- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
Yes Alex D. And thank you!
How would Kaetlyn compare her win today versus her first win at Nebelhorn?
How would Kaetlyn compare her win today versus her first win at Nebelhorn?
2015 Nebelhorn Trophy Ladies SP and Free Skate
- Thread starter Alex D
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
She definitely show s great personality but it is not part of the PCS criteria.
Performance is lumped with Execution, so she satisfy one half, but not necessarily the other today. In any case, I think she has been under rated among the Russian youngsters. She has by far the more mature presentation and expression with the right material, her Chaplin last year for example was a gem and I have stated so in my early reviews.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
Thanks Alex.
Please tell her I love her FS program this year, and wonder what is the story behind it? Her choice or her Choreographer's choice?
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
Just tell her she was amazing and it's great she's back! Best wishes for the rest of the season.
And thank you for posting your interviews
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2014
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2012
- Country
-
haha not to kill your fun darlings... but Canada is a very big country.... and immigration is varied in its very different regions.... there's not really a "canadian accent" there are SEVERALyou can't compare people from Newfoundland to Alberta etc etc... even from town to town... people in Montreal do not speak French the same way as people in Quebec city.. and these towns are only 2 hours apart in car...
Oh, don't worry, I realised that there is a lot of regional variation (and even alluded to it in my previous post). Like, anybody who just sees the size of Northern Ireland on a map would not believe the amount of variation in accent there is here!
But, I did find it interesting the point you made about Montreal and Quebec accents being different. I hadn't realised that there were regional variations within the French speaking community as well. There again, I haven't actually heard many Canadians speaking in French (Jacques Villeneuve is probably the only one!)
I just finished the Ladies FS, and I had to laugh. There we were last night talking about people from Newfoundland, and it turns out that that is where Kaetlyn Osmond is from! And the interview just showed how diverse the "Canadian accent" actually is. A skater from Newfoundland talking to a skater from Ontario.
And, just as a final comment on this accent discussion, Kaetlyn just proves the original point I was making. She would DEFINITELY fit in over here! In fact, she actually sounds just like somebody I know!
Moving onto the actual competition, and I was delighted that Kaetlyn won. She was definitely the best in each segment.
I LOVED everything about Alena's FS except for 2 things - the music and the skates.
That music was just a total mess. Like, how many songs were in there?! And although some people liked the transitions between the songs, I didn't. But maybe that was because I was having enough problems watching the videos and thought that I was losing the audio!
Didn't like the flesh coloured skates either. But, at least it was better than that awful habit that some skaters have of having their tights going over the skates (or, even worse, only partially covering their skates!) My attitude is that people do not have metal blades attached directly to their feet. So, why try to make it look as if they do?!
Alena looked amazing, and she skated really well. But, I am totally biased. Just remember, I was still championing her when everybody else was saying she should just retire! She may not be able to have a Liza-style comeback (let's face it, her Federation are still going to favour the younger skaters for the big events), but she has proved that she still has it!
Nothing againgst Courtney, but I think I would have preferred to see Alaine on the podium. And Mirai was amazing in the FS. If she can get the SP as polished as her FS was, she will be right in the mix come Nationals.
All in all, a very enjoyable Ladies FS (especially when I discovered that the routines from the final 2 groups were on YouTube! Yes, I still had to watch the intros and the highlights/getting results on Daily Motion, but it meant that instead of crashing a couple of times every skater, Firefox only crashed a couple of times altogether!)
By the way, the Gala has been put up on the Daily Motion channel this morning.
1st Half: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37xqim_gala-part-1-nebelhorn-trophy-2015_sport
2nd Half: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37xqin_gala-part-2-nebelhorn-trophy-2015_sport
CaroLiza_fan
NT 2015 Column
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Those, Dark - Brown Eyes! (Campfire Chat with Kaetlyn Osmond)
3. Dracula and his bride (Maxim & Tatiana claim there 4th NT victory)
4. About Power and Maturity (To quad or not to quad in Pairs)
5. Getting to known (What´s this all about?)
5.1 Kailani Craine (introducing the new shooting star from Australia)
5.2 Who´s next? (Tania and Karoliina)
6. Medals for all
6.1 Alaine Chartrand ("best SP for the 1.52m whirlwind from Prescott)
6.1.1 Kaetlyn, Alena and Courtney backstage ("What I like about You")
6.2 Best FS - Konstantin Menschov ("I am not so young, so")
6.3 Best Chemistry - Mitchel - Islam (about the meaning of life)
6.3.1 Chock - Bates strike again
6.3.2 Canuscio - Mcmanus ( "I am the music and he is Beethoven")
6.4 Best Endurance - Niki Wories (worlds most elegant Crash Pilot)
6.5 Best accent - Kailani Craine
6.6 Best Smile - Karoliina Luhtonen
6.7 Best Coach - Tarja Sipilä
6.8 Best Outfits - So Many
7.0 Off the record
8.0 Best Quotes
1. Introduction
Once again, I was allowed to cover the event and once again I learned so many new things about FS. Right now I have a little cold, as I forgot to put my jacket on during the Gala, but oh well... The column this year, has many more interviews than the last, I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, so let me know! I tried to write about as many skaters as possible, but as always, I can not write about everyone, so I apologize in advance. And now, I wish everyone a lot of fun, reading this huge wall of text.
2. Those, Dark - Brown Eyes!
It has been three long years since a 16-year old and her wonderful smile, gave Oberstdorf the pleasure to witness maturity, sex appeal and a selling potential that Figure Skating needs to get back to where it once was. Her smiles, the graceful movements and also important the skills on blades are something that a sport currently suffering under some type of media crisis, needs.
