I just did an entire Skating Skills post using canadablue/waltzflower's great videos, and the embed codes didn't work. I think because the videos are private - that nullifies the embed when you go live.

I'm downloading the first one now and will upload when it and the DW one are done and switch those out for the embed code IF the files aren't too big for blogger, and it's entirely possible the files are too big for blogger. I will persevere because the title cards alone are important. And worth a stand alone post.

Meantime, some Dancing With the Stars observations and remarks:

Here is Couple 1. I feel like they go together like ice cream and bacon. They're a complete WTF to me. Maybe because Maks is sort of a babyish, overbearing douche who works a Teddy Bear act underneath, and he tends to need some personality with him in the room, and I'm not sure he's got that here.

If I didn't feel that DWTs has used "M&M" to death already, I'd figure that would be this team's un-portmanteau. In terms of the styling, I will go out on a limb and say I think DWTS is going in the right direction and thus far doing a better job than whoever styled Meryl for ice dance. It helps that she's wearing super high heels to lengthen the leg line (which, granted, was not possible in ice dance), and the heels and spray tan help make her legs seem curvy (yes, the knees jut out, but at least there's some contour to combat it). Then they shirred the shit out of the dress, to create some curve and soften the angles and sharp corners. Fluff the hell out of the hair and, IMO, where figure skating always went in the wrong direction, and DWTs is going in the right direction - go monochromatic with her make-up, not high contrast with it. We want to keep things easygoing, not startle people.

On the dancing side, is he going to be holding her up the entire time, because here it sort of looks like it. She's in a pose and he's got her braced. How familiar.

Wow, you can see this guy's a dance champ in every inch up there. The detail. The alignment. The energy extending to his fingertips. The open chest and shoulders and the stretch throughout his body.

Going by these photos there's going to be as much clutching on the dance floor as there was on the ice.

I'm interested because it's another way to deconstruct DW's smoke and mirrors. They skated in two dimensions. Derek Hough is a genius at dancing in two dimensions, but I don't know if the pro partners tasked with Meryl and Charlie have the knack.

I've done a little scanning around the web, including TWoP (www.televisionwithoutpity.com), and I don't think the DW fandom is going to split their votes. They're going to leave Charlie to his own devices.

Finally, I hope Meryl/Maks and Charlie/Sharma will be allowed to find their way without constantly battling the shadow of this cut-with-a-knife chemistry and soul-to-soul connection:

Because this was seventeen years in the making.*

They should be allowed to make their own mark.

____________
*What kills me in the gif isn't even the eyes. It's the whole face, including the kill me now mouth. That's not about equilibrium.

Roadblock

This is just a blog issue.

While setting up the skating post, I ran into this when using the dailymotion links to waltzflower and canadablue's videos:

"oycanada" did and was logged in, btw, and re-logged in, only to loop back to this page when the URL was pasted into the browser.

If anyone knows of a workaround or other tip, it would be appreciated.

I'm leading up to a bigger point, but let's review. In the reality show, we got this:

OMG OMG MY HALL & OATES T-SHIRT!!!!!

True believers Tessa and Kate worship at the Church of Hall & Oates.

Then after the Olympics, it was this:

Hey Tessa - favorite music?:

"OMG, this is so embarrassing. I don't even
know the answer to that right now."

Scott: "Hall and Oates"?
Tessa: "What am I into?"

Besides her blowing past Hall & Oates, why is she asking him what she's into? How the hell would he know?

After all:

We keep our lives separate, separate separately.
We are very different people. Totally.
Separate people. Who live separately.

They don't even know how much
they're going to miss each other
when this is all over and they go their
separate ways even more than they go
their separate ways now.
"May I hef nuh glash chrdnny."*

"Dancing" with the ... Stars

Sharna Burgess, Charlie White, Meryl Davis, Maksim Chmerkovsky

I used to be an avid viewer of Dancing with the Stars, although in recent seasons, not so much. I don't think I've ever seen Sharna Burgess in action.

I've certainly seen Maksim Chmerkovskiy before, and no doubt he thinks he has a ringer.

