The Short Dance from the World Junior Championships kicks off tomorrow (March 1st) at 11pm EST and here is the starting order.
Monday, February 28, 2011
2011 ISU World Junior Championships: Ice Dance Qualifying Round Results
Ice Dance had 14 direct entries for the short dance, while the teams below had to compete their free dance in a qualifying round. The top 11 will move on to the short dance which begins tonight at 11pm EST.
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS = | TES + | PCS + | SS | TR | PE | CC | IT | Ded. - | StN. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON | FRA | 74.27 | 39.02 | 35.25 | 5.92 | 5.63 | 5.83 | 6.13 | 6.04 | 0.00 | #15 | |
| 2 | Nikola VISNOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY | SVK | 66.67 | 35.34 | 32.33 | 5.42 | 5.17 | 5.46 | 5.50 | 5.54 | 1.00 | #18 | |
| 3 | Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ | ESP | 64.42 | 32.92 | 32.50 | 5.50 | 4.83 | 5.63 | 5.75 | 5.79 | 1.00 | #17 | |
| 4 | Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND | EST | 62.55 | 31.16 | 32.39 | 5.42 | 5.25 | 5.29 | 5.63 | 5.50 | 1.00 | #19 | |
| 5 | Maria NOSULIA / Evgen KHOLONIUK | UKR | 59.23 | 29.99 | 29.24 | 4.92 | 4.67 | 4.88 | 5.00 | 5.04 | 0.00 | #16 | |
| 6 | Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU | CHN | 58.93 | 30.54 | 28.39 | 4.83 | 4.63 | 4.63 | 4.83 | 4.79 | 0.00 | #12 | |
| 7 | Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI | KAZ | 58.41 | 31.79 | 26.62 | 4.63 | 4.21 | 4.50 | 4.54 | 4.42 | 0.00 | #7 | |
| 8 | Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST | SUI | 57.34 | 29.97 | 27.37 | 4.67 | 4.25 | 4.71 | 4.63 | 4.75 | 0.00 | #13 | |
| 9 | Viktoria KAVALEVA / Yirii BIELIAIEV | BLR | 54.02 | 28.76 | 25.26 | 4.33 | 3.96 | 4.25 | 4.29 | 4.38 | 0.00 | #11 | |
| 10 | Baily CARROLL / Peter GERBER | POL | 53.37 | 25.77 | 27.60 | 4.58 | 4.42 | 4.67 | 4.71 | 4.75 | 0.00 | #14 | |
| 11 | Kristina TREMASOVA / Dimitar LICHEV | BUL | 52.13 | 28.71 | 23.42 | 4.00 | 3.67 | 4.00 | 3.96 | 4.04 | 0.00 | #5 | |
| 12 | Olesia KARMI / Max LINDHOLM | FIN | 51.91 | 29.84 | 23.07 | 3.96 | 3.54 | 3.96 | 3.92 | 4.04 | 1.00 | #1 | |
| 13 | Teressa VELLRATH / Aleksandr PIROGOV | LTU | 50.50 | 25.50 | 25.00 | 4.38 | 3.96 | 4.13 | 4.29 | 4.17 | 0.00 | #10 | |
| 14 | Misato KOMATSUBARA / Kokoro MIZUTANI | JPN | 48.87 | 26.17 | 24.70 | 4.17 | 3.88 | 4.08 | 4.33 | 4.29 | 2.00 | #4 | |
| 15 | Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV | ISR | 48.75 | 25.08 | 23.67 | 4.08 | 3.75 | 3.88 | 4.17 | 3.96 | 0.00 | #6 | |
| 16 | Cagla DEMIRSAL / Berk AKALIN | TUR | 48.42 | 25.32 | 23.10 | 3.96 | 3.58 | 3.88 | 4.04 | 3.96 | 0.00 | #8 | |
| 17 | Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksander JAKUSHIN | LAT | 48.28 | 26.25 | 23.03 | 4.17 | 3.54 | 4.00 | 3.83 | 3.79 | 1.00 | #2 | |
| 18 | Kimberley HEW-LOW / Cameron HEMMERT | AUS | 36.48 | 18.57 | 17.91 | 3.21 | 2.96 | 2.88 | 2.96 | 2.88 | 0.00 | #9 | |
| 19 | Ayesha YIGIT / Shane SPEDEN | NZL | 36.25 | 19.35 | 16.90 | 3.04 | 2.58 | 2.83 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 0.00 | #3 |
2011 ISU World Junior Championships: Men's Qualifying Round Results
The qualifying round at the World Junior Championships is used to narrow down the field for the short program. Thirteen men will go directly to the short program while the top fourteen of this qualifying group will go to the short program. Twenty-seven men will skate their short program starting tomorrow night at 11:30 EST.
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS = | TES + | PCS + | SS | TR | PE | CH | IN | Ded. - | StN. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keiji TANAKA | JPN | 128.56 | 72.28 | 56.28 | 5.96 | 5.32 | 5.75 | 5.61 | 5.50 | 0.00 | #20 | |
| 2 | Ryuichi KIHARA | JPN | 123.07 | 66.91 | 57.16 | 5.93 | 5.43 | 5.79 | 5.79 | 5.64 | 1.00 | #26 | |
| 3 | Artur DMITRIEV | RUS | 110.86 | 54.86 | 56.00 | 5.75 | 5.32 | 5.54 | 5.68 | 5.71 | 0.00 | #24 | |
| 4 | Liam FIRUS | CAN | 108.25 | 53.67 | 55.58 | 5.68 | 5.29 | 5.46 | 5.79 | 5.57 | 1.00 | #22 | |
| 5 | Petr COUFAL | CZE | 102.93 | 56.13 | 47.80 | 4.93 | 4.54 | 4.82 | 4.82 | 4.79 | 1.00 | #16 | |
| 6 | Viktor ROMANENKOV | EST | 98.39 | 48.97 | 49.42 | 5.14 | 4.61 | 4.96 | 5.07 | 4.93 | 0.00 | #23 | |
| 7 | Dong-Won LEE | KOR | 97.99 | 46.29 | 51.70 | 5.36 | 4.89 | 5.21 | 5.25 | 5.14 | 0.00 | #25 | |
| 8 | Bela PAPP | FIN | 97.60 | 52.22 | 45.38 | 4.54 | 4.36 | 4.64 | 4.61 | 4.54 | 0.00 | #14 | |
| 9 | Tomi PULKKINEN | SUI | 96.19 | 49.63 | 46.56 | 4.71 | 4.39 | 4.71 | 4.68 | 4.79 | 0.00 | #13 | |
| 10 | Saverio GIACOMELLI | ITA | 95.76 | 50.48 | 45.28 | 4.68 | 4.32 | 4.57 | 4.46 | 4.61 | 0.00 | #12 | |
| 11 | Ondrej SPIEGL | SWE | 92.01 | 42.93 | 49.08 | 5.04 | 4.61 | 4.96 | 5.00 | 4.93 | 0.00 | #27 | |
| 12 | Jordan JU | TPE | 87.85 | 46.01 | 41.84 | 4.43 | 4.14 | 4.21 | 4.21 | 3.93 | 0.00 | #17 | |
| 13 | Vitali LUCHANOK | BLR | 86.02 | 44.52 | 42.50 | 4.50 | 3.96 | 4.36 | 4.29 | 4.14 | 1.00 | #11 | |
| 14 | Stanislav PERTSOV | UKR | 84.34 | 36.12 | 49.22 | 5.04 | 4.68 | 4.82 | 5.00 | 5.07 | 1.00 | #19 | |
| 15 | Boyito MULDER | NED | 80.43 | 42.71 | 37.72 | 3.96 | 3.54 | 3.75 | 3.86 | 3.75 | 0.00 | #6 | |
| 16 | Harry MATTICK | GBR | 79.32 | 34.26 | 48.06 | 4.75 | 4.50 | 4.75 | 4.96 | 5.07 | 3.00 | #15 | |
