final Olympic figure skating analysis! *sobs*
It's well and truly over at last, and I'm still a little sad, but I think I'm over the hump with the horrible withdrawal from the two week long skating high. The day after it ended I was so twitchy and irritable all day, I couldn't think of ANYTHING but skating. Honest to goodness, even COSTUMING seemed dull and pointless! But I'm trying to focus on some sewing now, and crossing my fingers that Worlds will actually be televised on NBC, and not Universal Sports as I fear, since it's an HD channel that I don't get! (Stay positive, self! Let's not despair until we know for sure!)
Anyhoo, as regards the Ladies freeskate, it went down pretty much as I expected, or at least hoped. Yu-Na Kim is undoubtedly the most talented girl competing today, and I wanted it for her really bad, and for Brian Orser, too. (I'm still bitter about Calgary in '88, he deserved the gold!) Yu-Na skated beautifully, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for her, but she really had the weight of her entire country on her shoulders, and it's easy to crack under that kind of pressure, but she made it look as if it were effortless. Mao Asada doing those triple axels was pretty cool and all, but I'm kind of glad she had some mistakes, because it would have sucked for her to win with that awful long program of hers. I just hate it, it's so heavy and ponderous and ugly, and it does absolutely nothing to show off the good qualities of her skating. Her exhibition program was tons better, since it features her bubbly personality and lightness and fun, and even Scott Hamilton was saying she should have skated that as her competetive program, and I agree. Joannie Rochette was about as good as I've ever seen her, and I think she really deserved the bronze, and no one should say for a moment that it was some sort of sympathy vote that got her there. I know some people (I'm looking at you, Dick Button!) would say that it was the sentiment that got her on the podium, and that Mirai Nagasu deserved the bronze, but as wonderfully as Mirai skated, she still looks like a kid out there; Joannie Rochette had maturity and emotional depth in her performance as well as strong jumps and artistry, and to do so well under the circumstances she faced is what being a champion is really all about. Mirai still did awesomely to end up in fourth, and she's got plenty of time and talent to win titles later. The thing that really makes me mad is Rachael Flatt's poor marks in the free. Why did they downgrade those two jumps? They looked fine to everyone else! And it was only Rachael they were cracking down on, crappy skaters like Miki Ando were being let off easy, which I don't get, since if you're going to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone, shouldn't it be Rachael, who has such quality in all her other elements? Come on, people! She was behind Laura Lepisto, for the love of heaven! Laura must have had the skate of her life, because I've never seen anything from her that was as good as Rachael was in the free. But I'm happy anyway, just to have seen Rachael skate so well at the Olympics. Aside from the fact that she's such a solid, consistent competitor, she has a poise and maturity beyond her years, and you can tell she really feels and understands the music she skates to. But most of all, she has such joy in her skating, when she smiles it's so genuine, and you sense the freedom she has on the ice, and it's just beautiful to watch.
The exhibitions actually proved to be pretty awesome in their own right, since a lot of the skaters actually impressed me more there than in competition! As I said, Mao Asada skated much better there in a program that suited her personality. Yu-Na Kim wasn't technically as good as she usually is, but her program, to Massenet's 'Meditation' was so exquisitely beautiful, and it showed all her delicate grace to it's best advantage. She looked more like a little fairy dancing across the ice than an earthly being exercizing an actual skill. Hers is a rare gift. Evan Lysacek really stepped it up by giving us 'Rhapsody in Blue' for an exhibition, it's my favorite of his competitive programs, and you can just see how much he loves and respects figure skating when he performed it, and it was just lovely. And Meryl Davis & Charlie White just continue to be so amazing; they can skate to any piece of music and find the right tone and bring out all the emotional depth in it so effortlessly. A rock cover of 'Billie Jean' wouldn't have been my first choice for them to skate to, but they make it so electric and sexy and intense, and you just think to yourself, where do these sweet little kids get this amazing musical and dramatic sense? And it's totally natural to them, there's no theatrics in their skating at all, which I love. Scott Hamilton was all at a loss for words in his commentary while they skated, all he seemed able to do was throw his hands up and say " I just love them! I love everything they do!" And I couldn't agree more!
