Marshall's Results so far
- Thread starter Kasey
- Start date
Andrei, but way to go Evan! 
****Report credited to FSUniverse*****
Evan landed 8 triples, both axels a little cheated.
Scores 5.4 and rest 5.5 technical, two 5.5 and rest 5.6 presentation.
Johnny did 3a/3t, 3f, 3lz, popped axel, fall on 3l, 3s, 3f/2t
Scores tech: 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.6; Pres: 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.7
Andrei Griazev: 3f/3t, 3a/3t, 2lz, 1a, 1f, 3t, 2a, fall on 3l
Scores: Not given for some FSU political reason!
Ryan Yanky: 3a with 3 turns on landing, 4t ur so, 3lz/2t, 2a hop, 3s, 3lz, 3f 2ft, 3l
Scores Tech: 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.0 5.4 Pres: 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.5
Brian Yagbert: 4t fafll, 3a so, 3f, 3a bad fall, 3lz, 3s, 3t, 3l so
Scores Tech: 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.3 Pres: 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.6
Evan landed 8 triples, both axels a little cheated.
Scores 5.4 and rest 5.5 technical, two 5.5 and rest 5.6 presentation.
Johnny did 3a/3t, 3f, 3lz, popped axel, fall on 3l, 3s, 3f/2t
Scores tech: 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.6; Pres: 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.7
Andrei Griazev: 3f/3t, 3a/3t, 2lz, 1a, 1f, 3t, 2a, fall on 3l
Scores: Not given for some FSU political reason!
Ryan Yanky: 3a with 3 turns on landing, 4t ur so, 3lz/2t, 2a hop, 3s, 3lz, 3f 2ft, 3l
Scores Tech: 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.0 5.4 Pres: 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.5
Brian Yagbert: 4t fafll, 3a so, 3f, 3a bad fall, 3lz, 3s, 3t, 3l so
Scores Tech: 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.3 Pres: 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.6
)
OK - I'm going totally by memory here, no notes or anything.
Evan went first, and he was wonderful. He skated a clean program, and was so pleased with his performance that he hopped up and down before taking his bows. He was really fun to watch. Then came Johnny. His program started out very well, then something happened with the second 3 axel. Unfortunately, I couldn't really see what because a row of idiots decided to let someone into their seats while Johnny was skating, and all stood up. Jerks.
(I wonder if that had any effect on him, because they did it right in front of where he was taking off. Probably not.) Anyway, after that he seemed to lose some of his composure - little slips of footwork then the fall on the 3 loop. I love Johnny's skating, but tonight was definitely not his night. He looked really, really p****d off at himself, too
Next up was Andrei, and he too started out well. I liked his costume, and he had some really good moves that matched his music. Unfortunately, his jumps fizzled out. Ryan was up next, and I think he wuz robbed a bit. To be honest, as much as I love Johnny's skating, I think Ryan should have placed higher than Johnny tonight. It was close, though - I guess because I felt Ryan held onto his composure a bit more than Johnny did. Ryan's choreography and presentation were wonderful, if he could just master that blasted 3 axel. He got a huge ovation from his home-town crowd, and if I remember correctly, they boo'd his marks.
Brian is hot. I feel like a dirty old lady saying this, but he is hot. That costume of his, which looks so awful on the tv, um, shows off his assets very well in person, so to speak. I digress - back to his performance. I thought he did a nice job. His technical errors landed him behind Evan, rightfully so, but he didn't seem near as wooden as his program seemed on tv. He drew the crowd into his performance, and his edging was very sure and strong, too. Seems like he's reduced some of the Yagudin footwork, which I think is a good thing.
Then came Evgeny. I have not been a big fan of his - didn't like his program last year at all - but this performance was wonderful. He got a standing ovation, and I was one of the people standing. It was artistic, it kept your attention rivited from start to finish, and the technical was there too. Until I saw this program, I was wondering how well Johnny and Brian would fare against him this year. My answer is not too well if he performs like he did tonight. I can't see a perfect Joubert or a perfect Weir beating that, whether it be 6.0 or CoP. It was, IMO, that good. He got three 6.0's for presentation, BTW.
