Impressions From Skate Canada | Golden Skate

Impressions From Skate Canada

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Some of my impressions of Skate Canada were that I like the new judging system when it brings a skater from 7th place in the short and wins gold. Emmanuel was wonderful!! Although when he skates his programs, I sit on the edge of my seat. I was rooting for Emmanuel and Ryan J. If only Emmanuel would be more consistent on his jumps, I really wonder who could beat him. He is just breathtaking!! Ryan did a fantastic job and I was disappointed that he didn’t place higher but forgot that Jeff was in first place after the short program. Jeff did a good job but really botched his long program. Takeshi is still struggling and to see the disappointment on his face is heartbreaking. Ben F. had two very good skates and the Canadian people were ecstatic. Ben seems like such a nice guy and not bad to look at. :agree: Kevin VDP skated to Lawrence of Arabia and of course just listening to the music made me think of Alexei but Kevin did a good job of his own interpretation of it.

I was rooting for Yoshie Onda and happy that she made the podium. That was the first time I’ve seen her skate live and her jumps are really high. She has improved on her artistry and combined with high jumps her placement was well deserved. Cynthia P. is a contender and force to be reckoned with. I have a new respect for Carolina K. She skates really fast but I think had an injury so her jumps were not the best.

Dance was unusual. Albena & Maxim’s music was very strange as well as Marie France D. Patrice L. I did not enjoy dance as much as the other disciplines. :sheesh: :sheesh:

I love :love: Shen & Zhao and of course they lived up to being the best. Their elegance and technical components were spectacular. The other couple that impressed me was Zagorska & Siudek. Their lifts are brilliant.

While visiting with several people from Halifax, the question came up of why there wasn’t any US lady there. My response was I don’t know. I got a lot of feedback from them as to why not and how they felt about it. It was interesting to say the least.

The people in Halifax are so friendly. Jean and I was walking around, probably with deer in the headlight look, :laugh: and people would ask if they could help us and pleasantly offered directions. I made friends with the ladies I was sitting next to and they appreciated that I came from the US to Skate Canada. These same ladies and I had a very heated discussion about Emmanuel. :mad: My opinion was I love him and was happy he won the gold and theirs, even though Canadians, were he has an attitude and they wanted someone else to win. After a few minutes of back and forth neither of us was going to change our opinions. I got gifts from them so I guess they weren’t mad at me. :laugh: :laugh:

While in the airport, I saw Barbara FP and her skaters, Paxcale Bergeron & Robert Davison from Canada and Ryan J. He is so nice. I told him that I was so excited after his long program I came flying out of my seat, waving my US flag and screaming. He really seemed to enjoy hearing that. We were discussing other stuff when this lady came up and said you know I really don’t like your costume. Ryan said I’m sorry to hear that what do you think would make it better to your liking. I butted in and said Ryan it was nice talking to you and the lady said oh, you’re not Jeff, Ryan said no, sorry. I was so embarrassed for her. Silly lady!! :laugh: :laugh:

Kara Bear, I looked for you but couldn't find you. Of course I don't know what you look like so it made it harder. :laugh: Were you there???

Dee
 

Lynn226

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
You know, one of my worst fears is that I will call one of my favorites by the wrong name. That poor lady.
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
That's kind of insulting to tell him she doesn't like his costume. I'm sure the skaters dress for themselves and not other people. That would have made me mad. Of course, when someone tells me they don't like something I wear, I intentionally wear it more often to tick them off. ;)

I believe Michelle was orinigally slated to skate at SC, and when she pulled out a few weeks ago, they didn't replace her. So, an American was supposed to be there. It does occasionally happen that a country doesn't have representation at a GP event. I remember the year after the 2002 pairs fiasco, at Trophee Lalique, in either the pairs or dance (can't remember which), no Canadian competitors had been invited, and CTV was briefly talking conspiracy. I think it just happens.
 
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BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Wow...Zagorska & Siudek have been working very hard on everything. The spins are so much better, as are the transitions and the overall program as a whole. I loved their LP! If they could skate that LP a bit faster with no mistakes they could definitely medal at Worlds. Great job! I'm very impressed with them.

