Fave skater, bad program

[Lipinskifan19]

MK - Scherezade, Salome and her LP in 99 - can't remember what the music was.

Was it Ariane?? I think it was.

Tara- Speed/Prince of Tides. i hated the music and choreo. Wait, there was no choreo.

Sasha-agree about Hernando's Hideaway. zzzzzz.

Angela- The mummy. horrible program.

Timmy- anything before 2002, however I liked one, IIRC it was Zorba the Greek.

Sarah- bye bye blackbird and swan lake.

 

[Vash01]

Yagudin's MITIM

Viktor's silly numbers in COI- particularly the Dog routine

Plushenko's exhibition this year where he dressed like a woman (part of the time)

Irina's SP & LP in the 2002-2003 season. 'Victory' by Bond did not suit her; she is too mature a skater for that. I did not like La Traviatta for her LP. It did not bring out her strengths the way Tosca did the previous year.

Michelle's Scheherazade- what a time to pick a not so good program!

Vash

 

[Zanzibar]

Uh-oh, I guess I'm going to be the contrarian, LOL.

I loved Yagudin's "Broken Arrow" - thought it was some of his best music ever. Plus the contrast of some really beautiful balletic moves - and then...machine gunning the jugdes!

And Abt's "Nyah" - have to agree that he never had the chance to skate it well competitively, but some of the exhibition performances of it were wonderful.

Stanick's "Little Pince" - hey! I didn't even really notice him until he skated that in his p.j.'s, miming the little snake-thingey with his hands - it was brave, it was endearing - and his Euros 2003 performance - the way he really picked up steam at the end was so exciting!

 

[Kateri]

Uh-oh, I guess I'm going to be the contrarian, LOL.

I loved Yagudin's "Broken Arrow" - thought it was some of his best music ever. Plus the contrast of some really beautiful balletic moves - and then...machine gunning the jugdes!

And Abt's "Nyah" - have to agree that he never had the chance to skate it well competitively, but some of the exhibition performances of it were wonderful.

Stanick's "Little Pince" - hey! I didn't even really notice him until he skated that in his p.j.'s, miming the little snake-thingey with his hands - it was brave, it was endearing - and his Euros 2003 performance - the way he really picked up steam at the end was so exciting!

tee hee - I didn't recall the maching gunning the judges - I shall have to find it and watch it again. That has to get bonus points!

As for Stanick...I really like him, he's never dull to watch, his programmes have always been brave, it's not that I think doing something totally off the wall is bad - that's why I like him! I just wasn't sure this particular programme worked....but I shall rewatch.

k.

 

[skatepixie]

Alexei-One Banana. What is wrong with Mishin? You dont do that to a 17 year old boy, people!

Sasha-Ive liked all of her programs. If I had to pick her worst one I would say that One Day Ill Fly Away didnt have as much emotion perhaps as her others, but it was still lovely.

i liked everything G&G did...so Ill leave them off.

Tara-Tiny Dancer. Just cause I cant stand Elton's voice. Hes a great songwriter. The songs he does are good...but he needs to OPEN HIS THROAT. Ok...singing tech rant done.

Oksana-I just wish she would get a new program and not keep bringing back SL...

 

[Rachael]

Timmy: Henry the 8th

 

[Ximena]

I have a question, I noticed (not necessary here but in most parts) that a lot of people didn't like Irina's Traviata from 02-03 season. Do you think it was because that program followed Tosca? I mean, if she had done Traviata on 01-02 season and then Tosca, would you have liked Traviata more? I think I would, skaters need to top their previous programs and to follow Tosca, that is something very hard to do.

 

[sk8m8]

Good Point, X! To address that, I'd say, IMHO, that shortly after Irina started skating La T, her mother's health begin to decline. By the beginning of next year she was not even at worlds. I don't think she had her complete concentration on her skating and that made the programme less than stellar or fiery. Tosca had that fire and La Traviata didn't and I think it's mainly because Irina couldn't devote the time or energy to develop and grow that program the same way she had been doing for Olympics and Worlds the previous year.

