2021-2022 US Women's Figure Skating

[Supernovaimplosion]

Anyone mind telling me what music Mariah is skating to that everyone hates? I think it got blocked out of the video I was watching

Alysa has such a natural charm when she skates, it's lovely to watch. She's made a lot of improvements. Her jumps still look wonky to me.

 

[Amei]

Anyone mind telling me what music Mariah is skating to that everyone hates? I think it got blocked out of the video I was watching

Try this:

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

Try this:

Thanks. I see why everybody hates it.
I don't even hate the idea of a gaga program. I think it could be good for all the four year fans. But it's like they threw all the music into a blender. Why'd they have to murder the music like that.

 

[Amei]

Thanks. I see why everybody hates it.
I don't even hate the idea of a gaga program. I think it could be good for all the four year fans. But it's like they threw all the music into a blender. Why'd they have to murder the music like that.

Yep, its about like Zagitova's Phantom program a few years ago, too many cuts.

 

[orbitz]

I think Adam is probably a wonderful positive influence on her skating but his choreography doesn’t work for her.

Adam did Mariah's Celine Dion SP from two seasons ago. That was a wonderful program for her. Adam needs to go back choreographing what is best for Mariah and not what is best for himself.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Squeeeee Alysa!!!!!!!

Rotating those 3-3s like a boss!!!!

She's such a joyful and expressive skater. Lovely music! It's more mature with her trademark cheerfulness! Well done to her team for that selection!

Now we wait for the LP!!!!!

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

What about Gracie if she wins this competition surely the US would send her to Skate America. Even if she placeafter Mariah and Alysa but beats the rest of the Americans wouldn't she bea strong choice for SKAM?

I don't think she's capable of pulling off a suprisingly strong performance. We pretty much know what to expect in the LP. She will plan seven but land maybe two or three good triples and pop the jumps in the second half. Her team seems content to stick with whatever plan they have, but it was really jarring seeing Gracie skate right between Alysa and Amber, who have improved so much in the last two years that Gracie has spent mounting a comeback.

 

[Amei]

What about Gracie if she wins this competition surely the US would send her to Skate America. Even if she placeafter Mariah and Alysa but beats the rest of the Americans wouldn't she bea strong choice for SKAM?

No, Gracie has what 3 years of consistent inconsistency with her skating with little improvement, if she got the host spot at Skate America I would be willing to bet that it would be a decision made for PR and in spite of the skating results. At this point I would say the Skate America host spot should go to Audrey Shin, she has no GP assignments right now, she won bronze last year at Skate America, as well as 7th at Nationals, and honestly what we see out of her is a far more promising competitive future than Gracie.

 

[lumi99]

It seems I'm the only one who likes Mariah's SP. It looked great on OIP's clip and now when you could see her facial expressions on the stream. (In the Cranberry practice it wasn't that great.) It will develop and get better especially once she gets the step sequence under control. People hated the Britney program too in the beginning but by nationals it was fire.

And it's weird that people are saying Mariah at 25 doesn't know her mind and what she wants to skate to. Adam isn't a svengali forcing her do things, and I think he's been a great influence on her. She had her best season with him in 2019-20, podiuming at all her events and even being the first American woman to medal at both her GPs in many years. I think besides the pandemic, last year was difficult for her because Adam WASN'T with her at competitions (he spent months abroad).

At this point of her career she isn't going to pull a 3A or a quad out of her butt so she might as well differentiate herself in another way and skate to fun stuff that she likes. Better this than both programs being boring warhorses. Skaters shouldn't think what's "Olympic" (was "Let me think about it" Olympic?) because that's not authentic either, you're thinking about what others want to see. And I'm sure Adam has drilled into her that making or missing the Olympics isn't going to define her or her skating career.

 

[katymay]

I don't think she's capable of pulling off a suprisingly strong performance. We pretty much know what to expect in the LP. She will plan seven but land maybe two or three good triples and pop the jumps in the second half. Her team seems content to stick with whatever plan they have, but it was really jarring seeing Gracie skate right between Alysa and Amber, who have improved so much in the last two years that Gracie has spent mounting a comeback.

And Audrey-due to injury could barely land a single jump a month ago. She is making her way back and I expect her to BE back 100% by the time Nationals rolls around.

