The 2010 TIME 100: Kim Yu-Na

By Michelle Kwan

I couldn't have been more surprised or honored last summer when Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na told me that as a 7-year-old, she was so inspired by my skating at the 1998 Winter Games that she memorized my skating routines, pretending to be at the Olympics. Twelve years later, she no longer had to pretend. I have never seen a skater with such a combination of artistry and athleticism. From the first notes of her sassy James Bond medley to the closing Gershwin strains, Kim's inspiring performances in Vancouver changed the face of figure skating forever. Those 6½ minutes on the ice left not only a mark in the record book but also an indelible impression on millions of young girls around the world. For Kim, the dream that began as a 7-year-old has been realized. For these girls, thanks to her, a dream and journey are just beginning.

Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984949_1985220,00.html#ixzz0mcWTgmgJ

The Op-Ed: Attitude

In figure skating, attitude makes such a big difference in how effective you are as a competitor. I'm not talking "attitude" like if your sassy or if you are quiet. I'm talking "attitude," where your head is.

I was pleased as punch when I read this week that Virtue and Moir will be competing next season. These two represent the perfect example of a great attitude in their approach to skating. You can have all the skills and talent in the world, but if your attitude isn't right, you'll never be as successful as hope to be.

"When I look back on my life, at my skating career, and I won the Olympics and I was fourth at the next one, it’s not going bug me," said Scott Moir. That's a telling statement. For many...if not most...that WOULD bug them. This entire season you could look at Tanith Belbin and see the frustration in her eyes. Olympic Silver Medalist in Torino, she and Ben were supposed to be the Gold Medalists this time...right? Tanith and Ben handled their defeat well this season, always gracious, but you could tell it bugged them.

If I was an Olympic Medalist and continued competing for four more years to finish off the podium...I would be bugged!

Virtue and Moir's expectationless mindset, however, is perfect moving forward. To be a champion, that is in fact the only attitude one should have after a great achievement. It frees you up from personal expectation and allows you to grow. If the only goal is win, win, win...you haven't given yourself much breathing room have you? That mindset caused many Olympians in Vancouver to walk away from great achievements feeling like failures...and that's unfortunate. To learn, sometimes we have to fail.

I'll get off my soapbox and stop expounding upon my like of Virtue and Moir's attitude but one final point. Their attitude shows they are doing what they are doing for the best reason: because they love skating. That's the best attitude of all.

Pic of the Week

Coaching Changes are abound! Several of my blogging contemporaries have filled you in on Samuelson and Bates' intention to train with the power duo Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva. We also caught wind a couple of weeks ago that Denis Ten will make the move to L.A. to train with Frank Carroll.

Nobunari Oda, too, it seems is making a switch too...or rather a return. Oda is going back to Lee Barkell", who coached him as a young'in and was Oda's coach as he debuted on the Senior level.

This season has been a complete head scratcher as far as Nobunari is concerned. Brilliant start at Trophy Eric Bompard and continued great performances all the way through until his Olympic Free Skate where he had to stop mid program, breaking that great Charlie Chaplin character and ending with an uninspiring finish. Then at worlds he popped every single jump in his short and failed to even qualify for the free skate...ouch.

Sometimes you just need a change. It's hard to say that Morozov, who coached Oda the past several seasons, is at fault with this poor season finish. Up until that Olympic Free Skate Oda was on a roll. I think it is just a shake-up that one has to go through to refocus themselves...get out of the comfort zone if you will.

He has his sights set on Sochi, fully committing himself to compete for the next four years training in both Japan and Canada. Time will tell if Oda can finally put all the pieces together.

Evan Can Dance

Fall from Grace?

I will again explain to all that I am ballroom dumb. I don't have a clue what about what makes what a great dance if it isn't on ice. I just watch and go..."Oh I loved it!" or "That was kind of lame." I'm more concerned with being entertained than I am about heel-leads.

Apparently Evan didn't do a correct Samba and the judges nailed him a bit for it. Something about bounce, rise and fall, and 'party atmosphere.'

Well, correct Samaba or not, I loved it. The booty shake was especially impressive! His swing dance was less impressive and it showed as he didn't make it far in that portion of the competition.

Sadly, Evan fell from his lofty position near the top of the leaderboard into middlish ground with several other teams. Then he had to sweat it out until the very end of the show as he and Anna where the very last team to be granted safety before they revealed the bottom two.

