2013 Skate America: Short Dance Recap

What else is there to say about Davis & White (USA)? If I'm speechless, you know it's real and it's deep. This piece was really about Charlie for me. My eye went to him and Meryl was kind of there in the background. Is it just me or is his extension improving along with his performance quality? Love, love, loved it. I could have just as easily been watching the Grand Prix Final as the first major event of the season...they are in that good of shape. Short Dance Total: 75.70

Cappellini & Lanotte (ITA) put the DANCE in Ice Dance. I'm OBSESSED with this choreography! This is a perfect example of skating a full piece from beginning to end. They really told a complete story. I'm partial to a good show tune, but regardless, they are on my radar for the Olympic podium. Short Dance Total: 69.88

Shibutani & Shibutani (USA) rose to the occasion and brought it tonight. Alex is really catching my eye this year, but I want her to step it up and pull focus. I'm loving this piece and the fact that they didn't pick the most obvious Michael Buble pieces. Marina does it again, the woman can do no wrong. This piece has potential and they are going places with it. Short Dance Total: 61.26

Hubbell & Donohue (USA) just don't totally have it for me. I'm not sure why, but they are just a little B-team for me. Zach is awesome, but Madison doesn't do so much for me. She's a little cash for clunkers. He is all over my radar, and for his sake, I hope she can amp up the excitement. Short Dance Total: 60.71

I had no strong feelings about Zlobina & Sitnikov (AZE) tonight. They do have a nice flow and smoothness to their work, but the choreography and themes of the program did nothing much for me. Short Dance Total: 54.53

Reed & Reed (JPN) were just meh for me. Twizzle issue aside, the whole piece just looked too calculated and not nearly dancy enough. They were too stiff and the ending just felt out of control for me. It felt like it was about to unravel at any moment...a little Roughtown USA. Short Dance Total: 54.28

Carron & Jones (FRA) had me with their musical selection, and they're delightful to look at, but the program didn't build or really go anywhere. They are charming and the piece has potential if they can build up the excitement throughout the season. Short Dance Total: 54.10

Tobias & Stagniunas (LTU) have a great look and this was a cute program, but she needs to amp up the vavavoom. That, or they need to do A Chorus Line because she's obviously Val. His posture seemed a little clunky today, as did that rotational lift. I hope they clean that up. Short Dance Total: 53.17

2012 European Figure Skating Championships: Short Dance Results

1	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	65.06	31.93		33.13	8.39	8.11	8.32	8.43	8.18	0.00	#11
2	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	64.89	30.36		34.53	8.61	8.39	8.79	8.64	8.71	0.00	#13
3	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO	RUS	61.34	31.85		29.49	7.43	7.18	7.43	7.54	7.29	0.00	#14
4	Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND	GBR	59.78	31.22		28.56	7.11	6.82	7.21	7.25	7.25	0.00	#15
5	Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS	LTU	59.66	31.14		28.52	7.18	6.86	7.29	7.18	7.14	0.00	#12
6	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	59.62	27.51		32.11	7.93	7.82	8.11	8.14	8.11	0.00	#20
7	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	59.49	27.01		32.48	8.18	7.96	8.18	8.25	8.04	0.00	#16
8	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	57.40	28.92		28.48	7.14	6.82	7.21	7.21	7.18	0.00	#19
9	Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI	GER	56.79	28.57		28.22	7.25	6.82	7.11	7.14	6.96	0.00	#18
10	Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI	ITA	52.45	29.00		23.45	6.07	5.71	6.04	6.07	5.50	0.00	#2
11	Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV	AZE	49.66	24.57		25.09	6.39	6.18	6.32	6.36	6.14	0.00	#8
12	Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ	ESP	49.35	25.78		23.57	6.04	5.82	6.04	6.04	5.61	0.00	#17
13	Tanja KOLBE / Stefano CARUSO	GER	49.07	25.65		23.42	5.93	5.71	6.04	5.96	5.68	0.00	#3
14	Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS	GBR	48.36	25.71		22.65	5.71	5.54	5.71	5.82	5.54	0.00	#6
15	Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Neil BROWN	CZE	47.47	24.92		22.55	5.68	5.46	5.71	5.86	5.50	0.00	#9
16	Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Dmitri DUN	UKR	46.71	22.57		24.14	6.18	5.89	6.04	6.11	5.96	0.00	#5
17	Gabriela KUBOVA / Dmitri KISELEV	CZE	45.88	24.85		21.03	5.32	5.04	5.32	5.43	5.18	0.00	#7
18	Zsuzsanna NAGY / Mate FEJES	HUN	44.99	24.37		20.62	5.29	5.00	5.18	5.32	5.00	0.00	#4
19	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	44.97	22.29		22.68	5.86	5.61	5.82	5.79	5.36	0.00	#10
20	Nadezhda FROLENKOVA / Mikhail KASALO	UKR	42.60	22.07		20.53	5.29	4.93	5.25	5.21	5.00	0.00	#1

2011 Rostelecom Cup: Ice Dance Preview

The 6th and final Grand Prix of the season is always bittersweet for me. It's arguably some of the best skating of the season, but then again it's the last time we get to see most of these skaters before Worlds, unless they make the Final. It's also the one event that I won't be able to watch in its entirety because it happens to fall on Thanksgiving weekend here in the States. Ice Dance is shaping up to be a nice event in Russia, as 5 of the 8 teams have medaled in their previous Grand Prix events including two Gold medalists. The dancers skate their short Friday November 25th at 12:20 p.m. EST and their free Saturday November 26th at 12:25 p.m.