 

[katymay]

Right? People are acting like this competition is over for Gracie. She still has the LP. Imagine if she could pull up over Alysa?!?!?!! That would be unbelievable!!! She's still in it for the Olympics!!!! You can really see her heart is in it!! She's got the fighting spirit of a champion!!!

Liam, IMO-and with apologies to Moonvine and Gracie fans, I do not think she has the fighting spirit of a champion. If you watch a practice, you will see Alysa, Audrey, Gabby, Bradie etc., never stopping, every step, jump and spin is practiced over and over and over again. Bradie in particular has far less natural ability than Gracie, but what Bradie lacks in natural athletic ability she makes up for in work ethic. Gracie meanders slowly about the rink, and when she is not hanging out at the side of the rink chatting with whomever, she will throw a jump or two in isolation. She actually seems to be at a loss as to what or how to practice.
As an aside, almost every rink has a "Gracie"-that kid with athletic ability, but for whatever reason, when they are on the ice they are no longer able to commit to the nuts and bolts of actual training, and they spend much of their ice time by the barriers, or avoiding run-throughs. Because this sport is so expensive, often the coaches will conference with the parents and suggest either time off, or perhaps the parents have a serious talk with their kid about their commitment to the sport, and whether Child A or B really wants to continue. It is time for someone to have that talk with Gracie.
And when it comes down to it, I have more respect for the Findley Hawks who actually go for those triple jumps, even if they are not successful. I don't see any indicators whatsoever that Gracie's heart is still in it.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Just a random thought about Gracie... maybe she should do more international B-events outside US (when possible) to get past that mental block in comps an to gain some self-esteem (and possible ranking points). This event isn´t the biggest, but there is more audience and she is competing against possible olympic contenders, and she skated right after Alysia Liu, which I don´t think did help her at all...
and there are more people watching.

Just a look at her recent events, you can see she clearly struggles more with bigger (important) events, where the pressure is more at her.

At Philadelphia Summer Championship about 2 weeks ago she scored almost 60 points in her SP. At least her combo was good although it was 3Lz - 2T instead of planned 3Lz - 3T. A little stumble on the 2A (which BTW was ironically excellent executed yesterday, she got +2 and +3 from the judges). But she actually jumped all the jumps, no pops! With the same score in Philly (possible inflated, but okay), she would have placed just beneath Amber Glenn yesterday, and that is still with minor mistakes and no triple triple. I think it tells us what she is capable off. We know she can do the triple triple quite good in practice, but it needs to go out there.

Her FS in Philly was messy though, I can agree she lacks stamina, but it was also very early in the season.

When she qualified for US Championships in 2020, she scored 63,55 points at the Eastern Sectional in the SP. The SP score was still without the triple triple, just a reminder that she still can score very hight when she actually lands her triple triple perfectly.

At almost all other (bigger) events where she has scored low, she has popped her whole combo or the single jumps and so on, and her scores has really dropped.

Maybe she can benefit today from skating in of the first groups, unless she has just given up already. It was very easy to see on the warm up yesterday how the SP would go because she popped a lot of jumps in warm up already.

It´s possible for Gracie to end up top 10 ten today if she tries and lands her jump. But lets not have to high hopes. Anyways, wishing Gracie all the best today!

 

[readernick]

Few people doubt Gracie's potential. Her 3Lz is still amazing. Who else jumps a fully rotated 3Lz with power like that? Maybe, Wakaba Higuchi? (another skater who struggles with consistency) Anyway, she has jumping talent that very few women in the world possess. We all know she is talented. People doubt her stamina and her competitive mindset. Some people perform their best in competition, and some people like Gracie (and me.. I relate to her) just don't. If she does well tomorrow, everyone will be thrilled. However, I think there are logical reasons people doubt this will happen.

 

[halulupu]

It seems I'm the only one who likes Mariah's SP. It looked great on OIP's clip and now when you could see her facial expressions on the stream. (In the Cranberry practice it wasn't that great.) It will develop and get better especially once she gets the step sequence under control. People hated the Britney program too in the beginning but by nationals it was fire.

And it's weird that people are saying Mariah at 25 doesn't know her mind and what she wants to skate to. Adam isn't a svengali forcing her do things, and I think he's been a great influence on her. She had her best season with him in 2019-20, podiuming at all her events and even being the first American woman to medal at both her GPs in many years. I think besides the pandemic, last year was difficult for her because Adam WASN'T with her at competitions (he spent months abroad).