Also, how have I completely missed Poykio from Finland? She is phenomenal. All of her movements and elements are so polished and smooth. She is beautiful to watch and will now be one of my new favorites.
 
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lavender

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Fumie good Carmen..Julia bad Carmen.

Fumie has one of the best carmens. I love it with all the different cuts and aggressive moves but it just doesn't come natural for her.

Onda such a cute girl but she looks lost out there in those programs. Why do they keep giving her such soft music. I do see a little improvement.

Cynthia was okay. With a little more seasoning I may come to like her more. She still seems like a little girl playing grow up.

If only Fumie had a better skate. So far Fumie has the best program of the season.

Susanna pretty girl. Good skater. I see some similarities between her and Michelle but not enough to call her Michelle of Finland. She's a little bigger than Michelle but her upper body (movement) looks a little similar.

Fumie still has the best program out of the ladies so far this season imo.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Just saw Skate Canada on t.v...

First off, my impressions have changed now that I have viewed SkateCanada on t.v. I have to say that I agree with the results.

LADIES

Julia Sebestyen -- three triples completed, couple falls & pops, great spins & okay spirals. Off day for her, can't wait to see what it will look like after a couple more performances under her belt. As it stands now, still new, and it shows. That said, I loved ALL her spins, and the height she attained on the jumps that she did land are gorgeous. :)^)

Fumie Suguri -- funny, just now noticed how very petite & pretty she really is, and the costume accentuated it. Too bad about the falls, two-foots, and underrotations. However, both lutzes were beauties. Only thing is I wish she would stretch out her legs more, they have always bugged me (same thing with my FAV Yoshie Onda, to be honest; thankfully their countrywomen don't have this problem). Still nice footwork, which she excels at, and combined with her fast spins, she was able to hang onto 4th place with three triple jumps completed.

Yoshie Onda -- ahhhh, absolutely gorgeous, never saw her look like this before ~ her costume is honestly the best I have ever seen period (her mom must be a genuis, no lie; the added touch of the flowers on her pixie hairdo was divine). And her powerhouse triple jumps completed the impression of strength coming in a velvet package. Lovely. Only suggestion I would make is stretching out her legs more (ala Fumie Suguri also) & not dropping her shoulders when going into a jump. Otherwise, I definitely saw improvement in her carriage & overall presentation. Well deserved silver medal with five jumps completed! :)^)

Cynthia Phaneuf -- really nice program & presentation ~ can see why she won with 5 triples completed also ~ edges Yoshie on the component marks, which I agree with (no lie). On a side note, all the time a female skater performs to bravado music, I cannot help but picture Sasha Cohen, whom to me exemplifies the word ~ nobody but nobody does it better than Sasha ~ she is the word itself, no acting with her. Thus, other skaters suffer in comparison, though it is not their fault ~ Sasha has set the bar so high in this regard that one cannot help but try to copy her (which is a compliment btw). JMHO.

Susanna Poykio -- ditto, as regards the comparison to Sasha Cohen. The whole time I just kept picturing Sasha when she skated to this. Though Susanna did a lovely job, and earned a well deserved bronze medal, good for her. :)^)

Peace & Love, Nadine
 

rtureck

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
lavendar said:
Fumie still has the best program out of the ladies so far this season imo

I agree, Lori did a good job, and Fumie is a beautiful skater. Lori had challenged Fumie in her artistic growth. IMHO I think it is time for Lori to be challenged a bit too. I love the 2003 sp she choreographed for Fumie, she did the best job of editing Chopin's piano concerto #2 into a 2 minute 40 seconds program. Since Nicols has a few thousand cds, she should be able to find a piece of music that is not so overused, Carmen suite, even if it is played by the dramatic (and sometimes inconsistent) N. S. Sonnenberg.

I think S&Z rocked, they were way above the rest of the skaters at Skate Canada. Does anyone know where I can find a sound track of the Soong sisters?
 
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Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Thoughts from TV..

Except for ladies, which I fell asleep on LOL! Have to watch that later.

I just LOVE Emanuel's LP. The music, choreography, costume and him make an awesome package. Is he skating any more GP events this year?

I like Jeff Buttle too but I found his costume distracting. There is something about a straight waistline (colors on top, black on bottom) that I think takes away from his nice lines.

