2017 GP NHK Free Dance

[alain06fr]

I'm still not clear on the whole Molina thing. This type of situation happens all the time in skating. We need to, as much as possible, trust that most judges are honest because otherwise we will all end up jaded and nihilistic. There will always be personal preference when it comes to PCS. It makes sense to me that a French judge might enjoy P/C the most and the same for Canada or the US or Russia but I choose to believe that most of them judge what is going on on the ice.

I'm still saying that we all need to relax, not gloat, not flop around like dying fish until we see them skate against each other. And as some have said who knows what might happen at the Olympics. Marie-France and Patrice were on track to win a medal in 06 but they fell and had to withdraw.

My hope is that the best team wins. If that's V/M or P/C or someone else then that is who I want to win.

Let the team that can put together the best two dances win.

Yeah, agree. And if some judges are not honest then it's up to the ISU to clean up the mess and they actually did it. This is a key point for figure skating as an olympic sport
So far, since this season started, the judging is quite consistent and in line with the actual performances and that's really great. Scores can vary a bit between panels but in general it's perfectly fine.

 

[Giselle]

Unless there's an upset like Stepanova/Bukin beating one of Weaver/Poje or Chock/Bates at Internationaux de France or Gilles/Poirier, Hawayek/Baker beating Cappellini/Lanotte at Skate America, Bobrova/Soloviev are out of the GPF.

 

[Cherry blossom]

This ceremony music has me thinking about that weird dog floating away with balloons video.

https://youtu.be/oqvaVpZzc7Q

Thank you for cheering me up with that video sam

 

[Anyasnake]

A bit of Scoring Analysis for the top 3 : (for those interested)

V/M :

Maxed out on the lifts, they can't get more than that. Amost maxed out on twizzles.
They are missing only 1 level 4, and they get the biggest BV possible. However ,I feel like it's better not to have all your points now or you don't get much room for improvement or room for much more points. See the positive.
Rewatch the Diagonal closely, Tessa put her foot down before a twizzle. Enough maybe not to get level 4.
They lost points on transitions and composition in the PCS (compared to SCI), and they can do better with their Step Sequences in terms of GOEs.
(And same Base Value as P/C in China for those interested)

H/D :

Almost same base value as V/M, but the spin is level 3. Since I'm no spin specialist if someone knows why, I'd like an explanation please.
However, VERY good GOEs, only +2 and +3 (one +1 but it won't count) and almost maximum on twizzles.
For PCS, the Skating skills part is noticeably rising everytime. Only one PCS and everything is over 9.
I think their last lift could have been better in terms of execution.

C/L :

Same Base Value as V/M, however they are 3.70ish lower on the TES because of the GOEs, and that's why H/D have a much better score.
Judges liked the first lift though.
They lost so many points on things like step sequences. They have overall a majority of +1 and +2.
The PCS are going everywhere though. It's a case of taste for these 2.
But that FD is a strong first (real) showing.


I noticed that every top couple (~top 10 maybe 8) has had AT LEAST one of his Step sequences level 4 in the FD. That's the reason for the huge scores. That is also very much unsual in November, however, everyone looked more polished already than in November last year for sure.

 

[gmyers]

Unless there's an upset like Stepanova/Bukin beating one of Weaver/Poje or Chock/Bates at Internationaux de France or Gilles/Poirier, Hawayek/Baker beating Cappellini/Lanotte at Skate America, Bobrova/Soloviev are out of the GPF.

All because Russia decided to give cup of Russia to shibutanis. It didn’t have to but has totally abandoned doing any politics in dance.

 

[4everchan]

All because Russia decided to give cup of Russia to shibutanis. It didn’t have to but has totally abandoned doing any politics in dance.

lol... not quite... Russia had kept the cup for BobSol but they messed up their spin...

 

[Giselle]

All because Russia decided to give cup of Russia to shibutanis. It didn’t have to but has totally abandoned doing any politics in dance.

