U.S. Nationals - Ladies Short Program - LIVE!!!!!!! with PBP

[Ptichka]

I agree with Dick & Peggy that Sasha was good, but not brilliant. That program can really make her light up, and that did not happen.

As to Emily vs. BeBe. I think the "wuz rubbed" sentiment in this case is rather a throwback to the old 6.0 system, where judges actually had to decide which skater was better. In this case, though, BeBe scored 0.25 higher than Emily on the elements. BeBe's components score was indeed rather low - in fact that alone would have placed her in fifth (patrially due to very high components score that Alissa got - in my opinion deservedly so). But actually Emily, Bebe, and Kimmie were essentially tied on the second mark.

 

[FreeKatie]

I thought Emily was great - such enthusiasm, I give extra points for that. How did Alissa finish so high? she was terrible, sorry!! After seeing the short programs I think MK will definitely be on the Olympic team, Alissa and Kimmie just didn't look ready. Bebe was good, but she is inconsistent. Right now, unless Kimmie shows me something spectacular in the long, my team would be Sasha, MK, Emily.

 

[show 42]

fully heathly and well-trained Kwan would have won easily, IMHO -- no contest. The Michelle we saw at Marshall's would have finished about 10th.

Mathman, considering how Alissa skated and where she was placed, Michelle could have ended up third with her "Marshall's" skate...... 42

 

[show 42]

I thought Emily was great - such enthusiasm, I give extra points for that. How did Alissa finish so high? she was terrible, sorry!! After seeing the short programs I think MK will definitely be on the Olympic team, Alissa and Kimmie just didn't look ready. Bebe was good, but she is inconsistent. Right now, unless Kimmie shows me something spectacular in the long, my team would be Sasha, MK, Emily.

I agree, Katie...............42

 

[Panther2000]

I promised I was going to keep my mouth shut, but...

I think Emily Hughes has a beautiful style of skating and one that is full of rhythm and dance skills. It's just an athletic, aggressive style that uses a quality of abandon rather than control, which to some or even many might seem rough.

As a former dancer , Yeah rough & out of control & chopy is just the way I would describe it. As for rhythm( it's not there)being able to do a few moves doesn't mean you have dance skills.

I like the way Emily skates

She is much better than Sarah. She has a much better back than her sister.

To me it's like BeBe is more "balletic," speaking broadly, and Emily is more "modern."

that I can agree with.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

Mathman, considering how Alissa skated and where she was placed, Michelle could have ended up third with her "Marshall's" skate...... 42

:yes:

 

[Dee4707]

I'm sorry but I've never really enjoyed Sasha's gumby moves at all.

Realistic51, I've heard the comment about gumby moves before and I don't understand what is meant by it. Can you tell me???

Dee

 

[Piel]

Dee, Gumby moves refers to Sasha's extreme flexibility.

 

[Dee4707]

Dee, Gumby moves refers to Sasha's extreme flexibility.

Thanks Piel, now I understand. I am not a very worldly person.

Dee

 

[dlkksk8fan]

If I saw one more bad Biellman I was going to Biell-hurl.

Rgirl-you and Dick Button, he hated all the catch foot moves. I don't blame him.

 

[FreeKatie]

Rgirl-you and Dick Button, he hated all the catch foot moves. I don't blame him.

I agree with them. Skating is beginning to look like gymnastics - all the skaters doing the same moves to try to get bonus points or whatever... blech! and yawn!

 

[Johar]

I liked Stephanie Rosenthal's program!

 

[dwiggin3]

Okay, her hear are my thoughts since I KNOW you are all dying to hear them LOL

FreeKatie - you're right about skating looking like gymnastics. Why don't the skaters just all skate to the same music and program and then we'll compare!....

Someone in an above thread said if they saw another beillman, they'd hurl. I so agree. I'm not entirely certain it’s even a pretty spin when done correctly, so it’s certainly not pretty when week. I wish these girls would stop doing them. I can’t imagine what it’s doing to their back/hips. I just LOOKS painful. My thought is that if you can’t do the element correctly and it doesn’t look good, you shouldn’t do it. JMO

Oh, did anyone else notice a number of skaters trying the broken-leg sit spin - and NOT getting much of a "broken-leg"? It was really distracting...more distracting than a bad layback. Lots of skaters were trying for more difficult sit spin positions and they looked so labored and unflattering. Like I said, if you can’t do it right……:yes:

A lot of the spiral sequences were *really* week. I mean, really week. All this beilman like positions and Y positions that don't work. Hmmm...COP is really crapping up the spins and spirals....I think a beautiful Ina Bauer or Spread Eagle segment is MUCH more pretty and difficult than these Nancy Kerrigan-hold-up-the-leg-by-the-knee-cause-I-can't-hold-it-myself spirals.

I’ve decided that COP is really messing up things. I know, I’m a bit late in acknowledging this. It does have its good points, but it seems that all we see with the men and ladies are the same spin positions, same footwork, same spirals ect – and it’s not because they may or may not be a required element. It’s just that the powers that be have decided that a certain position, step etc. is valued so greatly, that everyone rushes out to copy it to get the points. There is absolutely NO creativity in that. So many of the skaters look like they’re skating the same programs….How sad.

