2023 Skate America Free Dance

[throw_triple_flip]

I was under no illusions that LaLa were going to be any kind of competition to CB here. CB are world champions and LaLa didn't even go to worlds last season (in one of the most unfair turns of bad luck in recent years).

That's so silly. It wasnt unfair or bad luck.. the top 2 Canadian teams didn't earn enough spots because they didn't perform well enough in 2022 Worlds. Lajoie and Lagha also competed at 2022 worlds, so it's not like they didn't also have the opportunity to step and help keep those spots for Canada. They also had chances to compete and prove they deserved to go to Saitama like the other Canadian teams.

I like Lajoie and Lagha but I have to admit I'm baffled by the attitude of some of their fans. They won a silver medal (they were second in the rhythm dance with level 1s on their step sequence in a field where many skaters were getting 3s and 4s). The judges clearly like them.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Ah OK I didn't look at the live chat. I certainly agree that it would be a good idea to have someone to commentate alongside him. Although I like his commentary, I do not always agree with him. Mark Hanretty might be a good choice to co-commentate.

I think most sports benefit from more than one person being in the commentary box. If there has be a lone commentator i would rather hear Chris as he's skilful at filling the airtime when he's alone. Most of the others (like Ted, Mark, Belinda) sound a bit uncomfortable when they're alone.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

But I feel he just lacks understanding in ice dance

I have to say i sometimes feel this way when listening to Mark Hanretty commentating Pairs.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Thank you. This is exactly what I meant.

I haven't seen Piper and Paul yet, so perhaps their dances are even more innovative and trend-setting. But from what has been shown so far, C/B seem to have the strongest, the most sophisticated and also the most coherent with their abilities material.

As for the other dance teams, they should certainly not give up as there are still silver and bronze medal in play

Guignard/Fabbri placed second at last Worlds. Based on their early season events and depending on how Piper and Paul look, there is at least a 2-3 way fight for gold.
Scores depend not just on programme concept and choreography (subjective) but also on technical execution (ideally objective). We'll just have to see how the maths works out.

I don't think that's really what was meant. I interpret it more as a strong piece of material that should set them up for a gold at world's assuming that they perform the best on that day.

I don't have a problem with that view. Fans can have their favourites while respecting that ice dance is a sport.

 

[FlossieH]

I think he is a good, knowledgeable commentator. At least he doesn't yack constantly during performances, pointing out every element as if it's a 'figure skating for dummies' exercise. Belinda Noonan does that and it drives me nuts! And his voice is pleasant, unlike some other commentators.

It is interesting how perceptions vary. Chris was driving me scatty with the almost continuous drivel. He just witters on about the same things all the time and never seems to know that much about the skaters and their backgrounds/contexts. He also doesn't seem to remember things from one year to the next. It was such a relief when we unexpectedly got Ted for some of the streams last year. That said, Chris is a lot better than the lady who does the BBC commentary on the extremely rare occasions they show figure skating (usually just a highlights programme with just part of the top group from each free programme at senior worlds) and also does the commentary on the BIS stream for British nationals despite not knowing anything about figure skating and continually joking about her own ignorance. Chris is also better than the lady who used to do some of the Eurosport streams.