Ladies SP - 3:55 am Eastern Time Friday | Page 14 | Golden Skate

Ladies SP - 3:55 am Eastern Time Friday

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
Mirai was scored higher than Akiko I believe only in TES. To be fair to Mirai imo her spins were superior to Akiko. I have to wait for the protocols but Mirai probably received level 4 not sure what Akika received today maybe level 2 because I thought her spins were off today. I agree that Akiko has more elegance and maturity on the ice than Mirai and imo her PC's reflected that
(could have been higher ) Also Akiko's program had excellent footwork section The best today..

I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of these skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.
 
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sjwh08

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
:clap: Ooohoo Mirai. This is the first time I ever enjoyed your skating. :clap:

:clap: Caro! It's about time she gives us a clean SP performance. She was covering her chest area with her arms quite often (including the ending). Not sure if it's a part of the choreo or a bad dress..Either way it looked awkward. I hope she does something about the dress.

I expected the least from COC but it turned out to be a quite exciting event with lots of upsets. Much better than COR in terms of entertaining.
 
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Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of the Japanese skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.
Can you now just go and watch Akiko before you keep judging her and her performance? Even if it doesn't change your mind, it makes me less furious.

I also have no idea why the Chinese audience was so cold to Akiko, normally Akiko is a big crowd favourite because of her outstanding interpretation and the best footwork in the business.
 

skfan

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 29, 2009
nobody is perfect. akiko's too horizontal to the ice posture bothers me, mirai's layback spin bothers me. i actually think the herky jerky nature of mirai's stroking and skating smoothed out a bit compared to last year.

i actually could care less about her UR's--they don't bother me that much aesthetically. i'm sure she cares where she places, however.

i like the choreography for mirai's short program. the long i already dread. carmen? can she switch music with ashley wagner, please? or better yet, cizny's. give me some flashbacks to nicole bobek at her best, mirai!




some things on the POSITIVE side:

kostner was glowing with happiness. the jumps weren't spectacular but they weren't splats. good confidence builder. i like the choreography of the program.

yan liu--nice program, choreography suits music.

akiko--i didn't see any inconsistency in how she presented herself--there were no 'breaks' in her presentation. like the footwork and maturity.

flatt--i like the improved posture with less crouching and slouching. i think the spark and consistency will return.

suguri--i still like the long smooth strokes, the posture. good choice of music and choreography.

nagasu--nice dress, good program to music that's not too hackneyed (to my ears), smoother, more ooze in her stroking and skating.


bebe liang--landed jumps! saw her pretty smile.

xiu--the chinese skater who skated to umbrellas of cherbourg--i like her posture and spins and program.
 
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demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I still didn't see Akiko today but I doubt if her posture compares to Mirai. Most of these skaters lack something. Miki at times has horrible posture, and even though I like her I rarely see true beauty in her positions. To me that is roughness. There is a roughness in Yukari who I also like, but she has flaws that show in every performance.
Mao is the latest skater to be showing very rough jumping technique.

It is OK to call Mirai "rough," I can easily notice the nasty bad back of Miki, wrapped leg of Yukari, etc.,and Mao's apparently severely flawed jumping technique.
To be fair, what skater does not have flaws and appears rough at times?
Mirai did well, she was the crowd favorite, and with a new coach and coming of an injury and growth spurt I was more than happy with her skating today.

I think you are getting me mixed up with someone else. I did not say Mirai was rough at all. As a matter of fact I liked her program very much.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
Can you now just go and watch Akiko before you keep judging her and her performance? Even if it doesn't change your mind, it makes me less furious.

I also have no idea why the Chinese audience was so cold to Akiko, normally Akiko is a big crowd favourite because of her outstanding interpretation and the best footwork in the business.

You are right - I will go watch Akiko, and check out Caro while I am at it.

Just a thing that bugs me - too, too much favortism for established skaters. I happen to like Miki - but she was lacklustre and rough looking to me at COR.
I think if she was newer her marks would have been lower.

Maybe that is a different situation - but I will go watch now. And sorry, I don't mean to infuriate you, and if I don't agree at times I still enjoy your posts.
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Maybe that is a different situation - but I will go watch now. And sorry, I don't mean to infuriate you, and if I don't agree at times I still enjoy your posts.
Oh, I like disagreements, I just think one should watch the performances before judging them and starting disagreements.

Akiko is not an established skater. She came onto the scene ago a few years ago, then became very sick and had her comeback only last season at the Finlandia Trophy.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009

Thanks npavel for the links.
OK, I watched Aikiko and I liked it alot. You are right, her footwork is marvelous and I like her musicality.
But - she is traveling on her spins and I don't like her posture. At times it is OK at other times her back is unattractive. Jumps were OK with a nice 2A.

I hope to see it tomorrow on big , clear TV screen. These streams are great fun but not necessarily good for judging, atleast for my tired old eyes.

BTW, I love that Akiko is skating her LP to West Side Story. She looks like a skater who can do justice to some of my favorite Broadway music.
Phantom and Les Miz - total bleh for me. :p
 

nevergonnadance

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Love Mirai. Lots of charisma and presence, love her flow - ladies skating needs her to do well, IMO, with apologies to Yuna.