It´s a fresh element, an element which should not be underestimated by the ISU, as we need those athletes who motivate a new generation of kids to get on blades, even if you can not make a million dollars with it or gain 10 billion facebook friends.
Friends by the way are, what Kaetlyn surely has plenty of and one of them dropped a remarkable comment about her.
A comment, which needed some explanation from the 19 years old herself and she was pretty honest about her tiny but also charming issue with carpets, stairs and walking in general.
There was, however, one exception to this rule and unfortunately did exactly this one, cost Kaetlyn the whole last season when she fractured the fibula in her right leg during practice.
With rolling eyes and a smile she continued
If now, as a fan you want to punish those evil boards, or just want to take a picture of them for nostalgic reasons, then all you need to do is actually go to Edmonton, as this is where Kaetlyns practice venue can be found.
A venue, which is so much different from many other venues around the world.
after a small laughter she continued
Great however, was her performance at Oberstdorf - a performance that did not see much change from the basic idea that she had before her injury, except, one minor detail!
and once again, we had something to laugh about.
What was there however, were triple jumps en masse except the loop which she left out due a minor injury prior to the event. In total, Osmond landed six triple jumps, with her best being the triple Lutz in the FS and a new PB of 179.41 .
That said, she has a pretty clear and agreeable opinion about the "jump war" that currently happens in FS, where everyone is trying to get the most difficult jumps somehow under their belt.
Said choreography in her FS, was the Tango. A very remarkable and well-known element to the figure skating scene and she performed it flawlessly and did the thing we men hate so much about women, playing hot and cold with us!
Kaetlyn, designed the program with Pasquale Camerlengo last season and achieved - with 7.6 in average, the highest PC´s of the competition.
Said program, does not consist of a triple Axel, an element that Elizaveta re-introduced last season with her flawless comeback. Kaetlyn so far, did not do any triple Axel attempts and explained her reasoning to me, like this.
after a small thought she added
Last but not least, we spoke about her current season and the competition in Canada. Kaetlyn, had a lot of good words for her Canadian team mates and would like to repeat what she did three years ago, when her promising international career also started here at Oberstdorf and she won Skate Canada a bit later.
As for the Grand Prix´s and international scene, she added with a smile,
In my opinion, this young Lady deserves better from her so-called fans. She is such a nice person, we talked for almost 15 minutes and she would have probably talked to me for another 15, if there wasn´t an appointment to attend. Why this young lady gets so much hate and critique I will never understand, but it´s the same like with Gracie last year. Those skaters are wonderful people and they are humans just like you and me. There is no reason to insult them or be super negative if there is not a gold medal around their neck.
3. Dracula and his bride
Gold medals, those two excellent skaters have plenty and yet they face a lot of critique every time they skate, especially after their Bollywood SP which didn´t go as planned. The current reigning double, Olympic champions Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar, had two very distinctive performances here at Oberstdorf. Their SP, was a hit and miss compilation, while the FS was almost a perfect demonstration of their old strength.
A story that might very well repeat indeed, as in 2018, if all goes well, the three-year threshold will be reached and both be skating together again for three consecutive years after sitting out the whole last season due Trankovs shoulder injury.
When the pair was found in 2011, it also took them exactly those three years to get a decent SP on the ice and we all know how it did end up for them at Sochi.
Maxim added,
While Alexa and Chris, the Americans coming second, performed a quad twist, Tatiana and Maxim didn´t, which lead to the question about their plans and future quads. In general, Trankov didn´t rule out the possibility of a quad twist, but quad throws like of Duhamel and Redford, he did.
He also added the funny remark that,
Not actually a baby anymore, is Pairs-kating, with the first competitions taking place in 1908 with Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger winning gold for the German Empire. Yet, the amount of actual Pairs skaters today, is quite low compared to the singles which Maxim thought about as a missed opportunity.
However, there is also light at the end of the tunnel as he added,
What also grows is the Russians desire to compete, as Maxim noted and once again made everyone laugh with his argumentation, as of why.
waits a few seconds and adds...
The cup of China is the third ISU Grand Prix Event held from the 6th-8th of November at Beijing. Currently listed are Mao Asada, Javier Fernandez, World bronze medalist Elena Radionova, Sui/Han, the European Champions Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov and Chock/Bates.
As for the Russians plans in regards of Grand Prix attendances, their schedule shows Trophée Bompard in Bordeaux and the NHK Trophy at Tokyo, where they will face Redford / Duhamel and their Quads.
4. About Power and Maturity
Talking about quads, there was something, right? Yes, the Americans Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim offered a quad twist in their LP. The program itself, was as unique as the one of the Russians, a lot of elements which you don´t see that often, very original and fitting to their program music of Elisabeth, the Golden Age.
Chris mentioned that it was their intention to let the music stand out and show what they are capable of.
The Americans only 4th after the short, lost one mark in PC´s over the Russians, averaging 7.5 - yet made a huge jump forward, with great synchronicity and more than just a quad to stand out. Their spectacular performance had two triple throws, a wonderful side by side Sal and three very crafty lift elements. As for the quad topic in general, Chris disagreed with Maxim.
As for their performance at the Trophy itself, Alexa said:
"smiles and lets Chris finish"
Something I am personally looking forward to is, when both pairs hopefully return in 2016, as the smiles were real and the jokes really awful and we all know, those are usually the best, right?
5. Getting to known
Not a joke at all, is my new category, "getting to known", which I invented as a new feature to showcase and introduce new talents in FS. It is a section, that I want to expand with every Figure Skating event that I go to. It´s a section that will showcase young talents, skaters who you might have never heard of, but who will make your day in absolutely every possible way.
