2016 JGP Germany Short Dance

"House Of The Rising Sun" by the Animals now.

Wish that song would be used more often in skating.

Here's a cover of it I really like by Swiss band BigFisch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfuRfIP0OlM

Perhaps it would be fitting if our Swiss-Russian friend competing at the Finlandia this week, Ioulia Chtchetinina, could use this version...

CaroLiza_fan

Hot and powerful Russian couple.

Many people seem to like the Parsons' SD, but I think the transitional part and the ending look still awkward. I like their energy and sync though.

ADD: No, the mentioned timing problem is due to the stream after watching the rest teams' performance.

My favorite Russian team among the juniors. They are so adorable.

Arina is so cute

Arina is a little firecracker; reminding me of Radionova during the juniors. I like their FD even more.

They are my favorite Canadians.

Ah, the stream is problematic because the sync is slightly off from the music.

I think our top 5 from today will be our top 5 tomorrow. Likely in the same order. I don't join in the predictions, but this was my prediction based on what we'd seen so far.

Mango said:

I think our top 5 from today will be our top 5 tomorrow. Likely in the same order. I don't join in the predictions, but this was my prediction based on what we'd seen so far.

Click to expand...

From the 3rd to 5th, the placement can be shifted within depending on how they do in the FD because Alicia and Claudio currently sitting in 5th had a strong FD and Arina and Maxim seemed to struggle with stamina respectively at their latest JGP event.

Crossover said:

From the 3rd to 5th, the placement can be shifted within depending on how they do in the FD because Alicia and Claudio currently sitting in 5th had a strong FD and Arina and Maxim seemed to struggle with stamina respectively at their latest JGP event.

Click to expand...

I have high hopes for Alicia and Claudio. I think they can even surpass Lajoie/Lagha in the FD and finish fourth overall. But I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. So we stick to 'likely' and 'maybe'.

Short Dance Review

Dance short program, as it happened

The short dance, was our first competition of the day and we had some really exciting performances, with great variety and some Hip Hop indeed. One of those Hip Hop treats, came from the Ukraine with Maria Golubtsova and Kirill Belobrov.

Both are just 15 and while it might be inappropiate to say, I really think she looks like a very sexy lady already and both picked pretty "cool" outfits" while using the music by the Gorillaz nicely, to portrait their elements, as seen with the rotational lift. Another thing to note was their facial expression, which always reflected the rythm they were in, same can be said for their overall skating, it was well choreographed and performed and they really gave you the feeling, that they were skating as one with the music and for the crowd, a crowd that does not consist of more than maybe 50 people... and it makes you wonder where everyone is, as it´s raining cats and dogs here.

One of those cats, must have fallen through the roof here, as the Russian wildcat Arina Ushakova was in town with her Maxim, who had his name written on the back of his outfit, great idea btw. something that wouldn´t work on her obviously, as she is a tiny young lady, but with tons of attitude, from naughty to flirty and playful.
Russian skaters always bring so much charisma on ice, you just have to love them and she was even singing the lyrics along while skating and it all looked effortless, not staged at all, fluent change of hold, smooth footwork and I really like their edges and alignment it looked pretty deep from where I was sitting ( we sadly had to move and where we sit now, the view quality is poor).

Poor sportsmanship is something we all know and fairplay is what we want to see and with the Parsons, there is lots of it. If you watch them in practice, they always support other skaters and even today in competition, they were clapping for the other Russian pair, which had scored a new PB with 61 points. That´s what you want to see, at least i want to, after all we are supposed to be a big family right!?
Anyways, also the Americans did skate to some Hip Hop at the start and end of their program and i said this last year already, they do have a super alignment, extensions and skate incredible close in hold and in their no touch, which is very risky, so is the hop into the twizzle sequence and their straight line where she rolls over his shoulders,quick and fluent change of position, a very skilled couple these two.

If you look at their lines, they drop down and they mirror each other while doing so, just imagine how hard this is, moving your arms aligned is not nearly as difficult, as changing the position of your whole body, especially if you don´t see your partner and it takes a lot for the lady to be as explosive there, as her partner Michael and they really manage all of this, with a positive expression througout, scoring 65.93 which put them in the lead, before the previously mentioned Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov, who had a very elegat and graceful piece for us and I love her dress, she looks like a million dollars and I do not know a guy, who would not like to go on a date with such a beautiful lady.

