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

2010 ISU Grand Prix Final: Podium Picks & Fantasy Picks

Well the regular Grand Prix season has ended and the top six finishers in each discipline have qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Beijing December 9-12. Most of the competitors are en route to Beijing and we are only four days away from the start of the competition!

The icenetwork.com live streaming schedule for the 2010 Grand Prix Final from Beijing is as follows:

Friday December 10th
4:15 a.m.: Senior short dance
5:25 a.m.: Senior men's short program
6:30 a.m.: Senior ladies short program
7:35 a.m.: Senior pairs short program

Saturday December 11th
3:55 a.m.: Senior men's free skate
5:10 a.m.: Senior ladies free skate
6:20 a.m.: Senior free dance
7:40 a.m.: Senior pairs free skate

Qualifying Order:                                                          My Podium Predictions:
**Green denotes fantasy picks
Men:
1) Takahiko Kozuka (481.58)                                         1) Patrick Chan
2) Daisuke Takahashi (461.86)                                       2) Daisuke Takahashi
3) Patrick Chan (466.73)                                                 3) Tokahiko Kozuka
4) Tomas Verner (445.12)                                               4) Nobunari Oda
5) Nobunari Oda (462.61)                                               5) Florent Amodio
6) Florent Amodio (443.15)                                             6) Tomas Verner   
 
Ladies:
1) Miki Ando (346.68)                                                    1) Miki Ando
2) Alissa Czisny (332.17)                                                2) Akiko Suzuki
3) Carolina Kostner (319.48)                                          3) Rachael Flatt
4) Kanako Murakami (315.09)                                        4) Kanako Murakami
5) Akiko Suzuki (335.60)                                                5) Alissa Czisny
6) Rachael Flatt (323.90)                                                6) Carolina Kostner
   
Pairs:
1) Savchenko/Szolkowy (395.58)                                  1) Savchenko/Szolkowy
2) Pang/Tong (366.87)                                                   2) Pang/Tong
3) Bazarova/Larionov (356.83)                                      3) Bazarova/Larionov
4) Moore-Towers/Moscovitch (346.40)                           4) Moore-Towers/Moscovitch
5) Iliushechkina/Maisuradze (333.49)                            5) Sui/Han
6) Sui/Han (341.54)                                                        6) Iliushechkina/Maisuradze

Ice Dance:
1) Davis/White (321.89)                                                 1) Davis/White
2) Pechalat/Bourzat (321.41)                                         2) Pechalat/Bourzat
3) Crone/Poirier (303.50)                                               3) Bobrova/Soloviev
4) Bobrova/Soloviev (299.72)                                        4) Crone/Poirier
5) Weaver/Poje (283.91)                                                5) Weaver/Poje
6) Hoffmann/Zavozin (272.91)                                        6) Hoffmann/Zavozin

2010 ISU Grand Prix Final: Ice Dance Preview

In order to make informed predictions for the Grand Prix Final next weekend, and also just for the love of watching great figure skating, I'm reviewing the tapes of the Grand Prix qualifiers. I'm not going to give complete commentary as that can be found on my other posts, but rather I'll be giving a summary of the programs and discussing how they grew and evolved from the skaters' first Grand Prix assignment to their second. You can catch the pairs in their short program at 4:15 am on December 10th and their free skate at 6:20 am on December 11th as icenetwork.com streams the Grand Prix Final live from Beijing. I will be live-blogging both events right here. 




My Final Predictions:

1) Davis/White (USA)

2) Pechalat/Bourzat (France)

3) Bobrova/Soloviev (Russia)

4) Crone/Poirier (Canada)
5) Weaver/Poje (Canada)
6) Hoffmann/Zavozin (Hungary)

Ice Dance:
1) Davis/White: 15(NHK)+15(SA)=30                            (321.89)
    NHK: 66.97(SD)+98.24(FS)=165.21

• This short dance is a wonderful showing by Davis & White as usual, but there is certainly room for improvement as they become more comfortable with the short dance genre and this program specifically. This program is very operatic in nature and it is great to see a program from them that relies more on elegance than on athleticism. I am seeing a lot more maturity from them in this program and them and a style that looks more "European" to me. I would love a little more speed through the Golden Waltz but still a very strong program. 
• I love the way that they take the ice in character in this tango free skate. As usual, they have awesome lift positions and great flow across the ice. I love the nuances in this piece of music and they really use every ounce of it. The ending is also fabulous with the three very distinct poses on the ending musical beats.