5.1 Kailani Craine
We will start with a young lady, who is actually responsible for this whole "getting to know" section, as when I saw her on Wednesday for the first time in practice, I instantly knew, I want to know more, I want to let the whole world know, about this young Australian.
Her skating is very gorgeous and charming but also confident. She shows great flexibility and always has her head up. She likes to skate, she is there to entertain and put a smile on the people in the audience. Her skating reaches your heart and you just want to see her again and again.
Therefore, I was very happy, to get a few minutes with the 17 years old from Newcastle, South Wales who when she started skating, never really thought that she would end up where she is right now.
With a very cute laughter she added,
Besides skating however, she has something that is so typical for the Aussies and it has to do with snow and mountains, not really something you find at every corner there, but this doesnt stop Kailani from doing it.
As a snowboarding fan myself, I kind of wish I could see her on the board some time, I just cannot get that picture out of my head, how this young girl styles up on the board, naughty as she is.
However, if anyone out there might now be worried about this hobby, don´t be afraid, Kailani promised, to not do anything too crazy in show.
What she also promised is, that she is coming back to Oberstdorf and she left absolutely no doubt how she feels about this place.
With a wink and a smile she also added,
referring to a hint she got from some of her friends, who competed at the Bavarian Open in 2015, a Figure Skating event at a time, when Oberstdorf was completely covered in snow and who knows, maybe in 2016 there will be snow again with Kailani and her board, riding it.
Besides Snowboarding, this young lady is also a Designer! Each of her stunning outfits, were designed by herself with the LP dress being a bit tight as she admitted.
The young Aussie who still goes to school also confessed that there are two extremes in the fashion life of Kailani Craine.
A lot of fun it also was to see her three programs, as she was also invited to perform at the Gala.
Kailani about her SP where she landed a triple "Flutz", Loop and double Axel and received a new PB of 50.42.
Her long program, was not just a classic for skating fans, but also for her, as she skated to Rome & Juliet before.
In said program, she showed great maturity and a total of four triples and she also received a level four modification, for her really gorgeous layback and in general never lost her positive attitude throughout the program.
Overall, the young Australian and her self-designed dresses, absolutely added to this years Trophy and she can be named side by side with names like Mariah Bell, Kaetlyn Osmond or Laura Lepistö, who achieved the same when they were at Oberstdorf for the very first time.
A first time, it isn´t that Australian skaters enhance the day for skating fans around the world, Brooklee Han is well known, not only among experts and there are also Paris and Matthew who have besides their trouble with the skating boots not arriving in time, also a bright future in front of them.
Aussie skating might not yet be as popular as H2O or Home & Away, but it´s there and it´s a tight & supportive community as Kailani mentioned.
Some of those choices, will bring the young lady and her cute accent to the Spanish JGP next, afterwards the Ice Challenge in Austria, her nationals and junior worlds and maybe even worlds.
Last but not least, Kailani has a little shoutout for her fans and those who might want to swap the surf board for some skating boots.
Craine continues with a huge smile on her face,
Kailani who probably said thank you, a 100 times, during the interview, has been someone who I really liked talking to, we had great fun and I am sure there is a lot more to see from her in the next few years. Her own music video she already has and it sure won´t be the last thing we see from that busy young lady with her million talents.
5.2 Who´s next?
More talents to discover are out there, two of them are Tania Odermatt and Karoliina Luhtonen. The Swiss and the Fin, have a really lovely appearance and were rightfully noticed by some of you at this forum. Therefore, it will be my duty, to try and get them for a small interview session soon. The target for those two is the NRW Trophy if they show up there, as I sadly didn´t had the time to talk to Tania at all and only very little with young Karoliina, who is so charming, but still a bit shy - which I am as well, so you can imagine our conversation, right?
You might now probably wonder, will there only be girls in that section? Well no, but the girls tend to be more open for such stuff, I guess the guys find giving these interviews a bit uncool. However, I am sure I will find a guy or even a couple out there, which is open for it and then him, her or them will be introduced to you, just like Kailani today.
6. Medals for All
As always, I have picked my favorite skaters, programs and outfits and summarized them under the Medals for all section.
6.1 Best SP Alaine Chartrand - Lilies of the Valley (Pina)
This tiny whirlwind of just 1.52m, skates for Nepean SC and has such a remarkable Lutz that there will never be any doubt about that outside edge. In general, her skating style taught me quite a lot about FS elements, as she has a wonderful way of doing them clean and not rushed. In my opinion, she got way too few points in her SS, some judge even gave her a 5.5, which is hilarious in my opinion.
I love her work with the edges and that great attitude, she can be naughty, sexy, charming and funny as well, qualities that you need to present various types of programs.
So, what made her SP stand out? Well, the 19 years old hardly made any mistakes and she has a wonderful way of using the music for her elements. If there is a quieter section, then you will see this in her motion and facial expression, just like she can be naughty and sexy if the music provides it. The young Canadian who is coached by FS legend Brian Orser, had an almost perfect performance. Her spins which were original and clean, received level 4´s, so did her step-sequence and she of course landed her trademark and favorite element, the triple Lutz just fine.
The national silver medalist and winner of the bronze medal at Rostelcom 2014, was quite pleased with her performance when I talked to her backstage.
As for the rest of the season, she was quite clear in what she wants.
The elements she is talking about are mostly found in the FS, as for some reason it just didn´t work out that day. Therefore, Alaine sady dropped to the 4th position, behind Alena Leonova and Courtney Hicks from the US.
6.1.1 Kaetlyn, Alena and Courtney backstage ("What I like about You")
Said Ladies and Kaetlyn, played a little game with me backstage, a game of finding a fitting sentence for ech other and here is what they came up with.
