would also have given the gold to Michelle.
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I always love this one! I'm an ultra Kwan fan and thought "Salome" was absolutely wonderful, but Chen Lu gave the performance of a lifetime with "Rach". In my eyes, everything in that program was perfectly placed and executed. It would have been so close!

Chen Lu 5.8/6.0
Michelle Kwan 5.9/5.9
 

Germanice

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
What a question!!! LULU, OF COURSE, AND BY LIGHTYEARS!!! Sheer beauty, sheer passion against well calculated Disneyland-skating! No comparison at all! :love:

Quite obvious - kwan only won because the comp was in North America ... :p

Anke
 
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BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I don't think the location of the 1996 Worlds played any role in the outcome. Certainly, crowd reaction is a factor, but both Michelle and Chen received thunderous applause. I would say, as in most or all instances, that the decision greatly reflected the tastes of those on the judging panel. And, when disecting the panel, it can be seen that there is no obvious conspiracy or "bloc" issue here.

Michelle Kwan: SUI, AUT, BUL, POL, JPN, USA
Chen Lu: BLR, FRA, HUN
 

hrmsk8ngnutt

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
I always love it when this topic comes up. I am a huge Michelle fan. However, on that night in Edmonton I still think Lulu should have won. You could not pick out one thing wrong with the choreography - every jump, spin and piece of footwork was perfectly placed. (Thank you Sandra Bezic) The music was beautiful (Rach is always a great choice) and seamlessly edited. Lulu herself said 'I've never felt more beautiful on the ice' (from Sandra's book 'A Passion to Skate'). And she made it all seem effortless.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)
 

BravesSkateFan

Medalist
Joined
Aug 7, 2003
You could not pick out one thing wrong with the choreography - every jump, spin and piece of footwork was perfectly placed. (Thank you Sandra Bezic) The music was beautiful (Rach is always a great choice) and seamlessly edited.

You could easily say the same thing about Salome.
 

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
I remember watching that night, and while the choice was certainly very close I would have given it to Lu Chen. I found her performance to be the more passionate and mature. Michelle Kwan was still very young then, and I think her more brilliant skates have come since then - I am a big fan of Kwan, by the way.
 

Kasey

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Oh, wow. Let's see if i can do this right...

I am a fan of Michelle Kwan.

I am a North American, USA as a matter of fact! (oh my!)

So, obviously, my choice would HAVE to be....




Lulu. Best I ever seen her. A class of her own, beyond compare. Period.


Kasey
 

Seonaid920

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Too close to call since I wasn't there. Both were great. But from watching it on TV I probably would have given it to Lu Chen.
 

jesslily

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
At this competition I feel Lu Chen Won. She had the best program. Mechelle was still very young. She only focused on the jumps. Her in-between was low and choreography was not that exciting.:eek:
 

icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I disagree. This is why I think Michelle deserved it:

The jump content was about equal:
Michelle did one more triple, and all but one of her landings were perfect
Lulu's second combination was harder than Michelle's (3flip-2toe vs 3toe-2toe), and she did an extra 2axel

The inbetweens and footwork were quite even too, I think, and both had great interpretation and choreography.

However, Michelle's spins were much better (position, balance, rotations), and she did a second flying spin.

Because of the equality of the other elements, I probably would have given it to Michelle based on the comparison of the spins and also I thought her programme was original and musical, and she put the jumps and other elements in thoughtful places.
 

jesslily

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
From their current skating none of them is very good spinner, none of them can do all the traditional spins fast, such as scrach spins, camel, layback etc. But after watching their programs, Lulu's is still in my head until now. She interpreted the music very well.
 

ouridol

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
I just rewatched their performances, and I go with MK. they were both splendid that night however, and it was close. mk was simply PERFECTION. :)
 

floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Icenut ITA - MK wins on the spins - which would be a first. Lulu had some real flaws in that area. You tell me where the sit spin is in that program. Alan Weeks who comentated for BBC - he died soon after actually pointed out that the one thing that let lulu down in the program were her spins.

Then there's MK's guts. She caught a rut on her triple toe combo hence the double to finish. We know it was supposed to be 3/3 because she'd landed it pretty much all season. So she throws in that triple toe at 4 minutes dead and I think the judges would have been impressed with that. It showed intelligence, maturity and in no way hindered the program. That's how I saw it anyway.
 

icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
floskate said:
Then there's MK's guts. She caught a rut on her triple toe combo hence the double to finish. We know it was supposed to be 3/3 because she'd landed it pretty much all season. So she throws in that triple toe at 4 minutes dead and I think the judges would have been impressed with that. It showed intelligence, maturity and in no way hindered the program. That's how I saw it anyway.

Wasn't the final 3toe planned? It worked so perfectly on the sudden climax of the music. If she'd planned a 3toe3toe instead, what was the end supposed to be like? (A falling leaf maybe?) Or maybe she also practiced it the way she performed it at Worlds, in case she didn't pull the 3-3 off. I just find it interesting because that 3toe didn't look like it was just added on a spur of the moment, to me it was placed perfectly.
 
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