    SA: 63.62(SD)+93.06(FD)=156.68

• I like Meryl's dress better here than at NHK. It looks like the same dress but the lighter peach color suits the tone of the program better than her old red dress. The stumble by Charlie on the twizzle was so uncharacteristic and I doesn't seem to have affected them much here. The Golden Waltz looks much stronger here that it did at NHK with better speed and deeper edges. They really know how to interpret this music down to every single nuance. Their rotational lifts at the end of the program were wonderful and they really suited the musical climax, which is a credit to Marina Zoueva's choreography.
• Meryl made a costume change here to a simpler dress with less of a full skirt and a more angular look. Charlie also switched from jacket to a vest which gives him more freedom to use his upper body. This is a really specific comment, but I love the way they use their heads in their movement. They do both take a fall but it doesn't effect them much. The choreography here is different slightly from NHK as they felt the footwork was too intricate there so they changed a few sections to give themselves some breathing room.

2) Pechalat/Bourzat: 15(CC)+15(TEB)=30                    (321.41)
    CC: 64.12(SD)+95.47=159.59  

• This team really looks beautiful together out on the ice. They are so sensual and elegant. Visually they are probably the most stunningly gorgeous Ice Dance team I have ever seen. They have made huge improvements this season and with Virtue/Moir gone, they may be the only team with a real chance to challenge Davis and White. I would love to see more speed on their Golden Waltz and their rotational lifts at their next event. They are so expressive and you can see everything they are feeling on their faces.
• The performance of this Charlie Chaplin free skate is incredible. They even enter the ice in character and each second of their choreography serves the theme of the program. This is perhaps the most well composed and choreographed Ice Dance program of the season. There is not one wasted movement or gesture and they never break character, not even for a second.

    TEB: 65.48(SD)+96.34(FD)=161.82

• This Dr. Zhivago short dance is really exquisite. I think this team is more elegant than Davis and White, but I do not think they will beat them at the Final unless Davis and White have some major mistakes. They are beautifully expressive, particularly with their upper bodies. I would like to see Nathalie in a lower position on the shoot the duck and also a higher attitude position after.
• I don't know what to say about this free program that I didn't say at their last event. It is so well choreographed and composed to hilight their strengths. No moment is a waste and each movement and gesture serves the theme of the program. I think they are going to put up two very strong programs at the Grand Prix Final and give Davis & White a run for their money, but I think they will come up short and take home the silver in Beijing, which is certainly nothing to scoff at.

3) Crone/Poirier: 15(SC)+13(SA)=28                            (303.50)
    SC: 62.95(SD)+91.47(FD)=154.42

• I don't really love this short dance, for many reasons. First, I don't think that Fallin by Alicia Keys is an appropriate musical selection for a Golden Waltz. Second, I hate Vanessa's costume and I think that it is too tight for a white dress if you know what I mean. This is a team where I prefer to watch the man as Paul has beautiful positions and amazing flow, while Vanessa looks very stiff and rigid, especially in her upper body.
• This free program is choreographed by Christopher Dean so that automatically places a high level of expectation on them in terms of living up to Dean's legendary status. I am not a big fan of these primary colored costumes and I don't understand what they have to do with Eleanor Rigby. I also don't understand why Vanessa insists on wearing these skin-tight spandex numbers where we can see just about everything. I do love the choreography, but that is to be expected from a master. I am not a big fan of the way the program is executed and I think they are lacking in performance quality. Vanessa needs to loosen up her arms and shoulders and extend more through her legs and feet in the more stretched out positions.

