Free Dance, Sat. 11/19 at 2:30 pm EST

[Spun Silver]

Might as well get set up now. I'm going to let Nadine start the Ladies' thread.

Warm-Up Group 1
1 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ
ESP
8 45.71
2 Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV
RUS
7 48.77
3 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG
CHN
6 50.71
4 Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES
USA
5 52.01

Warm-Up Group 2
5 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV
RUS
4 58.17
6 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE
ITA
3 64.62
7 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT
FRA
2 66.52
8 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR
CAN
1 71.18

 

[colleen o'neill]

Do we have a link for this, guys? CbC won't show it til tomorrow...:scowl:

 

[BackStage Barbie]

I'll be doing my Live play-by-play right here http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating_3130.html

 

[dorispulaski]

That stinks.
US Sports won't show it till then either. IN is showing it, I think?

 

[Shaba22]

http://www.youtube.com/user/NikaQuest

 

[icemusings]

I'll be doing live coverage of the free dance at http://icemusings.blogspot.com/2011/11/trophee-eric-bompard-short-dance_19.html

 

[dorispulaski]

FIRST WARMUP GROUP
Sara Hurtado & Adria Diaz ESP
SP Eighth place 45.71
FD Tristan and Isolde by Maxime Rodriguez
That's an odd costume. She has a sequinned kippah on, and brown bloomers under a skirt??? Nope it's a two toned layered brown skirt that sometimes looks like she has bloomers. And a teal blue sash belt.
And a blue vee on the top of the costume.
Angsty posing
She does a camel spin he catches her
they skate off ina neat cartwheel lift and she sommersaults over his shoulder
step sequence
Nice pair spin. Decent rotational speed
She goes down he sits on her knees, they both lean back. Wild!
She stands on his foot in a biellman
Rotational lift.
He falls in the 1st twizzle set (leg out) He tripped over the toepick It's an ambitious set of twizzle positions they planned...a little too hard for them.
Steps
Another lift to end.
There was some interesting stuff in that lift.
58.04 someodd with 2 deductions
103.75 total

 

[Spun Silver]

Oh no, he took a tumble on the un-nice ice of Nice. (I just realized we're not in Paris.)

Their costumes are miles better than yesterday, but the low waist on her dress makes her look thicker around the middle and she doesn't need that.

I don't like the way her back bounces on the ice when they're going into that cantilever (?) position where they're both leaning all the way back. First, it's too obvious, and second, Ouch.

 

[Buttercup]

There's a Russian stream, but I know it doesn't work for some locations.

Was hoping for better for Sara and Adria better luck next time...

 

[dorispulaski]

Kristina Gorshkova & Vitali Butikov RUS
SP Seventh place 48.77
FD Tango Selection
She has on half a military coat in dark blue with an over colorful tango dress underneath
Very messy complex lift
Rotational lift
steps into twizzles one foot 3 sets, she petered out on the 2nd set.
They run into a lunge
bandoneon going now
steps in hold
Foot shaking to be tango
an interesting rotational lift with her at a kind of angle
Tangoish step
I think this is a step sequence now. It has the requisite different types of turns.
Skating straight ahead with her head on his shoulder
a small lift to the end?
Whoops they keep going? Why?
Another lift to end.

69.71

Total 118.48 into 1st

 

[Spun Silver]

G/B's dance just seemed endless. Talk about a pasted smile - and he looks like his teeth are gritted.

 

[dorispulaski]

Xintong Huang & Xun Zheng CHN
SP Sixth Place 50.71
FD Libertango by Astor Piazzolla

Rats. Another Tango.
He's in black, mostly, with suspenders I think appliqued on.
She has a black skirt and a top with lots of red and black geometric cut outs and sleeves. She has her hair in a long braid.
Twizzles. He looks faster.
Steps with lunges and a little skippy jump
They are back to back kind of neat
Gymnastic, long, lift with lots of changes
Tango posing
Slow tangoing in hold steps
He lifts her with her legs around his neck and then spins her like clock hands to 6 o'clock postions
pair spin
Lift, standard one with girls foot to her head.
More steps
Really, this is a recognizable tango..a good thing
Very Linichuk, who AFAIR is their choreographer.
To end.

75.98 new sb
126.69
into first, a SB total

 

[Spun Silver]

I love this Chinese team. They seem so comfortable in this idiom, and skate so well together. Some awkward lifts, but on the whole very enjoyable. And they're so good-looking. Him especially. He smolders. Never heard of them until this event.

Oh, OK, Linichuk. That explains it. Good for them.

 

[Buttercup]

Madison and Evan: who decided it was a good idea to butcher Chopin like that? :no:

 

[Violet Bliss]

No working stream for me.

 

[dorispulaski]

Madison Chock & Evan Bates USA
SP Fifth Place 52.01
FD Jazz version of Chopin's Prelude in E Minor

Same costumes as SC. Madison's two toned purple with the rag skirt
She's pointing her toe more.
Little jump
Step sequence. When the S&Z teams all know the same circular step, you can plug partners in and out,
But I love this lift with him in back spiral and her lying flat along his back
This fake beat over Chopin I do not love
A very tricky lift right into the twizzles. She runs into him and falls, because he is not getting the ice coverage he should. Choreographically too tough for them yet.
Up again
Steps
Some nice rather whimsical stuff here
Lifts mean something, at least some of them
pair spin. Nice positions by her.
Despite the fall better than last time
Spin with her standing on his foot. Clever clever.
To end.

He's patting her knee to comfort her in the KnC
78.93

130.94 overall into first place.

 

[Spun Silver]

Oh, that was gorgeous. Except for the moment where Madison decided to sit down and forgot there are no chair props in the FD. Talk about breaking the flow.

I may just have been reconciled to Chock/Bates.

Is it really a fake beat? It sounded like a jazz version of Chopin, IOW it wasn't just the beat that was changed but the whole line. Jazz often has those soft drum brushes in the bass.

 

[dorispulaski]

It was jazz all right, but I'm not sure the beat wasn't a drum machine.

I have to admit, I like this program, particularly the ease into and out of the lifts and how the lifts actually have something to do with the program.

 

[dorispulaski]

It wasn't all Madison's fault. Evan was spinning, not twizzling, and she ran into him

 

[Spun Silver]

OK, thanks - I didn't see that.