Ice Dance Newbies

As we approach the upcoming season, there are four Ice Dance teams that will be competing on the Senior Grand Prix for the first time that I have an eye on.

Maia and Alex Shibutani (USA) - 'The Shibs' as I call them make the move into the Senior Grand Prix this season. They breezed through their Junior Grand Prix events last season and took the Bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Final. After winning U.S. Nationals they placed 4th at Junior Worlds. This team has all the making of winners and I think as time goes by and they continue to develop they'll only get better. I would think it hard to skate with a sibling but this team manages that quite well. They have the added advantage that their training mates are the top two teams in the world (Virtue/Moir and Davis/White). Look for this team to make a stamp this season.



Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam (Canada) - This team teamed up in February of 2009 (both had previously skated with different partners) and have come together very fast. They just had iffy results during the Junior Grand Prix last season but got it together to win the Canadian National Title earning them a place on the Junior World Team where they really surpassed expectations and took the silver. They have amazing attack and you don't get that they are holding back. Their technical content is also very good. Some polishing needs to happen around the edges but certainly contenders in the coming years to be sure.



Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill (Canada) - Another Canadian duo that will make their Senior Grand Prix debut this season. This team actally has competed at the senior level at Canadian Nationals since 2009 and actually competed at the Four Continents Cup last season but has yet to skate on the Senior Grand Prix until this fall. This team was 4th at the Junior Grand Prix Final and Canadian Nationals last season. This team didn't compete at Junior World's last season. This team really gets 'Dance.' They move inventively and seem really in tune with their music choices and rhythm. They remind me of Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon at times...not a bad comparison I think.



Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (Russia) - The cream of the Junior crop making the jump to Senior is easily Ilinykh and Katsalapov. They've actually had a bit of an internal rivalry with their teammates Monko and Khaliavin who beat them at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Ilinykh and Katsalapov responded with a win at the Junior World Championships over their teammates (who finished 3rd). Like the Shibutani's it seems like they have it all and as time goes on it will only get better. Favorites in Sochi? The Russian Federation would love to have a team in contention there and they may be the ones. Also, how can you not root for a guy named Nikita?



*Americans Tibbetts and Brubaker are also debuting on the Senior Grand Prix this season.

Moving on Up!

Xan over at Xanboni! reminded via Twitter this past week that we are less than 100 days until the start of the Senior Grand Prix.

There are several competitors that are choosing to make the leap from the Junior Grand Prix to the Senior Grand Prix in this post Olympic year. As we approach the new skating season I thought I'd preview some of the faces I think we should keep an eye on starting today with the men.

Nan Song (China) - Last season he was the runner up at both the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Junior World Championships. Nan is a dream in the air but has many of the classic faults that many Chinese single skaters have such as rounded shoulders, poor stretch, and lack of connection with the audience. However, as evidenced from the video below, he has worked much harder at some of those things than many Chinese skaters. There's a freedom that exists in his skating that I like...at times somehow reminds me of Patrick Chan. I think he probably could have done with another year in the Junior ranks but he's opted to move forward. The best thing he can do to improve is to find a way to bring the audience in. If he does that, he's halfway there.



Grant Hochstein (USA) - Not nearly as strong as Song in the air but Grant does a great job of paying attention to all those things like choreography, position, and audience connection. Grant actually skated as a Senior at Nationals last season placing an impressive 7th. He also made trips to the Junior Grand Prix Final and Junior World Championships. Grant has to work on his technical ability and consistency. If he can make his jumping skills as solid as his skating skills, he'll be one tough competitor.



Ross Miner (USA) - I look at Ross and I think "Yep...that's a complete package." He is solid technically and still has some artistic flair. He took the Bronze at the Grand Prix Final and like Hochstein was planning on competing as a Senior at Nationals but a nagging foot injury kept him off the ice. That same foot kept him from competing at the Junior World Championships. All Ross needs is time to develop what he already has. I do feel he needs to contain his excitement and reign it in a little so that he doesn't loose focus but that will certainly come with time (think Evan Lysacek). He's a champion in the making and the future is very bright.



Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) - He was the only Junior man last season to go undefeated winning both his Junior Grand Prix events, the Junior Grand Prix Final, Japanese Nationals (Junior) and the Junior World Championship. If Ross Miner is the complete package, Yuzuru is the complete package plus some. At this point it's just tweaking little things here and there. His greatest strength is that he has no weakness. Of all the guys making the move to Senior I feel he is the most prepared and I'll go further and say he'll be one of the top contenders on the Grand Prix this season.

