Top perfomances from 2016 GPF

In no particular order

Ladies SP, all 6 of them for makin that part of the comp a huge thrill
Virtue & Moir SD, that step sequence is beyond amazing
Papadakis & Cizeron FD, did not get this in Paris, but now...
Tarasova & Morozov SP, the thrill of getting it absolutely right
Nathan Chen FS, saved an otherwise saddish men's comp with technical virtuosity

In juniors
Zagitova
Gubanova FS particularly
The two top ice dance pairs
The story line in Ilia Skirda's FS

E

Silvia451 said:

1. Tessa and Scott both SP and FS
2. Yuzu's SP
3. Satoko's FS. May the force be with her at worlds
4. Shoma's FS
5. Anna Pogo's FS

Honorable mentions: Shibs' twizzles, Yuzu's 4Lo save, Anna Pogo and Evgenia fangirling during men's event, Radford's music for Patrick's FS, Yuzu supporting Javi during the FS, Chen's quads, Tessa's new FS dress

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My list is the same, except that I enjoyed Osmond's SP more than Anna Pogo's LP.

If I only had to choose two of them, it would be Tessa and Scott SD and Yuzuru's SP.

1. Yuzu's SP and EX
2. Patrick's SP
3. Virtue and Moir SD
4. Satoko's LP
5. Pogo's LP

Honorable mention: Shibs FD ,Uno's and Nathan's ex

Juniors:
1. Jun's LP and EX
2. Gubanova's LP
honorable mentions: Savosin skating to Bella Ciao Aliev finally delivering and not headcasing

oh how could I miss listing Adam's SP!!:dance::dance:
epic!

despite wild Men's FS and my deep annoyance about whole event organization (from those friggin' plastic medals, through music mishaps, corny announcer, uncomfortable looking seats, empty stands to shocking reality of accommodation arrangements for skater...NEVER such an event for France, period, GPF for Spain or Japan for good), there were lots of great moments to re-watch and for me it's impossible to choose only 5, so I deliberately break the limit, sue me

- Tessa and Scott whole outing (SD and FD) - while SD is confirmed as their golden card and a lethal blow for other teams, FD is a force to be reckoned with, SD embodied everything and even more for me: they really captured the cheekiness and sensuality of Prince music, adding pizzas and bananas from technical side, this non-touch step sequence - magnificent, no other team can get close to this perfection, but I want to phrase also their pattern and partial step sequence - both are really smooth and strong, with really amazing musical punctuation and Tessa is literally running into the boards each time in every rink the perform the SD which shows how it's done by professors. FD is growing and boy, it's gonna be a special thing to see later in the season if they'll keep that sharpness.

- Anna FS - for me the performance of the evening, regal presence, strong technique, amazing, vivid expression and foremost - so raw emoting, drama transferred to the audience. A perfect program to perfect skater - really good to see her fighting for it, with such drive and spirit. And her team's unity and reaction, despite my initial doubts I'm extremely grateful that she stuck with Tsareva.

- Shoma FS - this was the essence what Shoma is about: he has troubles in SP, acknowledge it, go work 10x harder in silence and then roars so loud that I wonder why I sometimes give him not enough credit...His work ethic, determination and poise are just amazing, his expression had that edge, that 'anger' and hunger for more. He really capture the drama of the music and this madness/craziness expressed in music.

- Kaetlyn SP - one of best SP this season for me and it's great to see her in such great form, with much-needed consistency and well-managed nerves. This SP embodies her best qualities: vivid expression, solid, big jumps, speed, attitude, sass and musicality. It was simply a joy to watch a brilliant display of well-rounded and balanced program from mature and sophisticated performer she is.

- Patrick SP - despite a bit of annoyance over this birds chirping towards the end, the program is pure Patrick 'Mr. SoftEdge/Fying on ice' Chan: deep edge work, effortless transitions, great interpretation, connection with music and his sense of musicality, and it was great to see it performed cleanly, with attack. He really created a moment to behold - it was that sense of melancholy, nostalgia and sophisticated lyricism in his performance which I much appreciated.