It was a smart choice. B/S had a much better shot at beating the Shibs than Virtue/Moir or Papadakis/Cizeron.

 

[LaArdilla]

The crowd is mapping out routes to drugstores to pick up condoms on the way home.

That was SIZZLING.

I kinda like they've found their vibe. Sexy.

Comment of the day! Couldn’t agree more!

 

[nimi]

Got up, made a cup of tea, checked the results... OH NO WHAT HAPPENED TO PENNY & NICK???

Was it just a series of tiny little mistakes leading to way too many lost levels or was it an obvious hot mess?

 

[gmyers]

lol... not quite... Russia had kept the cup for BobSol but they messed up their spin...

They didn’t mess up the spin that bad! It wasn’t even a level 1 mistake! They just didn’t give b/s a huge lead in the SD. Shibutanis won sd and fd! Russia has been sabotaging its dance program the whole season!

It was a smart choice. B/S had a much better shot at beating the Shibs than Virtue/Moir or Papadakis/Cizeron.

It didn’t matter who got cup of Russia. Russia was committed to have any non Russia team win it.

 

[Anyasnake]

Got up, made a cup of tea, checked the results... OH NO WHAT HAPPENED TO PENNY & NICK???

Was it just a series of tiny little mistakes leading to way too many lost levels or was it an obvious hot mess?

It may have been sloppy towards the end but nothing major (just 2 tired people). But easily lost 3 levels at least (compare to what they can normally achieve). That's 4-5 points at least maybe event more.
And their PCS was a bit low in my opinion, only 47.

 

[Anyasnake]

For those who know where we can find the FDs with Charlie White commentary on the Olympic channel, please post it ! They always have a lot to say on the technical and general impressions, it helps understanding the scores a bit more. :thumbsup:

 

[college pat]

i am sorry i missed the free dance, presentations and sleep.

congratulations to all medalist.

I will state watching the Virtue/Moir & Hubbell/ Donohue & Cappelline & Lanotte side by side on video, i can see the differences, nuances. The strength and weakness of each teams comes across. It is clear Virtue/ Moir won and why OGM, OSM Medalist congrats.

all are great teams. kudos to all.

than for fun i watched Shibutani's; Papadakis/Cizeron & Virtue/ Moir side by side to compare. they are great all 3 teams.
and for me any one of the 3 can win the OGM. Why P/C & V/M had a competition prior to gp events to get the nerves out as well as rust spots to fine tune before the gp competition, shibutani' didn't, but it there so for me any of the 3 can win due to practice of their dance.

it will be interesting to see the progress of each team, how fine tunes it.


great job all teams.

 

[draqq]

H/D :

Almost same base value as V/M, but the spin is level 3. Since I'm no spin specialist if someone knows why, I'd like an explanation please.

Hmm... looking at the features for dance spins, it's difficult to pin down but I have an educated guess. I would say that one of their positions was not considered a difficult position, of which they need to achieve 4. If I had to be strict, I would say that Hubbell has a one-handed camel spin, a low lunge for a sit spin, and an arched upright spin. But I'm not certain that Donohue achieves a difficult position. The sit spit might be low, but it's still in a basic position.

However, I've seen that spin before twice (once at Skate Canada and another at the U.S. Classic) and they were graded a Level 4 both those times. So... it may just be what the technical panel "thinks" is difficult on the given day.

 

[SarahSynchro]

You talked about Poje..normally Sarah shows up when you do.

i know... but this time... i made sure she wouldn't... :shock2:

I told you, I'm always watching! :ddevil:

I had tickets to see Jim Jefferies in Toronto, so I had to miss the free dance in its entirety. So much catching up to do! I'm pretty sure my internal clock was destroyed over the last two nights, hence why it's 4AM and I'm wide awake, sans a live competition stream, which is because the competition is over, of course...

Speaking of Jim Jefferies: Australians! Never have I been witness to such an extreme level of constant use of the C-word before tonight.

