2025 Grand Prix de France Rhythm Dance

[skylark]

Let's wait for the free. The SP didn't really suit anyone but Brits and S/D.

Sorry, who are S/D? Do you mean Davis/Smolkin?

I thought the SP really was good for Pate/Bye, the Lithuanians, and Fear/Gibson. Or perhaps it was just that their music choices were better or more carefully thought through. The whole "dance" for FB/Cizeron made me shudder. I try to be more positive in my comments, but goodness me.

 

[bramweld]

Shall I ask, even with some trepidation, what the theme for next season is?

 

[TontoK]

Shall I ask, even with some trepidation, what the theme for next season is?

Club music 1978-1983.

Just kidding.

 

[Skater Boy]

Shall I ask, even with some trepidation, what the theme for next season is?

The last few years it is has been about attracting an audience. Long gone for now are compulsory type dances which do NOT favour Fear and Gibson. Had this been say a waltz or rumba Fear and Gibson may not come off so well The rhythm dances for the last few years have been attempts to bring in audiences/new fans. and this does favour some teams styles more than others ie Fear and Gibson. If it was more technical then the Italians would come off well. Laurence and Gullaume despite that error look like the judges have accepted them. Already their pcs are really high. People forget that while GUllaume is a world and olympic champ - Laurence was also on a top five team and nothing to shrug at.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I would have liked Fear/Gibson's program the most even if Cizeron hadn't made the mistake. The amount of body involvement and expressiveness Lewis Gibson has is magnetic. He's beating everyone in the field at this style.

 

[keasus]

Sorry, who are S/D? Do you mean Davis/Smolkin?

I thought the SP really was good for Pate/Bye, the Lithuanians, and Fear/Gibson. Or perhaps it was just that their music choices were better or more carefully thought through. The whole "dance" for FB/Cizeron made me shudder. I try to be more positive in my comments, but goodness me.

Same with me. I initially attributed my less-than-positive response to it to my loathing of Madonna's music, but I realize now it was the entire dance.

 

[keasus]

Those dour Italians, smthng. I found lots of music here acoustically annoying rather than upbeat, but that's just me.

Add my name to your list of underwhelmed.

 

[peepsquick]

I have an odd take on FB/Ciz RD: they are both excellent skaters but I am mostly put off by the fact that Guillaume chose to 'portray' himself. I find it self-indulgent and is not even inventive. With FB as a new partner, they should be re-inventing themselves as a dance couple, use her athletic abilities to move on. Laurence will not replace Gabi if they stick to P/C's style. Guillaume is only ever portraying Guillaume. Too bad!

 

[keasus]

she was pissed off i think she melted the couch

Did she give him the same death stare she gave her partner at the last Winter Olympics in Turin 2006?

 

[bramweld]

I have an odd take on FB/Ciz RD: they are both excellent skaters but I am mostly put off by the fact that Guillaume chose to 'portray' himself. I find it self-indulgent and is not even inventive. With FB as a new partner, they should be re-inventing themselves as a dance couple, use her athletic abilities to move on. Laurence will not replace Gabi who was a real performer. Guillaume is only ever portraying Guillaume. Too bad!

I didn't get that from watching them, though. Lawrence holds your attention, so I found myself watching them. She keeps Cizeron on his toes. She is no shrinking violet. Madonna is a rather unsophisticated choice for a team of their calibre; to be fair, Depeche Mode would have suited them better. With little time before the Grand Prix, this almost seemed desperate. If they could have found something else from DM to fit, Voguing or not, they would have smashed it.

 

[peepsquick]

I didn't get that from watching them, though. Lawrence holds your attention, so I found myself watching them. She keeps Cizeron on his toes. She is no shrinking violet. Madonna is a rather unsophisticated choice for a team of their calibre; to be fair, Depeche Mode would have suited them better. With little time before the Grand Prix, this almost seemed desperate. If they could have found something else from DM to fit, Voguing or not, they would have smashed it.

Laurence is a great skater in her own right. My critique is more of Guillaume who is not willing to get out of his comfort zone. When I watch this RD I am mostly reminded of the pictures of his Insta.

 

[bramweld]

Lawrence is a great skater in her own right. My critique is more of Guillaume who is not willing to get out of his comfort zone. When I watch this RD I am mostly reminded of the pictures of his Insta.

Gotcha. Well, given the gift that is Lawrence, his coaches will need to nudge him a bit and help him break through any self-imposed glass ceilings. We think talented performers have it all together, but oftentimes, they get just as scared as the rest of us.

 

[lariko]

Shall I ask, even with some trepidation, what the theme for next season is?

music released from January 1st, 2001 to December 31st 2009 with a cha-cha rhythm played in the traditional style of Transilvanian highlands. The main thing, the audience of Gen Z has to be entertained by the selected sound track.

