JGP Courchevel: Thoughts and Highlights

[gsk8]

So the first major event of the new season has wrapped up today! What are your thoughts? Highlights?

 

[IndiaP12]

Did you mean JGP Courchevel?

 

[lariko]

I was so very happy to get skating back! But the whole utube download was a bit harder than previous stuff, it won’t play in the order of competition, so the sense of suspense was not there.

In the end, I gave up & made custom lists to see things in order, so basically, I went in spoiled on the results & just watched 12 top ranking.

Other than that, loved a lot of programs, and was just over the moon to watch!

 

[Colonel Green]

This is meant to be about Courchevel, I presume.

Men
- Yuma was the frontrunner going into this, and he certainly ran away with it. Maybe a touch overscored in the short program, but great skating (which he already showed last year) and his tech has gotten even better.
- As I said over in the predictions thread, Aleksa would have been fourth on my list of the five most-likely Canadian competitors to medal here, but in a men's event, anything can happen. Great show of nerve. I wish I could be more excited about him, but his coach is still Joanne McLeod.
- Andrei was a discovery, really talented in presentation.
- I was sad for Iliya, who could have been on the podium here, but he had the same short program problems he had at his summer competition, and it clearly got to him mentally in the free skate. I'm really looking forward to seeing that short program performed cleanly in the future, because it fits him perfectly (the free skate, less so).

Ladies
- I had avoided watching videos of Kamila until she made her JGP debut. On the whole, I was impressed, particularly by the quad, which is probably the best of the sort in ladies skating. The much-ballyhoo'd short program wasn't stunning to me, though I understand it's been revised compared to last season; I quite liked the free skate, much less cluttered than the norm.
- Seoyeong isn't giving much in terms of interpretation yet (which is fine, she's young), but that was a bravura performance on a technical level.
- Discovery of the competition: Sophie Sprung! She was adorable, and looks like a potential star for France in the future.
- Tomoe and Nana both have such great Lutzes, probably the best in junior ladies. I hope they can find a bit more consistency going forward.
- Alison

Ice dance
- Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy (I've finally gotten the hang of his name) looked impressive to begin the season. I was really wowed by them in the first JGP last year, and then the rest of their season was a bit underwhelming by comparison, but hopefully things will be different this time.
- Demougeot/Le Mercier were scored a bit generously here, but I'm happy for them to medal at home.
- The bronze medal ended up being a squeaker between two teams with problems. I was sad for Emmy and Aissa, particularly since I'd been hoping Aissa's twizzle issues were a thing of the past after his two good summer competitions; but he did well in the free dance. I hope for better things for them next time.
- Terreau/Perron had a really great free dance, certainly the most notable before the final group.

 

[TallyT]

Can I just say the world needs more commentary by Ted? I did think this at Autumn Classic last year, and even more so here - he's so thoughtful and encouraging, but at the same time stays as unobtrusive as possible and lets the skating speak for itself as much as possible.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Can I just say the world needs more commentary by Ted? I did think this at Autumn Classic last year, and even more so here - he's so thoughtful and encouraging, but at the same time stays as unobtrusive as possible and lets the skating speak for itself as much as possible.

I also appreciate his analysis when things go wrong. He can look at missed jump and tell exactly what happened, while still being encouraging and supportive.

 

[Amei]

I also appreciate his analysis when things go wrong. He can look at missed jump and tell exactly what happened, while still be encouraging and supportive.

Can we send the catty duo of Tara and Johnny to him for manners boot camp??

 

[ruga]

My highlights:
-Tomoe's rainbow skirt
-Ted Barton and his wholesomeness
-The scoring box they finally added for junior comps
-Kamila's quad

 

[Interspectator]

I loved the showmanship of Andrei. First time I've seen him, but I'll be cheering for him this season.

