2012 Trophee Eric Bompard

As it is starting soon, figured I might as well start the thread.

Predictions, anyone? I am groaning at the astonishing lack of depth in the men's field. Especially when there are so many AMAZING men's skaters today, why do they have to put all the inconsistent/not great ones here? If Nobu had been assigned at TEB, I could have seen five Japanese men in the Grand Prix Final.

Alokya, I agree! Espeacially if you consider who's competing at NHK. Yuzu, Dai, Javi , IMO, ISU could've done one of these guys a favour and assign them to TEB. I still don't understand what JSF was thinking assigning both Dai and Yuzu at NHK.IMO, it was not the brightest idea.

I'm really curious how Yulia will do here. Will she be able to beat Ashley? I also hope Liza will have a kick ass competition. And most of all, I'm interested to see how the judges will score Ashley, hopefully no owerscoring like at SA.

Since my prediction was right by placing Gracie second at COR, here I am again with my prediction for ladies:

1. Julia
2. Ashley
3. Liza

No prediction for men because I am not really interested in watching.

Any stream ?

From twitter:
Pairs, Ladies, Dance http://bit.ly/SQVeS2
Men http://bit.ly/RGTvxz , http://bit.ly/RGTtpr , http://bit.ly/RGTvxB

Julia is competing with an injured ankle. Hope she'll be ok with it.

roma wrote:

From twitter:
Pairs, Ladies, Dance http://bit.ly/SQVeS2
Men http://bit.ly/RGTvxz , http://bit.ly/RGTtpr , http://bit.ly/RGTvxB

Julia is competing with an injured ankle. Hope she'll be ok with it.

What ? is Julia injured ? oh no....
Don't know how serious it is but I hope that by competing today, it won't be even more serious.

I might have to put Ashley first then...

Eurosport 2 is showing the competition does anyone have a live link, i really want to watch the event live

I found Eurosport.

http://lsh.lshunter.tv/static/popups/12100603085750.html

Actually, better site here - http://www.frombar.tv/. Click one of the Eurosport 2 links.

Nan Song is on right now. I'm glad that he is okay.

I'm laughing after a stuffed Panda thrown by a fan hit a judge and the commentator said 'a judge hit by a panda and sent to hospital...in the headline' (of course kidding)...


I don't know any of the men skaters so far besides Nan Song....Terrible the way ISU assigned the skaters.


And 'you have to dislocate your shoulder to do that last spin' the commentator also said....seeing the belgium skater.

Haha, yeah, this commentator is hilarious!

On a sidenote... Takahito Mura's costume is reminding me a LOT of Taka's FS costume this year. Maybe the same designer?

YAY FOR JEREMY!!! Forgoing the quad was smart.

Alokya wrote:

Haha, yeah, this commentator is hilarious!

On a sidenote... Takahito Mura's costume is reminding me a LOT of Taka's FS costume this year. Maybe the same designer?

It actually reminds me of Machida's last year FS costume... (Don Chisciotte, I think it was)

thanks for the links everyone, it was a really exciting competition for the ladies here is my reaction:

I think Julia really gave it her all, I really find it amazing how she made the rotation on her jumps, that an performance didn't expect that after hearing her having gotten an injury, so a positive surprise!

Ashley was just soo stiff to look at, once again lots of posing... her skating is really not my cup of tea.

Liza was amazing, how she made the 3-3 was another big question considering how her entrance to the second jump looked like, but she did and i'm so happy for her!

I was really surprised to see Mae do so well 4th place that quite an improvement, i think her new program fits her really well i would just have chosen another color for her costume, big 3-3

Gao and Polina were really so beautiful out there, feel so sorry for Gao missing the 3-3 combo but beside that one mistake i think the rest was just a delight to watch

now the free skate will be interesting the scores are very close especially between the top!

