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Laurie's Review of the Short Programs
This was a pro/am with an ISU regular short program and an interpretive free skate with limited triple jumps. They sold $2 programs at this event, which included the rules and the judging criteria, which I thought was nice. The venue is very nice! It seats about 5,000, which is perfect for everyone to have a good seat. It was not a full house, which was strange, because our hotel waitress said she couldn't get tickets because it was sold out - yet I saw a lot of empty seats. Shame they didn't release the corporate holds so the little people could go.... They started with the short programs for the pairs, followed by the men, and then followed by the ladies. Then they had the pairs interpretive free skates, followed by the mens, and then followed by the ladies. At the end, they had a brief awards ceremony on a carpet rolled onto the ice. The pairs short programs: Shen & Zhao: Wore deep midnight blue costumes, and skated to classical music. Death spiral was good, SBS triple toes were good, but there was a wonky landing on his, I thought. Throw jump was good - I think it was a triple loop, but I'm not sure. Not much unison in the SBS spins. Throw twist was good. Tech marks: Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze: Wore very nice sparkly red and black costumes, red off shoulder dress for her with black trim on the edge of the skirt and one arm, red shirt/black pants for him. Elena's hair is short, blonde and layered. Elena rode down the hotel elevator with us on the way to the comp, and I thought she seemed tense - if she had premonitions of doom, she was right. They skated to "Meadowland" with lots of speed. The SBS triple toes were good; I thought her landing was slightly wonky. Very nice spiral positions. She fell on the throw jump, hard, got back up, and then crashed into the boards - I didn't see that part, but could certainly hear it. After that, she was tentative. Unison was good on SBS spins but slow. Elena then fell out of the ending on the death spiral. Tech marks:Ina & Zimmerman: Wearing shiny, black, vinyl looking bodysuits, they skated to the same music as last year - "The Truman Show." SBS triple toes - he fell out of his. Throw triple sal had a wonky landing but she held it. SBS spins - unison okay. Death spiral and star lift were good. I thought they looked more like a team this year. Good program for them. Tech marks:After the pairs short programs, the standings were as follows: 1st place: Shen & Zhao 2nd place: Ina & Zimmerman 3rd place: Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze The men's short programs:
Todd Eldredge: Doing what I presume is his new "Exotica" short program, and wearing a textured black shirt with black pants costume, which Mary assures me is actually deep navy blue, LOL, Todd did not have a great skate. He started with a triple toe/double toe, which I presume was meant to be a quad toe/double toe, he fell out of his triple axel, and had a hand down on his triple lutz. His superb spins saved the day, along with good footwork, a nice death drop, and good presentation. Steven Cousins: Out of his depth here, but a game competitor, he wore a light blue & navy shirt with midnight blue pants and skated to sexy blues music. He's done this number before. He fell on his triple axel and fell on his triple lutz. Double axel was okay. Camel spin/sit spin/catch foot spin combo was okay. Personality plus is what saved him, but his tech marks were a disaster, of course. Tech marks:
Standings after the men's short programs: Ladies short programs: Maria Butyrskaya: Wearing her gorgeous seafoam green costume from last year, and skating to last year's program, the pretty "Scene D'amour" - Maria did not do very well. Didn't catch her first triple, but I think it had a wonky landing. She stepped out of her triple lutz/double toe. Double axel was good. Presentation was pretty good, which probably saved her. Tech marks:Irina Slutskaya: Skated to some kind of syncopated beat music, and wore a sparkling blue sapphire dress, very flowy, lots of illusion fabric - I liked it. She started with a very good triple lutz/double toe, nice double axel, and triple flip. I liked her camel spins, nice catch foot spin and combo spin. Very good program! Tech marks:Michelle Kwan: Wearing a costume with black netting on the top, sparkly purple bodice, and a black skirt - I liked it - she skated to a bluesy guitar program - Eric Clapton? Double axel was very good, along with a triple lutz/double toe, and a triple flip or triple toe. Michelle showed lots of attitude in this program! Liked her camel/sit/Y-spin/scratch spin combo. Tech marks:Yuka Sato: Wearing my fave costume from the ladies, a gorgeous periwinkle blue costume, gathered in the back, she skated to pretty music I don't know. She started with a triple loop/double toe, which she fell out of, nice triple sal, nice double axel. I liked her camel/layback/sit/cross foot spin combo. Good footwork. Tech marks (didn't catch - dropped pen under seat at this time)Lu Chen: Wearing a black costume with hot pink trim around hips and down front and arms and skating to "Take Five." Double flip, double sal, double axel, straight line footwork, camel/layback/Y-spin combo. Not a particularly inspired program. Tech marks:Standings after the ladies short programs: 1st place: Michelle Kwan 2nd place: Irina Slutskaya 3rd place: Maria Butyrskaya 4th place: Yuka Sato 5th place: Lu Chen Laurie |
