Skate America 2010

Kostner is overscored as usual. Like Stojko says, the judges should mark according to what they see at that moment and not from what they've seen before.
Not that I don't like Kostner, I actually do like her very much as a skater.

And just saw her EX and it's just so weird. Nothing special, the choreo is boring.

clovera wrote:

I don't think we'll see a shake-up for the men - there's still a substantial gap between the Olympic trio of Dai, Tono, and Kozu vs. the up-and-comers like Yuzuru, Tatsuki, and DaiM. It's a bit different for the ladies though, and a lot of it will come down to how Kanako and Akiko perform at GPF and Nats.

ITA. Dai, Nobu and Takahiko going to Worlds seems solid to me. I'm a bit worried for Mao though...to make Worlds this season, she has to do something about, if not all, some of her jumps by Nats. But of course, I'm sure she knows that well, and is working hard.

I'm so impressed that Kanako had the guts to nail most of her jumps unlike in NHK Cup. She must've feared the same happening again, but she got over it mentally. I'm starting to like her personality more and more, as much as I like her performances. I still think she should've been in 1st in the SP. If you let a skater with a layout like Kostner be in 1st, it pretty much takes away all the means of jumping lutzes and flips, not to mention Mao doing her 3As. I'm not saying the scoring was unfair. Kostner does have her qualities, I agree. But I think it's not good to have results like that for the sport. But let me note that I enjoyed Kostner's performance more than Flatt's in FP. Even without the jumps, Kostner does take you to a different world while she's skating, while Flatt leaves you in boring reality. If you ignore the techs, what's left is Kanako with outstanding power, Kostner with a high level of beauty, but Flatt...I have no idea. Her performances this season gives me the impression of Yuna's Gershwin without the shine, without the good quality jumps, and even more poorly positioned spins.

Anyway, congrats Kanako! Btw, she seems to have mentioned in an interview after the competition that 'I wasn't able to catch up with Mao-chan', referring to the fact that although she won, she did not perform as well as Mao did in her first senior GP. I think Mao and Kanako are the similar in how much they aim for perfection, whether they win or lose. But besides that, they are very different types of skaters, so even if the media calls her 'the next Mao' or whatever, it doesn't bother me much. Nobody would ever think that now we have Kanako, we don't need Mao. They have totally different qualities which both can be appreciated at the same time.

I hope they air the whole ladie's FP. I am having a hard time imagining how McCorKell outranked Kwak.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

If you let a skater with a layout like Kostner be in 1st, it pretty much takes away all the means of jumping lutzes and flips, not to mention Mao doing her 3As. I'm not saying the scoring was unfair. Kostner does have her qualities, I agree. But I think it's not good to have results like that for the sport. But let me note that I enjoyed Kostner's performance more than Flatt's in FP. Even without the jumps, Kostner does take you to a different world while she's skating, while Flatt leaves you in boring reality. If you ignore the techs, what's left is Kanako with outstanding power, Kostner with a high level of beauty, but Flatt...I have no idea. Her performances this season gives me the impression of Yuna's Gershwin without the shine, without the good quality jumps, and even more poorly positioned spins.

Well, it's not like I ever felt the system really rewarded skaters enough for difficulty. I think what separates skaters at the top from the others is their ambition. I don't think Kostner has a lot of ambition to be honest. She has a lot of good qualities but she's really not performing to her potential. She could have endured her training with Frank Carroll who insisted that she do full run-throughs, but alas, she didn't. She just seems like one of those skaters who settles for the status quo so it's especially frustrating to see the judges reward her time and time again. That's why I really admire Mao because she never settles for the status quo. She really didn't have to make these drastic changes. I mean even with her issues, she's still far ahead of the pack. But she always looks ahead and strives to be the best skater she can.

ETA: New article on Skate America with a picture of Armin
http://www.universalsports.com/blogs/blog=gofigure/postid=501099.html
There's also an amusing section on Oda's failure to calculate combinations. Dear Oda, once or twice can be seen as endearing but FIVE times is really pushing it.

Again, another reason why I find it hard to be fond of Carolina. Go figure!

Well, Kanako winning made my day! Nice program, solid jumps, interesting footwork... Yes, it was her night indeed! And she was all smiles the entire time, what a cutie-patootie! As for the other ladies, hmmm... Gah! The level of competition for the ladies just bothers me. I can't wait for the Russian girls to make an appearance on the Senior circuit.

Also, congratulations to Daisuke, Nobu and Armin! I can easily imagine Armin standing on the podium and asking Dai and Nobu to say hi to Mao for him in embarrassment.

