2023 NHK Trophy Free Dance

[4everchan]

I fell asleep, but for sure, this is one I will need to watch on replay.

Reminds me of the time Sinitsina/Katsalapov beat Pap/Ciz at Euros. Who says dance scoring is boring and predictable, eh?

I think i had blocked that one from my memory. Well, if NHK winners of this year have the same future as NHK winners from last year, it doesn't sound good for F/G

 

[anonymoose_au]

that explains the commonwealth win

Haha I'm shocked! Usually Aussies are for anyone but the English

It's also funny because from my watching of past (ancient) events on YouTube I swear Australian judges were the stingiest. Like some judge from France would give a 5.7 and the Aussie would be 5.2 and I'd be veeery confused!

Hmm I've just noticed they've got a regular sized zamboni instead of those mini-ones.

 

[el henry]

watch the blades.. .not the boxing

I'm a native Philadelphian. Anyone who does a Rocky program gets "quad bonus" points from me, even if it's ice dancing

Seriously I find Charlene and Marco's uber dramatic shtick as annoying as Rocky, so they are equal on that basis. Lewis is an excellent skater. Lilah has gotten better. But as I said, I'm not going to defend it to the death, I'm not that attached to my opinion. But I will need to watch again to understand the intense "wuzrobbed" (not just you, everyone) here.

 

[bigsisjiejie]

IMO, F/G and their gimmicky traveling circus move programs don't belong anywhere near a Worlds podium. Yet that is how they are being set up by the tech panel and judges. Russian-caliber levels of overscoring, blech . Mistake-free Guignard/Fabbri, Gilles/Poirier, Fournier/Sorenson, and Chock/Bates all out-dance the Brits just about any day of the week.

 

[adrianalaura]

I realize this board is biased to the Italians, which is fine, but sorry, G/F's free dance ain't it. So generic and it only reminds me of other superior teams that could convincingly do this type of dance, like Papadakis.

Honestly, G/F should have retired after the world medal last season. No way they touch a world podium again. Sorry to be so harsh, y'all.

Wow it’s really not polite to say this. How can you tell someone to retire??? If they want to do this it’s their decision and they have fans that support them want them to continue.

 

[4everchan]

I'm a native Philadelphian. Anyone who does a Rocky program gets "quad bonus" points from me, even if it's ice dancing

I will hold the quad bonus thing against you next time you complain about it in men HEHE

Seriously I find Charlene and Marco's uber dramatic shtick as annoying as Rocky, so they are equal on that basis. Lewis is an excellent skater. Lilah has gotten better. But as I said, I'm not going to defend it to the death, I'm not that attached to my opinion. But I will need to watch again to understand the intense "wuzrobbed" (not just you, everyone) here.

I don't really care about either teams.. but I care about ice dance... and that doesn't sit well with me if teams who cannot even skate in hold win big competitions.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but from a former competitive ice dancer, I'll take this win for F/G. Tonight they were superior to the Italians. Sorry not sorry.

 

[Rebecca Moose]

Seriously I find Charlene and Marco's uber dramatic shtick as annoying as Rocky, so they are equal on that basis. Lewis is an excellent skater. Lilah has gotten better.

Preach!

G/F may be better dancers and skaters, but their packaging and programs are not worthy of their abilities. The FD is so paint by numbers. Zzzzzzz. I know people take every opportunity to shit all over Lilah's skating skills, but she has improved tremendously over the past three years.

 

[slider11]

Pretty baffled by Fear/Gibson win. Technically and artistically, I choose Charlene and Marco. And what's with the low scores for Lorraine and Anton. I really liked that performance.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

Based on a public response in the arena during the performances, i knew F/G will won... Maybe it's right, maybe it's not, but that is a figure skating for you

 

[4everchan]

anyways.. i haven't see the first group... but what happened to Lauriault and Le Gac ? They should win

 

[Axel Rose]

Personally I’m not a fan of this trend this season towards lyrical. I am not sure why so many teams went into this direction. Not a fan of G/P’s Wuthering Heights but I can see they have the judges’ favour for the podium. The Italians don’t thrill me but I respect their skills (even if Barbara seems to often take Virtue Moir moves for their choreography…. Let’s call it a tribute). In genereal, none of the lyrical music is sounding distinctive to me. Rocky is different but in terms of TES, no, F/G don’t deserve such high scores.

