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ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Given Gracie's "haha...the second half were double jumps..." quip it sounds like she planned to do it that way so she could focus on he choreography.

That was my initial assumption, also. After all, it's a local competition, so she doesn't need to pull out all of the big stops. If she landed the 3Lz-3T, I could imagine she also landed another 3Lz, and perhaps the 3F. Her toe jumps are much stronger than her edge jumps, which would explain the high score.

Also, I would assume she received pretty good PCS, since her TES definitely didn't break/come close to 60.
 

sandjohnson

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Just home from watching the long programs. I am not a jump expert, so I cannot give you details. Sorry. Gracie opened with a combination that looked like 3-3 to me. Then 2 more jumping passes that were triples. The long choreography section that came next was beautiful. She was exactly on the music with every little movement. Gorgeous. The second half was all doubles, so there is a lot of scoring potential there. Her costume was wonderful. Pink off the shoulder with silver "sparkles". The sparkles on the body of the dress were in an intricate pattern. She was clearly the class of the competition.

Davis and Brubaker did a monitoring session last night and were not expected to skate today. We did not wait to see if they actually skated.

Had a great time watching all of the skaters live. It is so much different (and better) than watching on TV. Makes me appreciate all of the information I find on this board. You guys must be taking notes like mad when you go to competitions and then post for us!
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Just home from watching the long programs. I am not a jump expert, so I cannot give you details. Sorry. Gracie opened with a combination that looked like 3-3 to me. Then 2 more jumping passes that were triples. The long choreography section that came next was beautiful. She was exactly on the music with every little movement. Gorgeous. The second half was all doubles, so there is a lot of scoring potential there. Her costume was wonderful. Pink off the shoulder with silver "sparkles". The sparkles on the body of the dress were in an intricate pattern. She was clearly the class of the competition.

Davis and Brubaker did a monitoring session last night and were not expected to skate today. We did not wait to see if they actually skated.

Had a great time watching all of the skaters live. It is so much different (and better) than watching on TV. Makes me appreciate all of the information I find on this board. You guys must be taking notes like mad when you go to competitions and then post for us!

Thanks again for your meticulous reports, sandjohnson! We who can't attend the competitions live for recaps like these.

That's wonderful to hear about Gracie (and, yes, the opening combination was a 3-3) -- from your description, her long program sounds breathtaking.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Thanks, Sylvia! The reports so far sound very positive. Hopefully a fancam will pop up on YouTube in a few days. :)
 

vera01

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Thanks again for the report, sandjohnson!

Does anyone know what type of Sleeping Beauty music she was using(waltz, or something similar to Zijun Li's?)?
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Thanks again for the report, sandjohnson!

Does anyone know what type of Sleeping Beauty music she was using(waltz, or something similar to Zijun Li's?)?

I can't imagine it was TOO similar to Zijun's, since Zijun's was very soft and lyrical -- your typical "princess-y" music. From the report on FSU, it seems that Gracie's was far more powerful, i.e. the clashing cymbals. God bless Marina Zoueva. :)

ETA: 60+ PCS is very good for her first time performing the program, and she was playing it safe. I have a feeling well see that number rise significantly on the GP.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I think Gracie was originally slated to skate the SP, but dropped out at the last minute. This could be because she's just not ready to perform it, or for the reason you mentioned -- she's got something up her sleeve that will be revealed to us later on.

:yes: FWIW, both Golds were scheduled for the SP, per entryeeze ... so at the very least, G. Gold seemed to be keeping her options open.
 

vera01

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
ETA: 60+ PCS is very good for her first time performing the program, and she was playing it safe. I have a feeling well see that number rise significantly on the GP.

I agree.

It seems like Gracie has improved artistically with having Zoueva as her choreographer. Good job:clap:
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2010
ETA: 60+ PCS is very good for her first time performing the program, and she was playing it safe. I have a feeling well see that number rise significantly on the GP.

How can her PCS marks can be taken seriously when it's held in the US and she's the only top skater in the competition ? Not a lot of credibility when you moreover know she only did doubles in the second half. It's like inflated nationals scores, doesn't worth much. I'll wait until I've seen the program and her first international competition.
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
How can her PCS marks can be taken seriously when it's held in the US and she's the only top skater in the competition ? Not a lot of credibility when you moreover know she only did doubles in the second half. It's like inflated nationals scores, doesn't worth much. I'll wait until I've seen the program and her first international competition.
We have read only positive reviews so far, when during the last season everyone said "Well, nice speed, high jumps but poor choreography/interpretation", now people who actually saw it live said that she was "focusing on choreography", and this is itself an improvement for her (her choreography has always been almost running from element to element doing some steps so far, not really "focusing" on the movements she was doing), and the PCS confirms these impressions, so I expect it to be a good program. With all her jumps done, she could easily score 130+ next season I think...
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Gracie earned 127.05 for her FS at WTT this year, so a 3 point improvement is very possible, particularly if she lands all her jumps, as she did as US Nationals.
 

sandjohnson

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Thanks again for the report, sandjohnson!

