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- Mar 28, 2006
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Tried to do actual "live" reporting earlier but then realized that phone battery and the tight schedule did not really allow me to do it... This was my first GP event - I've been to the final last year and a couple of Europeans, so this was again different. There could have been more people, I guess, but it was a bank holiday weekend in France so maybe people went elsewhere? Plus the pricing policy of the organizers was a little strange - the events on Saturday were quite expensive compared to Friday, but there were about the same amount of audience on both days. It's a fairly comfortable rink - warm for one thing, although the seats were not that good. I had a seats in the second row from ice and I happened to be sitting above the gate to the ice which was quite a lot of fun (despite the fact that I had poor visibility to my right).
I agree on the poor quality of the announcements - the fluff stuff between the official bits was only in French which was a little irritating also (in Barcelona they were in both Spanish and English). But then again the Swedes in the Europeans a couple of years ago managed to do most of the crowd entertaining only in Swedish despite the fact that about half of the crow is usually always from abroad! I'm slightly curious as to what will happen in Helsinki where the local lingo (and my native tongue!) is one of the most incomprehensible in the world!
I'm not so much into pairs and dance, but sat through those competitions also. One of the only pairs to really give a proper performance were Savchenko and Massot who have amazingly detailed choreo, gestures, facial expressions etc. Tarasova and Morozov could take some lessons in that because some of their choreo was good, but just lacked expression. It was also lovely to see James & Cipres get their FS to work!
In dance, I usually tend to start falling asleep until the top teams take the ice... I was particularly curious to see Gilles & Poirier and Hubbell & Donohue for the first time. Am slowly becoming a Gilles & Poirier fan as they had this complete performance thing going on in both programs - in character from the moment they set foot on the ice until they exit! Loved it! The SD is fun, but seemed a little slow towards the end. The FD is just a fabulously cool take on tango on skates. heartbroken that they cannot get a place in the final... Papadakis & Cizeron's SD was my fave, particularly the swing part which was skated delightfully low and kind dirty. Which made me wish that they had taken on hiphop because that could have been really good... Their FS was even more towards contemporary than the previous ones and absolutely brilliant, but somehow I was left a bit cold. I still can't say what was lacking for me, though.
My main interest was in the men's comp which was somewhat hot and cold... Here again, I really looked forward to seeing the non-European skaters, Chen, Ge, Mura, Rippon, and Ten whom I has not been able to see live before. I really like the music and concept of Rippon's SP, but it was better on TV than live. The music is mostly quite fast and Adam looked just really slow in many places. A slight disappointment. BUT the FS was a whole different story! Love the concept! And with this one they have been able to weave the choreo better also into the entrances to jumps than before. Interpretation was spot on, the story opened up beautifully from the first angsty bird hands to the release and joy of the ending. Really very very good. Nathan Chen's gazillion quads were breathtaking to see and his SP is good indeed (despite the costume, but at least there was a costume!). Le Corsaire arms and the kind of balletic bravado translated into the skating jumps is spot on! In the FS there were just too many empty spots, the music is somehow too strong and powerful for him to handle. Reminded me of Boyang Yin last year. Denis Ten was a curious mix of a lot of emptiness around jumps and then absolutely awesome step and choreo sequences. The gala hiphop program was just amazing, but the competion programs not so hot at all. He would be superb if he did not have to jump... Mura's SP is also one of those which have been much better seen on TV, the step sequence which I had liked before did not really get going here plus it lacks body movement a lot. He's 3A is one of the highest I've ever seen! The FS is a little boring, I have really no recollection of it. Misha Ge is kind of nice to watch - he has good and controlled movement plus a lot of interpretive power. Jumps kind of there, surprisingly slow spins, but I liked the change of direction one. SP an empty moment for me, but the FS was nice with beautiful ballet lines. The rest I have forgotten mostly. Well, apart from Javi. What can I say? I hoped for a perfect Malaguena, but did not get it... It is amazing how little the fall really affected his performance and thinking back now, the save of the combo (it was after all supposed to be the jump that he fell!) was quite an amazing feat! How many skaters can actually do that? Fall a quad and get their act completely together for the next jump? Don't like the new costume quite as much as the old one. I don't know whether it was apparent on TV, but because he does not like starting a group they tried to emulate a later place by quitting the warm-up and sort of coming back just before he was announced, which almost gave me a heart attack... Elvis was good, although still slightly on a fence over it. It is very strongly directed towards the judges that seeing it from the other side maked you feel a little left out. He was tired and it showed particularly in the choreo and steps which would need to be slightly faster anyway to match the music. Overall ok.
The ladies SP was awesome, particularly the first group, but the FS not so fantastic. I had not gotten Medvedeva's SP before, but now somehow it all opened to me and I liked it a lot - the concept of growth and change is well played out and she is so expressive in it. The FS is also very good although with some technical trouble - the SP was rock solid. Sotskova I had not seen before and she seemed to me desperately trying to emulate Medeveda particularly in the SP. With better choreo she could find a tune of her own maybe? Technically ok. Daleman dazzled in the SP - those jumps! Most men don't get that much height and length! She is also a good performer and I was sorry to see her unravel in the FS. Higuchi and Park had both nice SPs, good choreos and nice performances, but the FSs seemed mostly uninteresting and I started to drift away within seconds from the start in both cases... Lecavelier's resurrection was unexpected, but a pleasant surprise. She does spirals! But the person who cut the music for the FS should be put to prison. It was just awful and not even the costume change saved the day. Gold, Asada and Leonova... Well...