Results:
Plushenko
Lysacek
Joubert
Weir
Jahnke
Griacez
Then came the exhibitions. Inuae (sp?) and Baldwin did a show-type number to vocals. I was wondering how the heck they'd be able to skate with no warm up. Their program was fun, but not particularly challenging - in other words, the perfect show program. Then came Tanith and Ben. They did their free dance, and it was wonderful. The one thing I noticed, that you will never be able to notice on tv, is that all of those gold coins on their costume jingle against each other when they dance. It's kind of cool - makes it more gypsy-like.
They had the men signing autographs during intermission, so I wandered up to see if I could get one. Yeah, right. What seemed like 9 million screaming girls were milling around. They had a lot of fun, though (the girls, I don't know about skaters
), although there were a lot of long faces when the men rushed back to the elevator prior to the start on the ladies event.
On to the ladies.
I was very, very disappointed in Michelle's Bolero (I did not get to see it at Campbell's). We were talking about it on the way back, and we decided that maybe Bolero just isn't suited to freestyle. Because the music builds and builds, you expect the skating to build too (like T&D's dance). But freestyle has natural ups and downs, which doesn't lend itself to that kind of music. Technically, she was good, but you know how her programs usually build until she does that wonderful footwork at the end? In this program, the footwork was more like a fizzle - a let down. Also, the entire program had too many crossovers and basic skating back and forth. I really do not think it will fare well under CoP.
Sasha was up next, and like some of the men she started out strong. I though she looked kind of worried in the warm up, and before she went out. Kind of like she wasn't 100%. Well, she proceeded to fall three times. Nice program, though (first time I've seen this one, too). She wore her Swan Lake white dress, though, so we were wondering before she started if she had gone back to the old program. I think Jenny was next. She skated a wonderful program - and falls into the wuz robbed category. I definitely had her above Sasha - she fell once on a 3 sal, but everything else was picture perfect. I was shocked when her ordinals came up in 3rd place. (To be honest, I'd have put her above Michelle, even with the fall, based on her choreography, which was much more difficult.)
Then came Alyssa. She was wonderful. I saw this program at Skate Detroit, and was not impressed. I thought she looked like a Sasha wannabe. Well, I take back my words. Although she did have the flexibility moves, she does have a style all her own. She had jumping problems, though, which hurt her alot. Irina was next, and she skated a terrific program. I think she nailed everything - to be honest, it didn't really matter if she missed something or not. The program was technically difficult, and fun and entertaining. A well deserved win for her.
Finally came Angela. I didn't envy her skating after Irena. She did well until about 1/2 way, when she started popping into doubles. She singled her axel. SHe does have, without a doubt, the best layback of any of the ladies, including Sasha (and I love Sasha's layback).
Results:
Slutskaya
Kwan
Cohen
Kirk
Cysney
Nikodinov (I may have the last two places mixed up)
Did I miss someone? It's getting late.
Then they did the check awards, and had the skaters do a "Victory" lap. All of the skaters did a move or element as they were called out (in reverse order of finish) except for Weir and Kwan. Weir looked downright grumpy, and Kwan looked her usual gracious self. Don't know why they didn't do an element.
It was a nice night. Hope I didn't mangle anything up too much.
Evan went first, and he was wonderful. He skated a clean program, and was so pleased with his performance that he hopped up and down before taking his bows. He was really fun to watch. Then came Johnny. His program started out very well, then something happened with the second 3 axel. Unfortunately, I couldn't really see what because a row of idiots decided to let someone into their seats while Johnny was skating, and all stood up. Jerks.
