So as promised, here are my notes from the FD, as written from the arena:
Cannuscio/McManus 74.39, 122.37: Not bad, good effort. They were good at getting levels on their lifts and had some fun ones, but they could have performed with a bit more energy, especially since it was a rock 'n roll FD.
Alessandrini/Vaturi 75.38, 125.74: This team has great lifts. I don't care what Tonia K says, I enjoyed their cool second lift -- where she does a handstand on his skate. But I guess it's not very "The Artist," I suppose. This team is fun with a lot of charisma. That said, they were not crisp and had some rough edges and could use some more speed.
Zhiganshina/Ghazi 80.27 132.57: This team was definitely the most entertaining with their zombie dance -- Zhiganshina has the BEST facial expressions! Unlike the SD, they did a better job expressing the zombie theme thoughout the whole dance. The judges definitely gave them higher PCS --but TES was actually lower than Cannuscio/McManus.
Krienekrairut/Giuletti-Schmitt 87.52; 141.41- This Adele program works. Despite being he most overplayed music ever, this team made a beautiful dance out of it. The lifts were the highlight of this dance. Loved their choreographic lift at the end. I think they are in the running for that third U.S. spot.
Weaver/Poje 91.53, 157.32 - This program is beautiful and got good audience response, but this program was full of little mistakes including a bobble on the twizzle, some blunders on the step sequence, etc. Again, they can generate some good speed, but they clearly had to cut it back to focus on the tech. I was not surprise at the score.
Bobrova/Soloviev 97.04, 159.95 -- As I said in other posts, this program is dramatic, but not OTT. They have some great ice coverage and even their twizzles were improved. She reverts a little to her bad posture, but for the most part, they are very much improved.
Davis/White: 104.89, 176.28 -- WOW -- first rotational lift! Best lift of the night, and the judges agreed with mostly +2 and +3 in GOE. Charlie had the obvious bobble in the twizzle, but otherwise I enjoyed this program and so did the audience --they got a standing ovation. The other lifts were pretty awesome too, like the one in my friend's photo. Yes, they had a low BV, but they executed those elements quite well -- and they had great speed as well. I think they have plenty to room to grow with this dance and make it better. No, it's no DF --but as I said it's a bit much to expect they will have it perfect at the first competition of the season.