I would have posted last night but I had to eat dinner when I got home (11:30pm), watch "The Seven Samurai" AND "Yojimbo" (skating is not the only thing in life--there are chicken cutlets and Kurosawa movies too).
First off, I missed Goebel, Weiss, and Jahnke because the A train got stuck for 40 minutes just after it left 181st Street. But I still love NY
Got there just as Honda started skating. Had 3rd row seat that was on about the 15 yard line with a great view of the K&C and the coaches as they watched their respective skaters. This was especially entertaining for watching Tarasova. The woman next to me started crying during Sasha's skate and afterwards said to me (we'd been chatting occasionally throughout), "I don't know what moved me more, Sasha's skating or watching her coach watch her." It really was Sasha's night, which was especially cool because she was the last skater of the evening, so it ended the competition on a real high note. I was really pulled in to Sasha's program, so I only glanced at TT when Sasha skated past her and to say Tarasova was on the ice in spirit with Sasha is an understatement. Tarasova's energy was so high she was practically bursting through the boards, especially at the end of Sasha's skate, which got the only full standing ovation of the evening and had people cheering and standing even before the ending. Sasha received all 5.8s for technical and all 5.9s for presentation.
In the USA TODAY "Chat with Sasha" someone asked Sasha if she was worried about using a piece of music that was so familiar--read "old warhorse." Sasha's answer was basically that she wasn't crazy about using it but that Tarasova had chosen unusual sections of the music. Also, when I watched "Swan Lake" on TV last week and listened closely to the music (see "Tchaikovsky" thread on Le Cafe) I was really impressed with how much great music is in "Swan Lake" that you would never associate with "Swan Lake," especially in Act III. I must have had a premonition--why can't I have them when it comes to lotto numbers?--because virtually all of the music Tarasova chose was from Act III and there was no passage with the strong theme "Laaa-la-la-la-la-laaa-la-laaa, etc." There was one section with a variation on it, but that was it. I thought Tarasova did a marvelous job of cutting the music so that it built to a climactic finish; having worked with Sasha for a year seems to show in that Sasha already looks as if the choreography is inside her skin, which never quite happened, IMO, with Rach; and Sasha skated strong throughout the entire program. I only saw one wonky landing, and when she hit a triple at 2:55 and another 3:07 I was glad to see that there was far less frong-loading in terms of the jumps.
I agree with Tharrtell that Sasha looks as if she has put back on some more lean mass and looks great. She also looks more into the ice, had greater speed and maintains it longer. The Beaver Cleaver comes early in the program and IMO it works much better as an early highlight move than as the "boffo" finish. When it's early in the program, it highlights the unique and difficult quality of the move, that is, the amplitude of the leg, the extension, and the difficulty of doing a spin with the leg in that position. Also, Sasha isn't tired when she does it early in the program so the BC doesn't have the tension and "crank it up there" quality it does when it's at the end. Excellent call on putting the BC earlier. And ITA agree with Joe that the one-armed Beillmann was a far more effective, appropriate, and beautiful ending for this LP. Sasha has a gorgeous Beillmann, IMO. The flexibility in her lower back allows her to get almost a "needle" spin position, that is, with the free leg only slightly bent, pulled up very high, and with her hips almost against the back of her head. Very much like Lucinda Ruh's Beillmann, except Sasha uses one hand to hold the free leg.
As for the costume, boy, perspective can be a funny thing. Being there, in a an excellent seat, I thought the costume was both beautiful and effective, But looking at it in the photos Tharrtell provided the links to, it looked awful Now I wonder how it will look on TV, lol. All I can say is that seeing it live, on a moving skater, I thought it was both a beautiful costume and also looked great on Sasha.
