2014 Trophée Eric Bompard Mens SP 11/21

[Miss Ice]

Go Denis!! I am excited for him, that was a beautiful program!

 

[demarinis5]

Finished watching the Men. Denis and Machida were sublime, Menshov the "old guy" still got it, but I suspect
he will not keep his current position after his FS. Good skate from Ricky my fingers are crossed that he
will medal. Good for Adam for skating a very decent program and getting a PB. It was nice to see his smile in the K&C.

Poor Han I don't think he was ready, I do believe it is partly a mental block because he did well in practice.

 

[Mrs. P]

Great article on IN by Jean-Christophe Berlot: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014...takes-lead-in-top-heavy-mens-field-at-bompard

Including explainations on the watered down content by Richard Dornbush (sick from food poisoning) and the costume change from Adam (former roommate, he says. Does that shirt look familiar to anyone?).

Also:

Kovtun put a lot on the line in his short program that featured two quads. He delivered on the first one, a quad Salchow-double toe combination, but fell heavily on his subsequent quad toe and triple Axel. His components, close to an 8, saved his day.

You're telling me.

 

[demarinis5]

I thought Ricky looked pale. Thanks for the article.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Great article on IN by Jean-Christophe Berlot: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014...takes-lead-in-top-heavy-mens-field-at-bompard

the costume change from Adam (former roommate, he says. Does that shirt look familiar to anyone?).

Wagner?

It looked kind of familiar like I'd seen it on a Lady. Well, I guess sheer black with strategic opaque parts is worn and seen frequently enough.

 

[Mrs. P]

Wagner?

It looked kind of familiar like I'd seen it on a Lady. Well, I guess sheer black with strategic opaque parts is worn and seen frequently enough.

I"m thinking another Team USA male skater.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Go Denis!! I am excited for him, that was a beautiful program!

You know what I love about that program? That music is SO dramatic but the choreography and the way he presents it is the very opposite of bombastic. It's a lovely contrast. He deserves his small medal here.

 

[Violet Bliss]

I"m thinking another Team USA male skater.

I was joking. And then followed it with an explanation, like with most bad jokes.

So Adam hoped a change in costume would help him? Well, not unless there was something about the new costume he really believed in.

 

[StitchMonkey]

In fairness it did look a lot like Ashley's Sweet Dreams exhibition number and they have been roommates in the past.

 

[Mrs. P]

I was joking. And then followed it with an explanation, like with most bad jokes.

So Adam hoped a change in costume would help him? Well, not unless there was something about the new costume he really believed in.

Yeah it seems a bit superstitious to me. I mean he's resorting to wearing someone else's costume?

 

[Ayeshoo]

Finally watched. Denis did such an amazing performance! He's always like a poised gentlemen on the ice.

Why do people never seem to like Kovtun....? (Though I'm not really his fan) I'm just a little curious. Well, he really didn't do so well here. But in general, no one seems to be digging his skating so much.

 

[Maria Victoria]

Haven´t seem this posted, some declarations from Han Yan after today SP

So sad to hear of this and also that I will not see Yan Han in the GPF as I'd thought before the season started. I hope he will bounce back in the free with the resiliency of youth. He is wonderful to watch, and I can see why at such a young age, people are already comparing him with Patrick Chan.

 

[makaihime]

Just started watching and is it just me or is Kovtun's jump technique getting worse? I didn't notice it during CoC but it looks like hes hunching even morethan last season....especially on that 4T :hopelessness: Or maybe its just the angles.

 

[begin]

Why do people never seem to like Kovtun....? (Though I'm not really his fan) I'm just a little curious. Well, he really didn't do so well here. But in general, no one seems to be digging his skating so much.

- Lack of musicality and interpretation. There's no lilt or timing to his movements and a big dissonance between his upper/lower body.
- Jumping technique is really bad. Landings are (usually) very ugly.
- Basic skating is nowhere near what his scores suggest. Shallow edges and no good use of his knees. Again, the different parts of his body do not work well together.

Overall, Kovtun's skating is quite jarring but for some reason the judges really want him to make it.

 

[makaihime]

Yes to the top 3 Feel horrible for Han Yan....hope he's in better condition for worlds

Adam fought nicely, but I'm not sure how I feel about everything yet...the costume and program.:think:

 

[Sandpiper]

After reading the comments I expected a total meltdown from Kovtun, a kind of like Yulia at COC. But it was not.
He fall twice, but overall it was a strong skate, not even close to a disaster as some posters here say. Some parts were even better than at COC.

There are a total of three jumping passes in the SP and he botched all three. (Two falls, and doubled out on end of combination).

This isn't so much about Kovtun... more about standards for "okay" performances. I remember in SLC Michelle had a small bobble/UR on her triple flip and it was considered a subpar SP. Are we so inured to messy performances now? (Because the sad part is, yes, Kovtun's skate still could've been worse).

 

[amc987]

I don't understand Kovtun's score. Like, how did he get 77 with 2 falls on jumping passes in the SP? Dornbush had a clean skate and only scored 3 points higher. Rippon scored lower with a clean skate. Both of them should have much higher component scores than Kovtun (there's a world of difference in PE, CH, and IN alone). Color me confused.

 

[Mrs. P]

Okay finally got caught up!

Denis Ten was fantastic! Really nice in-betweens and quite beautiful. And yes, it's quite impressive that he could be subtle yet match up to a powerful aria. His first place is deserved

I still liked Tatsuki Machida's program despite the errors. He really has worked on the in-betweens and transitions in his program.

Props to Konstantin for a PB program! Goes to show you are never too old to improve. That said, his choreography, while interesting, I think lacked the detail and nuance of the top two, so I'm fine with him being 3rd.

Richard Dornbush did well considering the whole food poisoning thing. I think that he lacked a bit of sharpness, but again, considering things, it was a solid effort.

So I love Chafik and glad he skated clean, but the program really was void of a lot of in-betweens and intricate choreography. Seem like sort of a classic Brian Joubert program in some ways.

Yeah, Kovtun was pretty unwatchable without the jumps. He should be behind Adam. That's all I can say about that.

Glad to see Adam improve and get the jumps, but please don't kill me, I wasn't impressed overall with the program. He seem SO focused on getting the jumps that i felt he didn't perform until he got over all the jumps. And the shirt, while it may have fulfilled some superstition, really was distracting and definitely did not help the overall packaging. I've seen him perform programs better -- hope that now that he's done better maybe we'll see him show off more performance ability in the FS.

 

[silverfoxes]

Why do people never seem to like Kovtun....? (Though I'm not really his fan) I'm just a little curious. Well, he really didn't do so well here. But in general, no one seems to be digging his skating so much.

Personally, I try to keep an open mind - some of my favorites get bashed for being "unrefined," "just jumpers," etc. (I don't always agree, but that's another story) but with Kovtun, his jumps are supposed to be his biggest selling point, and they don't even look nice (+ he's inconsistent in landing them to boot). And the programs they give him don't help to disguise his weaknesses. He's hardly a lost cause at 19, I think he honestly tries to improve. But right now I don't see anything that merits the scores he receives.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Glad to see Adam improve and get the jumps, but please don't kill me, I wasn't impressed overall with the program.

Adam only has 1 great SP (2009-2010 season) and 1 great-ish LP (2012-2013 season), IMO. He's talked about as being "so artistic" but it never really materializes for me. It seems that just because his body line is better than most, people think he is a great artist who is only held back by the jumps.