Reigning World Champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White (USA) have this title wrapped up, and as I've been saying all season, they won't face a challenge until they meet Virtue & Moir at the Final. They'll look to make technical adjustments from Skate America and up their performance quality in preparation for meeting their rivals in 2 weeks. Any color medal here will put them into the Grand Prix Final. Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) are skating at home and that, coupled with the incredibly high (too high in my opinion) scores they received winning Cup of China puts them in good stead to grab Silver. Their programs are very dramatic, which clearly appealed to the judges in China, and I suspect they'll have a similar effect on home ice. Any color medal here will put them into the Grand Prix Final. Kaitilyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN) are stronger than the Russians in my opinion, but they can't seem to get out of their own way and skate perfectly. But if this is anything like last season, they'll peak at Worlds, which ultimately matters most. Because this is their 3rd event, they've already qualified for the Grand Prix Final, that is unless Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones (FRA) or Isabella Tobias & Deividas Stagniunas (LTU) win this event, which won't happen. Both the French & Lithuanian teams won Bronze at their first event and though they are each fine teams, they medaled in relatively weak fields and neither team is much of a podium threat. Each team needs a win to make the Grand Prix Final. The one team that has an outside chance of upsetting the top 3 is Ekaterina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko (RUS) though they had a weak start finishing 5th at Skate Canada. For some reason, the judges didn't take to their programs in Canada, but I trust they've made adjustments in the 3 weeks between events and will finish strong at home in Russia.

My Podium Predictions:
1) Davis & White (USA)
2) Bobrova & Soloviev (RUS)
3) Weaver & Poje (CAN)


Competitive History:


Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev (RUS)-1st at 2011 Cup of China, 6th 2011 Worlds, 2nd 2011 Europeans, 4th 2010 Grand Prix Final, 1st 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 2nd 2010 Cup of China; PB: 163.52 at 2011 Cup of China


Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones (FRA)-3rd at 2011 Cup of China, 12th 2011 Worlds, 9th 2011 Europeans, 4th 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard, 1st 2010 NRW Trophy, 5th 2010 Skate Canada, 1st 2010 Coup de Nice, 1st 2010 Mont Blanc Trophy; PB: 140.86 at 2011 Worlds

Meryl Davis & Charlie White (USA)-1st at 2011 Skate America, 1st 2011 Worlds, 1st 2011 Four Continents, 1st 2011 Grand Prix Final, 1st 2011 Skate America, 1st 2011 NHK Trophy; PB: 185.27 at 2011 Worlds 


Ekaterina Pushhkash & Jonathan Guerreiro (RUS)-6th at 2011 Skate Canada, 2nd 2011 World Juniors, 4th 2010 JGP Final, 1st 2010 JGP Czech, 2nd 2010 JGP Japan; PB: 136.80 at 2010 JGP Czech


Cathy Reed & Chris Reed (JPN)-7th at 2011 NHK Trophy, 4th 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 13th 2011 Worlds, 2nd Asian Winter Games, 7th 2010 Skate America, 7th 2010 NHK Trophy; PB: 133.33 at 2011 Worlds

Ekaterina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko (RUS)-5th at 2011 Skate Canada, 6th 2011 Europeans, 2nd 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard, 5th 2010 Skate America, 3rd 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy; PB: 146.79 at 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard 


Isabella Tobias & Deividas Stagniunas (LTU)-3rd at 2011 Skate America, 5th 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 14th 2011 Worlds, 12th 2011 Europeans, 3rd 2010 NRW Trophy, 11th 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy; PB: 131.01 at 2011 Worlds


Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN)-2nd at 2011 NHK Trophy, 2nd at 2011 Skate Canada, 5th 2011 Worlds, 4th 2011 Four Continents, 4th 2010 Grand Prix Final, 4th 2010 Skate America, 2nd 2010 NHK Trophy; PB: 160.32 at 2011 Worlds 

2011 World Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance Qualifying Round Results

Seventeen Ice Dance teams skated in a qualifying round today and the top ten will move to the short dance on Friday.

FPl. Name Nation Points FD 1 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 87.22 1 2 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 83.67 2 3 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 77.63 3 4 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 75.45 4 5 Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR 75.00 5 6 Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE GEO 70.90 6 7 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ ESP 70.26 7 8 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 68.96 8 9 Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS GBR 68.58 9 10 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST SUI 67.94 10 11 Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER AUT 64.55 11 12 Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN AUS 63.57 12 13 Zsuzsanna NAGY / Mate FEJES HUN 58.70 13 14 Katelyn GOOD / Nikolaj SORENSEN DEN 57.04 14 15 Corenne BRUHNS / Benjamin WESTENBERGER MEX 55.51 15 16 Kristina TREMASOVA / Dimitar LICHEV BUL 55.37 16 17 Lesia VALADZENKAVA / Vitali VAKUNOV BLR 54.43 17