- Yuzuru SP - in opposition to Partick's lyric and soft take on SP, this was just a rockstar in action: power, drive, speed, attack and constant demanding of attention. The flow with the music, level of engagement, projecting were beyond amazing. Wish for similar program for Olympic season, because I just love his wild and bit of unkept side to show.

- Satoko both programs - Tiny Queen at her best: softness yet so much power in her performances, I really don't care much about her jumps being too small/underrotated/pre-rotated, I have just not enough knowledge to assess it, but I know what I'm enjoying and her skating is definitely one of those things. There is a sense of quality, maturity and sophistication about her skating and performance abilities, always good programs and progress showing each season.

- Maia and Alex FD - the best performance of this FD so far for me: it takes a great skill and a deep thought to capture and mesmerize audience with such quiet, subdued music and such minimal, clinical choreography being all about their masterful technique on full display. This dance speaks to me volumes, but I get that it is quite hard to connect and probably the biggest risk taken this season in Ice Dance.

- Adam SP - performance-wise it was my top 3: he just struck a pose and went for it, I get that a lot of things in this program screams tacky and cheap, but Adam somehow makes them work so well, it's just an expression of his take on figure skating, a bit of fresh approach, controversial maybe, but this guy has guts and tools to pull off stuff like that. I had a blast with him and whole audience and feel not ashamed by it, not at all. You go, Adam!

- Disco Inferno EX from Parsons and McNamara/Carpenter - it got me flashback of Piper and Paul's stellar SD (and brought sadness that they were not there...) and gave me so much joy to watch, great performers they are, I'm especially impressed about Parsons (he is particularly a treat to watch!), US dance has a great perspectives.

Honorable mentions: Japanese fans, their clapping/posters, flags waiving game and enthusiasm shown saved the competition, Yuzuru bananas of 4Lo save, beauty of Tessa's new SD dress, audience lady in Pooh knitted cap with eyes and ears

Maybe we should also add flops. No, Eurosport, I don't want to cheat with a blonde vixen, no, Eurosport, the arena is not packed, no matter what you tell us, and no Eurosport, Higuchi is not Yamada....

MaiKatze said:

Maybe we should also add flops. No, Eurosport, I don't want to cheat with a blonde vixen, no, Eurosport, the arena is not packed, no matter what you tell us, and no Eurosport, Higuchi is not Yamada....

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Cheat with a blonde vixon? Anna P? I'm so confused.

I never did find out what the Dreamy ocean staring marine biologist was all about. And I was a little nonplussed by the "If you had a camera ads" in the arena.

I'd say my biggest flop was CBC missing the first flight of the Pairs SD. So annoying. But still I love having our CBC free feed. May it live forever.

ancientpeas said:

Cheat with a blonde vixon? Anna P? I'm so confused.

I never did find out what the Dreamy ocean staring marine biologist was all about. And I was a little nonplussed by the "If you had a camera ads" in the arena.

I'd say my biggest flop was CBC missing the first flight of the Pairs SD. So annoying. But still I love having our CBC free feed. May it live forever.

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It's an ad that's running when figure skating is on. A blonde girl is rolling around in her underwear on a bed and encourages you to go on her 'dating' website, conspiciously called 'c-date'. I'm not a prude but I find this ad disgusting and sexist and it has no place in a daylight program, like figure skating. Give me the Marine Biologist over Blondie anytime.

MaiKatze said:

It's an ad that's running when figure skating is on. A blonde girl is rolling around in her underwear on a bed and encourages you to go on her 'dating' website, conspiciously called 'c-date'. I'm not a prude but I find this ad disgusting and sexist and it has no place in a daylight program, like figure skating. Give me the Marine Biologist over Blondie anytime.

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Wow, seriously? Is it like the Ashley Madison site here? The one that hooks up people who want to cheat on their spouses?

Seems quite racy for figure skating.

I have nothing against the Marine Biologist. I just wanted to know what the ad was selling.

ancientpeas said:

Wow, seriously? Is it like the Ashley Madison site here? The one that hooks up people who want to cheat on their spouses?