Jake, The Bachelor was sent packing. His ballroom stumbles (it was like every week he was tripping up on his feet!) finally caught up with him. But I give him credit...I did like the 'Risky Business' bit without the pants (devilish grin).

Orser to coach Asada?

The Korea Times posted this little diddy the other day on their website:

The man who made the South Korean-born Kim Yu-na become the queen of the world’s figure skating might leave her for her archrival.

Brian Orser, the Canadian figure-skating coach for Kim, was recently offered a position to become a coach for Asada Mao, Kim’s Japanese rival, JoongAng Ilbo said on Saturday.

Bad chemistry between Mao and her Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova was blamed for Mao’s motivation to seek out Orser, it said.

Tarasova has been coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in skating history. As of 2006, her students have won a combined total of 9 Olympic gold medals in three of the four Olympic figure skating disciplines, earning her the title of "Champion maker".

But the personal dynamics between this champion maker and the Japanese figure skater didn’t work out quite well. Some media outlets made unflattering remarks about “Bell,” Mao’s most recent free-skating program, choreographed by Tarasova, the “worst.”
“Now Orser is in a dilemma whether he should take the offer or not,” it said.

It all seems a bit "tabloidish" if you ask me but the prospects are interesting and open a whole new round of questions. I don't think Orser would even consider such a move if Kim were to continue competing. If these rumors are true does this signal the end of Kim Yu-Na's competitive career?

But...Orser has denied that he will take the job. However, I can't imagine that if Kim were to stop competing he wouldn't be tempted...

Evan Can Dance

Admittedly, I was slightly afraid for Evan this week knowing he would be dancing the Rhumba this week on Dancing with the Stars. Hip action....eeek!

But I was pleasantly surprised when he managed to almost look like he was feeling the groove. Hip Action...I give a B+! The song Evan and Anna got was the best ever!

The judges were right, his upper body is the best in the competition. I'm telling you it's those huge limbs (I''d love to see Michael Phelps and Evan Lysacek stand back-to-back, extend their arms, and see who has the longer wingspan [deleted off topic thought]...Phelps by a finger?).

His lower body, well, like I said...B+. The judges were impressed, Carrie Ann just wants Evan to connect the fluidity of his upper body with his lower body. Solid scores, but he slipped from the top spot back down to number two behind Nicole who delivered a fierce (fierce I say!) Tango.

Evan is still breezing by, easily safe. But c'mon America...stop sippin' on the Pamela Anderson haterade...bottom two again! Thankfully she didn't go home...that honor went to Kate Gosselin...finally.

Pic of the Week

This Pic of the Week comes courtesy of Tim David, the creator, director, and producer of One Step Closer which was a figure skating exhibition to benefit the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

The picture is, of course, Angela Maxwell, on of the up and coming stars in U.S. Figure Skating. She performed in One Step Closer and here is a cool stro-motion look at her back flip.

I love Angela...she has a lot of spunk! Take a look at this interview Susan at Lifeskate did with Angela earlier in the season.

Evan Can Dance

I'm on a mission...to get my hands on a nifty Team Evanna Bracelet!

So how does one obtain such highly esteemed merchandise? THEY TWEET!

Here's the skinny, tonight between 6:30p and 8:30p EST, Tweet #TeamEvanna with Evan Lysacek's voting info. His voting info is: Call 1-800-868-3406, text VOTE to 3406 (AT&T only) or visit http://ow.ly/1xAm4

If you can make that fit into a tweet one of these bracelets could be yours! Each tweet you send becomes an entry for one of these bracelets.

I'll certainly be attempting to get one, so if you need a tweet example (twexample?) you can follow my lead @skating102

Weir to Pen Book

After a few suspicious tweets from Johnny Weir last week speculation began to fly that he was perhaps in talks to write a book.

Well, the speculation can end. It was announced today that he has entered into a deal with Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books to publish a yet to be named book.

"His book will be all things Johnny — vivacious, stylish, honest and one-of-a-kind," said Jennifer Bergstrom, vice president and editor-in-chief of Gallery Books.

The book is scheduled for a January 2011 release.

I have this burning feeling this will be a must have! I pray it's tell all full of snark and sass that only Johnny can deliver.

Cake and Candles: Mirai Nagasu

Happy 17th Birthday Mirai Nagasu!

She's just 17...geez, I feel like I've been watching her for years now. She's pulling a Michelle Kwan and growing up right in front of us.

This season I think Mirai got more lessons and experience under her belt than most get in a year. I get the idea that next year will be bright and full of promise.