Normally I'd say, boy is he in for a surprise, but the tricks available to Davis White that helped them pull off the gold medal heist at Sochi are available a hundred fold to Maksim C. Meryl has stamina, she's more than accustomed to performing under pressure live, and she's used to fake dancing, which is something they do a great deal on DWTs. I'm thinking Maksim C might be surprised at just how much faking will be required to pull this off. He doesn't really have a dancer here. He's also kind of bad at what he does. His taste in costumes and make-up for his partner trends toward the drag queen and his choreography can lean to the literal and labored. He's not often been successful in drilling rhythm and musicality into his partner. He's best with partners who have natural rhythm. But this is DWTS; if the pros have a partner who know how to train and perform by rote, that's can be as good as doing it, and Meryl Davies certainly has experience there.

For Charlie, clearly some of this is right up his alley - he can skip all over the stage in quickstep with his hair and tails flying. I'm interested in is the rumba and other romantic dances, to see if the problem in the past was Charlie couldn't relate, while moving, to Meryl - or couldn't relate, period.

I'm kind of surprised at the repeat of the "direct from the rink to DWTS" move here, as it didn't seem to work especially well boosting Evan Lysacek's celebrity profile even though he did well.

Over on another message board somebody objected to the idea that Charlie and Tanith hid or downplayed their relationship during the past season, seeing as how Tanith was right there in the stands talking to Charlie's folks. Yes, because being in the stands at the arena so fans can see you is the exact same thing as being on twitter or talking it up in your nationally syndicated interviews. Charlie and Tanith weren't hiding. They were keeping it out of the spotlight while amping up the spotlight on Davis White.

P.S. - I want to add this about Dancing with the Stars.  DW spent almost two years spinning a new narrative that they shared chemistry "you could cut with a knife". Charlie's own girlfriend hyped up their "soul-to-soul" connection. What that shit had to do with ice dance nobody said, but they wanted to cover every base.

My speculation is that Meryl and Charlie fans are fans of the duo, and what they see as the dynamic between the duo.  But after all this bullshit the past two years, Meryl and Charlie exit Sochi and immediately sign up with DWTs where they're each paired with sexy, glamorous other partners and are going to compete against each other instead of dancing with each other.

I love Virtue and Moir. They actually dance. Because of that, I confess I might be curious to see how Tessa danced with a DWTs pro, because she's exactly on their level, she's as much a professional dancer as they are - she really is. I'd kind of like to see Maks try to teach her and learn she's better at everything than he is, including choreography.

And I'd be interested to see if Scott were able to adapt to a partner who wasn't Tessa - looking into their eyes, for example, seems as if it would be a challenge. Also, Tessa is the one who disciplines his frame, at least in pattern dances.

So I'd be curious, but maybe not eight weeks worth of curious. Maybe one dance worth of curious. I want to see them dance together, not dance with other people. I'm a fan of the team.

I wonder how excited DW fans actually are that their first project subverts the entire narrative of the Olympics and hooks them up with other people, pitting them against each other. We're talking contemporary dance with other people (which is lyrical, romantic, emotive, story driven - Charlie drew the DW assignment), the rumba (which ain't the ice dance rumba pattern but a slowed down cha cha rhythm that's colloquially considered the bedroom dance) and all kinds of romantic stuff done vis a vis someone besides each other. How much does this venture really thrill their fans?

If DWTs plays to form, Meryl and Charlie will finish the premiere with identical scores.

Oops. Scott: "A big part of our - my life now and Tessa and I's career is to give ...."

Let's just overlook the grammar and be grateful the two are keeping up their friendship after Sochi. I bet him and Tessa will find themselves giving back in all kinds of ways.

Also, this:

new photos of Scott and Tessa

Beautiful "new" (to us) photos of Scott and Tessa by their official portraitist Myra Klarman, who, in her preview of this photo set, goes on quite a bit to tell us she has no idea what the future holds for these two, reminisces about the first time she was contacted to photograph them in 2008, and is a bit vague about something to do with not photographing real couples, but then shares a  link that apparently explains how her silly ideas were cleared up back then (didn't click on it but my guess it's to that odd New York Times article), and then says one reason she delayed publishing the latest photos was she didn't want her relationship to Scott and Tessa to end, nor did she want the relationship BETWEEN Scott and Tessa to end (although what bearing her photographing them or not would have on that last, I have no idea) ... all just as if Myra Klarman has never in her life taken a portrait of Infant, Baby, Toddler, or Little Moir. Why Klarman has decided to natter on in this vein this time when she's never stooped before is a mystery, but depressing.