| 17 | Brendan KERRY | AUS | 76.62 | 36.54 | 43.08 | 4.46 | 4.11 | 4.29 | 4.43 | 4.25 | 3.00 | #21 | |
| 18 | Vlad IONESCU | ROU | 75.71 | 36.13 | 40.58 | 4.18 | 3.82 | 4.11 | 4.18 | 4.00 | 1.00 | #18 | |
| 19 | Manol ATANASSOV | BUL | 72.14 | 34.86 | 37.28 | 4.04 | 3.57 | 3.71 | 3.71 | 3.61 | 0.00 | #5 | |
| 20 | Harry Hau Yin LEE | HKG | 69.67 | 38.25 | 32.42 | 3.46 | 2.96 | 3.32 | 3.29 | 3.18 | 1.00 | #1 | |
| 21 | Slavik HAYRAPETYAN | ARM | 68.49 | 32.69 | 37.80 | 3.93 | 3.54 | 3.75 | 3.82 | 3.86 | 2.00 | #3 | |
| 22 | Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS | LTU | 64.32 | 27.46 | 38.86 | 4.11 | 3.75 | 3.68 | 3.93 | 3.96 | 2.00 | #7 | |
| 23 | Ryan Zhi Jwen YEE | MAS | 59.57 | 28.27 | 33.30 | 3.43 | 3.29 | 3.21 | 3.43 | 3.29 | 2.00 | #2 | |
| 24 | Engin Ali ARTAN | TUR | 58.53 | 28.09 | 32.44 | 3.64 | 3.04 | 3.11 | 3.36 | 3.07 | 2.00 | #10 | |
| 25 | Suchet KONGCHIM | THA | 53.34 | 23.70 | 29.64 | 3.04 | 2.68 | 3.14 | 3.07 | 2.89 | 0.00 | #9 | |
| 26 | Armen AGAIAN | GEO | 51.40 | 20.84 | 32.56 | 3.39 | 3.07 | 3.46 | 3.32 | 3.04 | 2.00 | #8 | |
| WDR | Girts JEKABSONS | LAT | #4 |
Sunday, February 27, 2011
2011 Academy Awards Live Blog
Check out this link for my Oscar predictions!
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/02/2011-academy-award-predictions.html
11:36 Well as they say in the movies, that's a wrap! Goodnight all
11:33: Its Best Picture time kids: and the Oscar goes to.......I hope Social Network but I predict The King's Speech. And The King's Speech it is
11:20 Sandy Bullock is presenting the award for Best Actor, she loves Javier Bardem. She wants Jesse Eisenberg to accept her friend request. Lets be real here guys, Collin Firth has this award in the bag. Again a big surprise, Collin Firth wins
11:12 Best Actress, Jeff Bridges just called Annette Bening's performed "fierce and fragile". Why is this Jennifer woman laughing at her own performance. The Oscar goes to Natalie Portman, duh. Her boyf just walked her to the stage. Preggers
11:02 Award for Best Director, the first of the big ones; I picked Fincher for The Social Network; Tom Hooper wins for The King's Speech
10:45 I picked the song from Toy Story based on Randy Newman's past wins; Oscar goes to Randy Newman, typical
10:31 Sorry I zoned out for a bit there kids. I love Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, they may be good hosts someday. Best Visual Effects: I picked Alice In Wonderland obviously. Inception wins. Social Network wins for film editing; I picked Black Swan.
10:20 Oprah presents the award for Best Documentary Feature: I picked Inside Job because Wall Street is an F-ed up mess; and they win!!!
10:15 Best live Action short film is God of Love; I picked something else. This dude has some crazy hair!
10:12 Award for best Documentary Short Subject: Strangers no More wins but I picked Killing in the Name. Oh well (I'm now 8/15)
10:05 Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi singing from Tangled with Alan Menken (genius) on the piano. She sounds horrible and so does he.
10:02 "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 performed by Randy Newman. This is his 20th nomination, such a badass!! I don't know if its Randy or the sound but I can barely hear any of the lyrics he is singing.
9:58 Award for Best Costume Design: I picked Colleen Atwood for Alice In Wonderland and she wins! She also won for Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha (two of my faves) back in the day. She also designed Helena Bonham-Carter's dress/costume tonight. This brings me up to 8/14 in my predictions.
9:56 Award for Makeup Design: I picked The Wolfman and they win it. I'm up to 7/13
9:48 Award for Sound Editing: I picked Inception. The Oscar goes to Inception.
9:45 Best Sound Mixing: I picked Inception. The Oscar goes to Inception! I'm 5/11 on my picks
9:40 The token Aussies (Jackman & Kidman) are now presenting an ode to the silent films, talkies, and movie musicals. Star Wars Theme moment!! Ooooooo West Side Story!! I'm loving this medley of classic film scores. Best Original Score: I predicted Inception because it is Hans Zimmer after all. And the Oscar goes to The Social Network.
9:38 And now we are having a little moment about the love affair between the Oscars and ABC that will last until at least 2020.
9:29 Award for Best Supporting Actor: I picked Christian Bale. I keep saying that Hollywood loves it when people lose weight for movies. The award goes to Christian Bale. He actually gave a really nice and thoughtful speech!
9:25 Russell Brand & Helen Mirren presenting together...wow. They are presenting for Best Foreign Language Film: I picked Biutiful. And the award goes to In A Better World.
9:23 Dear lord Anne Hathaway is singing a parody of On My Own from Les Miz. This is not acceptable Anne and that vibrato was weak. And now James Franco is dressed as Marilyn Monroe. This shit is beyond tacky guys come on!
9:16 Award for Best Original Screenplay: I picked The Kids Are Alright. I loved that movie and found it witty and touching. And the Oscar goes to The King's Speech.
9:12 Penelope Cruz is absolutely glowing as Javier Bardem is anounced. He and Josh Brolin are presenting adapted screenplay. I predicted Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. And he wins its!!!!!!
