Always nice to see the Galas when the skaters shows a little bit more about their real personality, to relax and put up a show.
Liza - Costumes!!... Age appropriation costume alert, but anyway I like her FS more (ish). (I very much doubt Piazzolla had this performance/costume in mind when he composed the music)
Kanako - I enjoyed this exhibition, think it is her best work yet. Okay I know I am going to get into SOOOOO MUCH trouble, but am I the only one who sees a little bit Yuna in her recent presentation progression??! The formal Hello Kitty skater has turned into one of the best Asian ladies with added maturity and grrrrrr... in her skating. I'd say she got the right mark for her SP but because the first 2 were really over marked for putting out similar tech content, that put her at impossible odds, that she seem relatively under marked. She should be the silver medallist for me here at CoC.
Julia - Charming exhibition. I like her costumes (It is very American Horror season 3, all about witches and super chic black costumes). If she can change her black umbrella into a transparent bubble umbrella with either matt light silver or pearl white metallic trimmings, it will really polish the package all together well. Oh Julia, You are a brave head strong talented young lady, I have no doubt you can over come this bad skate and do very well. Just shake things off, and learn from your many mistakes this time round.
Zijun- Undermarked in everything. It seems the judges are making extra sure she won't benefit from all the past inflation for GP/world championship/Olympics events at home, especially with WC2015 in Shanghai. Although she does have her deficiencies, in the overall scale of things among all the ladies, she should have done better. Liked her self choreographed program... hope your dream comes closer tomorrow than it did today.
Polina - I want to like you and try to see what people see in you, but sorry, I still think you have at least 1-2 years to go to warrant the type of hype. I far prefer Ashley and Gracie at this point. The gala was a good idea, but some how it lost its steam by the end.
Richard Dornbush - Most pleasant surprise at the competition. You deserve a silver medal given what you put on the ice. Undermarked in PCS on both events, possibly because of US no #4/5? I am generally impressed with the US men's programs this year, and I think the Yellow FS has one of the best music edit for a program with lyrics so far. Love the concept of the Gala, and the only thing cuter than the 'threatening bull cuddly toy' you confronted on ice, is have Zijun wearing two bull horns on ice and looking at your red capes with mad round eyes.
Max - A Plushenko wanna be, and I got a little embarrassed watching this 'exhibition'. Between him and the other Max, not sure who's worse, but hey...at least they all got their die hard fans, federation support and most of all their generous puzzling PCS.
Misha - Amazing to think he put this gala together at last minute, and wonder where he got that crazy outfit from (I hardly think it just lies in his suitcase and he bring it with him everywhere). It is like the most outrageous ridiculous thing one can find on short notice, which means he probably ordered from Alibaba Express via 12 hours delivery (China is ace for that sort of thing). Everything fun and enjoyable this gala is, Max's is not. Talk about feeding the audience and thrive off it. While this is not some amazing sophisticated master piece, but it is a case when personality, effort and energy is enough to compensate above everything else and he clearly enjoy performing and the audience love it too, love that! Cool exit from the rink.
Nam... I keep thinking he should go and do a few years of military training before he is allowed to compete. Totally unfair comment I know, but it is a case of he is far too boyish in his skating, performance, artistry for me to appreciate. Hanyu may be boyish when he first started, but he skated BIG, and his presence on ice is HUGE.
Anyway, that skating rink was big enough to be considered outside!
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