2018 Skate America: Thoughts and Highlights?

eppen · Oct 23, 2018

Don't have much time for FS at the mo, but tried to watch some Skate America performances. I was not initially very excited about Satoko's choices of music, but she was so spot on, that even the tango was palatable for me! Hope she can avoid all the UR problems for the rest of the season, because her performance powers deserve a lot more medals. Marin's SP is still not good, could be any sultryish sounding song, blah. Lost interest completely whilst watching Kaori's SP and did not want to watch anyone else.

The selection of men at SA was not that interesting and as the score sheets looked quite unpromising, I went only for Nathan. I like his SP at this point - it has its moments, the start is really good, some clever bits also later on. Could be good unless he starts dropping choreo (again). His FS is rather boring for the most part and I really did not not know what to think of almost not being able to make the difference between a slightly longer transition sequence and the actual step sequence (good that there was that score board on screen to make it clear). At least he truly rocked the choreo sequence in the end.

E

shine · Oct 23, 2018

Orlov said:
A couple of moments were remarkable for the Russian-speaking audience.

The first words of Aleksey Bychenko said with self-irony and smiling to his coach after SP - "Немножко обоср#лся" ("A little s##t myself" - it's mean "i screwed up" in russian). It's already become a meme in the Russian fan community

Words that Arutinyan met upset Honda after FP "Ну что, лапочка?" ("Well, honey"). Word "лапочка" (literal translation - "little paw") - is very tender, daddy's word. It is very unusual to hear such words from such a gloomy man, whose chin can split the rock

Sorry Raf was speaking Russian to Marin?

oatmella · Oct 23, 2018

I would think Raf and Marin might have some difficulties with communication - but even more challenging if he’s speaking to her in Russian

Raf seems very sweet with Marin!

j00mla · Oct 23, 2018

shine said:
Sorry Raf was speaking Russian to Marin?

Yes, he was https://youtu.be/UqysFcaR-ts?t=324 ( at 5:24 )

Orlov · Oct 23, 2018

DanseMacabre said:
I sometimes watch the Russian broadcasts and yeah, TAT also loves to go on and on. Who's the guy who's often on those broadcasts as well? He's another talker.

It's Alexander Grishin. He is not a former athlete and not a celebrity, just a dude

When he is alone, or, for example, with Sotnikova, then in principle he can be tolerated, but when TAT is near, he turns into TAT's hand monkey :laugh:

He agrees with everything in her, afraid to contradict her if she makes a mistake (TAT is often confused in details) or long time he gains the courage to correct her. And he loves ornate to speak (this is his biggest drawback). It something like that:

"What is her best?"
"TBH, I don't know Tatyana Anatolievna"
"well, look it somewhere"
"Now, dear friends, I'll see her best. Fortunately, in our days it is easy to do thanks to the famous world net named "Internet""

and i'm not joke

So, please, pleeease give me my wonderful Johnny, if you people don't love and appreciate him

kwanatic · Oct 23, 2018

Mathman said:
I pride myself in being the number one over-the-top Michelle Kwan fan of all time, but evn I have to admit that one thing she does not have is a gift of gab. She is not a natural at filling silence with babble, which is the main requisite for being on TV.

Yes, that would have been a more acceptable reason and I agree. She's a much stronger structured speaker than an extemporaneous one. Tara and Johnny are excellent at vapid prattling interspersed with some useful substance which makes them perfect for commentating this sport. :rofl2:

Orlov · Oct 23, 2018

oatmella said:
I would think Raf and Marin might have some difficulties with communication - but even more challenging if he’s speaking to her in Russian

Raf seems very sweet with Marin!

No, just when he has emotions, he can do exclamations in Russian. Many Russian-speaking viewers remember how at the Olympics Raf met Adam after his wonderful SP saying "Ну ты зверь, ты зверь!" ("You're a beast, you're a beast!" - it's mean "you are strong, awesome" etc.)
I pretty sure that Raf and Marin normal understand each other in English.

