2011 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Trophee Eric Bompard Pairs Free Skate LIVE BLOG

1) Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres (FRA)
     Music: Nostalgia

• This is a very soft program compared to their very athletic short program
• Perfect unison on SBS jumps
• Very slow split double twist
• Nevermind what I said about being a "soft program"
• Good clean throw, not a lot of distance
• All that clean skating and he goes down on a simple crossover, they are practically laughing as they continue
• I like this music a lot, even if it is repetitive
• Very strong outing from them, it won't be medal-worthy, but they show promise
• Finish after the music

FS Score: 45.75 (TES) + 43.70 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 88.45
Total Score: 44.86 (SP) + (FS) = 133.31

2) Ksenia Stolbova & Fedor Klimov (RUS)
     Music: Polovetsian Dances

• They are so similar in size that the split twists are hard for them
• Her skirt is a little long for me, it gets in the way, and I hate those black tights
• She stumbles on jump #2 of the 3-jump combination
• They have a long way to go in terms of polish and elegance, though I feel they'll always be more of an athletic team
• Those lift positions really need some work, her foot is nowhere near pointed
• Wild on the throw, she puts a hand and a foot down
• Points for creativity on the death spiral entrance, but it's not pretty
• Hard fall and a big skid on the landing of the 2nd throw
• That was a very poor outing from them, I expected much more

FS Score: 43.08 (TES) + 46.17 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 88.25
Total Score: 48.81 (SP) + 88.25 (FS) = 137.06

3) Huibo Dong & Yiming Wu (CHN)
     Music: Mulan

• It's so cute that they're doing Mulan!
• Crash landing on the split triple twist
• Good jumping pass
• He nearly hits the boards
• Fall from him on the 2nd jumping pass
• They look very tentative in the lift
• Nearly a dead stop at the end of the death spiral
• Everything looks very slow and laboured
• Very slow spins
• This element layout follows that of the usual Chinese programs
• Fairly clean program, but no spark at all to be found

FS Score: 53.85 (TES) + 45.63 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 98.48
Total Score: 49.27 (SP) + 98.48 (FS) = 147.75

4) Jessica Dube & Sebastien Wolfe (CAN)
     Music: Heroes by Phillip Glass

• Good overall speed
• I love the cut of her dress but his shirt is so 1997
• Clean jumping until he put his hands down on the last one
• Off unison in the spins
• Tentative approach the the 1st throw, lacked speed and ice coverage
• I miss Bryce, but these two have potential together if they stick it out
• Better timing on the 2nd throw
• Didn't get the lift up, he couldn't get his arm straight, not sure if that completely devalues the lift or not
• Finished a little ahead of the music after the pair spin
• An okay outing, just fine for a brand new pair

FS Score: 48.06 (TES) + 49.38 (PCS) = 97.44
Total Score: 53.24 (SP) + 97.44 (FS) = 150.68

5) Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig (USA)
     Music: Daphnis et Chloe, Reverie

• I love the opening section, so fluid and gorgeous
• Great split twist
• Good jumps! Just a wild free leg swing from Amanda
• I love that little choreographed lift
• Good throw Amanda!
• Great speed and flow across the ice
• They are so beautiful I'm literally crying
• Ouch hard splat from Amanda on that double axel
• I say this every gosh darn competition, but they are so beautiful, but who that can only take you so far when you can land the 3 jumps you have to do in a program
• Their reverse entry lifts are so gorgeous, he is sooo strong
• I love the spiral sequence

FS Score: 54.04 (TES) + 58.85 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 111.89
Total Score: 57.69 (SP) + 111.89 (FS) = 169.58

6) Vera Bazarova & Yuri Larionov (RUS)
     Music: Doctor Zhivago

• Clean opening jumping pass
• Big split triple twist, because she weighs 7 pounds
• How she lands throws on those teeny tiny legs is beyond mee!
• All the jumps were clean, that's a big accomplishment for them!
• He actually gets pretty good leg height on that spiral
• Very slow rotation on the lift
• Very nice arch in the back from Vera
• When they land all their elements they pull big numbers, so this is a nice bounce back from Skate America where they only placed 5th
• Their lifts lack variety, but she doesn't hit a bad position

FS Score:65.34  (TES) +  (PCS) = 125.85
Total Score: 59.06 (SP) + (FS) = 184.91

7) Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford (CAN)
     Music: Viva la Vida, Yellow

• This is a beautiful program, something about it is so heart warming
• He is so much nicer to look at now that he cut his hair
• I love her arch before the split twist
• Unison issues on the SBS jumps, and they both land hands down on the 3rd jump
• Good clean double axels to recover
• I prefer a more traditional death spiral though I know variations improve the level
• Very good unison on the spins, quite remarkable for a team that is only a year old
• Feed stopped for a minute, not sure what I missed
• Nice 2nd throw
• Good lifts today, I believe those were a struggle at Skate Canada
• Good flexibility from her on the pair spin, but it was rally off center
• Abrupt ending, we know I hate those
• Apparently they fell on the 1st throw 

FS Score: 61.35 (TES) + 57.21 (PCS) - 3.00 (DED) = 115.56
Total Score: 61.06 (SP) + 115.56 (FS) = 176.62

8) Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov (RUS)
     Music: Black Swan

• They are in a league of their own here
• Was that a split single twist?
• I'm so happy she scrapped the tutu
• Nice jumping pass
• Very soft knees from both of them
• Perfect unison on the 2nd jumping pass
• Hardly any loss of speed in the grip change on the death spiral
• He exits the spin one revolution before she does
• This is so athletic and so graceful at the same time
• Huge throw, what else can you say about how good that element was
• Wonderful lift position on her part, very fast rotation
• They get bonus for all these lifts in the second half
• I love where this 2nd throw is placed in the music, two-footed
• A little slow on that carry lift
• A few minor errors, but they will be your winners!

FS Score: 64.20 (TES) + 66.24 (PCS) = 130.44
Total Score: 63.69 (SP) + 130.44 (FS) = 194.13

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS	194.13	1	1
2	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS	184.91	3	2
3	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN	176.62	2	3
4	Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG	USA	169.58	4	4
5	Jessica DUBE / Sebastien WOLFE	CAN	150.68	5	6
6	Huibo DONG / Yiming WU	CHN	147.75	6	5
7	Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV	RUS	137.06	7	8
8	Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES	FRA	133.31	8	7

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS	130.44	64.20		66.24	8.39	8.04	8.25	8.36	8.36	0.00	#8
2	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS	125.85	65.34		60.51	7.64	7.43	7.64	7.61	7.50	0.00	#6
3	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN	115.56	61.35		57.21	7.32	6.96	7.11	7.25	7.11	3.00	#7
4	Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG	USA	111.89	54.04		58.85	7.46	7.21	7.43	7.39	7.29	1.00	#5
5	Huibo DONG / Yiming WU	CHN	98.48	53.85		45.63	6.14	5.39	5.64	5.82	5.54	1.00	#3
6	Jessica DUBE / Sebastien WOLFE	CAN	97.44	48.06		49.38	6.43	6.04	6.07	6.29	6.04	0.00	#4
7	Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES	FRA	88.45	45.75		43.70	5.71	5.21	5.43	5.57	5.39	1.00	#1
8	Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV	RUS	88.25	43.08		46.17	6.14	5.61	5.68	5.79	5.64	1.00	#2