Klarman says she took these photos in September.

For some reason this photo shoot didn't make the reality show. I thought those cameras followed them everywhere.

I'm encountering a few glitches downloading/playing waltzflower's videos, so in the meanwhile, I wanted to highlight the blog with this link to its current article:

Davis White hijacked to gold

it features this quote from fsu:

"D&W OTOH can do some fast tricks and have quite a lot of stamina. They never hold an edge long enough and she has never straightened her free leg in her career, so they cannot show any lines. Therefore they need programs in which they run around the ice like headless chickens, too fast for us to notice all that toe-pushing, free-foot dragging and the rest of the mess. At the end of the program we are completely breathless, don't know what has hit us and decide that it must have been quite something. JMHO of course."

 and the figure skating analysis itself notices this:

it seems the judges are marking them with a different set of starting base with their GOEs. As long as they did them they start with +2s. As an example, for their straight line lift this year I still fail to see how it is better than P/B and V/M (from Carmen). Yet they have received better marks and GOEs even with Meryl's leg oscillating and Charlie's skates wobbling to maintain balance just because it's Davis and White doing it.

 and this

Meryl and Charlie have a solid PCS cushion regardless of what they do on the ice even when they were not the best in any of the PCS criteria listed above. Not to mention, they always receive credits even with poorly executed technical elements like those un-synced twizzles.

 and a great quote from a friend of that blog's, requoted in part here:

Incorrect skating technique is not a style choice. Ignoring clear technical errors is not a style choice; it's ignoring the damned rules! Coming down on a flat instead of an edge when you're supposed to be on an edge isn't a style choice. It's a mistake. Doing 5 revolutions when the rulebook says 6 are required for a feature to count for levels is not a style choice. Side-stepping, toe-picking and hopping is not a style choice when it comes to properly getting yourself down the ice. Rocking on your blades in a lift is not a style choice! Bad skating is not a style choice, it's bad skating."

If the wrong edge is a style choice, why do the judges mark down other skaters for a wrong edge? It's just their style of the day!

Of course this ignores the times judges have marked down skaters when they were on the correct edge.

Again, the media is as invested in the corruption of figure skating as the ISU. The only corruption the media will pretend exists is if a perceived "friend of N.A." loses to a Russian. If you're Russian, you are always suspect. Suddenly there are leaks everywhere. If you're N.A. and dirty deals are happening, everybody, including the figure skating media, conspires to shut down discussion.

BTW, I don't know the big deal about Shawn Rettstatt, and why he's he who must not be named, or people speculate the problem is he'd sue. The guy grossly lowballed Tessa and Scott at every competition where he was on the panel or he did not. That would have to come out in any lawsuit, no? Seems he'd be the one in the hot seat in a libel suit.

I don't think lawsuits are the problem. I think he's connected and powerful inside the ISU/USFSA and any mere member of the media or commentariat who runs afoul of him would find themselves in Siberia, so would any coach training elite level skaters in the USA. THAT's the problem. It's not legal. It's political.

The figure skating analysis blog is very funny and VERY specific. With that blog, and with discussions that have sprung up elsewhere on major skating boards, there is absolutely NO excuse for anyone in the media to carry on with the pretense that they don't really understand technique. Right, Steve Milton, Christine Brennan, E.M. Swift, Rosie DiManno, Phil Hersch, Lynn Rutherford, Dave Leese (I think DL pretends he does understand skating, but based on everything he's ever said, he doesn't.)?

Of course, it's uncomfortable to know technique because then you have to report how people are skating instead of reporting spin. You end up in that squirm-making position Tracy Wilson has occupied all season. It becomes reporter/subject and not cozy buddies elbowing up to the bar and gossiping their faces off until it's time to file whatever you've pulled out your hind end. You're all friends! Groupies don't rock the boat with the famous.

