New Year's Resolutions, Skating-Style

So the first few days of 2012 have been spent finding out what each skater's New Year's Resolutions are.

Patrick Chan - Attend the 'Learn to Talk to the Media without Putting Your Foot in your Mouth' seminar as per my federation's 'suggestion'.

Scott Moir - Ditto.

Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat - To continue to have as much fun as we were having when this video was taken. (Ed Note: Click it. It's adorable.)

Brian Joubert - I do not make resolutions as that involves looking forward, and I only ever look back. You all love my return to The Matrix program, non?

Okay, so they might not be real....but Ice Network posted a few proper skating resolutions in this article:

Meryl Davis: My goal is to stop worrying about things that are out of my control and enjoy every day with my friends, family and truly blessed life!

Mark Ladwig: I would like to pay off more debt in the New Year! I got into debt becoming a better skater over the past 10 years. Last year, my goal was not to go deeper in debt, and I succeeded. This year's resolution is to get back to being in the black!

Ashley Wagner: My resolution was to make time for more happy and special moments in my life, since I'm always so stressed!

Michal Brezina: I just want to stay healthy for the rest of the season and for the next one, too! And I'll do all my best for it.

Agnes Zawadzki: I just don't want to have any regrets this year and go for everything that comes my way.

Parker Pennington: My resolution is to spend more time trying to help skating grow.

Evan Bates: I need to clean my room!!!! Ahhhhhh, it's bad.

Gracie Gold: My New Year's resolution was to try to live more in the sunshine and less with the shadows, and to read every novel on the New York Times best-seller list.

Jeremy Abbott: My resolution this year is to make resolutions that I actually keep.

Melisssa Gregory and Denis Petukhov: 1. To go somewhere this year that we have never been. 2. Conquer a new challenge.

Sean Rabbitt: My New Year's resolution is to give back to my community even more than this last year (which might be hard to top after Skaters Care!). I would also like to get better at speaking, reading and writing Japanese, and lastly get to meet lots of new people and make many new friends!

Emily Hughes: I didn't make one this year. I had such a great 2011 -- skating in some shows, graduating and getting a job -- I just want to continue on this path.

Daisuke Murakami: My New Year's resolution is for the people who have supported me through skating to have health and happiness, and also having two quads in my free program for the new year.

Lucinda Ruh: My New Year's resolution is to be a good mother, since I am pregnant with twins! And to continue to inspire people with my book, Frozen Teardrop.

Jeremy Ten: I think after everything that I went through in 2011 and even in 2010, this year in 2012 is all about loving skating and showing that to the world more than ever. It was almost taken away from me, so I hang on to it that much more everyday.

Ryan Bradley: My resolution this year is to spend more time at home with my family.

Piper Gilles: I need to stop biting my nails.

Other skating bloggers have also made New Year's Resolutions, including Xanboni and Ice Charades so check them out!

My New Year's Resolutions, skating-wise, are to post more on Ice Addiction! Life keeps getting in the way but I resolve to post at least every Friday, so if you check back on Ice Addiction every Friday there will be a new post. There's a lot to look forward to in 2012!

World Championships - Men and Pairs

So despite my promises of live-tweeting, it turns out that British Eurosport decided only to show the top three performances - how disappointing! Still, here's some commentary and video for the top nine skaters (i.e all I could find on Youtube.)

1. Patrick CHAN - 93.02



Sandra Bezic recently tweeted that you don't "get" Patrick Chan until you see him live, and this is something I would absolutely agree with. His ease of movement, and flow across the ice, is just amazing when seen in person and is not really fully captured on tv. He achieved a world record score with this performance - fantastic. Having said that, to me it's not the most exciting program, in terms of music, but is still performed magically. I think I'll call it now that he has enough of a lead to take this.

2. Nobunari ODA - 81.81



A few stumbles and mistakes makes me think he was lucky to edge out Takahashi on this one - but can he hold it in the FS? Such a gorgeous triple axel on its own though - Oda has a knee bend on the landing of his jumps that is to die for.

3. Daisuke TAKAHASHI - 80.25



Loved loved loved this - this program absolutely plays to his strengths and is just so fun! Again, I question his positioning, behind Oda and so far behind Patrick Chan...hmm.

4. Artur GACHINSKI - 78.34



I'll leave this comment to John Kerr who posted on his Facebook - "who the hell is Artur Gachinski's choreographer!?! Talented kid but the routine is pile of crap!" Loved the use of Pink Floyd though - gave me Virtue and Moir/Delobel and Schoenfelder flashbacks!

5. Florent AMODIO - 77.64



Think Amodio could definitely move up over Gachinski on the long, since he has a really fun yet very consistantly well-performed long program. It was a nice performance, with a great opening jump sequence.

6. Takahiko KOZUKA - 77.62



Kozuka's second performance of this competition so far - due to weird ISU rules he had to skate in the preliminary qualifying round. Kozuka also has gorgeous fluidity on the ice, and a great audience-friendly program, but a botched triple axel landing left him out of medal spots. But I definitely wouldn't rule out a medal just yet.

7. Michal BREZINA - 77.50



I have been a huge fan of Brezina for ages as he has amazingly high jumps, but they weren't quite on today. But with only one point between him and fourth place (him, Kozuka and Amodio are so tight) there's bound to be a lot of movement tomorrow.

8. Tomas VERNER - 75.94



Tomas's program is so light and fun - but a fall on the quad, not so much.