Caroline's Numerous Flip-Flop's Explained

I think I put two and two together here.

Remember when Caroline Zhang left Li Mingzhu to train with Charlene Wong, only in September to about-face and reverse course back to Li Mingzhu? It all makes sense now.

When Caroline made the initial switch to Wong she said she "needed a change" to improve her skating. But I believe it had more to do with Li Mingzhu being in talks to coach China's Women's Skating Team.

News broke yesterday that Li Mingzhu has inked a four year deal to coach the Chinese Women's Team. Zhao Yinggang, director of China's Winter Sports Administrative Center, said "negotiations have been going on since last year." Just about the time Zhang thought she would be out of a coach. Deal didn't go through for that season and Zhang gets to keep her coach. Deal goes through and Zhang now again is out a coach. Thus, last week's announcement that Caroline is switching coaches to Tammy Gambill.

"I am grateful for my time with Coach Li," Zhang said in a US Figure Skating Press Release. "She has not only been a great coach for the past five years, but also a good friend to me and my family."

I get the feeling Zhang would have stuck it out with Li had the deal from China not come.

The Op-Ed: Slippery Slope

Last week, Kim, Lysacek, and Rochette all announced plans to skip the fall skating season and 'hopefully' move right into the big competitions in the back half of the season, namely Worlds.

I always think this is a terrible idea and rarely works out well for the competitors. It seems when competitors do this, if they do manage to show up, they seem woefully under-prepared. Think Sasha Cohen at U.S. Nationals this past season...talent will only get you so far (in her case a stunning short program!), but time in front of the judges and true training is what will always win the day. I just think it's a slippery slope that eventually leads to an unflattering career end. Someone will undoubtedly out-train you, out-skate you, and leave you the champion looking bewildered.

I would urge these competitors to, at the least, consider competing in one Grand Prix Event (I know the ISU frowns upon this for top seeded skaters but in the end hosting federations do have some power to invite competitors) or at least some fall skating competition (Nebelhorn?). Maybe one of those team "Counter-Match" things in Japan. Or if you do a show, make the effort to do a full run through of your competition program as one of your performances (complete with all the jumps!). Wait, do they even have free skates prepared...

I guess I'm just not a fan of the "Go Directly to Go and Collect $200" scenario when others have done their due diligence and gone all the way around the board. I always hate those cards in Monopoly. But here's the thing...the ones that go all the way around the board...they get to buy all the property. Being a Champion affords you the opportunity to pass over the smaller competitions and go directly to the big ones...but is it a smart move? What will you have lost from doing all that skipping? Food for thought.

All That Summer Skate

Currently taking place in Korea is Kim Yu-Na's blockbuster All That Summer Skate. Here is a look at her much anticipated new exhibition piece to La Roux's Bulletproof:



And if that wasn't enough for you...here is Michelle Kwan's new number to Annie Lennox's Primitive as well as her duet to Mariah Carey's Hero with Kim Yu-Na:

Playlist Shuffle

I'm always at the gym, working out, with the iPod Touch going, and constantly thinking to myself..."Oh, so and so should skate an exhibition to this." I think I'm a good judge of what music would fit certain skaters. I often want to see them do something I think they normally wouldn't. I don't know? Here are some of my thoughts. Agree or disagree?

Rachael Flatt - "Not Myself Tonight" by Christina Aguilera. I think I eluded to this is an earlier post about skating perhaps being to PC at times. I would love to see Rachael totally abandon her 'good girl' image and skate to something downright naughty! I think it would do wonders for her career to get her out of this 'goody goody two-shoes' typecast.

Kimmie Meissner - "Send in the Clowns" by Judy Collins. I love the simplicity of this music and I think I miss that most in Kimmie Meissner's skating. I would love to see Kimmie hit the ice with a gentle piece of music, soft understated choreography, and basic command of skating that shows off the very best of what she has to offer.

Virtue and Moir - "Saturday" by Basshunter. This is basically a oddball thought but I would love to see these two kill an Ice Dance number to a hard hitting club hit. They have the youthfulness and audience connection I think to pull this off.

Akiko Suzuki - "Waka Waka (Time For Africa)" by Shakira. Akiko was one of my breakout favorites last season and I love that she doesn't mind letting loose on the ice. This song is all about freedom of movement and fun and I think she could really have a lot of fun with it on the ice.

