Brief NHK Reactions
FIGURE SKATING GRAND PRIX SEASON OF AWESOME HAS BEGUN! Behold my knee-jerk reactions to the top 5 (and 8th ;_____;) ladies short program and top 5 ice dancing short dance scores.
ICE DANCE
Meryl and Charlie Forever. FOREVER. Is there a macro for these two? About how they're more elegant, classy, attractive, smart and driven than 95% of the human population? Because if there is I can just insert it here, and call it a day. Watching the program I just felt this huge smile cross my face. It started with the opening pose and continued all the way to the climax with the lift. It's not as "kapow! fun!" as last year's short dance, but idec, I love them. And so did the judges. 66.97 was worlds away from their nearest competitor.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. Is it weird that my first thought was of the brother/sister team skating as Marylin Monroe and JFK in Blades of Glory? Also, this is me vehemently regretting that I did not include them on my fantasy figure skating league because good holy damn, they looked great. I wish they'd been a smidge faster in the second half, but feh. What's important is that they got me super excited for the FD.
Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov. Good. Strong. Liked the lifts. But I kind of felt like it was lacking in creativity and connection? Also I feel like if you're going to have a "record scratch" in your mix you should actually react to it. But eh, I might be extra hard on them because I loved the Italians so much.
Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte. Had I been a judge I might have given five points for Anna's skirt alone. It's adorable. And another five for Doris Day. Idk! It was sweet and adorable and it had that little soft shoe-ing bit and I'm completely ignoring their one lift was weird looking and not a showstopper. But. Still. Skirt. Doris. Cute. Love.
BB Shibutanis! Aw, 5th place. I maybe shouldn't have put them on my fantasy figure skating league, but I just can't help it. They're so GD cute. They're like... I don't know, kewpie dolls on ice. The wipeout looks to be costume related which is really not their fault. And then Maia's got a torn bit flapping after her through the rest of the program which may have been distracting, but I thought they recovered nicely. But flukes are a part of why they have two events, so maybe they'll bring in the FD.
LADIES
Carolina Kostner. Despite my correct assumption that Mao would not win the short program, I would never have guessed Carolina for first. Her technical score was third overall, not surprising considering the jumps seemed low. She was boosted by her great PCS scores, and I saw some people thinking they were inflated and I disagree. She was totally selling it. I'm not sure what to expect from her Free Program, especially with Kanako Murakami less than a point behind her, but I think I'll be disappointed if she bombs and misses the podium entirely. I'm hoping for silver!
Kanako Murakami. Not a fan of the costume, but how could you not be impressed by the jumps? They were nice and high and looked (to me) nicely controlled. Not to mention the high energy and the first spin combination? I don't know. I'm the worst about ladies single skating.
ETA: Rachael Flatt. You know what? I wasn't expecting to but I actually did like this a lot. I appreciated the difficult elements (I didn't realize how much I missed seeing a nice big spin entry until I watched hers), the effort with transitions, and she was very cute. I'm not saying her touches of performance weren't... obvious, but going 110% when it's not something you're comfortable with deserves props. So props, Ms. Flatt.
ETA: Ashley Wagner Sexy costume, my goodness! I love the giant jewels. I like the sharpness of her arm positions and the straight free leg in some poses. The jumps are pretty strong I think, and the spin positions she goes for are neat and/or pretty. Not having watched Rachael's performance I can't compare the two for technical elements vs. artistry, but I hope she does very well in the free and moves up a bit!
ETA: Kiira Korpi. She is gorgeous, there is no denying that. I didn't love some of her spin positions though, and something about the program was too twee for my tastes (my tastes being obviously badly skewed). I'm not upset that she's in 5th place, but maybe I'll be more won over by her free program.
Ms. Mao Asada. I suspected that she would have an Olympics hangover, but in my wildest I wouldn't have thought an 8th place debut at NHK. I know Stephane went from 7th to 1st at Skate America 2006 but I... don't know if I see that happening. Poor Mao! She. Well she looked lovely. The issues with the jumps are obvious, but after the big stink made about it in the last Olympics (for the men) I was surprised to see no transitions at all. Each jump was loudly announced by her hesitance. Her spins didn't thrill me either. Her technical elements were the third lowest in the short program. MAO'S technical elemenets were the third worst in the night. Crazy!
