Yeah Rachael will. She's got one of the toughest jump layouts with 7 triples. Will she do a 3-3 anyone know?
What Alissa has going for her is that she has a beatiful, absolutely amazing FS. She just needs to skate it well and really perform it and her PCS just might get her into the top 2. And of course her spins.
What Mirai has going for her is that she's the best all-around skater of the bunch. It seems she got neither the highest PCS or the highest TES tonight but still the highest scores.
Good luck to all three.
I CANNOT believe Rachael scored the highest PCS!!! She beat both Alissa and Mirai in every category, including performance and choreography! I never thought that could happen, now I gotta see these skates!
I'll tell you though. If we're talking about pleasant surprises, then I must admit that I was really moved by parts of Kristine Musademba's SP. Shame about the fall, but wow. I fell under her spell and was able to ignore most of the flaws that I would normally heavily criticize skaters for having at this level (again, except for that fall; no way to ignore that).
I am so happy about the top three!! Mirai, Alissa and Rachael all deserve to be on the podium. I really enjoyed Agnes and Christine Musademba's performance. Agnes is such a great jumper and leave sucha strong presence on the ice. Christine is really a great technical skater. I love her edge work and her interpretaion of the music. I really hope Christine will stay competing. She has a great talent!!
It sounds as though the top three managed to stay on their feet. Tremendous! I'm glad to hear all the good reports about Rachael's interpretation of East of Eden. I'm not surprised about the comments regarding her footwork. If you remember, the short program version that Michelle did in 2001-2002 had hectic footwork that didn't quite sit well on the smoothly unfolding music. Unfortunately, the piece doesn't lend itself that aspect of short program requirements. One just has to put up with that segment in order to enjoy the rest of the piece.
What a relief that Alissa did so well, too! And Mirai. So our three best (as far as we know) are in the top positions for the long. What a world team they'd make--if we could send all three. Oh, man...nailbiter on Saturday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb51K3GcGCE
Ahem! I'd hardly call that footwork hectic. It is rather constrained in terms of its movements and seems to fit the music quite well.
When do these videos become available on demand?
and, if she had done a 3x3 (which I thought I read she had been training for the short) this too would up her score. She has tons of room in this program for growth; I really hope she has a chance this year -- or even next!