2019 4CCs: Ladies' FS

[Orlov]

I don't like Japanese ladies' programs because of their uniformity. They don't have raisin*. They are absolutely not remembered. Programs Mai Mihara especially faceless. Sorry but not sorry.

* UPD. "raisin" it's Russian idiom, meaning: "something unique", "memorable", "interesting", "catchy", etc. Sorry, I forget all the time that familiar national idioms need to be blocked.

 

[century2009]

Ting needs to move away from Tom Z. She has great potential, but Tom is destroying it like Camden.

 

[skatenewbie]

Ting needs to move away from Tom Z. She has great potential, but Tom is destroying it like Camden.

i dont think her consistency issues is because of Tom Z though... but yeah staying with Tom Z wont give much either

 

[Interspectator]

When Mai Mihara’s skating gets so many special mentions both in positive and negative ways...obviously, she is NOT forgettable. A forgettable skater doesn’t get comments.
However, while her style may evolve in the future, I doubt she is going to turn into a showy kind of skater. She is herself on ice, and has a lot of fans who love the softness of her skating.
With so many styles presented by so many skaters, no one skater needs to embody them all, in my opinion.
For diva, watch Mariah, for power, watch Kaori, etc.

That said, next season she may surprise us all.

But saying Japanese programs are uniform, is like saying the same about Russian programs, or American ... there may be a shared aesthetic, but they are quite different. If one dislikes the aesthetic, then it’s common to look no further.

 

[Orlov]

Just for clarify - I didn't talk about the programs of all Japanese girls. Wakaba Higuchi has remarkable, interesting programs. But many Japanese ladies follow a simple path - they perform programs that do not require large emotional investments. As we say: "Музыка играет - спортсмену не мешает" (I can not translate with rhyme as original, so literally : "Music played - and it does not distract the athlete") Japanese women too often take the image of vanilla princesses skating under a nice soft music. It's boring. And for me - this is the easy way.

 

[sx98423]

i love skaters like mai whereas skaters like wakaba are really not my cup of tea. different preferences for different people i guess. i like pretty dresses, pretty music, just pretty skating in general. i know others find skaters like these absolutely boring but personally i don't find it boring as long as it's dreamy and pretty, i am a little shallow lol

 

[Tolstoj]

Just for clarify - I didn't talk about the programs of all Japanese girls. Wakaba Higuchi has remarkable, interesting programs. But many Japanese ladies follow a simple path - they perform programs that do not require large emotional investments. As we say: "Музыка играет - спортсмену не мешает" (I can not translate with rhyme as original, so literally : "Music played - and it does not distract the athlete") Japanese women too often take the image of vanilla princesses skating under a nice soft music. It's boring. And for me - this is the easy way.

It's the generically loveliness, that tends to get really boring, not just a japanese thing, Sotskova's programs in the past two seasons were exactly that, Bradie's cinderella,...

With Japanese skaters is hard to say whether coaches ask choreographers these type of programs, or choreographers don't want to risk and choose this safe packaging.

 

[lanceupper1114]

I don't like Japanese ladies' programs because of their uniformity. They don't have raisin. They are absolutely not remembered. Programs Mai Mihara especially faceless. Sorry but not sorry.

Why do you feel they are without raisins? Are raisins important? I saw lot's of dried grapes myself, perhaps even one sour one here.

 

[Crossover]

I consider Kaori's two programs are well made, especially her free program (which is a masterpiece), choreographed by the French Benoit Richaud. He is an interesting creator that never bores me ever since last season. The seagull sound in the middle of the program always gives me goosebumps because I can see he's watched the film over and over and he knows how to craft crescendo, so that audiences can feel the atmosphere of the gloomy seashore when the character first set her feet on the new land to her. It's a great pity that Kaori couldn't deliver the program in the way that she planed but I remember the program vividly so do many people.

I also loved watching Rika's cool free program choreographed by Tom Dickson whose masterpieces include Yuna Kim's El Tango de Roxanne and Miyahara's Planet. It has no empty and meaningless moment and everything is so intricately carved with meanings, so I can't take my eyes off her. I'm wondering how she could manage the immense pressure that she must carry on as a heavy favorite of the season heading into the Worlds. It's like she is reborn considering her showings at 2018 Junior Worlds.

 

[[email protected]]

Why do you feel they are without raisins? Are raisins important? I saw lot's of dried grapes myself, perhaps even one sour one here.

I would answer for Orlov. "Raising" - is a metaphor in Russia: something unique. And I agree in principle with what he says. Not all of them (Wakaba, Marin, Satoko (some of them) but many programs of Japanese skaters are lookalike and boring and it seems that not only to me. Well, I understand that opinions can vary. Like I think of Alina's DQ as of one big masterpiece from the first till the last second while some people were talking about "bathroom break".

 

[century2009]

i dont think her consistency issues is because of Tom Z though... but yeah staying with Tom Z wont give much either

I agree that Tom is not necessarily the one to blame, but I don't appreciate how he manages his skaters and don't try to manage that consistency and longevity with the tech.