ETA: Now with 50% MORE ladies short program response.
ICE DANCE
Meryl and Charlie Forever. FOREVER. Is there a macro for these two? About how they're more elegant, classy, attractive, smart and driven than 95% of the human population? Because if there is I can just insert it here, and call it a day. Watching the program I just felt this huge smile cross my face. It started with the opening pose and continued all the way to the climax with the lift. It's not as "kapow! fun!" as last year's short dance, but idec, I love them. And so did the judges. 66.97 was worlds away from their nearest competitor.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. Is it weird that my first thought was of the brother/sister team skating as Marylin Monroe and JFK in Blades of Glory? Also, this is me vehemently regretting that I did not include them on my fantasy figure skating league because good holy damn, they looked great. I wish they'd been a smidge faster in the second half, but feh. What's important is that they got me super excited for the FD.
Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov. Good. Strong. Liked the lifts. But I kind of felt like it was lacking in creativity and connection? Also I feel like if you're going to have a "record scratch" in your mix you should actually react to it. But eh, I might be extra hard on them because I loved the Italians so much.
Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte. Had I been a judge I might have given five points for Anna's skirt alone. It's adorable. And another five for Doris Day. Idk! It was sweet and adorable and it had that little soft shoe-ing bit and I'm completely ignoring their one lift was weird looking and not a showstopper. But. Still. Skirt. Doris. Cute. Love.
BB Shibutanis! Aw, 5th place. I maybe shouldn't have put them on my fantasy figure skating league, but I just can't help it. They're so GD cute. They're like... I don't know, kewpie dolls on ice. The wipeout looks to be costume related which is really not their fault. And then Maia's got a torn bit flapping after her through the rest of the program which may have been distracting, but I thought they recovered nicely. But flukes are a part of why they have two events, so maybe they'll bring in the FD.
LADIES
Carolina Kostner. Despite my correct assumption that Mao would not win the short program, I would never have guessed Carolina for first. Her technical score was third overall, not surprising considering the jumps seemed low. She was boosted by her great PCS scores, and I saw some people thinking they were inflated and I disagree. She was totally selling it. I'm not sure what to expect from her Free Program, especially with Kanako Murakami less than a point behind her, but I think I'll be disappointed if she bombs and misses the podium entirely. I'm hoping for silver!
Kanako Murakami. Not a fan of the costume, but how could you not be impressed by the jumps? They were nice and high and looked (to me) nicely controlled. Not to mention the high energy and the first spin combination? I don't know. I'm the worst about ladies single skating.
ETA: Rachael Flatt. You know what? I wasn't expecting to but I actually did like this a lot. I appreciated the difficult elements (I didn't realize how much I missed seeing a nice big spin entry until I watched hers), the effort with transitions, and she was very cute. I'm not saying her touches of performance weren't... obvious, but going 110% when it's not something you're comfortable with deserves props. So props, Ms. Flatt.
ETA: Ashley Wagner Sexy costume, my goodness! I love the giant jewels. I like the sharpness of her arm positions and the straight free leg in some poses. The jumps are pretty strong I think, and the spin positions she goes for are neat and/or pretty. Not having watched Rachael's performance I can't compare the two for technical elements vs. artistry, but I hope she does very well in the free and moves up a bit!
ETA: Kiira Korpi. She is gorgeous, there is no denying that. I didn't love some of her spin positions though, and something about the program was too twee for my tastes (my tastes being obviously badly skewed). I'm not upset that she's in 5th place, but maybe I'll be more won over by her free program.
Ms. Mao Asada. I suspected that she would have an Olympics hangover, but in my wildest I wouldn't have thought an 8th place debut at NHK. I know Stephane went from 7th to 1st at Skate America 2006 but I... don't know if I see that happening. Poor Mao! She. Well she looked lovely. The issues with the jumps are obvious, but after the big stink made about it in the last Olympics (for the men) I was surprised to see no transitions at all. Each jump was loudly announced by her hesitance. Her spins didn't thrill me either. Her technical elements were the third lowest in the short program. MAO'S technical elemenets were the third worst in the night. Crazy!
ETA: Now with 50% MORE ladies short program response.