WTT Free Dance | Page 7 | Golden Skate

WTT Free Dance

hurrah

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Is romanoff81 really speaking the mind of Scott Moir, as is being suggested??
If so, that's a really baaaad place to be in mentally.
 

auser

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Thank you Japan for this excellent event. It ran like clockwork. They provided enough room in the K&C for the TV cameras to capture the whole team reaction/spirit which made it more fun to watch.:thumbsup::rock:
 
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Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Is romanoff81 really speaking the mind of Scott Moir, as is being suggested??
If so, that's a really baaaad place to be in mentally.

I would hope not! I think he's a bit too busy to even read these boards, LOL.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Have finally looked at the on-demand video (after missing the livestream). For those who listened repeatedly to Scott in the K and C:

Am I the only one who heard him say, "Good luck," to Marina as she was departing the K and C? I presume that she was on her way to D/W for their FD, and that his words by extension were in support of D/W too.

I hope that my ears were not deceiving me. Yes, Scott takes every competition very seriously, but his instincts for good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty are strong too.

He may be very "candid" with what he feels, but Scott has always been a nice guy, especially to those he trains with. ...

No, he said good luck, I heard him as well.

So it does not seem that fair that Moir's spontaneous and gracious comment showing him to be a gentleman with a warm heart received no attention.
He deserves some positive recognition for his expression of goodwill towards his rivals (pals, but also rivals) if he also deserves all the criticism for his less fortunate words.
The two utterances came mere seconds apart. Some of those who are quick to find fault apparently are not so quick to give credit when credit is due.
 
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deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Can we stop now, please?

After having had such a great time over the weekend, I hate to say...but I do not like it at all when some people believe/say WTT is a joke.

I can understand Scott saying 'I hate this event', if it's true (and if so I want to believe these words were directed only to Tessa). I am sure there must be other skaters who also hated this event besides him. They must have been dead tired right after the worlds and such a long season. Not only skaters; coaches and feds people, too, in fear for a potential injury of their skaters.
Should there need a lot of consideration and amendments prior to the actual Team event at Sochi Olympics in 2014? Yes, I agree.
Is it a good idea to hold another WTT two years in a row in the pre-Olympic season? NO, not the least, by any means!, I would say.

But they must have decided to get participated in this event, feeling privileged honor of and with pride in representing thier own country, and most of all, feeling obliged to present themselves as the top skaters for the sake for their sport.

In this regard, and on behalf of the entire audience who got to thoroughly enjoy the whole event for the last 4 days, when someone calls it a joke, I would rather take it as an insult to all skaters, coaches, feds people, judges and technical panel, ISU officials, backstage staff and all the others; every one of those who played an important role of this event and did their best, in their own way, to make it very successful. Period.

I will come back later to report my impression on Free Dance.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Please do deedee1 ! it's always so exciting to hear how the performances were in person.

I enjoyed everything about the event, am so thankful to Japan and Asahi television for it.

I am thankful that the ISU let me watch the whole of it for free, too.

If this event had not been held, we would never have seen Dai's best performances of his wonderful programs for the year, D&W's best Die Fledermaus, Capellini & Lanotte's best La Strada, and Carolina's best SP.

It warmed my heart to see the skaters, who work so hard, rewarded by such wonderful applause & flowers & appreciation by the Japanese audiences. I want to thank the Japanese audience especially :love:

It is no wonder that Charlie White always says his favorite country to visit is Japan.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Please do deedee1 ! it's always so exciting to hear how the performances were in person.

I enjoyed everything about the event, am so thankful to Japan and Asahi television for it.

I am thankful that the ISU let me watch the whole of it for free, too.

If this event had not been held, we would never have seen Dai's best performances of his wonderful programs for the year, D&W's best Die Fledermaus, Capellini & Lanotte's best La Strada, and Carolina's best SP.

It warmed my heart to see the skaters, who work so hard, rewarded by such wonderful applause & flowers & appreciation by the Japanese audiences. I want to thank the Japanese audience especially :love:

It is no wonder that Charlie White always says his favorite country to visit is Japan.