3rd Annual Loop Axel Awards

Alright, part two of the Loop Axel Awards...time to have a little fun.

The categories are:

*Best Throw/Jump
*Hottest Skater
*The Twitterholic (NEW)
*Best Coach
*Most Improved Skater
*Best New Face
*Most Controversial (NEW)
*Best Outfit
*Memorable Moment of the Season (NEW)
*Blog of the Year (NEW)
*Reader's Choice: Skater of the Year

*Best Throw/Jump...the nominees are:

+Daisuke Takahashi - Quad Flip - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Mao Asada - Triple Axel - 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Short)
+Evgeny Plushenko - Quad Toe/Triple Toe - 2009 Rostelecom Cup (Short)
+Inoue and Baldwin - Throw Triple Axel - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Jeremy Abbott - Quad Toe - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)

And the winner is...Mao Asada - Triple Axel - 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In the pressure cooker that was that ladies Olympic short, it was a huge accomplishment to not only make history by landing the jump at the Olympics, but to hold up to the intense pressure that was being put on her. It was really fantastic and we all gasped when she hit it!

*Hottest Skater...the nominees are:

+Daisuke Takahashi
+Joannie Rochette
+Aliona Savchenko
+Charlie White
+Tanith Belbin

And the winner is...Tanith Belbin. Tough competition in this category but I think this time around Tanith wins out. At one point this season she was on the cover of Men's Health scantily clad and everyone was like..."woah!"

*The Twitterholic...the nominees are:

+Jeffrey Buttle (@J_Butt)
+Jeremy Abbott (@jeremyabbottpcf)
+Ana Cecilia Cantu (@cantufeelicks)
+Michael Weiss (@MichaelWeiss2)
+Charlie White (@CharlieAWhite)

And the winner is...Ana Cecilia Cantu. The National Champ of Mexico has some of the best tweets ever! She says what she wants and is always great for a laugh (and a great sit spin if you ever get the pleasure to see her in competition). If you aren't following her on Twitter...you should!

*Best Coach...the nominees are:

+Frank Carroll
+Brian Orser
+Yao Bin
+Igor Shpilband
+Jim Peterson

And the winner is...Brian Orser. This choice of all the awards for me was the hardest to choose because each of those coaches basically were completely amazing but I gave the award to Brian Orser because he had to guide Kim Yu-Na through far more than practice sessions. He had to basically manage a nations super-star and not only help her compete well, but stand up and handle the enormous pressure S. Korea was putting on her shoulders. Oh...and he's done an amazing job with Adam Rippon and Christina Gao too!

*Most Improved Skater...the nominees are:

+Michal Brezina
+Adam Rippon
+Akiko Suzuki
+Zaretski and Zaretski
+Faiella and Scali

And the winner is...Akiko Suzuki. Not that she didn't have her rough patches this season but to go from a long shot to make the Japanese Olympic Team last season to a Grand Prix Gold Medalist, Grand Prix Final Bronze Medalist, Japanese National Silver Medalist, and Four Continents Silver Medalist is quite impressive. Also, in almost every competition she managed to skate her butt off in the free skate. Also, she took a tired piece of music (West Side Story) and breathed new life into it.

*Best New Face...the nominees are:

+Kevin Reynolds
+Florent Amodio
+Ksenya Makarova
+Michal Brezina
+Adam Rippon

And the winner is...Michal Brezina. All season long I've called the young Czech a breath of fresh air. Easy straight forward skating and natural jumps. He gradually over the course of this season established himself as the top Czech skater over veteran Tomas Verner and his season culminated with a near flawless free skate at World's that I felt should have earned him a place on the podium. He may have come up short in Torino but he's the clear winner here!

*Most Controversial...and the nominees are:

+Evgeny Plushenko
+Sasha Cohen
+Johnny Weir
+Kim Yu-Na
+Domnina and Shabalin

And the winner is...Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. They had the entire Australian Olympic Committee after them over that Aboriginal Original Dance. The social ramification and ripples that one dance sent through the figure skating community in the run-up to the Olympics was more controversial than anything coming out of Plushenko's mouth, fur on Johnny's shoulder, Sasha's inability to show up at a competition, or an earring on Kim Yu-Na's ear.