In several of the programs but particularly in Sasha's, I felt the influence of the COP. For example, during the spiral sequence, nobody, not even Michelle, did a 3/4 the length of the ice change edge spiral. Sasha's arabesque spiral curved around the end of the rink, going from about the 15 yard line on one side, following the curve and ending at about the 15 yard line on the other side. That went directly into her fan spiral, which went directly into her catch-foot full-turn slide spiral. This it seemed the emphasis was more on variety than holding the standard arabesque spiral for a long time with a change-edge. This seemed to be done by all the ladies. BTW, I thought AP's spiral position had improved a great deal.
About AP's costume, I really didn't like it. The back was nice, but you remember the Firebird cars from the '80s where they had the "screamin' chicken" painted on the hood? AP's looked more like the Firebird or the Phoenix bird rising from the ashes than it did a swan. It was all in silver sequins, natch. Plus it had a couple of inches of bare midriff. AP is a gorgeous girl--actually, they all are--but I say you've got to be trying pretty hard to put AP in a costume that is unbecoming on her.
As for the inevitable comparison between AP and Sasha's versions of "Swan Lake," IMO AP's gets off to a bad start by using a long section of the "Laaa-la-la-la-la-laaa-la-laaa, etc." The program has some lovely sections, but I think it adheres too strictly to the "Swan Lake" ballet rather than using it as a point of departure. Didn't hold together well for me as a program and looks even weaker because of the comparison to Tarasova's version, IMO. I don't have AP's exact scores (Sasha's were just easy to remember, lol) but for technical with a fall and some lackluster skating, AP got mainly in the range of 5.3-5.4 and for presentation, same thing except for one 5.6. BTW, these comments are not in the order they skated and I have no idea who completed exactly what jumps only because I never watch for that kind of at a live competition or show.
Michelle looked absolutely stunning in the lavender costume she wore for “Tosca.” Still no sleeves for those of you campaigning for Michelle to wear sleeves, lol, but a gorgeous chiffon top layer that is gathered at the top and with a few subtle gathers to give the chiffon shape. My biggest surprise was the music. I hadn’t heard any of the rumors that she might skate to “Tosca” so when it came on, I felt was really surprised. Although I’m sure the following had nothing to do with it and that Michelle chose the music because she liked it and for the dramatic challenge, an Eville Rgirl thought kept sneaking in saying, “This is Michelle to Irina, ’Anything you can do I can do better. Hey, Irina! Wanna see how ‘Tosca’ SHOULD be done?’” Like I said, it was an Eville Rgirl moment, but I do predict lots of comparisons between Michelle’s “Tosca” and Irina’s once Michelle spiffs it up choreographically, gets everything in place technically, and delivers a boffo performance--and they’re also both on tape to pick apart, lol. Speaking of which, I noticed what probably was just a coincidence, but in “Tosca” Irina did a 3flip directly into 2Axel directly into layback spin. In Michelle’s “Tosca,” she did a 3flip with one or two crossovers into 2Axel into camel spin. If it’s more than coincidence, Michelle and Irina have been competing so long, who knows who might have inspired whom first. Besides, that kind of inspiration is good, IMO. The choreography for Michelle’s “Tosca” looked like it's got a couple of weeks to go before it's truly finished, but I can envision it becoming great.
Also, “Tosca” is a much different style than what we’ve seen previously from Michelle, that is, intense drama. Michelle may also have a bit of a difficult time finding the excitement in her skating she did last season. Last season was the first when she had everything in place the way she wanted it: new coach, off-ice trainer, doing much of the LP choreography herself with help from Morozov, her sister, and Scott, and in general raising the bar on her skating using her own standards. As others have said, it was as if last season was Michelle’s Olympic season. When there is significant change and improvement like that, especially when an athlete is already that good, it’s often difficult to come back the following year and recreate that kind of excitement during the sophomore season of “the new you.” I don’t doubt Michelle will be spectacular at Nats and Worlds. It just may be harder for her to get to that place than it was last year.
