Ladies review
First of all, we saw that the sport has really progressed and that we do have a very tight field these days, much tighter than a few years ago. You need to have two clean skates to win a competition and too many mistakes in one of the two programs, can cost you the medal. It is the same high quality that we saw at Sochi in the ladies bracket and I think, this is very good for the sport and the audiences, as we have a winner with two almost perfect programs and not someone who fell a few times, yet won because of a popularity bonus or the sheer fact that said skater fell a bit less.
Another aspect that I noticed is the quality of the overall programs regarding CH and INT. For me, both things are very important as it is not a jumping contest, but a sport with strong artistry and you need to sell your programs to the audiences and tell them a story. I felt, that each skater while in different ways, was able to do just that.
Evgenia , won the competition with two amazing skates. It is hard to tell what you like more, is it the short with the amazing construction of her program, in which she stands out from the masses, who go safe and overload their program with jumps at the start, while she does hers at the end or is it the free, which is not less well constructed, but more traditional and offers that incredible step sequence and huge difficulty in her elements such as the seven triples, huge spins and a wonderful opening sequence.
Personally, I do not understand the hate some people have for this girl, she was a class of her own and rightfully rewarded with a huge score. She came clean twice, the Lutz today oh well..., seriously what difference does it make? If not her, who then should get the highest score?
In my opinion, she has like Yulia (who sadly left the team) a highly talented bunch of people that push their choreographies to a new level and they go for the strong artistry element and it seems like more and more follow their tracks. Look at Rika Hongo FS, Alaine Chartrand SP and of course the Americans here ... - we are getting the stories and choreographies back, those elements that made FS so popular once with Witt & co. isn´t this wonderful?
It is what makes FS interesting for me, jumps are good and I respect everyone who does them, not only because I can´t, but because it is a sport after all. At the same time, however, I am happy that we do have actual story lines in the ladies these days. It makes the whole thing more attractive for the people and it is just gorgeous to look at.
Satoko, came second and I am glad she did. As I said on day one, I felt she could have been on the podium on day one already and today she did prove why. This girl is a jewel, with 17 years such a strong expression and wonderful interpretation of a very mature music, this is world class! People tend to call her out for the jumps and maybe this is true - heck I never was a jumper, but a dancer, so I do not have their knowledge, but the truth is, if you watch her skates then none of these "pre rotations" or "flat" jumps, turn me down. It is a similar "discussion" with Yulia once, I never understood it there and I will not now.
The Japanese skates smooth, with great use of her arms, always strong posture, heads up high, while trying to link her elements so, that it looks natural, like with the spin entrance, when she comes out from her flip it is wonderful. What I also like beside spinning in two different directions is the actual choreography here. Un Sospiro means "a sigh" and when she takes her blade from the gas, exactly this comes across, she is going inside herself, just like we in the audience did and then moved on and it was all natural and smooth.
Besides that, she also had seven triples and while not the triple - triple as Evgenia and some of the others, a double Axel and triple Toe twice. We are talking of a teenager, a teenager who has incredible potential and already, a huge presence on the ice and that layback belongs right into a museum, it is phenomenal.
Elena :thumbsup:, did not have her best day and I do know she can sail her Titanic much better, even if it won´t make a difference in the end, as Jack will die anyways. :dev2: But the point is, her potential for the future is very high, she has to mature a bit more, so that she gains more variety in her appearances again, as a kid she once did a Zombie, so it is there and just needs to come out to the surface again. This season, she is more the love type skater and Hollywood girl and as I said after the short, she knows how to make you love her and exactly this can make things hard at times, especially if you see things that can be improved by her, but also the choreography and music cut, could need some work - but for this it is too late now anyways, and it would be wrong to doctor around there now. She loves her programs as she always says and this counts for something too.
Today she again struggled with the Lutz - Toe at the start and again she came back strong and rebuild her program to land it afterwards. 16 years of age and great comeback qualities she has and if I am a bit critical with her, then only because I know what she is capable of, there is a lot more in this girls body, she can have amazing footwork and interpretation, she is always going for it, a real fighter and if you consider that almost all skaters struggled with the heat and ice quality, something that helped her today and that she can be very proud of!
Ashley 
, for me the lady of the day. From the aspect of artistry and acting, world class. You understood exactly what she was showing you, incredible maturity and facial expression. I do not think that I saw Ashley with such an intense interpretation before, I believe she knew exactly, that she had to make a stand for herself today, after the "miserable" short. How Rafael could stay so calm is beyond me, I would have kissed and hugged Ashley for hours, she just delivered today, it was wow.
One day I fly away, look at her grace - this is fantastic! She must have had some extra sessions there in front of the mirror in the ballet room, or the make up part, look at her expression, damn and then the show must go on, hell of choreography and interpretation of a real woman! This is the difference to the kids on ice, she can really use her maturity for such parts, while making it look like a real actor on Broadway. The judging in this regard was very good, they saw it, they understood it and gave her a 9.25 and 9.04. She needed to be on top there, there is a difference and it was expressed by the score, thank you!
The gap to Elena, might have been too big - but she can be damn proud on herself today, what a fight with seven triples and I can only repeat again and again, how important mature skates by the women of the field, are.
Gracie, my lady number one and the firebird is just like Moulin Rogue, a phenomenal program by Lori, to me her best work and Gracie can really rock it. That bird is there, on the ice, full with fire in it´s eyes, I love her knee work, the balletic postures, the strong, dramatic and at times threatening postures. She is so versatile this girl, there is nothing she can not portrait!
She is summoned and does her job right, I love how she is able to really show what this whole thing is all about, she stays in character the whole time - you really need to sit at the ice rink for this program, I think only then it will really translate to 100% and it will kick you out of your seats.
As example, the loop is right on beat, followed by her strong expression and then we go into this amazing step sequence, what a beast that is. How she sells this, honestly guys - does nobody else see this, hair, dress, make up, choreographic elements - she is just greatly in character. Gracie has such gorgeous lines, when she is using the more uplifting part of the music for instance, the only time I think when she smiles and it fits lovely, I just love this program and so hope, no I know that she will skate it clean at Boston and Nationals. Don´t forget, she could not skate at TEB, she lacks a few competitive skates still - but she will come back, I know that!
I believe in Gracie!
Mao 
, it was very sad to see, that it did not work for her today and I always felt sorry that she was kind of in the shadow of other skaters at times, as she is really a great performer and entertainer and of course skater. She deserves better, but I think you can not expect to just win again, after having a break - not even Yuna Kim could do it. To me, Mao is still someone who is able to skate beautiful programs, I love her SP and how much she puts into it. The FS is about the Japanese woman she portraits and it is great once she lands the jumps. It is totally different and I like that, no skate is like the other - I really wish her all the best for the next skates.
In conclusion, we saw again, that the current Ladies bracket is very tight with one girl on top, who just seems to have nerves of steel. I am a big fan of many programs this season, I like the variety that we have and that many skaters really invest money and time into strong choreographies and do not just focus on their jumps. Figure skating is not dead yet and while I am critical about a lot of things, the Ladies really do amazing this season and it makes me a very happy man.
Thank you very much, until next time!