Speaking of Nobu... When will he ever learn?

edit: This article gave me smiles! Armin on the spotlight and Oda too,somehow. And LOL at the Quad Squad. Made me remember the funny stans at ONTD

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

I'm so impressed that Kanako had the guts to nail most of her jumps unlike in NHK Cup. She must've feared the same happening again, but she got over it mentally. I'm starting to like her personality more and more, as much as I like her performances. I still think she should've been in 1st in the SP. If you let a skater with a layout like Kostner be in 1st, it pretty much takes away all the means of jumping lutzes and flips, not to mention Mao doing her 3As. I'm not saying the scoring was unfair. Kostner does have her qualities, I agree. But I think it's not good to have results like that for the sport. But let me note that I enjoyed Kostner's performance more than Flatt's in FP. Even without the jumps, Kostner does take you to a different world while she's skating, while Flatt leaves you in boring reality. If you ignore the techs, what's left is Kanako with outstanding power, Kostner with a high level of beauty, but Flatt...I have no idea. Her performances this season gives me the impression of Yuna's Gershwin without the shine, without the good quality jumps, and even more poorly positioned spins.

Funny you should say that Pochi because i recall as I was watching Rachel's program with my mother, i said to her "ugh she's like a bad Yuna Kim, somewhat mechanic and just very basic, at least it's enjoyable to watch Yuna" and that's verbatim.

Still Yuna is at least great competition and a real performer, that's the reason i really like her. Her skates can be somewhat mechanic so to speak but they are always entertaining and she is always technically sound. Rachel not so much...

klarification wrote:

Well, Kanako winning made my day! Nice program, solid jumps, interesting footwork... Yes, it was her night indeed! And she was all smiles the entire time, what a cutie-patootie! As for the other ladies, hmmm... Gah! The level of competition for the ladies just bothers me. I can't wait for the Russian girls to make an appearance on the Senior circuit.

Indeed
It's at the point where watching Team Japan+Mirai is the only interesting measure of competition right now, (at least so far as the women are concerned.) I can't wait until Liza and Adelina become seniors. I imagine they will quickly acquire fans

maowataiyo wrote:

True dat, true dat- Figure_skating_love!

Congratulations Kana-chan!
Good luck to Miki and Akiko next week!

Lmao i love this comment btw!!

^ Thanks.

Next up is the gp in Moscow, and then Paris. So the finalists are Carolina, Kanako, Rachael, and looking likely to be Miki, Akiko, and either Alissa or Mirai? If all the Japanese ladies medal at the gpf, there's going to be a hell of a lot more pressure for Mao to win at nationals to earn the third spot on the world team. I'm so eager and at the same time, so nervous for Mao when she competes in the beautiful blue parisian lights...

Figure_skating_love wrote:

Funny you should say that Pochi because i recall as I was watching Rachel's program with my mother, i said to her "ugh she's like a bad Yuna Kim, somewhat mechanic and just very basic, at least it's enjoyable to watch Yuna" and that's verbatim.

Still Yuna is at least great competition and a real performer, that's the reason i really like her. Her skates can be somewhat mechanic so to speak but they are always entertaining and she is always technically sound. Rachel not so much...

Oh, Yasin! Yuna was much more fun to watch than Flatt for sure! Yuna is a much better skater as much as a better performer, and not even the most extreme anti-Yuna's would doubt that I think.

I think the similarity between Yuna's and Flatt's pros for this season, are that they depend alot on the skaters charms. I think Yuna's sexy devilish character she's acted out in some of her pros would've matched Flatt's pros, and the reason that Flatt isn't succeeding in making them stand out are because, Flatt does not have sex appeal and she's not devilish in any way either. She's going for something much more mature than she actually is, and it's simply not working IMO.

Yuna isn't really any sexy devilish girl in real life, but she's like a natural born actress, and was very good in creating that kind of personality on the ice. I basically do not prefer skater to act too much on the ice, but still, Yuna was good at it, so her skating was always entertaining to watch to say the least. But I think in most cases, skaters aren't good at acting, not much as Yuna for sure. So I think it is better for most of them to stick to pros which they can sort of blend in naturally to, without becoming somebody different. Flatt seems to have said that she becomes the character in her pros while skating them, which means she is trying to act out a different person this season. I don't think she's at that kind of level yet. She should be focusing on doing something about those spins...

It's tough being a skater like Rachel. She doesn't have the natural figure that allows her to be light and graceful. However, going for the sexy styled programs is an even worse move. IMO. She just doesn't have the sex appeal to pull it off. I think what can work for Rachel is for her to increase her speed and power. With work, she can become a power skater like Miki, Irina, Midori, and Tonya Harding. In other words, she should work on becoming a real athletic skater. It's misleading now to call her one because of her lack of speed, her relatively small jumps, and lack of real power in her skating.

aoi88 wrote:

It's tough being a skater like Rachel. She doesn't have the natural figure that allows her to be light and graceful. However, going for the sexy styled programs is an even worse move. IMO. She just doesn't have the sex appeal to pull it off. I think what can work for Rachel is for her to increase her speed and power. With work, she can become a power skater like Miki, Irina, Midori, and Tonya Harding. In other words, she should work on becoming a real athletic skater. It's misleading now to call her one because of her lack of speed, her relatively small jumps, and lack of real power in her skating.