Kaetlyn about Courtney
Alena about Kaetlyn
Courtney about Alena
The Ladies competition while only with three groups, was really enjoyable, also because I never missed a practice and saw how they progressed over the days. A good example is Mariko Kiahara, who fell pretty much every time in practice, but then in competition she did quite decent. It reminded me a bit of Yuna Kim, who at least when I saw her practice, had the same issues at times.
As always I was impressed how these young girls of 15+, can fall so hard on the ice and yet keep their smiles!
6.2 Best LP Konstantin Menshov - Mad World by Gary Jules / Radioactive by Lindsey Stirling and Pentatnix (Imagine Dragons Cover)
Konstantin is also a skater with smiles, but it´s a different one as he is very modest and calm, a wonderful person and so mature. Menshov, won the bronze medal behind a thrilling Elladj Baldé scoring his first title ever and Max Aaron who convinced with his black swan FS and an ACDC Gala performance.
The Russian who unfortunately does not get much help in Russia, crafts programs with an intention, an intention that isn´t just a big score, but also telling all of us, about the world we life in.
As for his LP in general, he added
Menshov continues
What´s also difficult for the sympathetic Russian is his standing among the Russian Federation as he explained
Konstantin who does practice in St. Petersburg, adds with a smile and in English
6.3.0 Best Chemistry Paul / Islam - FS (about the meaning of life)
A still very young discipline in Figure Skating, is Ice Dance and was once dominated by the Brits and later Russians / Sow-jet Union skaters. Today however, both nations dont play a big role anymore, at least not if it´s about securing gold medals, of which the first ever was rewarded in 1952 when the Brits Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy, skated to gold in Paris.
Up until Sochi, Ice Dance was dominated by US and Canadian teams and at Oberstdorf both nations also claimed the top three spots.
While it´s hard to single out a couple, I am going for Alex and Mitchel here, as I was so impressed by their skating attitude and chemistry, especially in their FD. While "only" coming second with a few errors here and there, the couple that just moved from the Detroit Skating Club to Montreal, was asking a very important question in their FD.
rumbles, I am fu....
Alex takes over,
A program which was perfectly portrait in their faces, especially in Alexandra´s case, you didn´t even had to know in advance what it all was about, as it was so clearly to see.
Sadly clearly to see, was also their disappointment at the Kiss & Cry, as Alex explained a bit later.
6.3.1 Chock - Bates strike again
It however, was the day of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who won the competition with a huge gap of more than 20 points and a combined total of 169.50. As always, both skaters showed great speed and change of position during their lifts, it was a crafty program to Rachmaninoff's "Concerto No. 2, with good entries and a lot of fire.
6.3.2 Cannuscio - Mcmanus (I am the music and he is Beethoven)
Third came Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin Mcmanus with a wonderful FS program about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, split into three parts. Each part describes the life circumstances of Ludwig, with her portraying the music and Colin the "maestro". You will be able to see how the music drags Beethoven out of his depression, but also how its worried that it might no longer exist, if he cannot be fixed.
Both skaters show that relationship wonderfully and if you want to know the full details, please click here.
In my opinion, to come up with such an idea is absolutely incredible. Her playing the music and him Beethoven. It is amazing how much work and thought figure skaters often put into their programs and it´s a shame that for a lot of people, these stories don´t count when they rate or review skates and even the ISU system is not perfect there.
I can imagine, how much work it is to put something together, as I work in a similar environment and no matter if on the ice, music studio or on stage, stories are there to be told and this is the beauty about them. Big big respect to all those skaters and their idea´s, I am such a fan of them.
6.4 Best Endurance - Niki Wories
A fan of her, I am as well. I called her "crash pilot" a few times during my practice reports and if she ever reads this here, then I hope she won´t get mad at me, as I really like this young lady. But you know, the reason for that nickname was simple, as she just kept crashing on the ice, trying hard elements over and over again, never giving up or accepting that it might not be her day. I always knew that figure skaters, especially the girls can take a beating which would make everyone else cry, but Niki - damn, she doesn´t feel pain at all!
What she, however feels is the rhythm of the music! Young Niki who was coached by Brian Orser in summer was absolutely breathtaking when she did something else than jumping, especially her steps and the way she moves her upper body and the arms - it´s just super goed and she can be so fast too!
There is so much elegance and grace in those movements, that it´s hard to believe that she is just 19 years of age. I actually only see and know this type of stuff from my dance group at home, where we have girls as well, that can do things with their body, that an old men like me, could never - ever do, without breaking every bone I got.
It´s therefore no surprise that the young lady from Dordrecht has "dancing" listed as her hobby, she just got the flow and while she was still too young to experience the big dance events in the NL; I am sure, she would had scored high among the guys there as well.
6.5 Best accent - Kailani Craine
Sassy, boppy and so many other things she says, are so class. I find that expression and choice of words so charming. I will probably not delete our interview and once in a while re-listen to it, just for entertainment.
6.6 Best Smile Karoliina Luhtonen
I was coming out of the press room once and the sun started to shine. OK this is totally silly and cheesy, but ya, she just put on her best smile at that time and all of this, after a not so successful LP before, but with a new PB of 125 in total. I am so looking forward to seeing her again! She is only 15 years of age and skates for the Kerava SC in Finland, about 25 miles north from Helsinki and hometown of Valtter Virtanen and our forum member TMC. She is incredible mature and as a Fin she gets bonus points anyway, as without them I would not write this stuff here today. Her next stop will be the JGP in Spain, so check this young lady out!
6.7 Best coach - Tarja Sipilä
Oh boy, it´s so much fun to see her and Juulia work together. I always like watching when they practice, she shows a lot of things on herself, like how to bend the leg, hold the arms and stuff and afterwards young Juulia has to do it and if it didn´t work out for her, Tarja is totally calm and shows it again. Also, she always smiles if we meet, such a cool lady!