 

[IndiaP12]

My highlights:

Ladies:
- Kamila, she’s a really sweet girl, that kiss & cry reaction after the FS [emoji28] That quad - the height, speed, distance and flow is superb. Her lutz combo looks much improved too, really unfortunate that she fell on it in the SP. She had more mistakes than we all excepted but it shows she’s human and not that perfect Chosen One people have been hyping her up as. Gorgeous spins as always and I loved the concept of her free program sigh the butterfly dress, but still work in performance and connection to the music & audience to be done (so the whole thing is not just going through the elements) but she’s only 13.
- Seoyeong has lovely grace and very well done technically but needs work in the performance & interpretation department.
- the discovery of the competition for me was Calista Choi! Wow, her lutz is outstanding, the technique, height and distance. She has amazing skating skills and nice interpretation. I enjoyed her programs, especially the SP, unique music choice that really her. Only criticism I have is to put her shoulders down. Once she becomes more consistent on jumps and gets a 3+3 she will become a real contender!
- I really love Maya’s movement quality and awareness of the music. She has lovely long arms and legs and she uses them well. I was really upset when she had a tough time in the free because that’s never happened to her. Let’s hope she can regain the consistency she had last season
- Hanna’s short program is my favourite this season; wow the choreography is so amazing and she does it so well [emoji7] the free is very good too. Really a big shame about all the falls, I so hope she is able to become more consistent but her PCS score in the SP showed what wonders a Misha program can do for your PCS & score

Men:
- Andrei was my absolute favourite [emoji7] his performance level, natural and impeccable musicality, just pure understanding and emotion of every note and gorgeous quality on every element was the best I’ve ever seen. He skates the program as a whole. Those perfectly centred spins though and that turned out free leg! A joy to watch! I’m so glad he came back strong in the free and got bronze. Very bright future!!!
- Aleksa was a pleasant surprise too. Very stable jumps and nice interpretation. I love his SP, suits him a lot. Big congrats to him for the silver medal
- Yuma’s jumps are very solid and I love the knee bend and ride he gets on them - that 4T! Really needs improvement on performance level in the FS especially though because he didn’t perform up to the quirky music. Hopefully he will improve in that because then he will become something big
- for some reason I like Egor’s skating. I can tell he really wanted those 3As and he landed them all perfectly at test skates so really unfortunate. His triples were nice though (landing position [emoji1373]) and always quite solid. I know he can perform much better than he did last night too, he’s got the potential, everything just needs to come together
- speaking of come together, Matt did a great job and I was really happy for him in the SP [emoji1373] that 3Lz+3T is huge. When he works on stamina and connection to the music and adds the 3A he will become a bigger contender for sure [emoji1373]

 

[dorispulaski]

I was so very happy to get skating back! But the whole utube download was a bit harder than previous stuff, it won’t play in the order of competition, so the sense of suspense was not there.

In the end, I gave up & made custom lists to see things in order, so basically, I went in spoiled on the results & just watched 12 top ranking.

Other than that, loved a lot of programs, and was just over the moon to watch!

The videos threads in the competitions folder are listed in order of skate

 

[Ichatdelune]

Okay, let's get the fangirling out of the way:

- My beloved Seoyoung got silver :hap57: Yes, she needs to overcome her shyness and express more, but she's improved quite a bit compared to last season, so give her some time.
- Liza and Devid's first gold They were very much nervous with the RD (and I disagree with her hairdo), but the FD was pretty much great (at least before the spins, at that point they lost energy). I saw potential at the test skates, and I saw even more here. I still want more Bishop Briggs and less remixes though.

Now that's out of my system, my thoughts.

Ladies
- Jihun showed what a dramatic performer she is, it's just that her jumps didn't cooperate (sigh) She still gets the 'most gorgeous dress' award, narrowly beating out Seoyoung.
- Kamila Valieva, great skater with a nice quad and great spins. It's the choreo I don't like, not her. Same applies to Maya Khromykh, she's got lovely arms and nice tanos, it's just that I can't stand Ghost (and the choreo doesn't help).
- Lara Naki Gutmann displayed that lovely elegance Italian ladies often have, she's in my good books now.
- Calista Choi was a new find, smooth skating and powerful jumps. I look forward to see her grow.
- Kawabata Tomoe has a terrific lutz and a lovely SP, but she does need to be consistent with her jumps for her to survive the bloodbath of Japanese ladies. And I'm still on her FS dress.
- Mademoiselle Sophie Sprung was quite adorable. And impressive height on her jumps!
- Guzide Bayir is still an enjoyable performer to watch, and all my kudos for her for being a skater from Turkey, not the best country known for skating.

