I've found some time to watch the performances. Some thoughts on the winners:
I love Spartacus but I'm not loving this music on Mirai...yet. I'm holding out that she is still working out the kinks and the program is going to blossom later in the season. Felt as though the climax of the program came too late after 3.5 minutes of tone foam. But the jumps (save that little blip on that double loop) looked pretty good. Mirai looks like she has finally grown into her body which is nice to see.
Surprise, surprise, surprise! I was having a hard time picturing Madison on the ice without Keiffer but smiled when I saw these two together. Such strides in such a short amount of time. I think this dance was sexy so some kudos to them for pulling it off. Making big gains in Ice Dance is next to impossible in the U.S. with powerhouse teams perched at the top but nice to see a new team and a fresh prespective.
This one could be a winner. Love Swan Lake and love this team. I think they look the part of Swan Lake. Tatiana is beautiful and pure, but definitely looks like she has a little bit of spunk and 'bad girl' in her. Maxim looks like a guy who given the choice, would choose the 'bad girl.' Sure up those throw landings and make sure to finish 'all' the lifts in the program and you have top quality skating here.
Yuzuru frustrates me a little. He is so talented. I want his coaches to scream at him across the ice and say, "SLOW DOWN!" When I watch him I feel like it's so frantic. I want him to figure out how to have impact without flailing and rushing. I love that he's chosen music from the Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack...I love even more the music from Romeo and Juliet he chose for the middle section of the program...but then he just flew through it at lightning speed. I wanted him to listen to the music and slow down and 'feel it.' For example, I loved the Ina Bauer he did...but I wanted it to last at least 5 more seconds. This is what I mean when I say 'reign it in.' stop...breathe...smell the roses...sometimes in skating it's okay to take your time. As an aside, loved the traveling cannon spin in his circular footwork.
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.
I must say there were plenty of surprises at the Grand Prix Final. I think I'm just going to be done predicting this season...I'm getting nowhere with it!
Ice Dance was close at the top. Davis and White squeaked ahead in the Original Dance while Virtue and Moir slimly won the free skate. When the dust settled Meryl Davis and Charlie White held on by the skin of their teeth to take the win (and become the first American Team to do so!). In the Free Dance, Davis and White had the highest component score where Virtue and Moir had the highest technical score. In any case, it's tight between these two teams. Pechalat and Bourzat meandered their way to a bronze after a free dance that seemed less interesting than the last time I saw it. Interestingly, Crone and Poirier and Cappellini and Lanotte had the same exact score in the Free Dance...84.30.
The ladies event was a continuation of what we've seen all season...less than exciting. Leonova and Rochette coming completely undone was just sad to watch. The lone exciting moment in the ladies event was Akiko Suzuki's free skate. She lit up that room like a Christmas Tree! I was so excited for her. While her bronze does not guarantee her a spot on the Olympic Team, it should help her case. Also doesn't hurt that she had the highest technical score of all the women. Miki Ando had a golden opportunity to landing a major upset but she let it slip away from her. Her Cleopatra program, which is still severely lacking in interesting choreography, wasn't clean enough to get past Kim Yu-Na. Perhaps she was just trying to do her best to stay ahead of Akiko. Her silver did clench her the first berth on the Japanese Olympic Team. It was rather shocking to see that Kim Yu-Na's component score was barely higher than Miki's. Even on an off day, Kim Yu-Na's components are way better than Ando's. Kim Yu-Na, while she won, didn't land that blow to the field that would have set her up as the commanding favorite in Vancouver. Now, the buzz amongst the skating world is that she CAN be beat. Suddenly, the Rachel Flatt's and Mao Asada's don't seem so out of the equation.
The pairs event gave me my second wow moment of the season. Shen and Zhao blew me away with their free skate. Every moment in that program was brilliantly timed to the music...it was just amazing. They've made the case for themselves...they are the ones to beat. Pang and Tong did a nice job of keeping their head's together and not letting the pressure of competing against their teammates for the first time in a while get to them. They, too, had a lovely performance. Savchenko and Szolkowy ran into a few problems at the top of their free skate. Once they settled down it was fine but those early problems were enough to keep them out of the hunt for Gold and stuck them with the bronze. Mukhortova and Trankov were solid in placing fourth. Less than four points separated 2nd thru 4th so it was very close.
