2025 Grand Prix de France Free Dance

[bramweld]

I'm afraid so.

I didn't mean to say you didn't exist, just answer the question "why FB/C are clearly disliked here".

You could answer @Ares post and say "not me"! You could even make the case that people who don't dislike F-B/C are not as small a minority as you might think, just not as vocal as "the other side".

Hmm. But I'm on holiday.

 

[jersey1302]

I was struck by the presentational contrast between G/F and D/S. Diana had some wonderful and subtle arm movements, plus a gorgeous dress. By comparison G/F seemed dated and wooden. To be honest I've always found them boring - with the exception of the free dance a few years ago (the one with the black outfits, edgy music and a much darker theme), but given their technical skills it seems a shame they aren't being packaged a bit better.

I actually have to agree with this.

 

[nuge]

I actually have to agree with this.

Perhaps Italians should ditch the FD and go back to old FD Love will never die 2 ?.After all some teams are reusing old programmes.
I really liked their new FD.

 

[FSFan1999]

Perhaps Italians should ditch the FD and go back to old FD Love will never die 2 ?.After all some teams are reusing old programmes.
I really liked their new FD.

Their old FD was much simpler in difficulty. In terms of difficulty, Robots was the most difficult but the least well recieved (for very obvious reasons). This one is less difficult than Robots, but more difficult than their previous FDs (for me). Diamanti is a gorgeous program, and I personally connect with it. Maybe understanding italian helps though?

I don't know which programs GF have done that were universally loved. Maybe schindlers list? But of course that'd probably be inappropriate to rehash in these times...

I don't know what to suggest that would score higher than this FD.

 

[Blades of Passion]

When those bagpipes started with Fear/Gibson's program I was like "Oh! They're doing Braveheart!"

The program they did was not effective. They should do Braveheart and put Lewis in a kilt and take the 1 point deduction for it. They would generate so much press for the outfit and be able to talk about how important it is for the artistic expression of the program and how ice skating should not be sexist and deduct men for wearing kilts. A novelty like that would help their scores, they'd gain back more than they lose from just a 1 point deduction.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

You know what? I am all for Chock and Bates finally getting some bonafide competition in ice dance since the judges and powers that be have clearly written the script that Gilles and Poirier will always be a solid second place to Chock and Bates first place, which I do not agree with at all. In no way do I want to see Madi and Evan have a cake walk to an Olympic gold medal in Italy. I just wish that Laurence and Guillaume could have come back in a similar manner to how Virtue and Moir came back in the 2017 season to make their run at the 2018 Olympic Games. Tessa and Scott really had to fight for their place and prove themselves, and they did that. They EARNED their place in Pyeongchang by competing in and winning the 2017 World Championships and earning the Olympic spot.

Laurence and Guillaume are stepping in as a brand new team that is not fully gelled or baked like a Tessa and Scott and are taking a spot away that was earned by Evgeniia and Geoffrey & Loicia and Theo at the 2025 Worlds. They have not EARNED their place and they together are not Olympic champions or Olympic medalists as a team yet, so it’s a real head scratcher why they are getting that caliber of scores in their first ever international event together as a team. It feels so many levels of wrong! It feels like they blatantly plagiarized their dissertation, literally copying every page of the P/C playbook, and are having everything easily handed to them and being swiftly moved to the head of the class, a diligently hardworking class that has had to toil for many years, and we as an audience and fanbase seem to be expected to just accept and go with it. This world is bullshit!

Quick reminder that Papadakis and Cizeron did not "earn" their Olympic spot at Beijing (remember Galyavieva and Thauron?).

 

[museksk8r]

Quick reminder that Papadakis and Cizeron did not "earn" their Olympic spot at Beijing (remember Galyavieva and Thauron?).

Not the same scenario at all! Papadakis and Cizeron had dominated as a team the entire Olympic quad, no matter how Russia may have tried to spin it that they had any sort of real challenge and competition from Sinitsina and Katsalapov. Let’s be real! Gabby and Guillaume were the clear favorites for Olympic gold and were going to go and attain that goal as long as they were healthy and clean. I didn’t have an issue with them pulling out of 2021 Worlds due to COVID-19, which they both had, and physical and mental burnout. I would seriously hope any athlete in the same scenario would have prioritized their physical and mental health over a skating competition. Galyavieva and Thauron were never going to be competitive at the Olympics either. They were not in the same league as Evgeniia and Geoffrey or Loicia and Theo. The unceremonious dumping of these 2 teams at 2025 Worlds after the announcement that Laurence and Guillaume were teaming up right before competition started at Worlds was really tactless. The French skating federation should have better prepared those 2 teams for that news, which I imagine they had some prior knowledge of. Instead, they hung them out to dry.

 

[museksk8r]

My take on the programs and scoring of FB/C is I am not a fan so far of either of their RDs this season. I have no issue with them being scored 78 at the French Grand Prix and that’s the actual score I would have given them, not simply due to his fall. The max I would score this program skated clean right now is 80. It was better than what was presented at French Masters, which I would have scored 74 there. There were some obvious breaks in their posture and synchronicity with the choreography and it was sluggish in the last half. The idea that they were on their way to a score of 86 at this GP had the fall from Guillaume not occurred is the very definition of absurdity.

