2010 Olympic Preview to Ice Dance | Golden Skate

2010 Olympic Preview to Ice Dance

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
The Ice Dance competition could be the most delicious of all of the contested events in Vancouver. Not only are the competitors well matched in terms of difficulty and scoring potential, but there is also the omnipresent power of politics, scandal, and judging alliances that often plague ice dance competitions.

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Dyan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
I always enjoy reading the Golden Skate previews and reviews and usually find them fair and an interesting read. However, this time around I don't feel the dance preview was completely on point.

I have to disagree about some of the comments made regarding B&A. A Vegas and Jesus mishmash? I thought the article wasn't completely fair to Tanith and Ben and is just playing along with the B&A are past their prime and shouldn't be contending for top medals along with the rest of the skaters train of thought. The article made it sound as if B&A are the worst of the top five contenders and even with fair juding would only be able to barely snatch the bronze.

It may be true that B&A will have a difficult time getting on the podium but IMO it's not because of anything lacking on their parts this season. B&A are suffering more because the judges from various federations are jockeying for position to score medals for their skaters than they are from bad programs or lack of talent.

IMO it's true that B&A seemed to be on a down swing after 2008 Worlds but before this season began, I would say they were on the upswing. Winning a portion of the dance event at Worlds for the first time and ending a season that many (myself included) thought would be more of a transitional one in which Tanith and Ben would be lucky to win bronze with a silver medal.

Whether or not people end up liking a program or not is purely subjective but I love B&A's FD and don't find it to be a mishmash of anything (well except for the latest costumes). Artisically I find it the best of the top teams. However I also love V&M's Mahler and really like DomShabs' FD.

I realize most people on this board dislike B&A or at the very least are dimissive of them but I find them underrated this season while other teams might be overrated.

Okay enough from me as I realize most will not agree.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
The top dance couples are all senior skaters, so I do not want to read about deep edges which all couples have.

It's the one comp, I can never be satisfied without a decent explanation afterwards. and I do mean decent explanation, and not to reread the criteria. We need a spokesman from the Judges as to why one team danced closer than another. and how much that mattered in the scoring.

For me it's just which team comes closest to Fred and Ginger or Gene and Cyd.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I think B&A have to be considered as a top medal contender. One of the things that is going to be key this Olympics as who skates the Tango Romantica well, and how that skating is scored. Like DelSchoes, B&A have skated the TR quite a few times in competitions, but not recently. OTOH, they have always done well with Latin dances (except for falling on the Argentine Tango at Worlds in 2008), and Linichuk surely knows how the TR is supposed to be done. I would be surprised if they are not very close to the top in the CD.

So not all of us here are totally dismissive of B&A. However, their FD costumes at Nationals were so bad that they did make the dance look Elvis in Las Vegas. Mishmash is a bit harsh. The Cup of China costumes worked much much better IMO. And I see that Ben was out of the plastic Elvis suit in the Ice Works Olympic sendoff show, so I hope thye are going back to that.
 

~tapdancer

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
What I truly hope is that all the top teams will be very close in scoring in the CD. Hope that the judges will not give a cushion to any team and that it will be decided by the OD and FD. All this talk about the CD and what happened at Europeans has me now on the bandwagon for eliminating the CDs. Use them for training new ice dancers but be done with them as far as competition.
 
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Kitt

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Country
United-States
Oh, but I love seeing CDs the way they SHOULD be done.
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
:) I love the CDs. I'm sorry there aren't 2 anymore..It's really the best way to compare the technical abilities of the skaters.If they were to be removed,then I think for sure they'd have to change the OD to compensate.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Can't agree ^, We as viewers need some sort of comparison contest, if the CDs are eliminated. I would not mind a thematic approach to the OD if it demanded certain element s together with the same music for all couples. Boring for some fans, but not for the sportsminded fans. The fans not interested in a comparison segment will have their Free Dance later for opinionated judges. ;)
 

cotillion

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 17, 2007
If anyone is interested in the judges for dance and the other events you can find them in comm. 1589 at the ISU site.
 

Tesla

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
What I truly hope is that all the top teams will be very close in scoring in the CD. Hope that the judges will not give a cushion to any team and that it will be decided by the OD and FD. All this talk about the CD and what happened at Europeans has me now on the bandwagon for eliminating the CDs. Use them for training new ice dancers but be done with them as far as competition.

Unfortunatly, I haven't seen any of Euros, but is this really accurate? How were the other European skaters compared to Dom/Shab in the CD? Were they that much worse? I don't think you can really compare Euros to the Olympics because the best teams (the NA teams, and possibly Del/Scho) weren't at Euros. Chances are the top 4-5 teams are going to be virtually tied going into the OD. I don't think Euros is a fair indicator when everyone wasn't there. I won't be shocked to see Dom/Shab first in the CD, but I fully expect everyone else to be very close behind.
 

OHgal

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
That was a nice preview -- thank you! I am so excited for Dance this year. Does anyone know what dates they skate?
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Has everyone else really gotten so much better than B/A? Have they really slipped? Or are judges saying "You had your time, now it's time to show fresh faces on the podium?" I've been really wondering about this.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
no idea why Tanith and Ben are getting somewhat shafted by the judges. they've improved technically with their move

I think it's because they lost themselves with the move. I don't get Tanith or Ben in any of their programs... and that's what made them special
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
A little bit of both.

This is ice dance. Realistically, this sport isn't kind to "fresh faces." Historically, anyway. But Virtue/Moir and Davis/White ARE just that good. Virtue/Moir have been outperforming a lot of the bigger guns technically since they debuted (at Worlds 07, they came third in both the OD and FD in terms of TES) and have seen their PCS catch up. Davis/White are in the same boat. I don't agree with Dyan that jockeying for position from the federations has hurt Belbin/Agosto that much.
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think it's a bit of B&A's programs not being as good over the past few years, and even though I enjoy them, I think they used to be a little over-scored through the 2006 season.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
I think Tanith and Ben have gotten better technically and artistry wise. They have more flow and speed over the ice. I think their programs are them just a diffrent Tanith and Ben than we are used to seeing.
 
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