Virtue/Moir FD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCr2-fazxqU
Thanks for posting this, I set my PVR to tape all 2.5hrs and it did, but it cut out V & M.
Virtue/Moir FD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCr2-fazxqU
I like P/I's programs this year and think they do a nice job. The SD is quite good. The FD? It's a nice little program, skated nicely, and utterly forgettable about 12 minutes after seeing it. And I am sure that is what is going to happen at the Olympics. They'll have a nice skate, and no one except their families and fans will remember it.
On the other hand, I bet I will remember the Hitchcock program 12 years from now.
Obviously , I find evidence of "soul" in very different places than emdee .. but there's no use going back and forth about P/I vs. G/P , it's plain that people's artistic preferences are coming into play, and that's not likely to be resolved , here.
What I want to raise is the program of P/O , which vaulted them from a fair 8th place in the SD to a fair 5th place in the FD ( even with a deduction for a long lift)... This was the choreographic wonder of the competition , for me. ( Not my favourite choreo, but one of the ones that best served the skaters. Kudos to D&L, I assume ?)
Here was a non-original program choice greatly elevated by creativity. It used the skaters abilities to maximum effect, was filled with innovative moves, was well executed and seamless ..nothing stood out as a noticeable "gotcha" moment, it was all of one piece.
R/H and O/W were very close . A large part of the difference may come down to the twizzles ( O/W lv.4 , R/H lv.3 ) Otherwise ,their levels were pretty equal, with O/W receiving some higher GOEs . These are the 2 couples whose placements could be most reasonably debated ,IMO..but I certainly don't think it has a thing to do with race... Personally, I didn't think the music choices for either couple did them any favours . And you could say O/W's program was more generic, generally ( and not far removed from last year's) .. but then R/H's program , though new , was much like a number of things they've done in the past , so it also did seem a bit "more of the same".
The good news is , both teams will get other assignments ( maybe even this year?) and neither will be left out in the cold come next year's GP. With their scores being so close I doubt either one will come in for favouritism on the part of SC.
I cannot believe Gilles/Poirer were 4th on the PCS in the FD. Their "Hitchock" FD is an absolutely exceptional program. It has a very strong concept, varied and interesting choreography and transitions and tons of character. It's the best FD this season, hands down IMO. I can understand Paul/Islam possibly scoring higher on SS (given Poirer's SS are exceptional but Gilles' are way behind) but no way did they deserve to come ahead on any other PCS.
Yeah, it seems like Paul & Islam got in with the judges this season. Maybe there's some politics behind it (the move to Detroit may have impressed the judges?). Who knows. But I found it odd that Paul Poirier has been on the Senior Dance podium for the last 5 years in a row, and all of a sudden he's taken off it this year. G&P were on the podium the last 2 years and have always beaten P&I in the past, so how come P&I placed ahead of them this time? I could understand if G&P had fallen down etc., but they were clean in both programs.
Unfortunately it may be that the judges wanted a boring, traditional ice dance, and while I don't want to bash P&I, I don't think people will remember their program and don't think that they will make much impact with the general public. I also just think G&P have so much more engaging personalities and maybe this is a bit shallow, but I also think they look more attractive together.
Poirier also would have given the Canadian Ice Dance team the benefit of someone with prior Olympic experience, so now only Tessa & Scott have any prior experience at the Olympics among the Canadian dance contingent.
Finally, the absence of Poirier means Canada's figure skating team loses a valuable Francophone voice, and does not have a single French speaker on its Ice Dance team.
You made some fair points. The Bronze medal in Dance is the only decision that I disagreed with among the 17 Olympians. Not wanting to get into the specifics, I would say that I concur with many of your points.
As for the lack of a Francophone voice, funny enough, that void was filled by Patrick Chan. At the press conference announcing Canada's FS Olympic team, it was Patrick who was tasked to give the speech in French. He did a fairly good job. At the end of the day, the Team's selection cannot be based off noble goals or intentions such as diversity. It should always be 100% based off meritocracy even though we know this isn't always true - just human nature. Among the rest of the Canadian team, Duhamel and Radford technically represent Quebec even though both are originally from Ontario. Duhamel is in fact a Francophone from Ontario and her French is excellent. Surprisingly though somewhat, Eric Radford's French is also very good, about as good as Patrick Chan. I haven't got the chance to ask Eric about it, can be a little awkward if it came out wrong but with those 2 and Patrick, Team Canada overall doesn't lack voice for the Francophone aspect at all. Incidentally, I never heard Paul Poirier spoken French before. Even back when he was with Vanessa Crone, it's always English - not sure if he even speaks it.