2016 Four Continents Free Dance

[FlattFan]

H/D robbed of the bronze.
C/B should have won the LP but lost overall since S/S were flat today.

 

[Giselle]

The take aways from this are that 1) the US can potentially have two medals at worlds 2) Euros scores were indeed a joke 3) with Papadakis/Cziceron in the mix again Cappellini/Lanotte are going to be dumped, probably behind Hubbell/Donohue and Brobova/Soloviev 4) The US could potentially have three teams in the top 5.

How does it prove that Euro scores were a joke?

 

[semosk8tfan]

Very happy for the Shibs! Actually until the medal stand I think we were happier than they were (they weren't happy with aspects of that performance is what their expressions were saying). I think this really helps them going to Worlds in terms of increased PCS.

Gutted for Madison and Zach, they placed 3rd in both segments and I think they should have finished 3rd over all. I am hoping that by Worlds they are going to start getting some PCS love as well.

Madison and Evan, put out a very good performance. I saw them skate at Skate America and that is the only time I have liked them, they don't come across well on a computer screen!They are still the judges darlings beating the Shibs on PCS

Weaver/Poje had a rough night...better 4CC than Worlds. It irks me that their PCS numbers were still so high given the actual performance.

I need to go to bed but I am still keyed up after all the nerves of the last hour!

 

[matcha]

The take aways from this are that 1) the US can potentially have two medals at worlds 2) Euros scores were indeed a joke 3) with Papadakis/Cziceron in the mix again Cappellini/Lanotte are going to be dumped, probably behind Hubbell/Donohue and Brobova/Soloviev 4) The US could potentially have three teams in the top 5.

Why?

 

[katha]

Sorry, but this outing and direct comparison with WeaPo and even C/B and H/D and G/P (for all the other foibles that might be going on with their programs...and I really hate H/D's FD!), Fix You is rather open. It's got a very strong focus on the elements and the elements are killer and set in a way to get the most emotional resonance, but outside the elements there's not all that much interesting stuff going on. Which...that's fair enough. The system doesn't reward transitions outside the elements anyway so why go for them, right? But if every other team gets slaughtered and their programs get nitpicked to death, I don't see why the Shibs should be exempt. I like Fix You, I think it suits them to a tee. But it's not beyond criticism.

 

[thoakun]

Bums me out how empty the stands are.

It's still Friday afternoon in Taiwan. Understandably, most people have to work even if they want to go to the event.

 

[Mrs. P]

While I think I understand the disappointment at not turning in their best performance, I think the Shibs should be proud that they kept their nerves in check. I remember at Cup of China last season, they were in the lead after the SD and then they came undone in the FD, leading to P/C's win and th start of their path to a world championship. Hopefully we'll see them peak at Worlds!

 

[NoNameFace]

The problem with C/B's Rach is that they interpret it like almost every other FD they've ever done and Igor's choreography with the usual Madi touching Evan's face a thousand times and arm raising and Evan disappearing to the background can't be hidden as well as it did with more jumpy music like American in Paris.

the thing for me is indeed the frequency of her touching his face (seriously, sweaty hands are a home for all bacteria, you really want to mark his face with it? ubers - joke alert) and putting arms around him in this dance...and yes - style is the same, choreography is the same, but music is entirely different this time. And it's not a good match for me. Of course there are fans of this FD and I respect that - diversity of tastes rules!

 

[Anni234]

My preciouses won! I've been waiting sooo long for them to start winning! Absolute best news this morning.

 

[katha]

How does it prove that Euro scores were a joke?

Yeah, that is a headscratcher. IMO Euros was a well skated event. IMO a better skated event than 4CC. The top 4 in particular produced quality performances and rightly got high scores for them. And the scores they got were also justly comparable to what the top four teams scored here. It looks like the first four at 4CC and the first 4 at Euros will probably make up the top 8 at Worlds in some constellation.

 

[NoNameFace]

The take aways from this are that 1) the US can potentially have two medals at worlds 2) Euros scores were indeed a joke 3) with Papadakis/Cziceron in the mix again Cappellini/Lanotte are going to be dumped, probably behind Hubbell/Donohue and Brobova/Soloviev 4) The US could potentially have three teams in the top 5.

some arguments pls, I'd say that scoring on GPF was more of a joke, Europeans were actually fairly scored in average based on performances presented...