Charlie White really got into WTT. I really loved his tweets where he linked to various motivational videos.

And then there's this:

Starting the trek home from Japan. Back on the ice Wed at 6 am somehow... Hope my teammates do the same :) Olympic Team Trophy is soon!

So obviously he does not see a team event as a joke
 

Whitneyskates

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I'm curious as to why some call this a joke of a competition or don't take it seriously. This is an ISU sanctioned event, complete with ISU judges and officials. I know that some view it as such because V/M didn't win but this competition is sanctioned by the ISU, just like the gp series, 4ccs, Europeans and Worlds.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Well, the WTT is what it is: it's an event completely sponsored and paid for by the Japanese Skating Federation and Japanese sponsors. In that light, I can certainly understand why that would cause some people to dismiss the competition (and personally, I do not think that such dismissals are entirely without merit). It's also very new...remember how 4CC was considered somewhat of a joke competition not so many years ago despite its designation as an official ISU championship? The WTT needs more time to establish for itself some measure of legitimacy.
 
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PatC

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 28, 2003
I agree I think the WTT just needs some mileage. I am, like many others, a *serious* fs fan, and if the WTT was close to me, I'd go. But for the casual fan who doesn't really follow it, but still remembers the cheesy competitions of the 90's, I can see how the WTT might have to work at distancing itself from the idea of it being like those comps.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Here is my impressions for Free Dance on 2nd day of WTT:

My husband and I were particularly looking forward to the Fee Dance; all world medalists with such great programs!

Both of us love these top three dance teams, plus, my husband is a HUUUGE fan of Nathalie. He fell in love with her at NHK trophy 2008 in Tokyo, which was the first comp for him to see live and just loved their circus free dance. :laugh:
Besides, except GPF and championships we do not get to see both Tessa/Scott and Meryl/Charlie going head to head, do we?

We thoroughly enjoyed performances from the top four, same as the day before.

I loved Anna and Luca's La Strada! So did the audience. You can easily imagine Japanese fans have a soft spot for this music :biggrin:
Anna and Luca were so into the characters of the movie. We were on the upper deck again, far and up above from the ice, but we could easily follow the story the Italians were projecting. Anna looked adorable, Luca was charming! They got the second standing ovation of the day (first one was for Narumi/Mervin's SP).

Then comes the main dish of the day for my hubby: Nathalie and Fabian! :)
They were great, too! To me they appeared more relaxed and sharp, than at the worlds in Nice where, I think, they skated a bit cautiously (or hesitantly) not to make any visible mistakes.
Nathlie looked just cool in their lifts, especially the one where she exactly poses an Egyptian girl on wall paintings from the ancient Egypt on Fabian's spread eagle. :cool:
By the way, I love the way how they greet the audience after performance. Nathalie skates up closer to the front, while Fabian stays behind her. Is it a French way? or just her preference? I always wonder.

Third standing ovation of the day, an even bigger one. I don't know why but this French couple is loved so much by Japanese fans!

Tessa and Scott were just lovely to watch.
They skates just effortlessly, don't they??? Looked to me more crisp and sharp than the day before; they were more on fire after losing to Meryl and Charlie, maybe? They looked like a real actor/erss in the movie, while executing elements perfectly and floating on the ice! They completely took the audience into the movie Funny Face. Tessa was strikingly beautiful in that red dress. Another standing ovation.

Then comes Meryl and Charlie's Die Fledermaus, finally, and WE LOVED IT! from the first second of the program till the end.
I think they completely won the audience hearts with their performance. They literally DANCED a waltz on the ice!, not skated to a waltz music. Pitch perfect steps and in-betweens for this beautiful music, accelerating as the music going, and executed elements perfectly to highlight the music. 4 and half minutes just flew by for me. I enjoy the new year's concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker on TV every year, and their performance was like Meryl and Charlie took me to the concert hall in Wien. I was half dreaming. And by the time the music had to end, I even felt sad because I knew I had to go back to the reality...All of the audience got to their feet like an explosion! They got the biggest standing ovation of the four. :agree:

I think that was the reason the American couple won more 10s in PCS than Canadian couple. Someone mentioned earlier that Funny Face as the music is a hard sell, and I agree. American couple simply picked up the better music this season.