I was really hoping for a medal for Ryan, but it was not to be. I doubt a second and a fourth will land him in the final. I'm assuming SA and SC were both scoring events for him? Ryan's pajama top was overshadowed for the SA Rusty Hanger Award between Weiss and Joubert's costumes. I really don't care for that costume though.

Pairs - WOW the Polish pair really have some spectacular lifts don't they? I thought they put out a terrific all around performance.

PANG & TONG - PLEASE COME TO MY HOUSE FOR A VACATION!! I WILL FEED YOU!!!! She is honestly so skeletal looking it's scary. Since they always say the camera adds 10 pounds, could you even SEE her if you were there live????? I don't know where the muscles are that allow her to perform those athletic moves. I hope her health is OK.

S&Z - Just love them. It will be fun to watch this program later in the season as it will probably just get better and better.

The TV coverage is so limited this year it's driving me crazy.

DG
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
ABC vs. ESPN

Although they are members of the same family, ESPN is definitely a better sports channel. Kudoos to the director who cleared out most of the fluffs, had nice soft voices of Paul and Susie which did not take away from the action. I saw more skaters in this program than any others. And Kudoos to Halifax for its excellent running of the competitions.

Sandhu was very special. Kevin had a good routine but he is still a work in progress. He should work on his spins. Jeff just can't keep it all together. Stefan peters out in the last 3rd of his program. Ryun was fine and maybe should have been 3rd. Ben, well, is Ben.

Congrats to Cynthia, the promise she showed last year is now developing into a top tier skater. Susanna is so lyrical. She rocks among the best of the R&Js.
Fumie was a big surprise with that new 'bravura' style. Good for her, it was a welcome change. She is motivated this year. Yoshie improves slowly but surely. She did nicely. Julia was way off, and I would imagine Carolina wasn't worth showing.

Shen and Zhao. What else is there?

Joe
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Doggygirl said:
I just LOVE Emanuel's LP. The music, choreography, costume and him make an awesome package. Is he skating any more GP events this year?

PANG & TONG - PLEASE COME TO MY HOUSE FOR A VACATION!! I WILL FEED YOU!!!! She is honestly so skeletal looking it's scary. Since they always say the camera adds 10 pounds, could you even SEE her if you were there live????? I don't know where the muscles are that allow her to perform those athletic moves. I hope her health is OK.

The TV coverage is so limited this year it's driving me crazy.DG

Doggygirl, I think they said last night that Eman would be in France or Cup of France, whatever it's called now.

If you think she looked thin on TV, seeing her in person and all the rest of the lady skaters is amazing at how very small they are. It made me feel bad when my wrist to my elbow is as big as her leg. :cry: :laugh: :cry:

I think I will be able to get Skate Canada and NHK on one 6 hr tape. Never was able to do that before.

What did you think of the coverage? I missed Uncle Dick and Aunt Peggy. :sheesh:

Dee
 

Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Hi Dee....

I can't even imagine how thin she must look in person.

I liked the ESPN coverage especially since we're not seeing as much total coverage this year. Limited fluff pieces, more skating, and while I love Dick and Peggy :) things were quieter during the actual skates which I liked. Although whose going to nit pick now???????? :laugh:

DG
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Antilles said:
That's kind of insulting to tell him she doesn't like his costume. I'm sure the skaters dress for themselves and not other people. That would have made me mad. Of course, when someone tells me they don't like something I wear, I intentionally wear it more often to tick them off. ;)

I believe Michelle was orinigally slated to skate at SC, and when she pulled out a few weeks ago, they didn't replace her. So, an American was supposed to be there. It does occasionally happen that a country doesn't have representation at a GP event. I remember the year after the 2002 pairs fiasco, at Trophee Lalique, in either the pairs or dance (can't remember which), no Canadian competitors had been invited, and CTV was briefly talking conspiracy. I think it just happens.

Kwan was a SEEDED skater, not an "invited" one. A host country picks the seeds first, then issues invitations to non-seeded skaters. It is customary that each host federation invite at least one skater in each discipline from each of the other host countries, so it was very odd that the Canadian federation did not invite a US skater. It can't be there weren't any available, as when the season started, Angela Nikodinov had been assigned just one event, Skate America.