*Best Outfit...and the nominees are:

+Davis and White - Original Dance
+Samuel Contesti - Free Skate
+Savchenko and Szolkowy - Free Skate
+Johnny Weir - Short Program
+Evan Lysacek - Short Program

And the winner is...Evan Lysacek - Short Program. I just loved that all black with the feathers around his neck and hands. I thought it was striking and powerful and perfect for his stature and the music. Also, his long limbs just accentuated the outfit and the performance.

*Memorable Moment of the Season...and the nominees are:

+Amanda Evora's flood of tears after earning an Olympic Berth.
+Joannie Rochette hugging her father after her Olympic Short Program.
+Evgeny Plushenko's #1 finger upon completing his free skate at Rostelecom Cup.
+John Baldwin's expression and interaction with the judges upon Rena Inoue's successful completion of the throw triple axel.
+Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's final pose in their Olympic Free Dance.
+Sasha Cohen's entire U.S. Nationals short program.

And the winner is...John Baldwin's expression and interaction with the judges upon Rena Inoue's successful completion of the throw triple axel. I mean it was priceless! He popped his finger straight up and gave the judges this look like "What! C'mon!" He showed her off beautifully and it was awesome! All of that on top of the fact she had just landed a throw triple axel.

*Blog of the Year...and the nominees are:

+Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand
+Required Elements
+jumping clapping man
+XanBoni!
+Blips of Todd...
+Ice Charades

And the winner is...It's so hard to judge your peers so I give everyone the award! Wait...you're note letting me cop out like that? Okay, okay...The winner is...Blips of Todd...It's so funny to see the other side of the skaters you watch compete. What you might think is their personality based upon what they do on the ice is nothing like who they really are and Todd Gilles' Vlog gives us little 'blips of Todd' that let us into his very character in a very fun and charming way. I can say however, without reserve, that all the blogs listed here and even many that aren't are amazing.

*Reader's Choice: Skater of the Year...and the nominees are:

+Shen and Zhao
+Daisuke Takahashi
+Virtue and Moir
+Kim Yu-Na
+Davis and White

And the winner is...Kim Yu-Na. The people have spoken and Kim Yu-Na is Queen indeed! I don't think there is any arguing with this choice or any of the five skaters/teams chosen to vie for this award. Kim Yu-Na has been tremendous this season, her Olympic Free in particular was stunning. She's a national hero and treasure for South Korea and how fortunate they are to have her!.

Pic of the Week

There is a sunny end to most stormy times. This rings true for Mao Asada.

She began the season as the co-favorite for Olympic Gold and over the course of the season nearly self-imploded.

But she clawed back! Someone on FormSpring asked me what I liked about Mao Asada as a person...I love that she has a never quit mentality. She pulled herself together to win Japanese Nationals. Then she came from behind to win the Four Continents Cup.

By the time the Olympics rolled around we almost believed again that she could challenge Kim Yu-Na who was, by this point, the overwhelming favorite. She wasn't able to catch her but she gave it a good shot (and three triple axels in the process!) especially considering the rough patch she went through.

The clouds broke in Torino at the World Championships when she came back out on top. And you could see, quite literally, the stress come off her shoulders.

Now the reigning World Champion is bumping elbows with Emperor Akihito at the spring garden party at Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo. She's even made it into the Guinness World Record Book! Talk about zero to hero.

Looking forward to next season, apparently a new coach is in the works (whew!). Hopefully we've seen the last of Maoasova Asadakova. In a Quick Poll, by a slim margin respondents thought Nikolai Morozov was the best choice for Asada. I'm going to go on record and officially disagree with that choice...I say avoid the Russian style for now. I have to admit I love the irony a choice like Brian Orser would represent (In Vancouver he did call her 'fiesty')...could go a long way towards to rival fan faction burying the hatchet but I'm not holding my breath.

3rd Annual Loop Axel Awards

Ah yes, it's that time of year when we get to bask in the after glow of the season and hand out some much deserved awards. This season is especially interesting as it was an Olympic year.

Sit back...relax...and let the awards begin!

Much like last year, this will be a two day affair. We'll get the official stuff out of the way today and have a little more fun tomorrow!

The categories are:

*Best Ladies Free Program
*Best Men's Free Program
*Best Free Dance
*Best Pairs Free Program
*Best Comeback
*Best Olympic Performance (NEW)
*Short Program/Original Dance of the Year
*Best Forgotten Performance of the Season
*Worst Performance of the Season
*Skater of the Year

*Best Ladies Free Program...the nominees are:

+Mao Asada - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships
+Joannie Rochette - 2010 Canadian Nationals
+Akiko Suzuki - 2009 Samsung Anycall Cup of China
+Kim Yu-Na - 2010 Olympic Winter Games

And the winner is...Kim Yu-Na - Gershwin's Concerto in F - 2010 Olympic Winter Games. I don't think there was a lot of competition here. That was not only the greatest ladies free this season but perhaps this decade (ever?). It was sophisticated, elegant, reserved, thoughtful, and really just brilliant.