Said lady, went out today with a guy, who knew how to treat and present his lady and not let her down, when he had a little issue on the second sequence of twizzles, but he did hang on and do what was expected of him, but it cost them a few points in the end.
What won them points however is the great syncronicity and how agile and aware both skaters are, details everywhere, I loved that "sexy" attitude in the twizzle and how they got faster in the first sequence about half time and yet, kept their alignment and syncronicity. A very enjoyable performance in which arms and hands were always a part of something and never lose.

Lose is the rain as mentioned earlier, something Zachary could tell you a thing or two about, as he had to walk from the baker to the ice venue this morning, to grab some food, refusing the umbrella which was offered to him, stating that some wet hair, won´t kill him and if you look at his performance with Marjorie today, then close skating, deep edges and lot´s of expression, don´t kill them either, as there was loads of it. With 57.32 on third right now, with a very fast program, full of fire and joy, really something that the crowd could enjoy early on today and I really enjoyed how they caputured their story with the outfits and it makes you wonder if they might like Piper and Paul and look up to those, as they also always had these very fun like programs in the past.

The second Canadians Alicia and Claudio came 5th with 55.35 and can you believe that this girl is just that, a girl of 13 years of age? Boy, does she have attitude and fire and they have great movements and gimmicks, skating close and well aligned, going with the beat while gliding effortless during the breaks and then we build up again and boom that super no touch, I love that choreo and music and again, she is jus 13 years of age, but totally able to skate with her six years older partner, without breaking a sweat.

They have great talent and musicality just like the French with Salome Abdedou and Dylan Antunes, the men with the hoodie and you have to love him for his attitude on ice, he is so going for the crowd, a little Joubert so to speak. Always heads up, checking for reactions, I like that and thank you for Gangsters Paradise, that´s my music I have grown up with and always remember, Hip Hop on ice, is super difficult as Maddi mentioned, you are moving and not standing still, while performing the drops & co.

More to say of course, but my Laptop is about to die now, don´t ask, but it´s not an easy job for many of us, including the skaters and judges. ... anyways, the SD was great, thanks for that to all of you as it is what keeps us going.

Crossover said:

From the 3rd to 5th, the placement can be shifted within depending on how they do in the FD because Alicia and Claudio currently sitting in 5th had a strong FD and Arina and Maxim seemed to struggle with stamina respectively at their latest JGP event.

Click to expand...

FD scores ran high at Mordovia. I actually prefer F&P's SD. That said, yes, it's very close between 3rd & 5th. The possibility for movement is there.

cathlen said:

Smashed their PB by 8 points! Oh yeah! Only possible in juniors

Click to expand...

Actually, I believe Zahorsky & Guerrero just bested their international SD PB by 10 points. Technically, I think it should be easier to do in seniors this year, since the base value has gone up & one of the patterns has been replaced by a footwork sequence. Nonetheless, a huge leap for any dance team.

Alex D said:

Dance short program, as it happened
... fairplay is what we want to see and with the Parsons, there is lots of it. If you watch them in practice, they always support other skaters and even today in competition, they were clapping for the other Russian pair, which had scored a new PB with 61 points. That´s what you want to see, at least i want to, after all we are supposed to be a big family right!?
Anyways, also the Americans did skate to some Hip Hop at the start and end of their program and i said this last year already, they do have a super alignment, extensions and skate incredible close in hold and in their no touch, which is very risky, so is the hop into the twizzle sequence and their straight line where she rolls over his shoulders,quick and fluent change of position, a very skilled couple these two.

Click to expand...

Yes I have seen a lot of good sportsmanship and class from this team in recent years. Nice on and off the ice, and lots of class from these two. I loved your write-up of the short dance, BTW. I thought P/P had a great performance too - clean, fast and strong - and it is nice to see them earning some good scores after all their hard work at Junior. They are impressing me more and more each time out. Great job by those other top-5 teams, especially.