Example is Max, but also Mirai, and more like Camden. Don't really have faith in him to take care of his skaters.

 

[madison]

What can I say? Eteri is a genius. So much for "kids only" trash. Lizbet whose biggest achievement before coming back was the 5th place at GP stage last season is second at 4CC ahead of 2 Japanese, all Americans and Koreans. Bravo Liza and Eteri!

Dudakov is a genius, he is the one who pushes the tech side, and more, he was the one who was near LilBet even when Eteri was ashamed to stay with her in the K&C (see Cup of Russia, this season).

 

[Tolstoj]

Ting needs to move away from Tom Z. She has great potential, but Tom is destroying it like Camden.

I think her is more a psychological problem, she reminds me of Carolina on that: it's either all in or all out.

Maybe it's something she will get better over time with more experience, i wouldn't necessarily call out the coach immediately.

 

[readernick]

Dudakov is a genius, he is the one who pushes the tech side, and more, he was the one who was near LilBet even when Eteri was ashamed to stay with her in the K&C (see Cup of Russia, this season).

I like him. He seems like a good coach. Strict, firm, but also calm and supportive. He has a real connection to the kids.

 

[[email protected]]

Dudakov is a genius, he is the one who pushes the tech side, and more, he was the one who was near LilBet even when Eteri was ashamed to stay with her in the K&C (see Cup of Russia, this season).

Lol, who told you that?

Dudakov, Gleich, "no-name" doctors and support stuff - they are all part of Eteri's team where she is the leader. And for a reason Dudakov stays with her rather than making his own boutique.

And if you did not know they don't go en masse to competitions. Eteri has 3As preparing for the JWC, she has Alina preparing for the worlds. She is on ice every day unlike some other famous coaches who like to travel and even make shows.

It did not start now. 2014-15 season it was Dudakov who travelled with junior stars then: Sima and Zhenya.

 

[DaNiCG]

Lol, who told you that?

Dudakov, Gleich, "no-name" doctors and support stuff - they are all part of Eteri's team where she is the leader. And for a reason Dudakov stays with her rather than making his own boutique.

And if you did not know they don't go en masse to competitions. Eteri has 3As preparing for the JWC, she has Alina preparing for the worlds. She is on ice every day unlike some other famous coaches who like to travel and even make shows.

It did not start now. 2014-15 season it was Dudakov who travelled with junior stars then: Sima and Zhenya.

We didn't need the essay, OP simply praise the right person, Dudakov. He is the one with LilBet cause as you said Eteri is too busy to be there. The right person to give credit too is the one who is there with the skater, not just the head coach

 

[madison]

Lol, who told you that?

Dudakov, Gleich, "no-name" doctors and support stuff - they are all part of Eteri's team where she is the leader. And for a reason Dudakov stays with her rather than making his own boutique.

And if you did not know they don't go en masse to competitions. Eteri has 3As preparing for the JWC, she has Alina preparing for the worlds. She is on ice every day unlike some other famous coaches who like to travel and even make shows.

It did not start now. 2014-15 season it was Dudakov who travelled with junior stars then: Sima and Zhenya.

I saw it myself. there were videos recording the coaches' reactions during Elizabeth's performance. Eteri is ashamed also with Moris, she doesnt want to stay with him in K&C unless he is doing really good.
Dudakov doesnt like to be under the spotlight unlike the other two, but the credits should go to him for the tech part, and also for the human part.

 

[[email protected]]

So many theories...OK, they are just theories.

 

[Tolstoj]

I saw it myself. there were videos recording the coaches' reactions during Elizabeth's performance. Eteri is ashamed also with Moris, she doesnt want to stay with him in K&C unless he is doing really good.
Dudakov doesnt like to be under the spotlight unlike the other two, but the credits should go to him for the tech part, and also for the human part.

K&C doesn't fully represent the daily practice session, where we've heard Eteri Georgievna being more active and caring, and Daniil Markovich choreographed her programs and travelled with her earlier this season in Canada and in Czech Republic. Also don't forget Sergei Rozanov also works on the jumps, not just Dudakov (although you're right, he should be praised more in general).

Lilbet's mom saw the practice sessions and praised Eteri a lot as a coach in a recent interview.

Also you mentioned the improvements on the jumps but one aspect where all their skaters really shine this season, including Elizabet, are spins: they get the levels, good interesting variations, and very good speed.

In the previous seasons we often saw Lilbet losing points on spins and sometimes steps sequence: at 2018 4CC in the SP she had

CCoSp3
FCSp2
LSp4

While in the free

FCSp4
CCoSp3
FCCoSp3

This time at Four Continents she got level 4 on every single spin both in the SP and LP.

 

[chopinskate]

I think this should have been a Japan sweep... 1. Kihira 2. Sakamoto 3. Mihara. Tursynbaeva's quad attempt didn't offset her overall simpler content otherwise and lower skating quality.

I also had Sakamoto as the highest PCS for the LP. Whoever says she doesn't have artistic talent is plainly blind.