There were no Canadian Pairs OR Ice Dance teams at Lalique in the season after SLC, and yes, it's possible, maybe even probable, that the French were expressing their displeasure over the disgrace of their judge and Federation head.

It just seems strange to me that the Canadian federation would invite 3 Japanese skaters to the Ladies event, but no skaters from the US, China, Russia or France.

By the way, I didn't like Ryan's costume, either. But I wouldn't dream of saying it to his face.
 
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mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
euterpe said:
It just seems strange to me that the Canadian federation would invite 3 Japanese skaters to the Ladies event, but no skaters from the US, China, Russia or France.

.

May be it is a good bussiness relationships, :p . Heard that last summer Japanese Federation arranged they national trainning team to be trainned in Canadian Summer Camp? This may create good revanue for SC.
 
Joined
Jan 30, 2004
I watched Skate Canada on ESPN...I must confess I fell asleep and missed most of the ladies skating! I saw the end, and enjoyed Susanna Pokyio. She has the type of style and extension I enjoy.

The skating, overall, was pretty good, IMO.

I was very impressed with and happy for Emmanual Sandhu. He has such great style, extension and musicality. I was glad to see him hold the whole program together and move up to first. I also enjoy Ryan Jahnke very much.

Shen/Zhao, what can I say except so exciting and superb! I thought Zagorska/Suidek did a wonderful job, also. There lifts are very inventive and exciting.
 

dizzydi7

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Impressions of Skate Canada

Susanna Pokyio -- I just loved her costume. It was simple but elegant. She definitely gets my vote for best costume at the competition. She is also a very lovely skater in my opinion.

Yoshie Onda - although cute as can be, in my opinion, just doesn't have grace and style. I do love her jumps, though.

Dizzy
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
BronzeisGolden said:
Wow...Zagorska & Siudek have been working very hard on everything. The spins are so much better, as are the transitions and the overall program as a whole. I loved their LP! If they could skate that LP a bit faster with no mistakes they could definitely medal at Worlds. Great job! I'm very impressed with them.

Also, how have I completely missed Poykio from Finland? She is phenomenal. All of her movements and elements are so polished and smooth. She is beautiful to watch and will now be one of my new favorites.
ITA about Zagorska & Siudek. Shen & Zhao are still the class of the field for me, but I was so thrilled to see Z/S make these kinds of improvements at this point in their careers. As Paul Wylie said, in the lifts, Marius looked as if he was a gymnast doing a pommel horse routine using Dorata's body over his head instead. Amazing and beautiful.

How could you miss Poykio? Because I know I only saw her televised once in a GP event two years ago. If she was televised in the US aside from that, I missed it. I loved how her body has matured into a sleek woman's body out of what was a body more like Cynthia Phaneuf's is now. I'd like to see more spark in Susanna's skating, but she skates with such purity. She reminds me of Yuka Sato in that respect.

It was my first time seeing Cynthia Phaneuf and I am extremely impressed. Most natural mover on the ice I've seen since Oksana Baiul. Of this historic three-Carmen night, I thought Phaneuf's program and performance worked the best, although I think Fumie's has the most potential.

Was also extremely impressed with Fumie and I agree with Nadine that she looked prettier. IIRC, Fumie is about 23. When I taught a lot of women around this age, I'd say this would happen to about 40 to 50% of my students. They'd leave for the summer looking cute and come back with real beauty. It was as if their facial bones grew in such a way that made a stunning change. I also liked the changes in Fumie's make-up and felt the sleeveless costume was very flattering.

