Impressions from TV

[Bennett]

I found this pic of the ladies gala after the competition..(again not on TV)

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5923/yunaqueenlq1.jpg

What're the dogs besides Yuna???

 

[californiea]

I think its the beauty and the beast theme..

Here Yu-na is leading the charge in the eternal battle against the horror, dread, and enemy of all skaters, the "Wrong Edge", as in this movie poster(Brian Orsen/David Wilson Production). This wiill premiere on prime time TV sometime in March from Gotberg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1046/yunabattleagainstwrongesb9.jpg

 

[shine]

Lambiel deserved his victory, but to me it was like jump-jump-jump -- OK, now I'll skate for a while and catch my breath -- then jump-jump-jump. I think the CoP has taken the soul out of Stefane's skating (spins are still amazing, though). He got a gift when the tech specialist did not call a fall on his second element. Takahashi was fine but unremarkable, IMHO.

Interesting. I thought that LP was actually one of the best *performances* Stephane has given. There was so much dancing, musicality and life in the performance, mistakes on the jumps notwithstanding.
I probaly would agree a lot more if the comments were about his SP.

 

[shine]

Again, the long, I think could have been called differently, but I don't feel it was simply WRONG or a huge GIFT either. The pausing was huge (and I dislike it) - but so too is/was Lambiel's basic skating skills, his intepretation while moving is just lovely, imo, his ability to generate speed with seemingly no effort, and to change speed equally easily, and so on, I think merit the high PCS scores. Again, I think Taka is fabulous too and has many of the same great qualities - however, he did just look more like he was fighting/concentrating and even a bit winded in the tv view - TO ME. I just think it was deservedly close, and imo, should have gone to Takahashi, but I still don't feel it was egregious and can understand why it was close.

ITA. And it is so nice to see a post bringing back the disuccion on what makes a good SKATER rather than all the post-CoP chat about skaters' individual ELEMENTS which have been discussed to death and started to make me sick; the big picture of what makes a skater great in the first place has really been lost.

 

[Bennett]

Ladies -- Mao's skate was phenomenal, it flowed from the beginning to the end. She really deserves better PCS, because she has the best basic skating skills as well as musicality and dancer's posture. The only thing she's a little weak in is her introversion/detachment from the audience. She does smile a little bit, but she doesn't quite relate to the audience Yu-na does, or even Carolina Kostner. But this should not take away from her amazing skating and dancing skills -- not to mention the incredibly difficult jumps and the great spins and spirals.

I totally agree about your comments on her dancer's posture, positions, musicality, and basic skating skills. Although I don't think her GPF was her best in terms of artistry, she usually has these great qualities. I wish her LP could be less busier though. If she had less elements to excute, I feel that she can let the audience enjoy nuances and silence more. Right now, she has to move from one thing to another in no time. Many of the arm movements look a bit unfinished because they are excuted in one moment. Her Chopin gala performance and her last season's Chopin Nocturne have so much more silent moments and longer pauses so that I can better enjoy her port de bras better. I wonder if she may be better off in slower music.

I also agree about her introversion. Although she may have invested more efforts and has better skills and talent in dancing than anyone else in the field, she doesn't quite sell her program or her dancing skills. She doesn't really try to show off how beautiful she and her program are in her competition performances as she does in her gala performances.

 

[Mathman]

Interesting. I thought that LP was actually one of the best *performances* Stephane has given. There was so much dancing, musicality and life in the performance,...

I agree. What I was trying to say was that I thought that the dancing, musicality, skating, performance part was separate from the jumping part.

I did not feel that the jumps were part of the performance.

 

[feraina]

I also agree about her introversion. Although she may have invested more efforts and has better skills and talent in dancing than anyone else in the field, she doesn't quite sell her program or her dancing skills. She doesn't really try to show off how beautiful she and her program are in her competition performances as she does in her gala performances.

It's interesting how skaters overcome their biggest weaknesses in their exhibitions. Like you said, Mao's gala program is a beautiful, lyrical, heart-felt masterpiece. Even Caroline manages to skate with good speed and coverage in her exhibitions.

I wonder if it's because the skaters have more say in the choreography of their exhibition programs. Maybe when they have to use someone else's choreography, they sometimes have to work so hard to portray someone else's imagination, that they can't allow their own energy and creativity to shine through...

 

[Bennett]

It's interesting how skaters overcome their biggest weaknesses in their exhibitions. Like you said, Mao's gala program is a beautiful, lyrical, heart-felt masterpiece. Even Caroline manages to skate with good speed and coverage in her exhibitions.

I wonder if it's because the skaters have more say in the choreography of their exhibition programs. Maybe when they have to use someone else's choreography, they sometimes have to work so hard to portray someone else's imagination, that they can't allow their own energy and creativity to shine through...

How interesting that Caroline skates with faster speed and great ice coverage in her gala performances!

Mao's case seems to be a lot to do with her nerves and harder technical contents that are packed in a limited amount of time in competitive programs than in gala performances. Gala performances have some space and time to breathe. But competitive programs look really busy and you cannot make mistakes.

But skaters like Yuna, Kwan, and Emily Hughes are capable of selling their programs regardless of the pressure and these constraints, which I find to be really amazing.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Speed, Speed, Speed, yet no one mentions the control of speed; the long pause in speed before a jump; and especially in spins; and how it peters out in footwork. And that's not even mentioning the variations in the music.

Speed, btw, is just a small tick off in the PCS

Joe