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!

Day One of Worlds

So the pairs short program and the ice dance compulsories happened last night;

Pairs

Results

Questions:

Can Pang and Tong take the title, or will Kavaguti and Smirnov's "Blue Danube" end their gold medal dreams?
Will Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov EVER look happy?
Can Jessica Dube actually land a sbs triple salchow?
Can Savchenko and Szolkowy hang onto that precarious bronze medal position?
Will the American pairs come out and nail their free skates as well as they did their short programs?

Compulsories

Results

Questions:

Have Faiella and Scali made it a race for fourth, and not bronze, with their lead?
Can the Kerrs/Pechalat & Bourzat/Khoklova & Novitski move around their placings?
Does anyone have nicer costumes than the North American teams?
Will these be the last compulsories ever?
Can Davis and White take that World title?

The Tango Romantica for Dummies

Another post to feed on that Olympic fever; some comparisons of the compulsories! I haven't got every top team on here (Belbin and Agosto haven't competeted the Tango Romantica yet, for example) but there's enough that you can watch and make a comparison. Ignoring the possibility of disasters, who do you think will take gold after the CDs?

Important Things to Remember; What the ISU Communication on judging the Tango Romantica Says

Skating Skills
Ice coverage without visible pushing; cleanness and sureness of steps; strongly curved well rounded lobes; lobe to lobe transitions well controlled; controlled body weight changes; light knee action; clean, tight, crisp footwork.

Performance
Perfect vertical and horizontal unison; good carriage and style; controlled body action;nicely matched free legs; balance in performance between partners.

Interpretation
Expression of the typical changes between the soft and strong character of the rhythm, relationship between partners reflecting the lyrical mood of this Tango. Well-defined and strong edges should be skated with a lot of character using good knee action, tight ,clean footwork with matching free leg movements. For good presentation and interpretation the body style and movements should reflect Tango rhythm.

Timing
Very precise and crisp timing, exact beat value for each step, sometimes syncopated to bring out the Tango character.

Here are some of the key players in the medal race performing their Tango Romanticas this season.

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir



Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin



Meryl Davis/Charlie White




Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali




Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte




Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski




Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat




Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (from the 2006 Europeans, embedding is disabled on this video, annoyingly!)

I've also decided, as a point of comparions, to add in some of the best performances of the Tango Romantica from the past few years as a point of comparison.

Jayne Torvill/Christopher Dean



Oksana Grishuk/Evengy Platov




Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat



So there you have it; everything you need to know about the Tango Romantica! Hope it was helpful.

Looking to next season already...

It might seem awfully soon, but the truth is that this season is over and every skater needs to start thinking about the next one. Through the fantastic medium that is the internet, I spoke to Natalie Pechalat whilst she was at the World Team Trophy. She and Bourzat have already decided what they are doing for their free dance next season; she says it's very different and she hopes that audiences will like it. I also mentioned the Grand Prix season next year, specifically Trophee Eric Bompard, and she said that she hopes to be going to Paris next year, as it's been a long time since they competed there. In light of this conversation, today's Program of the Day is Pechalat and Bourzat's FD from this season; an innovative, fun number which boasts elements reminiscent of Torvill and Dean's Barnum number.

In other news, the Cumberland News recently wrote an article on David King, who skates with Stacey Kemp in pairs for Great Britain. It highlighted a lot of facts which may have not previously been known by their fans;

David said: “I was never the best in my club, I just carried on putting quite a lot of hard work in and now I’m reaping the rewards.

“I think not being a stand-out star pushed me.”

But David needed more than perseverance to succeed, he needed sponsorship which proved impossible to find. Luckily, his own determination was matched by financial dedication from mum Angela and dad Michael.

“I couldn’t have done any of this without them. There’s no funding in the sport, I’m completely funded by my parents,” he said. “They’ve supported me every step.

“They’ve had to put their life on hold for years.”

The rest of the article can be found here.