Saturday, January 21, 2012

2012 US Figure Skating Championships: Novice Ladies Short Program LIVE BLOG

1) Selena Zhao
   Music: Spanish Fantasy
  • A lot of energy coming out of the gate, a little thrashy
  • Her elbows are really out to the sides on her jumps, but she rotates really quickly and has a nice high free leg in the exit
  • Step out of the double axel, maybe two-footed
  • Her upper body is really stiff, if she would free up a little bit, I think she'd come off as much more expressive
  • She looks very happy with that performance, good for her!
23.00 (TES) + 16.12 (PCS) = 39.12

2) Karen Chen
   Music: The Chairman's Waltz
  • She is a Cali girl so she has a lot of home fans there yelling for her
  • She is an itty bitty thing, I can't wait to see her jump
  • She is incredibly expressive in her upper body and head, amazing for her age
  • Sits the first jump down
  • Incredibly flexibility and speed on the spins
  • Gorgeous, spiral, I love the position changes
  • I'm obsessed with the way she uses her upper body, especially in the footwork
  • She's more expressive that a lot of senior skaters
  • Exquisite layback, haircutter, biellman 
  • Great body lines
26.99 (TES) + 20.55 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 46.54

3) Madison DeLuca
   Music: Moon River
  • At 16, this young lady is on the older end of the Novice ladies
  • She was looking down at the ice going into the first jump, I have no idea how she landed it
  • She totally had that 2nd jump had she fought a little harder, but just sat it down right at the end
  • The transitions and linking steps into the 3rd jump are nice, but she seemed to run out of speed going into the jump
  • She looks down a lot, I'd love to see her look up and out!
15.53 (TES) + 14.28 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 28.81

4) Morgan Sewall
   Music: Requiem for a Tower
  • I love this costume, I like the water-color aspect, but I don't know that it suits "Requiem for a Dream"
  • Wide step out of the first jump, not sure if that counts as a fall
  • One arm over head variation on the next jump
  • I like the arms-up variation on the layback spin, but the foot needs to be pointed harder
  • A lot of arm movements on the footwork sequence, but I wish they would incorporate the whole upper body
  • Good low pike on the sit spin, but the foot needs to point
  • The combination spin is a little slow to be placed on that driving music at the end, that is a choreographic issue though
16.98 (TES) + 13.40 (PCS) = 30.38

5) Bradie Tennell
   Music: Selections from Anastasia
  • I'm pretty sure I just picked out her mom in the audience by how nervous she looks
  • Fall on the first jump, just didn't have the height
  • But she kept her smile, which I love!
  • Good double axel to recover
  • You can tell she really loves this music and loves to skate
  • She is really rising to the build of the music in this footwork sequence
  • She shows really good flexibility
  • A little wild on the illusions, but I think she just had energy to burn
  • She was a joy to watch
19.24 (TES) + 14.36 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 32.60

6) Olivia Serafini
   Music: Take The 5th
  • I like this costume, it's very jazzy
  • I'd love to see a big smile on her face to match this uptempo music
  • Now she's smiling, after landing her first two jumping passes
  • She's pitched a little forward at the hips on that spread eagle, takes it into a nice double axel
  • She lands all the jumps, and now she is having more fun with the performance
  • Really good job, she'll be very happy with that
22.80 (TES) + 15.84 (PCS) = 38.64

7) Brianna Laxson
   Music: Totentanz
  • I had the chance to see her skate live at Michael Weiss' show this fall and she was great
  • Amazing speed
  • Wild coming out of the 2nd jump in combination, but landed nonetheless
  • She has so much speed and explosiveness going into these jumps!
  • She looks just a little wild, I'd like to see a little more control, but I appreciate her attack
  • This is a very bold music choice for a 13-year-old, but she's living up to it
  • Amazing she held onto that Biellman, she had a fistful of hair caught between her hand and her leg
  • Oh no, she fell in her footwork! Luckily she didn't miss an element, should still pull a big score
23.20 (TES) + 16.21 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 38.41

8) Dyllan McIntee
   Music: Incarnation
  • She looks like Danielle Kahle!
  • I forgot how much I loved this piece of music
  • She has a very high wrap on her jumps, little technical issue she'll need to fix
  • I really like this costume, it has a lot of detail, and I like the iridescent quality
  • A lot of one-leg work in the footwork, and really good use of her knees
 18.09 (TES) + 16.27 (PCS) = 34.36

9) Amanda Gelb
   Music: Selections from Amelie
  • Very clean 3-2 combination
  • A lot of the tano-variation on jumps today
  • Very fast rotation and good flexibility in the layback
  • She seems very focused, she's in the zone
  • I love her spin variations
  • She is a nice clean, quiet skater
  • I think that should put her at the top
23.86 (TES) + 19.81 (PCS) = 43.67

10) Madison Vinci
   Music: Umbrellas of Cherbourg
  • She his a lovely, lyrical skater, very mature looking
  • That first jump was so tilted in the air, I have no idea how she saved it
  • I love the costume, a very elegant look combined with the hair
  • She wraps really tightly for quick rotation
  • I love her use of her whole body, particularly her head, in the footwork
24.64 (TES) + 17.26 (PCS) = 41.90

11) Avery Kurtz
     Music: Hernando's Hideaway
  • Ahh, one of my favorite pieces of music!!
  • She has so much energy, I love her attack and her attention to the latin flair of the piece
  • Great fight on this footwork
  • I'm not crazy about the costume, it's very busy, but it is youthful
  • I hate these long waits for scores!
16.23 (TES) + 16.74 (PCS) = 32.97

12) Amber Glenn
      Music: El Tango De Roxanne
  • Is she wearing black lipstick??
  • Oh goodness here we go on another piece of wayyy overused music
  • She is attacking this like nobody's business, but it's hard to get past the music
  • She is a fierce little diva, I love her presences and her speed
  • She has every nuance down pat, including the hand and head movements
  • Amazing flexibility on that Biellman spin
  • I love the stretch in the camel and the overall speed in all the spins
25.88 (TES) + 16.57 (PCS) = 42.45


Start No.NameScore
12Karen Chen, Peninsula SC46.54
29Amanda Gelb, Los Angeles FSC43.67
312Amber Glenn, Dallas FSC42.45
410Madison Vinci, WA FSC41.90
51Selena Zhao, Highland SC39.12
66Olivia Serafini, SC of NY38.64
77Brianna Laxson, WA FSC38.41
88Dyllan McIntee, SC of Phoenix34.36
911Avery Kurtz, Broadmoor SC32.97
105Bradie Tennell, Wagon Wheel FSC32.60
114Morgan Sewall, North Atlantic FSC30.38
123Madison DeLuca, Arctic FSC28.81

1 comment:

  1. Bradie is a beautiful skater but she is a mean girl. She is verbally abusive to other skaters

    ReplyDelete