9:05 Best Animated Film: I predicted Toy Story 3. And the Oscar goes to Toy Story 3! No surprises there!
9:02 Best Animated Short Film: I chose The Gruffalo. The Winner is The Lost Thing. I didn't really care either way, I just picked the one with the funniest name.
9:01 What kind of drug is Anne Hathaway on? JT and Mila actually look kind of good together. Why are they acting crazy, are they pretending to be pissed that they weren't nominated?
8:53 Supporting Actress: I went out on a limb and picked Hailee Steinfeld. The Oscar goes to Melissa Leo, I should have totally predicted that but I wanted to really go out on a limb with one of my predictions. Melissa I love that you were just bleeped out, that was fabulous. You seem a little bit crazy but I kind of love it. First I thought you were putting on a crazy show, but I actually think you are genuine.
8:46 Award for Cinematography: I picked Inception. The award goes to Inception! Yay me, 2/2
8:43 Award for Art Direction: I predicted Alice in Wonderland. The Award goes to Alice in Wonderland. I'm 1/1 so far...yay me!!!!
8:42 Classic movie montage: Gone With The Wind is my favorite of all time! It was the first film to win for Best Picture, Art Direction, and Cinematography. All of the epic movies have won this trifecta. Oh hey Titanic! I love that movie so much.
8:41 So now we are making it the year of the lesbian? Really? Are they about to put up a Home Depot ad?
8:37 ANNE LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!!!! SUCH A BEAUTY!!!!!!! I love that they are spoofing the fact that they were hired to appeal to a younger demographic. It's very cute that Anne's mom and James' grandma are incorporated into the opening spiel.
8:32 And here are the first glimpses of our hosts. They are planning to go into Alec Baldwin's dreams for hosting tips in a little Inception reference. Now we're in court with Mark Zuckerberg. And in a boxing gym with Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams. Oh god and now They're on horses and Anne looks like Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. We had a Morgan Freeman moment as well as a King's Speech moment. Anne is not doing the tap dance of the brown duck and James is in a white unitard. And how we're going back to the future. This is beyond Kitschy.
8:31 This opening montage of the ten best picture nominees is fabulous, I'm such a sucker for high drama.
8:16 Tim Gunn's picks for best dressed: Marissa Tomei, Heilee Steinfeld, Mila Kunis, ScarJo, Jennifer Hudson, Anne Hathaway
8:08 Who is this guy who is spouting off his predictions?
8:02 I love Natalie Portman's simple hairstyle and her very subdued attitude. She just called Darren Aronofsky "the bees knees."
8:00 And we are back with the live ABC coverage. Thank god Tim Gunn is here. Jennifer Hudson looks even better in HD. JHud just said she has accomplished all of her dreams already, though she has yet to do Broadway????
7:57 Natalie Portman is showing up very preggers. I think she could've gone a little less matronly but I love the neckline with the small glittery detail.
7:56 Let's re-cap the red carpet. I loved Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon, Hailee Steinfeld & ScarJo the most.
7:44 Obviously Robert Downey Jr. is one of the last to arrive. We saw him putting on his jacket outside of her limo which is so tacky. Penelope Cruz is working some fantastic cleavage post-pregnancy.
7:40 Halle Berry is looking phenomenal, a great red carpet comeback for her.
7:39 I love Sandra Bullock but that dress looks odd at the top. I don't know if it needs to be more tailored at the top or what. I really like her in red, though I'm not sure about the back.
7:38 Is that a mountain man? Oh wait that is Christian Bale.
7:33 Ooooo Gwyneth rocking the metallic look with the platinum hair. Very futuristic space suit look. I kind of hate that Calvin Klein on her.
7:32 Adam Shankman is a jackass and my ears bleed when he speaks. I hate you and everything you do. Rock of Ages was a trashy musical and will surely be a trashy movie.
7:30 Reese Witherspoon looks phenomenal, very Julia Roberts circa the year she won her Oscar. Nikki Kidman looks like a train wreck, why would you want to make your hips look huge?
7:24 Oh god Celine Dion you are my singing idol! I'm obsessed with you dear! I love the soft curls in your hair but that dress is a little reminiscent of a space suit. Can't wait to see you in your new Vegas show love!
7:20 Hillary Swank is my film actress idol and I love everything she does on film and in life. I love this metallic, gunmetal color on her in the simple strapless with the huge feathery bottom and the simple pulled back hair. She is exquisite and she is so natural.
7:18 Helena Bonham-Carter looking and sounding like a nutcase as usual, but we have to love her for what she is. Thats what happens when you are married to Tim Burton. She just said "I they we're going to sweep tonight".
7:10 Justin Timberlake stop trying to be politically correct about illegal music downloading and Napster. I would prefer that you just stop talking and just stand there and be pretty.
7:08 Sharon Stone is timeless in that black one-shoulder number with the feathers. I am pretty sure she ages backwards.
6:58 Giuliana and Kelly are definitely correct in saying that Cate Blanchett's dress is more of a piece of art than a gown. I think I love it!
6:52 Jennifer Hudson is looking phenomenal after her major weight loss this year. She went very bold with red! She is totally embracing her new body and I love that about her. She is so happy with her Versace dress and she is calling it tangerine though it looks red on my tv. You go girl!!
6:50 Mark Ruffalo always looks slightly scruffy but he actually looks quite spiffy today. I love that his wife actually pretends to text when she is taking about her text convo with Julianne Moore.
6:49 The illusion fabric on Mandy Moore's dress reminds me of a figure skating dress.
6:44: When Giuliana speaks I hear dying cats.
6:41 Zachary Levi is looking fab in Gucci, its so much easier for men than women on the red carpet. But then again, they dont get to have as much fun or take as many risks.
6:39 Amy Adams looks ravishing as always! I just love that girl and everything she does. That midnight blue cap-sleeve sparkly number is fantastic. It actually looks like it would be comfortable. Shout out to a fellow redhead.
6:34 I love Michelle Williams haircut! She has not personality at all on the red carpet, she acts like she is out on the planet Saturn. That dress looks like chain male.
6:32 Awww Russell Brand brought his mum Babs! "Katie is currently touring the planet earth!"
6:26 We just saw Amy Adams and Mila Kunis, both looking fab! Mila is sporting a plunging neckline lavender number by Elie Saab. I can't decide if it was pieced together after being put through a shredder or if it is just "artsy".
6:25 Oh Florence honey are you wearing an a 1950s matronly wedding gown in a mustard color?
6:22 Michelle Williams is stepping out of her vehicle. Hailee Steinfeld is such a cutie and this is such an incredible opportunity for her. I love the dress, but a few shades darker may make it a little less skin-tone. The updo with the skinny headband looks a little like my workout look with a stretchy headband and a messy bun. Awwww I'm so happy for her!
6:12 Anne Hathaway and James Franco are so pretty together, god knows we've seen enough of those promo spots on ABC. I want her to play Gypsy Rose Lee so FREAKIN bad!!
