Replay Lounge 2025 GP de France

[gsk8]

2025 Grand Prix de France is on!

This is the place to dive deeper and continue conversations from the fast-paced competition threads!

Who impressed you the most? Any standout programs or surprises? How did your favorites do? Want to analyze scores? Share your thoughts!

Please remember to keep things friendly and respectful.

Have fun!

Ami Nakai leads Japanese sweep in Grand Prix debut in France

Grand Prix de France: Women Ami Nakai led a Japanese sweep in the Women's event in her Grand Prix debut in Angers, France, on Saturday night. It was an

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Miura and Kihara take Pairs' gold at 2025 Grand Prix de France

Grand Prix de France: Pairs Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara took the gold in the Pairs' event at the 2025 Grand Prix de France in Angers on Saturday

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Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron golden in debut at 2025 Grand Prix de France

Grand Prix de France: Ice Dance France's newly-formed team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron rose from third to claim the gold in Ice

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USA's Ilia Malinin takes sixth Grand Prix gold in France

Grand Prix de France: Men USA's Ilia Malinin dominated the Men's event in Angers, France, taking his sixth individual Grand Prix gold medal on Sunday.

www.goldenskate.com

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron golden in debut at 2025 Grand Prix de France

Grand Prix de France: Ice Dance France's newly-formed team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron rose from third to claim the gold in Ice

www.goldenskate.com

 

[slider11]

Ami certainly stole the show with a magnificent triple axel and overall strong program. I also really like Isabeau's program and performance. I think Kaori was a little overmarked but I love her!

 

[Kiki5375]

Ami Nakai nailed it. Wow.... and Isabeau is such an ice princess... I love her. This dubidubidoo song is just too cute

 

[midori green]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I think having 3 host spots in pairs (and maybe dance) is a really big percentage of the field. three out of 12 in singles works. Three out of 8 is a little crazy. I don't think they should lower the host picks, though. I'd vote to increase the number of teams to 12.

 

[ramurphy2005]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I think having 3 host spots in pairs (and maybe dance) is a really big percentage of the field. three out of 12 in singles works. Three out of 8 is a little crazy. I don't think they should lower the host picks, though. I'd vote to increase the number of teams to 12.

It used to be 10 in pairs until the mid-2000s, but 10 wouldn't always compete.

 

[noskates]

I don't know if this is appropriate for this thread or not but was anyone else shaking their head and rolling their eyes at Meghan Duhamel chomping on gum in the kiss & cry?

 

[auser]

Ami Nakai nailed it. Wow.... and Isabeau is such an ice princess... I love her. This dubidubidoo song is just too cute

It reminds me of Mad Men tv show:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[LazyFuzai]

We need to talk about Levito having 2 points more in presentation than Rion...

 

[Diana Delafield]

It used to be 10 in pairs until the mid-2000s, but 10 wouldn't always compete.

There's never been as big a pool of upper echelon pairs as there are candidates in the other disciplines. Federations didn't want to spend the money sending pairs of lesser quality travelling to events where they would inevitably finish last. The top-ranked pairs would end up scrambling from one event to another to fill the numbers, and would exhaust themself (or worse, burn out and be injured) before the climax of the season at Worlds/Olympics.

 

[ramurphy2005]

There's never been as big a pool of upper echelon pairs as there are candidates in the other disciplines. Federations didn't want to spend the money sending pairs of lesser quality travelling to events where they would inevitably finish last. The top-ranked pairs would end up scrambling from one event to another to fill the numbers, and would exhaust themself (or worse, burn out and be injured) before the climax of the season at Worlds/Olympics.

I know that's why it changed, but I had forgotten that the GPs had more spots back then until someone else pointed it out. I'm sure a factor in that was that US TV coverage never showed everything, especially the pairs competitions.

 

[lariko]

Had Nakai in the first in my predictions, then chickened out and changed it. Heh. I was out of town so just came home and can watch both competitions. Since the other one needs me to set my computer up to stream to TV, I am thinking streaming from CBC, because Chris is commenting on YouTube

 

[TontoK]

Isabeau has made huge strides with that program since the first time we saw it. That was reflected in the marks.

I'm happy with the placements and the scores in both events. I think the judges got it right.

And I don't know if it's within the rules to comment on an event that hasn't happened yet, but I recommend you X'ers take a look at the "Ilia Malinin Daily" account. Who knows how things are going to play out under pressure, but those jumps look easy. Really easy. Light and casual, like they're nothing. His run-thru is on there, too. No jumps in that, and although I wish he had gone with some other concept for the free program, it looks polished.

