After losing the internet and cable TV for two days, Comcast has still not gotten high speed on our internet connection, and all my hidef TV channels, including US sports, are missing in action. I am only catching up with NHK dance just now, by downloading the dances one by one and watching them.
However, may I say that all the teams down to 6th place were better than the 2nd and 3rd place teams at Cup of China, at least for being enjoyable to watch! Including the Shibutanis, who look like a different team than last week!
Some of this is due to improvement by the Shibs and a better cast of skaters at the event, but also some of it is due to the truly dreadful video production of the CoC crew-it's not just the skycam; it's also horrible audio, and poor synching of audio to video. This is especially noticeable in ice dance. So I'd like to give a shoutout to the NHK TV crew! Thank you all!
As to the actual skating, the Shibs did that 'a step to nearly every beat of the music, and every step on a beat' timing that is what makes them so charming to watch when you see them live (or have a really good TV feed). I enjoyed their program this week and hated it last week as a result. What their usual arc through a season is is to pick up their speed. Consequently, their skating skills here are lower than they are going to be later. I wish they had gone with a program that was not 1940's, since last year's program was also basically in that vein, but realistically, they are not going to be the US number one team this year, so tactically, their best move is to distance themselves from the other US teams by having the highest TES, and that's what they seem to me to be doing.
And that's unfortunate, because rewarding equal skill by the team members is embedded in COP.
I&K's FD had them skating hand in hand doing crossovers far too much of the time. It was done, of course, to allow them to be skate really fast , but they paid the price in other places. Their twizzles were really interesting (although there is a lot of these opposite direction twizzles going around this year, following V&M's use of them in their FD last year. They look good, but it makes it difficult to see whether they are synchronized well.) Their lifts were a bit shaky (not enough practice?) and simple. And their spin really lacked power. They had these same problems last year.
I didn't hate this program at all, but I would have had it closer to Z&G's LP (which I also liked). I&K should beef up the transitions a bit, if they are capable of doing so at this time.
W&P-I thought this was a lot better than at Skate Canada, despite scoring lower. I thought they did a much better job of conveying their story. It was too bad about the lift and the spin and the twizzle in the SD. Without those problems, they would have won, and indeed should have won.
However, may I say that all the teams down to 6th place were better than the 2nd and 3rd place teams at Cup of China, at least for being enjoyable to watch! Including the Shibutanis, who look like a different team than last week!
Some of this is due to improvement by the Shibs and a better cast of skaters at the event, but also some of it is due to the truly dreadful video production of the CoC crew-it's not just the skycam; it's also horrible audio, and poor synching of audio to video. This is especially noticeable in ice dance. So I'd like to give a shoutout to the NHK TV crew! Thank you all!
As to the actual skating, the Shibs did that 'a step to nearly every beat of the music, and every step on a beat' timing that is what makes them so charming to watch when you see them live (or have a really good TV feed). I enjoyed their program this week and hated it last week as a result. What their usual arc through a season is is to pick up their speed. Consequently, their skating skills here are lower than they are going to be later. I wish they had gone with a program that was not 1940's, since last year's program was also basically in that vein, but realistically, they are not going to be the US number one team this year, so tactically, their best move is to distance themselves from the other US teams by having the highest TES, and that's what they seem to me to be doing.
Nikita is not as poor as Margaglio. But I do feel this team is being groomed to perform like a 90's or 00s style team, where she is the entire focus of the duo.
And that's unfortunate, because rewarding equal skill by the team members is embedded in COP.
I&K's FD had them skating hand in hand doing crossovers far too much of the time. It was done, of course, to allow them to be skate really fast , but they paid the price in other places. Their twizzles were really interesting (although there is a lot of these opposite direction twizzles going around this year, following V&M's use of them in their FD last year. They look good, but it makes it difficult to see whether they are synchronized well.) Their lifts were a bit shaky (not enough practice?) and simple. And their spin really lacked power. They had these same problems last year.
I didn't hate this program at all, but I would have had it closer to Z&G's LP (which I also liked). I&K should beef up the transitions a bit, if they are capable of doing so at this time.
W&P-I thought this was a lot better than at Skate Canada, despite scoring lower. I thought they did a much better job of conveying their story. It was too bad about the lift and the spin and the twizzle in the SD. Without those problems, they would have won, and indeed should have won.