(will mention GPF but no spoilers)Mathman said:Plushenko said that he didn't really regard the Grand Prix final as a major competition this year and didn't much care about whether he went to Beijing or not. This was in contrast to previous years where he approached it as a mini-worlds.
Mathman
I found that odd (I read that article too and it was quoted and all so I'm sure he said), but I found it odd because just a couple of days prior GPF he said that he take every competition seriously because everyone expect of him to show his best level at every single competition. During the GPF he said that this was more personal because Joubert and Sandhu were here (because both of them defeated last season). When that quote was posted at FSU, some people took it as it was Plush's response to Pissiev for the AOI problem, I don't know.
The other day, I think during CoR, the commentator mentioned that Shizuka might be starting to feel the pressure of being the World Champ, maybe that is the case, I don't think Shizuka expected to win Worlds considering she hardly made the team, so maybe she dind't know the expectation that were going to be ask for her part. That and her boot, training and illness problem might have affected her for her GP performances.
All and all, barring disaster I would say Plush and N&K are a lock of gold. Irina is a favorite for sure since she is the one who has shown consistency all year long and Worlds would be in Moscow, however her marks and Shizuka's one have not been that apart and Shizuka has not been clean yet, so who knows?
As for the pairs, don't know how the fact that Worlds would be in Russia would play for T&M against S&Z. Some skaters really skate their best when they are at home and CoP have really shown high marks when it comes to home skaters.