Gold for Canada! :0D
Surprise, surprise: Canada won the figure skating team event! I am very happy for the team and especially for Tessa and Scott that they'll go home with a gold medal now no matter what. Because, you know.
It wasn't the lottery I thought it would be, or maybe it was. Just more in terms of, look, they suddenly deliver.
Let's start with the men. Kolyada fell and made mistakes, but high base value and all landed him in second place. Because Matteo was great, but quadless. And because Adam was great (watered-down program; good the 3A came in the second half), but quadless. Patrick Chan was pretty much Axel-less, but nailed a nice 4T-3T. He won that segment, can you believe it. Tanaka bombed.
The ladies were a nice surprise because everyone except for Carolina delivered. Which is sad for Italy because their dreams of possibly making it past the U.S. was gone then. In fact it had already to be gone when Mirai hit the ice as the first skater and nailed a 3A that was to die for. She did so well that the camera couldn't help but zoom in on Adam afterwards, who was covered in tears. I was getting a little emotional myself. And again when Sakamoto was done with that Amélie program. Less so because she was very good (still finished last), but because the music touches me so much. Daleman and her old Rhapsody in Blue worked well together again, she was soooo strong. You know how I feel about the song, though. I missed Carolina's lime green onesie. She hadn't even gone back to her old costume. Her new one was boring. She couldn't keep up with the youngsters. Zagitova nailed everything.
I was super annoyed that the Eurosport commentators didn't realize why exactly the cameras zoomed to Team Canada after the ladies event. Not because they were the favorites for gold, but because their lead had been big enough at that point that only a zero-point a.k.a. no-show performance from Tessa and Scott would have given OAR the advantage. I seriously got mad at them for a very long time because it took them until their actual skate to realize that Canada had already summoned enough points. I'm not familiar with the rules, but knowing how Scott always praises Kaitlyn and Andrew, I believe they would have stepped back from skating the FD. Just so that another Canadian dance team could have the Olympic experience and the Olympic gold. Therefore I guess it wasn't possible to switch again. Their podium spot looked so empty in comparison.
So, how was the skating? Chris Reed has a fall, otherwise pretty much as usual. Bobrova and Soloviev got gasps from the crowd for my favorite lifts. I also found out what their story was actually about. He's not blind in the end after all. He realized she was just a vision of his, a figment of his imagination. That's OK, but I prefer my interpretation. What I liked about Tessa and Scott's rendition of Moulin Rouge was one part during Roxanne that was either new or had gone unnoticed before (I still don't like the camera angles at these Olympics) that reminds me of ballroom tango. If you remember, my very first complaint was that it should be more actual tango. Which it still isn't, but that was a nice discovery. I don't like the new music edit, they toned down their Carmen crotch-in-his-face lift, and by now the choreography has been changed so much that not only the music is gone to the part that had me burst into tears every single time, the moves themselves are gone now, too. I have heard another person say today that they miss the more quiet ending. I swear they weren't doing themselves a favor. Which I find extremely frustrating ... In Vancouver, I had loved the program all season and they won. In Sotchi, I had struggled with the program all season, just to finally connect to it during the Olympics. Both made for wonderful Olympic experiences. Now in PyeongChang, they had a program that killed me and brought me to tears each time, and they changed that into something that leaves me asking why. People who don't know the old version will still love it, but I'm sure that if you ran a poll among skating fans, the majority would want to see the old version skated in the individual event. It's not going to happen. They didn't get the biggest crowd reaction, by the way. The Shibs did. People went wild during the twizzles and some lifts. It was pretty much like Boston Worlds. They were the ones that made me cry (the Russians had done their part, too).
Anyway, Canada ahead of Russia and the USA. Not that surprising after all. I'm also particularly happy for Adam and Mirai that they not only managed to make the Olympic team this time, but walk home with such a nice souvenir. But I have yet to see the actual medal ceremony. Oh, there's SO much I have to see ... It's the first time since ever that I'm not running around creaming because of The Voice Kids talents. Because I couldn't watch it. I never had to record it, I always watched live TV. It was the most absurd of feelings when I skipped through my recording to edit out the commercial breaks (because I'm screwed by the shows that run and the lack of space on my HDD recorder). I felt like an alien peeking in from outer space. Or someone who doesn't give a f*** about the show and just happens to zap into it. Totally confusing.
PS: Very glad that Rudi Cerne didn't do the commentary for ZDF since he was already hosting. Pity that the person they had do it instead was even worse. The things he said ... He called out Zagitova's jumps from an element sheet and didn't realize he left one out, therefore calling the jumps incorrectly. Even if that meant seeing a two-jump combination and calling it out as a three-jump combination.
PS2: The actual Baz Luhrmann shared Tessa and Scott's Moulin Rouge routine the other day, also commenting on a lo of skaters bringing the soundtrack to PyeongChang. OMG.