 

[lariko]

Argh, it's Chris on CBC as well. No doging Chris. Eww.

 

[TT_Fin]

A bit Off topic conversation was allowed here? It is not automatic that hosting fed will get all three host spots. Finland has enough senior men to fill all host spots but as there were nobody on top 75 on sb list so there was only one host spot for local men. I asked this and got this answer. I did not ask why they did not use all but asked why they annnouned it this way. France has skaters enough high in all disciplines and also enough skaters/pairs to sent. More pairs would be nice but I understand why not. It just was over so quickly.

 

[4everchan]

I was able to watch the women live.

Ami Nakai was just so much fun to watch. Nice triple axel and exuberant joy throughout. PCS could be a bit lower considering she's still learning to project and her composition is a bit simpler but, I am not really worried about it.
Kaori : she was tentative but like a true champion, landed her jumps.
Isabeau : very nice dress : I think her loop was gorgeous. I still do not buy her toe assisted jumps but the judges are fine with them.


Pairs : I was at work so I didn't watch until now. Well, I watched the top two.

Deanna and Max : they have improved a lot with this program already from John Nicks, and to me, it looks as intense and good as Oxygène. Uncharacteristic blip on the SBS toes (lack of synch though they were landed) but the rest was stellar. I like this program very much for them as the composition is very smart. The spins right on cue. The assisted backflip too. I like it better than the first time I see it but I hope they have improved other elements that will actually give them points rather than a gimmicky trick. Still, for Carmina Burana, it works.
I was also happy to see that Max was wearing the harness I gave him at Xmas ... (okay it's Friday evening, I am just making a joke )

RR :Much more confident skating for them, which is normal at this stage of the game with a repeated program. They are so fast which grants them higher PCS. I don't see them as 2-3 points higher in TES though. To me, it's a coin toss between them and the Canadians on the elements. The twist, the spins and the steps belong to the Canadians. The lift was much more flowing for the Japanese but the exit looked rougher too, so I'd put them even. The death spiral and throw definitely belonged to the Japanese. The jumps : well, I think a q is a bigger mistake than an out of synch SBS jump. In any case, the ranking is correct but the margin in TES is a bit much in my opinion. The margin in PCS Is fine with me.

It will be an exciting competition in the long program : the deal maker or breaker will be the jump sequence. I think Deanna and Max are planning to replace a 1a by a 2a in their 3 jump sequence to match the other top teams. If they do so consistently, it could mean a lot for them as they usually rotate their toes and axels. Miura will most likely land better throws than just about anyone so it's all about the SBS for the Japanese if they want to be successful.

 

[readernick]

Just watched the replay

Ami's 3A is incredible when landed. She's a charming skater and her back crossovers are lovely. ( which is important when almost your entire program is crossovers). I think the free- flowing program is enjoyable to watch. I don't think it actually meets what the ISU says they are looking for in terms of PCS. So, I think the lead is deserved but I would go a few points lower in PCS if judges actually want to follow the bullet points. (they usually don't)

Kaori's program is stunning. The jump landings were a bit suspicious. But, I think she'll continue to improve technically throughout the year. She's going to end up hard to beat imho.

Isabeau's extension and attention to detail is just so good. I do wish she would get another choreographer, not because her coach's choreo is bad but because I think she's capable of portraying basically any theme and her coach's choreo does tend to stick to a few particular themes. The jumps are better because she isn't slowing down into her toe jumps and I think it is smart to get rid of the lutz in the SP. Deserved placement.

Rino's lovely. Great SS but perhaps not a naturally expressive performer. Nice program and beautiful dress. I think her PCS should be a bit higher just as Ami's should be a bit lower. The q on her jump combo was fair. She can get a lot of q calls if she's nervous and tight. I hope she feels confident in the free. I think she got a lot of ur calls at a recent domestic competition.

Lorine is so good at landing those wonky jumps. I liked her but I like Lea Serna more. Lea has a lot of quality but lacks consistency. Lorine is much more likely to make the Olympics.

The Korean women are having an interesting year. Haein who wasn't here is landing her jumps but definitely under rotates a number of them. The rest are really up and down. I suspect Chaeyeon Kim will get it together before the second half of the season if injury doesn't prevent that. I'm not sure about Young or Jia.

 

[Joan1940]

Just watched the replay

Ami's 3A is incredible when landed. She's a charming skater and her back crossovers are lovely. ( which is important when almost your entire program is crossovers). I think the free- flowing program is enjoyable to watch. I don't think it actually meets what the ISU says they are looking for in terms of PCS. So, I think the lead is deserved but I would go a few points lower in PCS if judges actually want to follow the bullet points. (they usually don't)

Kaori's program is stunning. The jump landings were a bit suspicious. But, I think she'll continue to improve technically throughout the year. She's going to end up hard to beat imho.