As for Fumie's skating, I thought the staccato style on her emphasized all her strengths--speed, flow, edging, power--and minimized her weak point, line. (Am not counting consistency since there's only one consistent female skater, Michelle.) Even with her spiral sequence, which has been a weakness in the past as far as line goes, though always has good edging, I thought the changes Lori made worked very well. So the girl doesn't have great extension (and I do mean extension) in her spirals. Fine. Nothing in the COP that says the free leg has to be straight. Susie Wynne said Lori Nichol told her she and Fumie were working with different styles of choreography so that at the Olympics they could present the "Ultimate Fumie." It's no secret that I wasn't a Fumie fan until "Paint It Black." I like the aggressive movement of "Carmen" even more (though I agree with Rtureck--Lori Nichol has GOT to have something better than "Carmen" in her home of 10,000 CDs). However, even I will be happy to listen to "Carmen" if it elicits this quality of skating from Fumie. But wouldn't it be something it the "Ultimate Fumie" turns out not to be the soft lyrical skater she seemed to be but instead a powerful athletic skater more akin to Slutskaya? A power skater with a "lyrical" personality. I think the combination is fascinating. More "power" to Fumie and Lori! (Rtureck re "The Soong Sisters": You could try http//:www.kitaromusic.com or a google search of "soong sisters kitaro".)

On the "bad" "Carmen" side--poor Julia Sebastyn! I was starting to really like her last season and now this. First, one of the most godawful costumes I've ever seen, and even if you mowed some of it off, it's still the wrong style on the wrong skater, IMO. My heart just broke for Julia. I don't even want to write about it.

Other observations:
--Loved the ESPN coverage for all the reasons Joe said. Though I'd like them to find a place for ice dance. Three hours is long on a weeknight, but we saw the top six skaters in men's and ladies' and the top five in pairs. The only reason we didn't see six pairs is because ESPN did a well-chosen, serious report (not fluff piece) on Tatiana Totmianina's fall. The only thing I'll tweak ESPN about was "mentioning" Ben Ferreira's fiancee and doing a short fluff piece (for the second time) on how Ryan Jahnke is married.
--I've stated my opinion (emphasis on opinion) regarding Qing Pang's weight before, that she is not just a naturally thin Asian woman. But this was the first time I saw real problems in her skating. She either two-footed or popped her jumps; Jian Tong looked as if he had to slow down his skating to stay in unison with her; she had trouble holding the position on some of the lifts. Of course she could have just had an off night, but speaking only for myself, I am worried about this young woman!
--How many times do we see a competition in which most of the men use new and interesting music but the women use the warhorses?
--Speaking of music, kudos to Jeff Buttle for taking baby steps towards showing that Philip Glass's music can make for a gorgeous skating program. Although the onscreen info said "Music from the film 'Naqoqyatsi'" the middle section with the solo violin definitely was not Glass. However, I think Buttle et al. were wise to edit it in for those who hate or haven't heard Glass before.
--Love COP.

So come on, ladies! You can't let the guys outdo you on music! So I'm throwing down the guantlet. First woman to do an exhibition program to "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap gets the Rgirl Courage in Music award and a starring role in Christopher Guest's eventual mockumentary about figure skating.

Seriously, I enjoyed a lot about Skate Canada and now that some of the kinks are out of the COP, I'm very interested to see how the GP series and final plays out.
Rgirl

PSOT: Attention Nadine and all other :rock:. The Independent Film Channel will be showing the 20th anniversery edition of "This is Spinal Tap" every Saturday night, and whenever else they feel like it, all during November. If you've never seen it, you'll hear rhyme schemes that will even make Round Boy Pete bow in adulation.
 
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lavender

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
rtureck said:
I agree, Lori did a good job, and Fumie is a beautiful skater. Lori had challenged Fumie in her artistic growth. IMHO I think it is time for Lori to be challenged a bit too. I love the 2003 sp she choreographed for Fumie, she did the best job of editing Chopin's piano concerto #2 into a 2 minute 40 seconds program. Since Nicols has a few thousand cds, she should be able to find a piece of music that is not so overused, Carmen suite, even if it is played by the dramatic (and sometimes inconsistent) N. S. Sonnenberg.

I think S&Z rocked, they were way above the rest of the skaters at Skate Canada. Does anyone know where I can find a sound track of the Soong sisters?

Yeah it seems she went back to Michelle's music bag and remade it for Fumie (Carmen) and Tim (Rach). So far I'm loving Fumie's Carmen but I would love it even more on Michelle. She would really emphasize those moves.
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Zagorska and Suidec

Since in only saw the TV coverage of the long program, I'm clearly don't have enough information. Can someone explain why Zagorska and Suidec ended up bronze instead of silver? They were a million miles ahead of Pang and Tong based on just the LP that was televised...

Linny
 
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