Okay, what is with costumes looking extremely similar to Japanese skaters'? Piper Gilles is wearing a costume almost exactly like Mao's. They are both Mary Poppins programs, but the DETAIL to which they are similar is frightening.

any pictures alokya

ballerinamao wrote:

any pictures alokya

Well, that is what Mary Poppins' dress looks like after all...
http://cheekypoppins.wordpress.com/mary-poppins-style-icon/

Not from TEB...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/discolights444/8056726586/

The collar of Piper's dress is really ugly. Mao's dress is much better than this.

yeah, i think it'd be weird if piper's dress didn't resemble mao's dress since they're portraying the same character.

I was very impressed by Mae's jumps that were very high! but that costume design doesn't really suit her. It a very feminin cut and she's very athletic with big arm muscles.

ddmm wrote:

I was very impressed by Mae's jumps that were very high! but that costume design doesn't really suit her. It a very feminin cut and she's very athletic with big arm muscles.

I kinda liked Mae's dress. She is definitely muscular and toned (maybe like Joannie?), but she seems like a bubbly and bright person so if she's covered up more it might seem too demure or serious for me. I like her hair now more than her previous hairstyle too. It's sporty and cute.

What happened with Liza ? she was so on last year ? is it that she's growing taller ?
I like this SP so I'm glad she's using it again this year.

when is the ladies LP going to beginn?

ddmm wrote:

What happened with Liza ? she was so on last year ? is it that she's growing taller ?
I like this SP so I'm glad she's using it again this year.

Injuries + puberty. I think she has filled out more and gained weight. But she still has her 3-3s just not as consistent as last season. What's worrying me is that her PCS got hit this season when she seems to have actually improved. Last season it was Adelina. This season it's Liza. Julia, lets see in the next season or two.

I hope all competitors skate clean today but I do think its too much to hope for.

ddmm wrote:

What happened with Liza ? she was so on last year ? is it that she's growing taller ?
I like this SP so I'm glad she's using it again this year.

Yes, Mishin said in an interview former to GPS this season that she is having trouble in accordance to her growth period. But at least we can say, better now than next season for her sakes.
I think she managed the best she could yesterday, and she's in 3rd with scores not too much far from Ashley and Julia. If she can skate clean in her FP, there still is a chance for her to win, even if the odds might seem against her...I personally wish she does win this one.

Having that said, I thought Julia was splendid last night! Her small jumps didn't bother me that much this time...it was more her speed and energy which caught my eyes. And I also she got better on skating along with the music. I've only seen her performance last night once so far, so I can't be sure if she really got better, but anyway, that was my first impression so far.

OTOH, I felt Ashley seemed much more tense and cautious than she was in SA. So her SP, which I think is far more a nicer pro than her FP, wasn't enough to fill my expectations for her this time. To skate a lyrical pro like that, I think she needs to become totally absorbed into the music, but she wasn't. I'm guessing she may not do as good as she managed somehow in SA at tonight's FP either. I think Julia scoring over her scared Ashley more or less, unlike how Mao took it when the same had happened to her in COC; I think Mao was already aware she may not be able to win in SP nor FP, because she had only started to become better and knew more than anyone that her reformings weren't perfected yet. I think this was good for her, because that must've avoided her from having Julia feeling like a major threat to her, and as a result she was able to skate her FP without being too nervous. But I'm not sure if that'll be the case with Ashley...I like her, but she's always had nerve issues. It seemed she got that part fixed since last season, but a skater like Julia wasn't there then. Even if Ashley manages to skate her FP like she did in SA, which even IMO was not all that great at all, if Julia skates her FP clean, I'd be willing to hand her the gold without any hesitations. But anyway...good luck to them all!

And ballerinamao, ladies FP should start 20min after the mens FP which will be starting in about 4hrs20min...check here for more secure times and streaming sites:
http://hotbladeshotpassion.blogspot.jp/2012/11/trophee-eric-bompard-2012-streaming-and.html

Live stream: http://www.casadossegredos.tv/eurosport2

OH dear, poor Liza. But I agree that better this year than next year.


As for Ashley, I also thought that she was very nervous yesterday because of Julia. I think Mao was more in control because she's older and has experienced ups and downs. I remember she said that usually she's nervous at the beginning of the season but not this year.

Shoot! my stream keeps freezing....