Jennifer Comeaux

Friday, October 26, 2012

Skate Canada SD Thoughts

I was going to post some thoughts on the men's short program as I watched online, but the Universal Sports feed is so terrible that I missed a lot of the programs. I'm so annoyed with the lack of a live IceNetwork feed this year. Universal Sports plays ads IN THE MIDDLE OF PROGRAMS. Sorry for the rant.

Back to the skating, let's get ready for the short dance! Ugh, here comes another ad. #&$%@#$%! Switching to the free Chinese TV feed someone just posted....

Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier - missed most of their program due to switching feeds. Why is Mary Poppins such a popular choice this year? I've seen three teams use it so far (and there was a fourth that ditched the music).

Julia Zlobina/Alexei Sitnikov - these costumes don't look like waltz or polka. Very nice twizzles. They appear to have good speed. They personify "voidy."

Kharis Ralph/Asher Hill - Chinese feed crapped out. Only caught the end. Kharis likes poofy skirts! I wasn't expecting "Can Can" from the costumes.

Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue - Is she wearing the Heart of the Ocean necklace? Cute reenactment of the dancing from the scene in Titanic where Rose hangs out with the commoners. Wish they would've left the lyrics out of the polka piece. Classy, refined dance. Nice departure from their usual "Sex on Ice" programs.

Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko - I like the music ("I Could Have Danced All Night"). Good twizzles. I'd expect no less since they've been training with Igor, the twizzle guru. Nice energy throughout. Not sure about the pink and lilac costume mix, but my feed doesn't have a good picture to appreciate the colors. Igor's tie matches Ilia's pants!

Pernelle Carron/Lloyd Jones - Yay, Lloyd Jones got a haircut and lost the bleach! He looks a million times better. Whee, lasso arm during the Yankee Polka sequence! And now he's reining in a horse. Big stumble on the twizzles. I recognize this country waltzy music from someone else's program. Their lift takes a long time to develop. This is one hot country mess!

Anna Cappellini/Lucca Lanotte - The feed freezes again! Well, they got a nice score so they must've skated well!

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir - Missed the beginning. I think Tessa's dress would look a lot better if it was just the top layer of material. I feel like her dress is flying open and I'm looking at her slip. Their lift is all kinds of awkward with their usual "Tessa's legs swinging around Scott's neck" movement, and it looks very sticky and not seamless. Whoa, low score for them!!!!

No doubt Tessa and Scott will rebound in the free dance. The battle for the bronze is going to be interesting. After Anna and Lucca, the rest of the pack is pretty bunched together. I hope the feeds will work better tomorrow night!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

2012 Skate America Wrap Up Part II

Time to look back at the free skates! First up on Saturday night were the men, and we saw lots of splats on quads. I was really looking forward to seeing Jeremy Abbott's "Bring Him Home" program, but with all the doubled jumps it was hard to feel any energy. I hope he'll skate it much better at Nationals because I thought the abbreviated version he did at Evening With Champions was gorgeous.

Takahiko Kozuka had the performance of the night, while Yuzuru Hanyu had a meltdown after his record-setting short program. Every time he fell, it took him longer to get up. I'd like to see more fight from him. Overall, the men's event was pretty disappointing.

The pairs were up next, and Gretchen Donlan/Andrew Speroff again led off the event. They performed their Sleeping Beauty program, looking like beautiful ballet dancers. Their lines and extension are unmatched on the U.S. pairs scene, and I hope gaining more international experience this year will be one of the keys to furthering their career.

Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir came out with another great program, a very intricate and wonderfully executed tango. They have two outstanding programs this season. I loved their expression, and I was so excited to see them land the side-by-side triple toes with ease. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres were the next couple, and I already admitted my love for Pearl Harbor programs. I really like this team and am so impressed with how well they've gelled in just a year together.

Caydee Denney/John Coughlin skated very well. I preferred Danielle Montalbano/Evgeni Krasnopolski's Phantom of the Opera music cuts, though. The Israeli team used part of the movie soundtrack that I've always wanted someone to skate to ("Journey To the Cemetery"). Qing Pang/Jian Tong's performance was one of my favorites of the competition. It was so lyrical and full of honest emotion. I enjoyed it much more than Tatiana Volosozhar/Max Trankov's program. I was on their bandwagon last season, but their programs this year do nothing for me, and I'm not feeling a connection between them.

The ice dancers were up first on Sunday afternoon, and it was another outstanding event all around. Just like in the short dance, the skating was at a high level. Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus performed their sultry/high-energy program with a lot of flair. I hope they continue to grow and explore new themes because I love their look on the ice. Lynn Kriengkrairut/Logan Giulietti-Schmitt looked like they gave everything they had to their Adele free dance. The program has gotten more seamless since I saw it at the Senior B competition in Salt Lake City. Their highlight moves were some of the best in the event.

Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi were fabulous as zombies. They don't do anything halfway, and I love how they're not afraid to just go all out with the craziest theme they can find. I couldn't really get into Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev's free dance. The music was a big part of the reason and their lifts are often awkward-looking.

I loved Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje's program. The music touched me right from the start, and I could see the influence of Allison Holker (one of my favorite dancers) in the choreography. The only issue I have with the program is the simplicity in the transitions and some of the open choreography. I think they're capable of more intricate work.

