Favorite / Least Favorite Performances 2004/2005 | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Favorite / Least Favorite Performances 2004/2005

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Hikaru said:
I think it means Trophee Eric Bompard, known in the past as Trophee Lalique.
Thank Hikaru!! My mind just couldn't get it. I still call it Lalique :laugh: :laugh:

Dee
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
Favourites:

All of the programmes choreographed by David Wilson, especially Buttle's programmes. Finally, intelligent choreography that isn't crossovers with wild hand gesticulations to fill time in between the jumps. It helped that you had skaters like Buttle and Rochette (who are actually conscious of the fact that there is such a thing as choreography in a programme) performing the.

Fumie's LP at the 4CC: definitely out of the box for her, great skate, and the dominatrix-esque costume certainly caught my 18 year-old attention! :rock:

T&M: Their "Ave Maria" SP is IMHO one of the best pairs routines in recent years (PLEASE let them keep it for Olympics) and their Worlds exhibition was wonderfully touching

Savchenko & Szolkowy: I was underwhelmed when I saw them on TV at the Champions Gala in Obertsdorf, but they were two refreshing new faces this season (and really good, too!)

KVDP: When's the last time you saw a skater from Belgium in the top 10 at Worlds? Good for him, and thanks to him for a bearable programme to Safri Duo music! :laugh:

N&K and Stéphane's "Tosca": Thank the good sweet Lord! I have prayed for years that someone would come along and skate a great "Tosca" routine and you have blessed me with two in the same year!

Least Favourites:

Joubert's 1492: It had potential, but he could never stay on his feet for it. When he did, he didn't run with it and try to sell it. He came close at Euros, but it was a disappointment all season

Obertas/Slavnov: Potential, but they been together for less than a year, they can't synchronise their sbs spins, and they're attempting a quad twist, 3 sbs 3toes in their routine, and a throw 3flip. Two words to them: CONSISTENCY FIRST!!

Pang & Tong: After their bronze at Worlds last season, they had a prime opportunity to become China's #2 team. They had the programmes (Butterfly Lovers was beautiful), but her heart especially just didn't seem in it.
 

Eliza

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 7, 2003
Favorites

Men - Johnny Weir - both programs - can't remember which performances were my favorites - also his exhibitions at both Nationals & Worlds

Women - Rochette - LP when she won a GP

Dance - Belbin & Agosto - Gypsy dance at World's

Pairs - ?

Worst - Brian at World's

Dance - The African thing

Women - Michelle's QR

Pairs - T/M when they fell

Exhib - B & A Green Acres - I can't believe they skated that at World's. I can just imagine the non-Americans wondering what in the world was that all about?

Eliza
 

Eliza

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 7, 2003
Best music
1492 - One of my favorite soundtracks - Too bad Brian couldn't do it justice
T & M - Scheherazade - even if it has been used a lot
Weir - all of his music this past season
Slutskaya LP - I don't know what it was, the same LP she used last year. I was indifferent to her music at first, but as time went on, it grew on me

Worst
The very worst - Kirk's Beatle garbage. I love the Beatles, but not watered down into muzak. It was awful. So bad that it's in a class by itself.

Eliza
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
Eliza said:
Best music
Slutskaya LP - I don't know what it was, the same LP she used last year. I was indifferent to her music at first, but as time went on, it grew on me

Worst
The very worst - Kirk's Beatle garbage. I love the Beatles, but not watered down into muzak. It was awful. So bad that it's in a class by itself.

Eliza

Slutskaya used a bunch of different cuts for her LP. "Whispers in the Mirror" and "Croatian Rhapsody" by Tonci Huljic (the composer who writes most of Bond's stuff) and "Wonderland" by Japanese pianist Keiko Matsui
'
You're not a fan of the "Beatles Symphony", LOL. My school strings orchestra actually performed that and took it to arts festival a couple of years ago. At least they performed it best than Kirk skated to it for most of the season :laugh:
 

elingrace4eva

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
DORISPULASKI said:
Johnny's SP, best performed at NHK. Perfect and smooth as butter. Vintage Johnny.


Vintage Johnny? Isn't the kid barely 20? LOL.

But yeah, I LOVED this program. My favorite one of his thus far.
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
FAVORITES

Irina's 05 Worlds LP - I didn't care for this program much last year or most of this year. It was fine, but it never gave me a rush or really moved me. It got the job done early in the season and that was how I felt about it. But, she really gave it her all in Moscow and I loved seeing that side of her. Brilliant skate!

Michelle's 05 Nationals/Worlds SP - "Bolero" may have been spotty, but "Spartacus" was inspired and classic Michelle. I loved the music and felt she related to it so well. Too bad she didn't choose this for the LP!

Joannie Rochette - Where did she come from?! This season was the first time I have ever seen her, but I certainly find her to be a breath of fresh air! She is already wonderful, but she could be sensational. I can't wait to see what she does.

Zagorska & Siudek's "The Mission" - This program was so beautiful at Skate Canada, too bad we didn't get to see it develop fully!

Shen & Zhou - Even with the mistakes, they continue to astound me with their emotion and overall improvement (I sometimes can't believe this is the same pair from 98-99). They are untouchable when they are on, IMHO.

Johnny Weir's SP - I loved this program! Everything was in place and even with mistakes I was awed.

T&M - I'm not an uber fan, but I have to give them props for coming back after such a hideous accident. I was very proud of them.

LEAST FAVORITES

Michelle's "Bolero" - I really liked it and thought it was interesting at the season opener. As the seaon progressed, the choreography kept changing and I just felt she never got into her "groove" with this program. I expected it to develop like "Aranjuez" and "Tosca", but it didn't. I think this was a learning experience for Michelle. Her passion didn't seem to be "ignited" by the music. I hope next season she chooses something that inspires her....."Spartacus" certainly seemed to.