6:12 Melissa Leo's dress is kind of crazy but I kind of love it; its metallic, mirrored, gold, has cutouts, etc. Basically its a hot tranny disaster and I always love that!
6:07 Josh Hutcherson is such a cutie; I loved The Kids Are Alright. Good lord that boy is short, he is dwarfed by Ryan Seacrest. Josh totes gave props to his idol Christian Bale!
6:03 I hate Giulianna, she makes me want to jump out of my 8th floor window; I love how Jennifer Lawrence is embracing her curves, that is nice to see
6:02 Jennifer Lawrence looks like Kate Hudson, the red blends in with the carpet dearest; she sounds like a slow biddy, not a professional actress
6:00 Hello Ryan Seacrest, you're looking fetching and queer as always
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/02/2011-academy-award-predictions.html
11:36 Well as they say in the movies, that's a wrap! Goodnight all
11:33: Its Best Picture time kids: and the Oscar goes to.......I hope Social Network but I predict The King's Speech. And The King's Speech it is
11:20 Sandy Bullock is presenting the award for Best Actor, she loves Javier Bardem. She wants Jesse Eisenberg to accept her friend request. Lets be real here guys, Collin Firth has this award in the bag. Again a big surprise, Collin Firth wins
11:12 Best Actress, Jeff Bridges just called Annette Bening's performed "fierce and fragile". Why is this Jennifer woman laughing at her own performance. The Oscar goes to Natalie Portman, duh. Her boyf just walked her to the stage. Preggers
11:02 Award for Best Director, the first of the big ones; I picked Fincher for The Social Network; Tom Hooper wins for The King's Speech
10:45 I picked the song from Toy Story based on Randy Newman's past wins; Oscar goes to Randy Newman, typical
10:31 Sorry I zoned out for a bit there kids. I love Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, they may be good hosts someday. Best Visual Effects: I picked Alice In Wonderland obviously. Inception wins. Social Network wins for film editing; I picked Black Swan.
10:20 Oprah presents the award for Best Documentary Feature: I picked Inside Job because Wall Street is an F-ed up mess; and they win!!!
10:15 Best live Action short film is God of Love; I picked something else. This dude has some crazy hair!
10:12 Award for best Documentary Short Subject: Strangers no More wins but I picked Killing in the Name. Oh well (I'm now 8/15)
10:05 Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi singing from Tangled with Alan Menken (genius) on the piano. She sounds horrible and so does he.
10:02 "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 performed by Randy Newman. This is his 20th nomination, such a badass!! I don't know if its Randy or the sound but I can barely hear any of the lyrics he is singing.
9:58 Award for Best Costume Design: I picked Colleen Atwood for Alice In Wonderland and she wins! She also won for Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha (two of my faves) back in the day. She also designed Helena Bonham-Carter's dress/costume tonight. This brings me up to 8/14 in my predictions.
9:56 Award for Makeup Design: I picked The Wolfman and they win it. I'm up to 7/13
9:48 Award for Sound Editing: I picked Inception. The Oscar goes to Inception.
9:45 Best Sound Mixing: I picked Inception. The Oscar goes to Inception! I'm 5/11 on my picks
9:40 The token Aussies (Jackman & Kidman) are now presenting an ode to the silent films, talkies, and movie musicals. Star Wars Theme moment!! Ooooooo West Side Story!! I'm loving this medley of classic film scores. Best Original Score: I predicted Inception because it is Hans Zimmer after all. And the Oscar goes to The Social Network.
9:38 And now we are having a little moment about the love affair between the Oscars and ABC that will last until at least 2020.
9:29 Award for Best Supporting Actor: I picked Christian Bale. I keep saying that Hollywood loves it when people lose weight for movies. The award goes to Christian Bale. He actually gave a really nice and thoughtful speech!
9:25 Russell Brand & Helen Mirren presenting together...wow. They are presenting for Best Foreign Language Film: I picked Biutiful. And the award goes to In A Better World.
9:23 Dear lord Anne Hathaway is singing a parody of On My Own from Les Miz. This is not acceptable Anne and that vibrato was weak. And now James Franco is dressed as Marilyn Monroe. This shit is beyond tacky guys come on!
9:16 Award for Best Original Screenplay: I picked The Kids Are Alright. I loved that movie and found it witty and touching. And the Oscar goes to The King's Speech.
9:12 Penelope Cruz is absolutely glowing as Javier Bardem is anounced. He and Josh Brolin are presenting adapted screenplay. I predicted Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. And he wins its!!!!!!
9:05 Best Animated Film: I predicted Toy Story 3. And the Oscar goes to Toy Story 3! No surprises there!
9:02 Best Animated Short Film: I chose The Gruffalo. The Winner is The Lost Thing. I didn't really care either way, I just picked the one with the funniest name.
9:01 What kind of drug is Anne Hathaway on? JT and Mila actually look kind of good together. Why are they acting crazy, are they pretending to be pissed that they weren't nominated?
8:53 Supporting Actress: I went out on a limb and picked Hailee Steinfeld. The Oscar goes to Melissa Leo, I should have totally predicted that but I wanted to really go out on a limb with one of my predictions. Melissa I love that you were just bleeped out, that was fabulous. You seem a little bit crazy but I kind of love it. First I thought you were putting on a crazy show, but I actually think you are genuine.
8:46 Award for Cinematography: I picked Inception. The award goes to Inception! Yay me, 2/2
8:43 Award for Art Direction: I predicted Alice in Wonderland. The Award goes to Alice in Wonderland. I'm 1/1 so far...yay me!!!!
8:42 Classic movie montage: Gone With The Wind is my favorite of all time! It was the first film to win for Best Picture, Art Direction, and Cinematography. All of the epic movies have won this trifecta. Oh hey Titanic! I love that movie so much.
8:41 So now we are making it the year of the lesbian? Really? Are they about to put up a Home Depot ad?
8:37 ANNE LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!!!! SUCH A BEAUTY!!!!!!! I love that they are spoofing the fact that they were hired to appeal to a younger demographic. It's very cute that Anne's mom and James' grandma are incorporated into the opening spiel.
8:32 And here are the first glimpses of our hosts. They are planning to go into Alec Baldwin's dreams for hosting tips in a little Inception reference. Now we're in court with Mark Zuckerberg. And in a boxing gym with Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams. Oh god and now They're on horses and Anne looks like Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. We had a Morgan Freeman moment as well as a King's Speech moment. Anne is not doing the tap dance of the brown duck and James is in a white unitard. And how we're going back to the future. This is beyond Kitschy.
8:31 This opening montage of the ten best picture nominees is fabulous, I'm such a sucker for high drama.
8:16 Tim Gunn's picks for best dressed: Marissa Tomei, Heilee Steinfeld, Mila Kunis, ScarJo, Jennifer Hudson, Anne Hathaway
8:08 Who is this guy who is spouting off his predictions?
8:02 I love Natalie Portman's simple hairstyle and her very subdued attitude. She just called Darren Aronofsky "the bees knees."