Isabeau's extension and attention to detail is just so good. I do wish she would get another choreographer, not because her coach's choreo is bad but because I think she's capable of portraying basically any theme and her coach's choreo does tend to stick to a few particular themes. The jumps are better because she isn't slowing down into her toe jumps and I think it is smart to get rid of the lutz in the SP. Deserved placement.

Rino's lovely. Great SS but perhaps not a naturally expressive performer. Nice program and beautiful dress. I think her PCS should be a bit higher just as Ami's should be a bit lower. The q on her jump combo was fair. She can get a lot of q calls if she's nervous and tight. I hope she feels confident in the free. I think she got a lot of ur calls at a recent domestic competition.

Lorine is so good at landing those wonky jumps. I liked her but I like Lea Serna more. Lea has a lot of quality but lacks consistency. Lorine is much more likely to make the Olympics.

The Korean women are having an interesting year. Haein who wasn't here is landing her jumps but definitely ur a number of them. The rest are really up and down. I suspect Chaeyeon Kim will get in together before the second half of the season of injury doesn't prevent that. I'm not sure about Young or Jia.

Oh someone who actually thinks Isabeau needs someone else than her coach as her choreographer who tends to basically repeat the previous year choreography to different music. I would love to see what Lori Nichols or Shay Lynn could do for her.

 

[dearskate]

We need to talk about Levito having 2 points more in presentation than Rion...

I think Rion was definitely under marked. It was a stunningly beautiful programme with lovely flowing edges out of the jumps. Isabeau was great too, but not two marks higher.

 

[readernick]

Oh someone who actually thinks Isabeau needs someone else than her coach as her choreographer who tends to basically repeat the previous year choreography to different music. I would love to see what Lori Nichols or Shay Lynn could do for her.

To be clear, I don't think her coach's choreo is bad and almost everyone does something "safe" the Olympic year. But, she's only 18 and such a natural performer. I think she could learn to sell anything. Lori Nichol is an amazing choreographer ( perhaps my favorite) but I would like to see something less "pretty" from Isabeau. It would be great if she experimented with different choreographers.

 

[Skating91]

Nakai was brilliant she totally deserves her score of 78, but the judges did her a huge disservice by missing the blatant wrong edge on Sakamoto's 3Lz which would have knocked another 30% off that element, and then they missed the clear underrotation on her 3T. So if we score it properly (just look at the slow motion replays if you are doubting me) it's 72.50 instead of 76.20, and knock off some of that PCS ever so slightly for having major problems with 2/3 jump elements then let's say it is 71.50. So Nakai should have a comfortable 6.5 point lead at a minimum over Sakamoto rather than just 1.80.

All that hard work from Nakai was seemingly for nothing.

And even with Levito they missed all the landings on the q again (3T had 225 degree prerotation and could have been < as well). Every single jump element had a short landing. It was a good performance from Levito though. Still, it needs to be judged accurately.

What I don't understand is that Sakamoto has had the most blatant wrong edge on a lutz of anyone in the world for years, yet they always miss it? How does that happen?

Don't the judges have meetings after the event? Surely this is brought up over and over, and if it's not brought up (or brought up and the tech panel continue to deceive the other skaters and the audience by calling it incorrectly), then what is the motivation for doing so?

And what's the big deal with giving her a wrong edge. Her score goes from 76.20 to 75.01. It's better for Sakamoto or Levito, people don't start questioning the credibility or impartiality of the officials and the sport, and importantly it's better for all the other skaters especially someone like Nakai.

Maybe this is why this sport has little mainstream credibility and popularity. People just give up out of frustration why invest time in watching when the officials are so brazen and feel so emboldened that they will ignore what is happening on the screen in front of them in slow motion.

In any other sport fans would be angry, the commissioner would be demanding an explanation, officials would be suspended, there would be an investigation into links with gambling/organised crime/corruption.

This would be like in Tennis if Roger Federer was always allowed to keep the point if the ball was out by 5mm even with Hawk Eye replays, but every other player punished if the ball is out even 1mm (or some players punished even if the ball is clearly inside the court on replay).

Or it's like watching wrestling as a child, where the ref always has his back turned when they hit them with a steel chair or brass knuckles. That's what the 'jump was in the wrong corner of the rink' excuse is the equivalent of.

Hopefully Nakai has a big skate and none of this makes a difference to the final result.