*Best Men's Free Program...the nominees are:

+Nobunari Oda - 2009 Trophy Eric Bompard
+Jeremy Abbott - 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
+Daisuke Takahashi - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships
+Evgeny Plushenko - 2009 Rostelecom Cup
+Evan Lysacek - 2010 Olympic Winter Games

The winner is...Jeremy Abbott - Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships. That was hard because almost equally as impressive was Daisuke Takahashi's World's Free. I went with Abbott because it was delivered with effortless perfection while Takahashi had to work it a little (little two foot on the quad flip, muscled triple flip/triple toe combo). Both were masterpieces though.

*Best Free Dance...the nominees are:

+Davis and White - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Weaver and Poje - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Virtue and Moir - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Faiella and Scali - 2010 European Championships
+Belbin and Agosto - 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America

The winner is...Meryl Davis and Charlie White - Webber's Phantom of the Opera - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships. It was such an impressive skate because Belbin and Agosto had thrown down the gauntlet with an amazing performance of their own but Meryl and Charlie just killed it in return...it was incredible.

*Best Pairs Free Program...the nominees are:

+Shen and Zhao - 2009 ISU Grand Prix Final
+Denney and Barrett - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Savchenko and Szolkowy - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Pang and Tong - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Sui and Han - 2009 Junior Grand Prix: Belarus

The winner is...Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy - Out of Africa Soundtrack - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada. This was another tough call. The other performance I considered for top honors was Shen and Zhao's Grand Prix Final performance but in my gut I just thought Savchenko and Szolkowy had a little tiny spark that made their performance extra special.

*Best Comeback...the nominees are:

+Evgeny Plushenko
+Sasha Cohen
+Stéphane Lambiel
+Shen and Zhao

The winner is...Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao. In this award which seems very fitting in Olympic years, the candidates were the four who made competitive comebacks this season, and out of all of them, Shen and Zhao certainly took the cake for coming out ahead, nailing an Olympic Gold in the process.

*Best Olympic Performance...the nominees are:

+Joannie Rochette
+Davis and White
+Virtue and Moir
+Johnny Weir
+Kim Yu-Na

The winner is...Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir - Mahler's Symphony No. 5. There were several sensational Olympic performances I considered for this new award, again applicable only in Olympic years, but their performance seemed most fitting, largely due to the fact that they did it at home against several teams all skating their very best. Joannie Rochette's inspiring demonstration of courage was given great consideration. I was there...there were very few dry eyes after both of her performances.

*Short Program/Original Dance of the Year...the nominees are:

+Kim Yu-Na - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Mao Asada - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Sasha Cohen - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Denis Ten - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Davis and White - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships

The winner is...Meryl Davis and Charlie White - Indian Folk Dance - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships. This seemed an easy choice as it was one of the most original things put to ice. Any performance of this OD this entire season is worthy of the award.

*Best Forgotten Performance of the Season...the nominees are:

+Shawn Sawyer - 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America (Free)
+Tomas Verner - 2009 Eric Bompard Trophy (Short)
+Sergei Voronov - 2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships (Short)
+McLaughlin and Brubaker - 2009 Rostelecom Cup (Short)
+Navarro and Bommentre - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)

The winner is...Shawn Sawyer - Amadeus Soundtrack - 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America. It was the most unlikely silver medal of the entire Grand Prix series but it was well earned when a good deal of the men's field at that event commenced in a splat fest.

*Worst Performance of the Season...the nominees are:

+Nobunari Oda - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships (Short)
+Brian Joubert - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Jeremy Abbott - 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Short)
+Sasha Cohen - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Jeremy Abbott - 2009 NHK Trophy (Free)

And the winner is...Nobunari Oda - Mrvica's Totentanz - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships. Poor thing...not only did he pop every single jump in that short program, but for the first time failed to even qualify for the free skate. Ouch!

