Bluebonnet Open 2014

I didn't even realize this was happening near me until today! Competition started today and runs through Sunday. I had basically no plans this weekend so I may try to show up. I've never been to this sort of competition before, can I just walk in with no entry fee??? There doesn't seem to be any information on tickets that I can find!

Here is the schedule:

http://comp.entryeeze.com/SingleRinkSched.aspx?id=476

Excited to go in particular because Amber Glenn will be debuting her new programs here:

http://figureskatersonline.com/news/2014/06/12/amber-glenn-looks-forward-to-her-senior-level-debut/

If you go, please tell us about it?

You can almost certainly just walk in the door and buy a ticket.

Thanks for the interview with Amber Glenn.

breathesgelatin, most U.S. club competitions don't charge admission, so hopefully Bluebonnet is one of those (ETA: I checked their competition announcement and it doesn't mention paid admission anywhere). I'd love to hear about both Amber Glenn and Ashley Shin (2014 U.S. junior bronze medalist who won silver in her international debut at Gardena Spring Trophy in Italy in late March) in Senior Ladies. Emily Chan in Junior Ladies is also someone worth watching. Enjoy!

Update, my husband and I are almost certainly going to the Ladies' Senior short program tonight. I'll likely go to the free tomorrow, too. I don't know if we'll stay for anything beyond that but maybe!!

I will definitely share what we experience

Just got back. We watched the short programs for Senior Ladies, Junior Ladies, Intermediate Men's, and Novice Men's. Would have stayed for Novice Ladies but my husband wanted to get home. (He was a good sport and had a pretty good time all considered. He might even go back with me tomorrow for the free skates!)

SENIOR LADIES
Amber Glenn: As promised, her short program was to "You Lift Me Up." I was curious to see if it would be a version with vocals, but it was not. It was a violin version. The music is not entirely to my taste, I have to admit. Her costume was reminiscent of Grace Gold's long program costume from last year - light blue, long sleeves, high neck, etc. (It's the one picture in the FSO article above.) She struggled a bit which is probably understandable given it's her first outing this year I think. I don't always recognize all the jumps, so bear with me... She fell on the first combo. Double axel good. Popped a Rippon (!) Lutz, after landing one nicely in the warm up. At the end, wow! She has a hyperextended Biellman spin! I think with the technical issues, her presentation may have lagged a bit...

Ashley Shin: She skated to "My Way." I like this piece for figure skating. Dark blue costume with silver sparkles (looks like maybe the same one she used at Nationals last year.) Her first combo looked great. She fell on the second jump. She did a really nice Y spiral into her double axel, that looked awesome. Really liked her!

Clara ????: Unfortunately I didn't get the last name of this young lady or pick up a program. She represents the Philippines but may live or train in Dallas because after her skate she came up and sat behind us with a gaggle of FSC Dallas girls. She skated to 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' and wore a black and red costume with sparkly tights (I like sparkly tights!). Missed her second jump in her combo, fell out of the second jump, double axel a bit shaky too. Nice effort though especially with such stiff competition.

One thing I was surprised about, never having been to a club competition, is that the scores weren't announced, and that those in the audience didn't necessarily know the placements. We were sitting just in front of a gaggle of Dallas skaters who talked amongst themselves. One went down to check, and I heard her say that the placements at the end of the short were 1. Ashley 2. Amber 3. Clara.

JUNIOR LADIES:
There were four competitors here... Gillian Gonzalez, Dasha Chalenko, Emily Chan and Sara(h)... something.

Sara was good, looked fast, and skated to basically the Yuna Kim 'James Bond' cut. LOL.

I was really impressed with Emily Chan, she was probably the most expressive of the skaters I saw tonight, with really cool arm movements in her program. She used segments from some of the same music that Pechalat/Bourzat used in their free skate this year. (The 'Droit de cite' piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIjyaNMM65U. It's possible the rest of Emily's program was from that same movie soundtrack.) Her costume was a little harlequin-ish maybe... it had checks on it and was something a little different, which I always appreciate.

OK, took me forever to organize my thoughts that much. I'll try to post more tomorrow after the free! Anyway, glad I went. A nice cheap night out.

thank you!


The season has started!

breathesgelatin said:

Just got back. We watched the short programs for Senior Ladies, Junior Ladies, Intermediate Men's, and Novice Men's. Would have stayed for Novice Ladies but my husband wanted to get home. (He was a good sport and had a pretty good time all considered. He might even go back with me tomorrow for the free skates!)