9. Brian JOUBERT - 71.29



Joubert has been on the podium here for the last five years - pretty impressive considering how inconsistent he's been over the past half a decade. However, with performances like this he's never going to retain his world title - he recovered from his opening mistake well but he's twenty points behind Chan, ouch.

And the rest of the results are below (I.E Youtube is letting me down so cannot see the rest of the programs) The skaters below who are in bold advanced to the free skate tomorrow - commiserations to the others.

10. DENIS TEN - 71.00
11. Richard DORNBUSH - 70.54
12. Ryan BRADLEY - 70.45
13. Ross MINER - 70.40
14. Javier FERNANDEZ - 69.16
15. Kevin VAN DER PERREN - 68.34
16. Peter LIEBERS - 67.73
17. Anton KOVALEVSKI - 65.16
18. Samuel CONTESTI - 64.59
19. Kevin REYNOLDS - 64.36
20. Nan SONG - 63.78
21. Joey RUSSELL - 61.69
22. Jorik HENDRICKX - 60.74
23. Paolo BACCHINI - 58.96
24. Kim LUCINE MON - 58.81
25. Adrian SCHULTHEISS - 58.41
26. Viktor PFEIFER - 56.68
27. Min-Seok KIM - 56.19
28. Alexander MAJOROV - 54.24
29. Maxim SHIPOV - 50.10
30. Misha GE - 49.61

And here are the pairs result - I have yet to find any performances on Youtube yet. However I have to say my favourite skate was Volosozhar and Trankov's. They absolutely lived up to the hype, such a perfect match for partners, and he looks so much happier than he was when skating with Maria Mukhortova! Both Savchenko/Szolkowy and Pang/Tong were sublime - tomorrow is going to be close. Major props also go to Eric Radford - he and Meagan did a great job for their first international outing together, made even more impressive by how he skated the majority of the program with a broken nose due to an ill-placed elbow during the opening triple twist! Commiserations also go to Kemp and King; being British I always cheer them on, but just missing out on qualifying for the free skate must be devastating. Below are those who qualified.

1. Pang/Tong 74.00
2. Savchenko/Szolkowy 72.98
3. Volosozhar/Trankov 70.35
4. Bazarova/Larionov 64.64
5. Kavaguti/Smirnov 62.54
6. Takahashi/Tran 59.16
7. Duhamel/Radford 58.83
8. Yankowskas/Coughlin 58.76
9. Berton/Hotarek 57.63
10. Moore-Towers/Moscovitch 56.86
11. Evora/Ladwig 54.64
12. Hausch/Wende 53.90
13. Zhang/Wang 52.25
14. Dong/Wu 49.29
15. Kadelcova/Bidar 45.20
16. Zabijako/Kulbach 44.35

Magic of the Men

So...we have a new mens world champion! I'm going to forget about the OD for a bit and instead talk about the mens because it was eventful!

The Highs

Adam Rippon - Can you believe he is the FIFTH ranked American man? Apart from a bobble on the landing of the first triple axel, Adam put down such a good performance. I'd never really been sure about this long program music but thought he pulled it off really nicely last night. To finish sixth in his World debut is very impressive.

Kevin VDP - I was sending Kevin good vibes before he started; it was probably his last ever competitive performance and I really wanted him to go out with a bang. Seemed to work; that quad-triple-triple was astonishing. Is that the highest ever tariff combination? The look of joy at the end of his program was just so adorable to see!

Adrian Schultheiss - He never really gets mentioned as part of the twenty-fourteenies but I think that might change after that performance. The Eurosport commentators said that his program "really suited him" but is that a good thing when you're portraying a mental patient, complete with screams and a straitjacket? Anyway, it was stellar.

Daisuke Takahashi - The gold was his to lose, after some disappointing skates in the final group, and so you have to really respect him for trying a quad flip, and landing it; he really didn't need to take that risk. It might have been downgraded, but the rest of the performance was perfect, and so much fun! He absolutely deserved that gold medal, and I'm so glad he managed to get his head together!.

Brian Joubert - So Brian's skate could have come in the misses - after all, he fell on a triple lutz and had some very questionable jumps landings. However, landing a quad and a quad-double in the same program after his terrible Olympics is something he should be so proud of; I was afraid of a Verner-esque meltdown. But he managed to podium, for the fifth year in a row, which is some record and he'll probably surpass that, given that he's said he'll stay on until 2012 Worlds in Nice.

Patrick Chan - So, it wasn't perfect, and I'll be honest, I'm not a Chan fan. But he got the silver medal, so good on him.

Michal Brezina - One of my favourite performances of the night. His jumps are absolutely out of this world, the speed on the landing and height and flow...incredible! He's also been really consistant this season, which hopefully will continue. In a couple of seasons, once he gets better performance skills, spins and maybe choreo, he'll be unstoppable.

The Misses

Jeremy Abbott - I feel pretty harsh putting Jeremy in the misses, to be honest. In his post-skate interview, he said he was proud of his performance because he didn't pop a single jump and fought until the end of the program. He also ended up 5th, which is a great improvement on his two elevenths. But he did fall twice, which was a real shame, especially as he was completely screwed over with the points for his exquisite short program.

Denis Ten - I didn't see Ten, the Eurosport broadcast missed him off, but it seems he didn't do so great; his country now only have one spot for 2011 Worlds. But he's got a long career ahead of him, so it shouldn't faze him too much.