(I wonder if that had any effect on him, because they did it right in front of where he was taking off. Probably not.) Anyway, after that he seemed to lose some of his composure - little slips of footwork then the fall on the 3 loop. I love Johnny's skating, but tonight was definitely not his night. He looked really, really p****d off at himself, too Next up was Andrei, and he too started out well. I liked his costume, and he had some really good moves that matched his music. Unfortunately, his jumps fizzled out. Ryan was up next, and I think he wuz robbed a bit. To be honest, as much as I love Johnny's skating, I think Ryan should have placed higher than Johnny tonight. It was close, though - I guess because I felt Ryan held onto his composure a bit more than Johnny did. Ryan's choreography and presentation were wonderful, if he could just master that blasted 3 axel. He got a huge ovation from his home-town crowd, and if I remember correctly, they boo'd his marks.
Brian is hot. I feel like a dirty old lady saying this, but he is hot. That costume of his, which looks so awful on the tv, um, shows off his assets very well in person, so to speak. I digress - back to his performance. I thought he did a nice job. His technical errors landed him behind Evan, rightfully so, but he didn't seem near as wooden as his program seemed on tv. He drew the crowd into his performance, and his edging was very sure and strong, too. Seems like he's reduced some of the Yagudin footwork, which I think is a good thing.
Then came Evgeny. I have not been a big fan of his - didn't like his program last year at all - but this performance was wonderful. He got a standing ovation, and I was one of the people standing. It was artistic, it kept your attention rivited from start to finish, and the technical was there too. Until I saw this program, I was wondering how well Johnny and Brian would fare against him this year. My answer is not too well if he performs like he did tonight. I can't see a perfect Joubert or a perfect Weir beating that, whether it be 6.0 or CoP. It was, IMO, that good. He got three 6.0's for presentation, BTW.
Results:
Plushenko
Lysacek
Joubert
Weir
Jahnke
Griacez
Then came the exhibitions. Inuae (sp?) and Baldwin did a show-type number to vocals. I was wondering how the heck they'd be able to skate with no warm up. Their program was fun, but not particularly challenging - in other words, the perfect show program. Then came Tanith and Ben. They did their free dance, and it was wonderful. The one thing I noticed, that you will never be able to notice on tv, is that all of those gold coins on their costume jingle against each other when they dance. It's kind of cool - makes it more gypsy-like.
They had the men signing autographs during intermission, so I wandered up to see if I could get one. Yeah, right. What seemed like 9 million screaming girls were milling around. They had a lot of fun, though (the girls, I don't know about skaters
), although there were a lot of long faces when the men rushed back to the elevator prior to the start on the ladies event.On to the ladies.
I was very, very disappointed in Michelle's Bolero (I did not get to see it at Campbell's). We were talking about it on the way back, and we decided that maybe Bolero just isn't suited to freestyle. Because the music builds and builds, you expect the skating to build too (like T&D's dance). But freestyle has natural ups and downs, which doesn't lend itself to that kind of music. Technically, she was good, but you know how her programs usually build until she does that wonderful footwork at the end? In this program, the footwork was more like a fizzle - a let down. Also, the entire program had too many crossovers and basic skating back and forth. I really do not think it will fare well under CoP.
Sasha was up next, and like some of the men she started out strong. I though she looked kind of worried in the warm up, and before she went out. Kind of like she wasn't 100%. Well, she proceeded to fall three times. Nice program, though (first time I've seen this one, too). She wore her Swan Lake white dress, though, so we were wondering before she started if she had gone back to the old program. I think Jenny was next. She skated a wonderful program - and falls into the wuz robbed category. I definitely had her above Sasha - she fell once on a 3 sal, but everything else was picture perfect. I was shocked when her ordinals came up in 3rd place. (To be honest, I'd have put her above Michelle, even with the fall, based on her choreography, which was much more difficult.)
Then came Alyssa. She was wonderful. I saw this program at Skate Detroit, and was not impressed. I thought she looked like a Sasha wannabe. Well, I take back my words. Although she did have the flexibility moves, she does have a style all her own. She had jumping problems, though, which hurt her alot. Irina was next, and she skated a terrific program. I think she nailed everything - to be honest, it didn't really matter if she missed something or not. The program was technically difficult, and fun and entertaining. A well deserved win for her.