Joubert - I thought he was so fresh and inventive last year....."1492" just never cut it. It was a bad program from the start....and I generally avoid making such nasty statements like that. I think he is a great skater, and I genuinely hope he can bounce back and be a major contender in 2006.

T&M - The fall was horrific and so freightening! So many of these great pairs make all of these high risk elements look so easy and safe. We certainly saw that many of these seemingly effortless elements can be horribly dangerous.
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Disclaimer-This is just from what I've seen this year and I still have a few tapes that I need to watch to make complete decisions! I will take a stab at it though. :laugh:

Favourites
*MK-"Spartacus" This SP was beautiful at Nats and I am so glad I was there to see it in person! I hope she keeps this for next season.
*Matt Savoie-I enjoyed every single program he did at Nats this year. Too bad his LP had a few too many mistakes for him to make the podium.
*Jeff Buttle-"Nagoiyski" LP at Canadians. WOW, he was wonderful! I am so thankful that a friend of mine showed that to me recently.
*Katie & Garrett-US Nationals LP "Samson & Delilah" They were WONDERFUL in Portland and I think they will only get better with a little more time.
*Johnny Weir-"Otonal" LP at the Sweater Trophee (aka Trophee Eric Bombard). He was totally on and that is still my fave LP performance of his this year.
*Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig-"Butterfly Suite" LP at Four Continents. WOW, this was even better than their Nats performance. Aside from one double foot on a jump by Mark, this was a squeaky clean and beautiful performance. I could gush about them all day but I'll refrain my gushing here a bit, LOL :rock:
*Jordan Wilson-"Phantom of the Opera" LP. He ROCKED his LP in Portland and aside from the last flight of men, was the only other full out standing O in the entire men's competition! He was WONDERFUL and I cannot wait to see his programs for next season. :agree:
*Can I add SOI to this list because this year's tour was SOO enjoyable for me! That counts as a favourite in my book, LOL :biggrin:

Least Favourites
*Ryan Jahnke-US Nats (mainly his LP). I was so broken hearted for him to not have Nats go his way this year and his programs were hard for me to watch. I hope he heals up from his injury and comes back next year to kick ice.
*Brian Joubert-1492. This NEVER did it for me this year and I think I can officially ask him to give Todd Eldredge this music back now. ;)
*T&M-Skate America LP. I now get this huge pit in my stomach watching any pairs skating and its from all the incessant showing of that LP and fall on every single eligible skating broadcast this year. Not that its their fault at all because it's not, but that's definitely marred me from watching their LP ever again. :cry:

Sorry most of my choices seem to be from Nats but that's where most of my skating watching came from this year! I need to go watch more skating to have more choices. I know that can't be all that's out there, LOL :laugh:
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Bolero (the program) certainly wasn't the greatest, but I like the song, so that sort of "helps" me "like" it a bit more, if you know what I mean. MK certainly could have done a lot better with this program though. Wonder if she'll keep it for the Olympics. If she does I can say that gold is out of the question.

I've always cheered for MK to win the Olympics. However, I'm not so sure about this time (now that I know more about skating).

Least favorite ladies: Sasha's freaking Nutcracker. I HATE that program! It is supposed to be a Pas de Deux, what part of that does she not understand? Plus its waaaaaaaaaaaaay to front-loaded. I sure hope she doesn't keep this one for another year.

Ditto. Ditch that thing ASAP, please.

OTOH, keep the SP.

This was actually quite a zzzzzz season for me, so no performances stood out for me this time around. It was nice to see Slutskaya have the performance of her life to brighten an otherwise rather dull world championships. (Although Kostner's bronze medal was nice as well).

I like Cohen's new exhibition; I've never seen her really lighten up and have fun out there like she looked like she was doing. Never mind the fall. Irina's was cool too. MK's was alright.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Programmewise, how the skaters expressed them, my favourites this season were (in no particular order):

- Weir´s sp, fs and Worlds exhibition (have not seen the others, yet)
- Lambiel´s all programmes
- Buttle´s sp and fs
- Sandhu´s sp and fs
- Lysacek´s programmes
- Dobrin´s short programme
- Zelenka´s sp and freeskate
- Othman´s sp and freeskate
- Pfeifer´s sp and freeskate

- Poykio´s sp, fs and exh. (exh. from Europeans)
- Kostner´s sp, fs and exh.
- Cohen´s sp, fs and exh.
- Suguri´s sp, fs and especially exh. (she looks sooo elegant on the ice)
- Dytrt´s programmes, she has the look on the ice that pleases my eye
- Liu´s freeskate
- Joanne Carter´s gutsy freeskate

The biggest non-favourite:

- Joubert´s wooden-looking skating, whatever the programmes might be
 

Shanti

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
My favourites:

Men: It's hard for me to decide between Johnny's Otonal and Buttle's Naqoyqatsi. Possibly I like Naqoyqatsi better because of brilliant choreography and non-trivial choice of music (and Jeff's smile, of course :love: )
The best performance was Lambiel's SP at Worlds.

Pairs: T&M Ave Maria

Ice Dance: Frida and maybe Tosca (as performed at Worlds)

Ladies: No idea. At worlds IMO Slutskja's LP was the best, although I don't like it so much.

Exhibitions: Buttle's Ave Maria (WOW! Soooo beautiful!)

Least favourite:

Joubert's 1492, Kwan's Bolero, Sasha's Nutcracker, Albena& Maxim's African dance (though the idea of evolution was quite interesting) and O&S's LP (gaudy and tasteless).
 
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