I'm already aware that their rumba pattern doesn't cover the ice with the power and speed of Virtue and Moir - but whose does, and their rumba pattern still does show power and speed. They're skating closer together with even cleaner unison than before. I'm just choking on the necessity of pointing out once again that P/C suck and yet on fan forums and in the judges' scoring will be proclaimed technically superior as well as the better performers.
I hate hate hate hate the rest stop in the step sequence, no matter how brilliantly Virtue and Moir manage it (with nobody noticing). Look how Tessa arrests her momentum on a dime and nails that attitude pose every time. They figure out how to brilliant it up so they don't lower themselves to the level of pathetic, but how much dumber is ice dance going to get?
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| Look ma, no hands (very nearly). A 2-footed stationery lift I can get behind. |
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| I mean, every BIT as difficult as what we've seen from the other tops teams. Perhaps even more because of the "magic"./s* |
Lord have mercy I think Gilles & Poirier's short is better than Papadakis & Cizeron's. And theirs isn't great.
You know what was the funnies thing in the competition?
ReplyDeleteStepanova and Bukin scoring 3 points lower than Shibs and getting more points for twizzles.
Margot
Agreed.
DeleteAs much as I can live with kinda ludicrous score of B/S - ok, it was in Russia, hence inflation, plus they are actually good skaters, or at least hard-working and have definitely the best technique of all the Russian ice dancers, and they all in all finished 2nd - I can't, simply can't, with S/B score.
DeleteNot only are they light years from Shibs, they are even extremely far from B/S, in terms of basically everything. Stepanova can't skate. Her partner is much more talented BUT they are not developing. Anyhow. Their technique is hardly existing. Come on, Gilles / Poirier are at least fun to watch and good performers while these two are simply juniorish.
Why on Earth aren't they on a par with whoever was behind Parsons siblings? Cause Parsons, and even G/F outdo them in everything.
And judges wanted to tell us that they are almost as good as Shibs. Good joke, judges.
As for twizzles. Few years ago, their "famous twizzles" were regarded as sit spins. Since then, they've changed NOTHING. Nothing. They've just waited until judges would start to appreciate such an innovative element. And judges did start to appreciate them! They got 3s yesterday! Miracle!
You know, some judges may be convinced that during low season skaters' technique might have leapt forward from a 14th place to the world title and others may believe that an element which have not been changed at all is actually better.
Shibs have best twizzles in the field: ice coverage, speed, matching with the music, number of rotations, it's all simply unbelievable. While S/B twizzles aren't even mediocre, some of much lower rated pairs have way better twizzles.
And, take a look at their straight line lift :) looks familiar, no?
Sorry, I just needed to get that of my chest. Imagine P/C and S/B fighting for gold medal next season... Gosh, please, no.
Regards,
Margot
Well, again I agree with you. Gilles Poirier are my guilty pleasure. I agree with every criticism of their programs, but as much as so many teams are said to "sell" their programs, most of the time I think the teams who are said to do that, don't. They may project a lot of confidence, but I think that Davis White, for all their demeanor of self-assurance, were unconvincing in absolutely everything they did, I don't care what it was. Gilles Poirier are good actors on the ice, and the stuff they do is phrased effectively. These are terms that don't have much to do with skating but do have to do with "direction" and "performance". (I guess by direction I mean coaching and the non-tech part of choreography. I think Gilles Poirier's programs are usually effective, and while Paul Poirier is the better skater, Piper has become the better "performer" IMO. So I get a kick out of their stuff, but I'd never argue for better scores or higher placement unless they came in behind absolute shit.
DeleteI agree about B/S. I did a post making fun of them a few years ago. The number of times their skates went bananas and cut divots in the ice, all the inadvertant times their blades popped clear off the ice or they stubbed a toe pick. But they are, by God, skating their programs. It may be messy and a hodge podge, but it's better than non-skating pablum bullshit with a lot of upper body bogus-ity. B/S also used to have bizarre posture - tenting their upper bodies towards each other while their butts were jutting out in different zip coes. They've improved that as well.
They weren't on my radar, so I just watched Stepanova and Bukin's free. I agree about the twizzles - the sit spins especially. Stepanovas first twizzle is more spin that twizzle - twizzles are supposed to travel. I can't be too fussed about them, this is a crap result with Russia trying to set its teams up for a podium result, or for the next cycle. Fingers crossed it's all lost by the GPF.
I certainly hope the Shibs stick around to 2022. What a screw job they've had. They were pushed down so as not to be seen in the same league as Davis White. They were so much better than Davis White, they needed to be scored more than ten points behind, the kind of audacious bullshit meant to demoralize the observant. They had nothing to trade in the political shenanigans of the past two cycles. They were an inconvenience vis a vis Davis White, and once the Americans were awarded their stolen gold, a better set of Americans were passed over because they didn't fit anywhere into the algorithm of the international Federations agreed-upon quid pro quo. I think the only reason they rose two seasons ago was the popular appeal of Fix You.
