Live Thoughts from TEB | Golden Skate

Live Thoughts from TEB

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Hey guys, I'll be using this thread to tell you about my amazing amazing experience at TEB (It was the first time I'd ever seen figure skating live). I have a lot to say, so it may take several posts, but I'll try to get it posted in relatively regular intervals.

A highlight before I get into everything - I got a picture with Brian Joubert!!!!! Made the entire trip even more special.
 

emma

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
I cannot wait to read all about it! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience. And wow!!! Photo with Brian???!!!:yay:
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Hey guys, I'll be using this thread to tell you about my amazing amazing experience at TEB (It was the first time I'd ever seen figure skating live). I have a lot to say, so it may take several posts, but I'll try to get it posted in relatively regular intervals.

A highlight before I get into everything - I got a picture with Brian Joubert!!!!! Made the entire trip even more special.
Oh, well done! That's more than worth the price of admission ;)

TEB was my first event, too, three years ago. The first skaters I saw where Carron/Jones, so even though they're not that good, I'll always have a soft spot for them. Anyway, lots of good memories, and I still watch some of the performances on Youtube on occasion. Speaking of which - see if you can find yourself in any videos! That's always fun to discover.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Hey guys, I'll be using this thread to tell you about my amazing amazing experience at TEB (It was the first time I'd ever seen figure skating live). I have a lot to say, so it may take several posts, but I'll try to get it posted in relatively regular intervals.

A highlight before I get into everything - I got a picture with Brian Joubert!!!!! Made the entire trip even more special.

I would have fainted away being so close to Brian! I am so jealous. lol.

Looking forward to your report. It is always nice to hear from folks who were actually at the competition.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
It's true! Skaters who made great memories for me at live events always hold a special place in my heart! :love:

Skaters who made an impression on me at my first live event are my forever favs :love:
Torvill & Dean , Blumberg & Siebert, Elaine Zayak, Denise Biellmann, Robert Wagenhoffer, Igor Bobrin, Scott Hamilton
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
The first day was short programs - there was open seating meaning that I could sit really close to the action. During the pairs short program, I got to sit in the fifth row very close to the center. People weren't allowed on the judges side, but it was still great to see. The pairs short wasn't really that good, but Kavaguti and Smirnov were great and got a standing ovation. She looked stunning - whoever designed her dresses this season has great taste. It was, however, disappointing that their SP had the same music as their FS from 2010. Berton and Hotarek were undermarked, but they were pretty lackluster. She's gorgeous though. I was pretty surprised that Peng and Zhang were third after the SP. They were pretty slow overall and she emotes less than Dan Zhang did...
Funny story though - they were selling Brian Joubert T Shirts with a matrix design on them.
More to come
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Oh, well done! That's more than worth the price of admission ;)

TEB was my first event, too, three years ago. The first skaters I saw where Carron/Jones, so even though they're not that good, I'll always have a soft spot for them. Anyway, lots of good memories, and I still watch some of the performances on Youtube on occasion. Speaking of which - see if you can find yourself in any videos! That's always fun to discover.
I don't think I was in any videos because I didn't have a flag or banner. But I was the first to give many skaters standing ovations. (I may have been overexcited at times and given certain skaters such as Polina Korobeynikova a standing ovation simply because they went clean which was so surprising that I couldn't help myself.)
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I would have fainted away being so close to Brian! I am so jealous. lol.

Looking forward to your report. It is always nice to hear from folks who were actually at the competition.
It was really hard to get a photo with Brian because he only came out of the main exit once. I was the first to ask him to get a photo and was probably not even the 10th to get a photo/autograph. Eventually I stopped being nice and just walked in front of people and put my arm around him.
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
A few more things - I never noticed this, but Stolbova and Soloviev both make the half heart to each other in the KC - I think it's adorable.
Also, I found it really weird that the crowd didn't clap for spins (except for uprights positions where the foot is above the head) and footwork and even some lifts were met with little to no applause. Also, during warmups, I was the only one clapping - even for quads (which really surprised me)

Also, Meagan Duhamel is even more ripped in person. During the star lifts, I could see her back muscles amazingly defined. And her arms looks great as usual.
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
After the pairs was the mens short - I got to move up to the fourth row and moved a bit more to the center. I met some really nice people and got to chatting with them. It was really nice to meet other figure skating fans. It was funny because there were four of us and two of us are Virtue and Moir fans and the other two are Davis and White fans. But we were able to get along well and have nice conversations which was really cool.

So first things first about the mens SP - Didn't think it was possible, but Brian Joubert is even better looking in person. Especially when he's wearing a costume with a mainly mesh shirt. I'll get back to the first group now, but it had to be said. Because that was probably my big takeaway from the mens comp. (short and long)

So I quickly realized how much cooler everything looks live - you can see so much more that you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. I loved looking at the patterns that the skaters left in the ice after spins and seeing ice fly up when they didn't execute footwork cleanly enough.

A funny thing that happened during the first part that may not have been shown on TV was that someone hit a judge with a huge stuffed animal - a fan was throwing Nan Song a huge panda bear and didn't get it far enough and ended up clocking a judge. It was quite hilarious.