    SA: 60.41(SD)+ 88.67(FD)=149.08

• I like that Vanessa chose to let her hair down for the Short Dance here as it keeps her from looking so uptight. She gets a nice low position on her shoot the duck. They score lower here than they did at Skate Canada, but I think I like the program better here as the flow seems much better, and Vanessa doesn't seem so rigid.
• The opening sequence of this free dance seems a little choppy. This program didn't do much for me at all at Skate Canada but it is starting to grow on me. I can appreciate it for the great choreography, but I still do not enjoy watching Vanessa. Her arms are stiff, her legs are often bent, and she forgets to point her feet. Their performance still leaves much to be desired for me and they have little if any connection to the audience. They seem so mechanical out on the ice almost as if this is a display of technique rather than a performance.

4) Bobrova/Soloviev: 13(CC)+15(CR)=28                     (299.72)
    CC: 55.85(SD)+ 89.54(FD)=145.39

• In terms of Ice Dance, this team is the surprise of the season for me as I had never really heard much about them before, but what I see, I really like. They really attack this short dance and use every part of their bodies to express the music. The music gets on my nerves a little, but I really love the program. They are nice and close on their midline step sequence and get really deep into their edges on the Golden Waltz. I think this his going to be the next great Russian Ice Dance team. Watch out for them in Sochi! They really are such a joy to watch.

• This is a very elegant, quiet free dance, but they are both very expressive still. I like this free dance a lot and I would love to see them secure a spot on the podium at the Final. This piece is wonderfully romantic and they have such an amazing connection with one another.

    CR: 60.80(SD)+93.53(FD)=154.33

• I really like this program and it has definitely improved from Cup of China. They have a great flow in their Golden Waltz and it transitions perfectly in and out of their free skating. Their death drop is a highlight of the program and their rotational lifts are also spectacular. They are both wonderfully expressive, especially Ekaterina. 
• I love both of their programs this season and I think that if they can put up two inspired skates at the Final, they can beat Crone & Poirier and stand on the program. I would like to see them clean up their twizzles and really get them perfectly in unison. They have so much emotion when they skate and I think that really makes them stand out from some other teams.

5) Weaver/Poje: 13(NHK)+9(SA)=22                            (283.91)
    NHK: 58.69(SD)+82.88(FD)=141.57

• This short dance to At Last/Cheek to Cheek is one of my favorite of this season in Ice Dance. It is the picture of elegance and I think it is a great example of what a short dance should be in terms of integrating free dancing with the Golden Waltz. I love the opening lift where Kaitlyn is nearly parallel to the ice. What I love about Ice Dance as a discipline is that it is the most pleasing to the eye and this program is quite enjoyable to watch.
• I really like this free program, but the Moulin Rouge music is pretty overdone. I do love the choreography though and they have some nice spin positions. I actually prefer this team to fellow Canadians Crone & Poirier, but they are not getting quite the scores of their countrymen this season. They also have great lift positions and a wonderful performance quality. I do, however, think the ending is very abrupt, both musically and choreographically and I think it should be reworked.

    SA: 59.48(SD)+82.86(FD)=142.34

• I love this short dance even more here than I did at NHK. I think it has even better speed and flow and their lines are just so long and gorgeous. I like that it looks like he is actually leading her in this Golden Waltz. This is so enjoyable to watch and just the picture of elegance. I actually like this better than their free dance this season I think.
• This free dance doesn't seem quite as strong here for me as it did at NHK. It seems just slightly sloppy and not quite so polished. They are a wonderful team and I think they will put up two strong programs at the Grand Prix Final, but I don't expect them to  make the podium unless some of the top teams make major mistakes. I think that they are the most overlooked of the Canadian teams, living in the shadow of Virtue/Moir and now Crone/Poirier. They  have worked very hard to improve and this team should should be able to move up a lot in the world standings this season.

6) Hoffmann/Zavozin: 9(CC)+13(CR)=22                      (272.91)
    CC: 52.69(SD)+78.13(FD)=130.82

• She has beautiful lines in this short dance but he looks a little sloppy for me. They seem to have nice speed and do a nice job of interpreting the music. Their Golden Waltz is nowhere near the level of the other Grand Prix Final Qualifiers in terms of positions and edges, but they are still a nice team.
• The opening sequence of this free skate is very exciting and dramatic. While they do provide great expression on their faces, this program seems slow to me. I really feel they are goign to be out fo theri leagues in the Final this year.