 

[bramweld]

music released from January 1st, 2001 to December 31st 2009 with a cha-cha rhythm played in the traditional style of Transilvanian highlands. The main thing, the audience of Gen Z has to be entertained by the selected sound track.

Surely we jest.

 

[museksk8r]

I have to say it really does not sit well with me that the judges here were ready to reward Laurence and Guillaume with a potential score of 86 here had he not fallen in the RD, which is an absolutely bogus score that is not deserved or earned by this brand new team! This team has not put in the years of work, cohesion or compatibility together to warrant such blatant and frankly gross overscoring. And what a huge slap in the face to Gabriella Papadakis for IAM and this team to act like they can just replace her, literally cut/copy/paste Gabby with Laurence and blatantly copy the same choreography, costuming, and style that she and Guillaume were known for. Gabby’s skating was/is light, airy, lyrical and fluid, which is not at all the style of how Laurence skates. Laurence is a warrior on the ice, more in the vein of Madison Hubbell, so please someone with power and influence intervene and tell this team to find their own identity that compliments BOTH Laurence and Guillaume because right now it only feels like a Guillaume Cizeron vanity project. These two are being poised and primed to win a medal at the Olympics and I have to ask why and how have they earned such an honor? It feels very wrong, it feels like cheating, it feels like the powers that be are going to just give them their flowers without them having to really earn it, and it feels like a disgusting abuse of politics from IAM and the French skating federation. If this were Gabby and Guillaume coming back and receiving these scores, I would have no problems or questions with this happening, but in what bizarre multiverse have we entered where the world is pretending that Laurence and Guillaume have naturally gelled as an Olympic medal winning ice dance team in the span of less than a year together? This is absolutely ridiculous and a true insult to their competitors and to the integrity of the sport of ice dancing!

 

[bramweld]

I have to say it really does not sit well with me that the judges here were ready to reward Laurence and Guillaume with a potential score of 86 here had he not fallen in the RD, which is an absolutely bogus score that is not deserved or earned by this brand new team! This team has not put in the years of work, cohesion or compatibility together to warrant such blatant and frankly gross overscoring. And what a huge slap in the face to Gabriella Papadakis for IAM and this team to act like they can just replace her, literally cut/copy/paste Gabby with Laurence and blatantly copy the same choreography, costuming, and style that she and Guillaume were known for. Gabby’s skating was/is light, airy, lyrical and fluid, which is not at all the style of how Laurence skates. Laurence is a warrior on the ice, more in the vein of Madison Hubbell, so please someone with power and influence intervene and tell this team to find their own identity that compliments BOTH Laurence and Guillaume because right now it only feels like a Guillaume Cizeron vanity project. These two are being poised and primed to win a medal at the Olympics and I have to ask why and how have they earned such an honor? It feels very wrong, it feels like cheating, it feels like the powers that be are going to just give them their flowers without them having to really earn it, and it feels like a disgusting abuse of politics from IAM and the French skating federation. If this were Gabby and Guillaume coming back and receiving these scores, I would have no problems or questions with this happening, but in what bizarre multiverse have we entered where the world is pretending that Laurence and Guillaume have naturally gelled as an Olympic medal winning ice dance team in the span of less than a year together? This is absolutely ridiculous and a true insult to their competitors and to the integrity of the sport of ice dancing!

But they are really good, what are the judges to do, punish them? She was drowning with her previous partner, I am not surprised. Yes, we want to see more original programs, they did have one, but the specialists nixed it. Don't take my word for it, Marie France Dubriel, spoke about this very thing after the RD. Sigh. They tried to do something more original, and it was tanked. With all due respect blasting the athletes doesn't seem right. As per Lawrence, she can be both Madison and Gabby, she's that good.

 

[FSFan1999]

But they are really good, what are the judges to do, punish them? She was drowning with her previous partner, I am not surprised. Yes, we want to see more original programs, they did have one, but the specialists nixed it. They tried to do something more original, and it was tanked. With all due respect blasting the athletes doesn't seem right. As per Lawrence, she can be both Madison and Gabby, she's that good.

I don't agree with the scoring potential watching their program in isolation. But then I watch every other RD and think... actually, none of them look much better than Guillame and Laurence. Maybe the lithuanians have the best RD, but apart from that everything was underwhelming. So for me it's not that bad.

 

[Ares]

...

 

[Sabsi]

my predictions are a mess right now

 

[bramweld]

Did anyone get it right, though? Everyone had G/F on the podium, right? But then they came with knee-high socks .....is it a bit too early?