Finally came Angela. I didn't envy her skating after Irena. She did well until about 1/2 way, when she started popping into doubles. She singled her axel. SHe does have, without a doubt, the best layback of any of the ladies, including Sasha (and I love Sasha's layback).
Results:
Slutskaya
Kwan
Cohen
Kirk
Cysney
Nikodinov (I may have the last two places mixed up)
Did I miss someone? It's getting late.
Then they did the check awards, and had the skaters do a "Victory" lap. All of the skaters did a move or element as they were called out (in reverse order of finish) except for Weir and Kwan. Weir looked downright grumpy, and Kwan looked her usual gracious self. Don't know why they didn't do an element.
It was a nice night. Hope I didn't mangle anything up too much.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
Awesome report! Thank you very much! 
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2004
I just returned home from Marshalls
Men
Plushy
Evan
Brian
Johnny
Ryan
Andrei
Evan and plushy were great. Plushy did 4-3
Johnny was terrible, and needs to get his act together. During the victory lab when he was introduched we looked miserable, and when all the skaters were skating around giving high fives to the crowd he looked like he rather be someplace eles.
Janhke. I got his autograph along with Evan. Went for the quad toe, came out early. Glad he went for it. Landed one of his 3-axels.
Andrei was so so.
Joubert- nothing exiciting. Think he took a nasty fall on the quad.
Ladies
Irina
Michelle
Sasha
Jenny
Alissa
Angela
Kwan- She has some type of ankle injury. She only tried up to triple sal in warmup, and that didnt go so well. After the sal attempts she asked over to the boards picked up a skate gaurd and threw it, and slammed open the door half way through the warmup. She Then went over by the kiss and cry and talked with Rafel. The ABC camera were in their faces. I saw this all beacuse I was sitting above the kiss and cry. I Thought she was going to withdraw but she didnt. She went out from her program. and took about five minutes skating, and putting pressure on her ankle, before she started her program, she landed everything, her second lutz was shaky, She skated with a smile through out her program, but her program was missing something. It was boring, and i was dissapointed. But hey I was gald i got to see michelle skate, hadn't seen her skate since 94 campbells. She had a new dress.
Sasha- started out great landed 3 lutz, loop, toe, and flip, then took nasty falls on every jump she attempted afterwards. Should have been last of the feild made the most mistakes.
Alissa. Started out great. Landed the 3 lutz, flip, and loop. Then fell on 3 toe. Landed her second 3 lutz. Then fell on another triple and double axel. Had good spins and in betweens.
Jenny. Had a beautiful dress on. Loved her program it suits her well. At first i thought I wouldn't like it but I did. I believe she landed every thing besides her second 3 toe. Had her typical smile.
Irina. Landed some sort of triple-triple. May have been lutz loop it was in the lutz corner so it most have been lutz loop. She skated a soild program missing nothing. Didn't go for the triple-triple.
Angela. Did i miss something. She finished last. I believe she landed everything besides doubling her flip and singling her axel. I thought she was going to be thrid. Marks were booed by the crowd, so were jennys.
Men
Plushy
Evan
Brian
Johnny
Ryan
Andrei
Evan and plushy were great. Plushy did 4-3
Johnny was terrible, and needs to get his act together. During the victory lab when he was introduched we looked miserable, and when all the skaters were skating around giving high fives to the crowd he looked like he rather be someplace eles.
Janhke. I got his autograph along with Evan. Went for the quad toe, came out early. Glad he went for it. Landed one of his 3-axels.
Andrei was so so.
Joubert- nothing exiciting. Think he took a nasty fall on the quad.
Ladies
Irina
Michelle
Sasha
Jenny
Alissa
Angela
Kwan- She has some type of ankle injury. She only tried up to triple sal in warmup, and that didnt go so well. After the sal attempts she asked over to the boards picked up a skate gaurd and threw it, and slammed open the door half way through the warmup. She Then went over by the kiss and cry and talked with Rafel. The ABC camera were in their faces. I saw this all beacuse I was sitting above the kiss and cry. I Thought she was going to withdraw but she didnt. She went out from her program. and took about five minutes skating, and putting pressure on her ankle, before she started her program, she landed everything, her second lutz was shaky, She skated with a smile through out her program, but her program was missing something. It was boring, and i was dissapointed. But hey I was gald i got to see michelle skate, hadn't seen her skate since 94 campbells. She had a new dress.