6.8. Best outfits
Oh, here I just cannot really name someone only - especially since there were also cool outfits in practice like of Tania Odermatt or Kailani Craine (both more Casual actually). Btw. did you know, that Kaetlyns dresses are designed by "Josiane" in Montreal? So what are you waiting for, go there and dress like Kaetlyn or Rochette once did.
7.0 Off the record
There is so much more to tell about Nebelhorn 2015, I had amazing fun, all those different accents, the different nationalities and ways how people approached me or I approached them, the jokes during interviews, me embarassing myself at times - it just was all there. I want to thank everyone, the skaters, the OC, my colleagues ... for this wonderful opportunity to write about this stuff. I am an optimistic guy. Therefore, you won´t find bad words about anyone or anything here, maybe I see things too positive at times, but ... I like things like that, we have so much bad stuff going on right now in our world, that it´s a really refreshing opportunity to meet so many different people who tolerate others and don´t care if someone has a million bucks or something.
A lot of things are still there to improve, I have missed my target of interviewing people by a large amount, there is just never enough time and you know, there is some figure skating as well and I just want to see it too.
So if you came that far and I know it was a huge read, thanks for taking your time and I see you all next time!
8.0 Silly stuff at the end
My favorite quotes of the skaters during our chats
8.1 Best Quotes
Maxim Trankov (in regards of doing quad throws)
Mitchel Islam (jumping in during my question to Madison, Alexandra and Anastasia about, how it is skating with a charming guy on their side)
Kaetlyn Osmond
Alexandra Simica (about Maxim mentioning they still don´t have one ISU Medal)
Alaine Chartrand (after my stupid question if its important to her, to have such a good outside edge on her Lutz)
Thanks again, to all those wonderful people who I met - thanks for your cooperation and honest answers to my at times silly questions
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Those, Dark - Brown Eyes! (Campfire Chat with Kaetlyn Osmond)
3. Dracula and his bride (Maxim & Tatiana claim there 4th NT victory)
4. About Power and Maturity (To quad or not to quad in Pairs)
5. Getting to known (What´s this all about?)
5.1 Kailani Craine (introducing the new shooting star from Australia)
5.2 Who´s next? (Tania and Karoliina)
6. Medals for all
6.1 Alaine Chartrand ("best SP for the 1.52m whirlwind from Prescott)
6.1.1 Kaetlyn, Alena and Courtney backstage ("What I like about You")
6.2 Best FS - Konstantin Menschov ("I am not so young, so")
6.3 Best Chemistry - Mitchel - Islam (about the meaning of life)
6.3.1 Chock - Bates strike again
6.3.2 Canuscio - Mcmanus ( "I am the music and he is Beethoven")
6.4 Best Endurance - Niki Wories (worlds most elegant Crash Pilot)
6.5 Best accent - Kailani Craine
6.6 Best Smile - Karoliina Luhtonen
6.7 Best Coach - Tarja Sipilä
6.8 Best Outfits - So Many
7.0 Off the record
8.0 Best Quotes
1. Introduction
Once again, I was allowed to cover the event and once again I learned so many new things about FS. Right now I have a little cold, as I forgot to put my jacket on during the Gala, but oh well... The column this year, has many more interviews than the last, I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, so let me know! I tried to write about as many skaters as possible, but as always, I can not write about everyone, so I apologize in advance. And now, I wish everyone a lot of fun, reading this huge wall of text.
2. Those, Dark - Brown Eyes!
It has been three long years since a 16-year old and her wonderful smile, gave Oberstdorf the pleasure to witness maturity, sex appeal and a selling potential that Figure Skating needs to get back to where it once was. Her smiles, the graceful movements and also important the skills on blades are something that a sport currently suffering under some type of media crisis, needs.
It´s a fresh element, an element which should not be underestimated by the ISU, as we need those athletes who motivate a new generation of kids to get on blades, even if you can not make a million dollars with it or gain 10 billion facebook friends.
Friends by the way are, what Kaetlyn surely has plenty of and one of them dropped a remarkable comment about her.
A comment, which needed some explanation from the 19 years old herself and she was pretty honest about her tiny but also charming issue with carpets, stairs and walking in general.
There was, however, one exception to this rule and unfortunately did exactly this one, cost Kaetlyn the whole last season when she fractured the fibula in her right leg during practice.
With rolling eyes and a smile she continued
If now, as a fan you want to punish those evil boards, or just want to take a picture of them for nostalgic reasons, then all you need to do is actually go to Edmonton, as this is where Kaetlyns practice venue can be found.
A venue, which is so much different from many other venues around the world.
after a small laughter she continued
Great however, was her performance at Oberstdorf - a performance that did not see much change from the basic idea that she had before her injury, except, one minor detail!
and once again, we had something to laugh about.
What was there however, were triple jumps en masse except the loop which she left out due a minor injury prior to the event. In total, Osmond landed six triple jumps, with her best being the triple Lutz in the FS and a new PB of 179.41 .
That said, she has a pretty clear and agreeable opinion about the "jump war" that currently happens in FS, where everyone is trying to get the most difficult jumps somehow under their belt.
Said choreography in her FS, was the Tango. A very remarkable and well-known element to the figure skating scene and she performed it flawlessly and did the thing we men hate so much about women, playing hot and cold with us!
Kaetlyn, designed the program with Pasquale Camerlengo last season and achieved - with 7.6 in average, the highest PC´s of the competition.
