CD Report

[Anna]

Not sure how long the battery on PDA will hold. Sorry for typos, I am not accustomed to typing on screen. I will bring the laptop for Pairs SP, I am just "saving" its battery with pda Not much of comments here anyway.

Grebenkina/Azroyan

Scratchy in places, not much of expression.

Denkova/Staviisky

very smooth, silent edges, elegant.

Hajkova/Vincour

Shallow lobes, slow, nearly stopped in some places.

 

[Anna]

Back to laptop... I spent all the breaks trying to configure the pda, hopefully I can do real play-by-play after for the next groups.

Zhiganshina/Gazsi

Strong start with nice flow, but slowed down noticeably in after the frist half of the the first pattern. He was in some sort of military uniform for whatever reason.

Carron/Jost

Much improved compared to last year, but 2nd pattern noticeable worse than the 1st.

Melnik/Krupen

Very weak, barely got through the dance without major errors (like falling or getting completely apart, I am sure they made loads of technical mistakes)

Frazer/Lukanin

They aren't really that strong skaters, but I guess the experience shows. Smooth, confident. Her posture is still bad though.

Kerr/Kerr

Very well done, fast, confident, smooth, good edges. I loved them. Clearly second best skate at the moment.

 

[Anna]

I am not posting marks, I hope the ISU site is up and running, if it doesn't, please tell me.

 

[Anna]

Bergen/De Fazio SUI

Diligently trying to get the steps and turns right. Their pattern looked completely different from the others. I suppose they did not have enough depth on lobes.

 

[Tesla]

I am not posting marks, I hope the ISU site is up and running, if it doesn't, please tell me.

We are getting marks. Thank you for the reports.

 

[Anna]

Beknazarova/Zuev UKR

Much better than I remember from Moscow. Scratchy, but fast without any noticeable troubles in getting through holds and turns.

 

[Anna]

Copeley/Stagniunas LTU

Much better than one would expect from unheard of couple from Lithuania. But she had major stumble in 1st pattern. Good flow overall.

 

[Anna]

Khokhlova/Novitsky

i am no dance expert, so to my eyes it was just perfect: very light, floating over the ice, good expresion.

 

[Anna]

Zaretski/Zaretsli

weird impression like they were rushing through the moves so fast that they were faster than the music. Stumble on one of the turns in 1st pattern, she went down, but he quickly pulled her up.

 

[Anna]

Rubleva/Shefer

She has new dress a white one instead of fluorescent nightmare she had at Nationals and new hairstyle with her hairs pulled into neat bun. They look far my professional for that. well done overall too.

 

[Anna]

House/Reklys LTU

Another pleasant surprise from Lithuania. It's not as if they would be able to challenge best teams anywhere in the nearest future, but they had nice flow and lines. Both she and the other girl are from USA, though.

 

[Anna]

Domnina/Shabalin

my absolutely non-technical impression is what they do this dance better than anyone else. It's just the way they relate to each other, all those minor head and hand gestures that make it a real dance.

 

[Anna]

Nagy/Elek

Weak, troubles stay in holds and maintaining the flow.

 

[Anna]

Just a follow up to Dom/Sha. I just wanted to emphasise that I do not know ice dance good enough to give any educated opinion on CDs. For all I (do not) know all what I love about their dance is just smoke and mirrors, but for me they are the only team which really look like they are "enjoying" what they are going out there. It's not just being smooth, confident or having silent edges (which they do, but so do all other top teams), it's the extra "sparkle" in expression which separates them from the others (Bulgarians included, IMHO, at least at this event), it gave them an "improvised" feeling as opposed to "studied" ("well studied" in case of other top teams) feeling I am getting from the others. Hope it make some sense. Based on this impression I would have ranked them first, but I really do not know if it was justified technically.

 

[Anna]

Cappellini/LaNote

Another couple which excells in expression. They are always such a pleasure to watch. Fast, smooth, confident.

 

[Anna]

Delobel/Schoenfelder

very well done. excellent flow, absolutely silent edges, but they just don't relate to each other the same way Dom/Sha did. They don't look into each other eyes etc. Not sure if i would have them 1st.

 

[Anna]

Budner/Moscicki POL

Generally a good flow, but slowed down to nearly a complete stop before some turns and changes of holds. Tight.

 

[Anna]

Hoffman/Elek

Excellent flow, silent esdes, but the overall impression is a bit wild, like they were not in full control of their moves, just swaying from side to side.

 

[Anna]

Faella/Scali

Well done, fast, but a bit too close to the boards in places.

 

[Anna]

Goulakos/Neuman-Aubichon GRE

She looked afraid of the dance and ende up falling in the 2nd pattern. Weak overall.