Sasha- started out great landed 3 lutz, loop, toe, and flip, then took nasty falls on every jump she attempted afterwards. Should have been last of the feild made the most mistakes.
Alissa. Started out great. Landed the 3 lutz, flip, and loop. Then fell on 3 toe. Landed her second 3 lutz. Then fell on another triple and double axel. Had good spins and in betweens.
Jenny. Had a beautiful dress on. Loved her program it suits her well. At first i thought I wouldn't like it but I did. I believe she landed every thing besides her second 3 toe. Had her typical smile.
Irina. Landed some sort of triple-triple. May have been lutz loop it was in the lutz corner so it most have been lutz loop. She skated a soild program missing nothing. Didn't go for the triple-triple.
Angela. Did i miss something. She finished last. I believe she landed everything besides doubling her flip and singling her axel. I thought she was going to be thrid. Marks were booed by the crowd, so were jennys.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
While one can't take these kinds of competitions seriously one could learn something from them, and bear in mind, All the men wanted to skate their best.
Plushy has re-emphasized his dominance in the Men's Division. IMO,He's on the road to Moscow and Torino.
I haven't seen the skate yet, but it appears that Evan is coming into his own. I remember way back when he skated against Johnny in Juniors. Johnny won, of course, but Evan made a definite impression for all who had seen the contest.
What is happening to the heir apparent to Plush? He's TT's fair haired boy Andrei has to learn to step up to the plate.
Joe
Plushy has re-emphasized his dominance in the Men's Division. IMO,He's on the road to Moscow and Torino.
I haven't seen the skate yet, but it appears that Evan is coming into his own. I remember way back when he skated against Johnny in Juniors. Johnny won, of course, but Evan made a definite impression for all who had seen the contest.
What is happening to the heir apparent to Plush? He's TT's fair haired boy Andrei has to learn to step up to the plate.
Joe
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2003
Thanks for the live reports!!!
It sounds like an interesting evening.
Sounds like for the American's Evan was the "bright spot." Can't wait to see this on TV. They are airing this, right? I also can't wait to see Plush. As much as he has never been my favorite from a style perspective, he is certainly a great skater in our time, and I would imagine it must be spectacular to watch him live.
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny.
I'm sorry to hear that Michelle had ankle trouble - I hope that's nothing serious and heals quickly. It scares me to hear that her choreography may be weak relative to what's needed under COP. I'm secretly hoping that maybe she left some stuff out due to her ankle, but that's probably a stretch if she managed to get through the jumps.
Sasha, Sasha, Sasha.
I'm glad to hear Jenny Kirk looked good aside from the one mistake. I really like her skating and hope she pulls it together for nats and makes the world team. But then if she does, I'll be if she blows it at worlds.
Good for Irina!!
It's interesting to hear that some of the placements sounded questionable. While COP might not be perfect, it sure is better than 6.0 in my opinion.
Thanks again for the reports!!!
DG
It sounds like an interesting evening.
Sounds like for the American's Evan was the "bright spot." Can't wait to see this on TV. They are airing this, right? I also can't wait to see Plush. As much as he has never been my favorite from a style perspective, he is certainly a great skater in our time, and I would imagine it must be spectacular to watch him live.
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny.
I'm sorry to hear that Michelle had ankle trouble - I hope that's nothing serious and heals quickly. It scares me to hear that her choreography may be weak relative to what's needed under COP. I'm secretly hoping that maybe she left some stuff out due to her ankle, but that's probably a stretch if she managed to get through the jumps.
Sasha, Sasha, Sasha.
I'm glad to hear Jenny Kirk looked good aside from the one mistake. I really like her skating and hope she pulls it together for nats and makes the world team. But then if she does, I'll be
if she blows it at worlds.Good for Irina!!
