Short Dance NHK Friday Nov 11, 12:55 AM EST on IN

[museksk8r]

Look at the technical panel and the judges.

Tech Controller: ISR
Tech Specs: JPN, RUS
Judges: UZB, RUS, GEO, CZE, JPN, ITA, GER, CAN, USA

Again, 3 judges from former SSRs, and 1 tech from RUS, just like CoC

Seriously, give it a rest. The Shibutanis are being marked down in the SD because it simply is not a strong dance routine for them. Weaver/Poje per usual made technical mistakes that cost them and I believe they were a little over-scored here. All in all though, there is no huge controversy. :sheesh:

 

[Buttercup]

Look at the technical panel and the judges.

Tech Controller: ISR
Tech Specs: JPN, RUS
Judges: UZB, RUS, GEO, CZE, JPN, ITA, GER, CAN, USA

Again, 3 judges from former SSRs, and 1 tech from RUS, just like CoC

Yes, Georgia and Russia have had such good relations over the years, united by their fondness for nefarious skating schemes and anti-Canton politkking. Really, like others have said: give it a rest. The Shibs are not well-served by a Latin theme, and are being marked accordingly. Unless you want to argue that they deserve to be held up regardless of what they do on the ice?

I desperately want to hold a choreo intervention for the Shibs. They are lovely and their talents are being wasted with all the blah material they get from Marina.

 

[Dots]

I can't for the life of me explain how I/K scored above 60 points. It was a rather underwhelming dance. :think: She needs to work on her twizzels that for sure.

 

[wallylutz]

The SD results seem to be right based on what I saw. Not sure what the Eurosport guys' complaint is about, perhaps they have festish for sibling intimacy that was unfulfilled.

 

[yunafan1860]

It seems that, like last year, Elena & Nikita made a powerful and dark SD. At least it's what appears to me from this first outing. If so, it's an interesting way to avoid the "exciting sexy sexy" cliché of latin sd's this year.

 

[NorthernDancers]

First I watched the videos (thank you, NikaQuest!), then read all the comments, then looked at the report cards.

I think that Weaver/Poje should be in first. Except for a loss of level on the twizzles, they had a very strong dance. They absolutely should be in first place on PCS, which they are not. They deserve to be in second place on the technical side. Weaver/Poje really understand the Latin rhythm, and the presentation this week was even better than at Skate Canada. The looks and connections were much improved. These 2 are super hot! (Although I'm not a fan of her dress. I'd prefer something of similar cut, but solid colour - maybe black or hot pink - with interesting cut-outs in the body. No fringe.) They were very much the best today in capturing the flavour of the dance. They had a technical issue on twizzles. I have to think part of the problem is that Andrew is very tall. I'm sure it is harder to grab the blade and stabilize position when he has farther than most to reach? But I can see why they would try for the level, and to try to do it well, since there is such little difference between teams 3 to 6 in the world that every point counts.

Illinykh/Katsalapov skated very well today. They were also not perfect, especially on the twizzle, but were much stronger than I expected. They definitely have improved since last year. I don't think they captured the Latin feel, although there were coming closer than most. I thought they received some gifts on the PCS side, but I think they deserved their technical marks. Nikita looks a lot more confident today than last year. Elena has beautiful presence and a certain fire about her. I think it is very unfortunate that they used the same music as Virtue/Moir from last year. It will invariably lead to comparisons, and these 2 are not Virtue/Moir at this point. It really shows how good Virtue/Moir are at marrying the music and the dance. This looked Junior in comparison, when really the skating itself was pretty strong.

The Shibs. There is no question that they are good, solid technicians. They are also beautiful people, with smiles that can light up a whole arena. But I have to say that the Rumba is not for them. They skated better this week than last week technically, but it didn't look Latin at all. This is especially so when compared to the Russians who came much closer, and the Canadians who are super hot. Part of this is simply age and maturity, I think. Part of this is that these kids are really very sweet, as opposed to hot and sexy. I think they will struggle with this all season.