As others reported, Michelle popped one jump and had a “whoa-OA” landing on another. To me, Michelle generally didn’t look over her legs. But it’s early in the season; Michelle is the master of peaking at the right time. And the roar of the crowd when Michelle came out says all there is to say about her place in fans’ hearts. In fact, a lot of people left after Michelle skated. Michelle’s scores were around 5.5-5.7 for technical, 5.6-5.9 for presentation. (Don't hold me exactly to these scores; I can barely read my own scribbling.) Not much different from last year’s Campbell's for Michelle. I’m not sure what Joe means by the judges demanding more from her technically. I thought the scores accurately represented her skating and the program, which seemed to me to still be a work in progress. IMO, Michelle didn’t skate very well and the scores reflected that. If you recall from last year’s Campbell’s, there were only five judges and while three gave her first place ordinals, one had her in fourth and the other had her in fifth. I don’t have the scores off hand, but I think this year’s Campbell’s was almost exactly like last year’s Campbell’s was for Michelle, except that Michelle won the silver instead of the gold.
Elena Sololova: Looked heavier, had a weak performance, was rubbing her hip as she left the ice but even so was generally undermarked. The only skater whose marks were booed. Wish I had her exact scores, but I believe the range for technical was from about 5.0-5.3, except for the Canadian judge who gave ES a 4.2! A 5.0 I could see, but a 4.2, no way. For presentation, I think Elena’s marks were in the 5.3 range and again the Canadian judge socked it to her again with something like a 4.8. The program was again weak and the music didn’t help. For all but about 30 seconds near the end when the music changes, she looked kind of limp and out of it. However, as Elena was leaving the ice, one could see a different kind of limp and Elena rubbing her hip, I couldn’t help but wonder if those great 3/3s she achieved last season might have taken their toll. OTOH, Elena had awful competitions early on last season as well. Hopefully it’s just early in the season and she’s working out the kinks.
Fumie Suguri: Despite Elena’s problems, I felt it was Fumie who had the worst skate of the night. I think she fell three times, possibly four, barely hung onto a couple landings. I think she may have only had one clean jump, which was a 3/2toe--though what the triple was I’m not sure. And either Fumie was also having a slow night or the other ladies have caught up to her in terms of speed, aside from Michelle who found her speed some years ago, IMO, and Elena, who was rather slow, IMO, Fumie really needs to work on the line of her layback and her arabesque spiral. Perhaps she could try a variation on the layback along the lines of what Michelle did because I just don’t think she’s built to get the kind of arch in the back and leg line that an elite skater needs. Maybe the same approach for the spiral. Good amplitude, but very poor extension and the free leg isn’t turned out. But her final scratch spin was fantastic as always, one of the few true blur spins around.
Jenny Kirk: Jenny is so pretty. And the color and style of her costume looked great on her. Just had to say that. For Jenny, it’s the jumps and you can see the falls coming, especially on the toe pick jumps. She kicks that free leg up too high in the back, which I think pitches her so far forward that she can never get her body right in the air. The music and choreography suffers from what I’ve seen in many of Richard Callaghan’s skaters--terminal middle-of-the-roadness. The music doesn’t seem to speak to or for Jenny. What Jenny does have is great honesty and an absolute lack of guile in her skating, which I find immensely pleasing to watch. If she can increase the technical content a couple of notches, take charge of finding music that really speaks to her, and gets a different choreographer (don’t know if Callaghan is doing her choreography or not), I think she could have almost a Janet Lynn quality on the ice.
Da Guys: As I said, I missed Goebel, Weiss, and Jahnke. The ONE competition that comes to NYC and the A train sits there for 40 minutes--Arrgh! And judging from the less than capacity crowd--I’d guess 2/3rds to 3/4ths full--I doubt NYC will be seeing figure skating competitions any time soon. SOI and COI, when the latter used to come to the Garden, had bigger crowds than this competition. But then competitions in NY have a lot of competition. I think NYC itself puts figure skating in the show category. In New Jersey and on Long Island--the ‘burbs--you’ve got more kids and families, the venues are cheaper and easier for people to get to and how do you expect 12 skaters competing in somewhat of a cheezfest to compete with “The Lion King?” So though of course I wish more competitions would come to the City, I don’t see it happening again (sigh).
