2010 Olympic Preview to Ice Dance

[gsk8]

The Ice Dance competition could be the most delicious of all of the contested events in Vancouver. Not only are the competitors well matched in terms of difficulty and scoring potential, but there is also the omnipresent power of politics, scandal, and judging alliances that often plague ice dance competitions.

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[dorispulaski]

Nice preview, and fair to all 5 couples, I thought.

 

[Dyan]

I always enjoy reading the Golden Skate previews and reviews and usually find them fair and an interesting read. However, this time around I don't feel the dance preview was completely on point.

I have to disagree about some of the comments made regarding B&A. A Vegas and Jesus mishmash? I thought the article wasn't completely fair to Tanith and Ben and is just playing along with the B&A are past their prime and shouldn't be contending for top medals along with the rest of the skaters train of thought. The article made it sound as if B&A are the worst of the top five contenders and even with fair juding would only be able to barely snatch the bronze.

It may be true that B&A will have a difficult time getting on the podium but IMO it's not because of anything lacking on their parts this season. B&A are suffering more because the judges from various federations are jockeying for position to score medals for their skaters than they are from bad programs or lack of talent.

IMO it's true that B&A seemed to be on a down swing after 2008 Worlds but before this season began, I would say they were on the upswing. Winning a portion of the dance event at Worlds for the first time and ending a season that many (myself included) thought would be more of a transitional one in which Tanith and Ben would be lucky to win bronze with a silver medal.

Whether or not people end up liking a program or not is purely subjective but I love B&A's FD and don't find it to be a mishmash of anything (well except for the latest costumes). Artisically I find it the best of the top teams. However I also love V&M's Mahler and really like DomShabs' FD.

I realize most people on this board dislike B&A or at the very least are dimissive of them but I find them underrated this season while other teams might be overrated.

Okay enough from me as I realize most will not agree.

 

[demarinis5]

^^Thank you and I agree.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

The top dance couples are all senior skaters, so I do not want to read about deep edges which all couples have.

It's the one comp, I can never be satisfied without a decent explanation afterwards. and I do mean decent explanation, and not to reread the criteria. We need a spokesman from the Judges as to why one team danced closer than another. and how much that mattered in the scoring.

For me it's just which team comes closest to Fred and Ginger or Gene and Cyd.

 

[dorispulaski]

I think B&A have to be considered as a top medal contender. One of the things that is going to be key this Olympics as who skates the Tango Romantica well, and how that skating is scored. Like DelSchoes, B&A have skated the TR quite a few times in competitions, but not recently. OTOH, they have always done well with Latin dances (except for falling on the Argentine Tango at Worlds in 2008), and Linichuk surely knows how the TR is supposed to be done. I would be surprised if they are not very close to the top in the CD.

So not all of us here are totally dismissive of B&A. However, their FD costumes at Nationals were so bad that they did make the dance look Elvis in Las Vegas. Mishmash is a bit harsh. The Cup of China costumes worked much much better IMO. And I see that Ben was out of the plastic Elvis suit in the Ice Works Olympic sendoff show, so I hope thye are going back to that.

 

[~tapdancer]

What I truly hope is that all the top teams will be very close in scoring in the CD. Hope that the judges will not give a cushion to any team and that it will be decided by the OD and FD. All this talk about the CD and what happened at Europeans has me now on the bandwagon for eliminating the CDs. Use them for training new ice dancers but be done with them as far as competition.

 

[Kitt]

Oh, but I love seeing CDs the way they SHOULD be done.

 

[colleen o'neill]

I love the CDs. I'm sorry there aren't 2 anymore..It's really the best way to compare the technical abilities of the skaters.If they were to be removed,then I think for sure they'd have to change the OD to compensate.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Can't agree ^, We as viewers need some sort of comparison contest, if the CDs are eliminated. I would not mind a thematic approach to the OD if it demanded certain element s together with the same music for all couples. Boring for some fans, but not for the sportsminded fans. The fans not interested in a comparison segment will have their Free Dance later for opinionated judges.

 

[cotillion]

If anyone is interested in the judges for dance and the other events you can find them in comm. 1589 at the ISU site.

 

[Tesla]

What I truly hope is that all the top teams will be very close in scoring in the CD. Hope that the judges will not give a cushion to any team and that it will be decided by the OD and FD. All this talk about the CD and what happened at Europeans has me now on the bandwagon for eliminating the CDs. Use them for training new ice dancers but be done with them as far as competition.

Unfortunatly, I haven't seen any of Euros, but is this really accurate? How were the other European skaters compared to Dom/Shab in the CD? Were they that much worse? I don't think you can really compare Euros to the Olympics because the best teams (the NA teams, and possibly Del/Scho) weren't at Euros. Chances are the top 4-5 teams are going to be virtually tied going into the OD. I don't think Euros is a fair indicator when everyone wasn't there. I won't be shocked to see Dom/Shab first in the CD, but I fully expect everyone else to be very close behind.

 

[OHgal]

That was a nice preview -- thank you! I am so excited for Dance this year. Does anyone know what dates they skate?

 

[colleen o'neill]

The CD will be skated on Feb.19 , OD on Feb.21 , FD on Feb.22 ...getting all anxious and excited...

 

[1795]

Whether or not people end up liking a program or not is purely subjective but I love B&A's FD and don't find it to be a mishmash of anything (well except for the latest costumes).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JBCFJ8WJzU

potentially new costumes? i love taniths similar to domnina's very rodarte....WAIT is this one of those rodarte designs (i.e. johnny weir's hideous jumpsuit?)

 

[RealtorGal]

Has everyone else really gotten so much better than B/A? Have they really slipped? Or are judges saying "You had your time, now it's time to show fresh faces on the podium?" I've been really wondering about this.

 

[Tonichelle]

no idea why Tanith and Ben are getting somewhat shafted by the judges. they've improved technically with their move

I think it's because they lost themselves with the move. I don't get Tanith or Ben in any of their programs... and that's what made them special

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

A little bit of both.

This is ice dance. Realistically, this sport isn't kind to "fresh faces." Historically, anyway. But Virtue/Moir and Davis/White ARE just that good. Virtue/Moir have been outperforming a lot of the bigger guns technically since they debuted (at Worlds 07, they came third in both the OD and FD in terms of TES) and have seen their PCS catch up. Davis/White are in the same boat. I don't agree with Dyan that jockeying for position from the federations has hurt Belbin/Agosto that much.

 

[Antilles]

I think it's a bit of B&A's programs not being as good over the past few years, and even though I enjoy them, I think they used to be a little over-scored through the 2006 season.

 

[MK's Winter]

I think Tanith and Ben have gotten better technically and artistry wise. They have more flow and speed over the ice. I think their programs are them just a diffrent Tanith and Ben than we are used to seeing.