WeakAnkles · Oct 23, 2018

Orlov said:
Guys, please explain to me. I noticed that many very often scold Tara and Johnny. This is a little bit surprising for me. I don't have a subscription to the NBC channel (it's a little expensive for me), but I saw a some videos on YouTube with their comments. I really liked them, especially Johnny. He is so nice (maybe I am biased, because, I think, he is very kind at Russians and Russian culture). Why people don't like Johnny?

I do like Johnny and think he can be a very insightful analyst of every discipline except dance. I think the dilemma is he and Tara made their initial splash by combining analysis with snark, and TPTB may have asked them to up the snark considerably. The shame is that this emphasis on what is believed to be "entertainment to draw in a younger audience" comes at the expense of thoughtful analysis.

shine · Oct 23, 2018

Skater Boy said:
Not every competition can be out of this world amazing or we would have nothing to compare. This event was ho hum. No real outstanding program or performance. The most exciting thing was the Knerims leaving Savchenko. I was looking for the coronation of Bradie Tennel but that didn't happen. I am happy Nathan won but his tech is sofar advanced. id o thinkjudges are way too generous with his pcs I know people will say you can't compare unless skaters are at the same event and same scoring system but if Javier should be insulted and Lambiel, Buttle and Chan should be outraged by the ridiculous scores for Chen pc wise. I am sorry but having overgrown hair does not make you artistic - I know some of the Japanese men have been able touse their hair somewhat but you need more than that. Let's hope Skate Canada has more intrigue .

I'm probably the biggest Lambiel fan around, but I thought Nathan deserved more PCS than he got for his SP and I would not have been insulted. It was magnificent, skated with charisma and joy that are rarely seen in competition programs. We all know the 9s and 10s these days cannot be taken seriously for the most part, anyway.

Scrufflet · Oct 23, 2018

DanseMacabre said:
You're not wrong. I watched every episode of that wedding cake competition show they hosted on Food Network and the banter was similar. I enjoyed it though

They also did the Westminster dog show and it was horrible!

elektra blue · Oct 23, 2018

my highlights

team uncles here to rock and snatch medals!:dev2:

Julian Zhi Jie YEE sp and ex (i'm still laughing)

Nathan Chen interpreting his music

Alexei Bychenko skating to coppola's dracula and fulfilling one of my dreams

Chartrand redeption and Lecavelier improvement

the astonishing Satoko Miyahara

P. S.: +5 for shaved chests :laugh:

P. S. 2: Tiffani ZAGORSKI’s giving me a strong poison ivy vibe

yume · Oct 23, 2018

skylark said:
A portion of dedicated FS fans care about URs. Many other dedicated fans felt, even before this season, that the deduction on base value points was already way too much, considering that there are so many other factors in a beautiful figure skating performance that should override something often only noticeable to those who care about a technicality. Yet, a couple of urs makes a crucial difference amongst the top contenders.

Then when you consider general FS fans, most of whom not only don't care about urs but don't even see them, you have a Glaring Reason for the inability of audiences to make sense of performances vs. judging. They shrug their shoulders, but each time something is so incomprehensible, FS itself loses.

So now the impact of urs has tripled. Which is completely ridiculous. As was well demonstrated at SA.

Added to that is that URs are so often in the eye of the beholder. (All you have to do is read GSrs arguing over them). Otherwise there's no fair explanation why other skaters get away with them.

It was weird to see a standing ovation, then a destroyed score.

lesnar001 · Oct 23, 2018

I really only watched the ladies - so that's all I can comment on.

Highlights....
Kaori Sakamoto - EVERYTHING!!!!
Satoko Miyahara - real (to my eye) improvement in her jumps.
Sofia S - what a way to make a debut.
Laurine Lecavelier - what she is selling, I want to buy it!

Sad moments....
Polina T & Marin Honda's free skates - heartbreaking.
Starr Andrews - I think she has so much potential. I think she'll do better next time.

lesnar001 · Oct 23, 2018

yume said:
It was weird to see a standing ovation, then a destroyed score.