Said program, does not consist of a triple Axel, an element that Elizaveta re-introduced last season with her flawless comeback. Kaetlyn so far, did not do any triple Axel attempts and explained her reasoning to me, like this.
after a small thought she added
Last but not least, we spoke about her current season and the competition in Canada. Kaetlyn, had a lot of good words for her Canadian team mates and would like to repeat what she did three years ago, when her promising international career also started here at Oberstdorf and she won Skate Canada a bit later.
As for the Grand Prix´s and international scene, she added with a smile,
In my opinion, this young Lady deserves better from her so-called fans. She is such a nice person, we talked for almost 15 minutes and she would have probably talked to me for another 15, if there wasn´t an appointment to attend. Why this young lady gets so much hate and critique I will never understand, but it´s the same like with Gracie last year. Those skaters are wonderful people and they are humans just like you and me. There is no reason to insult them or be super negative if there is not a gold medal around their neck.
3. Dracula and his bride
Gold medals, those two excellent skaters have plenty and yet they face a lot of critique every time they skate, especially after their Bollywood SP which didn´t go as planned. The current reigning double, Olympic champions Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar, had two very distinctive performances here at Oberstdorf. Their SP, was a hit and miss compilation, while the FS was almost a perfect demonstration of their old strength.
A story that might very well repeat indeed, as in 2018, if all goes well, the three-year threshold will be reached and both be skating together again for three consecutive years after sitting out the whole last season due Trankovs shoulder injury.
When the pair was found in 2011, it also took them exactly those three years to get a decent SP on the ice and we all know how it did end up for them at Sochi.
Maxim added,
While Alexa and Chris, the Americans coming second, performed a quad twist, Tatiana and Maxim didn´t, which lead to the question about their plans and future quads. In general, Trankov didn´t rule out the possibility of a quad twist, but quad throws like of Duhamel and Redford, he did.
He also added the funny remark that,
Not actually a baby anymore, is Pairs-kating, with the first competitions taking place in 1908 with Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger winning gold for the German Empire. Yet, the amount of actual Pairs skaters today, is quite low compared to the singles which Maxim thought about as a missed opportunity.
However, there is also light at the end of the tunnel as he added,
What also grows is the Russians desire to compete, as Maxim noted and once again made everyone laugh with his argumentation, as of why.
waits a few seconds and adds...
The cup of China is the third ISU Grand Prix Event held from the 6th-8th of November at Beijing. Currently listed are Mao Asada, Javier Fernandez, World bronze medalist Elena Radionova, Sui/Han, the European Champions Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov and Chock/Bates.
As for the Russians plans in regards of Grand Prix attendances, their schedule shows Trophée Bompard in Bordeaux and the NHK Trophy at Tokyo, where they will face Redford / Duhamel and their Quads.
4. About Power and Maturity
Talking about quads, there was something, right? Yes, the Americans Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim offered a quad twist in their LP. The program itself, was as unique as the one of the Russians, a lot of elements which you don´t see that often, very original and fitting to their program music of Elisabeth, the Golden Age.
Chris mentioned that it was their intention to let the music stand out and show what they are capable of.
The Americans only 4th after the short, lost one mark in PC´s over the Russians, averaging 7.5 - yet made a huge jump forward, with great synchronicity and more than just a quad to stand out. Their spectacular performance had two triple throws, a wonderful side by side Sal and three very crafty lift elements. As for the quad topic in general, Chris disagreed with Maxim.
As for their performance at the Trophy itself, Alexa said:
"smiles and lets Chris finish"
Something I am personally looking forward to is, when both pairs hopefully return in 2016, as the smiles were real and the jokes really awful and we all know, those are usually the best, right?
5. Getting to known
Not a joke at all, is my new category, "getting to known", which I invented as a new feature to showcase and introduce new talents in FS. It is a section, that I want to expand with every Figure Skating event that I go to. It´s a section that will showcase young talents, skaters who you might have never heard of, but who will make your day in absolutely every possible way.
5.1 Kailani Craine
We will start with a young lady, who is actually responsible for this whole "getting to know" section, as when I saw her on Wednesday for the first time in practice, I instantly knew, I want to know more, I want to let the whole world know, about this young Australian.
Her skating is very gorgeous and charming but also confident. She shows great flexibility and always has her head up. She likes to skate, she is there to entertain and put a smile on the people in the audience. Her skating reaches your heart and you just want to see her again and again.
Therefore, I was very happy, to get a few minutes with the 17 years old from Newcastle, South Wales who when she started skating, never really thought that she would end up where she is right now.
With a very cute laughter she added,
Besides skating however, she has something that is so typical for the Aussies and it has to do with snow and mountains, not really something you find at every corner there, but this doesnt stop Kailani from doing it.
As a snowboarding fan myself, I kind of wish I could see her on the board some time, I just cannot get that picture out of my head, how this young girl styles up on the board, naughty as she is.
However, if anyone out there might now be worried about this hobby, don´t be afraid, Kailani promised, to not do anything too crazy in show.
What she also promised is, that she is coming back to Oberstdorf and she left absolutely no doubt how she feels about this place.
With a wink and a smile she also added,
referring to a hint she got from some of her friends, who competed at the Bavarian Open in 2015, a Figure Skating event at a time, when Oberstdorf was completely covered in snow and who knows, maybe in 2016 there will be snow again with Kailani and her board, riding it.
Besides Snowboarding, this young lady is also a Designer! Each of her stunning outfits, were designed by herself with the LP dress being a bit tight as she admitted.
The young Aussie who still goes to school also confessed that there are two extremes in the fashion life of Kailani Craine.
A lot of fun it also was to see her three programs, as she was also invited to perform at the Gala.
Kailani about her SP where she landed a triple "Flutz", Loop and double Axel and received a new PB of 50.42.
Her long program, was not just a classic for skating fans, but also for her, as she skated to Rome & Juliet before.