8:00 And we are back with the live ABC coverage. Thank god Tim Gunn is here. Jennifer Hudson looks even better in HD. JHud just said she has accomplished all of her dreams already, though she has yet to do Broadway????
7:57 Natalie Portman is showing up very preggers. I think she could've gone a little less matronly but I love the neckline with the small glittery detail.
7:56 Let's re-cap the red carpet. I loved Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon, Hailee Steinfeld & ScarJo the most.
7:44 Obviously Robert Downey Jr. is one of the last to arrive. We saw him putting on his jacket outside of her limo which is so tacky. Penelope Cruz is working some fantastic cleavage post-pregnancy.
7:40 Halle Berry is looking phenomenal, a great red carpet comeback for her.
7:39 I love Sandra Bullock but that dress looks odd at the top. I don't know if it needs to be more tailored at the top or what. I really like her in red, though I'm not sure about the back.
7:38 Is that a mountain man? Oh wait that is Christian Bale.
7:33 Ooooo Gwyneth rocking the metallic look with the platinum hair. Very futuristic space suit look. I kind of hate that Calvin Klein on her.
7:32 Adam Shankman is a jackass and my ears bleed when he speaks. I hate you and everything you do. Rock of Ages was a trashy musical and will surely be a trashy movie.
7:30 Reese Witherspoon looks phenomenal, very Julia Roberts circa the year she won her Oscar. Nikki Kidman looks like a train wreck, why would you want to make your hips look huge?
7:24 Oh god Celine Dion you are my singing idol! I'm obsessed with you dear! I love the soft curls in your hair but that dress is a little reminiscent of a space suit. Can't wait to see you in your new Vegas show love!
7:20 Hillary Swank is my film actress idol and I love everything she does on film and in life. I love this metallic, gunmetal color on her in the simple strapless with the huge feathery bottom and the simple pulled back hair. She is exquisite and she is so natural.
7:18 Helena Bonham-Carter looking and sounding like a nutcase as usual, but we have to love her for what she is. Thats what happens when you are married to Tim Burton. She just said "I they we're going to sweep tonight".
7:10 Justin Timberlake stop trying to be politically correct about illegal music downloading and Napster. I would prefer that you just stop talking and just stand there and be pretty.
7:08 Sharon Stone is timeless in that black one-shoulder number with the feathers. I am pretty sure she ages backwards.
6:58 Giuliana and Kelly are definitely correct in saying that Cate Blanchett's dress is more of a piece of art than a gown. I think I love it!
6:52 Jennifer Hudson is looking phenomenal after her major weight loss this year. She went very bold with red! She is totally embracing her new body and I love that about her. She is so happy with her Versace dress and she is calling it tangerine though it looks red on my tv. You go girl!!
6:50 Mark Ruffalo always looks slightly scruffy but he actually looks quite spiffy today. I love that his wife actually pretends to text when she is taking about her text convo with Julianne Moore.
6:49 The illusion fabric on Mandy Moore's dress reminds me of a figure skating dress.
6:44: When Giuliana speaks I hear dying cats.
6:41 Zachary Levi is looking fab in Gucci, its so much easier for men than women on the red carpet. But then again, they dont get to have as much fun or take as many risks.
6:39 Amy Adams looks ravishing as always! I just love that girl and everything she does. That midnight blue cap-sleeve sparkly number is fantastic. It actually looks like it would be comfortable. Shout out to a fellow redhead.
6:34 I love Michelle Williams haircut! She has not personality at all on the red carpet, she acts like she is out on the planet Saturn. That dress looks like chain male.
6:32 Awww Russell Brand brought his mum Babs! "Katie is currently touring the planet earth!"
6:26 We just saw Amy Adams and Mila Kunis, both looking fab! Mila is sporting a plunging neckline lavender number by Elie Saab. I can't decide if it was pieced together after being put through a shredder or if it is just "artsy".
6:25 Oh Florence honey are you wearing an a 1950s matronly wedding gown in a mustard color?
6:22 Michelle Williams is stepping out of her vehicle. Hailee Steinfeld is such a cutie and this is such an incredible opportunity for her. I love the dress, but a few shades darker may make it a little less skin-tone. The updo with the skinny headband looks a little like my workout look with a stretchy headband and a messy bun. Awwww I'm so happy for her!
6:12 Anne Hathaway and James Franco are so pretty together, god knows we've seen enough of those promo spots on ABC. I want her to play Gypsy Rose Lee so FREAKIN bad!!
6:12 Melissa Leo's dress is kind of crazy but I kind of love it; its metallic, mirrored, gold, has cutouts, etc. Basically its a hot tranny disaster and I always love that!
6:07 Josh Hutcherson is such a cutie; I loved The Kids Are Alright. Good lord that boy is short, he is dwarfed by Ryan Seacrest. Josh totes gave props to his idol Christian Bale!
6:03 I hate Giulianna, she makes me want to jump out of my 8th floor window; I love how Jennifer Lawrence is embracing her curves, that is nice to see
6:02 Jennifer Lawrence looks like Kate Hudson, the red blends in with the carpet dearest; she sounds like a slow biddy, not a professional actress
6:00 Hello Ryan Seacrest, you're looking fetching and queer as always
2011 Academy Award Predictions
I have been meaning to do this all week, but better late than never! Here are my predictions for each category of the 2011 Academy Awards. As we know there is always a favorite for each category based on hype and popularity (last year's Avatar) but there is always a chance of a dark horse taking the night (last year's Hurt Locker). I'll be live-blogging the entire awards ceremony tonight including the red carpet to check back with be at around 6 or 7 pm EST!