Will return with final thoughts on the whole Olympic skating experience next time!
Anyhoo, as regards the Ladies freeskate, it went down pretty much as I expected, or at least hoped. Yu-Na Kim is undoubtedly the most talented girl competing today, and I wanted it for her really bad, and for Brian Orser, too. (I'm still bitter about Calgary in '88, he deserved the gold!) Yu-Na skated beautifully, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for her, but she really had the weight of her entire country on her shoulders, and it's easy to crack under that kind of pressure, but she made it look as if it were effortless. Mao Asada doing those triple axels was pretty cool and all, but I'm kind of glad she had some mistakes, because it would have sucked for her to win with that awful long program of hers. I just hate it, it's so heavy and ponderous and ugly, and it does absolutely nothing to show off the good qualities of her skating. Her exhibition program was tons better, since it features her bubbly personality and lightness and fun, and even Scott Hamilton was saying she should have skated that as her competetive program, and I agree. Joannie Rochette was about as good as I've ever seen her, and I think she really deserved the bronze, and no one should say for a moment that it was some sort of sympathy vote that got her there. I know some people (I'm looking at you, Dick Button!) would say that it was the sentiment that got her on the podium, and that Mirai Nagasu deserved the bronze, but as wonderfully as Mirai skated, she still looks like a kid out there; Joannie Rochette had maturity and emotional depth in her performance as well as strong jumps and artistry, and to do so well under the circumstances she faced is what being a champion is really all about. Mirai still did awesomely to end up in fourth, and she's got plenty of time and talent to win titles later. The thing that really makes me mad is Rachael Flatt's poor marks in the free. Why did they downgrade those two jumps? They looked fine to everyone else! And it was only Rachael they were cracking down on, crappy skaters like Miki Ando were being let off easy, which I don't get, since if you're going to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone, shouldn't it be Rachael, who has such quality in all her other elements? Come on, people! She was behind Laura Lepisto, for the love of heaven! Laura must have had the skate of her life, because I've never seen anything from her that was as good as Rachael was in the free. But I'm happy anyway, just to have seen Rachael skate so well at the Olympics. Aside from the fact that she's such a solid, consistent competitor, she has a poise and maturity beyond her years, and you can tell she really feels and understands the music she skates to. But most of all, she has such joy in her skating, when she smiles it's so genuine, and you sense the freedom she has on the ice, and it's just beautiful to watch.
The exhibitions actually proved to be pretty awesome in their own right, since a lot of the skaters actually impressed me more there than in competition! As I said, Mao Asada skated much better there in a program that suited her personality. Yu-Na Kim wasn't technically as good as she usually is, but her program, to Massenet's 'Meditation' was so exquisitely beautiful, and it showed all her delicate grace to it's best advantage. She looked more like a little fairy dancing across the ice than an earthly being exercizing an actual skill. Hers is a rare gift. Evan Lysacek really stepped it up by giving us 'Rhapsody in Blue' for an exhibition, it's my favorite of his competitive programs, and you can just see how much he loves and respects figure skating when he performed it, and it was just lovely. And Meryl Davis & Charlie White just continue to be so amazing; they can skate to any piece of music and find the right tone and bring out all the emotional depth in it so effortlessly. A rock cover of 'Billie Jean' wouldn't have been my first choice for them to skate to, but they make it so electric and sexy and intense, and you just think to yourself, where do these sweet little kids get this amazing musical and dramatic sense? And it's totally natural to them, there's no theatrics in their skating at all, which I love. Scott Hamilton was all at a loss for words in his commentary while they skated, all he seemed able to do was throw his hands up and say " I just love them! I love everything they do!" And I couldn't agree more!
Will return with final thoughts on the whole Olympic skating experience next time!