Takahiko Kozuka - I absolutely adore him, and his jump problems broke my heart, because he's such a talent...but again, he's young.

Nobunari Oda - Because we didn't even get to see him! Too sad - I bet he'll be making some big changes before the start of next season.

And that's the mens event; congratulations to Takahashi, Chan and Joubert! Some of the judging though was very questionable for this event, I thought; leave your comments on that below!

Day Two of Worlds

The pairs event is just starting, so thought I'd comment on the mens event.

Firstly, has there ever been such a deep competition at a post-Olympic Worlds? Jeremy Abbott managed to get his act together and skate a fantastic short program (the Eurosport commentators adored it, and rightly so!) but is down in sixth, showing just how great this competition is, even without Lysacek, Weir, Lambiel or Plushenko.

Speaking of getting your act together, I have two words; Brian Joubert. To come back and skate like that after the agony of bombing in Vancouver was just amazing - he also got the highest technical score of the night with his quad-triple combo. His fist-pumping after his jumps and roaring at the end shows how much that must have meant to him, and even a Joubert hater couldn't fail to have enjoyed that.

I've always maintained that the pattern when you have three skaters in an event will be that two will nail their program, and one will meltdown, and this event managed to prove this right. Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon both skated great, whilst Ryan Bradley had such a heartbreaking short (though not unexpected, given his injury issues). In the same way, Daisuke Takahashi and Takahiko Kozuka skated fantastically, whilst Nobunari Oda's meltdown (he popped every jump) means he doesn't even qualify for the long! Who'd have thought? Ice is slippery, after all.

So questions for the long prgram; how much will the top ten move around? Can any of the twenty-fourteenies sneak up in the rankings - after all, Brezina, Ten and Rippon all seem to want to make 2010 their year, judging by their skates! Can Joubert pull out a clean long program? Who'll be the next World Gold medalist?

I can't wait for tomorrow: comments on the event below!

Ready for Worlds

Worlds starts tomorrow and, as with all post-Olympic Worlds there is a real chance for some skaters who are usually low down in the top ten to potentially gain a medal. Here's my preview.

Men

Notable Absences: Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir, Evgeni Plushenko, Tomas Verner, Stephane Lambiel
Potential Medal Hopes: Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahashi, Takahiko Kozuka, Brian Joubert (though, as someone noted on Twitter, it depends which Joubert shows up!), Jeremy Abbott (same situation as Joubert), Patrick Chan
2014 Kids to Watch: Adam Rippon, Michal Brezina, Denis Ten, Florent Amodio

Ladies
Notable Absences: Joannie Rochette
Potential Medal Hopes: Yu-na Kim, Mao Asada, Miki Ando, Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt, Akiko Suzuki
2014 Kids to Watch: Ksenia Makarova, Mirai Nagasu

Pairs

Notable Absences: Shen/Zhao, Volosozhar/Morosov
Potential Medal Hopes: Pang/Tong, Zhang/Zhang, Mukhortova/Trankov, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Kavaguti/Smirnov
2014 Kids to Watch: Denney/Barrett

Dance

Notable Absences: Domnina/Shabalin, Belbin/Agosto, Delobel/Schoenfelder
Potential Medal Hopes: Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, Faiella/Scali, Pechalat/Bourzat
2014 Kids to Watch: Cappellini/Lanotte

Agree/disagree? Comment below!

Media Madness

So since I last blogged, the ice dance event has finished and the ladies short program has happened; two of the best events which have ever happened in Olympic history. Virtue and Moir's free dance and Joannie's incredible short program will forever live on in figure skating history; did anyone NOT cry the whole way through her skate?

But here's a round-up of some news to fill up the time between now and the ladies free skate (can you believe it's the last competitive event of the Olympics? How it's flown!)


The US team have been talking about their plans post-Vancouver - hear what Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir are planning. Evan on Dancing with the Stars would be great, but I'd rather see Johnny on it, as long as he could perform to Lady Gaga every week!

Other skaters who have been talking about their life now Vancouver is over includes Brian Joubert; after his awful result last week he has stated he plans to keep competing until 2012 and that he needs to make changes to be successful. Hopefully these plans will convice the French Fed to judge him fairly at the "readiness test" they're giving him before Worlds in March.

Across the pond, all the ladies of the US Olympic team (plus a bit of Johnny Weir thrown in for good measure) talked about their beauty routines and favourite products - definitely worth a read.

In your regular snarking update, Plushenko appears to have finally gone quiet on the skating controversy over his gold medal, but that doesn't mean it's over. On his official website, his medal from Vancouver was billed as "platinum" instead of a silver, but when the international media picked up on it and made an outcry it was swiftly change; with his "people" insisting Plushy was nothing to do with it.

Similarly, Massimo Scali has been criticised for criticizing both Virtue and Moir and the judges in Vancouver; however, Lynn Rutherford over at Ice Network quickly set us straight on how Scali's quotes were manipulated and out of context. Thank goodness!

The media really have been going skating-crazy; as Charlie White tweeted "We were made fun of on the Colbert Report!!! Woohoo, haha I've made it!! " Watch that here; it also mentions Weir and Lysacek.

Go Fug Yourself, a hilarious fashion blog, did a review of some of the costumes we've seen in Vancouver; the good, the bad and the ugly! Read it; I defy you not to laugh your head off!

There have also been other skaters in the media; most of it is US-centered (for example, Lysacek was on the Larry King Show and Davis & White are going to be on the Today Show) but Twitter is the place to be for the best updates.