Does anyone know what type of Sleeping Beauty music she was using(waltz, or something similar to Zijun Li's?)?

I just watched the video links earlier in this thread. If I am remembering correctly, Gracie's opening is the same as Angela N's. I don't remember recognizing the waltz and I think I would have. I remember more brass instruments, but not as frantic sounding as Zijun's. I also remember more harp than in any of those I listened to. The choreography section was beautiful. Gracie was spot on, with the music. Hope this is helpful.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
How can her PCS marks can be taken seriously when it's held in the US and she's the only top skater in the competition ? Not a lot of credibility when you moreover know she only did doubles in the second half. It's like inflated nationals scores, doesn't worth much. I'll wait until I've seen the program and her first international competition.

Gracie was scoring higher than 60 in PCS at Worlds and WTT, too, and that was sans decent presentation/choreography. By comparison, her PCS at Skate Detroit last year was only 52, and that was with a fully loaded long program (or so she attempted). At US Nationals, it was barely above 61. So, even across the "inflated nationals" board, she seems to have improved a lot.

I'll take it one step farther and say that Gracie WILL be scoring 130+ next season in the FS. She still has three months to tweak the FS, so my guess is that we haven't seen the best it can be. Depending on how her SP looks, she could be well in the 190's range -- in other words, unbeatable by any US lady.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2010
Gracie was scoring higher than 60 in PCS at Worlds and WTT, too, and that was sans decent presentation/choreography. By comparison, her PCS at Skate Detroit last year was only 52, and that was with a fully loaded long program (or so she attempted). At US Nationals, it was barely above 61. So, even across the "inflated nationals" board, she seems to have improved a lot.

I don't agree with her marks at nationals (PCS wise). The fact she went from 52 to 60 in one year isn't about her programs but reputation, that's it. It does not mean she was any better in this area (honestly, both programs were empty). That's why nationals scores doesn't show anything else than who USFSA wants on the team. The fact she popped all her second half jumps does not give any credit to this kind of PCS when she had around the same last year skating clean (thus PE should had been higher than at this competition).
That's true to a lesser extend for internationals competitions : for exemple Kim LP & as mentioned Gold LP where empty outside elements at worlds and they still got incredibly inflated marks (and no, I don't question Kim's victory here, only her PCS, she was clearly better overall than all her competitors).
You can't really judge without having seen the programs. This was an US competition attended by US spectators who like Gold and aren't maybe the most unbiased about her programs, sometimes you see what you want to see. Plus I don't give any credit to a Zoueva work until I've seen it. I just can't remember a good thing she produced since GG.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
From what I understand, there were a lot of high level judges on the panel (I heard that there were at least 2 National level judges on the Senior Ladies panel. Also, most people seem to forget that PCS follows the SS mark corridor, so if a skater has high SS, the rest follows and Gold DOES have high SS.

Also, I don't think she popped her jumps in the second half of the program, I think she intended them to be doubles here.
 

sandjohnson

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Also, I don't think she popped her jumps in the second half of the program, I think she intended them to be doubles here.[/QUOTE]

I am not an expert, but it certainly looked like she intended to do doubles.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
I don't agree with her marks at nationals (PCS wise). The fact she went from 52 to 60 in one year isn't about her programs but reputation, that's it. It does not mean she was any better in this area (honestly, both programs were empty). That's why nationals scores doesn't show anything else than who USFSA wants on the team. The fact she popped all her second half jumps does not give any credit to this kind of PCS when she had around the same last year skating clean (thus PE should had been higher than at this competition).
That's true to a lesser extend for internationals competitions : for exemple Kim LP & as mentioned Gold LP where empty outside elements at worlds and they still got incredibly inflated marks (and no, I don't question Kim's victory here, only her PCS, she was clearly better overall than all her competitors).
You can't really judge without having seen the programs. This was an US competition attended by US spectators who like Gold and aren't maybe the most unbiased about her programs, sometimes you see what you want to see. Plus I don't give any credit to a Zoueva work until I've seen it. I just can't remember a good thing she produced since GG.

Gracie didn't pop the jumps in the second half of the program -- per her own admission, she purposely doubled them to focus on her choreography. From the reports, it sounds like her transitions and interpretation have improved significantly. Plus, musical or not, Gracie has excellent skating skills, so her PCS aren't entirely unjustified. Her artistic immaturity last season was at least partially due to poor choreography; like I said, she received higher component marks at WTT than she did at Nationals.

Unfortunately, without the means to fly halfway across the country to watch a competition, I have no choice but to judge based on what others have posted about the program. (At least, until a video shows up on YouTube, which I hope will be soon.) But I don't think I'll be disappointed, especially since what she showed at Skate Milwaukee was still a work-in-progress.

We'll have to disagree on Zoueva. I think she's turned out some beautiful programs for her dance teams in the past. Davis/White's FD last season was absolutely breathtaking.
 
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