    CR: 57.24(SD)+84.85(FS)=142.09

• They seem to have better flow across the ice here than they did at Cup of China. I think they have really grown into this program over the past two weeks. I also like that Max has shed the tuxedo jacket as it got in the way and made his arms look sloppy. They seem deeper in their edges and more precise in their positions in the Golden Waltz here as well. Their performance and musicality are much stronger here as well than their first Grand Prix outing this season.
• The speed is definitely better here than at Cup of China. Both of their programs have improved greatly after their 4th place showing at Cup of China. They now have good momentum going into the Final and should make a strong showing there.

ISU Grand Prix Final Preview

Well the regular Grand Prix season has ended and the top six finishers in each discipline have qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Beijing December 9-12. I will be updating this post over the next 2 weeks with my fantasty picks, and my predictions for the podium. For now, here are the qualifying orders as well as the total points from the two events combined. Check back over the next two weeks for more updates!

The icenetwork.com live streaming schedule for the 2010 Grand Prix Final from Beijing is as follows:

Friday December 10th
4:15 a.m.: Senior short dance
5:25 a.m.: Senior men's short program
6:30 a.m.: Senior ladies short program
7:35 a.m.: Senior pairs short program

Saturday December 11th
3:55 a.m.: Senior men's free skate
5:10 a.m.: Senior ladies free skate
6:20 a.m.: Senior free dance
7:40 a.m.: Senior pairs free skate

**NHK=NHK Trophy, SC=Skate Canada, CC=Cup of China, SA=Skate America, CR=Rostelecom Cup, TEB=Trophee Eric Bompard

Men:
1) Takahiko Kozuka: 15(CC)+15(TEB)=30                    (481.58)
    CC: 77.40(SP)+156.11(FS)=233.51   
    TEB: 77.64(SP)+170.43(FS)=248.07

2) Daisuke Takahashi: 15(NHK)+15(SA)=30                 (461.86)
    NHK: 78.04(SP)+156.75(FS)=234.79
    SA: 78.12(SP)+148.95(FS)=227.07

3) Patrick Chan: 15(SC)+13(CR)=28                             (466.73)
    SC: 73.20(SP)+166.32(FS)+239.52
    CR: 81.96(SP)+145.25(FS)=227.21

4) Tomas Verner: 11(NHK)+15(CR)=26                         (445.12)
    CC:70.31(SP)+144.50(FS)=214.81
    CR:74.10(SP)+156.21(FS)=230.31

5) Nobunari Oda: 13(SC)+13(SA)=26                           (462.61)
    SC: 81.37(SP)+155.15(FS)+236.52
    SA: 79.28(SP)+146.81(FS)=226.09

6) Florent Amodio: 11(NHK)+13(TEB)=24                     (443.15)
    NHK: 70.01(SP)+143.76(FS)=213.77   
    TEB: 75.62(SP)+153.76(FS)=229.38

1A) Jeremy Abbott: 13(NHK)+11(CR)=24                        (435.40)
2A) Brandon Mroz: 13(CC)+11(TEB)=24                          (431.11)
3A) Adam Rippon: 11(SC)+9(SA)=20                              (436.16)

Ladies:
1) Miki Ando: 15(CC)+15(CR)=30                                 (346.68)
    CC: 56.11(SP)+116.10(FS)=172.21
    CR: 54.00(SP)+120.47(FS)=174.47

2) Alissa Czisny: 15(SC)+11(TEB)=26                           (332.17)
    SC: 55.95(SP)+116.42(FS)=172.37
    TEB: 55.50(SP)+104.30(FS)=159.80

3) Carolina Kostner: 15(NHK)+11(SA)=26                    (319.48)
    NHK: 57.27(SP)+107.34(FS)=164.61
    SA: 60.28(SP)+94.59(FS)=154.87

4) Kanako Murakami: 11(NHK)+15(SA)=26                  (315.09)
    NHK: 56.10(SP)+94.06(FS)=150.16
    SA: 54.75(SP)+110.18(FS)=164.93

5) Akiko Suzuki: 13(CC)+13(CR)=26                            (335.60)
    CC: 57.97(SP)+104.89(FS)=162.86
    CR: 57.43(SP)+115.31(FS)=172.74

