The Report is IN!
LADIES SHORT ( Men's will follow after I take a break)
First let me say that the this town is very difficult to get to. It's about a 45 minute drive from the nearest highway ( not Fun).
Here they are in order of appearance:
Yukari - skated to a nice soft piano piece with a white/blue dress. she landed 3axel-2toe(slight jerk), turn 3flip into 2flip, okay 2axel. Missed an opportunity to make a case for herself. I don't think she will ever be a top contender.
Currie - hand down on 3 flip, fall 3lutz, hand down on 2 axel, music was to Ravel's bolero had on a red ress. she looked very out of focus and weak
Costner - the italian hopeful was wearing a sort of gree/blue sress, skating to secret garden, had good speed, fell on the lutz, landed a good 3 loop and 2 axel. spins were okay.
Lautowa - this girls has seen better days, her prime was around 96, 97. she splatted on the Lutz, 2 flip, good 2 axel, had good footwork and skated to fever in a black dress
Bellemare - this girl could actually be a top contender if she can get a handle on the nerves. she landed a gorgeous 3 luts combo, touched down on the 3 flip and had a good 2 aexl. skated to some very boring mid-east music that at one point sounded like elvator music. She has power but lack the excitement she is capable of. wored a black dress with a pink skirt.
Vicotira - looked regal in a gold sequenced dress. she landed a wopping combo 3 lutx 2 toe, fell on the flip and had a wobble out of the 2 axel. skated to romeo and juliet "a time for us"
Arakawa - one of my favorite, she just seems to float on the ice. had great speed, skated to the Umbrellas of something, landed a good combo, step out the flip, she just doesn't reach back far enough to do it right, anyway she landed a nice 2axel had a much improve layback,if you could recall how bad it was last year. the program was skated beautiful with morozov moves in it.
Poykio - the girl with the corn rolls, had good power her body is a little stocky, landed the combo but ran into the wall, 2 flip and a good 2 axel. skated to henry 8th by saint saent, wore a red and pink dress
Maniachenko - landed a solid combo, 2 flip and okay 2 axel. skated to elton john's funeral with a hideous white wedding dress, she too will never be a top contender due to nerves.
Kirk - okay! are you ready for something awesome? she landed everything with much improve speed and power. she skated to chicago and tore the house down. her footwork was cute and clever in a serpentine pattern a departure from all the straight line footwork these days. she wore a silver style dress a la vegas style showgirl. however keep in mind she is not the favorite to win even if she skates clean ( which she needs to if she ever wants to make the world team)
Corwin - wore a black dress that looks like the one Hepburn wore for the Tiffany movie. she skated to moon river, the program was constructed well. she landed the 3-3toe combo but fell on the cheated Lutz, 2 axel was a little shaky.
Cohen - same program as last year, but footwork was change, still looks good. combo was very weak, flip was solid, 2 axel was good spins were awesome. She won!
The one thing I did not understand was the scoring. If all the girls were doing the same elements (minus a few) why were they given a different base value? Sasha had a higher starting value than all the other girls who were trying the exact same elements.
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