At this point of her career she isn't going to pull a 3A or a quad out of her butt so she might as well differentiate herself in another way and skate to fun stuff that she likes. Better this than both programs being boring warhorses. Skaters shouldn't think what's "Olympic" (was "Let me think about it" Olympic?) because that's not authentic either, you're thinking about what others want to see. And I'm sure Adam has drilled into her that making or missing the Olympics isn't going to define her or her skating career.

Lets be honest it will make a difference if she skates at the Olympics or not. She is an athlete after all. She could get a team medal and that would indeed define her career

 

[Lzbee]

Try this:

Thanks for the link! Don't know what I was expecting given the bad reviews but I think the choppiness could actually work for a Gaga program? The thing is, I don't know if it's just the camera but she looked quite slow here and her movements, while beautifully posed, weren't sharp enough for this music. She lacked a bit of energy imo.

It's early in the season though so she might still be able to get it together and make a splash.

 

[elbkup]

It seems I'm the only one who likes Mariah's SP. It looked great on OIP's clip and now when you could see her facial expressions on the stream. (In the Cranberry practice it wasn't that great.) It will develop and get better especially once she gets the step sequence under control. People hated the Britney program too in the beginning but by nationals it was fire.

And it's weird that people are saying Mariah at 25 doesn't know her mind and what she wants to skate to. Adam isn't a svengali forcing her do things, and I think he's been a great influence on her. She had her best season with him in 2019-20, podiuming at all her events and even being the first American woman to medal at both her GPs in many years. I think besides the pandemic, last year was difficult for her because Adam WASN'T with her at competitions (he spent months abroad).

At this point of her career she isn't going to pull a 3A or a quad out of her butt so she might as well differentiate herself in another way and skate to fun stuff that she likes. Better this than both programs being boring warhorses. Skaters shouldn't think what's "Olympic" (was "Let me think about it" Olympic?) because that's not authentic either, you're thinking about what others want to see. And I'm sure Adam has drilled into her that making or missing the Olympics isn't going to define her or her skating career.

I like the program too and feel it will really gel with performance… let’s face it: she’s not gonna change it now tho it may undergo a few tweaks over the season. I thought as I watched her perform Wow this is different! Like a piece of abstract art, it is polarizing but she performed the hell out of it and - contrary to other observations - I thought the audience responded with enthusiasm probably due to Mariah’s exuberance.. just my take. Speaking of Adam, I would love to see Mariah skate just once to his masterpiece, Arrival of the Birds by Cinematic Orchestra.. I think it would be sublime and fitting and silence the naysayers..

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[lumi99]

Lets be honest it will make a difference if she skates at the Olympics or not. She is an athlete after all. She could get a team medal and that would indeed define her career

Sure, it will make a difference, I get you. But I meant firstly that no one should define themselves by whether they get to go to one specific competition or not. It will only lead to heartache.

Secondly, are skating careers nowadays defined by Olympics? Not even medaling at individual events guarantees you anything. Also, Bradie and Jason, for example, have a team medal. Are their careers defined by those team medals? I don't think people give them much credit for that, but of course this could be my perception only. Being an Olympian/medalist did not set them up for life.

I think Mariah realizes she has a chance to go but that it's also very likely that she doesn't make the team, based on some interviews she has given. So why not do what you want and go out and finish your career on your own terms.

 

[nickp91]

I have a feeling Alysa Liu is going to be on the Olympic team

 

[Jammers]

I have a feeling Alysa Liu is going to be on the Olympic team

To be honest she just has to skate clean without even a 3axel or quad to make the team. I don't see Bradie getting a 3axel Mariah is a question mark and Amber is too inconsistent as for Karen she doesn't even have a 3-3 so Alysa can beat her just on the technical score.

 

[Dawn825]

I think Adam is probably a wonderful positive influence on her skating but his choreography doesn’t work for her.

Adam did Mariah's Celine Dion SP from two seasons ago. That was a wonderful program for her. Adam needs to go back choreographing what is best for Mariah and not what is best for himself.

I wouldn't put the blame on Adam entirely, it seems clear to me that Mariah likes this music and was definitely excited to skate to it, and I think the choreography matches it extremely well. I just think it was a bad music choice, and the cuts are even worse.