6) Rachael Flatt: 13(NHK)+13(SA)=26                          (323.90)
    NHK: 53.69(SP)+107.35(FS)=161.04
    SA: 51.02(SP)+111.84(FS)=162.86

1A) Kiira Korpi: 9(NHK)+15(TEB)=24                             (318.18)
2A) Mirai Nagasu: 9(CC)+13(TEB)=22                           (314.02)
3A) Ashley Wagner: 7(NHK)+11(CR)=18                       (310.75)

Pairs:
1) Savchenko/Szolkowy: 15(SA)+15(TEB)=30             (395.58)
    SA: 63.99(SP)+133.71(FS)=197.70
    TEB: 66.65(SP)+131.23(FS) =197.88

2) Pang/Tong: 15(NHK)+15(CC)=30                             (366.87)
    NHK: 67.10(SP)+122.27(FS)=189.37
    CC: 60.62(SP)+116.88(FS)=177.50

3) Bazarova/Larionov: 13(NHK)+13(TEB)=26               (356.83)
    NHK: 60.16(SP)+113.67(FS)=173.83
    TEB: 64.18(SP)+118.82(FS)=183.00

4) Moore-Towers/Moscovitch: 13(SC)+13(SA)=26        (346.40)
    SC: 53.68(SP)+117.24(FS)=170.92
    SA: 61.64(SP)+113.84(FS)=175.48

5) Iliusechkina/Maisuradze: 15(SC)+9(CC)=24             (333.49)
    SC: 60.72(SP)+110.68(FS)=171.40
    CC: 55.85(SP)+106.24(FS)=162.09

6) Sui/Han: 13(CC)+11(SA)=24                                     (341.54)
    CC: 59.58(SP)+111.89(FS)=171.47
    SA: 57.53(SP)+112.54(FS)=170.07

1A) Takahashi/Tran: 11(NHK)+13(CR)=24                       (321.13)
2A) Yankowskas/Coughlin: 9(NHK)+11(CC)=22               (321.60)
3A) Lawrence/Swiegers: 11(SC)+7(CR)=18                     (315.82)

Ice Dance:
1) Davis/White: 15(NHK)+15(SA)=30                            (321.89)
    NHK: 66.97(SD)+98.24(FS)=165.21
    SA: 63.62(SD)+93.06(FD)=156.68

2) Pechalat/Bourzat: 15(CC)+15(TEB)=30                    (321.41)
    CC: 64.12(SD)+95.47=159.59  
    TEB: 65.48(SD)+96.34(FD)=161.82

3) Crone/Poirier: 15(SC)+13(SA)=28                            (303.50)
    SC: 62.95(SD)+91.47(FD)=154.42
    SA: 60.41(SD)+ 88.67(FD)=149.08

4) Bobrova/Soloviev: 13(CC)+15(CR)=28                     (299.72)
    CC: 55.85(SD)+ 89.54(FD)=145.39
    CR: 60.80(SD)+93.53(FD)=154.33

5) Weaver/Poje: 13(NHK)+9(SA)=22                            (283.91)
    NHK: 58.69(SD)+82.88(FD)=141.57
    SA: 59.48(SD)+82.86(FD)=142.34

6) Hoffmann/Zavozin: 9(CC)+13(CR)=22                      (272.91)
    CC: 52.69(SD)+78.13(FD)=130.82
    CR: 57.24(SD)+84.85(FS)=142.09

1A) Shibutani/Shibutani: 11(NHK)+11(SA)=22                 (281.74)
2A) Chock/Zuerlein: 11(SC)+11(TEB)=22                        (277.53)
3A) Riazanova/Tkachenko: 7(SA)+13(TEB)=20                (283.93)

ISU Grand Prix: Trophee Eric Bompard Short Program Update

I am sorry that I did not get to live-blog the short programs today, but here are the results and the standings going into tomorrow's free skates.