 

[Gotlev]

I'm kinda sad. I hope judges didn't already made up their minds for this season...

Unless they had made up their minds that V/M will win gold at every competition?

 

[Lester]

I find that Madi and Zach's both programs are kind of... terrible... but their exhibition today was so interesting and free. I wonder if they can explore this direction more, they just flew over the ice, they projected, it was amazing.

 

[cathlen]

I loved H/D both programs. They're my American team to root for this season. I also loved C/L FD and, suprisingly to me, Vikita FD. I wasn't even having heart palpitations watching them throught routine, but of course, there had to be heart attack at the end But it was really good otherwise, I liked it beter than B/S FD. I liked V/M program the least, though they're so good, it's pure pleasure to watch them move. Kudos to Danes for using The Doors Pity, Penny & Nick had some mistakes which cost them falling in ranks, I was really cheering for them, but they weren't at their best today. And I really don't get Nazarova/Nikitin program. The music just doesn't work IMO for dance program, but I'm not judge, it apparently does.

 

[NoNameFace]

Unless they had made up their minds that V/M will win gold at every competition?

well, in my opinion this is not 'making minds' every competition to give gold to Tessa/Scott - it's more about the general reception of the material presented by them, putting into perspective of other top teams (French especially, since the race points-wise seems to be between them and Canadians), especially looking at PCS score. For me, Virtue/Moir's choice for FD is probably the riskiest of all - warhorse music in version not suiting universal liking and bold concept backing it, and PCS scoring for that FD, reception of it as a performance, how it is put together, interpreted seems to be 'moody', depending on panel. The impression could be like 'let's see if we're today in the mood for 'Moulin Rouge' - this is definitely not an universal 'crowd pleaser' and 'judges' grabber'.

I sometimes wonder, if the personal preference for this music/movie/story has a factor there, because - after all - we all react stronger to some sounds, images, concepts, visuals than other. For me, looking at the sole concept of a program versus music chosen, there is definitely a solid and engaging cohesion and boldness/vividness designed to pop out movement-wise; presentation/performance-wise, this is for me one of their strongest works ever done - it tells the story that balances out personal and fictional/MR story elements is quite seamless, intricate way; the way they attack the content and interprets music, how they give out the dramatic/seductive vibe of the Tango and powerfulness and lyricism of second part, encompasses their maturity and experience in the best way possible. But it's just my impression, seeing this FD so far this season.

 

[Anyasnake]

I sometimes wonder, if the personal preference for this music/movie/story has a factor there, because - after all - we all react stronger to some sounds, images, concepts, visuals than other.

Definitely. I've never seen the movie MR and I have been told not to watch it because it could "ruin" (strong word, more like change my perception but not in a very good way) their FD. Fitting an entire story into 4 minutes is definitely hard, and it doesn't help that the music is overused in figure skating. The thing is, it doesn't grab me yet. They connected way more in Canada, however the technical I thought was better here, it was very very clean (minus the bobble on the Dist but it didn't affect the choreo at all).
I'm watching them and I'm blown away by their lifts for example. But... I want more. When I watched Meryl and Charlie this was the feeling I got : "Wow it's impressive, the lifts are big/acrobatic/difficult, the technique is so powerful, etc." But right now, this is still how I feel about Tessa&Scott. But then, this might just be a simple question of time of course and even if I wasn't sure about the MR theme at the beginning, this is by far the best MR I've seen.

On a technical point of view, their lifts are great, nothing to add (actually, no points to add for the judges ). However, since the beginning of the year, they felt slightly slower on both of their step sequences. Well they give the impression that the intensity is going down, I wouldn't call that really slow. Now that I watched it several times, it's built to go with the music as it should, but I still wonder if they are placed correctly, because they actually have a margin on those step sequences.

But then we have GPF. They know how to show up against competition, so I'm waiting for this FD to have that "something" even more (that feels like it's missing for me).
I still think part of that is the factor you were refering to. Not everything can suit my taste a hundred percent. But it can get there.