In said program, she showed great maturity and a total of four triples and she also received a level four modification, for her really gorgeous layback and in general never lost her positive attitude throughout the program.
Overall, the young Australian and her self-designed dresses, absolutely added to this years Trophy and she can be named side by side with names like Mariah Bell, Kaetlyn Osmond or Laura Lepistö, who achieved the same when they were at Oberstdorf for the very first time.
A first time, it isn´t that Australian skaters enhance the day for skating fans around the world, Brooklee Han is well known, not only among experts and there are also Paris and Matthew who have besides their trouble with the skating boots not arriving in time, also a bright future in front of them.
Aussie skating might not yet be as popular as H2O or Home & Away, but it´s there and it´s a tight & supportive community as Kailani mentioned.
Some of those choices, will bring the young lady and her cute accent to the Spanish JGP next, afterwards the Ice Challenge in Austria, her nationals and junior worlds and maybe even worlds.
Last but not least, Kailani has a little shoutout for her fans and those who might want to swap the surf board for some skating boots.
Craine continues with a huge smile on her face,
Kailani who probably said thank you, a 100 times, during the interview, has been someone who I really liked talking to, we had great fun and I am sure there is a lot more to see from her in the next few years. Her own music video she already has and it sure won´t be the last thing we see from that busy young lady with her million talents.
5.2 Who´s next?
More talents to discover are out there, two of them are Tania Odermatt and Karoliina Luhtonen. The Swiss and the Fin, have a really lovely appearance and were rightfully noticed by some of you at this forum. Therefore, it will be my duty, to try and get them for a small interview session soon. The target for those two is the NRW Trophy if they show up there, as I sadly didn´t had the time to talk to Tania at all and only very little with young Karoliina, who is so charming, but still a bit shy - which I am as well, so you can imagine our conversation, right?
You might now probably wonder, will there only be girls in that section? Well no, but the girls tend to be more open for such stuff, I guess the guys find giving these interviews a bit uncool. However, I am sure I will find a guy or even a couple out there, which is open for it and then him, her or them will be introduced to you, just like Kailani today.
6. Medals for All
As always, I have picked my favorite skaters, programs and outfits and summarized them under the Medals for all section.
6.1 Best SP Alaine Chartrand - Lilies of the Valley (Pina)
This tiny whirlwind of just 1.52m, skates for Nepean SC and has such a remarkable Lutz that there will never be any doubt about that outside edge. In general, her skating style taught me quite a lot about FS elements, as she has a wonderful way of doing them clean and not rushed. In my opinion, she got way too few points in her SS, some judge even gave her a 5.5, which is hilarious in my opinion.
I love her work with the edges and that great attitude, she can be naughty, sexy, charming and funny as well, qualities that you need to present various types of programs.
So, what made her SP stand out? Well, the 19 years old hardly made any mistakes and she has a wonderful way of using the music for her elements. If there is a quieter section, then you will see this in her motion and facial expression, just like she can be naughty and sexy if the music provides it. The young Canadian who is coached by FS legend Brian Orser, had an almost perfect performance. Her spins which were original and clean, received level 4´s, so did her step-sequence and she of course landed her trademark and favorite element, the triple Lutz just fine.
The national silver medalist and winner of the bronze medal at Rostelcom 2014, was quite pleased with her performance when I talked to her backstage.
As for the rest of the season, she was quite clear in what she wants.
The elements she is talking about are mostly found in the FS, as for some reason it just didn´t work out that day. Therefore, Alaine sady dropped to the 4th position, behind Alena Leonova and Courtney Hicks from the US.
6.1.1 Kaetlyn, Alena and Courtney backstage ("What I like about You")
Said Ladies and Kaetlyn, played a little game with me backstage, a game of finding a fitting sentence for ech other and here is what they came up with.
Kaetlyn about Courtney
Alena about Kaetlyn
Courtney about Alena
The Ladies competition while only with three groups, was really enjoyable, also because I never missed a practice and saw how they progressed over the days. A good example is Mariko Kiahara, who fell pretty much every time in practice, but then in competition she did quite decent. It reminded me a bit of Yuna Kim, who at least when I saw her practice, had the same issues at times.
As always I was impressed how these young girls of 15+, can fall so hard on the ice and yet keep their smiles!
6.2 Best LP Konstantin Menshov - Mad World by Gary Jules / Radioactive by Lindsey Stirling and Pentatnix (Imagine Dragons Cover)
Konstantin is also a skater with smiles, but it´s a different one as he is very modest and calm, a wonderful person and so mature. Menshov, won the bronze medal behind a thrilling Elladj Baldé scoring his first title ever and Max Aaron who convinced with his black swan FS and an ACDC Gala performance.
The Russian who unfortunately does not get much help in Russia, crafts programs with an intention, an intention that isn´t just a big score, but also telling all of us, about the world we life in.
As for his LP in general, he added
Menshov continues
What´s also difficult for the sympathetic Russian is his standing among the Russian Federation as he explained
Konstantin who does practice in St. Petersburg, adds with a smile and in English
6.3.0 Best Chemistry Paul / Islam - FS (about the meaning of life)
A still very young discipline in Figure Skating, is Ice Dance and was once dominated by the Brits and later Russians / Sow-jet Union skaters. Today however, both nations dont play a big role anymore, at least not if it´s about securing gold medals, of which the first ever was rewarded in 1952 when the Brits Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy, skated to gold in Paris.
Up until Sochi, Ice Dance was dominated by US and Canadian teams and at Oberstdorf both nations also claimed the top three spots.
While it´s hard to single out a couple, I am going for Alex and Mitchel here, as I was so impressed by their skating attitude and chemistry, especially in their FD. While "only" coming second with a few errors here and there, the couple that just moved from the Detroit Skating Club to Montreal, was asking a very important question in their FD.
rumbles, I am fu....