For me personally, 2 performances that had me :scratch2:

when the scores came out was

Yukari Nakano 2008 Worlds LP
Satoko Miyahara 2016 Worlds LP

I wasn't "scrutinizing" rotations, and to me their perfomances looked smooth and polished.
I thought they would make the podium....

And then the scores came out

skatesofgold · Oct 23, 2018

Mathman said:
I guess I am a minority of one, but I actually like Tara's commentating just fine.

I do agree with the criticism of the whole NBC crew, though, on the issue of, "oh the scoring system is so complicated, even the skaters can't figure it out."

The gymnastics commentators act like their scoring system is too complicated, too.

RobinA · Oct 24, 2018

WeakAnkles said:
I do like Johnny and think he can be a very insightful analyst of every discipline except dance. I think the dilemma is he and Tara made their initial splash by combining analysis with snark, and TPTB may have asked them to up the snark considerably. The shame is that this emphasis on what is believed to be "entertainment to draw in a younger audience" comes at the expense of thoughtful analysis.

Yeah, this.

At the beginning I really liked Johnny and thought he had a lot of intelligent things to say. He probably still does. I could tolerate Tara and had to admit she had some interesting things to say. Now it seems like the whole thing is dumbed down to the point of meaninglessness. It's a shame, because what other sport tells commentators to STOP being informative. I mean, isn't the reason we have to watch so many 4 minute quad splatfests and botched 3/3s because "It's a SPORT damnit?" Well, telling commentators to act like idiots is not very...sporty. I was a "young audience" when I came to figure skating. 10 years old. Uncle Dick explaining what was happening was among the things that made me stick around to find out more.

RobinA · Oct 24, 2018

Manitou said:
I agree. Johnny is one of a kind, he doesn't cover the truth with "sensitive" BS, I love his commentary. He's interesting, funny and very knowledgeable. But please, do not bring Kwan. DO NOT bring Kwan. After she went to politics she is disqualified from public commentary. She is a politician now, not a skater. That's an automatic disqualification.
I want to see Johnny together with Tanith. Together. To me she is a good as Johnny and I think they will fit together. And they both know how to pronounce Russian names correctly. It's a decisive factor.

Never, never bring back Hamilton.

I like the Johnny/Tanith idea. I have gotten a lot out of Tanith's ice dance commentary and both are thoughtful and knowledgeable.

century2009 · Oct 24, 2018

I get that figure skating needs drama in the US to sell, and Johnny and Tara is probably the best choice.

But at this competition, it was a bit too much. I usually am ok with Johnny. He can be harsh, but it is his opinion. However, Tara was too much this time, and dont understand the narrative they are selling,

For example, Tara keeps pushing this rivalry between Nathan and Vincent, when there is NONE at all, and Nathan is complete in a different league in all aspects.

NO ONE thinks that, and it is something that Tara pushes on the audience.

Both of them support each other. Why cant it be that they are working together for the US? Must there be a rivalry? It is like NBC wants drama and this is something they want to do for more viewership.

VegMom · Oct 24, 2018

Jeanie19 said:
I think the real problem is that NBC does not care about the sport of figure skating. And since we have to pay for this channel, they should let us vote who we want commentating. I'm fine with Johnny. How about Jenny Kirk, Michelle Kwan or any other retired skater.

I think they should have a button that just turns off commentating. So we can choose it if we want and turn it off if we want but still hear the music and the crowd. And then they choose who to hire as commentators. I would like to watch the skate without comments, then rewatch certain ones with comments.

I watched the Men's free skate live but other than that everything else was just whatever I wanted to see I found on YouTube and watched that. Hunting down the replays on NBC Gold and then finding the portions I wanted to see was just too time consuming. I liked it when IceNetwork put together Highlights, I would watch those. Then also, on YouTube I could watch it in slo-mo with that feature to speed up or slow down videos, so that was fun.

mikeko666 · Oct 24, 2018

So how many times did Johnny and Tara call Kaori's skating sloppy or messy in total?

2018 Skate America: Thoughts and Highlights?

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