The gala was surprisingly good, usually too many power ballads to my taste. The guys were particularly good - Ge fun, Besseghier and Ten with hiphop moves, Javi and Adam with classical, uncluttered loveliness. Tarasova & Morozov had great choreo to John Legend, but could have used a bit more credibility in the expression. Pap & Ciz good as always.
E
I agree on the poor quality of the announcements - the fluff stuff between the official bits was only in French which was a little irritating also (in Barcelona they were in both Spanish and English). But then again the Swedes in the Europeans a couple of years ago managed to do most of the crowd entertaining only in Swedish despite the fact that about half of the crow is usually always from abroad! I'm slightly curious as to what will happen in Helsinki where the local lingo (and my native tongue!) is one of the most incomprehensible in the world!
I'm not so much into pairs and dance, but sat through those competitions also. One of the only pairs to really give a proper performance were Savchenko and Massot who have amazingly detailed choreo, gestures, facial expressions etc. Tarasova and Morozov could take some lessons in that because some of their choreo was good, but just lacked expression. It was also lovely to see James & Cipres get their FS to work!
In dance, I usually tend to start falling asleep until the top teams take the ice... I was particularly curious to see Gilles & Poirier and Hubbell & Donohue for the first time. Am slowly becoming a Gilles & Poirier fan as they had this complete performance thing going on in both programs - in character from the moment they set foot on the ice until they exit! Loved it! The SD is fun, but seemed a little slow towards the end. The FD is just a fabulously cool take on tango on skates. heartbroken that they cannot get a place in the final... Papadakis & Cizeron's SD was my fave, particularly the swing part which was skated delightfully low and kind dirty. Which made me wish that they had taken on hiphop because that could have been really good... Their FS was even more towards contemporary than the previous ones and absolutely brilliant, but somehow I was left a bit cold. I still can't say what was lacking for me, though.
My main interest was in the men's comp which was somewhat hot and cold... Here again, I really looked forward to seeing the non-European skaters, Chen, Ge, Mura, Rippon, and Ten whom I has not been able to see live before. I really like the music and concept of Rippon's SP, but it was better on TV than live. The music is mostly quite fast and Adam looked just really slow in many places. A slight disappointment. BUT the FS was a whole different story! Love the concept! And with this one they have been able to weave the choreo better also into the entrances to jumps than before. Interpretation was spot on, the story opened up beautifully from the first angsty bird hands to the release and joy of the ending. Really very very good. Nathan Chen's gazillion quads were breathtaking to see and his SP is good indeed (despite the costume, but at least there was a costume!). Le Corsaire arms and the kind of balletic bravado translated into the skating jumps is spot on! In the FS there were just too many empty spots, the music is somehow too strong and powerful for him to handle. Reminded me of Boyang Yin last year. Denis Ten was a curious mix of a lot of emptiness around jumps and then absolutely awesome step and choreo sequences. The gala hiphop program was just amazing, but the competion programs not so hot at all. He would be superb if he did not have to jump... Mura's SP is also one of those which have been much better seen on TV, the step sequence which I had liked before did not really get going here plus it lacks body movement a lot. He's 3A is one of the highest I've ever seen! The FS is a little boring, I have really no recollection of it. Misha Ge is kind of nice to watch - he has good and controlled movement plus a lot of interpretive power. Jumps kind of there, surprisingly slow spins, but I liked the change of direction one. SP an empty moment for me, but the FS was nice with beautiful ballet lines. The rest I have forgotten mostly. Well, apart from Javi. What can I say? I hoped for a perfect Malaguena, but did not get it... It is amazing how little the fall really affected his performance and thinking back now, the save of the combo (it was after all supposed to be the jump that he fell!) was quite an amazing feat! How many skaters can actually do that? Fall a quad and get their act completely together for the next jump? Don't like the new costume quite as much as the old one. I don't know whether it was apparent on TV, but because he does not like starting a group they tried to emulate a later place by quitting the warm-up and sort of coming back just before he was announced, which almost gave me a heart attack... Elvis was good, although still slightly on a fence over it. It is very strongly directed towards the judges that seeing it from the other side maked you feel a little left out. He was tired and it showed particularly in the choreo and steps which would need to be slightly faster anyway to match the music. Overall ok.
The ladies SP was awesome, particularly the first group, but the FS not so fantastic. I had not gotten Medvedeva's SP before, but now somehow it all opened to me and I liked it a lot - the concept of growth and change is well played out and she is so expressive in it. The FS is also very good although with some technical trouble - the SP was rock solid. Sotskova I had not seen before and she seemed to me desperately trying to emulate Medeveda particularly in the SP. With better choreo she could find a tune of her own maybe? Technically ok. Daleman dazzled in the SP - those jumps! Most men don't get that much height and length! She is also a good performer and I was sorry to see her unravel in the FS. Higuchi and Park had both nice SPs, good choreos and nice performances, but the FSs seemed mostly uninteresting and I started to drift away within seconds from the start in both cases... Lecavelier's resurrection was unexpected, but a pleasant surprise. She does spirals! But the person who cut the music for the FS should be put to prison. It was just awful and not even the costume change saved the day. Gold, Asada and Leonova... Well...
The gala was surprisingly good, usually too many power ballads to my taste. The guys were particularly good - Ge fun, Besseghier and Ten with hiphop moves, Javi and Adam with classical, uncluttered loveliness. Tarasova & Morozov had great choreo to John Legend, but could have used a bit more credibility in the expression. Pap & Ciz good as always.
E