So my answer to your question is that if Irina had La Travita as as her Olympic/World/GPF program and she had trained it as well as she trained and tweeked Tosca, then yes I would have liked it as well. Now that is quite a supposition, but I truely am an Irina fan, and I like to think that she would have brought the same joy and determination to La T as she brought to Tosca.

Another favorite skater/ nasty program is that Professional Championships where Kristi did the very brief, cheezy routine skated in a really little 'hip dress with daisies on it. It is more aweful that the music totally excapes me because of its benality and Kristi winning the darn comp with such a lame number.

Like to that was the Pro Champs when after Kat Witt had camptured gold and could do no wrong. Now don't get me wrong, Katerina is an awesome skater, it's just that she won the second gold over Debbye Thomas and from that point on, Debbye was to be judged second to Katerina and I consider Thomas to have been the better skater of the two at the time.

In this particular Pro Championships, Kat wore a tight fitting red dress and basically didi a lot of sexy edging and flirting with the judges. My memory fails me, but I don't think the program even had any jumps. After her marks came up it was like perfect marks across the boards. D Thomas had come out and skated up an incredible complex and artistic performance and was gyped.

Kat's performance that night, certainly wasn't golden, and while I believe you can have a brilliant program with no jumps (envision Kurt's "Nyha" program) her's, that night, wasn't one of them.

 

[Gipson]

Another fav skater nasty program is that Professional Championships where Kristi did the very brief, cheezy routine skated in a really little 'hip dress with daisies on it. It is more aweful that the music totally excapes me because of its benality and Kristi winning the darn comp with such a lame number.

I believe she was skating to Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet. The part I remember most was when she was sitting on the ice with a pouty look on her face and would pretend to scream with the music. Not my favorite Kristi program either.

 

[wvgal57]

I have a question, I noticed (not necessary here but in most parts) that a lot of people didn't like Irina's Traviata from 02-03 season. Do you think it was because that program followed Tosca? I mean, if she had done Traviata on 01-02 season and then Tosca, would you have liked Traviata more? I think I would, skaters need to top their previous programs and to follow Tosca, that is something very hard to do.

I've rewatched LT a few times and tried to figure out why it's my least favorite of Irina's programs and I agree that Irina was just not able to really devote the time to the program, although she did do very well at the last Campbells event of the season with it. Also, Irina had these programs made up with a question in her mind still as to what her plans for the season would be. Victory and Bond were both choreographed by the Moscow Trade Union club choreographer. Neither showcased many of Irina's strenghts and add in illness and family emergency and you get poor results.

Irina was not only dealing with her mom's illness during that year, she was also in the initial stages of her own health issues. Irina had not felt well during the whole Olympic year and shrugged it off as "stress", she was ill the entire '03 season and still shrugged it off as colds, flu, fatigue and any number of things. She only really found out how ill she was because the team physician kept seeing her be sick at trainings, unexplained fevers and numbness in her legs and fingers and demanded she see a specialist.

I agree that her Queen of Spades program has a lot of potential and understand that it was actually stripped down a bit due to Irina's stamina. Look for an even better program for next year.
Irina plans to keep Queen of Spades for next season but I'm not sure about her Rondo short program. She wants to continue to work Igor and I suspect she may have a new short program from him.

 

[Dee4707]

Uh-oh, I guess I'm going to be the contrarian, LOL.

I loved Yagudin's "Broken Arrow" - thought it was some of his best music ever. Plus the contrast of some really beautiful balletic moves - and then...machine gunning the jugdes!

Alexei-One Banana. What is wrong with Mishin? You dont do that to a 17 year old boy, people!

Zanzibar & Skatepixie, I couldn't agree more with you. I especially liked the machine gunning of the judges and I think that's why they told Tatiana and Alexei to get rid of the program.

The one program that I find a little difficult to listen to is his music to Feelings. Love the music or the song from way back when but not the rendition they chose. The piano is so shrill. I have a hard time watching and listening to the music. I so wished they had chosen a different rendition.

Dee

 

[euterpe]

The reason that "Tosca" is more compelling than "La Traviata" has a lot to do with the type of heroine and the basic plots of the two operas.