*Skater of the Year...and the nominees are:

+Davis and White
+Kim Yu-Na
+Shen and Zhao
+Virtue and Moir
+Evan Lysacek

And the winner is...Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao. What they accomplished was nothing short of extraordinary. And I love that they didn't just comeback to just do the Olympics...they did the whole season and went undefeated in the process. Four Olympics, three Olympic Medals...impressive!

Check back tomorrow for the second half of the 3rd Annual Loop Axel Awards

Evan Can Dance

Evan continues his reign atop the leaderboard, winning the top spot for the second week in a row for his Tango. He's really pulling this off Kristi Yamaguchi style! In fact, Kristi was in the audience giving him a stamp of approval with a hearty round of applause.

All the competitors received two sets of scores for performance and technique, Evan garnering 52 out of 60 points. Bruno commented on Evan's performance, "Strong. Powerful with a hint of catlike arrogance." Carrie Ann said "Perfect blend of artistry and technique."

But...isn't there always a but...

While Evan is producing technical, solid, judge impressing programs...he is still lacking a natural spark and connection with the audience...sound familiar?

This week, while he produced the best dance, it wasn't necessarily the crowd favorite. I think that Pamela Anderson took that prize with an elegant and sophisticated Rumba. It wasn't technically the best, but it had soul. If Evan can figure out how to not only dance the best but sell it the best, he'll for sure to be the one to beat!

But what Evan did was more than enough to keep him and Anna safe. In the end, it was soap star Aiden Turner that bit the dust after several weeks of sub par performances.

And The Nominees Are...

Next week, the highly anticipated (humor me!) 3rd Annual Loop Axel Awards are announced. Like any big awards, the nominees are announced in advance, so I thought I'd follow suit. You also get a sneak peek at the new Awards created this year.

It'll be interesting to see who the pre-award buzz is for vs who I actually gave the award to. Care to conjecture on who some of the winners are? It's already decided...can you guess?

So without further ado...

*Best Ladies Free Program
+Mao Asada - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships
+Joannie Rochette - 2010 Canadian Nationals
+Akiko Suzuki - 2009 Samsung Anycall Cup of China
+Kim Yu-Na - 2010 Olympic Winter Games

*Best Men's Free Program
+Nobunari Oda - 2009 Trophy Eric Bompard
+Jeremy Abbott - 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
+Daisuke Takahashi - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships
+Evgeny Plushenko - 2009 Rostelecom Cup
+Evan Lysacek - 2010 Olympic Winter Games

*Best Free Dance
+Davis and White - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Weaver and Poje - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Virtue and Moir - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Faiella and Scali - 2010 European Championships
+Belbin and Agosto - 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America

*Best Pairs Free Program
+Shen and Zhao - 2009 ISU Grand Prix Final
+Denney and Barrett - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Savchenko and Szolkowy - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Pang and Tong - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Sui and Han - 2009 Junior Grand Prix: Belarus

*Best Comeback
+Evgeny Plushenko
+Sasha Cohen
+Stéphane Lambiel
+Shen and Zhao

*Best Olympic Performance (NEW)
+Joannie Rochette
+Davis and White
+Virtue and Moir
+Johnny Weir
+Kim Yu-Na

*Short Program/Original Dance of the Year
+Kim Yu-Na - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Mao Asada - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Sasha Cohen - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships
+Denis Ten - 2009 HomeSense Skate Canada
+Davis and White - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships

*Best Forgotten Performance of the Season
+Shawn Sawyer - 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America (Free)
+Tomas Verner - 2009 Eric Bompard Trophy (Short)
+Sergei Voronov - 2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships (Short)
+McLaughlin and Brubaker - 2009 Rostelecom Cup (Short)
+Navarro and Bommentre - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)

*Worst Performance of the Season
+Nobunari Oda - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships (Short)
+Brian Joubert - 2010 Olympic Winter Games
+Jeremy Abbott - 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Short)
+Sasha Cohen - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Jeremy Abbott - 2009 NHK Trophy (Free)

*Skater of the Year
+Davis and White
+Kim Yu-Na
+Shen and Zhao
+Virtue and Moir
+Evan Lysacek

*Best Throw/Jump
+Daisuke Takahashi - Quad Flip - 2010 World Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Mao Asada - Triple Axel - 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Short)
+Evgeny Plushenko - Quad Toe/Triple Toe - 2009 Rostelecom Cup (Short)
+Inoue and Baldwin - Throw Triple Axel - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)
+Jeremy Abbott - Quad Toe - 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (Free)