Men:
1) Takahiko Kozuka (Japan)            77.64
2) Florent Amodio (France)              75.62
3) Brandon Mroz (USA)                   72.46
4) Chafik Besseghier (France)          70.33
5) Brian Joubert (France)                 66.95
6) Peter Liebers (Germany)              66.53
7) Kevin Reynolds (Canada)             66.13
8) Nan Song (China)                        62.88
9) Anton Kovalevski (Ukraine)          55.79
10) Zoltan Kelemen (Romania)         53.02
11) Jinlin Guan (China)                      WD

Ladies:
1) Kiira Korpi (Finland)                    61.39
2) Mirai Nagasu (USA)                    58.72
3) Haruka Imai (Japan)                     58.38
4) Alissa Czisny (USA)                     55.50
5) Fumie Suguri (Japan)                    50.76
6) Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada)            50.51
7) Mao Asada (Japan)                      50.10
8) Sonia LaFuente (Spain)                 46.81
9) Sarah Hecken (Germany)              46.73
10) Candice Didier (France)              46.06
11) Mae Berenice Meite (France)      41.69
12) Lena Marrocco (France)             38.39

Pairs:
1) Savchenko/Szolkowy (Germany)    66.65
2) Bazarova/Larionov (Russia)            64.18
3) Hausch/Wende (Germany)             54.02
4) Brodeur/Mattatall (Canada)            45.47
5) Zhang/Toth (USA)                          40.93
6) Khnychenkova/Magyar (Hungary)   39.46
7) Kadlecova/Bidar (CZE)                  39.32

Ice Dance:
1) Pechalat/Bourzat (France)                 65.48
2) Riazanova/Tkachenko (Russia)          60.81
3) Chock/Zuerlein (USA)                      58.09
4) Carron/Jones (France)                      53.36
5) Cannuscio/Lorello (USA)                  52.19
6) Ralph/Hill (Canada)                           50.50
7) Huang/Zheng (China)                         49.55
8) Turoczi.Major (Hungary)                   41.27

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Trophee Eric Bompard Preview

Next weekend the ISU's Grand Prix of Figure Skating makes its final stop in Paris for Trophee Eric Bompard. For the top skaters and teams, this a great performance will put them among the worlds best in The Grand Prix Final and for the others, this is their last chance to prove themselves as up and coming stars for next season. In the Men's competition, Kozuka looks to rack up another win to qualify for the Final, though he do so by placing 4th or higher. Brandon Mroz, one of the surprises this season, also has the chance to qualify for the Final if he can place 2nd. Though a long shot, Amodio, Joubert, and Reynolds also have hope for the Final if they can pull out a win here.

With 5 of the 6 ladies spots already taken for the Final, Alissa Czisny has a golden opportunity to seize the 6th as long as she medals here. Phaneuf, Korpi, and Nagasu can also take the last open spot with a win in Paris. This has been a disappointing season for Asada and Suguri and they cannot make the final, they can shake up the standings if they skate well.

Savchenko & Szolkowy are almost guaranteed to win the pairs competition, though they only need to place 4th to take one of the two open spots in the Grand Prix Final. Bazarova & Larionov of Russia can also qualify for the Final if they place in the top two, which is very likely with the weak competition in this event. The rest of this field is really a toss up and with no true stand outs, the third spot on the podium is completely up for grabs.

Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat blew away the competition at Cup of China and are almost certain to win here at home, but as long as they place in the top 5, they'll qualify for the Final. Chock & Zhurlein of the USA have a golden opportunity to make their first senior Grand Prix Final if they place in the top two, which they have a real shot at doing with few standouts in this event. Three other teams in this field, Riazanova & Tkachenko, Carron & Jones, and Huang & Zheng could seize the last spot on the final if they could somehow manage to win here. Mathematically speaking, if one of these three teams wins, Chock & Zhurlein place 2nd, and Pechalat & Bourzat place 3rd, all three could make the final, though that is highly unlikely.