It's interesting to hear that some of the placements sounded questionable. While COP might not be perfect, it sure is better than 6.0 in my opinion.
Thanks again for the reports!!!
DG
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
Doggygirl said:
I've read several reports from people who were there and a couple of the competition article. Her ankle is not injured. She had to break in new boots and only started landing triples again this past Monday. People said it was clear that her boots were the problem because she didn't use a good portion of the warm-up so that Rafael could look at her boots. She was handed several tissues to deal with something related to one of her feet. Maybe it blistering?
But I would not be discouraged before seeing the program. Every other account I've read said the footwork is harder (with twizzles at the beginning of the sequence) and that she had many more variations to her spins. So clearly she thinking about the COP.
I can't wait to see Irina's skate. I'm so impressed with her. That girl's got a lot of heart.
As to the boots, I read somewhere that skaters change their boots every 3-4 months. Is that true?? To have to go through the breaking in process so often sounds like a major pain in the rear. Even though Michelle was breaking in a new pair, why couldn't she have used an old pair for the completition and comfort? Do boots go completely bad that quickly?
As to the boots, I read somewhere that skaters change their boots every 3-4 months. Is that true?? To have to go through the breaking in process so often sounds like a major pain in the rear. Even though Michelle was breaking in a new pair, why couldn't she have used an old pair for the completition and comfort? Do boots go completely bad that quickly?
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
OK, here we go, LOL.
General Observations:
1. Figure skating just must be seen live. On TV you can't see how the skaters use the ice surface or how they react to the crowd, you can't judge their speed or get a good feel for the artistic integrity of the program taken as a whole.
2. I do not see how it is possible for Evgeny Plushenko ever to lose a figure skating contest from now to the end of his life.
3. Never, never, never, take the "business loop" of a freeway, thinking it might be a shortcut.
4. Best costume award. Ladies: Irina Slutskaya, gorgeous in black-and-rhinestones. Second place, Jenny Kirk, simple elegance.
Men: Evgeny Plushenko, basic black with a splash of red at the throat.
Rusty hanger: I agree with Sk8er1964 that Brian Joubert's ship costume looks better in person than on TV. The detail is actually kind of interesting. The light-colored material on the chest really does look like a ships sails, with authentic rope rigging. I liked it, in a fifth-grade "let's do a pageant about the discovery of the new world" sort of way.
So I'll have to go with Johnny Weir's frosted blue icicle, for the RHA.
5. Pretty nice crowd. The Palace was about half full, so I would guess about 10,000 in attendance.
The men:
1. Definitely a triumph for Evan Lysacek. He hit everything (8 triples), but more than that, he carried off his Mr. Entertainment persona without a hitch for the entire four-and-a-half minutes. This is my new favorite skater (my old one is Matt Savoie).
This performance set up the excitement and drama as one skater after another, all of them bringing stronger reputations than Lysacek, tried to top him. Weir, Griazev, Jahnke, Joubert -- one by one they fell by the wayside, and there was Evan still at the top, winning a silver medal as a last minute substitute for Tim Goebel. That was really cool.
2. Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, oh! That stunk on ice.
But one thing I like about Johnny Weir, when he messes up he doesn't try to play it off behind a brave smile. (The first rule of performance skating -- when you fall down, try to pretend it's part of the act.) As Sk8er1964 remarked, when Johnny took his bow his face was saying, "Ok. Whatever."
Maria Butyrskaya was another skater who had an honest face. When she made mistakes, her face was like, "Oh brother, I messed up again."
Johnny never really got into his performance, it seemed to me.
3. Andrei Griazev. Not a good outing. One fall, several popped jumps, the flow of the program had many discontinuities. Every once in a while he would inexplicably come to a dead stop and wiggle his body up and down like a fish.
The strongest elements of his program were his moves in the field.
4. Ryan Jahke. Great music well interpreted! Good footwork and a cool 'Tano Lutz late in the program.
But he missed his landings on almost all of his jumps, which cost him in both tech and presentation. A home town boy, he was the crowd favorite.