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He's a very good sport!

Amber Glenn: As promised, her short program was to "You Lift Me Up." I was curious to see if it would be a version with vocals, but it was not. It was a violin version.

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Arranged and played by David Garrett (as mentioned in Glenn's FSO interview/article). A poster at FSUniverse described Glenn's jump combo as "heavily stepped out of the 3 flip-(pause) 3 toe." She included the Rippon 3Lz in her FS this past season.

Her costume was reminiscent of Grace Gold's long program costume from last year - light blue, long sleeves, high neck, etc. (It's the one picture in the FSO article above.)

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It's possible her new costumes are not ready yet. Skaters often recycle their old costumes early in the season.

Ashley Shin: She skated to "My Way." I like this piece for figure skating. Dark blue costume with silver sparkles (looks like maybe the same one she used at Nationals last year.) Her first combo looked great. She fell on the second jump. She did a really nice Y spiral into her double axel, that looked awesome. Really liked her!

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The same FSU poster said her jumps were 3F+3T and 3Lz. I'm hoping she'll get to make her Junior Grand Prix debut later this year.

Clara ????: Unfortunately I didn't get the last name of this young lady or pick up a program. She represents the Philippines but may live or train in Dallas

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Yes, (Frances) Clare Untalan trains in Dallas (with same coach as Ashley Shin); she is the 2013-14 Philippines Junior Ladies champion.

One thing I was surprised about, never having been to a club competition, is that the scores weren't announced, and that those in the audience didn't necessarily know the placements.

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Yes, many U.S. club comps don't announce the (unofficial) scores after each skate in order to save time.

Many thanks for sharing your impressions and observations and I hope you enjoy the skating again tonight!

Videos?? And news about the attempted jumps?

There aren't always videos from club comps - it's very hit-and-miss. I've edited in some jump info that was posted at FSUniverse.

Sylvia said:

The same FSU poster said her jumps were 3F+3T and 3Lz. I'm hoping she'll get to make her Junior Grand Prix debut later this year.

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Yes! Ashley was really good, excited to see her on the JGP maybe. I went and looked at FSU (not registered there but I sometimes lurk). I would have to agree with the poster there that at this point, Ashley's short seems stronger than Amber's. Amber's music selection was just not working for her, I don't think. However, perhaps the issues with the jumps deflated the performance aspect a bit.

Yes, (Frances) Clare Untalan trains in Dallas (with same coach as Ashley Shin); she is the 2013-14 Philippines Junior Ladies champion.

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Thanks for confirming her name for me!

Many thanks for sharing your impressions and observations and I hope you enjoy the skating again tonight!

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Yes, I'm excited. Going to see if tonight we can stay for novice ladies as well

Edited to add: I brought my camera with the intention of possibly filming the performances, but decided not to... I just wanted to stay in the moment with the skating! Maybe tonight, we'll see.

Night 2!

Poor Amber hit the boards REALLY hard during the warm-up. I was worried how it would affect her. She had a black dress with gold underlay on the front and a very lacy, pretty back. Skated to the Spanish style music listed in her interview above. Her 1st combinatino was great. She really needs to improve her extension (especially noticeably weak during the slow parts) and expressiveness. Although her long is a better program than her short, clearly the jumps are her strong suit, not PCS.

Claire skated to Romeo & Juliet, her dress was a pretty dark purple. She had several disrupting falls tonight but there is a spark in her.

Ashley Shin, I didn't recognize the music... Classical piece with Spanish-y classical guitar. I didn't feel she skated as well tonight as last night.

Based on the skating, I would have to guess that the final placements were Amber-Ashley-Claire, with Amber and Ashley switching placements tonight. I'm not sure though what the final placements were! I saw Ashley and Amber outside after the competition taking some selfies together, really cute.

In Juniors, Emily Chan skated to a modern-sounding Arabian/Indian piece. Her costume was primarily black with black and silver accent in an 'orientalist' style. She had black gloves as well. She is really something to watch, a wonderful performer. If she can get the jumps together...

Sadly Justin Wichman (sp?) had to stop his program and restart tonight. It appeared that he hurt his knee. I was pretty worried for him but he skated out the program after the pause. He has nice expressive arms.

Anyway, I'm glad I went! fun.