2018-19 Grand Prix Final Free Dance

[SnowWhite]

There is still an 8 point margin from Papadakis/Cizeron, which supports the assertion by Cathlen that they are not going to challenge for gold, at least not yet.

And considering that Sinitsina/Katsalapov basically tied them in the FD, a lock for silver shouldn’t be assumed.

They did lose two full points on the spin level, which would have made the margin bigger with S/K. The judges gave them the components. It's not a lock for silver, but people keep saying that the program will hurt them, and that's not the message the judges are giving at all. Their PCS were very high here. And of course the GOEs were excellent.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Just a wee reminder that the highlights of the Free Dance will be starting on British Eurosport 2 in a few minutes.

Here is the link for the archived British Eurosport 2 highlights on the Player (starts at 4m 07s. Highlights of Ladies FS at start. Highlights of Pairs FS at 1h 05m 30s):
https://gb.eurosportplayer.com/event/figure-skating-grand-prix/765438b2-8504-41a8-89c9-f790e76997dc

This will be followed by the highlights of the Pairs FS in an hour.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan

 

[IceDancingQueen]

The performance was great but I'm still shocked at the 5 point difference between them and S/B :eeking:

Me too! The judges really had it in for S/B this competition. They were definitely not at their best but I don’t think they were as bad as they were marked for!

 

[DSQ]

S/B have a great program, but they are not as strong (or she in particular) as the others when it comes to SS.
I am happy that the judges took this into consideration when they scored the teams. I didn t thought they will do so before this competition.

I agree.

I love S/B (it’s the rhythm face of the season for me) but if anyone thinks they should be winning the GPF when they got a Basic on their pattern yesterday makes me think Ice Dance should be killed as a sport.

For H/B it isn’t just reputation but skill wise, excluding perhaps the Italians, they are more consistent at getting their levels above 2 than most of the other teams.

This is the struggle Ice Dance has to face, is it going to reward the entertainment factor or the skill factor? Both would be ideal but as a sport skill has to come first.

 

[DSQ]

I actually probably liked S/B FD the most to be honest. And H/D's the least. Not that they didn't deserve to win. But I can think that something deserves to win and still really dislike it. I'm flexible that way.

Yup agreed. They are so mature as skaters and R&J is for a young couple. If they wanted to go tragic romance their are plenty of other stories to go for. La Bohem? Le Syphide?

That said they really do have talent Skating wise and I can really tell in comparison to S/B or Z/G. The edges are just so smooth and confident.

 

[Lester]

Me too! The judges really had it in for S/B this competition. They were definitely not at their best but I don’t think they were as bad as they were marked for!

No, they were just very overscored before.
In reality, I think there is a certain enthusiasm with the ice dance PCS scoring overall this season, people getting 9s all the time like 10 is not the ceiling, I don't know.

 

[NoNameFace]

No, they were just very overscored before.
In reality, I think there is a certain enthusiasm with the ice dance PCS scoring overall this season, people getting 9s all the time like 10 is not the ceiling, I don't know.

Looking at GP season, it looks like PCS over-enthusiasm expressed for some teams for the sole reason they are clean-ish (since levels are no longer that important). It is getting more and more difficult to tell a 'progress' in that department looking at particular teams' scores, like comparing one performance of a program and PCS given to another, because the component score 'fluctuations' show crooked picture overall; Stepanova/Bukin's example is interesting, because I think that performance-wise it was a great one at GPF, yet PCS was not up on par with what they got earlier, question is if it was blown up out of proportion previously and now it was in 'normal'/expected range or it was otherwise and now it was an anomaly.

 

[IceDancingQueen]

Looking at GP season, it looks like PCS over-enthusiasm expressed for some teams for the sole reason they are clean-ish (since levels are no longer that important). It is getting more and more difficult to tell a 'progress' in that department looking at particular teams' scores, like comparing one performance of a program and PCS given to another, because the component score 'fluctuations' show crooked picture overall; Stepanova/Bukin's example is interesting, because I think that performance-wise it was a great one at GPF, yet PCS was not up on par with what they got earlier, question is if it was blown up out of proportion previously and now it was in 'normal'/expected range or it was otherwise and now it was an anomaly.

Some of the same judges that were in Helsinki and Rostelecom Cup were on the panel at the GP final where they gave them lower PCS than in the other competitions so it could be just be an anomaly for this competition. Their technical score wasn’t as high either so I would say the nerves got to them. Even with their higher scores in the other competitions they were fairly close in total score to G/F so they can’t really afford to make any mistakes like Ivan had in the twizzle in the FD. Just like G/P who also seemed tighter in their performance at Grenoble when the stakes were high but had no issues in Zagreb. It makes for exciting competition though since all of the teams (apart from P/C) are so close!

 

[oly2018]

I made a comment in the predictions thread that was essentially, the winner will be whoever the judges like that day and I think that happened. When S/B were skating with other top level teams, the judges did not like them as much. I think the judging system is going to have to be reworked for dance because as a discipline, it is already so subjectively judged, that these huge GOEs and PCS scores are pushing down the technical side of what is still a sport. In past season, I think H/D would have been hammered for their programs, but the judges are helping them along. They have not been getting their levels this season, but their PCS and GOE are so high, it doesn't matter that G/F are essentially matching/exceeding them technically.

 

[viennaskater]

Out of a pretty poor set of free dances, for me the Italians were the stars. Their programme has really grown on me. Loved Hawayek/Baker's as well, really beautiful. And although I am a huge fan of Madison and Zach, I don't think this FD shows them at their best.

Of the Russians, I agree that Step/Bukin could not quite pull off that blues piece, although kudos to them for attempting something contemporary. The other two Russian couples did absolutely nothing for me. It's a great pity that we could have had Papadakis/Cizeron, Gilles/Poirier and possibly even Hurtado and her partner, had injuries and bad draws not come into the mix.

 

[Metis]

Out of a pretty poor set of free dances, for me the Italians were the stars.

I don’t love the music, but the programme really is stellar, in terms of performance, packing, choreo. It’s really the only one I remember at this point. Could very well be because they skated last, but I don’t think that’s the entire explanation.

I couldn’t tell you what any specific highlights were in H/B’s programme, for example, or S/B’s (even though I like their FD).

 

[SnowWhite]

Out of a pretty poor set of free dances, for me the Italians were the stars. Their programme has really grown on me. Loved Hawayek/Baker's as well, really beautiful. And although I am a huge fan of Madison and Zach, I don't think this FD shows them at their best.

Of the Russians, I agree that Step/Bukin could not quite pull off that blues piece, although kudos to them for attempting something contemporary. The other two Russian couples did absolutely nothing for me. It's a great pity that we could have had Papadakis/Cizeron, Gilles/Poirier and possibly even Hurtado and her partner, had injuries and bad draws not come into the mix.

Hurtado/Khaliavin had very good draws. They got a silver medal at Rostelecom with 174.42. That score would have had them off the podium at every other GP event. And they could have gotten bronze at GP Finland with 176.67 - M/C's 176.66 there was the lowest bronze score outside of CoR. H/K had easy events with the WD of Chock/Bates from both.