Here is the icenetwork.com live streaming schedule for the event. The times are Eastern Standard Time (US). Becuase I will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, I will not be live-blogging any of the sessions but I will try to check in with the live feed when I can and post scores. I'll also be retweeting anything and everything I find related to the competition so check me out @barbiebackstage

Friday, Nov. 26

9:30 a.m.: Men's short program
11:30 a.m.: Pairs short program
12:45 p.m.: Ladies short program
2:30 p.m.: Short dance
Saturday, Nov. 27
7:30 a.m.: Men's free skate
9:45 a.m.: Pairs free skate
12:30 p.m.: Ladies free skate
2:15 p.m.: Free dance

In an update on Fantasy Skating, Skategate & I are quite upset that the Ice Dance scores from Cup of Russia were counted because all three of our Fantasy teams withdrew due to injury and we received no points for that event. We are emailing the Fantasy administrator to voice our concerns and I will update you if an agreement is reached.
**BackStage Barbie **Skategate  **Shared Picks

Total Points:                    9299        9318
Overall Placement:          157T         140

Men:
1) Kevin Reynolds (Canada)
2) Jinlin Guan (China)
3) Nan Song (China)
4) Florent Amodio (France)
5) Chafik Besseghier (France)
6) Brian Joubert (France)
7) Peter Liebers (Germany)
8) Takahiko Kozuka (Japan)
9) Zoltan Kelemen (Romania)
10) Anton Kovalevski (Ukraine)
11) Brandon Mroz (USA)

Ladies:
1) Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada)
2) Kiira Korpi (Finland)
3) Candie Didier (France)
4) Lena Marrocco (France)
5) Mae Berenice Meite (France)
6) Sarah Hecken (Germany)
7) Mao Asada (Japan)
8) Haruka Imai (Japan)
9) Fumie Suguri (Japan)
10) Sonia Lafuente (Spain)
11) Alissa Czisny (USA)
12) Mirai Nagasu (USA)

Pairs:
1) Mylene Brodeur & John Mattatal (Canada)
2) Klara Kadlecova & Petr Bidar (CZE)
3) Maylin Hausch & Daniel Wende (Germany)
4) Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy (Germany)
5) Anna Khnychenkova & Mark Magyar (Hungary)
6) Nicole Della Monica & Yannick Kocon (Italy)
7) Vera Bezarova & Yuri Larionov (Russia)
8) Felicia Zhang & Taylor Toth (USA)

Ice Dance:
1) Kharis Ralph & Asher Hill (Canada)
2) Xinton Huang & Xue Zheng (China)
3) Pernell Carron & Lloyd Jones (France)
4) Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat (France)
5) Dora Turoczi & Balazs Major (Hungary)
6) Ekatarina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko (Russia)
7) Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello (USA)
8) Madison Chock & Greg Zhurlein (USA)

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Cup of China Short Dance

I didn't watch the live broadcast so these are just scores and standings, but I will post my commentary once the short dance is available on-demand.

1) Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello (USA)
    Music: Piano Man by Billy Joel

• They seem just slightly out of sync on all of their unison elements
• Their edges seem flat on the golden waltz sections
• I liked the position in the lift, but it looked labored
• The ending pose is too much, took too much work to get into for what we get out of it
• SD Score: 19.05 (technical) + 19.29 (presentation) = 38.34

2) Xueting Guan & Meng Wang (China)

    Music: Waltz

• She exits the first twizzle a full rotation before he does
• Golden Waltz looks "calculated" and not "danced" if that makes sense
• This seems more like practice than a performance to me
• They really lose speed later in the program
• I like the nice crisp ending with the music as opposed to the elaborate poses of other teams
• SD Score: 21.36 (technical) + 18.83 (presentation) = 40.19

3) Xiaoyang Yu & Chen Wang (China)

    Music: Waltz & Tango

• I really like the way these two costumes complement one another
• This may be an odd question, but does anyone else feel like the  musical selections of these Chinese teams sound more like music for Pairs?
• I must admit today is my first time seeing a Chinese Ice Dance team and I'm wondering if they are simply trying to piggyback on their success in Pairs by breaking into dance
• I had these awkward transitions from Waltz to Tango as they do not make a cohesive program and a costume suited for waltz never suits tango, and vice versa
• I like this ending post as well
• SD Score: 23.99 (technical) + 21.34 (presentation) = 45.33

4) Nora Hoffman & Maxim Zavozin (Hungary)

    Music: Waltz

• I think its interesting that Maxim used to compete for the United States, I knew his name sounded familiar when I was looking at the entries for this competition
• My video footage went spotty during the twizzles, but I thought they went a little out of sync
• What is with this camera work?
• I've decided that its unfair for me to really criticize any one team because I just think this category of the "Short Dance" needs a lot of work
• SD Score: 26.28 (technical) + 26.41 (presentation) = 52.69