*Hottest Skater
+Daisuke Takahashi
+Joannie Rochette
+Aliona Savchenko
+Charlie White
+Tanith Belbin

*The Twitterholic (NEW)
+Jeffrey Buttle (@J_Butt)
+Jeremy Abbott (@jeremyabbottpcf)
+Ana Cecilia Cantu (@cantufeelicks)
+Michael Weiss (@MichaelWeiss2)
+Charlie White (@CharlieAWhite)

*Best Coach
+Frank Carroll
+Brian Orser
+Yao Bin
+Igor Shpilband
+Jim Peterson

*Most Improved Skater
+Michal Brezina
+Adam Rippon
+Akiko Suzuki
+Zaretski and Zaretski
+Faiella and Scali

*Best New Face
+Kevin Reynolds
+Florent Amodio
+Ksenya Makarova
+Michal Brezina
+Adam Rippon

*Most Controversial (NEW)
+Evgeny Plushenko
+Sasha Cohen
+Johnny Weir
+Kim Yu-Na
+Domnina and Shabalin

*Best Outfit
+Davis and White - Original Dance
+Samuel Contesti - Free Skate
+Savchenko and Szolkowy - Free Skate
+Johnny Weir - Short Program
+Evan Lysacek - Short Program

*Memorable Moment of the Season (NEW)
+Amanda Evora's flood of tears after earning an Olympic Berth.
+Joannie Rochette hugging her father after her Olympic Short Program.
+Evgeny Plushenko's #1 finger upon completing his free skate at Rostelecom Cup.
+John Baldwin's expression and interaction with the judges upon Rena Inoue's successful completion of the throw triple axel.
+Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's final pose in their Olympic Free Dance.
+Sasha Cohen's entire U.S. Nationals short program.

*Blog of the Year
+Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand
+Required Elements
+jumping clapping man
+XanBoni!
+Blips of Todd...
+Ice Charades

*Reader's Choice: Skater of the Year
+Shen and Zhao
+Daisuke Takahashi
+Virtue and Moir
+Kim Yu-Na
+Davis and White

Evan Can Dance

It just seems fitting that this post should follow the previous post...the irony of it all...

Anywho, Evan Lysacek vaulted himself into first place amongst all the celebrities on Dancing With the Stars, despite two broken toes. His Quick Step set to the music of "Chicago" was well received by the judges. They are still picking on him about his feet. I guess going from skating to dancing is a tricky transition.

Even though Evan was the top point grabber, I still think he was outshined by Nicole Scherzinger who delivered a fierce Quick Step to music from the musical "Anything Goes." However, Derek broke the rules and went with a fun and playful routine chock full of choreography instead of a traditional Quick Step, which soured Len's grapes and caused the lower score.

Broken toes aside, Evan and Anna were picked to do the encore dance during last nights elimination episode. Anna and Evan were safe and it was Kate Gosslein and Buzz Aldrin that found themselves in the bottom two.

In the end, Buzz Aldrin was given his marching orders and sent home.

Pic of the Week

Oh Johnny...

He is the master at keeping himself in the skating world headlines. This week, it's tweets about a possible upcoming book, a fresh round round of Evan snubs, and more on his vision of a yet to be created 'Spectacular' at Madison Square Garden featuring Lady GaGa. He's never boring, that's for sure.

First, the book tweet is causing quite the stir among literary circles on Twitter. I think should this book ever come about, it be a hit and could seriously up his celebrity cred.

Second, Johnny called his vision of a show with Lady GaGa (Elton John too!) a "Spectacular" taping some of his favorite skaters to be in it (Yu-Na Kim and Sasha Cohen making the list of possible performers).

Who doesn't make the list of possible attendees...Evan Lysacek. Johnny told Michelle Ruiz of the New York Magazine Daily Intel Blog, "Evan is fine as a person. We've been competitors for years and years and years and that's kinda the forefront to us being people to each other. I think he worked very hard and he deserved that Olympic gold medal and he does a good job. He does his work. But as a person I don't really know him that well and we've never really made the effort to be nice to each other." Ruiz asked Johnny if he watched Evan on Dancing with the Stars..."No. And I won't." To cap it all off, he tweeted a good luck message to Nicole Scherzinger yesterday.

Book writing, skating spectaculars, glitz and glamour...I get the idea that we will NOT be seeing Johnny on competitive ice again. But somehow, the thought of him as more a performer vs competitor is more appealing to me.

Thanks Doreen, Jill, Ice Mom for the updates!