Best Picture:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are Alright
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Best Leading Actor:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Leading Actress:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are Alright
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are Alright
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Animated Feature Film:
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Art Direction:
Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara, Alice In Wonderland
Stuart Craig & Stephanie McMillan, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Doug Mowat, Inception
Eve Stewart & Judy Farr, The King's Speech
Jess Gonchar & Nancy Haigh, True Grit
Cinematography:
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception
Danny Cohen, The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Roger Deakins, True Grit
Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood, Alice In Wonderland
Antonella Cannarozzi, I Am Love
Jenny Beavan, The King's Speech
Sandy Powell, The Tempest
Mary Zophres, True Grit
Directing:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Documentary Feature:
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrapo
Waste Land
Documentary Short Subject:
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Comes Up
The Warriors of Quigang
Film Editing:
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
Foreign Language Film:
Mexico, Biutiful
Greece, Dogtooth
Denmark, In A Better World
Canada, Incendies
Algeria, Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)
Makeup:
Adrien Morot, Barney's Version
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk & Yolanda Toussieng, The Way Back
Rick Baker & Dave Elsey, The Wolfman
Music (Original Score):
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Music (Original Song):
"Coming Home", Country Strong
"I See The Light", Tangled
"If I Rise", 127 Hours
"We Belong Together", Toy Story 3
Short Film (Animated):
Teddy Newton, Night & Day
Jakob Schuh & Max Lang, The Gruffalo
Geefwee Boedoe, Let's Pollute
Shaun Tan & Andrew Ruhemann, The Lost Thing
Bastien Dubois, Madagascar, carnet de voyage
Short Film (Live Action):
Tanel Toom, The Confession
Michael Creagh, The Crush
Luke Matheny, God of Love
Ivan Goldschmidt, Na Wewe
Ian Barnes & Samantha Waite, Wish 143
Sound Editing:
Richard King, Inception
Tom Myers & Michael Silvers, Toy Story 3
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle & Addison Teague, Tron: Legacy
Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey, True Grit
Mark P. Stoeckinger, Unstoppable
Sound Mixing:
Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick, Inception
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen & John Midgley, The King's Speech
Jeffery J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan & William Sarokin, Salt
Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick & Mark Weingarten, The Social Network
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkley, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland, True Grit
Visual Effects:
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips, Alice In Wonderland
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicholas Aithadi, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephen Trojansky & Joe Farrell, Hereafter
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb, Inception
Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Daniel Sudick, Iron Man 2
Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone
Writing (Original Screenplay):
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are Alright
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Best Picture:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are Alright
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Best Leading Actor:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Leading Actress:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are Alright
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are Alright
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Animated Feature Film:
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Art Direction:
Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara, Alice In Wonderland
Stuart Craig & Stephanie McMillan, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Doug Mowat, Inception
Eve Stewart & Judy Farr, The King's Speech
Jess Gonchar & Nancy Haigh, True Grit
Cinematography:
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception
Danny Cohen, The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Roger Deakins, True Grit
Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood, Alice In Wonderland
Antonella Cannarozzi, I Am Love
Jenny Beavan, The King's Speech
Sandy Powell, The Tempest
Mary Zophres, True Grit
Directing:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Documentary Feature:
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrapo
Waste Land
Documentary Short Subject:
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Comes Up
The Warriors of Quigang
Film Editing:
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
Foreign Language Film:
Mexico, Biutiful
Greece, Dogtooth
Denmark, In A Better World
Canada, Incendies
Algeria, Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)
Makeup:
Adrien Morot, Barney's Version
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk & Yolanda Toussieng, The Way Back
Rick Baker & Dave Elsey, The Wolfman
Music (Original Score):
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Music (Original Song):
"Coming Home", Country Strong
"I See The Light", Tangled
"If I Rise", 127 Hours
"We Belong Together", Toy Story 3
Short Film (Animated):
Teddy Newton, Night & Day
Jakob Schuh & Max Lang, The Gruffalo
Geefwee Boedoe, Let's Pollute
Shaun Tan & Andrew Ruhemann, The Lost Thing
Bastien Dubois, Madagascar, carnet de voyage
Short Film (Live Action):
Tanel Toom, The Confession
Michael Creagh, The Crush
Luke Matheny, God of Love
Ivan Goldschmidt, Na Wewe
Ian Barnes & Samantha Waite, Wish 143
Sound Editing:
Richard King, Inception
Tom Myers & Michael Silvers, Toy Story 3
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle & Addison Teague, Tron: Legacy
Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey, True Grit
Mark P. Stoeckinger, Unstoppable
Sound Mixing:
Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick, Inception
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen & John Midgley, The King's Speech
Jeffery J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan & William Sarokin, Salt
Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick & Mark Weingarten, The Social Network
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkley, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland, True Grit
Visual Effects:
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips, Alice In Wonderland
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicholas Aithadi, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephen Trojansky & Joe Farrell, Hereafter
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb, Inception
Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Daniel Sudick, Iron Man 2
Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone
Writing (Original Screenplay):
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are Alright
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
2011 World Figure Skating Championships: Event Schedule
Alright so I know we are a month away from worlds but I couldn't resist writing my first post. I came across the event times on twitter recently so I converted them from Tokyo time to US Eastern Standard Time so we can prepare for the crazy hours that we'll be awake watching our favorite skaters battle the best in the world. I'll continue to write new posts in preparation for worlds including any news related to the skaters competing and the preview posts that I traditionally write for each event. Universal Sports has the rights to Worlds but as we know from Four Continents, they are less than reliable, but here's to hoping they'll get us live-streams of all of the events and hopefully even a little TV coverage. If not, I'll keep you posted on twitter (follow me @barbiebackstage ) for any other live-streams that I find.
Monday March 21st
Pairs Preliminaries 12:00am EST
Mens Preliminaries 3:00am EST
Tuesday March 22nd
Ice Dance Preliminaries 10:30pm EST (Begins Monday March 21st)
Ladies Preliminaries 12:00am EST
Wednesday March 23th
Pairs Short Program 11:30pm EST (Begins Tuesday March 22nd)
Mens Short Program 4:00am EST
Thursday March 24th
Pairs Free Skate 12:30am EST
Mens Free Skate 4:25am EST
Friday March 25th
Short Dance 11:30pm EST (Begins Thursday March 24th)
Ladies Short Program 4:00am EST
Saturday March 26th
Free Dance 12:00am EST
Ladies Free Skate 4:30am EST
Sunday March 27th
Gala Exhibition 2:00am EST
*Subject to Change
Monday March 21st
Pairs Preliminaries 12:00am EST
Mens Preliminaries 3:00am EST
Tuesday March 22nd
Ice Dance Preliminaries 10:30pm EST (Begins Monday March 21st)
Ladies Preliminaries 12:00am EST
Wednesday March 23th
Pairs Short Program 11:30pm EST (Begins Tuesday March 22nd)
Mens Short Program 4:00am EST
Thursday March 24th
Pairs Free Skate 12:30am EST
Mens Free Skate 4:25am EST
Friday March 25th
Short Dance 11:30pm EST (Begins Thursday March 24th)
Ladies Short Program 4:00am EST
Saturday March 26th
Free Dance 12:00am EST
Ladies Free Skate 4:30am EST
Sunday March 27th
Gala Exhibition 2:00am EST
*Subject to Change
2011 Four Continents Wrap-Up
Well another major figure skating event is in the books and the 2011 Four Continents Championships was a pretty good one at that. Unlike previous seasons, we saw primarily the top teams from Canada, China, Japan, and the US which made for some pretty stiff competition.
The first event to kick off was ice dance, which marked the season debut of Olympic and World champions Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. While it took most top dance teams a few competitions to get used to the short dance and what the judges wanted, Virtue & Moir sailed through and took the lead over training mates Davis & White by 0.40. Weaver & Poje of Canada received all level 4s, the only team to do so, and finished the event in 3rd while the young Shibutani siblings finished a strong 4th. The short dance is the weaker dance for Crone & Poirier as well as Chock & Zuerlein and they finished 5th and 6th respectively. But the real drama came in the free dance as Virtue & Moir abruptly stopped skating about a third of the way through their program. Everybody assumed it was related to Tessa's injury, but we found out later that it was simply a strained quad muscle and she didn't want to risk more damage. The beginning of their free dance was quite fantastic, though it was a bit rough around the edges for me and I think Davis & White still would've won. The withdrawal of Virtue & Moir means we'll have to wait until worlds (how dramatic) to see the epic showdown between training mates to steal the top step of the podium. A mistake-filled free dance by Weaver & Poje allowed the incredible Shibutani siblings to slip past for a well deserved silver medal. Crone & Poirier also slipped by for the bronze while Weaver & Poje fell to 4th and Chock & Zuerlein finished 5th.