Technique is observable. You can read the figure skating analysis blog, go to the video and see immediately that what the blog says is true. You can go to the rulebook and see that based on what DW do on the ice, they don't deserve the scores they received, let alone Olympic gold.

The information is there. The media refuses to acknowledge it. It's too good a gig - money for nothing.

This Thing of Ours

Two of these things are not like the other three.

BTW - I am going to put up waltzflower's video(s) later tonight or tomorrow.

This post, though, looks once more at the secrecy with which figure skating operates, not just behind the judges' panel but within the organization itself. And more than secrecy, the vague. And how this vague is accepted not just within the sport, but by the media that covers the sport, that legitimizes figure skating as a sport.

Law enforcement and the media call traditionally structured crime organizations of Italian origin the "mafia," or "national crime syndicate," but these organizations historically called themselves "cosa nostra" - "our thing".

I've also been thinking about David Dore:

David Dore is the ISU vice president. He's a figure skater. The ISU president, Ottavia Cinquanta, is a speed skater. Cinquanta doesn't know figure skating, nor know, from what takes place on the ice, if a figure skating event is judged fairly or unfairly. Cinquanta's more like Lynn Rutherford: "The protocols did the same thing before, which means the protocols this time are fair. So shut up."

Dore does know figure skating. I think he's more influential about how figure skating is judged on a grass roots, skater-by-skater basis, than Cinquanta.

About Dore, wikipedia says (yes, I know, but one must start somewhere), first, that he was a Canadian skater, then an international skating judge (seven World championships and the 1984 Olympics), then in 1972 he was "a director" of the Canadian Figure Skating Association (now Skate Canada) and then its president from 1980-1984. He's got a long long long history with Skate Canada.

From wikepedia:

"Dore was at times a controversial leader, known for promoting policies whereby CFSA's national team athletes and coaches were expected to work directly under the control of the central organization. He has also been criticized for failing to support Canadian judge Jean Senft when she acquired evidence of judging corruption at the 1998 Winter Olympics."

"Dore resigned from his paid position at Skate Canada in early 2002 in order to become eligible for an elected position with the ISU. He was elected the Vice President for figure skating at the 2002 ISU Congress and was re-elected in 2006. He has become known as a strong supporter of Ottavio ("Speedy") Cinquanta's policies, such as the adoption of the ISU Judging System and keeping the identity of figure skating judges secret."

I know many people are more familiar with the ISU structure and history than I am, but it's not as if the ISU makes it a simple matter of search and click to get the lowdown on who's who, how it's structured, and who the players are below the very top. For instance, it's easy to find the ISU president, not so easily members of the governing councils. There's more transparency in the actual cosa nostra, actually. Just google. With the ISU, not so, especially when it comes to what the skaters "hear" and who decides what it is skaters should "hear". The who, what, when, where, why and how about that is impenetrable.

This somewhat older article (2012):

Lame Duck

mentions that at the time the article was written, Cinquanta is a lame duck, and that, while Dore is his logical successor, Dore is getting on in years (me: you'd think that would make him a shoo-in with the ISU), he's eligible for the presidency in 2014 only, and not if the elections are delayed until 2016, which is what some people apparently wanted, for the express purpose of preventing him from becoming president.

I'll amend this post as I acquire a clearer picture of things, but the above article (again - 2012) also mentions that former Skate Canada president Benoit Lavoie and French Fed member Didier Gailhaguet are among the aspirants for the presidency. Lavoie himself not long ago resigned Skate Canada in order to throw himself into the embrace of the ISU. We can be sure he made that decision only after devoting himself 1,000% to the best interests of Skate Canada and its figure skaters during his tenure at president, and never once let himself be influenced by a desire to curry favor with the ISU, where his future lay.

Here, let's observe that, for quite some time now, and for all of Scott Moir's public support, Mike Slipchuk has sounded cavalier in almost all of his public commentary. The results of a given competition hardly engage his interest. He was near-dismissive about what happened at the Olympics to Scott and Tessa, didn't seem especially fussed by Patrick Chan's disappointing skates, and I don't think uttered a peep of complaint about the GPF either. He's not pressed about anything. He's been super laid back for a long time, even though he's not the one getting fucked.