2015 Worlds Free Dance March 27

[Ryan O]

I'm fairly happy with Ruslena's finish. I wish they would have beat G/P but with Elena's mistake they didn't really deserve to. Still, a great finish for a first year team.

The judges were actually TOO generous with I&Z. They shouldn't have been close to G&P or The Shibutanis, and they are lucky they didn't drop further. I&Z's program was slow & heavy, choreographically empty, & had major errors like the twizzles.

P&I's skating style has never been my favourite, but they were undermarked. How did they end up in 14th in the FD whereas I&Z placed 9th?

 

[Alba]

G&P and The Shibs are close in ability, and these scores reflect that.

No, they are not close in their abilities, at all. Shibutanis are way better.

 

[Ryan O]

has any team ever gone from 13 the year before to the podium, let alone gold? I like this French team a lot... so I am not dissing them... but it's a drastic move....

Yeah, one could summarize this event by saying it definitely raised some question marks.

There's no doubt that the French had a beautiful FD program this year that was wonderfully choreographed by Marie-France Dubreuil. As a Canadian, I am proud that she has become such a talented choreographer.

But how on earth did P&C go from 13th one year ago to 1st in one year? To put it in perspective, P&C finished 3 spots BELOW Paul & Islam a year ago, and now they are World Champions?

Meanwhile, P&I dropped 3 spots to end up where P&C were in March 2014.

:shocked:

 

[blue_idealist]

Yeah, one could summarize this event by saying it definitely raised some question marks.

There's no doubt that the French had a beautiful FD program this year that was wonderfully choreographed by Marie-France Dubreuil. As a Canadian, I am proud that she has become such a talented choreographer.

But how on earth did P&C go from 13th one year ago to 1st in one year? To put it in perspective, P&C finished 3 spots BELOW Paul & Islam a year ago, and now they are World Champions?

Meanwhile, P&I dropped 3 spots to end up where P&C were in March 2014.

:shocked:

I don't think P&I skated as well as they did last year, plus they finished at Nationals behind G&P this time, so they were thought of as Canada #3 instead of #2 as they were last year with the absence of V/M at Worlds. They lost ground by changing the free dance in the middle of the season.

 

[Art&Sport]

By far, pairs and dance were the most compelling events for me (although lots to talk about in the singles events).

I too think P/I dropped farther than they should have. And even though I'm from the U.S., I don't see how Chock/Bates were in first after the SD. They are a good team but they are not that much better than everyone else. I think the Shibs are better technically than C/B and Shibs have improved this season in performance and presentation.

I was rooting for Weaver/ Poje to win gold, but I also love Papadakis/ Cizeron and their FD is simply exquisite and transcendent. That is a large reason for their overall win, plus they have great chemistry and he is one of the best ice dancers ever! Fans should look at P/C skating from last season. They were very good then too and exciting to watch. It's just that they were not well known, and they were the second French team. Certainly, their talent was better than their placement last season. It will be interesting to see what happens next season in ice dance. Very exciting.

I hope W/P battle back strong next season. They need to beef up their presentation and get some great programs. I think this year's podium should have ended up with P/C (if not W/P) in first; then W/P (if not P/C in second) and Capellini/ Lanotte in third with Chock/Bates off the podium.

 

[wasabi]

That's incorrect.

G&P have placed very close to the Shibutanis before (including last year at Worlds at this very event) so there is nothing that unusual about the marking.

G&P and The Shibs are close in ability, and these scores reflect that.

Ths Shibs glide and float on the ice unlike G/P who clunk. The Shibs are much better and were underscored in general and specifically in comparison to G/P.

 

[Skater Boy]

I wonder what would happen if the shibs were no. 1 in the usa? Many of us always said P and c would win eventually. and they did. I love their style and lilt. Yes, he is a better skater but they are a mesmorizing team. STill the human side of me ffeels a bit sorry for W and P and The Shibs. we want people to win on merit bu I do think they are undermarked or underappreciated.

 

[sisinka]

The judges were actually TOO generous with I&Z. They shouldn't have been close to G&P or The Shibutanis, and they are lucky they didn't drop further. I&Z's program was slow & heavy, choreographically empty, & had major errors like the twizzles.

I&Z had one mistake, not more, they were fast like usual. With all new Transitions program is hardly called choreographically empty.

Choreography is one thing (important, yes) but as long as we have new judging system and judges will decide to be influenced by Handbook for judges then results will not always be about having entertaining program scoring better then great couples “no matter what choreo they skate“.

I agree that both S&S and I&Z had worse choreography then G&P (unfortunately Shibs had choreo which didn‘t accept Waltz rhythm that much). But that is everything where G&P are better in. Yes, in FD they had better Twizzles than I&Z.