 

[readernick]

I'm a native Philadelphian. Anyone who does a Rocky program gets "quad bonus" points from me, even if it's ice dancing

Seriously I find Charlene and Marco's uber dramatic shtick as annoying as Rocky, so they are equal on that basis. Lewis is an excellent skater. Lilah has gotten better. But as I said, I'm not going to defend it to the death, I'm not that attached to my opinion. But I will need to watch again to understand the intense "wuzrobbed" (not just you, everyone) here.

It's the blades as was already mentioned. It's like giving higher PCS scores to Ilya than Jason. Lewis is a good skater but not a great one compared to other ice dancers. Lilah has gotten better but is below par. The Italians are the best in the world at using their blades. It's just really not defensible.

 

[rain]

I have not been posting, but watching on and off....

here it is, incredibly unpopular opinion.

I liked LIlah and Lewis better and I think they should have won gold. So there.

Is Rocky a sophisticated masterpiece designed to subtly pull at the heartstrings? No. But I don't see where the Italians are *that* much better. I really don't.

Do I care enough to give blood over it? No. But this is not "ohmygodtherefs(judges)areblind". At least for me

The Italians are far from my favourite team and far from unbeatable, in my opinion. And I do think the Brits have improved from the days when they were so massively overscored for their entirely overrated Madonna program. I'd far rather watch Rocky. It just strikes me as more or a show program.

Anyway, my favourite of the night was the French. Second favourite was the Finns. And in spite of the fall I love Corpse Bride by Lauriault/Le Gac and I hope that maybe one of the top three Canadian teams decides not to do 4CC and they can get that slot (though honestly I don't see that happening at all).

I guess I'm mostly shocked at the outcome because there were no visible errors and in dance the judges don't usually like to shake up the established hierarchy.

 

[el henry]

Based on a public response in the arena during the performances, i knew F/G will won... Maybe it's right, maybe it's not, but that is a figure skating for you

Boy, do I wish that were true in figure skating. Sadly, audience love does not equal medals.

Otherwise, Jason Brown would be a world medalist and I would be a happy gal.

 

[NanaPat]

anyways.. i haven't see the first group... but what happened to Lauriault and Le Gac ? They should win

She fell on the twizzles.

 

[rain]

anyways.. i haven't see the first group... but what happened to Lauriault and Le Gac ? They should win

She fell in the twizzles. It was tragic.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

Boy, do I wish that were true in figure skating. Sadly, audience love does not equal medals.

Otherwise, Jason Brown would be a world medalist and I would be a happy gal.

Well, he won a bunch of 5th places, he was never really a contender for the world medal based on his base value. And he still placed the highest he could with the base value he had. He is a crowd pleaser, and that's fine... I was talking when the race on the top is close, and then the public in the arena will decide the winners, always

 

[slider11]

I don’t hate the program and I like this team, but I’m sorry, that score is preposterous. This team makes a good argument for the re-implementation of the compulsory dance. I would like to see Lilah Fear’s free leg extend during a waltz.

Yep....one of these years a waltz will be the rhythm dance and line will be a significant factor ...unless it's a waltz or random cult-pop.....in which case Fear/Gibson can once again pull a 70s performance and wow a certain element of judges.

 

[NanaPat]

I don't usually like programs/gala programs that I think of as gimmicky. Examples: Javi exercise exhibition #, Green/Parsons doll dance, Chock/Bates sunblock number etc, etc. I can watch them once, but in an exhibition I skip them the second/third/etc time they come around.

So it's not surprising that I don't like Rocky.

Why then do I love Corpse Bride, and loved Pink Panther last year? And loved the "other" Finns sailor program last year? There seems to be some fine line between character-based skates and gimmick based ones. I can't define it, but I know which is which when I see them.