After the intermission he came up into the stands right by where we were sitting and watched the ladies' competition with friends and family.
5. Brian Joubert. BJ, it's not too late to pitch that dog of a program and get something else in time for Worlds. To me, it seems to be without any coherent artistic center. That cutesy little Yagudin toe dancing provides nothing more than comic relief. Both for Joubert and Griazev, Coach Alexei has to learn that his students are not he.
Brian fell on his opening quad, had a shaky landing on his triple Axel, did a triple toe instead of a quad toe on his second attempt. Got 5.3s and a 5.2 for technical.
6. After the foregoing splatfest (except for Lysacek, still sitting in triumph atop the leader board at this point), mercifully, here comes THE MAN. I wonder what Evgeny Plushenko was thinking as he took the ice. Something along the lines of, "Gee, I have a chance to win $50,000 if I can just somehow manage to outskate Evan Lysacek."
He opened with a quad toe-triple toe and a 3Axel-2toe and never looked back. I thought he did another quad, but reports are that the rest were merely triples. Almost a perfect program (he doubled one jump near the end). Wonderfully original footwork, huge (partial) standing ovation, IMO Evgeny saved the competition. A man among boys. You all have a treat ahead when they broadcast this on December 12!
Exhibitions:
1. Rene Inoue is one of the prettiest ladies in skating. They did a rather standard exhibition performance to a slow bluesy song. Very charming. Highlighted by a big and beautifully landed triple throw jump.
2. Belbin and Agosto did their free dance to gypsy music. As far as I could tell it was not watered down from the competitive version. Very fast, lots of intricate steps.
I hope they show both of these exhibitions on the TV coverage. This was a nice part of the show. Both were very well received by the crowd.
I'll put my report on the ladies in the other thread.
Mathman
General Observations:
1. Figure skating just must be seen live. On TV you can't see how the skaters use the ice surface or how they react to the crowd, you can't judge their speed or get a good feel for the artistic integrity of the program taken as a whole.
2. I do not see how it is possible for Evgeny Plushenko ever to lose a figure skating contest from now to the end of his life.
3. Never, never, never, take the "business loop" of a freeway, thinking it might be a shortcut.
4. Best costume award. Ladies: Irina Slutskaya, gorgeous in black-and-rhinestones. Second place, Jenny Kirk, simple elegance.
Men: Evgeny Plushenko, basic black with a splash of red at the throat.
Rusty hanger: I agree with Sk8er1964 that Brian Joubert's ship costume looks better in person than on TV. The detail is actually kind of interesting. The light-colored material on the chest really does look like a ships sails, with authentic rope rigging. I liked it, in a fifth-grade "let's do a pageant about the discovery of the new world" sort of way.
So I'll have to go with Johnny Weir's frosted blue icicle, for the RHA.
5. Pretty nice crowd. The Palace was about half full, so I would guess about 10,000 in attendance.
The men:
1. Definitely a triumph for Evan Lysacek. He hit everything (8 triples), but more than that, he carried off his Mr. Entertainment persona without a hitch for the entire four-and-a-half minutes. This is my new favorite skater (my old one is Matt Savoie).
This performance set up the excitement and drama as one skater after another, all of them bringing stronger reputations than Lysacek, tried to top him. Weir, Griazev, Jahnke, Joubert -- one by one they fell by the wayside, and there was Evan still at the top, winning a silver medal as a last minute substitute for Tim Goebel. That was really cool.
2. Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, oh! That stunk on ice.
But one thing I like about Johnny Weir, when he messes up he doesn't try to play it off behind a brave smile. (The first rule of performance skating -- when you fall down, try to pretend it's part of the act.) As Sk8er1964 remarked, when Johnny took his bow his face was saying, "Ok. Whatever."
Maria Butyrskaya was another skater who had an honest face. When she made mistakes, her face was like, "Oh brother, I messed up again."
Johnny never really got into his performance, it seemed to me.