As far as placements....I agree that Sasha should be in first. She was week, tentative and lacked spark and speed, but I would believe that it’s more from being tired/week from the flu than nerves. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve watched her for so long and have seen her skate when she is a head-case and you can see it in her skating. I didn’t see the nerves in her skating so much as I saw a sick lady trying to hold it together. I’m not much of a Cohen fan, but I’m glad she stuck it out.

I liked Hughes a lot...yeah, she was scratchy and her style is very different than Bebe. But she has this look about her that just captivates me and somehow makes me forget about some of her lesser developed skills. I also think she is really a very pretty girl - love the eyes and smile. Oddly enough, her sister did that for me too. Neither of the Hughes girls were ever my favorite skaters, but both have the ability to really capture you when they skate well. But then again, when they were off, they were really off.

Bebe - I'm SO HAPPY she skated well. Ken C was so happy too - he was crying. (How cute!). I like Bebe a lot, perhaps because I can identify with being a really great skater practice, but having trouble putting it out there during the competition.

I think that the scoring/placement of Emily/Bebe two came down to personal preference...for me, if its going to be a dual between those two for the last Olympic spot, I'd have to say lets see what the LP has for us....both girls have the goods to make the team, but both have had some really bad skates and have been known to unravel under pressure. If I HAD to pick a person now (between Emily and Bebe) I’d say send Bebe, but my heart is still set in Alissa making it.

Alissa - Oh, my heart broke for her! Her coach seemed very happy with her placement given her skating. I think it was nerves. However, didn't DoggyGirl say that Alissa was NOT at the last official practice before the SP? I wonder if she came to ST.L late and perhaps that contributed to it.

Kimmie - I was so under impressed. I don’t get the hype on her. She seems to have a nice personality, but I don’t see much there. Am I the only one?

For me, I think the 3rd spot on the team is up for grabs between Emily, Bebe and Alissa (she needs to skate great and get some help from others).

The rest of the skaters seems like they all looked and skated the same. Very few skaters had anything unique about them. There's this crop of new Sr.'s (new in terms of say, 1-2 years at the Sr. level) that have these tiny bodies with no signs of maturation. It's as if they are still girls - not women or ladies. They all seem to have similar skating styles, jumping styles, wear their hair the same, have the same basic costume etc. I'm just so under impressed with them. Kimmie, Katy, Danielle, Christine and Jane look the same to me. The only ones that seemed unique were Amy Evidentee, Amber Corwin, Anna Madorsky and Stephanie Roth. Perhaps it was because these are ladies, not girls. The other girls I either didn't see or they were unmemorable (some of these ladies I mentioned were not shown, but I've seen them before.

As a general rule of thumb, I really don’t think the US team is as deep as many think. Aside from Cohen and Kwan, the only ones I see having any international success on the Sr. level are Alissa, Emily, Kimmie (only because of that 3A) and Bebe. Everyone else reminds me of any of the countless strong Jr. skaters that never could make the transition to Sr.’s well.

Darby

 

[VINLUVSKWAN]

To Sailor Galaxia, re: Hughes and Cohen's SP's

Emily and Sasha both did similar jump elements, 3 flip, 3lutz/2toe, and 2 axel. Neither attempted a 3loop (which I gather is what you meant by 3r).

 

[Rgirl]

Okay, I'm a doofus, but can somebody please post the link for the results of Nationals so far?

I've been stumbling around the USFSA site for about 30 minutes and obviously am not getting anywhere.:scratch:

Thanks.

Rgirl

 

[show 42]

Try this, RGirl.......

http://www.usfigureskating.org/live_event_results.asp?type=senior&id=32524

 

[Mathman]

I don't think they have put up the detailed judges' score sheets yet. Here is a summary showing just the total scores and placements for each event.

http://stlouis2006.usfigureskating.org/Home/Results.aspx

 

[bethissoawesome]

aside from skating, i felt like i was watching the ethiopian nationals at times. seriously, someone needs to feed some of those young girls (like kimmie and even sasha) a big mac.... or two, or three.

even though i don't particularly like emily, at least it was like watching a lady skate, not a stick figure.

 

[mzheng]

Man, that audience shot of Angela Nikodinov had to be the saddest moment in the history of skating on television. She looked so forlorn. Why wasn't somebody there to hug her?​

It was heart breaking moment to see her there. My daughter said she looked so sad, she felt sory for her.

 

[mzheng]

Sasha wasn't wonderful, good but not wonderufl. But agree about Bebe, but, she is so up & down with her skating the judges aren't giving her the benefit of the doubt. & I do think that Emily is getting a bit of a gift for family relations. But, I agree also that the hughes period are chopper skaters. they aren't smooth. It is herky Jerky & choppy. Rough is more like it. They aren't graceful & lack real rythm(sp) & dancing skills& it shows, in their skating.

But, Bebe should be in second.

ITA.

I just don't like Emily's skating. She tried way too hard to potraite a 'powerful' skater, ends up looked so choppy and sloppy. The spiral, though edge was good, free leg was high, but had no upper body strenghth she had to lower her body to lift her leg, kind like IS's old day's spiral. And morever her facial expression way too exaggerated to express 'powerful'.