Enjoy!

The hiatus is over!

I'm back from hiatus! And my, what I've missed. I really missed blogging over the past few months, and I had to force myself not to start again because what with my exams and my own skating I've had no time to properly do it; in the past some of my posting has been half-hearted and not of good enough quality and I didn't want a repeat of that.

Once my exams were over (for now!) I KNEW that there was just too much going on in the skating world for me to limit myself to a few tweets (www.twitter.com/Ice_Addiction if you're interested) So here I am, and ready and rather raring to go.

I've still be watching the skating since I went on hiatus, and here are my highlights and lowlights to get me back into the swing of things.

+ Jeremy Abbott's long program at US Nationals. It was one of the most amazing skating moments I have ever seen, and I am desperate for him to repeat that in Vancouver.

+ ...which is starting in 15 days and 7 hours! Anticipation for the Olympics has been what's got me through some particularly boring revision sessions these past few months. Hands up who else just cannot wait?

- Speaking of revising, I think that's what Belbin and Agosto need to do with those new long program costumes, a definite lowlight for me. They just really didn't fit with the music at Nats, and that really made a big difference to how the program came across.

+ BUT it left Davis and White open to win US Nationals again, in spectacular fashion. The other top ice dance teams should be very afraid.

- Yes, I'm talking to you Domnina and Shabalin. All that controversy over your Aboriginal original dance has yet to distract from the fact that your free dance does not have that "wow" factor which Davis and White have in spades, or that Maxim's knee has really seen better days.

- Actually, the "wow" factor has been missing for me in a lot of the ladies skating these past few months. I found the European ladies competition somewhat of a letdown, and whilst Flatt and Nagasu were fantastic in the US, I'm dissapointed about Ashley Wagner not making the team.

- I'm also disappointed about Cohen; she had such a great (if overhyped) comeback with the short program but then let herself down in the free skate; not only by fluffing the jumps but by seeming to lose the fire which usually made her competitive programs so exciting.

+ But (to end on a high note) the comebacks from Plushenko and Lambiel didn't let me down (too much). Whilst I'll never be a Plushy fan, you cannot deny that his jumping is amazing, especially after so many years of doing those quads! And on the opposite hand, whilst Lambiel needs to work on the jumps, it was great to see his beautiful artistry and fantastic spins back on the competitive circuit. We're all pleased to see him (apart from a certain Mr Joubert, I'd imagine.)

I could go on and on (I haven't even touched on some of Europeans, or Canadian Nationals) but I think that's enough for now. I have a blog to revive!

Skate America

The results from Cancer.net Skate America 2009 so far are here. Shocker for the mens podium; who'd have thought? I'm really glad though, as I love all three of the medallists, especially Ryan Bradley, who blew me away in his short program in Paris. Pairs wasn't really a suprise, but how great were Shen and Zhao (in the short!)? They're looking like the front-runners for the gold medal in Vancouver, which is understandably worrying Savchenko and Szolkowy, who are apparently crafting a new LP - their current one to "You'll Never Walk Alone" hasn't been well received. That'll be something to look forward to at Skate Canada next weekend.

On another note, my newest poll closed yesterday, and the results were...interesting. I asked about Plushenko's return, and the answer was that people were pleased about it, but only just! It was a closer result than I thought it would be. My new poll is looking past Vancouver and on to Sochi in 2014; who do you think will be the most successful skater in the next four year cycle; Adam Rippon, Florent Amodio and Michal Brezina? All three have only just left the junior ranks, and yet they've all beaten skaters with far more experience and expectation than them; Rippon leapfrogged over Joubert, Preaubert and Ponsero, Brezina managed to place in front of Kozuka and Takahashi, and Amodio surpassed Verner. I appreciate that these results only happened due to errors or meltdowns by the other skaters, but it is still an achievement, and I predict that some of them could beat the old guys when they're all on their game. So what do you think?

NHK Trophy - Final Results

So here's the full results from NHK Trophy, and my comments on each event.

Ladies

1 Miki ANDO JPN
162.55 2 2
2 Alena LEONOVA RUS
160.85 5 1
3 Ashley WAGNER USA
155.99 1 3
4 Yukari NAKANO JPN
152.35 3 5
5 Laura LEPISTO FIN
152.19 4 4
6 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN
142.03 7 6
7 Yan LIU CHN
126.49 6 10
8 Annette DYTRT GER
126.01 9 9
9 Oksana GOZEVA RUS
123.97 11 7
10 Shoko ISHIKAWA JPN
119.63 10 11
11 Becky BERESWILL USA
118.42 12 8
WD Sarah MEIER SUI
8

This event shows, to me, some of the weaknesses with the current judging system; how can a skater come second in both the short and long and win overall? I know why it happens, and that it makes sense, but still it confuses me! Anyway, that is what happened with Miki Ando at this event. Ladies have been so erratic and unpredictable over the past Grand Prix events, and I’m sure Skate America will be the same way, what with the supposed return of Sasha Cohen. Despite rumours, she has yet to withdraw. Leonova, despite some errors overall, seems to be cementing her place as one of these “one to watch for 2014” skaters.