The men, by far, were the most exciting here. Even without Lambiel, Plushenko, Chan, and Joubert...these guys put on an epic showdown! Weir, Oda, Lysacek, and Takahashi were stunning in their short programs. In the free skate, Abbott had to dig himself out of a hole after mistakes in the short, and did so with a fine effort that saw only one fall on the quad. Important to note that his score was less than a point away from winning the free skate and got him to fourth place overall. Johnny Weir kept it together to skate a solid (slightly tentative) free skate and pull himself up to the bronze medal for the second consecutive season. Nobunari Oda also skate well despite two silly popped axels and managed the silver after charming the crowd with his Charlie Chaplin free skate. Reigning World Champ Evan Lysacek showed he is a force to be contended with this season after a solid free skate (another silly popped axel) that not only won him the gold medal, but nabbed him the highest men's score of the season...and he did it without a quad (food for thought for Plushenko?). Takahashi, who had the lead after a brilliant short, went to pieces in the free falling all the way to fifth. Some would argue that the men's scores were somewhat inflated here...I'm not sure myself. In general I have a hard time understanding and relating scores from one competition to another so I'll leave that argument to the pundits.
A very talented group of Juniors took the ice this weekend as well. Congrats to Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and Kanako Murakami for winning the Junior singles titles, China's Sui and Han for taking the Pairs competition, and Russia's Monko and Khaliavin for taking the Dance title. Maia and Alex Shibutani, Christina Gao, and Ross Miner all won bronze medals for the United States.
Full set of results for both the Senior and Junior events can be seen here.
On the eve of the start of the Senior Grand Prix, we musn't forget the Junior Grand Prix which is in full swing and nearing it's conclusion. This past week, skaters competed in Zagreb, Croatia.
Amongst the men, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu repeated his performance from Poland and produced another Gold Medal winning performance. American Ross Miner won his second medal on the Junior Grand Prix, this time a Silver (he won Gold in Lake Placid). Russia's Zhan Bush was good enough for the Bronze.
Japan reigned supremed in the ladies field as well as Kanako Murakami also duplicated her Gold Medal performance from Poland. Canada's Kate Charbonneau took the Silver Medal while American Ellie Kawamura nabbed the bronze.
In Ice Dance, American's Maia and Alex Shibutani continued their dominance on the Junior Grand Prix with a big win in Zagreb. Canadians Ralph and Hill won another Silver Medal and Russians Baturintseva and Volobuiev held on for the Bronze.
Full results can be seen here. The Junior Grand Prix makes its final stop this week in Istanbul, Turkey.
This past weekend the Junior Grand Prix concluded in Toruń, Poland. It was a VERY good weekend for Japan!
In Pairs, Takahashi and Tran of Japan bettered their bronze from last week in Lake Placid to take the title in Poland in a close final. Less than one point behind in second were Russians Novik and Kuznetsov with Canadians Jones and Gaskell pulling up to place third. Americans Zhang and Toth improved on their seventh place short program with a top four free skate and finished sixth overall.
In Ice Dance, Russians Ilinykh and Katsalapov won big. They won all three portions of the competition on their way to an easy victory. Their teammates, Antipova and Kudashev were second overall, despite finishing third in the free skate behind Americans Cannuscio and Lorello who took the bronze. Important to note Japan had no entries in Ice Dance.
Amongst the women, Japan also did well with Kanako Murakami taking the title easily. In second was Russian Anna Ovcharova and winning the bronze was American Christina Gao in her Junior Grand Prix debut. American Karen Zhou finished fifth.
Once again, Japan enjoyed success with Yuzuru Hanyu winning the gold medal by more than twenty points. In second was American Kanallakan who held on to second after a rough free skate that was ranked only fifth best. The bronze medal went to Russian Gordei Gorshkov who held off the challenge by teammate Alexander Nikolaev who actually placed second in the free skate. American Keegan Messing pulled all the way up to sixth from eleventh after a top three free skate.
Every Japanese entry in this event won! Full results can be seen here.
No Junior Grand Prix this weekend but the competition picks back up next week in Minsk, Belarus.
UPDATE: Big thanks to @patinaggio on Twitter for posting a link to the video of Yuzuru Hanyu's very elegant performance. My favorite highlight is the Ina Bauer he does.
