Well, I had to work (am I the only one? Are most of you from Europe and you watch it at night?)
Anyway, I finally saw the "horribly judged" competition, and here are my thoughts.
I was judging along, and I found most of the ladies got about the same number of points. The spread was very close in the 135-140 area. Again, I didn't get to look at flutzes on a computer screen like the real judges did.
Overall, my scores came out similar to the judges (within a few points). There were two exceptions:
Polina I had much higher and Adelina I had much lower (20+ points). I agree she was remarkably overscored.
The way the crowd was carrying on, I almost got the impression that the judges were afraid not to give it to Adelina. I think it is worth looking into what role fear or pressure plays in deciding these competitions. Perhaps the Olympics should not be held in countries where stars in the "judged" sports take place.
Having said that, the way people were/are carrying on on the message boards, I was expecting a disastrous performance from Adelina, and I didn't see that. Her long program was about the same as everyone else's, really. The two long programs that stood out for me were Mao Asada (perfect plus and axel!) and Carolina (song I've heard of, beautifully skated). Yuna's was the best danced, but it was not as good as either last year's or her 2010 performance. I disagree that her performance was for the ages. I gave her 10 bonus points for being Yuna, but without them, she'd be in the pile with everyone else. All the long programs were overall good, it was not the mess the men's long was. Even people who fell managed to complete some hard jumps, skate with attack, and more or less give B+ performances. But it was not the best competition by a long shot.
So do I think the results were horrifying? No. But I do think Adelina was overmarked in both her short and long programs, especially the short. (If she did tl/tl in the short, why did she have the same points as those who did flips or lutz/tl combos?)
Anyway, I finally saw the "horribly judged" competition, and here are my thoughts.
I was judging along, and I found most of the ladies got about the same number of points. The spread was very close in the 135-140 area. Again, I didn't get to look at flutzes on a computer screen like the real judges did.
Overall, my scores came out similar to the judges (within a few points). There were two exceptions:
Polina I had much higher and Adelina I had much lower (20+ points). I agree she was remarkably overscored.
The way the crowd was carrying on, I almost got the impression that the judges were afraid not to give it to Adelina. I think it is worth looking into what role fear or pressure plays in deciding these competitions. Perhaps the Olympics should not be held in countries where stars in the "judged" sports take place.
Having said that, the way people were/are carrying on on the message boards, I was expecting a disastrous performance from Adelina, and I didn't see that. Her long program was about the same as everyone else's, really. The two long programs that stood out for me were Mao Asada (perfect plus and axel!) and Carolina (song I've heard of, beautifully skated). Yuna's was the best danced, but it was not as good as either last year's or her 2010 performance. I disagree that her performance was for the ages. I gave her 10 bonus points for being Yuna, but without them, she'd be in the pile with everyone else. All the long programs were overall good, it was not the mess the men's long was. Even people who fell managed to complete some hard jumps, skate with attack, and more or less give B+ performances. But it was not the best competition by a long shot.
So do I think the results were horrifying? No. But I do think Adelina was overmarked in both her short and long programs, especially the short. (If she did tl/tl in the short, why did she have the same points as those who did flips or lutz/tl combos?)
, This entire round was a lot less exciting for her it looks