As for Paul/Islam, I think they would have been better served growing and developing out of the spotlight this season. I fear their reputations will be hurt by sub-par performances internationally. They are the former Junior Silver medalists. And they do not look like they are keeping pace with their counterparts of that time - Illinykh/Katsalapov, who earned the Junior Gold that year. It really shows how much the Russians have improved, but Paul/Islam have not. They are beautiful skaters with great lines and edges. But they look almost fragile, and unprepared for the season. They need to put on some weight, put on some muscle, and develop some confidence while they better prepare their programs. They are extremely talented, and it would be shame if that talent does not grow.

 

[blackswanphoto]

Looking at the way things are going, the Shibs will not even make the final flight at Worlds. I thought maybe they could finish 6th but looks more like a 7th or 8th place finish at this point. Oh how the fall has cometh.

 

[KKonas]

Have no argument with I&K in the lead. I still think he is the weaker skater of the two, but here they deserved to win.
Weaver & Poje skated this program much better at SC. They were sloppy here.
The Shibs performed much better here than at COC and their basic skating is so good I would have given them higher PCS scores for skating skills, but agree this is not the best rhythm for them. Too bad about the deduction on the lift.
Paul & Islam look like Juniors to me - seeing them live at SA I noted that they have zero power on the ice and overall look tentative on pretty much all their elements.

 

[yunafan1860]

Shibs' only problem is the music. It sounds like a cheesy disco song for a birthday party of 13 year olds. Silly waste of talent. But they're still in time. Stop paying out Zoueva for an inevitable default. change coaches, or they'll end up 8th in Sochi.

 

[wallylutz]

I have never been impressed by Paul/Islam based on what I have seen of them in actual competitions in person. Not only they are not very strong technically, this team has very little charisma, even less than Crone/Poirier who have been always been criticized as a technically strong but mismatched team. Their World Junior silver medal was a surprise to many and some in the skating world believes P/I got where they are so far a lot higher than they should because Islam's mother who is a highly respected judge within the ISU and Skate Canada. Soon or later, reality will catch on them. Thankfully, Canada is not short on good Ice Dance teams at this time.

 

[chloepoco]

Looking at the way things are going, the Shibs will not even make the final flight at Worlds. I thought maybe they could finish 6th but looks more like a 7th or 8th place finish at this point. Oh how the fall has cometh.

Reading this and all your past comments regarding the Shibutani's, you seem to have something personal against them. Did they steal your lunch money or something?

 

[skatingfan04]

Paul & Islam looked scared to me. It seemed like they just wanted to get through the program without falling. Again, I'm left wondering just how much time they lost with her injury over the summer, and whether or not she is actually 100% healed at this point. They haven't said anything about the injury themselves, but the Canadian commentators at SA said it interfered signifiicantly with their training, and they did pull out of 3 summer competitions. It must be severe, because I saw them in person last season and they were definatly not lacking speed and power then, and had much more connection and attack than they have had so far this season. They seem a lot more comfortable with the FD, so I'm hoping that goes well for them tonight. If nothing else, it could give them a confidence boost going into the national championships. Fingers crossed.

 

[pangtongfan]

Looking at the way things are going, the Shibs will not even make the final flight at Worlds. I thought maybe they could finish 6th but looks more like a 7th or 8th place finish at this point. Oh how the fall has cometh.

Yes it looks like 7th or 8th is most likely for them at Worlds this year. I dont dislike them, but I never got a few of the fanatics who thought their bronze at Worlds last year meant they were permanently entrenched in the top 3 for the remainder of their careers. It was an impressive achivements but clearly one aided by some circumstances at the time, especialy the double fall of Pechalat & Bourzat.

 

[blackswanphoto]

Shibs' only problem is the music. It sounds like a cheesy disco song for a birthday party of 13 year olds. Silly waste of talent. But they're still in time. Stop paying out Zoueva for an inevitable default. change coaches, or they'll end up 8th in Sochi.