Pairs got off to an equally dramatic start. The short program was a bit of a splat-fest with mistakes from just about everybody but Pang & Tong, Duhamel & Radford, and Lawrence & Swiegers, who landed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Then there was the drama from Mark Ladwig who ended up with a broken skate boot and Rudi Swiegers who lent him his to finish the short program. The free skate was a bit anticlimactic as the top three skated clean and held their places while skaters in 4th-9th went on to make more small mistakes and the rankings stayed primarily the same. Americans Yankowskas & Coughlin and Evora & Ladwig as well as Canadians Moore-Towers and Moscovitch and Japan's Takahashi & Tran all looked quite tired during this event, but then again its such a long season and the Americans haven't even had a month break since nationals. The month between this event and worlds in March will do them good and they'll be able to get some much needed rest. At this point the programs have been completely committed to muscle memory and teams need to focus on the mental aspects of competition. What this competition showed for me is that these teams can still pull competitive scores even when they aren't perfect so the world better watch out for them next month if they skate they way they did at their respective nationals.
The mens competition gave viewers exactly what they expected as the Japanese stole the show with a few Americans sprinkled in. The old Takahashi that we know and love can back to us with two stellar programs to win the title. Jeremy Abbot put up a valiant effort in the short to reach second, but fell to third after a fall on a quad toe in the free. Though he was hoping for a perfect competition, this event proved to judges and to Jeremy himself that he is still relevant and that he still has a lot to skate for though he isn't going to worlds. Rising Japanese star Kozuka faltered in the short program and though he put up a great effort in the free skate, he couldn't quite make it to the podium and finished in 4th. The guy who took everybody by surprise was Hanyu, the 4th place finisher at Japanese nationals, who finished 3rd in each segment but took the silver medal overall. Americans Adam Rippon and Armin Mahbanoozadeh finished in 5th and 7th respectively while China's Jinlin Guan snuck between them for 6th.
And now to the crown jewel of any figure skating competition, the ladies event. For some reason the ladies event always makes me more nervous than any other, but this competition actually was less dramatic than most. Miki Ando skated first of the major contenders in the short and put up a huge score that put her in the lead and she held onto that lead until the medals were awarded and hers was gold. Rachael Flatt (sorry if I sound partial) skated a phenomenal short program and while it was a bit more reserved than it was at US Nationals last month, it was still quite spectacular and filled with passion. The judges awarded her with a score that was, I believe, about 9 points higher than her season's best and both her technical elements and program components were comparable with the other top ladies. She clearly made the right decision to change her short program and if she performs it like this at worlds, it will set her up to place very high and perhaps even medal. Alissa Czisny fell on a lutz early in her program, but she did not fall apart and finished a respectable 5th, which tells me she has changed because "old Alissa" would have melted down and finished the short program out of the top group. Akiko Suzuki also struggled and finished the short in 6th. Reigning world champion Mao Asada came back with a vengeance from a disappointing fall season to finish her short in second place, though I would have placed her behind Flatt because of her truly hideous landing on her triple axel. Mirai Nagasu also delivered a strong short, though her jumps were a bit tight and finished in 6th. Not much movement happened in the free skate as Ando and Asada skated flawless programs to finish first and second, while Nagasu also skated a near perfect program to finish third. Rachael Flatt had a few negative GOEs on jumps which dropped her to 4th, but I'm not worried because she is going to peak at worlds and be perfect. Alissa had another fall in the free, but again, she showed her poise and held the program together to finish fifth.
Overall I was please with this competition (no thanks to Universal Sports) and it was great to see some rematches of old rivalries as well as a preview of what will happen at Worlds. Take out the skaters who won't be competing in Tokyo, throw in some Europeans, and Worlds is shaping up to be one epic figure skating competition!
The first event to kick off was ice dance, which marked the season debut of Olympic and World champions Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. While it took most top dance teams a few competitions to get used to the short dance and what the judges wanted, Virtue & Moir sailed through and took the lead over training mates Davis & White by 0.40. Weaver & Poje of Canada received all level 4s, the only team to do so, and finished the event in 3rd while the young Shibutani siblings finished a strong 4th. The short dance is the weaker dance for Crone & Poirier as well as Chock & Zuerlein and they finished 5th and 6th respectively. But the real drama came in the free dance as Virtue & Moir abruptly stopped skating about a third of the way through their program. Everybody assumed it was related to Tessa's injury, but we found out later that it was simply a strained quad muscle and she didn't want to risk more damage. The beginning of their free dance was quite fantastic, though it was a bit rough around the edges for me and I think Davis & White still would've won. The withdrawal of Virtue & Moir means we'll have to wait until worlds (how dramatic) to see the epic showdown between training mates to steal the top step of the podium. A mistake-filled free dance by Weaver & Poje allowed the incredible Shibutani siblings to slip past for a well deserved silver medal. Crone & Poirier also slipped by for the bronze while Weaver & Poje fell to 4th and Chock & Zuerlein finished 5th.
Pairs got off to an equally dramatic start. The short program was a bit of a splat-fest with mistakes from just about everybody but Pang & Tong, Duhamel & Radford, and Lawrence & Swiegers, who landed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Then there was the drama from Mark Ladwig who ended up with a broken skate boot and Rudi Swiegers who lent him his to finish the short program. The free skate was a bit anticlimactic as the top three skated clean and held their places while skaters in 4th-9th went on to make more small mistakes and the rankings stayed primarily the same. Americans Yankowskas & Coughlin and Evora & Ladwig as well as Canadians Moore-Towers and Moscovitch and Japan's Takahashi & Tran all looked quite tired during this event, but then again its such a long season and the Americans haven't even had a month break since nationals. The month between this event and worlds in March will do them good and they'll be able to get some much needed rest. At this point the programs have been completely committed to muscle memory and teams need to focus on the mental aspects of competition. What this competition showed for me is that these teams can still pull competitive scores even when they aren't perfect so the world better watch out for them next month if they skate they way they did at their respective nationals.