Ira is the best example for Rachael I think.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Figure_skating_love wrote:

Funny you should say that Pochi because i recall as I was watching Rachel's program with my mother, i said to her "ugh she's like a bad Yuna Kim, somewhat mechanic and just very basic, at least it's enjoyable to watch Yuna" and that's verbatim.

Still Yuna is at least great competition and a real performer, that's the reason i really like her. Her skates can be somewhat mechanic so to speak but they are always entertaining and she is always technically sound. Rachel not so much...

Yuna isn't really any sexy devilish girl in real life, but she's like a natural born actress, and was very good in creating that kind of personality on the ice.

It's amazing how we all think on the same page here.

Yuna is great, she definitely has the "it" factor and her presence on ice is unmistakable. People seem to love her facial expressions, calling her artistic and deeply connected to the music, well you get the picture. Anyway, as much as I love how Yuna performs, my problem with her is that I just think of her as a "performer." The only programs that I've gotten truly crazy about from her were El Tango de Roxanne and Meditation de Thais. One forumer wrote that it's easy to imagine Yuna practicing the same facial expressions again and again until she gets the right one. In a way, people think she's "artistic" because she knows how to "emote." Well, people love that but I'm not really a fan. A matter of preference I guess?

And then there's Rachel who's just... Er, flat. This is coming from someone who prefers her over Carolina K! There's just too many things stacked against her, and I feel that the commentators just keep on blabbing about her academic achievements instead of her strengths on ice. Irina can be a good model for Rachel, but Irina was known for her powerful jumps and difficult move combination. I'm not sure what path Rachel should take. It's good that she has consistency, but she really needs to find an identity. I just feel like she's a lion trying to be a sheep. As of now, I'm not impressed but I definitely like the effort and dedication to the sport this girl shows!

klarification, you really hit the nail with your critique on Yuna. She has charisma and she does connects with the music. However, she does not touch your soul. In some ways, she's like Savchenko and Szolkowy: great technique and polished programs that are very entertaining, yet becomes borderline cliche. I'm not sure how much this is due to her or David Wilson though. I am not a fan of David Wilson's choreography because I think a lot of his programs are so bland and predictable. Tom Dickson is lesser known but much better. Tango Roxanne is my favorite program of hers too. Also, I enjoyed her programs as a junior even though they were less polished, yet they seemed more genuine. I think she can do better with a change in choreographer.
Sigh, it's really depressing to think about the current state of US ladies figure skating. Mirai is the one has the full package but she hasn't gotten her nerves together at competitions yet. Frankly, I don't see much hope for Rachel, Caroline Z, or Alissa becoming a strong contender in the future. Their best days are behind them. There's a lot of hype around Christina Gao. She has some nice qualities but I am not impressed enough to jump on the hype bandwagon yet. I sure do miss Michelle now. It's so rare to have a skater who has solid technique, consistency, superb presentation, and the ability to touch hearts.

aoi88 wrote:

klarification, you really hit the nail with your critique on Yuna. She has charisma and she does connects with the music. However, she does not touch your soul. In some ways, she's like Savchenko and Szolkowy: great technique and polished programs that are very entertaining, yet becomes borderline cliche. I'm not sure how much this is due to her or David Wilson though. I am not a fan of David Wilson's choreography because I think a lot of his programs are so bland and predictable. Tom Dickson is lesser known but much better. Tango Roxanne is my favorite program of hers too. Also, I enjoyed her programs as a junior even though they were less polished, yet they seemed more genuine. I think she can do better with a change in choreographer.
Sigh, it's really depressing to think about the current state of US ladies figure skating. Mirai is the one has the full package but she hasn't gotten her nerves together at competitions yet. Frankly, I don't see much hope for Rachel, Caroline Z, or Alissa becoming a strong contender in the future. Their best days are behind them. There's a lot of hype around Christina Gao. She has some nice qualities but I am not impressed enough to jump on the hype bandwagon yet. I sure do miss Michelle now. It's so rare to have a skater who has solid technique, consistency, superb presentation, and the ability to touch hearts.

I mean the status of US ladies is sad but do say it's bad would be an overstatement. In their polished states, most of the US ladies aren't band contenders. Mirai is quite skilled and Rachel Flatt will sometimes do well. I'd like to still believe in Caro Z but i've been of the opinion lately that it's time for her to call it quits. I wouldn't put Christina Gao up as any serious competition right now. Honestly team Japan right now is just A class material at least in ladies discipline. Even in mens it's all about Japanese dominance. Scott Hamilton said "Japan is writting the book on womens figure skating right now" but it's more like Japan is writting the book in general.
Anyway all that is to say that i think the US is probably the best figure skating country after Japan. every other country has only one real powerful skater (ie. Korea= Yuna, Italy= Kostner etc.) at least the US is stacked with some decent skaters