Honda was Honda. Moments of brilliance with long sections of “WHY can’t this guy be one of the greats?” He should be.
Plushenko had an average skate. Two footed his first quad, two-footed or fell out of several other jumps, did a gorgeous 3Axel, and even for a “less than best” performance was still thrilling to watch.
Scott Smith looks and skates so much like a young Paul Wylie it’s spooky. I mean, right down to the haircut and color and style of costume. Beautiful lines. There was no info on Scott in the program so I don’t know how old he is or who coaches him, but I sure hope he makes a big improvement soon because I think he is really lovely to watch. The reports have been that it was a three-way tie for fourth. I got that it was a two way tie for fourth between Honda and Jahnke and that Scott Smith was fifth. We’ll see on the 19th.
MATTERS OF EARTH-SHATTERING IMPORTANCE: Ryan Jahnke sat down right in front of me and between skaters I talked to him for a while. He said that he had run his program in front of ISU judges using the COP to get an idea of where he would be relative to other skaters, depending on how he skates. He loves the COP. He’s quite tall, 5’11” and much better looking in person than on TV, IMO. Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn did a pairs exhibition between the men and the ladies’ skate. I think they’ve really improved their speed a lot. Looks as if they came into this season ready to compete. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto did the dance exhibition and they sat behind me (and a little to the side) for the ladies’ competition. I didn’t talk to them though. Kind of awkward spacing. But they are cute, cute, cute. Just love ‘em. Also in front of me during the ladies, which was a space for free chairs, sat Frank Carroll, Lori Nichol, and two other official-looking people. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but boy I was dying to, lol.
On the way up the steps I heard somebody call out “Kwanette!” I thought, “Could it be?” So I saw a woman come up--she was very excited because Michelle threw one of the free Campbell’s kids T-shirts right to her--and as she came to where I was, I said, “Are you Kwanette?” She said yes and I said, “I know your name from the Internet.” She laughed and said, “I hope it’s not from some porn site!” I said, “No, no! From figure skating forums, from MKF.” She asked who I was and I said that I pretty much just posted at Golden Skate and that I was Rgirl. Kwanette had a saucer-eyed moment and said, “YOU’RE Rgirl?!” For a moment I thought, “Should I run?” But then she said, “Oh, I think you’re a hoot!” and said to some of the others from a group together from MKF, “Hey, you guys, this is Rgirl!” There were one or two other saucer-eyed reactions again of, “YOU’RE Rgirl?!” “Yes, the Evil Rgirl,” but we laughed at talked for a few minutes and a good time was had by all. Besides talking to Kwanette for a bit, I also met and talked with NYMKFan51. So I didn’t run into any GSers but me, the formerly incorrigible Rgirl ran smack dab into about a dozen posters from MKF, lol. Seriously, it was fun meeting them.
It was very crowded getting out and I got pushed (not hard) into Terry Gannon and Peter Carruthers (no, I didn’t throw myself at them--I didn’t think of it in time). After “I’m sorry” I said, “It’s the famous Terry Gannon and the famous Peter Carruthers” to which Gannon laughed and said, “Oh, yes, the very famous” and Carruthers scowled at me and fixed his hair, lol.
Also ended up in an elevator with Dick Button. Since the last time I tried to say something to him he was kind of snippy, I kept my mouth shut. Some other woman said to him, “Wasn’t Sasha wonderful tonight?” Dick said, “She’s always wonderful! If she could just keep her head on straight she’d always be as wonderful as she was tonight!” and rather dramatically got off the elevator. I thought, “Well, at least he’s an equal opportunity snipper.”
And that’s my report except to say that of course the A train going home ran right on time and without a hitch.
Rgirl
GOOOOOOOOOOOO CAROLINA!