Seems quite racy for figure skating.

I have nothing against the Marine Biologist. I just wanted to know what the ad was selling.

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I guess so. I understand that Eurosport has to make money somehow, but the average figure skating fan is probably as far from the target group for that ad as possible.

I have no idea. Maybe someone who was there can chime in about Marine guy with the dreamy eyes?

Voir - SD
Shoma - LP
Yuzu - SP

Virtue/Moir - SP
Yuzu - SP
Kaetlyn - SP
Satoko - FS
Nathan -FS

Now, is it a coincidence that 4 out of the five I saw live at Skate Canada and enjoyed them there but clearly were not skated to their potential like they were in Marseille (and 2 Prince programs)? I put Nathan in there for sheer WOW factor even though his FS is not my favorite out there. And I love Patrick, but his multiple falls marred the program for me.

--Shoma -- FS (top favorite)
--Anna P. -- SP & FS
--Kaetlyn -- SP & FS
--Patrick -- SP
--Shibutanis - SD

Honorable mention:
--Japanese fans & their clapping! It was so fun because the fans were close to the ice and you could really see how they were getting into it!
--Junior Alina Zagitova FS

It's my first time posting on Golden Skate, and I just wanted to say first that I love this forum so much. Thank you, everyone!

My top five favorites from the GP Final:
1 Satoko MIYAHARA - LP
2 Shoma UNO - LP
3 PAPADAKIS / CIZERON - FD
4 PENG / JIN - SP
5 (tie) Evgenia MEDVEDEVA - SP and Anna POGORILAYA - SP

Honorable mention
PENG / JIN - LP
Patrick CHAN - SP
Javier FERNANDEZ - SP
Yuzuru HANYU - SP
SHIBUTANI / SHIBUTANI - SD
Satoko MIYAHARA - SP
Kaetlyn OSMOND - SP
Anna POGORILAYA - LP

kevinVchicago said:

It's my first time posting on Golden Skate, and I just wanted to say first that I love this forum so much. Thank you, everyone!

My top five favorites from the GP Final:
1 Satoko MIYAHARA - LP
2 Shoma UNO - LP
3 PAPADAKIS / CIZERON - FD
4 PENG / JIN - SP
5 (tie) Evgenia MEDVEDEVA - SP and Anna POGORILAYA - SP

Honorable mention
PENG / JIN - LP
Patrick CHAN - SP
Javier FERNANDEZ - SP
Yuzuru HANYU - SP
SHIBUTANI / SHIBUTANI - SD
Satoko MIYAHARA - SP
Kaetlyn OSMOND - SP
Anna POGORILAYA - LP

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Welcome to Golden Skate! Nice first post and I think many will agree with your picks. Keeping on posting :clapper:

1. Nathan Chen FP
2. Tarasova/Morozov SP
3. Shoma Uno FP
4. Maria Sotskova FP (I think it's really underrated)
5. Kaetlyn Osmond SP

kevinVchicago said:

4 PENG / JIN - SP

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Welcome! And your taste seems excellent! I LOVE this Short Program!!!

Sam-Skwantch said:

Welcome to Golden Skate! Nice first post and I think many will agree with your picks. Keeping on posting :clapper:

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Thank you.

Nathan13 said:

Welcome! And your taste seems excellent! I LOVE this Short Program!!!

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Thanks so much! Yes, I think it is such an exciting and funny short program. They have a unique energy and are wonderfully expressive. Hope they can give it another go at Worlds and land a spot on the podium.

Also my first post here, so: hi everybody!
My top5 (haven't watched any Men's events, though)

1) Tarasova/Morozov SP
2) Medvedeva SP
3) Virtue/Moir SD
4) Zagitova (JGPF) SP
5) Pogorilaya FS

+ another top3 from the exhibition gala:

a) Tarasova/Morozov (lovely song, perfect choreography!)
b) Medvedeva (adorable when she plays the Femme Fatale in the 2nd part!)
c) Parsons/Parsons + McNamara/Carpenter ('cause 70's disco rules!)