2011 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Cup of China Pairs Free Skate LIVE BLOG

1) Klara Kadlecova & Petr Bidar (CZE)
     Music: Phantom of the Opera

• Rough around the edges but better than the short by miles this far
• Started out with nice speed, but running out of gas halfway through
• That was an interesting spiral into a very abrupt ending

FS Score: 42.09 (TES) +41.52  (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 82.61
Total Score: 38.34 (SP) + 82.61 (FS) = 120.95

2) Taylor Steele & Robert Schultz (CAN)
     Music: Piano Concerto in F by Gershwin

• Nice start, they have nice unison and well-matched lines
• Good s peed
• The throw needs much more height
• She needs to really stretch out and point her feet in those lifts
• Touch second throw, can't hold the landing
• Their second set of jumps come very late in the program
• They end with the spins, they have a lot of work to do to get to the top level, but they have a lot of promise

FS Score: 49.85 (TES) +44.74  (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 93.59
Total Score: 48.25 (SP) + (FS) = 141.84

3) Xiaoyu Yu & Yang Jin (CAN)
     Music: Requiem for a Dream

• Why did they pick these costumes for this music? It makes no sense
• That being said, amazing split twist and SBS jumps
• I like the set up for the 1st throw and the fact that they do both back to back
• She really has to hang onto both to control the height
• A very flashy program overall, should land solidly in 1st

FS Score: 63.11 (TES) + 45.43 (PCS) = 108.54
Total Score: 54.42 (SP) + 108.54 (FS) = 162.96

4) Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig (USA)
     Music: Daphnis and Chloe, Reverie

• Please let this be clean, please let this be clean
• I love the softness of the costumes
• Nice speed in and out of the split twist
• Amanda stumbles out of the SBS jump, that's almost always the story
• Nice throw landing
• Good double axel sequence, slight unison issues
• This is a beautifully choreographed piece!
• THey are so pleasant and soothing to watch
• Great speed and flow across the ice, nice landing from Amanda on the 2nd throw
• I love that they save ll the lifts until the 2nd half where the'll get bonus points
• Their lifts are the best I've ever seen
• Nice spin positioning
• Very nice piece aside from Amanda's jumping error

FS Score: 60.51 (TES) + 53.24 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 112.75
Total Score: 57.88 (SP) + 112.75 (FS) = 170.63

5) Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN)
     Music: The Soul of Flamenco

• They are big time here in China
• Split quad twist, he is majorly pitching forward and she sits it down when he puts her back on the ice
• She face plants in the SBS jumps and misses her combination
• Huge throw landed on solid legs
• Sometimes I feel like he just tosses her around without much concern for how she gets there
• We've come to expect such perfection from them that we forget they're so young
• She really fought for the landing on that second throw
• They both botch the landings on the second SBS jump
• An off day for them for sure, perhaps the home pressure has been too much
• That was very very messy from them

FS Score: 56.66 (TES) + 54.81 (PCS) -2.00 (DED) = 109.47
Total Score: 60.00 (SP) + 109.47 (FS) = 169.47

6) Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang (CHN)
     Music: Totentanz

• I really hate this piece of music
• Dan falls on the SBS jumps, I believe she did at Skate America too
• They got dangerously close together on those spins
• This is really slow, she's barely muscling out those throws
• This program may be fine now, but it won't hold up against the best at Worlds

FS Score: 56.07 (TES) + 59.03 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 117.10
Total Score: 60.57 (SP) + 117.10 (FS) = 177.67

7) Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch (CAN)
     Music: Henry V

• This is beautiful music, a step in the right direction for them
• Kirsten falls hard on the 2nd half of the jumping pass
• Only a split double twist, hardly any lift
• Labored entrance into that lift
• She really fights hard to hold onto that second jumping pass
• Kirsten falls on the throw, I don't know if she fully rotated it or not
• This has been tough and go, not the skate they had at Skate America
• Her positions have improved, especially in the carry lift
• Hand down on the 2nd throw
• That lunge press lift has become a signature of their programs right at the end, very nice cartwheel exit

FS Score: 56.47 (TES) + 56.79 (PCS) - 2.00 (DED) = 111.26
Total Score: 60.78 (SP) + 111.26 (FS) = 172.04

8) Yuko Kavaguti & Alexander Smirnov (RUS)
     Music: Clair de Lune

• Slight unison issue on the jumps, Yuko was a bit wild
• Low catch on the split twist
• Nice throw
• This is a very easy program to watch, it has great flow to it
• Drifting apart on the spins a bit
• Good double axels
• I couldn't tell if she put a hand down on that throw or now
• Really innovative lift positions
• Very clean piece from them

FS Score: 58.53 (TES) + 63.76 (PCS) = 122.29
Total Score: 64.45 (SP) + 122.29 (FS) = 186.74