Such great performances, four in a row! Everyone who was there smiled happily at the end of Free dance.

But, sorry, my MVP for Free dance goes to Chris Reed!
Chris, thank you so much for showing up at the comp, in spite of your severe injury, and for giving us two good performances with Cathy while you were in so much pain. I would like you to know that: without Cathy and Chris, the Japanese audience could never have enjoyed this competition this much.
Wish you a fast recovery, but more important thing is you to rest enough until it completely heals, first. Good luck to two of you next season!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
deedee1, Thank you so much for this lovely review. You really made me feel like I was sitting in the audience with you. Bravo :clap: :clap:

and absolutely, Chris Reed is a hero. :bow: Japan could not have won this competition without him, as a country must field an entry in each of the four disciplines. That Chris and Cathy produced their best performances of the season here was even better.
 
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deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thanks, doris. I am glad you liked it!

Now I found WTT Men LP was closed. :disapp:
I kind of got tired and feeling down a bit just reading through what was going on there, so I gave up for the day...

Maybe tomorrow, I shall post my review on Men LP in 'looking at the future of WTT' thread.
Doris, please advise me later if there is another thread you think more appropriate.

I will go back to my work :biggrin:
Calm down a bit everyone! ;) And a good night to all of ya, north Americans! :)
 

chloepoco

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Thanks, doris. I am glad you liked it!

Now I found WTT Men LP was closed. :disapp:
I kind of got tired and feeling down a bit just reading through what was going on there, so I gave up for the day...

Maybe tomorrow, I shall post my review on Men LP in 'looking at the future of WTT' thread.
Doris, please advise me later if there is another thread you think more appropriate.

I will go back to my work :biggrin:
Calm down a bit everyone! ;) And a good night to all of ya, north Americans! :)

Thank you, Deedee. I really enjoy reading your reports!!!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
deedee, the future of the WTT is a fine place for it. And I will place a copy in the closed thread as well, for the archive.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Can we stop now, please?

After having had such a great time over the weekend, I hate to say...but I do not like it at all when some people believe/say WTT is a joke.

I can understand Scott saying 'I hate this event', if it's true (and if so I want to believe these words were directed only to Tessa). I am sure there must be other skaters who also hated this event besides him. They must have been dead tired right after the worlds and such a long season. Not only skaters; coaches and feds people, too, in fear for a potential injury of their skaters.
Should there need a lot of consideration and amendments prior to the actual Team event at Sochi Olympics in 2014? Yes, I agree.
Is it a good idea to hold another WTT two years in a row in the pre-Olympic season? NO, not the least, by any means!, I would say.

But they must have decided to get participated in this event, feeling privileged honor of and with pride in representing thier own country, and most of all, feeling obliged to present themselves as the top skaters for the sake for their sport.

In this regard, and on behalf of the entire audience who got to thoroughly enjoy the whole event for the last 4 days, when someone calls it a joke, I would rather take it as an insult to all skaters, coaches, feds people, judges and technical panel, ISU officials, backstage staff and all the others; every one of those who played an important role of this event and did their best, in their own way, to make it very successful. Period.

I will come back later to report my impression on Free Dance.

Deedee, I'll finally have time to read your review of the Free Dance, and I'm looking forward to it.

Don't let the naysayers get you down. You know from comments here that many of us think this competition is wonderful: it's different from all other events, it's fun, and it obviously has great potential to draw out the best in skaters. Like Doris, I'm also grateful to Japanese fans for being so supportive of all the skaters.

This event is Japan's unique contribution to world skating, and I'm eager to see how it moves into the future. Part of me hopes that it remains in Japan, but another part of me wants to spread the fun around a bit. Either way, it's something I'm glad I've had the chance to enjoy, on YouTube and from the eyewitness reports of fans who were there, including you.
 
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