Mens

1 Brian JOUBERT FRA
232.70 1 1
2 Johnny WEIR USA
217.70 3 3
3 Michal BREZINA CZE
217.48 6 2
4 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN
214.29 4 4
5 Jeremy ABBOTT USA
208.45 2 6
6 Adam RIPPON USA
197.61 8 5
7 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
186.00 5 10
8 Artem BORODULIN RUS
181.62 7 9
9 Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN
181.04 9 8
10 Jeremy TEN CAN
178.87 12 7
11 Vaughn CHIPEUR CAN
176.36 10 12
12 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE
176.01 11 11

Speaking of ones to watch for 2014…for me, this event was all about Michal Brezina. Most people had never heard of him before this event, but he had the only clean long program of the whole event and performed his Gershwin routine really well. His jumps are also amazingly high. It was interesting to contrast his skate with Rippon, whose is definitely considered the other male skater with great things ahead. Unlike Trophee Eric Bompard, he didn’t do too well here, which was a shame. Similarly, Abbott had a bit of a disaster of a free skate; however, as he dryly noted in the Kiss and Cry, at least he didn’t peak too early in the season! The one American man who didn’t underperform was Johnny Weir, who had a great long program, save for the triple loop which didn’t get off the ground. He came into second place, which was great, after Joubert. Joubert skated last and so decided to play it safe after all the disasters of the previous skaters – he didn’t even do a triple-triple combination, but he nailed the quad toeloop, and narrowly missed a fall on the triple axel. Critics have been complaining about his short program win over Abbott, but I think Joubert’s overall win at this event was very much deserved. The other skater who has to be mentioned is Daisuke Takahashi, ending the reign of successful comebacks that we’ve seen so far in this Grand Prix season. He had a number of falls, and I worry that he isn’t properly recovered from those knee problems. His team mate Takahiko Kozuka also had a bit of a meltdown in the long program unfournately. This event probably had the strongest mens competition out of all the Grand Prixs, yet there were, arguably, some of the weakest performances.

Pairs

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN
199.65 2 1
2 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS
193.05 1 2
3 Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN USA
158.78 4 3
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA
151.43 3 5
5 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN
150.71 6 4
6 Ksenia KRASILNIKOVA / Konstantin BEZMATERNIKH RUS
137.49 5 6
7 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN
130.77 7 7
8 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN
119.48 8 8

I didn’t get to see this event, but Yuko Kavaguti apparently had a horrible fall on the quad salchow, which meant they had to stop their program for a few minutes. This led to a 3 point deduction, putting them in second behind Pang and Tong. Inoue and Baldwin also had a fall on the throw triple axel, but still managed to pick up a bronze medal, which is a real achievement, though it’s a shame about the triple axel; it blew me away in Paris when she landed it!

Dance

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA
201.97 1 1 1
2 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR
177.73 2 2 2
3 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN
165.89 4 3 3
4 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS
160.01 3 6 4
5 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN
154.90 6 5 5
6 Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO UKR
154.61 5 4 6
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN
147.53 7 7 8
8 Allie HANN-MCCURDY / Michael CORENO CAN
145.32 9 8 7
9 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE
142.33 8 9 9
10 Jane SUMMERSETT / Todd GILLES USA
130.24 10 10 10

…and Ice Dance continues its reign as the most predictable discipline in terms of results. Davis and White looked markedly improved from Rostelecom Cup, and they got a standing ovation for their free dance. Their lifts are really innovative, as are Belbin/Agosto’s and Virtue/Moir’s, which is going to make the Olympics SO exciting! The Kerrs also deserve a mention for getting their first silver medal at a Grand Prix, though they seem to be struggling technically, compared to some of the other couples; they were 10 points off their personal best and were pretty close to Crone and Poirier, which isn’t good news for them in what is almost definitely their last season. Crone and Poirier, however, did great; their free dance, some of which is set to Bohemian Rhapsody, really is a masterpiece. Now that event’s over we’re looking to Skate America; I can’t believe the penultimate Grand Prix is almost upon us! Expect a post of what to expect at the event coming soon.

NHK so far

So, I watched the mens short program from Japan....and here's what I thought. Apologies to Aaron from Axels, Loops and Spins for the blantant rip-off of his "flash" posts!

Mens Results

1. Brian JOUBERT FRA 85.35

Overscored? I'm the only one who seems to think he wasn't! Joubert got a new, less revealing outfit and managed to nail his quad combination. However, his lutz had a turnout and his choreography is not as sophisticated as most of the men who skated before him. I thought, however, it was worthy of first place (though as a very vocal Joubert fan I would say that!) It was dynamic, exciting and a total crowd pleaser.

2. Jeremy ABBOTT USA 83.00

This had to be my favourite program of the event though. Great music, great choreo, great jumps, great new haircut! I reckon Jeremy could win if his LP is as solid as his SP was, especially as Joubert isn't known for having consistant long programs. I'm sure Jeremy has won over A LOT of new fans with that performance; he completely owned the ice.

3. Johnny WEIR USA 78.35

I've heard mixed opinions of Weir's new programs but I really liked it; the music started classic and morphed in guitars. Jumps looked pretty solid, though I felt his spins were a little slow. It was a really excellent performance though, especially after the disappointment of CoR.

4. Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 78.18

Oh, Daisuke. Just when I thought your comeback was going alright, that step sequence just came and tripped you up. Hope the long goes a bit better. Good scores, considering.

5. Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 74.05

Another guitar solo piece of music, courtesy of Jimi Hendrix. The music might have been rocking, but I'm afraid the program wasn't. A fall on the triple axel pulled him down, though he did have the highest PCS scores of the event.