But judging system is also about elements where for example in Step Sequences G&P are painfully loosing to Shibs and even more to I&Z, spin and lifts are overage for both G&P and I&Z (in this place Shibs have an advantage having better lifts). This time I&Z’s Twizzles were bad, while G&P’s Twizzles were good and Shib’s Twizzles were great. Element score shows the difference between program with big mistake in one element and two programs without major mistake (45 points versus 50 points). Where do you see the problem here?

Presentation which is represented mainly in Performance and Interpretation (in new judging systém) is influenced by choreography, but much more is influenced with dancing qualities of the skater. If you like entertaining and funny program more than dramatic, why not. But if you want to say that Elena & Ruslan showed drama, suffering and love emotions (which is concept of their program) less succesfully than Piper & Paul showed that they had funny time, well…than you have to continue arguing that Paul is better dancer than Ruslan…that Piper is better dancer than Lena…you would be probably the only person on the world who would think so.

And Skating Skills – Shibs are good, I&Z are great and G&I – I even don’t want to start with comparison because comparing two couples with World top 5 Skating Skills against G&I…

You know I like some of Righini’s programs because he can be entertaining. But it doesn’t mean that I will close my eyes on his Skating Skills and other skating qualities and start to say that clean Righini belongs to top 5 just because he didn’t make a mistake. Really not.

And how about G&I getting more points then they deserved in SD? With all Timing issues they had during Paso Doble they should score 2 points less for sure (even 3 points less with strict Technical panel). And their Timing Component should be lower as well. No problem with that?

 

[sisinka]

Ths Shibs glide and float on the ice unlike G/P who clunk. The Shibs are much better and were underscored in general and specifically in comparison to G/P.

I agree.

 

[MarieM]

That 112 score sickens me a little bit, though. Nobody should be getting that close to V/M and D/W.

Really ? Or are you just kidding ? :lol:

 

[chuckm]

P&I's skating style has never been my favourite, but they were undermarked. How did they end up in 14th in the FD whereas I&Z placed 9th?

Paul/Islam got L2 on their twizzles and on both step sequences.

 

[Astrid56]

That 112 score sickens me a little bit, though. Nobody should be getting that close to V/M and D/W.

Scoring 112 is OK if the performance merited it like D/W's or V/M's performances. Choreographically_ the dance was superb but the performance/execution was flawed as they were not in synch in some of their elements ... twizzles, etc. At most, it's a 108-109, definitely not 112.

 

[rollerblade]

Does Papadakis/Cizeron have the biggest move in standings Ice Dance? From 13th at last year's Worlds to 1st this year. (15th last year's Euros to 1st this year as well)

Wasn't Ice Dance is the hardest discipline to move up in standing? Bless the COP.

 

[caitie]

Paul/Islam got L2 on their twizzles and on both step sequences.

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing. The tech panel really hammered them on the three elements worth the most, which I think is part of the reason their score was so low. I think it is hard to switch programs so late in the season like they did.

 

[slider11]

so, here's Maia Shibutani's tweet today...

First day at home! So happy to be back at the rink. Exciting things coming up

Back at the rink is positive...getting ready for the WTT, I presume. So is WTT the reference to "exciting things coming up"....or is there something else?? Inquiring minds want to know!!

 

[ice coverage]

so, here's Maia Shibutani's tweet today...

First day at home! So happy to be back at the rink. Exciting things coming up

Back at the rink is positive...getting ready for the WTT, I presume. So is WTT the reference to "exciting things coming up"....or is there something else?? Inquiring minds want to know!!

Chock/Bates each have tweeted that they (C/B) are going to WTT.

So Maia's hint presumably refers to something other than WTT.

I wonder whether the photo attached to the tweet is an important part of Maia's hint (which actually is from yesterday, not that I think the date really matters)?

https://twitter.com/MaiaShibutani/status/583068082207326208 (Mar 31)​

 

[Mrs. P]

I wonder if she's talking about The Ice tour in Japan? They just announced the tour and some of the first skaters...

Could be new choreography too.

 

[dorispulaski]

Their EX is so wonderful, I would not be at all surprised to see the. added to a tour!

 

[TMC]

I was surprised that Liz Punsalan on TSL thought that P/C's SD was "the dance of the night" and "undermarked", and that their FD was basically overmarked by judges who felt bad about undermarking their SD - so quite the opposite to almost every other opinion I've seen (including mine).

Interesting.

 

[dorispulaski]

And then later in the broadcast, she said C&B's was the best sd for her. but she was watching on her phone. It was an interesting TSL section, but I am not entirely sure what to make of it.