They have to change these programs NOW! I cannot believe Marina laid such a huge goose egg with these flops of a program, yet D/W have masterpieces. I'm afraid once the Russian teams get their foot on the Shibutani's throat, they will not let up with Sochi such a short distance away. With their talent, what the Shibutani's have right now is an abomination on ice. They skated that program perfectly yet it was still marked down. The judges cannot make the message any clearer. The programs suck!

 

[pangtongfan]

Paul & Islam looked scared to me. It seemed like they just wanted to get through the program without falling. Again, I'm left wondering just how much time they lost with her injury over the summer, and whether or not she is actually 100% healed at this point. They haven't said anything about the injury themselves, but the Canadian commentators at SA said it interfered signifiicantly with their training, and they did pull out of 3 summer competitions. It must be severe, because I saw them in person last season and they were definatly not lacking speed and power then, and had much more connection and attack than they have had so far this season. They seem a lot more comfortable with the FD, so I'm hoping that goes well for them tonight. If nothing else, it could give them a confidence boost going into the national championships. Fingers crossed.

I concur with all of this.

 

[blackswanphoto]

Reading this and all your past comments regarding the Shibutani's, you seem to have something personal against them. Did they steal your lunch money or something?

Actually they are one of my favorites. I hate their programs though. The truth is the truth. No need to sugar-coat it. The programs suck!

 

[Mrs. P]

Didn't stay up this time as I am sick.

But just got caught up with the top three and I actually agree with Northern Dancers that W/P should be in first. The twizzles were messy yes, but that should have been made up in PCS scores, I do feel I/K were gifted slightly in PCS. I/K was solid, but I didn't feel they performed the Latin rhythm well.

I/K did quite well and it was a great improvement from what we saw a couple of months ago. As I said in the previous paragraph, I think they could work on the performance aspect, but the tech was pretty solid.

The Shibs placement in 3rd is correct, but I think they did quite well considering they just competed a week ago and they have been practicing in foreign rinks. They definitely are working on the performance aspect and I see the potential of them doing the whole "fun festive Latin" well, which I think works well for siblings. They still left points on the table though with two level two rhumba sequence.

I think the placements are pretty close. I/K are ahead by just under 3 points to the Shibs in third. And W/P and the Shibs are only a point apart. I think it's anyone's game in the FD.

As for who will end up in the flight at Worlds, still think it's too early to tell. But I don't think the Shibs are totally out of the running for final flight just yet.

I see that V/M, D/W and P/B for sure. B/S seems to be a sure bet given they are hitting their levels pretty well. So we have two spots left which could go to any combination of I/K, C/L, W/P and the Shibs.

I think it's good there's solid competition for the Shibs. I think if anything it will challenge them and I think that will be beneficial in the long run for Sochi and for the PyeongChang in 2018.

 

[Mrs. P]

Also random note: It was fun to see Ross and Armin in the stands! Aren't Ross and Alex good friends (I seem to remember that they were close when the Shibs lived on the East Coast)?

And I found this: http://figureskatingconfessions.tumblr.com/post/12419867204 (Cute.)

 

[chloepoco]

Also random note: It was fun to see Ross and Armin in the stands! Aren't Ross and Alex good friends (I seem to remember that they were close when the Shibs lived on the East Coast)?

And I found this: http://figureskatingconfessions.tumblr.com/post/12419867204 (Cute.)

Beautiful photo! Maia looks so pretty!! Love it!!!!

 

[yunafan1860]

The two kids have already showed their sublime technique or whatever. We don't need to be convinced further. Because of the lucky bronze last year they found themselves under the spotlight therefore this was the year of the step forward, they should have started showing the maturity and versatility that their older competitors have. Not living up to the hype at this stage is bad for their reputation. Elena & Nikita will surpass them as the young couple on the ride for Sochi, as the judges don't care for the Shibs' skating anymore.
Weaver and Poje are admirable for the inspiration they're putting in. They are believing in the World bronze and it shows. If they'll be clean, hopefully the judges will give the darn thing to them, at last.