6. Michal BREZINA CZE 70.80

I've been a fan of Brezina for a while; whilst technically his program was pretty good, it lacked the spark found necessary for the swing music he was skating to. I think this'll come, though - along with Rippon I think Brezina is a future champion.

7. Artem BORODULIN RUS 69.49

The feed I was watching went down during Borodulin!

8. Adam RIPPON USA 67.15

I thought it was a really nice performance, minus the fall on the triple axel. His face when he received the scores was absolutely heartbreaking; he turned to Orser and said "Why are they so low?" Orser speculated that the lutz was downgraded, but we'll have to see. Honestly? I think he was undermarked, but again, this is coming from a largely Rippon biased viewpoint. I mean, who couldn't be impressed by that "Rippon Lutz"?

9. Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN 66.78

The only Japanese man to skate clean! Nice, but not especially memorable. The "West Side Story" music was fun.

10. Vaughn CHIPEUR CAN 66.55

Love, love, love his "Cliffs of Dover" music"! So fast and enjoyable.

11. Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 64.64

Berntsson is fantastic because he always has so much fun with his programs! He might not have nailed the jumps but it was great for the audience.

12. Jeremy TEN CAN 61.69

I know I watched this, but I can't remember anything about it, so I'm afraid it's going to have to go down as a "not very memorable performance." Sorry Jeremy!

The ladies, pairs and compulsory dance have also taken place; see the results here. Pairs was exciting, with Kavaguti and Smirnov giving a great performance. Ladies was, according to those who saw it, underwhelming as a whole, unfortunately. And the compulsory dance was not broadcast, but Davis and White are in first, with John and Sinead Kerr in second.

Happy Birthday to...

...Brian Joubert and Alban Preaubert! The french skaters share birthdays, though Joubert was born in '84, whilst Preaubert was born in '85. So happy birthday boys! I look forward to seeing you both at Trophee Eric Bompard, in less than a month!

Evan and Johnny talk sense

Evan Lysacek is a good competitor. The clip below from the recent 2009 United States Olympic Team Media Summit shows of Evan Lysacek shows him speakig about his preparation for the Olympics. He has a great attitude, and to me seems to speak like a champion! His drive and focus are really admirable. Watch it below. Oh, and thanks to Aaron from Axels, Loops and Spins for bringing this to my attention.



Speaking of good competitors, Johhny Weir also recently did a Q&A session for his website, and as ever it was fascinating. One answer left me asking questions though:

from Jennie

Q: My question is about Patrick Chan and Brian Joubert. Are you familiar with their war of words? I think Patrick pretty much said that Brian's programs are void of actual choreography so he has to have the quad. If so, who do you agree with?

A: I was at the World Championships and was made aware of their little battle in the press. Brian has always had a very direct way of voicing his opinion through the years and he has had his share of criticism for it. What struck me was that a young boy, only in his second championship wanted to throw down with one of the mainstays of the podium at the World Championships. That would have been like me attacking Yagudin in my first season on the Grand Prix. I found it a bit disrespectful. I believe everyone has a right to their opinion but show it in the correct way. I may not be one to talk about this since my mouth has run away with me from time to time, but I respect every skater who can get out there and show their heart and soul when they compete and in his way, Brian Joubert does that, as does Patrick Chan. I think mutual respect is necessary for all athletes.

What do think about what Johnny says? Personally, I think he was a very good point, as I also have to admit I found Chan's comments "disrespectful" and unnecessary. However, should it be like that? That Joubert has the edge of many more years of competition and so Chan is not allowed to voice his opinion, however harsh it may be, about him? After all, Chan beat Joubert at least twice last season (Trophee Eric Bompard and Worlds). Or is Johnny right that you should be respectful to your "elders"?

French Masters

I was unfortunate in that so far all of the French Masters I've been able to see is Brian Joubert's long program, and even that was without sound. Hopefully the videos will make Youtube soon. Anyway, I comment on this because I think Joubert is going to do well this season. He's definitely got the drive, as this will be his last Olympic shot. His performance from French Masters may show a lack of consistancy (he falls on the quad toe, for example) but in terms of a program it seems fantasic. It is choreographed by Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, which might have been a controversial choice given Staviski's recent "troubles" but the choreography is great. Joubert seems to have got some really graceful, almost balletic choreography which, apart from his "Hallelujah" exhibition, is a bit of a departure from his usual macho style. Furthermore, his spins have really improved, which is undoubtedly a result of his recent coaching from Lucinda Ruh, the spinning expert. Joubert may not have the jumps completely solid, at least in that performance, but past seasons have shown that he starts off the season weakly and then peaks at Worlds (like many skaters do), so I believe he can do the same this year. I love this program, and I hope my opinion doesn't change once I actually hear it with the music,which is the piece "Overcome", a previous Yagudin exhibition program. It's known that Joubert is a Yagudin fan and one could deduce that he is trying to emulate Yagudin's Olympic success, perhaps? Either way, tell me your comments on the program.

What Makes Your Favourites Your Favourites?

Somebody asked me the other day why I loved Brian Joubert with almost religious devotion. They argued that "There are better jumpers than him, far better spinners than him, skaters with better music choices, better artistic skills, better step sequences.." And so the list went on. So this made me begin to think; why do we (the obsessive skating fans) love our favourite skaters so much? Of course we initially chose it on their skating style and ability, but is there more to it than that?