Don't think she ur or pr her jumps. With her toe pick she really reaches that free leg back and to the side but she's not, IMO, pre-rotating her blade on take off when she does that.

Also, I like that she goes out there with the demeanor of a classic ladies' contender of yore, not the demeanor of a recent graduate of a self-help seminar. I think a lot of the skaters in N.A. are way too in their heads, way too self-aware when they skate, and it has a confidence inhibiting effect. She's not -not when she skates, anyway. Love her hands, head, spins too.
 
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cornell08

Final Flight
Joined
May 10, 2009
Mirai's combination jump seemed UR imo, but her double axel was beautiful-- her body didn't dip down the way it did on the landing during Golden West. SO GLAD she put in a layback ina bauer-- no one does it as lovely as Mirai (well, of the amateur girls =P)...Most enjoyable program from the ladies....Korpi seems overmarked.

Rachael definitely fought for those landings, poor girl. In fact, she seemed very out of sorts. I wonder if I just think so because her hair is in a simple ponytail and she NEVER has had it in anything but a beautifully coiffed bun-- did she run out of time preparing? Or is this her way of 'letting loose' and going outside of her 'elegant' comfort zone? To be honest, I just don't think Sing Sing Sing is going to be received well by the international audience/judges....though the Golden West audience really dug it. It just seems a bit too 'American' and junior-ish/cutesy/exhibition program-esque. Which may be alright for Nationals but not really the Grand Prix or Olympics...
 
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janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
Have you ever seen her Tango?

Danke, that was sweet and smooth - but still with a very saucy edge to it.
Too many skaters are using Tango without capturing the spirit of the dance in their footwork and the overall mood of the dance.

And how nice NOT to hear Marton when trying to enjoy a Tango ;)
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
But what if the PCS total was, say, divided by 2 (so it's only 1/3 instead of 1/2 the score)? Even more radical, they can be tossed out completely, if skating wanted to be actually *objective*.

Well, the ladies' short program PCSs are already multiplied by a factor of .8. (I think this is so Yu-na Kim will not score higher overall than the top men, who automatically get a 25% bonus in PCSs compared to the ladies. ;) )

Plus, the components that generate the controversy are the subjective/artistic components of performance, choreography and intepretation. The split between tech and performance is already 70-30 on the side of tech.

By the way, I looked up Akiko Suzuki's birthday, and it is that famous day, March 28! :laugh:
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Well, the ladies' short program PCSs are already multiplied by a factor of .8. (I think this is so Yu-na Kim will not score higher overall than the top men, who automatically get a 25% bonus in PCSs compared to the ladies. ;) )

Plus, the components that generate the controversy are the subjective/artistic components of performance, choreography and intepretation. The split between tech and performance is already 70-30 on the side of tech.

oh, ok.

So then, what if it was 85-15 instead. If there was no "padding" this wouldn't be an issue but there has to be less room for this imo.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
Mirai absolutely deserved to win here. I am SO happy for her!

She has the best speed and personality on the ice of all the American women. Lovely spirals and spins too. The layback and that final position of her combination spin are absolutely stunning.

Her jumps were not underrotated either. The Lutz was close, but she made it.

I hope she puts everything together in the LP. A win here would be GREAT for her confidence.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
oh, ok.

So then, what if it was 85-15 instead. If there was no "padding" this wouldn't be an issue but there has to be less room for this imo.

So far, the ISU has not totally given up on the idea that there ought be a judged, artistic component to a figure skating performance -- with all the negatives that go along with it in terms of judging controversies, bias, collusion, cheating, reputation judging, politics, etc.

Personally, I think the present 70-30 split is not bad. I think the place where the present scoring system can be tighteded up is in the Skating Skills and Transitions categories. Transitions, especially. It should not be a matter of opinion whether or not a skater includes Ina Bauers, split jumps, unlisted jumps like single Walleys, spread eagles, mini-spirals, plus an assortment of steps and turns between scored elements.

If a judge gives a score of 8.5 for transitions, that judge should be able to list the transitional moves that the skater did to justify that score.
 
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Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
I got some info - Akiko's Double Toeloop got downgraded.

And Kostner didn't get any points for the spiral sequence because the last position was held for less than three seconds.

Mathman said:
If a judge gives a score of 8.5 for transitions, that judge should be able to list the transitional moves that the skater did to justify that score.
Because that's going to make the judging system and the judging so much easier, the judges don't only have to rate every spin, jump and spiral / step sequences - they also have to write down every single move made in between the elements.

We should just hold the competitions like the figures in earlier years then. The judge could also take a ruler then and measure how deep the edges are and out of 50 measurements during the free program there will be calculated the average deepness of the edge during footwork, crossovers etc. While we are at it, we should also start to determine the degrees between legs / arms / body during the spins, e.g. the greater the arch on the layback, the more points the person gets. The revolutions per a certain time is also measured, as is the amount of centimetres the blade travels during the spin.
 
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