Florent was quite awful, but I'm sure you guys could see that on TV. Abbott was awesome - he is even more elegant live than he is on TV. Even though he wasn't French, he got a standing ovation.

But Brian really stole the show - even though he wasn't clean, he was electrifying. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment he went out on the rink. He had one of the few programs that night that really projected to the crowd. Loved the footwork as well - I checked and it got level 3, but it could have gotten level 1 and I still would have loved it. He was getting roars after every move. It was amazing!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
How nice of you to take the time to share the details with us! It really gives a deeper view of skating to us couch potatoes. (And in my case, not even a couch potato--I missed the TV broadcast and haven't caught up on YouTube yet.) I think Abbott must be especially splendid to see live because his edging and so forth are so wonderful. One thing that surprised me the first time I saw live skating was the sound of the blades on the ice. I always think of it as the sound of velvet being ripped.

Kavaguti and Smirnoff must be an exquisite couple to watch, I think.

And of course Brian...that's an encounter you'll remember forever. I've never been that lucky with any of my favorites.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I have seen my favorites, but would never have the nerve to speak to them :slink:

Thanks so much Macassar88
 

ucrgirl

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
But Brian really stole the show - even though he wasn't clean, he was electrifying. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment he went out on the rink. He had one of the few programs that night that really projected to the crowd. Loved the footwork as well - I checked and it got level 3, but it could have gotten level 1 and I still would have loved it. He was getting roars after every move. It was amazing!

When I saw Brian live at the 2009 Worlds I was also impressed. We (the online fans) give him such a hard time, but I wouldn't have complained if he won title instead of Evan that night. He was fast (even his spins) and commanding.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Loving all the details - thank you for the report! :) I'm so glad it all lived up to expectations, and that you had a lovely time. And thanks for the Brian stuff especially - makes me go "Awww!" and at the same time feel envious - but in a feel-good-way; I'm so glad to be able to share your experiences - so thanks again. And looking forward to more to come, of course. :)
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Congrats on being bitten by the "live skating bug" now you will never ever get enough of it!

I've been one of those that threw something and hit a judge. I had the better throwing arm in my group so it was my job to throw to everyone's fav. One of the stuffed animals were way way way too light and i couldnt get it to the ice. So embarrassing.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thank you so much for the great report, Macassar88! :love:
As always, it's so nice to hear 'live thoughts' from someone who actually attended competitions!

It's true! Skaters who made great memories for me at live events always hold a special place in my heart! :love:
Skaters who made an impression on me at my first live event are my forever favs :love:

I so agree with you, doris! :yes:

So I quickly realized how much cooler everything looks live.

Welcome to the real 'deep' figure skating world. :biggrin:
That's what happended to me. Nerves, joys, excitements...there is nothing like watching competitions LIVE. Once you get to go and see them, you want to get to see them more!
 
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Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
So the next installment - ladies SP
I gave Polina a standing ovation - she was amazing live and skated a clean SP - I was beyond shocked. (Of course we all know that she took all the mistakes she should have made in the SP and moved them to the FS... but I didn't know that at the time.) Also, she had the nicest dress of the night - everyone I talked to agreed. She was definitely undermarked - especially considering that she was behind Meite... Polina's expressiveness was much better than I expected considering that on TV she's quite elegant and beautiful but doesn't always show musicality.

Tuk seemed like she was focusing on not falling rather than being expressive. I'm really happy to have seen her tango program though - it suits her much better than love story especially since she always gets choreography that involves her frantically moving her arms around regardless of what the music is doing. Still, her jumps are huge! I was admiring them throughout the entire warmup as well. Such beautiful technique! Someone who I met at the rink who was there last year as well said that she's gotten much faster - still seemed a bit slow around the rink though.

As expected, people were oohing and aahing at all of Julia's flexibility elements. Also, live her program didn't seem as frenetic as it had in the past. Got a couple of funny looks from people when I started clapping during her layover camel spin in the combo - I just think it's beautiful! (Although it does look better on TV since live, you can't necessarily tell that she's not in a normal camel position)

Ashley was great - she sold the heck out of that performance! I kind of wish she used that music as a free skate though - it's beautiful. Also, felt like it would have been nice with a little more build toward the end. I kept waiting for the build and suddenly the program was over!

more to come!
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Thank you so much for the great report, Macassar88! :love:
As always, it's so nice to hear 'live thoughts' from someone who actually attended competitions!
Welcome to the real 'deep' figure skating world. :biggrin:
That's what happended to me. Nerves, joys, excitements...there is nothing like watching competitions LIVE. Once you get to go and see them, you want to get to see them more!
ITA about getting the bug - I've been back for a bit more than a day and I still smile whenever I think of my time there. And I really want to see more live skating! I have decided that I will be attending US nationals in 2014 (and hopefully canadian nationals or skate canada so I can see Tessa and Scott!)

Also Doris, I am jealous that you got to meet so many greats of the past! Hopefully some of the skaters I met will become greats of the future! And meeting the skaters totally made the experience even better than I had expected (and I had hyped it up to epic proportions). Like seeing Jeremy live and then meeting him made me a fan even though I hadn't been that interested in him previously.
 
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