Shibs SD is better than PC but their FD is an snooze fest and the cut of the music is really bad.
ReplyDeleteTheir fd is beautiful. The transitions between elements are even lighter, more seamless, more controlled, more seemingly effortless.
DeleteP.S. I really really wish that anyone who comments here would not use terms like "Snoozefest" and would also not first address freaking music cuts. There is enough of that irrelevant shit on the skating forums. These are the least important aspects of any elite figure skating program, no matter what the discipline. Address the skating.
DeleteTheir sd is better than pc of course. But the fd is a missed opportunity. The lifts are awkward and nothing interesting. The music could be better. Their free dance of last two seasons was better
ReplyDeleteSpecifically what is awkward and uninteresting about the straight line lift, and would you link or cite an example of a lift you consider strong, and why you think it's strong? I.e., the skating skills it requires to execute that the Shibutanis are not demonstrating?
DeleteP.S., if you'd use an example that is not Virtue and Moir - nobody is going to be as good as they are.
DeleteI just hate all lifts in which the woman is crawling over the man's back. it looks like she's rolling off his back in the SD above. It's just ugly. I think the FD is better than PC of course but I dont think theyre FD is better this year than last. miss opptny in sense nothign new. theyre lifts are fine just underwhelming is all im saying. we are faulting PC for recycling their FD for last two seasons but so is Shibs. I like the Shibs SD but for that lift where Maia looks like she's falling off Alex's shoulder. The straight line I like despite the weird stop.
DeleteShe's not crawling on his back though. Look at the mechanics, look at her core, follow the movement trajectory. She's not plopping herself there a la Davis White.
DeletePlease look at the Shibs SKATING. Virtue and Moir can skate anything. The Shibs are doing a great latin in the SD and a lyrical in the fd. Lyrical is a strength of theirs, why shouldn't they do that program as long as their skating is progressing? It's not about showing off the different music styles you can choose. I say choose, versus skate to, because D/W chose a lot of different music styles for various long programs and yet their skating was identical in each program. I think you are focusing on the wrong things.
I think their SD is great. I think the stop is dumb for VM included and it's noticeable. I think Fix You and last year's FD is better. My point is this is olympic season their FD should be demonstrably better than Fix you. and it's not. the lifts are not more interesting. I know she uses core strength in lift above but it doesnt look good.
Deleteof course this is LIGHT YEARS better than that crap PC is doing. Honestly I miss pechalat. their lifts were great, in league almost with VM.
I don't like the stop in no touch step sequence either. That is one of my favourite elements in the SD. At first I thought it must be mandatory this season, but no, it is optional. V/M are the only ones who make it look good so far, but I don't like it and most teams are opting to have the stop.
ReplyDeleteI still want to know why, since P/C's dumbed down lifts get high GOE and qualify for L4, other teams aren't also doing junior elements and calling it a day. Why are other teams striving for greater "actual" difficulty when Gabriel can just hop onto Guillaume's knees, sit back, stick out an arm and get +3, or she can literally climb him like a ladder while he gives her a leg up a la a trainer hoisting a jockey on a racehorse, and proceeds to travel on two wobbly feet while she's in the most naturally stable position en route, facing him? They do it and get stratospheric scores, so why are other teams actually trying? Why don't they do the same elementary elements?
DeleteThe other teams KNOW. Just as Marina Zoueva used to speak of the double standard facing Virtue Moir - they had to beat themselves, not the other teams, to win a competition over other teams, there is a double standard for P/C that allows them to skate stupid to a degree that would depress the scores of any other team that tried the same thing.
It would be interesting for a team to actually dumb down their elements and see what happens....will they still get the level 4 à la P/C? I am really getting sick of this political bullsh*t. My favourite discipline is being destroyed by corruption that is even worse than it used to be.
DeleteI have to say I'm glad Scott got a haircut. I really enjoyed watching the video of them from practice today. They have such sharp skating skills. It seems as second nature to them or effortless.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you watch some of the other "top" teams struggle through their routines.
i think some of the comments re the blue dress are right. you can see tessas hand movements which are just amazing esp in the FD.
ReplyDeletethoughts on weaver poje recycling je suis malade? weird
are the step sequences in moulin rouge on par with their carmen?
regardless the difference between VM and the other teams is stunning.
I can't believe it! I watched yesterday's FD practice and it's already better! I thought it would take a little longer but they already polished lots of things. It must be little things because I can't pinpoint it. All I know is it's smoother somehow.
ReplyDeleteThey are amazing!
A.