Ryan Bradley - "Like We Used To" by A Rocket To The Moon. It's a charming piece of music and I think Ryan Bradley has the sensibility to pull it off. It's not a comedy piece but rather a story of a young man's heart. Somehow seems perfect for him...at least to me.

Jeremy Abbott - "Cry Me a River" by Michael Buble. I know, I know...JerBear has done Buble before...but he's so good at it! This song has a different more sophisticated feel than his "Save the Last Dance For Me" number he did a few years ago. Abbott and Buble go together like bread and butter.

Evora and Ladwig - "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee. Despite the fact these two aren't romantically involved they still have a great connection on the ice. I think a slow romantic piece that they could accent with their amazing lifts would be amazing.

Kim Yu-Na - "Louboutins" by Jennifer Lopez. I would start off the program with this fierce walk right down center ice and then she just kills it from that point on (oh boy, now I'm choreographing...watch out!). I think her Bond Short from last season showed us she could do sexy...this would just take it to the next level.

Johnny Weir - "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin. Something about the tension and slight angst in this song I feel Johnny would kill at a rock program. It's such a departure from what you might expect from him but I think he'd surprise himself.

Did I hit the mark or am I way off base?

Feedback

In my ongoing pursuit of aesthetic perfection I've again updated the look of Axels, Loops, and Spins. What do you think? All feedback good and bad welcome.

UPDATE: Okay, another design look. Further feedback welcome.

UPDATE: Winner?

Free Ticket

A friend asked me what my plans where for January (she's planning a birthday celebration in Las Vegas) and I told her at the end of January I was absolutely planning on being in Greensboro, North Carolina for U.S. Nationals.

Don't worry, her birthday doesn't conflict and I'm pretty sure I can do both!

But back to Nationals, now is a great time to get an All-Event Ticket to the 2011 U.S. National Championships (yes I am shamelessly promoting the event but it's one of my faves!). Why is now such a great time? Because if you buy an All-Event Ticket now, they'll throw in a free ticket to the Skating Spectacular (Exhibition) following the event. Furthermore, based upon your ticket selection, they'll throw in a free 2011 Nationals merchandise premium item.

The catch...you have to buy the ticket this month.

I'm going...you should go...everyone should go!

Message of Hope

I was reading over at Required Elements that Kim Yu-Na has been named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. I visited the Republic of Korea UNICEF site and found a touching message from Kim Yu-Na:



You can donate to the UNICEF Haitian Relief Fund here.

Anyone Actually Surprised?

Last week in NY Mag Johnny eluded to the fact that he wasn't doing much skating. Less than a week later he announces he won't be competing next season.

Really, is anyone actually surprised?

Susan @ Lifeskate has posted the letter that Johnny has issued to his fans where he discusses his withdrawal from next season's competition. In short, he has to many projects on his plate right now and wants to reinvent himself as an artist and athlete.

The main reason for my decision is to have more time to reinvent my skating. I want to create a new skating image for myself so that when I return to competitive skating, I can perform in a way that is both unique and inspiring. I say all of this in hopes that I will return as a competitor for the 2011-2012 season.

I'll put money on it now...Johnny will not be returning for the 2011-12 season. And furthermore, sorry Hardcore Weir fans, I'm willing to bet he doesn't return competitively at all. I think this letter is the "how do I gradually tell my fans I'm done competing without pulling the rug completely out from under them" type of statement. He'll probably keep us guessing through Sochi (to keep the mystery alive) and then pull a Michelle Kwan and "opt out."

And lets be even more honest, he had to scrape to make the Olympic Team this season (somewhere Ryan Bradley is pouting right now) and the odds of him making it again in 4 years...nil I think.

But can we get a second season of Be Good Johnny Weir? That's great television!

In Johnny's Closet

Johnny Weir recently opened up his closet to NY Mag Fashion Editor Amy Odell. He dished on all things Fur, Chanel, Louboutin, shopping, pillows, his new clothing line, etc.

One piece of the Q&A caught my attention:

I’ve been so busy, and it seems like it’s been a long time since the Olympics, but it really hasn’t and I haven’t stopped doing appearances and performing. And I'm writing my single and trying to write my book. And I found a little bit of cellulite yesterday so I’ve been in the gym every day.

Those hoping and praying that miraculously Johnny will be competing next season...well, that quote makes it seem unlikely.