"Tosca" focuses on a renowned Opera singer who is in the clutches of an evil head of the secret police. Floria Tosca is fighting for her virtue and the life of her lover.

"La Traviata", on the other hand, is the romantic story of a courtesan who is dying of TB, and who nobly gives up her plan to spend the remainder of her life with her lover Alfredo, when his father visits her pleads that she give him up to save his reputation.

They are both strong characters, but while Tosca fights back by stabbing her tormentor to death, Violetta meekly resigns herself to a slow death without Alfredo.

 

[Bubbles]

>Boitano the mystery one he did this year Blech

I must agree with this one. Props AND a supporting actor along with an incomprehensible plot? Way too much. Until the end of the second program when his character's profession was revealed, I thought he was a detective -- couldn't understand why he was detecting in his underwear. Come to think of it, I don't understand why he was in his office in his underwear. (I'm assuming the woman in the supporting role was portraying his secretary or receptionist or whatever.) Hope this type of program was a one-shot experiment.

 

[berthes ghost]

The reason that "Tosca" is more compelling than "La Traviata" has a lot to do with the type of heroine and the basic plots of the two operas.

???

Maybe you feel this way because Irina is usually so literal in her interpretations, miming the origional rather than just skating to the music, IMHO. Personally, I just don't care for more literal interpretations, like Carmen getting stabbed in the gut at the end of the LP. Didn't like it when Kat did it, didn't like it when Sasha did it, didn't like it when A-P did it with Madame Butterfly either. I'm atually glad Irina wasn't coughing and dying in La T.

As for the two programs, I agree that it was the choreographer. Arena is famous and the level of sophistication in Tosca showed, even if it was more literal that La T, which was pretty darn bland choreographically. Tosca had tension, which La T didn't IMHO.

IMHO, La T is better music, even if Irina chose some of the weaker, less famous pieces.

Personally, I also like Violetta better. She was honest and kind and had a lot of sympathy for others and gave up her own happiness to supposidly make life better for her guy. Tosca was jealous and an annoying diva, and she totally panicked and blew it in the end, jumping off the roof when her guy wasn't even dead. I find her silly.

Anywho, like I said, I just think that Tosca LP had a better choreographer, regardless of the Opera's story.

 

[Bubbles]

>Tosca was jealous and an annoying diva, and she totally >panicked and blew it in the end, jumping off the roof when her >guy wasn't even dead. I find her silly.

Cavaradossi really was completely dead. Scarpia tricked Tosca, telling her Cavaradossi's execution would be faked. It wasn't.

 

[euterpe]

Violetta in "La Traviata" is undeniably a nicer person than Floria Tosca. But the more flamboyant Tosca is also a juicier role to play.
Passion, fury and despair are far more easily portrayed than quiet acceptance, especially in a non-verbal setting like figure skating.

 

[Vash01]

Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze- Te Vas. They only skated it once, IFAIK. It had same /similar choreography as Valse Sentimentale, and even costumes. It just did not work IMO.

Klimova-Ponomarenko: Dracula. Why must such beautiful people dress in such a horrible manner, and play those characters?

Usova-Zhulin: Sadly, their Olympic FD did nothing for me. Apparently the judges felt that way too.

Vash

 

[sarahmistral]

oh, no, Oksana!!!

I love her, but...actually, this post is more for that "worst exhibitions ever" thread:

1993 Keep it in the closet Exhibition-Oksana Baiul...

this never should have LEFT the closet; I just downloaded and watched it...scary. She just didn't have a handle on the hip-hop/R&B dance on ice thing at 15, World championship and all.

Sarah

 

[soogar]

Keep It in the Closet. That was a Michael Jackson number right? I remember her skating to Michael Jackson on tour at COI in 1993 and she really made that work. Oksana can dance hip hop really well and it looked great in person.

 

[sarahmistral]

Well, maybe she worked on it for COI after debuting it at worlds--I would hope so, actually! It just looked really bad to me from this performance. Still love her to death, though!

Sarah