The mens competition gave viewers exactly what they expected as the Japanese stole the show with a few Americans sprinkled in. The old Takahashi that we know and love can back to us with two stellar programs to win the title. Jeremy Abbot put up a valiant effort in the short to reach second, but fell to third after a fall on a quad toe in the free. Though he was hoping for a perfect competition, this event proved to judges and to Jeremy himself that he is still relevant and that he still has a lot to skate for though he isn't going to worlds. Rising Japanese star Kozuka faltered in the short program and though he put up a great effort in the free skate, he couldn't quite make it to the podium and finished in 4th. The guy who took everybody by surprise was Hanyu, the 4th place finisher at Japanese nationals, who finished 3rd in each segment but took the silver medal overall. Americans Adam Rippon and Armin Mahbanoozadeh finished in 5th and 7th respectively while China's Jinlin Guan snuck between them for 6th.
And now to the crown jewel of any figure skating competition, the ladies event. For some reason the ladies event always makes me more nervous than any other, but this competition actually was less dramatic than most. Miki Ando skated first of the major contenders in the short and put up a huge score that put her in the lead and she held onto that lead until the medals were awarded and hers was gold. Rachael Flatt (sorry if I sound partial) skated a phenomenal short program and while it was a bit more reserved than it was at US Nationals last month, it was still quite spectacular and filled with passion. The judges awarded her with a score that was, I believe, about 9 points higher than her season's best and both her technical elements and program components were comparable with the other top ladies. She clearly made the right decision to change her short program and if she performs it like this at worlds, it will set her up to place very high and perhaps even medal. Alissa Czisny fell on a lutz early in her program, but she did not fall apart and finished a respectable 5th, which tells me she has changed because "old Alissa" would have melted down and finished the short program out of the top group. Akiko Suzuki also struggled and finished the short in 6th. Reigning world champion Mao Asada came back with a vengeance from a disappointing fall season to finish her short in second place, though I would have placed her behind Flatt because of her truly hideous landing on her triple axel. Mirai Nagasu also delivered a strong short, though her jumps were a bit tight and finished in 6th. Not much movement happened in the free skate as Ando and Asada skated flawless programs to finish first and second, while Nagasu also skated a near perfect program to finish third. Rachael Flatt had a few negative GOEs on jumps which dropped her to 4th, but I'm not worried because she is going to peak at worlds and be perfect. Alissa had another fall in the free, but again, she showed her poise and held the program together to finish fifth.
Overall I was please with this competition (no thanks to Universal Sports) and it was great to see some rematches of old rivalries as well as a preview of what will happen at Worlds. Take out the skaters who won't be competing in Tokyo, throw in some Europeans, and Worlds is shaping up to be one epic figure skating competition!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
2011 Four Continents: Ladies Free Skate
Starting Order for Ladies Free Skate
StN. Name Nation Rank Points
Warm-Up Group 1
1 Crystal KIANG TPE
21 31.89
2 Chaochih LIU TPE
24 28.52
3 Melanie SWANG THA
23 29.50
4 Mericien VENZON PHI
22 30.64
5 Lejeanne MARAIS RSA
19 31.99
6 Jaimee NOBBS AUS
20 31.94
Warm-Up Group 2
7 Melinda WANG TPE
14 36.51
8 Mimi Tanasorn CHINDASOOK THA
18 33.73
9 Victoria MUNIZ PUR
15 35.45
10 Bingwa GENG CHN
13 39.20
11 Qiuying ZHU CHN
16 35.08
12 Chae-Hwa KIM KOR
17 33.76
Warm-Up Group 3
13 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR
8 50.47
14 Cheltzie LEE AUS
10 48.72
15 Myriane SAMSON CAN
11 46.33
16 Yea-Ji YUN KOR
12 39.37
17 Amelie LACOSTE CAN
9 50.06
18 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN
7 55.65
Warm-Up Group 4
19 Rachael FLATT USA
3 62.23
20 Mirai NAGASU USA
4 59.78
21 Miki ANDO JPN
1 66.58
22 Akiko SUZUKI JPN
6 57.64
23 Alissa CZISNY USA
5 58.94
24 Mao ASADA JPN
2 63.41
StN. Name Nation Rank Points
Warm-Up Group 1
1 Crystal KIANG TPE
21 31.89
2 Chaochih LIU TPE
24 28.52
3 Melanie SWANG THA
23 29.50
4 Mericien VENZON PHI
22 30.64
5 Lejeanne MARAIS RSA
19 31.99
6 Jaimee NOBBS AUS
20 31.94
Warm-Up Group 2
7 Melinda WANG TPE
14 36.51
8 Mimi Tanasorn CHINDASOOK THA
18 33.73
9 Victoria MUNIZ PUR
15 35.45
10 Bingwa GENG CHN
13 39.20
11 Qiuying ZHU CHN
16 35.08
12 Chae-Hwa KIM KOR
17 33.76
Warm-Up Group 3
13 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR
8 50.47
14 Cheltzie LEE AUS
10 48.72
15 Myriane SAMSON CAN
11 46.33
16 Yea-Ji YUN KOR
12 39.37
17 Amelie LACOSTE CAN
9 50.06
18 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN
7 55.65
Warm-Up Group 4
19 Rachael FLATT USA
3 62.23
20 Mirai NAGASU USA
4 59.78
21 Miki ANDO JPN
1 66.58
22 Akiko SUZUKI JPN
6 57.64
23 Alissa CZISNY USA
5 58.94
24 Mao ASADA JPN
2 63.41
Friday, February 18, 2011
2011 Four Continents Championships: Mens Free Skate
Starting Order for Men's Free Skate
| StN. | Name | Nation | Rank | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-Up Group 1 | |||||||
| 1 | Brendan KERRY |
| 17 | 45.45 | |||
| 2 | Stephen Li-Chung KUO |
| 20 | 37.82 | |||
| 3 | Wun-Chang SHIH |
| 19 | 40.36 | |||
| 4 | Jordan JU |
| 18 | 44.37 | |||
| 5 | Mark WEBSTER |
| 16 | 48.26 | |||
| Warm-Up Group 2 | |||||||
| 6 | Min-Seok KIM |
| 15 | 53.67 | |||
| 7 | Joey RUSSELL |
| 14 | 57.67 | |||
| 8 | Nan SONG |
| 12 | 60.47 | |||
| 9 | Misha GE |
| 13 | 58.60 | |||
| 10 | Abzal RAKIMGALIEV |
| 11 | 60.95 | |||
| Warm-Up Group 3 | |||||||
| 11 | Shawn SAWYER |
| 7 | 65.71 | |||
| 12 | Jialiang WU |
| 10 | 63.30 | |||
| 13 | Takahiko KOZUKA |
| 6 | 66.25 | |||
| 14 | Jinlin GUAN |
| 9 | 64.68 | |||
| 15 | Kevin REYNOLDS |
| 8 | 65.47 | |||
| Warm-Up Group 4 | |||||||
| 16 | Jeremy ABBOTT |
| 2 | 76.73 | |||
| 17 | Armin MAHBANOOZADEH |
| 5 | 66.40 | |||
| 18 | Yuzuru HANYU |
| 3 | 76.43 | |||
| 19 | Daisuke TAKAHASHI |
| 1 | 83.49 | |||
| 20 | Adam RIPPON |
| 4 | 72.71 |
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