5) Kharis Ralph & Asher Hill (Canada)**

    Music: Ten Minutes Ago by Richard Rogers

•  Ahh The King and I, I just love all of the musical theatre on the Grand Prix this year
• This is wonderful music for them
• I love their fluidity and speed across the ice
• The holds in the Golden Waltz are very close and the edges and knees are very deep
• This piece is really making me smile, this team is just so joyful in their skating
• SD Score: 25.01 (technical) + 23.09 (presentation) = 48.10

6) Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev (Russia) **

    Music: Delilah by Tom Jones

• I love her costume so much
• This starts out with such intensity that I'm wondering how it will transition into the Golden Waltz
• He looks very out of control on the twizzles, lost balance and almost fell
• I like their energy, but they are scaring me a bit because they are on the verge of being out of control
• I wanted her to point her feel and straighten her legs on the rotational lift
• I like this program a lot, but there are a lot of details they can work out before Europeans and Worlds
• SD Score: 27.93 (technical) + 28.92 (presentation) -1.00 (deduction) = 55.85

7) Xintong Huang & Xun Zheng (China)

    Music: Waltz No. 2

• There was something happening character-wise at the beginning of this piece but I don't really understand what it was; should clarify that before next competition
• Twizzles look slow, out of sync, and sloppy overall
• I do not like his costume, it looks sloppy
• The edges and knees could be much much deeper in the Golden
• The overhead lift was interesting, but he nearly came to a standstill while he was lifting her and they bobbled the exit
• That was an okay routine, but it didn't really "dance" for me
• SD Score: 25.08 (technical) + 24.62 (presentation) = 49.70

8) Madison Hubbell & Keiffer Hubbell (USA)

    Music: The Adams Family, Machismo Tango

• I love their rotational lift with her in the scorpion position
• This is a nice, smooth, elegant program so far
• She hits a nice low position on that shoot the duck
• This may be one case where the costumes work for both the waltz and the tango
• Oh wow, he falls during footwork and she trips over him, thats a very tough fall and totally breaks their concentration
• They lose focus after the falls and lose synchronization on the final twizzle sequence
• SD Score: 23.29 (technical) + 24.18 (presentation) - 3.00 (deduction) = 44.47
• I only saw 2 falls, the duel fall with both of them, so I don't know where the 3 point deduction comes in
  

9) Federica Faiella & Massimo Scali (Italy) **

    Music: My Fair Lady

• Holy costumes, is Federica's bow big enough?
• I love this music, so perfect for ice dance
• I may need to do a whole post on the use of musical theatre in Ice Dance
• They seem tentative, I think they could give it more energy 
• Oh wow, his blade catches her dress and almost trips him up, but they stay on their feet
• Ice dance has to have, far and away, the most costume malfunctions of any discipline
• Like the Hubbells with their fall, I think this costume malfunction broke their focus for the rest of the program
• I love the closing pose here, it really reflects the character of the dance
• I just love the coach's fur coat, its very Tatiana Tarasova
• SD Score: 26.28 (technical) + 30.93 (presentation) = 57.21

10) Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat (France) **

      Music: Dr. Zhivago

• Faiella and Scali definitely left room for this team to pass them with a great skate
  
• She exited the twizzles before him on each position in the opening sequence
• Their opening looks sloppy with one finishing slightly before the other on almost every unison element
• They definitely start to look cleaner and more polished as the program continues
• If I hadn't already looked at the scores, I'd expect the Italians to be closer, when in actuality this team is nearly 7 points ahead after the short dance
• SD Score: 32.71 (technical) + 31.41 (presentation) = 64.12

Leaderboard:

1) Pechalat/Bourzat            64.12

2) Faiella/Scali                   57.21

3) Bobrova/Soloviev             55.85

4) Hoffmann/Zavozin           52.69
5) Huang/Zheng                 49.70

6) Ralph/Hill                      48.10

7) Yu/Wang                       45.33
8) Hubbell/Hubbell              44.47
9) Guan/Wang                   40.19
10) Cannuscio/Lorello         38.34