PS3: Three more German medals on Day 4, and a complete set this time. 2x biathlon, 1x ski jumping. Great job, boys and girls!
It wasn't the lottery I thought it would be, or maybe it was. Just more in terms of, look, they suddenly deliver.
Let's start with the men. Kolyada fell and made mistakes, but high base value and all landed him in second place. Because Matteo was great, but quadless. And because Adam was great (watered-down program; good the 3A came in the second half), but quadless. Patrick Chan was pretty much Axel-less, but nailed a nice 4T-3T. He won that segment, can you believe it. Tanaka bombed.
The ladies were a nice surprise because everyone except for Carolina delivered. Which is sad for Italy because their dreams of possibly making it past the U.S. was gone then. In fact it had already to be gone when Mirai hit the ice as the first skater and nailed a 3A that was to die for. She did so well that the camera couldn't help but zoom in on Adam afterwards, who was covered in tears. I was getting a little emotional myself. And again when Sakamoto was done with that Amélie program. Less so because she was very good (still finished last), but because the music touches me so much. Daleman and her old Rhapsody in Blue worked well together again, she was soooo strong. You know how I feel about the song, though. I missed Carolina's lime green onesie. She hadn't even gone back to her old costume. Her new one was boring. She couldn't keep up with the youngsters. Zagitova nailed everything.
I was super annoyed that the Eurosport commentators didn't realize why exactly the cameras zoomed to Team Canada after the ladies event. Not because they were the favorites for gold, but because their lead had been big enough at that point that only a zero-point a.k.a. no-show performance from Tessa and Scott would have given OAR the advantage. I seriously got mad at them for a very long time because it took them until their actual skate to realize that Canada had already summoned enough points. I'm not familiar with the rules, but knowing how Scott always praises Kaitlyn and Andrew, I believe they would have stepped back from skating the FD. Just so that another Canadian dance team could have the Olympic experience and the Olympic gold. Therefore I guess it wasn't possible to switch again. Their podium spot looked so empty in comparison.
So, how was the skating? Chris Reed has a fall, otherwise pretty much as usual. Bobrova and Soloviev got gasps from the crowd for my favorite lifts. I also found out what their story was actually about. He's not blind in the end after all. He realized she was just a vision of his, a figment of his imagination. That's OK, but I prefer my interpretation. What I liked about Tessa and Scott's rendition of Moulin Rouge was one part during Roxanne that was either new or had gone unnoticed before (I still don't like the camera angles at these Olympics) that reminds me of ballroom tango. If you remember, my very first complaint was that it should be more actual tango. Which it still isn't, but that was a nice discovery. I don't like the new music edit, they toned down their Carmen crotch-in-his-face lift, and by now the choreography has been changed so much that not only the music is gone to the part that had me burst into tears every single time, the moves themselves are gone now, too. I have heard another person say today that they miss the more quiet ending. I swear they weren't doing themselves a favor. Which I find extremely frustrating ... In Vancouver, I had loved the program all season and they won. In Sotchi, I had struggled with the program all season, just to finally connect to it during the Olympics. Both made for wonderful Olympic experiences. Now in PyeongChang, they had a program that killed me and brought me to tears each time, and they changed that into something that leaves me asking why. People who don't know the old version will still love it, but I'm sure that if you ran a poll among skating fans, the majority would want to see the old version skated in the individual event. It's not going to happen. They didn't get the biggest crowd reaction, by the way. The Shibs did. People went wild during the twizzles and some lifts. It was pretty much like Boston Worlds. They were the ones that made me cry (the Russians had done their part, too).
Anyway, Canada ahead of Russia and the USA. Not that surprising after all. I'm also particularly happy for Adam and Mirai that they not only managed to make the Olympic team this time, but walk home with such a nice souvenir. But I have yet to see the actual medal ceremony. Oh, there's SO much I have to see ... It's the first time since ever that I'm not running around creaming because of The Voice Kids talents. Because I couldn't watch it. I never had to record it, I always watched live TV. It was the most absurd of feelings when I skipped through my recording to edit out the commercial breaks (because I'm screwed by the shows that run and the lack of space on my HDD recorder). I felt like an alien peeking in from outer space. Or someone who doesn't give a f*** about the show and just happens to zap into it. Totally confusing.
PS: Very glad that Rudi Cerne didn't do the commentary for ZDF since he was already hosting. Pity that the person they had do it instead was even worse. The things he said ... He called out Zagitova's jumps from an element sheet and didn't realize he left one out, therefore calling the jumps incorrectly. Even if that meant seeing a two-jump combination and calling it out as a three-jump combination.
PS2: The actual Baz Luhrmann shared Tessa and Scott's Moulin Rouge routine the other day, also commenting on a lo of skaters bringing the soundtrack to PyeongChang. OMG.
PS3: Three more German medals on Day 4, and a complete set this time. 2x biathlon, 1x ski jumping. Great job, boys and girls!