For example, Brian Joubert, IMHO, is pretty attractive; does this affect my love of him, or would I be just as big a fan if he wasn't attractive at all. Is there some sense of patriotism? I love France, and have always have done, but I'm British, and so don't support Candice Didier, for example, in the same way I do Joubert.

After thinking it over, I came to the conclusion that it's the whole package, for want of a better cliche. Individually his skating style, the strength of his elements, his looks etc might not be perfect, but put it all together and in my eyes, he is.

I'm going to end this self-indulgent post by asking you who your favourites are and why. We'll be back to proper news posts tomorrow, I promise!

Recycling, skating style.

Program plans have already sprung up for next season, and so far the consensus seems to be that there is going to be a lot of program recycling. Brian Joubert is keeping his SP, Dube and Davison are going to use their Carmen LP again, Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur are going to keep their Romeo and Juliet LP and Patrick Chan will be keeping one of his programs, though it's yet to be confirmed which is which. And that's just for starters, as there are so many more skaters who won't be confirming music choices for a while.

Personally, I think Olympic season means new programs. Maybe the economic recession is affecting skaters (I read in an article that Tugba Karademir could only afford to have one program choreographed per season, as it is so expensive.) However, it's highly unlikely that that's the reason. Is it unreasonable to pick music, get good choreography and learn two new programs for an Olympic season, and should I be appreciative that we'll get the opportunity to see those programs again? Discuss.

Apologies and Updates

Apologies for the lack of recent updates; however much I try to ignore it, sometimes I am forced to give school priority over skating. In a few short weeks it'll all be over and I'll be back to giving you daily postings, even if there isn't any news because it's the off season. Speaking of which, the last competition of the season, the World Team Trophy, is about half way through, with both the mens and ice dance medals being decided.

In the mens division, the Worlds pretty much played out again as Brian Joubert took the lead over Evan Lysacek in the short, but Evan narrowly beat his in the long program. Patrick Chan didn't perform quite up to par, falling on the triple axel, yet still got very large scores. The final results looked as such:

1 Evan LYSACEK USA 238.56 2 1
2 Brian JOUBERT FRA 237.09 1 3
3 Nobunari ODA JPN 229.25 3 4
4 Patrick CHAN CAN 217.98 9 2
5 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 205.05 5 5
6 Vaughn CHIPEUR CAN 198.91 6 6
7 Sergei VORONOV RUS 196.70 4 8
8 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 190.93 10 7
9 Jialiang WU CHN 183.86 8 10
10 Florent AMODIO FRA 182.32 7 11
11 Chao YANG CHN 177.94 11 9
12 Konstantin MENSHOV RUS 165.21 12 12

Here's hoping Kozuka and Abbott can pull it all together for next season; often it's all too easy to buckle under pressure, and if said pressure is taken off Jeremy next season then I'm sure he will perform a lot better than he has done in recent events.

In other events...in the ice dance, Belbin and Agosto win, with Virtue and Moir in second and a suprised Pechalat/Bourzat leagfrogging over a lacklustre Khokhlova/Novitski. Ever since their fantastic win at Worlds, they haven't quite managed to top that performance, which is a real shame as they have such talent and originality.

After the ladies SP, Mao Asada is in first with 13 points over Joannie Rochette, who double-footed a lutz in her usually stellar short program. Miki Ando is in third with exactly the same score as Rochette (62.08) with the two US ladies, Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt, in fourth and fifth respectively.
In pairs, Zhang/Zhang take first, with Kavaguti/Smirnov in second and the US newcomers Denney and Barrett in third. Dube and Davidson, the Canadians, are in fourth.

As for team standings currently:

1. United States of America
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. France
5. Russia
6. China

The pairs and ladies long programs are happening tomorrow; be sure to check in for the results. Alternatively, my Twitter account is updated far more regularly than the site, for obvious reasons, and can be subscribed to here.

In more celebrity-ish news, Nancy Kerrigan is going to be on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, whilst Johnny Weir's reality TV show, Be Good Johnny Weir, has been picked up by the Sundance Channel. If any skater would be entertaining enough to warrant a reality show, it's Johnny Weir, so I'm hopeful it'll make it's way to Youtube so the rest of the world can see Johnny in all his diva-ish glory. This'll obviously take a lot of the financial pressure that he must have on him, which cannot be a bad thing either.

Another Day, Another Bit of Joubert News

That was quick; after being dropped by Jean-Christophe Simond, Brian Joubert has found a temporary solution to being coachless.

"For next season, before the Olympics in Vancouver, I'm staying in Poitiers. I want Laurent Depouilly to remain at my side and Tatiana Tarasova to be my choreographer."

And there you have it. Depouilly is going to be temporary coach for Brian for the next two weeks, through the ISU World Team Trophy, which is April 16-19.

Depouilly coached Joubert in 2004 and 2005, during which time the Frenchman won his first European gold medal. In 2005, however, the duo split. Joubert thought Depouilly was not professional enough, and Depouilly argued that Joubert was not practicing hard enough.

Is it a good idea to go back to an old coach after that trust has been lost? It's been a long time, so obviously it must just all be forgotten, but there has to be better options for BriJou.

After this first two-week period, the French Federation has plans to ask several skating experts to coach Joubert in all aspects of his skating -- spins, steps, choreography and artistic impression. Their names remain unknown, though.