The Op-Ed: Where's the Grand Prix?

There apparently have been some rumors floating around that the yearly Grand Prix event held in Paris (Trophy Eric Bompard) is to be no more. There are further rumors and conjecture that a new event to replace it will be in Korea.

I have no evidence to confirm or deny any of this...this is just what I'm hearing.

This got me thinking about Grand Prix events as a whole. While Figure Skating is certainly booming in Asia, it still seems a bit lopsided to have three events there and only one in Europe should they make that decision. It just doesn't seem fair. On Twitter, one person did remark, "When has anything the ISU has ever done, been accomplished under a 'Fairness' doctrine? Watch them go with Korea!"

Then I thought how unfair it is really that 6 countries get Grand Prix events every single year. They don't do this for the Junior Grand Prix, why do we do it for the Senior Grand Prix?

What do you think of my two year Grand Prix Schedule (this is of course fictional):

Year One
Skate America - Boston, Massachussetts
Skate Australia - Brisbane, Australia
Skate Italy - Milan, Italy
NHK Trophy - Sapporo, Japan
Skate Mexico - Mexico City, Mexico
Skate Korea - Seoul, S. Korea

Year Two
Skate South Africa - Durban, S. Africa
Cup of China - Beijing, China
Skate Canada - Calgary, Canada
Rostelecom Cup - St. Petersburg, Russia
Skate Finland - Kuopio, Finland
Skate New Zealand - Auckland, New Zealand

Every year, six events are chosen that hop around the world giving more global exposure to figure skating. What a prospect.

Of course, I know the answer to my previous question...it's all about money. In order to do a globe hopping Senior Grand Prix where all the big stars are skating, the ISU would need to be sure it could generate some cash flow and sponsorship to do it. Can New Zealand bring in the same kind of cash as say Japan...not likely.

The solution, I think, is to be more privatized and less localized with how events are sponsored. Instead of US Figure Skating looking for a title sponsor for Skate America (such as Cancer.Net), the ISU could name 6 big sponsors each year (say for example Samsung, Visa, RBS, Ferrari, Toyota, and Microsoft) and work with them to find a location capable of supporting an event. You give the sponsor the choice in expanding their advertisement reach while being more flexible and expansive in delivering world class figure skating. Giving the big sponsor a voice in the event location could be a bargaining chip in lowering the price of nabbing such a huge sponsor.

I'm a numbers guy...this could work!

The only hurdle left would be Member Federations fighting to keep their annual events. How much of the proceeds from Skate America make up the annual operating budget for US Figure Skating. Might be hard to get the ISU Congress which is heavily controlled by those nations with yearly Grand Prix Events to give them up.

The Reader's Choice Final Five

All last week readers posted, tweeted, and facebooked their choice for skater of the year. It was very close but five emerged as the top vote getters. The five skaters you've decided to nominate for Reader's Choice Award for Skater of the Year are (in no particular order):

Meryl Davis and Charlie White

Kim Yu-Na

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao

Daisuke Takahashi

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir

The poll is up over on the sidebar.

Bummed your choice didn't make the list? It was a really close vote. All of these skaters had votes...just not enough: Mao Asada, Evgeny Plushenko, Michal Brezina, Adam Rippon, Evan Lysacek, Ryan Bradley, Mirai Nagasu, Johnny Weir, Pang and Tong, and Joannie Rochette.

Happy voting!

Happy Easter

To all those celebrating, Happy Easter.

Pic of the Week

It was such a rocky road from the outset. But I thought they had finally put themselves on the right path this season...I thought Oleg's money collection jar finally had them liking each other and not screaming at one another. I thought Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov had finally figured it out...I thought wrong.

Yes, it's splitsville for the #2 Russian duo. Sadly, it comes after one of their most successful seasons together as a team, even if it didn't include an Olympic Medal...or a top six at the Olympics...or a World Medal.

Their career has been like the throw triple salchow they did in their free skate at World's this season. Maria landed it beautifully...trouble is Maxim went splat on his face after he threw her. Beauty mixed with disaster.

Maxim has made the big split, not only leaving Maria...but leaving coach Oleg Vasiliev as well. Maria will stick with Oleg. Both are looking for new partners.

Hey Max...I hear Tatiana Volosozhar is free? Perhaps Evgeny Plushenko could embark on a new career as a pairs skater and team with Maria. Wouldn't that be something? We could call it the "Blonde Ambition World Tour." Wait...that's been taken.