What a surprising outcome!
First things first, Alina! I'm so happy she did well here. I so want her to have a great season, and not to be a 'one season' wonder. She's the Olympic Champion, and she skated like one. I'm probably in the minority, but I don't have a problem with her program. For me it is enjoyable and she interprets it well. Her dress is gorgeous and she looks happy - she's not the ballerina of last season, but something new! After all the negative energy that has been directed at her, she did so good and showed them all.
Second, woah Loena! What the? We knew that girl had potential, but when she came out in that pink dress, I thought 'What is going to happen? Is Loena turning into a boring princess?' NAH. Celine Dion is an aquired taste, I admit, but 'It's all coming back to me' it's one of her very powerful songs and that was Loena's skating. And finally 3-3!!! YES. And her joy in the KnC. Amazing moment.
Then the third highlight for me was another suprise. Mariah Bell. Man, I didn't expect anything at all and certainly not such a fast and engaging performance. What happened to her? She looks fitter than ever, fast and happy. Another Celine Dion song but it really highlighted her strengths. I loved that program and her energy. I would've put her in third, tbqh. But she's not far away from the podium so the real test comes tomorrow.
Mai, I was happy she skated clean. She looked happy - it was clean...happy...and, yeah....boring. Sorry, I have to say it like that and perhaps it seemed like that because in her group everyone skated to fast music, but this reminded me of Mai's debut season, where I also found her to be quite underwhelming/bland. It's probably unfair, because she is such a good skater but I wasn't into this at all. Technically you cannot fault it and that means her third place is deserved.
And then another disappointment in the form of Marin. When I saw her practice I was really positive. But this was messy. And I don't understand why. She was first to skate, it is a low level competition, she obviously can jump these difficult jumps, she obviously has the power, and then....nothing. I mean, this seemed slow and like she wasn't really into it. I don't want to be too harsh, everyone is cutting Evgenia big slack because she just changed coaches and with Marin it's the same. And Marin comes from an entirely different culture to America. It's not like this is easy and perhaps she needs adjustment time - but the problem is that her mistakes seem eerily similar to the ones she made with Hamada. So, idk if it's really the coaching. And this season Japan's girls will face a bloodbath at Nationals like never before. I love her program choices this season, but she has to improve fast if she wants to go to the bigger competitions. I'm a bit sad, but still looking forward to tomorrow. I hope that she can get motivated.