I guess we'll have to see how Joubert fares at the Team Trophy and wait in anticipation of these elusive coaches' names. One thing's for sure; they're going to have to be spectacular if they're going to get him back on course for Vancouver.

Despite these decisions having been made, Joubert and Simond are still snarking at each other. In this article, Joubert says that Simond was only around at his rink for 125 years, and Simond obviously thinks Brian is lying, and speaks out pretty strongly about it:

"To say that it had become unbearable and that I was only around for four months of the year is a gross lie," he said.

"You must think before saying such things. I really feel betrayed. I don't understand why you'd look to destroy someone rather than just saying that you want to change coach.

"It's really a rotten thing but I don't want to argue. He's probably been badly advised."

Enough already!

The full IceNetwork article quoted earlier can be read here.

Worlds Post Part Two + Some Brian News

Before I get started with the Mens Awards from the Worlds, I just have to mention that Jean-Christophe Simond has dropped Brian Joubert, and so Brian is looking for a new coach. Unfortunately, the relationship did not end on good terms; Brian said that Simond did not believe him when Brian had boot and blade problems earlier this season, and in response Simond said all sorts of horrible things...it's really quite messy. IceNetwork have posted a very long article about it and the possible options Brian will have for a future coach, which can be read here. It's really not a great time to change coach, especially with the Olympic season on the way, but there was definitely problems between Simond and Joubert so he had to leave. Brian has said that he does not want to leave Poitiers, calling it "treason", and this is obviously a big mistake. He needs a really great coach if he's going to get that elusive OGM, and no coach is going to move to Poitiers. Who do you think will be his new coach? Tarasova seems to be the most likely option and I think that'd be great; personally I think Orser would be fanatastic but unlikely, especially after Brian's relationship with Kurt Browning.

Anyway, on with the Mens Awards!

Best LP: It's got to be Evan Lysacek, hands down. To win the mens' world championship in his hometime after a dodgy Nationals must have been fantastic for him, and was definitely amazing for all those watching. The emotion on his face in the last minute, and the crowd rising to their feet during his last spin...what a memorable moment. Curse or no curse, he's going to be quite a force to be reckoned with in Vancover. And with the might of Coca-Cola behind him as his new sponsers, he's going to be pretty much unstopable.

Most Heartbreaking Moment: Brian Joubert's LP. The disappointment on his face after his hideous fall on a double axel, of all things, was just supremely depressing.

"One to Watch" for the Future: Denis Ten. Wow, wow and more wow.

Best Comeback: Nobunari Oda - after missing the last season, he came back with a great SP, despite his dive into the boards, and the emotion he showed after the LP reflected the great performance he gave.

Biggest Diva: Until this season, Patrick Chan had been the perfect gentleman. However, his comments to Brian Joubert regarding the quad, which included him branding Joubert "a sore loser", were unnecessary, and just made him look slightly childish in the face of Joubert's mature responses.

Biggest Meltdown: Okay, so it wasn't a fully-fledged meltdown. But everyone expected huge things from Jeremy Abbott, so it's still sad that he didn't perform to the best of his ability. Abbott is so talented, with a bit more experience he'll definitely be on the podium in the future.

Skater who was overlooked: Takahiko Kozuka. He's absolutely adorable, and so fantastic, but really, IMO, deserves better marks. Hopefully the judges will wake up soon!

Mens Worlds Predictions

That's right; it's Worlds predictions time! With the World Championships starting in less than a week, hopefully all the last-minute withdrawals are out of the way and we can get down to deciding who'll top the podium. They're coming at you in installments, starting today with the mens competition.

To get an indication of where each skater stand to place, first it's good to look at the ISU World Rankings, which can be found here. From these rankings, the top three skaters in the world are Tomas Verner, Kevin Van Der Perren and Brian Joubert. I think one of those skaters will almost definitely be on the podium - Joubert. He's has had quite a hit-and miss season, coming fourth at Trophee Eric Bompard but getting a triumphant gold at Cup of Russia. Despite being beaten in the free skate by fellow Frenchman Yannick Posero, he won back his European title from Verner and so looks in good shape to also gain his World title again. Rumours have be heard on the internet that Joubert is injured; however, nothing has been heard officially so he's definitely a contender. However, Joubert unfortunately lacks the necessary consistency to pull off an assured win in LA.

Of course, it is impossible to mention the mens division without mentioning Patrick Chan, who has been getting absolutely massive PCS all season and took home gold at the Four Continents Championship, so he's also a definite medal contender.

My third choice to get a medal is Jeremy Abbott, the US champion who won gold at the Grand Prix Final this season. He's such a huge talent that if he skates well, he's got a very good chance of doing well, again if he can keep it consistent and pull himself together if the program doesn't initially go his way.

After those top three, the other contenders could be Evan Lysacek,who'll probably come back with a vengance after his disappointing Nationals outing, Nobunari Oda, who's come first in four competitions this season so far and probably would have won more had he been eligible and Takahiko Kozuka, who won Skate America and was third at 4CC.

Think the podium's going to shape up completely differently? Leave a comment! Ladies prediction coming in the next couple of days.

Program of the Day is last year's gold medal winning performances from last year from
Jeffrey Buttle, who proved that no quad doesn't necessarily equal no win.

Program of the Day

Will he or won't he? After a season which is probably best summed up as "dramatic", there's no way of knowing whether Brian Joubert will successfully regain his World title in a month or so's time. For now, watch his winning FS from 2007. A dynamic program, if you ignore the questionable costume.