3. Andrei Griazev. Not a good outing. One fall, several popped jumps, the flow of the program had many discontinuities. Every once in a while he would inexplicably come to a dead stop and wiggle his body up and down like a fish.
The strongest elements of his program were his moves in the field.
4. Ryan Jahke. Great music well interpreted! Good footwork and a cool 'Tano Lutz late in the program.
But he missed his landings on almost all of his jumps, which cost him in both tech and presentation. A home town boy, he was the crowd favorite.
After the intermission he came up into the stands right by where we were sitting and watched the ladies' competition with friends and family.
5. Brian Joubert. BJ, it's not too late to pitch that dog of a program and get something else in time for Worlds. To me, it seems to be without any coherent artistic center. That cutesy little Yagudin toe dancing provides nothing more than comic relief. Both for Joubert and Griazev, Coach Alexei has to learn that his students are not he.
Brian fell on his opening quad, had a shaky landing on his triple Axel, did a triple toe instead of a quad toe on his second attempt. Got 5.3s and a 5.2 for technical.
6. After the foregoing splatfest (except for Lysacek, still sitting in triumph atop the leader board at this point), mercifully, here comes THE MAN. I wonder what Evgeny Plushenko was thinking as he took the ice. Something along the lines of, "Gee, I have a chance to win $50,000 if I can just somehow manage to outskate Evan Lysacek."
He opened with a quad toe-triple toe and a 3Axel-2toe and never looked back. I thought he did another quad, but reports are that the rest were merely triples. Almost a perfect program (he doubled one jump near the end). Wonderfully original footwork, huge (partial) standing ovation, IMO Evgeny saved the competition. A man among boys. You all have a treat ahead when they broadcast this on December 12!
Exhibitions:
1. Rene Inoue
is one of the prettiest ladies in skating. They did a rather standard exhibition performance to a slow bluesy song. Very charming. Highlighted by a big and beautifully landed triple throw jump.2. Belbin and Agosto did their free dance to gypsy music. As far as I could tell it was not watered down from the competitive version. Very fast, lots of intricate steps.
I hope they show both of these exhibitions on the TV coverage. This was a nice part of the show. Both were very well received by the crowd.
I'll put my report on the ladies in the other thread.
Mathman
Wow. Good job to Irina, she may be the favorite now to win worlds after all. I wouldn't be surprised if she does. She appears to be back. As for Kwan, don't let it be so...if the reports are true and her program really was lacking (and she has ankle problems), then the future may not bold well for her unless she actually steps up her game. Her best days may be behind her. On the contrary, looks like Irina may have her best days ahead of her. However, MK somehow manages to find that fire by nationals, and I think only then will we know where she stands (still think she's gonna win no matter what else happens). It may be interesting to see what goes down at worlds...Irina will have extra pressure on her, Kwan might be reinvigorated, and you still have Arakawa. I think one of those three will win...and that might be your top three, in any order.
Cohen- deja vu, it seems. Bad luck all season. Too bad for her. Don't see her winning anything this season...maybe even yet another 4th place finish at worlds
Cohen- deja vu, it seems. Bad luck all season. Too bad for her. Don't see her winning anything this season...maybe even yet another 4th place finish at worlds
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
Thanks sk8er1964, rena&john4gold2005, and Mathman for your reviews. It'll help pass the time until ABC airs this in 2 weeks. I look forward to reading your take on the ladies, Mathman.
insecureedge
insecureedge
Red Dog said:
I don't think her best days are behind her. There were flashes of brilliance in her program, it's just that they were too few and too far between. I understand from reading elsewhere that her final footwork is new, so that may be why it seemed so slow. IMO, she needs to take a good, long look at her in-betweens. That's what will make or break her under CoP. Her jump technique is wonderful, even without the 3/3. Her spins were decent, and she's put in some nice changes of position. Her on-ice persona is excellent. But I think those darn cross overs, the back and forths doing nothing much, have to go.
Now I'm going to wander over to the other thread to get Mathman's take on the program!
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