Men
- Andrei Kutovoy was a charming performer last season, and he is one still. He was the star of the men here, and although I still refuse to call the second half of his SP I Won't Dance I very much enjoyed watching him.
- Kagiyama Yuma pulled off a spectacular 4T and overall good skating, he deserved the gold. I'll wait for him to emotionally impress me, he did manage the technical part.
- Aleksa Rakic is on my 'pending for adoption' list, while I like his elegance I'm not completely sold yet. I do love his SP music though
- Egor's growth spurt hit him hard, and both of his programs don't really do him good service. And his 3A is still unstable (sigh)
- I like Iliya Kovler's SP, but aside from an excellent 3A he unfortunately didn't do much with it here. And I am still meh on all Disturbed Sound of Silence programs that are not done by James/Cipres. I'm still waiting for him to do his SP right
- Maxim Naumov was an interesting one, quite fluid and graceful yet missing his jumps. I'm reserving judgement for now.
- Chen Yudong's SP was

ID
- Demougeot/Le Mercier were interesting throughout, hats off for making me enjoy Electro Habanera. But while I am a professed Jon Snow in ID, I did feel they were tad overscored
- Katashinskaia/Vaskovich... Hmm, good things first, she's a very passionate dancer. And they still managed to get on podium despite the fall. The not-so-good things: their FD is a personal nope to me, and I don't feel much chemistry between them. Maybe it's just them being a new team, but I've seen brand-new teams having chemistry. I don't know.
- The Cyprus team had a cool slide, I thought it was a double fall at first but kudos to their originality.
- The French teams all had very interesting costumes and unexpected music choices/choreo, WeakAnkles would've approved. Program aside I did dig the Scandinavian-Barbarian music.
- Bronsard/Bouaraguia were fun, she's a born diva and David Bowie is always welcome. Not sure about her FD dress though.
- Tkachenko/Kiliakov were interesting, I still think her RD dress has too deep a V-neck for a 13 yo but their FD was quite enjoyable. And they have all the time to grow.
- I still cannot believe there was an all-tassel dress. Mon Dieu, Madre di Dio, why is it a thing?!!

 

[nussnacker]

Can I just say the world needs more commentary by Ted? I did think this at Autumn Classic last year, and even more so here - he's so thoughtful and encouraging, but at the same time stays as unobtrusive as possible and lets the skating speak for itself as much as possible.

AGREE!!!
Honestly, I do not understand some who criticize and pick on Ted‘s commentary.
He‘s so kind and positive, gives his opinion on their progress compared to previous years, I think he’s the best choice to comment on juniors... don’t want to hear those kids being slammed by commentators.

 

[nussnacker]

- Egor's growth spurt hit him hard, and both of his programs don't really do him good service. And his 3A is still unstable (sigh)

I just noticed he’s already as tall as Daniil, but still has body proportions of a kid, hence it doesn’t instantly hit you how tall he actually is... and yeah, judging by his proportions, he’s not anywhere near to be done growing. Kid probably will grow over 180 within a year or two.

 

[Dr. Jenn]

I loved the showmanship of Andrei. First time I've seen him, but I'll be cheering for him this season.

Same here - I was really impressed with him! He's very musical, attentive to detail, and a good performer for his (very young) age. I am looking forward to watching his development.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

In ladies, it was Kamila that instantly stood out for me. While she did have a few tech errors (fall on 3Lz, fall on 3F, doubled 3S), her programs no doubt made up for it. She is such a naturally gifted artist and her interpretation is already sublime. I can't wait to see how she improves between now and JGP Chelyabinsk, where she also has a good shot to win. Her 4T is insane to me - it's so high and secure, and she's landed every 4T that I've seen. Congratulations to Kamila for becoming the youngest lady to land a quad!

Seoyeong delivered her content very well. Her technical skills are incredible, and she has wonderful technique on her jumps. By being strong technically, she won the silver medal. Seoyeong still needs to develop her presentation some more, especially when compared to Kamila, but she did wonderfully well here and won her first JGP silver medal. Maya did so well in the short program! Other than the hand down on the loop, she was just exquisite - her attention to details, especially the placement of her arms, is extraordinary, especially for a first-year junior. In the free, she struggled, but her potential is still there. I think that her FS is a wonderful vehicle for her, and it's really quite special when clean. For now, she's still assigned to JGP Gdansk. I hope she gets the chance to prove herself on the JGP again, because I know that she has everything to be successful.