 

[puremagic]

I'm so happy for Shibs, but what happened with Rebeka and Kirill? Their programs are very exciting but the result is so low

 

[Mrs. P]

Sorry, but this outing and direct comparison with WeaPo and even C/B and H/D and G/P (for all the other foibles that might be going on with their programs...and I really hate H/D's FD!), Fix You is rather open. It's got a very strong focus on the elements and the elements are killer and set in a way to get the most emotional resonance, but outside the elements there's not all that much interesting stuff going on. Which...that's fair enough. The system doesn't reward transitions outside the elements anyway so why go for them, right? But if every other team gets slaughtered and their programs get nitpicked to death, I don't see why the Shibs should be exempt. I like Fix You, I think it suits them to a tee. But it's not beyond criticism.

Which is why they came in third in pcs? W/P got higher pcs despite messing up the elements, so clesrly the judges still like their overall choreography, transitions, etc.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Sorry, but this outing and direct comparison with WeaPo and even C/B and H/D and G/P (for all the other foibles that might be going on with their programs...and I really hate H/D's FD!), Fix You is rather open. It's got a very strong focus on the elements and the elements are killer and set in a way to get the most emotional resonance, but outside the elements there's not all that much interesting stuff going on. Which...that's fair enough. The system doesn't reward transitions outside the elements anyway so why go for them, right? But if every other team gets slaughtered and their programs get nitpicked to death, I don't see why the Shibs should be exempt. I like Fix You, I think it suits them to a tee. But it's not beyond criticism.

Who said they were above criticism and which responses made you think that? I don't think anybody said that. The Shibs program is more open than it was in the past, but they are receiving the best scores of their career because there's not nothing going on. Also, while C/B and W/P have busier programs people are questioning the execution and quality. The Shibs FD is more difficult than you give it credit for even if it is more open, and they make that difficulty look effortless unlike W/P and C/B who really demand that you notice how much work they are putting into it. Anyway regarding open holds, the Russians have been getting away with that for years, no one more egregious than Olympic bronze medal winning Ilinykh/Katsalapov, so clearly the Shibs learned from that.

Also, upon closer inspection, the Shibs FD is not more open than G/P and H/D and in terms of the actual holds they do, I don't find C/B to be any closer in hold and actually that's one of their weaknesses.

 

[lauravvv]

Given they gave them clean performance's PCS, they were. It kept HD, who worked as hard and are IMO on par with WP in general skating wise, off the podium so here, when they were clearly better.

But yeah, canadians never admit they are cheating as badly as the russians.

That's not quite true. Their PCS were dropped compared to their cleaner skate at GPF. Also, despite the mistakes on technical elements, that was a good performance skating wise. The skating itself can't be ignored. Finally, I don't know why some people can never learn that PCS is not about the execution of elements, even the Execution part of the Performance/Execution component. I suggest that you go read the criteria for PCS. Of coure, really big, disruptive mistakes that mess with the flow of the program do influence PCS, but smaller mistakes, even loosing balance on the twizzles or slow spins, don't influence the PCS much, or at least they should not as there is nothing in the rules about that. Each judge can decide for himself/herself if the mistake spoiled his/her impression of the program and mark accordingly, but, as I said, it is not in the rules exactly.

I am more surprised that judges still give lower PCS to Shibutanis than to Chock/Bates. Although I admit that Chock/Bates had a really good FD skate, while Shibutanis were not quite so great as at Nationals where they also got slightly lower PCS than C/B (but at Nationals that was to be expected).

To be clear, I am neither Canadian, nor even North American. I am from Latvia in Europe. Unfortunately, our dance team is really weak, so I think I am quite unbiased in that sense. And, although I am a Weaver/Poje fan and, unlike many people, have liked most of their programs, including this season's FD, I am definitely not a crazy uber, and I also like Papadakis/Cizeron and Shibutanis with their programs this season a lot. And from this competition I like both Hubbell/Donohue and Gilles/Poirier each in their own way. Actually I don't understand those crazy ubers at all.

 

[GF2445]

We are about to see the end of an era of North American Dominance in Ice Dance.

 

[auser]

As I said, the hot ticket is clearly Ice Dance at worlds!

You are going, yes? So happy for you.

 

[solani]

We are about to see the end of an era of North American Dominance in Ice Dance.

And I thought it ended last season?

 

[Mrs. P]

You are going, yes? So happy for you.

I am. Can't wait!

 

[auser]

I am. Can't wait!

Have you been to a Worlds Comp before?