Meryl Davis/Charlie White were the final couple to skate, and they committed to every movement and every beat of Notre Dame de Paris. I love how the lifts are placed with the music for maximum impact. They have some awesome new lifts. The circular step sequence was one of my favorite parts of the program, and I thought it too was beautifully timed with the music. And I have to mention the part after the program ended when Charlie carried Meryl to center ice for their bows. My friends and I were screaming like crazy people. It was so unexpected but such a wonderful job of staying in character by Meryl and Charlie.

The ladies' free skate was the final event, and I missed the first group to grab lunch. The highlights of the second group were Christina Gao and Ashley Wagner. It was awesome to see two American ladies throwing down two clean programs. The Team USA skaters sitting in the stands went nuts after Christina and Ashley's performances. And seeing John Nicks jump out of his seat in the kiss and cry when Ashley's score came up was one of the funniest moments of the weekend!

The Exhibition wrapped up the weekend of events, and some of my favorite performances were from Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt, Castelli/Shnapir, Jeremy Abbott, Konstantin Menshov, Takahiko Kozuka, Pang/Tong, and Davis/White. The finale was amusing as always as the skaters did a victory lap and then threw autographed items into the crowd. I snagged a frisbee and a T-shirt! The slingshots didn't make an appearance - I think Mark Ladwig must bring those to Nationals every year, LOL.

A few thoughts on the event overall... the state of Washington always does a great job hosting competitions, and the crowds in Kent were great and enthusiastic. The official hotel, the Doubletree, was one of the strangest hotels I've seen. It was extremely spread out, and the trek from the lobby to the wing where my room was (and apparently most of the skaters' rooms also) took awhile. You couldn't really "run up to your room" to get something quickly.

The distance between the hotel and arena was also very long. Thank goodness for Kent Station across the street from the arena and the string of restaurants on Southcenter Parkway a few miles away. Those were the most convenient places to eat in the area with the short time between events. I felt like I spent a lot of time in the car, driving back and forth. Other than the geographic issues, I thought the event was well-organized, and I would definitely return!

I won't be attending any more Grand Prix events this year, but I'll be posting thoughts every week as I watch them online! I'm looking forward to seeing what Skate Canada has in store for us this weekend!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

2012 Skate America Wrap Up Part I

Now that I've had time to return home and get settled, I wanted to put together my thoughts on the competition last weekend. I'll start with the short programs in this post and then tackle the free skates next time.

The first event on Friday night was the pairs short program. Gretchen Donlan/Andrew Speroff led off the competition and looked a little nervous in their Grand Prix debut. It was wonderful to see their program, though, which includes a beautiful footwork sequence. Their Skating Club of Boston training mates, Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir, looked much more confident taking the ice, and they performed one of the best programs I've seen from them. Marissa had the sassy attitude down pat, and Simon looked like he was having the time of his life. Even in practice I noticed his facial expressions and how much fun they both seemed to be having.

Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres are one of my new favorite teams after last weekend. They look very crisp and are strong on all the pairs elements. And they know how to bring the pretty! Caydee Denney/John Coughlin's program was well-skated, but the music (Aranjuez) will always make me think of Michelle Kwan. I thought the top two teams Pang/Tong and Volosozhar/Trankov looked sloppy and not worthy of the scores they were given, especially Volosozhar/Trankov.

The men's short program was next, and I think the judges were confused and thought they were at Skate Canada because we saw some serious Chanflation! I thought Yuzuru Hanyu skated great and definitely deserved a big score, but not ten points more than Takahiko Kozuka. Takahiko is an incredible skater and he threw it down in the short program. Jeremy Abbott debuted his "Spy" program and showed a lot of personality. I generally don't like James Bond-type programs, but this one I enjoyed. Another skater I enjoyed was Tatsuki Machida. I don't think I'd seen him skate before, and his jumps are amazing.

Saturday's slate of events started with the ladies' short program, which I skipped to eat lunch. The short dance followed, and all the teams skated excellently. It's rare to see a dance event where every team executes their twizzles perfectly. Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus started off the competition with a flowing waltz and polka, a great Grand Prix debut for them. I barely recognized the next team of Lorenza Alessandrini/Simone Vaturi because I think they've improved so much. Last year I thought they were rather sloppy-looking, but this year I was impressed with their speed and polish.

Lynn Kriengkrairut/Logan Giulietti-Schmitt had the crowd behind them all the way with their Western-themed program. They have such great performance skills. Another team with great performance skills is Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi. Their expression reaches the top row of the arena. Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev followed them with a more subtle program.

Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje skated to the entire soundtrack of The Sound of Music in two and a half minutes. The program had a few too many music cuts for me. They looked beautiful, though - Kaitlyn's dress reminded me a lot of the dress Maria wore in the movie when she danced with the Captain, and Andrew looked so dapper! Funny moment at practice that morning as we watched the program run-through, and my friend said, "Will Trankov be playing the role of the Nazi?" LOLOL

Meryl Davis/Charlie White closed the show with a fun program that made me smile. And it also looked incredibly intricate! I knew Meryl and Charlie would make the Yankee Polka look easy, and they did. I think they picked the perfect music (Giselle) to bring that light and easy feeling to the program. Charlie's costume is one of my favorites he's worn, and Meryl looked like a little doll. I'm in love with the skirt of her costume.

Thoughts on the free skates coming soon!

Monday, October 22, 2012

2012 Skate America - Exhibition

I can't believe the weekend is over already :( The Exhibition is always both fun and sad because it means I have to leave the world of sparkles and pretty music and go back to the real world. I'll be posting some thoughts on the competition later this week, but here are the final set of photos plus video of Meryl Davis and Charlie White's exhibition performance:

Exhibition Photos