Alex takes over,
A program which was perfectly portrait in their faces, especially in Alexandra´s case, you didn´t even had to know in advance what it all was about, as it was so clearly to see.
Sadly clearly to see, was also their disappointment at the Kiss & Cry, as Alex explained a bit later.
6.3.1 Chock - Bates strike again
It however, was the day of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who won the competition with a huge gap of more than 20 points and a combined total of 169.50. As always, both skaters showed great speed and change of position during their lifts, it was a crafty program to Rachmaninoff's "Concerto No. 2, with good entries and a lot of fire.
6.3.2 Cannuscio - Mcmanus (I am the music and he is Beethoven)
Third came Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin Mcmanus with a wonderful FS program about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, split into three parts. Each part describes the life circumstances of Ludwig, with her portraying the music and Colin the "maestro". You will be able to see how the music drags Beethoven out of his depression, but also how its worried that it might no longer exist, if he cannot be fixed.
Both skaters show that relationship wonderfully and if you want to know the full details, please click here.
In my opinion, to come up with such an idea is absolutely incredible. Her playing the music and him Beethoven. It is amazing how much work and thought figure skaters often put into their programs and it´s a shame that for a lot of people, these stories don´t count when they rate or review skates and even the ISU system is not perfect there.
I can imagine, how much work it is to put something together, as I work in a similar environment and no matter if on the ice, music studio or on stage, stories are there to be told and this is the beauty about them. Big big respect to all those skaters and their idea´s, I am such a fan of them.
6.4 Best Endurance - Niki Wories
A fan of her, I am as well. I called her "crash pilot" a few times during my practice reports and if she ever reads this here, then I hope she won´t get mad at me, as I really like this young lady. But you know, the reason for that nickname was simple, as she just kept crashing on the ice, trying hard elements over and over again, never giving up or accepting that it might not be her day. I always knew that figure skaters, especially the girls can take a beating which would make everyone else cry, but Niki - damn, she doesn´t feel pain at all!
What she, however feels is the rhythm of the music! Young Niki who was coached by Brian Orser in summer was absolutely breathtaking when she did something else than jumping, especially her steps and the way she moves her upper body and the arms - it´s just super goed and she can be so fast too!
There is so much elegance and grace in those movements, that it´s hard to believe that she is just 19 years of age. I actually only see and know this type of stuff from my dance group at home, where we have girls as well, that can do things with their body, that an old men like me, could never - ever do, without breaking every bone I got.
It´s therefore no surprise that the young lady from Dordrecht has "dancing" listed as her hobby, she just got the flow and while she was still too young to experience the big dance events in the NL; I am sure, she would had scored high among the guys there as well.
6.5 Best accent - Kailani Craine
Sassy, boppy and so many other things she says, are so class. I find that expression and choice of words so charming. I will probably not delete our interview and once in a while re-listen to it, just for entertainment.
6.6 Best Smile Karoliina Luhtonen
I was coming out of the press room once and the sun started to shine. OK this is totally silly and cheesy, but ya, she just put on her best smile at that time and all of this, after a not so successful LP before, but with a new PB of 125 in total. I am so looking forward to seeing her again! She is only 15 years of age and skates for the Kerava SC in Finland, about 25 miles north from Helsinki and hometown of Valtter Virtanen and our forum member TMC
. She is incredible mature and as a Fin she gets bonus points anyway, as without them I would not write this stuff here today. Her next stop will be the JGP in Spain, so check this young lady out!6.7 Best coach - Tarja Sipilä
Oh boy, it´s so much fun to see her and Juulia work together. I always like watching when they practice, she shows a lot of things on herself, like how to bend the leg, hold the arms and stuff and afterwards young Juulia has to do it and if it didn´t work out for her, Tarja is totally calm and shows it again. Also, she always smiles if we meet, such a cool lady!
6.8. Best outfits
Oh, here I just cannot really name someone only - especially since there were also cool outfits in practice like of Tania Odermatt or Kailani Craine (both more Casual actually). Btw. did you know, that Kaetlyns dresses are designed by "Josiane" in Montreal? So what are you waiting for, go there and dress like Kaetlyn or Rochette once did.
7.0 Off the record
There is so much more to tell about Nebelhorn 2015, I had amazing fun, all those different accents, the different nationalities and ways how people approached me or I approached them, the jokes during interviews, me embarassing myself at times - it just was all there. I want to thank everyone, the skaters, the OC, my colleagues ... for this wonderful opportunity to write about this stuff. I am an optimistic guy. Therefore, you won´t find bad words about anyone or anything here, maybe I see things too positive at times, but ... I like things like that, we have so much bad stuff going on right now in our world, that it´s a really refreshing opportunity to meet so many different people who tolerate others and don´t care if someone has a million bucks or something.
A lot of things are still there to improve, I have missed my target of interviewing people by a large amount, there is just never enough time and you know, there is some figure skating as well and I just want to see it too.
So if you came that far and I know it was a huge read, thanks for taking your time and I see you all next time!
8.0 Silly stuff at the end
My favorite quotes of the skaters during our chats
8.1 Best Quotes
Maxim Trankov (in regards of doing quad throws)
Mitchel Islam (jumping in during my question to Madison, Alexandra and Anastasia about, how it is skating with a charming guy on their side)
Kaetlyn Osmond
Alexandra Simica (about Maxim mentioning they still don´t have one ISU Medal)
Alaine Chartrand (after my stupid question if its important to her, to have such a good outside edge on her Lutz)
Thanks again, to all those wonderful people who I met - thanks for your cooperation and honest answers to my at times silly questions