Their FD is the much stronger program, even though it is a rehash of what we have seen him skate several times over with Gabby in the past. I thought it should have been scored 128 max this early in the season. The 133 was absolutely ridiculous, but I guess that’s the benefit of home cooking and obvious IAM politicking.

They are good and strong for a brand new team, but they are not as good currently as FSF and IAM are trying to convince us they are. I want to see them actually scored by an unbiased panel and not on French ice.

I can only hope the judging selection is going to be more unbiased and fair at the Olympic Games and not at all representative of the 4 country IAM block that was present at this GP event. Shame on you, ISU!

 

[sofiaidfan]

Not the same scenario at all! Papadakis and Cizeron had dominated as a team the entire Olympic quad, no matter how Russia may have tried to spin it that they had any sort of real challenge and competition from Sinitsina and Katsalapov. Let’s be real! Gabby and Guillaume were the clear favorites for Olympic gold and were going to go and attain that goal as long as they were healthy and clean. I didn’t have an issue with them pulling out of 2021 Worlds due to COVID-19, which they both had, and physical and mental burnout. I would seriously hope any athlete in the same scenario would have prioritized their physical and mental health over a skating competition. Galyavieva and Thauron were never going to be competitive at the Olympics either. They were not in the same league as Evgeniia and Geoffrey or Loicia and Theo. The unceremonious dumping of these 2 teams at 2025 Worlds after the announcement that Laurence and Guillaume were teaming up right before competition started at Worlds was really tactless. The French skating federation should have better prepared those 2 teams for that news, which I imagine they had some prior knowledge of. Instead, they hung them out to dry.

Evgeniia and Geoffrey training together with Laurenc and Gijom. I think they know about Laurenc and Gijom teaming up before Laurenc and Gijom said that official announcement. But about Loicia and Theo that was really tactless.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Not the same scenario at all! Papadakis and Cizeron had dominated as a team the entire Olympic quad, no matter how Russia may have tried to spin it that they had any sort of real challenge and competition from Sinitsina and Katsalapov. Let’s be real! Gabby and Guillaume were the clear favorites for Olympic gold and were going to go and attain that goal as long as they were healthy and clean. I didn’t have an issue with them pulling out of 2021 Worlds due to COVID-19, which they both had, and physical and mental burnout. I would seriously hope any athlete in the same scenario would have prioritized their physical and mental health over a skating competition. Galyavieva and Thauron were never going to be competitive at the Olympics either. They were not in the same league as Evgeniia and Geoffrey or Loicia and Theo. The unceremonious dumping of these 2 teams at 2025 Worlds after the announcement that Laurence and Guillaume were teaming up right before competition started at Worlds was really tactless. The French skating federation should have better prepared those 2 teams for that news, which I imagine they had some prior knowledge of. Instead, they hung them out to dry.

Okay. It's obvious you have some sort of agenda/ narrative you feel you have to push. But you don't actually know what happened and FB/C aren't going anywhere (as far as I'm aware).

It's a competition. You send your best (if they have citizenship, obviously). Those two teams had a shot of earning a possible third spot for France but they were unable to achieve that. It's a shame, but it is what it is.

 

[jorge2912]

Okay. It's obvious you have some sort of agenda/ narrative you feel you have to push. But you don't actually know what happened and FB/C aren't going anywhere (as far as I'm aware).

It's a competition. You send your best (if they have citizenship, obviously). Those two teams had a shot of earning a possible third spot for France but they were unable to achieve that. It's a shame, but it is what it is.

Maybe the main problem of France (some exceptions) is their ice dance feels no authentic, I seen the GD of Lilah and Levis and from the music to the choreography feels authentic and are able to communicate with the movement and music the theme which is easy and fast to understand for everybody.

Laurence and Guillaume was wise because chosen a classic theme and it's easy to understand, express and timing allows develop their potential fully.

 

[museksk8r]

Okay. It's obvious you have some sort of agenda/ narrative you feel you have to push. But you don't actually know what happened and FB/C aren't going anywhere (as far as I'm aware).

It's a competition. You send your best (if they have citizenship, obviously). Those two teams had a shot of earning a possible third spot for France but they were unable to achieve that. It's a shame, but it is what it is.

So, someone has to have an agenda/narrative to push if he/she is not as enamored over this team as the FSF and IAM? LOL, okay, so no one can have a difference of opinion anymore? Are you the gatekeeper of all that is figure skating? Haha, I could just as easily accuse you of having an agenda/narrative to push then too. Please, next.

All that has happened behind the scenes with everything off the ice around IAM, Papadakis, Cizeron, and FB/S has been extremely messy, and I’ve been courteous enough not to drag all of those skeletons out of the closet on this forum. None of that should have gone down the way it did! I am very thankful that Gabriella persevered and is taking steps to find peace and some semblance of happiness in her life.

I truly don’t understand how this brand new team is being scored at the level of C/B and G/P given the extremely limited body of work they have together as a team. I really don’t think it’s fair to say that a skating fan doesn’t like FB/C for that reason. The fault of scoring lies at the feet of the ISU judging system and politics within the skating world. I have always been the type of person to reserve judgment about everything in life. Just because the world may be saying that someone/thing is the latest and greatest this or that, I have always been skeptical and inquisitive at first. I want FB/C to prove that they are the best with their actual skating and programs, and I definitely don’t think they’ve nailed that with that lackluster RD as seen at FM and at GPF. IAM doesn’t always nail it with their teams’ programs. That is my opinion and I am entitled to it.