In men, Yuma was hands-down the class of the field. His two programs were quite different from each other, but he delivered each well, with strong interpretation skills in both. What really stands out to me about Yuma is the knee-bend in his jumps and how secure his landings are. His 4T also seems to be quite consistent, and it's a really pretty jump. Congratulations to Yuma for taking his first JGP gold medal! Aleksa Rakic, while not having the tech content of the top contenders, proved that being safe and confident in jumps does pay off. He landed all of his jumps, and in juniors, that's really crucial to doing well. His lines and musicality are also nice, especially so in his short program to Stargazing. And Andrei Kutovoi, who was my personal favorite from the event, had a wonderful free skate to come back from his poor short program. His lines and extensions are exquisite, and he's so good at finishing his movements and reaching musical accents. He sold his program well, and, like Aleksa, landed all of his jumps to win the bronze medal.

In ice dance, Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy were captivating. Their programs were innovative and original, but also impressive in execution. Elizaveta's choreographic slide was so out-of-the-box, but it worked perfectly within the program. In their River program, they were quite good at hitting the musical accents, leading to a strong performance to match their strong technical elements. I was so happy to see Loicia and Theo win their first JGP medal skating at home. Leading after the RD, they couldn't quite hold off S/N in the free dance, but delivered a strong and captivating performance nonetheless. They, too, are skilled in all of their technical elements, but I was hooked by their different interpretation of Carmen. Carmen is such a warhorse, but it was interesting to see it delivered in a different light, and Loicia and Theo did a great job selling their dark and edgy Carmen en route to the silver medal. And Katashinskaia/Vaskovich, while they had one major mistake, are also strong in technical elements. Their program was engaging and charming, and I love their synchronization and strong edgework. As this is their first JGP season, I think they did quite well to grab the bronze medal in their first event! Hopefully this is the start of something great for this team.

 

[lariko]

The videos threads in the competitions folder are listed in order of skate

They did not work that way for me, when I just tried to play it of the ‘ladies short’ header. And once there was more videos, they won’t even play in order skipping to different disciplines, lol. So, I ended up expanding the list & snooping through individual vids. It’s no big deal, I don’t know any of those athletes, so i can’t get heartbroken in advance, lol.

I’ll just build my own smaller lists for seniors based on the starting order, before looking at results.

The performances that ended up on my permanent I Like It! list (can’t explain why, lol) from this one were:

Short: Chen, Valieva, Smotrov, Araki, Zenko, Wi, Naumov, Kawabata, Kutovoi

Free: Urushadze, Naumov, Kutovoy and Kagiyama

 

[Lunalovesskating]

My highlights were the "Looks a bit underrotated, uh no it is called clean in the judges panel, so that's good" comments. If you make a drinking game out of it you are drunk in an hour.

 

[eppen]

I started watching juniors more closely in 2015 and since then every season has provided with new favourites. 2015 it was Deniss Vasiljevs, a year later Marin Honda and Anastasiia Gubanova were just amazing to watch. Kostornaia and Kihira the next season and among the boys it was Artem Kovalev and to a certain extent Artur Danielian. Some of them hopefully make it big in the seniors (I once counted that only about 50% of the Junior Worlds medalists make it to medals in the major competitions in seniors). Vasiljevs and Honda seem not to be the ones to break through despite their popularity as skaters (but I still hope a little bit). I also doubt whether Gubanova can ever get senior competitions with the current state of Russian ladies. Kovalev and Danielian are growing up and we'll see if they can make in the seniors in a couple of years.

Which brings me to Courchevel - the light of the singles was definitely Andrey Kutovoi. If only senior men could do as good performances as that 13-year-old did! I really hope he survives the coming years, growing up and learning the tough tech content. Japanese juniors have not been too promising for the past couple of seasons, but Yuma could develop into a good complete skater. I particularly liked the very different programs which he managed ok (and anyone who uses Joe Jackson for music gets my vote).

In the ladies, no great revelations. Valieva is good, but in the SP seemed hardly aware that the movement should go with the music (could be she was just super nevous in her first JGP), the FS was better. The flexibility parts were amazing, though. Khromykh is almost exactly the same age and it was interesting to compare their movement in that respect - Maiia seems a lot older, refined and detailed. Lara Naki Gutmann I liked for her performances, hope she can keep the tech content going.

Still no ice dance for me.

e

 

[doublequad]

kamila vailieva