Lia and Trennt. I almost felt like this event was their "sophomore" event, where they may have dealt with a slight let-down from their exuberant, joyful skating and "beginner's enthusiasm" ever since teaming up. I think they dealt with it very well indeed, considering their comments afterward. I enjoy their Gladiator FS, and I still think Lia is a star.
Rebecca and Filippo. What a joy it is to watch them skate! Rebecca's smile is dazzling, and Filippo dazzles with his pure pairs partner vibe. I feel like they've changed, moved up a notch this year. Something has freed them to express more. Maybe it's confidence that's come with winning silver at Europeans. Looking at their competitive highlights (wiki), I notice that this is their 8th season together. I love to see skaters who are able to keep going, keep bringing it step by step. But to bring it back to today, I absolutely love how Rebecca and Filippo bring something extra to their technical skating. They're gifted musically, and they bring it. Couple weeks ago I watched their dracula skate back to back with Deanna and Max's, and I enjoyed Rebecca and Filippo's much more. It has attraction and seduction in it, which is drama, and not all angst and dread. JMO, tastes vary.
Maria and Alexii. Their technique is breathtaking. When I watched their SP, the thought raised in my head that there's something about Russian-trained skaters that teaches them to rise to their best when it counts. Not without notable exceptions (Kolyada for one instance). And although their FS didn't come to the same level, they kept performing, in their own way. Not with emotion, but with good energy.
Sara and Niccolo. What a revelation, to see them rise above their earlier performances at the GPs and equally to rise above the expectations and difficulty that being such leaders -- European champs, World medalists -- brought their way. I thoroughly enjoyed both their SP and their FS in this event. Previously, I'd joined others in wondering if repeating last season's FS would serve well. But today, I felt that they'd recaptured the emotion and wonder and surge that the program had last year. Seeing them skate it nearly flawlessly made me realize, well, it still works. I feel like all the excellence came from within them. It all makes for quite wonderful pairs skating.
Deanna and Max. I've admired and loved this team from the beginning; I was following them during the 2 years of only Canadian events. There's Deanna's incomparable carriage, which looks great with Max's. There's their excellent elements, their grit, their willingness to try something new (tho' I join the chorus of "what an ugly death spiral" of the front one). But this year, I've felt something is missing, and I think it's something more important than well-performed elements, something that comes from inside. YMMV, but I feel an absence, an emptiness of feeling. I think they can get it, develop it, if they feel they want something more than great technique. They have beauty, but it feels cold and even old, and the vampire music doesn't help. JMO.
Minerva Fabienne and Nikita. They are superb, glorious, mesmerizing. I've thought so ever since their first event. The artistry that they cultivate together is in their elements, in their glide, in their expression, their ease and flow, and their connection. I've re-watched their performances from this week; and especially in their SP, it's clear how often they look at each other during the skates, much more often than any of their other pairs in this event. When they make their connection thus visible to the audience, then the audience can share in it and feel it too; and of course, the judges are part of the audience. No matter how fixated fans may get on the numbers and the elements and the placements -- the best pairs teams have something deeper, something inner, something more. JMO.
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But in my opinion, to think this event was well skated is putting one's head in the sand. The junior pairs winners, though they are not my cup of tea, did have a stellar performance across both programs, superior to any senior pair. Of course, they are "senior" themselves... but that's another story.
